This is the rhythm I’ve been keeping.  I stayed home for 11 days straight then ventured to town last Saturday.  I was surprised at how taxing brunch, a nap in the car while the boys had haircuts, and 1/2 hour of shopping at Target could be.  Clearly, I wasn’t ready for life yet, so I’m back in the quiet for one more week before the boys are finished with school for the quarter, and then nothing will be quiet here for awhile.

I’ve looked at magazines and blogs and the “me who does stuff just to do it”  tells me to make cookies and decorate stuff.  I haven’t been here for Christmas for a couple of years and never have I been home this early.  I must have Christmassing to make up for.  Thankfully, I have had some good advisers, both people I know and through the website Hystersisters, telling me to say no, keep life on hold, and rest, rest, rest.  The last time I remember having such peaceful options was right after Gabel was born.  I can’t say after Anton was born, even though Anton was an easy baby, because I had two year old Gabe then to keep up with.  Now that was close to a quarter of a century ago, so I think I will covet these days for myself a teeny bit longer.

Before I had my surgery, the “me who does stuff just to do it” took a fancy to a Martha Stewart dyeing project.  I ordered an assortment of these dyes and some economically priced, cotton,  bar towels that can work nicely as generous napkins.  MS used towels from IKEA, but I couldn’t order those towels.  I am happy with something similar I bought from Amazon.  The water soluble dye packet and 1 cup of kosher salt went right into the washing machine.  I ran the load on hot, for heavily soiled clothing, which has the longest wash cycle, giving the fabric the most contact with the dye.  At the end of the dyeing cycle, I ran another short cycle on warm with a couple of teaspoons of a dye fixative.  Finally, I ran one more quick wash with a little detergent, and then dried them in the dryer.  If you’ve ever dyed stuff before, then you can predict that I looked all over the house for things that could be improved with some dye.  In went stained kitchen dishtowels  and my son’s stained white t-shirts that were in a bag reserved for Goodwill.

The results were incredibly fun.  You might not find these colors very Christmassy, but then I am a person who likes to use blues and browns for Christmas decorating, and also, it won’t be Christmas all year.  The army green ones are possibly my favorite, like men’s suiting fabric.  This project sated my urge to create something while not requiring me to stand in the kitchen for hours.  Now, they will be fun either as gifts or at the table once we really start cooking here.