Pinterest and "Bloom"

I'll be the first to admit that there are some things on Pinterest that have been an "Ah-ha" moment for me and I wonder why I didn't think of that.  Like, using a bathroom towel bar and shower curtain hangers as a necklace hanger (still on my to-do list, by the way).  Or how about making your own dessert stands using some dollar store tart pans and candle sticks and adding a little spray paint?  Taking a picture of your child's artwork and then creating a photo book with the pictures, so you can throw away the artwork, but still have the memories?  BRILLIANT!

There are a few things that I can't believe people didn't know about already.  Baking cupcakes in ice cream cones is so old school.  My Mom was baking them that way when I was in grade school to take to school for snacks.  Let me tell you, they weren't the easiest thing to carry on the bus, but we made it!  That's Joel's favorite way to eat them (without icing, of course).  In my mind, they're about as old school as the "Heads up-7 up" game we would play at all of our school classroom parties.  I still don't understand where 7 up comes into the game, but it seemed like everyone enjoyed playing it.  I always hated when you'd get the jerk who would slam your thumb down thinking they were funny.  What noone else knew (or I'm assuming I was the only one that cheated at this game) was that I would secretly put my head near the edge of my desk when "hiding" my face to watch the feet walking by me.  I would be able to tell who put my thumb down every time because I remembered the shoes.  Cheater?  Yes.  But, I stopped that jerk from being able to slam another classmates thumb down!  I apologize if you have no idea what game I've been referring to.  I'm sure it was isolated to being played at Northwestern.  The game went like this:  there were four kids who would go to the front of the classroom while everyone else in the class put their head down on their desk and put one thumb up (like a hitchhiker) on their desk.  Their eyes were suppose to be covered, and the four students at the front of the room would go around the class and would put one of their classmate's thumbs down by gently pressing their thumb down.  When the four students had each pushed a thumb down, they would line back up at the front of the classroom and the classmates whose thumbs were pushed down would try to pick the person who put their thumb down.  If they picked correctly, they got to go to the front of the room to be part of the next round of thumb-pusher-downers and the current thumb-pusher-downer had to sit back at their desk and be one to put their head down and thumb up.  Sounds fun, right?!?  Does anyone know where the "7 up" comes into play???

Anyway-back to Pinterest.  Another thing I thought everyone and their dog knew was how to fold a fitted sheet.  There is a very popular tutorial going around on the site on how to fold a fitted sheet.  I've never given it much thought while folding our sheets, I just fold it and move on, but I remember at our old house in Chesterfield, Joel tried folding a fitted sheet once.  It wasn't pretty!  This takes me back to my very first job (aside from Westside).  I worked at Lake Williamson in housekeeping the summer I turned 16.  I had to drive Mom and Dad's big four door baby blue 1985 (?) Caprice Classic back and forth to Carlinville because I didn't have my car yet.  I would throw rocks every time I hit the gas in that thing, a belt squeeled, and it was loud.  I was so embarrassed!  Back to housekeeping....I cleaned bathrooms, vacuumed, cleaned windows, made beds, did laundry, and any other task that I was assigned.  Looking back, I did learn some things that summer.  One was how the housekeepers in hotels know if a bed has been slept in the night before.  I don't know if this still happens at hotels, or if it was just in Carlinville 12 years ago, but we would fold one corner of the sheet in when making the bed and if that corner was still folded in the next day when we went to clean the room, it meant we didn't have to strip the bed.  It was always so nice to find one of those beds in your list of rooms to clean!  I'm guessing the biggest thing I learned that summer was how to fold a fitted sheet!  I spent many hours in the big laundry room at the center and folded lots of sheets and towels.  To fold a fitted sheet:  you put your hands in two of the corners and bring them together, then repeat the step again, and then again.  You then fold the only corner you should have left down into the sheet to where you almost have a square and then folder into squares until you have a perfectly folded fitted sheet!   You'd rather read about Ainsley or watch paint dry than read that again, huh?!?

I've also been using Pinterest for new recipes.  Some have turned out okay, but last night's supper was a complete flop with Joel.  I knew it was going to be risky because every time I ask if we can order a BBQ chicken pizza, he flips out, but what if I didn't tell him what was in the pizza I was about to make???  I found a recipe for BBQ chicken pizza and made it while he was in the garage last night and as soon as he came in, he asked if it was BBQ sauce.  BUSTED!  He choked down maybe half a slice and then not so kindly told me (after putting the leftovers in the refrigerator) that he better not see any of that pizza get thrown out.  HA!  I did like it, but I don't know if I'll be able to get an entire pizza down by myself over the next week.

I hope everyone is enjoying Pinterest as much as I am!

On a different note:  I have to say that I'm excited about Kelle Hampton's new book "Bloom" that is coming out April 3rd.  I pre-ordered it months ago, and can't wait to dive into it.  Here's a quote that she released today from the book: 

I don’t think it ever stops being surreal when you become a mother. It’s just this constant state of "I can’t believe I have a baby, I can’t believe I have a two-year-old, I can’t believe I have a kindergartener, I can’t believe I have a teenager," and then one day you wake up, hopefully not sooner than later, and ask yourself, "When the hell did I become a grandma?” Bloom, Chapter 6

I'm already wondering where the last year went.  It's crazy that I have a one year old!  I've been following her blog for a few years, and I have to say that a post she made last week has been my favorite in a while.  Here's the link to the post.  I love this quote from that entry:

"And I made note of so many things. How nobody cared about the things that didn't matter and everybody cared about the things that did. Like having fun, making people feel special, stopping to listen. Dancing."

Totally reminds me of Uncle John!  He didn't care about the things that didn't matter, but, you better believe he liked to have fun!  And, dancing....well, let's just say he knew how to shake his booty!

She released a video trailer for her book last week and I cry every time I watch it.  You can watch it here.  When she asks "Is she ok?  But her face is smashed in."  And then pulls back Nella's cap to look at her ear....that's when I lose it.  Big, fat, crocodile tears.  Kelle is amazing, and a perfect fit for Nella.  She is a wonderful writer, photographer, and mother to her two sweet daughters.  I can't wait for her next blog entry to see what they've been up to.  I can only hope to be half the mother she is. 

I want to apologize for no pictures of our adorable little Ainsley and my ramblings about various things in this post.  I hope you've at least learned one thing from this post, whether it be:  how to fold a fitted sheet or how to care about the things that matter and not to care about the things that don't.