Project Norway Trip

Welcome fellow procrastinators ;)
I am finally in Norway and I am so excited.
On behalf of my daughter I am really sad that it started to rain the day before we got here, because almost all the snow that she was looking forward to see is now almost gone.
On behalf of myself I am almost glad the weather is bad because then I don't miss my camera too much. I really wanted to take some nice pictures to show you all what my home town looks like. Unfortunately I forgot my camera back home. Then again I can always borrow my moms and take some pictures before I go to my moms home town on Friday.

Going on this trip has been a big project in itself. Packing for tree people. Making sure everyone has enough clothes and the right clothes. Diapers and toys. Making sure someone can watch the cat and that the dog has everything she will need at my inlaws house.

I sure did procrastinate a lot while packing. Even though I like to be done early I started the day before leaving packing for the kids. I still made it though.

Sofie is not getting a handmade dress for her Christening next weekend. It is not done due to my procrastination, but I do hope to be done with it before it is too small for her to at least wear it once to have a picture taken at some point. Man, my heart is racing in pure stress over that dress not being done and that even though my mom bought her a beautiful white dress to wear just in case...

The sewing table with my daughters quilt on is nicely tucked away in a corner waiting for me to get home. My mom even bought me more fabric so I got even more projects waiting for me now.

My newest ongoing project that has to be done by Thursday night is to go through a lot of the boxes that I keep at my parents house filled with clothes for the kids and my husband and I. I want to get rid of some of it. It is a big project to say the least. So far I have gone through two boxes. I am giving away one box with clothes that Sofie too has outgrown and the other box is mostly clothes that she can wear now or grow into. Tomorrow I need to get more done.

Well, I guess that is all from me today. I really should get in bed now. I will try to check in with all of you tomorrow or some other day if I can. I am a little busy you know ;)

Linking up to Anti-Procrastination Tuesday at New Nostalgia.

Procrastinator and perfectionist

I have a confession to make...

I am a procrastinator and a perfectionist.

Yes believe or not.

Amy at New Nostalgia has this great party every Tuesday called Anti-Procrastination Tuesday. There we meet to inspire and support eachother to get things done, whatever those things might be. She was so nice to come and visit me and left a comment saying how procrastinators tend to be perfectionists and how nice it is that I encourage a more healthy thinking by saying that things will eventually get done.

I do stand by what I said. Things will eventually get done.

Still I have a hard time living by it. The quilt I am working on is not perfect. I see all the flaws and all the mistakes I have and am making and I hate it. I don't want to work on it because it isn't perfect, but I don't have the energy to do it all over again and I want to make something for my daughter.

I am a perfectionist, but I have come to realize that
1. I like to get done fast, when things get done fast it does not get perfect.
2. I don't have time to do things the way I want to and it does not get perfect then.
3. When I ask others to help me, it doesn't get done my way and it's not perfect either.

It really used to stress me out... and it still does.

I am a work in progress. It is hard for me to work on my quilt because it is not going to be perfect, but when my quilt is done it will be a product of a prosess I have been through where my standards has to be set lower.

But I don't like to work on this and I procrastinate. It just isn't fun to work on something where all I see is mistakes and flaws. That is where Amy and everyone else linking up to A-P Tuesdays are so important at keeping me accountable and encouraging me to work on myself.

So one step at the time I will overcome this and finish the quilt, just like I overcame keeping a clean and perfect house after I got married. (The clean house issue took 5 years to overcome and so far only 2 years has gone by on the quilt).

BTW today we ate our first dinner outside at our new table. I will post a picture of it later some time. It was just warm enough on our deck to sit out there. Kind of funny since it actually hailed here this morning.

Procrastination

So what happens when you procrastinate?

Nothing gets done at all.

I was going to blog and write some lists over what needs to be done before I leave for Norway.

I had the energy and the will to do it at one point, but then I decided to do something else...

I wrote a comment to Amy...

I just wanted to watch one of my favorite shows... (I only watch 5 shows a week..., so I though that I surely deserved to watch one last night)

Then I fell asleep... on the sofa... thank you mom for telling me how the show went...

My husband woke me up after the show.

I went to bed and nothing got done.

Except for one thing...

My HUSBAND did the DISHES. That is a big thing as we do not have a dishwasher right now.

So first of all I have managed to get a few things done (hurray)

I've got a new worktable in my kitchen. It goes with where my dishwasher used to go.

It is perfect for a short person to bake out breads as my counter is just a little to high for me.

It gives me some extra storage. And it makes me happy.

So far I have used it to make 5 loafs of bread and two loafs of coffee bread.

It was $59.99 at IKEA.

I love IKEA. I wasn't planning on going there, but my youngest got sick one night and needed a new mattress right away and therefore I got to go to IKEA again.

While I was at IKEA I also got a new coffee table $7.99, such a steal and the perfect size for us.

And I got a new table to have outside on my deck so that we can eat dinner outside this summer.

A few weeks ago I went to Bed, bath and beyond and found a new throw for my husband who is a Sounders fan. Now it is the main decor in our livingroom.

Then there are the things that did not get done.

My sewing table looks like this and the quilt is still only half finished.

The dress for Sofie is not getting done and my mom bought her a beautiful dress that she will wear instead.

Right now I am running around inbetween blogging here doing 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there. So far done with 3 things on my list for today.

All I have to do now is make some lists for travelling.

Well that is all for now.

All I can say is that it will get done in the end.

Easter

We have been celebrating easter here and also that spring has arrived.
This is my (sorry excuse for a) mantel all decked our for easter/spring.
The painting is a halfdone project from a friend. I found a picture online that he was to paint. He never felt happy with the outcome and therefore never finished it. I still like it even though it barely covers the tv hangup that my husband left up just in case.
The blocks to the left is a remnant from Christmas and Valentines, but I like it and it's there.
The Chickens all over is a buy from Norway last time I was home. I love how silly and colorful they are.
The carrot shape is my MOPS easter craft full of M&Ms.
The vase is filled with the twine eggs that I managed to make, and there is also two yarn eggs on the side of it.
The plate is from IKEA.
And the tall vase is filled with branches and has eggs on that my daughter and I emptied and painted last year.
All I have to do now is carefully pack away the eggs and it is all ready for spring.

On one of my shelves I have this little collection. Two of my chickens from Norway. An angel that my aunt and uncle in Norway gave me for Christmas holding an egg Isabel painted in her daycare back home in Norway when she was about 20 months old. And a wineglass turned candleholder also painted by Isabel at her daycare when she was 17 months old.

This is a project I started knitting last time I was home in Norway. I bought this kit and was going to finish it for that easter, but ended up not finishing it until this winter. The hen is supposed to sit on top of a basket of boiled eggs to keep them warm and there is 8 chicks to keep separate eggs warm. Unfortunately they ended up a little floppy so I stuffed them and put them in a wooden bowl that I have and they look mighty happy there.

Btw all the dishes in the backround is at least clean...

Saturday we went egghunting at the zoo. I love it. 46 eggs yielded 4 candies. Isabel was a little disappointed, but grandma had already promished her a surprise at home. One big egg filled with candies and cookies. Not to much sweets.

This is Isabel and grandma picking eggs. It was really cold and windy so even though we had planned on hanging out for a long time looking at animals and playing there we ended up leaving after only an hour. Instead we went shopping at IKEA.

It wasn't our plan to go to IKEA, but since Sofie threw up that night (because of overeating) and her mattress was all soaked in that, we just had to go down to IKEA and get her a new mattress. Hey, in and out in about 2 hours where one hour was spent shopping/playing in playarea and one hour was spent eating, it's not all that bad.

Peak a boo. Sofie and I love our new Beco baby carrier system.

Easter Sunday we took a trip up to Skagit County and the Tulip Festival.

My husband the tall one in the family. Ok, he is not that tall. The picture is actually taken by Isabel who is short.

My mom, Sofie and I.

This is my Jaguar Isabel, that is when she is not Toothless the dragon. Not sure why she want's to be called toothless, when she still has not lost a single tooth.

Let me tell you that cleaning this off was not a job for dad. Poor girl was being rubbed raw. Mom to the rescue with cottonswabs and makeup remover.

At the end of the day I asked her if she would do it again and the answer was "yes of course".

So that was some our Easter. How was yours?

Computers, moms and kids.

I just wrote this great blog entry about being Norwegian and having my mom visiting us for 3 months and me and the kids visiting Norway in only a few days, but while trying to put a Html into it, it disappeared. Poof it vanished. An hour almost of work gone.

I just got a new net book to work on and I just recently started blogging so it is a lot of trial and error learning how to do this.

Still my biggest obstacle right now is time. Time to blog. Time to be with my kids, my husband and my mom. They come first, blog comes second.

It will be hard when I leave Norway after visiting there with my mom. She is not coming back with me. Then again it will be nice to be able to set my own schedule every day. Not having to work around how my mom likes to go out every day shopping or just having coffee. All I will have to work around is Isabels school and my husbands work schedule.

I am kind of looking forward to that. Maybe I will finally get myself together and start exercising again. Writing more, crafting more. I have a feeling I will have more time on my hands. I will bake more and have more friends over to visit.

It will be good.

I will miss my mom.

To all you Company Girls: This week went by faster than I had ever thought. Still have not been able to visit any of you, but I hope to be able to this week. It all depends on the kids(who didn't sleep well last week, maybe they will this week), my netbook and how it works, and my life in general. I wish you all a very good week.

Linking up to Home Sanctuarys Company Girl Coffee.