So Many Distractions

There's just so much to do. I honestly don't feel like I have a list a mile long of things to do. To be honest, I stopped making such lists because they made me feel like a bit of a failure. It would probably be good to make a list like that again because then I could actually look at the list and know the things I'm not doing, instead of imagining a list and then when I do have a moment, my mind draws a complete blank of something to do, so I may as well peruse my friends' photos or blogs.

Here are all the things I'd like to do online and otherwise...

1. Update my blog daily. I'm getting better at this and try to post at least every other day. It's good for me to write and get some kind of mental exercise besides trying to explain what hydration means to my three year old or how to get the pistachios' dot-matrix UPC to scan.
2. Try recipes and write reviews on websites like Epicurious and Allrecipes. I actually get recipes from places like this quite regularly. And I often try them, but taking pictures or writing reviews has yet to happen.
3. Have some fun on Ravelry and Etsy. Ravelry is an online community for knitters and hookers (crocheters). And Etsy is kind of like a non-auction eBay for handmade stuff. It's really cool. I could spend hours looking at stuff on Etsy and if I could afford it, you'd all get cool Etsy stuff for Christmas.
4. Knit more. Crochet more. Sew more. Projects I currently have "on the go" (meaning I at least have some supplies for them): a pair of "amazing fit" tan pants for myself, matching aprons for Zoe and I (how cute will that be?), a pair of knit pants for the kid of the girl who cuts my hair (in exchange for her cutting my hair), a dress for our dear friends' daughter, knit wool pants/diaper cover for Simon for winter, knit pink dishcloths to replace the deteriorating ones in my kitchen (and to match my mixer!). As far as projects I would like to do, but don't currently have supplies for... knitting something for my sister for Christmas, wool Klean Kanteen Kozies for me and Zoe. Check out the matching ones I made for Dan and Simon.
5. Bake more. I really like to bake. I've been meaning to do more, especially since I'm home so much, but it's really hard to do when the kids whine at you all the time if you're not paying attention to them. Today I made animal crackers from this recipe for my kids. I bought some mini cookie cutters from Michaels in the Noah's ark theme and they worked just perfectly! They're the actual size of animal crackers, but now that they've been sealed in an airtight container, they're a little softer. I had to make a couple of adjustments, though. I turned the heat down to 350 (who bakes a delicate little cookie at such a high heat?) and dropped the time down to 6 minutes, which worked great for all but the last batch of cookies, which were a little tougher and thicker than the first, so they needed an extra minute. They're hardly sweet at all, which I like because I don't feel like I'm loading my kids up on sugar. They're sweetened with just a little bit of honey. And I actually made pizza again tonight. I have begun to love this because we don't load our pizza up with a lot of expensive stuff, just fresh basil and cheese and a bit of meat from the Italian Centre Shop (warning: there's music on their website, in case you're at work) for Dan, so it's actually somewhat economical to make our own pizza. It works out to about $5 a pizza, but it's soooo much better than Little Caesar's $5 pizza.
   

It's all these things that I'd like to be doing that have me pulled in different directions with time, energy and focus, just not able to do all these things. It has also occurred to me before today, but struck again today that I do not wish my children to remember me sitting on the couch. I mean, obviously, it's okay to sit on the couch, but I didn't want that to be how they pictured me in their memories. I guess I feel like I sit on the couch a lot checking my various emails and Facebook and all the other computer-y and crafty things I do. I want my kids to remember me doing things with them, enjoying them, playing with them.

Tonight at supper, Simon and Dan were playing peek-a-boo, Dan just peeking from behind Simon's translucent plate. And Simon, so interested and so excited and so interactive, was bobbing his head up and down and shrieking with delight, raising his eyebrows to signal Dan to do it again and laughing when he did. And Zoe, never wanting to miss the action or attention, from across the table giggling at the two of them playing and laughing. And it was wonderful. I laughed. I caught it. I didn't miss this one worrying or cleaning or wondering what was next.