Cycling (and not just for exercise!)

My life runs in cycles. One of those cycles is a CONSUME/CREATE cycle. For long stretches of time I find myself unable to finish any of my projects or do anything other than consume what others have created. At times like these I tend to read (which is exciting for me these days, not having had time to read-for-fun when I was in college)...(because if you know what I'm like when I read, you'll know that when the book gets good, nothing else gets done)...(so I avoided tempting myself when I had papers to write). In this CONSUME cycle I also lean toward buying ready-made foods and yearning for meals that I haven't cooked.

Lately I have been shifting into the CREATE. It's been quite lovely. :)

Last night I made pita chips. In the store you can find them in those seductive black bags. The Simply Naked brand. They're one of those things that calls to me, rather loudly, in the grocery store but I haven't yet had the heart to put hard-earned money down on a mere craving. Instead I buttered some pitas, tossed them onto a cookie sheet and stuck them in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or so. Then I broiled them for another few minutes to get them golden brown (they may have been more brown than golden, but I'm not complaining).

Result? Totally yummy. Rich even bought hummus for the occasion and we had a late night party.

I have also nearly finished a little crochet top for Lily. It was supposed to be for Girl #2, but turned out to be a 2T size instead of what I initially imagined. So maybe I'll still make the other one a 4T and then just wait another few years to take a picture of both of them. :) Once I actually finish it (I only have the fancy stuff around the neckline left to do) I'll put up a picture of mine instead of the pattern's. Lily's is blue.
...I also bought yarn to make one in this color. It's just way too cute. :)

On Sunday I made one of those "re-use your nasty old T-shirts by turning it into this headband!" I made some mistakes and my mom is borrowing it for girl's camp planning, so no pictures at the moment. After whipping that out (seriously, it took hardly any time at all and I'm wishing that I had more t-shirts to sacrifice) I had fun with some origami. Pictures to come after my mom finishes with those, too. :)

Lily is getting in the spirit as well. Today she put one of her own sandals on. I heard her shrieking (I thought with frustration) and when she turned around she had it velcro-ed on correctly and everything! I was so proud of her I could have cried. But that would have meant I was one of those moms. So I blinked the tears back and thought "Whatever...I am one of those moms," and gave her another huge hug. She was pretty proud, too.

And now I've actually finished a blog post!