A Type B baby in a Type A world-- that's me.

Christ is Risen!

Bright Week is almost over, and I feel like I've been in a "hangover" since Pascha. Not literally, of course (I only had a teeny bit of wine at the Pascha picnic, although I'm finally used to the taste enough now that I find myself guzzling, rather than sipping... must be my "mom" instinct to finish whatever I'm consuming quickly).

For some reason this year was really hard. It's like (going along with the booze analogy), each kid is a shot of hard liquor, and the more you have, the harder it is to function/ recover afterwards. But maybe that's only because, on top of Holy Week and Paschal services, I found myself smiling embarrassingly in the Urgent Care waiting room with the two little ones on Holy Friday, just as the medical assistant did a "double take" and laughed, "Oh! You guys again!" Uh. Strep. Doozy ended up having it, just like V. had been diagnosed two days earlier. Thankfully Joseph got by unscathed (knock on wood)... but it seems we're never in the clear with this thing. In fact, Job goes in tomorrow morning for a strep test. Poor guy. I really hope he doesn't have it. I too (Lauren!) am so sick of antibiotics. Thankful? Yes, to some degree. Just tired of them.

School is going well for V., for the most part. I'm so thankful she is in such a great environment, with such loving teachers. Still, I struggle with this change in our life as a family. Why has this been such a tough adjustment for me? Anyone else out there have similar experiences? Tonight I was reorganizing the kids' playroom, as well as their bookshelves, and I came across so many now-forgotten books that I used to read over and over again with V. *sigh* I can't believe I'm already mourning the loss of her early baby/toddler days. And then Doozy turns 3 this week too... and I barely ever read to her. ACK! Oh dear, dear, dear.

The girl's Pascha dresses got finished in time-- yay! I don't have pictures at the moment... soon, though! I didn't have enough time to finish my own Pascha dress. I ended up switching patterns, by the way! My muslin for the shirt-dress I showed you earlier ended up having a strange fit. Not very flattering on me at all. So I chose a more flowy, feminine shirt-dress from a vintage (or... almost vintage) McCalls pattern. Found the pattern at a thrift store. I thought I could "see beyond" the cheesy 1995-era styling and create a dress that was a little bit Romantic/F. Scott Fitgerald-ish. But alas, I made the dress... I used up all of my expensive (for me) fabric (sorry, my link from before isn't working now)... I had such high hopes... and yet, on me, it looks like a dated throwback to the 90s. Hello Blossom Russo. "Vintage" or not, I seem to have bad luck with shirt-dresses, as this is the third one I've made that just didn't look good on me. I'll give it another try with a new Vogue pattern I have that received good reviews online. Here's hoping! If it turns out well, I'm seriously gonna make five of them. As if I'll even have time? If nothing else, I'll wear my current 90s "Pascha" dress and be extremely self-conscious, and yet feel "fashioned forward" when in four years, mid-90s fashions will be deemed "cool" again. Maybe I'll wear them with some combat boots and an army jacket or something. Kidding.

Since I have been on a bit of a creative/ sewing bender, my house has suffered a bit of neglect. Okay, a lot of neglect. Clearly, I lack the self-discipline and organization to do both and do them well. A friend mentioned that to do so requires a lot of self-discipline and time management.... two things that I'm absolutely terrible at. But, I'll keep trying. Seems that every three months I have my "MY HOUSE IS A DISASTER" crisis (not to mention my soul... creative benders make for a very distracting prayer life), and I buck up and get the place into order. So tune in in July for more fun, as scheduled.

Oh! The one thing about my practice dress? Even though it didnt' work out for me, it looks beautiful on my sister, and she's going to wear it to Hawaii! Lucky lady! Lucky dress!

Thus ends my Bright Week round-up. Take care, and please keep us in your prayers, if you can!