rainy day projects

I thought I was going to have a rotten day because it's chilly and raining and the house looks like a tornado hit and I've been in this tiny little funk since Steph and Eric left on Wednesday morning. But instead, it's actually been a good day. You see, there are times when spending a rainy day getting the house clean feels satisfying and productive. There are other times when it's a soul-sucking Sysiphusian effort. Today was definitely the latter, so instead of acknowledging that nagging feeling that I should scrub the bathroom, vacuum the cobwebby corners and de-filth the kitchen, I gave in to my creative impulses instead. Let's call it "creative therapy."

I did some laundry. Yes, that's housework and it's boring, but for some reason I don't mind doing laundry too much.

I baked some bread:



The above loaves follow yesterday's failed attempt, in which I FORGOT THE YEAST. I never forget to add the yeast, which might explain why I gave that sorry blob of dough roughly ten hours to rise before I finally gave up on it and chucked it in the compost.

I made some pajama pants for Anya:



I just wrote and deleted a whole long paragraph detailing my frustrating quest for kids' PJs that aren't coated in nasty flame-retardant chemicals or covered in ugly or offensive gender-stereotyping messages...but I'll spare you this time. The important thing is that I've taken this into my own hands. I found some very nice solid-colored cotton pajama shirts (for both Daniel and Anya) on clearance at Lands End, then bought flannel prints to match. From cutting out to sewing the final closing seam on the waistband takes around a half hour, provided the intended recipients are either sleeping or playing in the kitchen sink or otherwise out of one's way. (Or sitting nicely on your lap without grabbing at all the buttons and switches on the machine. Daniel, of course, is quite enthralled with the sewing machine and serger and loves having the opportunity to turn them on and off, which I let him do if he cooperates otherwise. He likes to see where all the thread goes.)

Then tonight we went to a birthday party (our friend Ben is 3 today) and had a great time. All in all, it's been a surprisingly good day. I'll clean the house tomorrow.