Depeche Mode. Coffee and Peace

I love my daughter. I really, really do. The last ten days have been trying though. She has been cranky and unwell and with me ALL THE TIME. The only time I have spent away from her has been a very short trip to the supermarket and about two hours total after she fell asleep at night. Most nights she needed me to be with her to fall asleep. She was well enough to go to school today and she was so ready to be there too. It was fun seeing her face light up as her friends arrived at school and she was more than happy to let me go off too.

I did not need to be asked twice! I headed off on the train to a mall and sat in Starbucks and drank a Salt Caramel Frap and read Jenny Lawson's "Let's Pretend This Never Happened". I have discovered it is a terrible book to read in public as I was laughing so hard I was crying. It is not a good look when you are sitting on your own in Starbucks. I feel ready for a lot more one on one time now with the wee girl. I have Depeche Mode blasting off YouTube as I type... such a luxury when it is often the Wiggles or Scarlett's favourite, Adele.

I got about an hour of free time last night but had lots of little jobs to do so only spent about ten minutes on my layout in the end. This was where I left it last.

I quickly found a couple of Instagrams of a visit earlier in the year with my friend Stefanie. She was in Singapore after a Yoga retreat in Thailand. I have known Stefanie since Middle School so it is always nice to catch up. She lives in the Netherlands so I don't get to see her that often. Luckily she is actually passing back through Singapore next week on her way back from a trip to Bali so we will catch up again then.

 

I really wanted to draw attention to the photos so used some Amy Tangerine arrows and my new favourite washi from Freckled Fawn. I grabbed a title from the AT collection as well. Just a little journalling to add and I think we will call this done as well. I am wondering about a little vellum envelope with my journalling concealed inside. I think that might be the answer.

Don't you just love that washi?

The photos are a bit off colour wise as we are enjoying yet another thunder storm today! Good light is a bit of a scarce commodity.

I was going to share a Depeche Mode video to finish but I cannot choose a favourite. If you are at a loose end though, You Tube have dozens and dozens of them. Some are funny now as they are so early 80s but the music is still pretty great.

Have a lovely weekend.

Challenge for a Monday

I feel that October has been an epic fail kind of month! I had high hopes that Blogtober would get me back on track with daily blogging but it has not been the case. Life, or rather the ongoing dramas of a sick daughter, has had other plans. I usually do my crafting while Scarlett naps or is at school. She has not been doing either of those things since Tuesday so I have not been crafting.

I am determined that this needs to change. Hubby is off to Japan tomorrow night and I will be sole parenting until Saturday morning. Something has to give. I am going to set myself the challenge of finding 15 minutes a day this week to craft and see what I can come up with by Saturday. The 15 minutes will probably be dictated to by DVD watching slots as there is usually a half hour at least that I can do something else while Scarlett is engrossed in Cinderella or Nemo.

Who is in? I would love to see what all you crafty ladies out there can come up with in 15 minutes a day. I am sure I can find a prize to send to those who take part. Shall we say a $10 Studio Calico voucher?

I have managed to take a few photos of our self imposed exile this week. 

While there has been a bit of cat chasing and table climbing there has been a whole lot more lying around listlessly and refusal to take even pamol to help take her temperature down. She is a stubborn wee thing!

I would love to see what you can create in 15 minutes a day. Please link up any progress shots  in the comments below and I will be back tomorrow with what I create today. Good luck everyone!

Letting Scarlett Be Herself

It is unlikely that anyone who knows me well would be caught saying that I am not stubborn. I am a Taurus by birth and by nature. I have a few fixed ideas and some of them are pretty deeply ingrained. One of those areas of life is dancing and particularly ballet.

In my experience, the girls that did ballet when I was growing up were the nastiest, cattiest bunch of creatures in the school. I do not say this lightly. This was the case at three schools on two different continents. There was something about the art that attracted those girls or perhaps the art cultivated these traits. I was never able to decide. What I did know was that no child of mine was going to be one of those stuck up little madams!

Time passed. I met and married my husband and eventually Miss Scarlett arrived and we became our little family of three. From the moment she could walk our daughter has danced and pranced. She does not walk anywhere but rather twirls and skips. It soon became clear that my child was likely to become one of those ballet girls.

We found a lovely dance school quite close to where we live and they let us know that Scarlett would have to be two and a half before she could start classes. This wait seemed like forever for Scarlett and she would ask every time she saw a little girl in her ballet clothes or had spent some time prancing in the lounge if she could start ballet yet. This weekend her wait was finally over.

On Saturday we went in to see if they had any places. They agreed to Scarlett having a trial class the following morning. She was beyond excited. She put on her tutu leggings and could not wait to meet her teacher. 

Sunday morning arrived and we took Scarlett into the dance school a little early so that she could meet her teacher and find out about everything. She went straight into the studio with her teacher and after a few minutes of watching her make friends with a couple of the other little dancers we suggested it was time for us to go. She turned to us and said a quick bye before turning back to her new friends. We loitered in the reception area for a short while before Scarlett popped her head out to demand "Why aren't you leaving yet?" We had our marching orders and spent the bulk of her class at Starbucks.

She was quiet when she came out from her class but very firm in her conviction that she would love to come back to ballet next week. She tried on her new ballet uniform and we signed her up for ten weeks. Did I mention that my petite daughter's feet are too small for the smallest slipper? She needs them tied very tightly on until her feet grow a little bigger!

Showing Grandad her new Ballet clothes

My only pictures are from instagram and for some reason they are very grainy out of that app so I am only going to inflict one upon you.

Each night after the lights are out, Scarlett lies in bed and I sit beside her on the floor and we talk about her day. Last night, I asked her what was the best part of her day. We had just listed all the things she had done including ballet class, a river cruise, a special lunch, visiting the Kite Festival and being with Grandad. She smiled to herself in the darkness and whispered  "Ballet class Mummy. I got to be a princess and a prancing pony."

This Mummy is going to have to get over herself and help Scarlett embrace all the things she can be. Although, be very sure, if I see any of those nasty ballet traits appearing, they will be dealt with swiftly and severely.