ODP Weekend Days 12 & 13: Slummin' It.

It's the weekend. I had nowhere to be, so I didn't bother wasting precious ideas on The Stripes.

Yesterday, the kids were supposed to have soccer games, but as we left our house, some raindrops started falling. I checked the soccer website, and it had announced only four minutes prior that games were ON. So we pulled out of the driveway and headed towards the playing fields. Minutes later, it turned into a downpour. I pulled over and called the Team Mom Angie to see what was up. According to the coach, she said, games were on. In the downpour. With the lightening. I started griping to Marion about how there was no way I was taking my baby out in this and the kids can't play in this and this is dangerous with the lightening and so on and so forth. (Fifi in the back seat started chanting, 'Mummy's turning into an American!' because I refused to sit through a rainy soccer game, which she apparently deemed highly un-Scottish of me.) Then Angie called back to say the games had definitely been cancelled. We rejoiced and got Shipley's Donuts to take home instead.

I'd been wearing my Lil Red Bananas t-shirt (Lolly's team), but when the game got called, I went home and changed out of it. The game is rescheduled for Tuesday, so I figured it was best to save that particular ensemble for then. I changed into ultra-casual this:


Obviously, from this picture, you can tell, it stopped raining later. I didn't get a photo until we headed out for tea at 5pm. I'm simply wearing The Stripes with a gray short-sleeved hooded top and a black beaded necklace. I think I just threw on a pair of shoes, I didn't pay much attention.

Fifi, after changing out of her soccer uniform, decided she was tired of the Project. She asked if she could take Saturday and Sundays off. Most of the day she instead wore a Christmas jumper and a sparkly dress around her waist like a skirt. I told her she couldn't wear that out to dinner though, and reluctantly she changed back into Her Dress. I cheered her up by letting her borrow a necklace of mine (which she promptly snapped) and one of my hats. She added the pink stripy blazer and sparkly red heels.

Today was my mother-in-law's last day here (tear, sniff). We didn't have anything really planned, just spending a few more hours together relaxing. We did make a quick trip into Walmart this morning, and had McDonald's while we were at it, so I put on The Stripes. I layered it with a tan-colored tunic and brown beaded necklace and earrings and brown flats. Lolly took a photo of me when we got back. Jaguar photo-bombed it.


It is abundantly clear from this blurry photo that my legs have a long way to go before they match the tan on my arms. Ick.

Fifi got very excited suddenly about getting her picture made. To Walmart, she'd only worn simply Her Dress, but for the photo, she went wild with a red scarf, a pink hat (Lolly's) and giraffe ears (also Lolly's). Lolly was not impressed.


The rest of the day today, before Granny left, we played outside with kites and did some outside Halloween decorating. When Granny left for the airport with Scott, however, it was an utter meltdown. My poor girls wailed, my poor Mummy-in-law cried, I cried, Jaguar cried because everyone else was crying... it wasn't pretty. I changed into my pajamas right then (4pm) and made a batch of brownies, which I proceeded to eat straight out of the oven. Then I cleaned. Anything to keep from feeling sad about saying goodbye once again to my Other Mother.

Flying of the kites

Granny helping with the flying of the kites

Daddy helping with the flying of the kites

Blurry, but so Lolly

Jaguar, enthralled

Our scarecrows, guardians of the mailbox

Corpse Bride Ghost made by Fifi

Up close and spooky

Pumpkin Planter

My real Mother and David came over for dinner later on after Scott helped David move some furniture. It made me feel less lonely having my mommy around. The house felt too quiet without Marion. Mom helped me rearrange some furniture in the living room and my bedroom to accommodate for my new desk they got me, at which I am sitting right now in my new Pampered Chef 'office' space. We had steak and okra for dinner, played with my dog Gracie and put the kids to bed.

Now, it's time for me to get in bed too. Weekday mornings start awfully early around here; school starts at ten to eight!!

Oor dug

ODP Days 9,10 & 11: Dr. Grumpy Is IN

So let's be blunt here. I'm not enjoying the October Dress Project this year.

Last year I loved it. I had so much fun coming up with new ways of wearing my dress, and new ways of utilizing the items in my wardrobe and all my accessories. I had an excuse to wear all my favourite and fabulous things that I wouldn't normally wear on a regular day.

This year? Well. I don't have any accessories. I don't have much in my closet. I left all my favourite and fabulous things in Scotland, most of which is now hopefully on a charity shop clothing rack or some lucky person's body.

This project is absolutely not fun when you don't have anything with which to jazz up your dress.

I mean, okay, it's not like I have nothing. I have a drawer full of t-shirts, some that were mine and most that were hand-me-downs when I got here from some very generous (and fashionably cute) people. I have a couple pairs of jeans. I have a couple pairs of cute socks. I have two functional belts - a brown leather one and a ridiculous zebra one - and one fat accessory red belt. I have some head scarves and neck scarves. I still have a fair number of (winter) hats. I have several pairs of (non-walking) shoes.

I do not, however, have any more cardigans, jumpers, jackets, dress shirts, skinny belts, boots, tights or leg warmers. I have a select few necklaces and bracelets.

I guess in some ways it hardly matters that I don't have any of these things; the weather is too warm for layers or tights anyway.

I'm not really whining, though I totally am, it's just that doing this project this year really highlights my lack of interesting and fashionable possessions in a way that ordinary clothes-wearing would not. Each day I'm confronted with the reminder that my adorable mustard cardigan would have looked so cute with The Stripes (I think that's my dress's new name) or a pair of red tights and my old black boots would give it a real festive look.

It also reminds me that I have nowhere to wear my dress anyway, so why bother? When I do come up with a cute look, like wearing The Dress Stripes with my thick red belt, I'm quickly reminded that wearing a thick red belt with or without red heels would look frickin' stupid on the walk to school, and then would be completely impractical for a day spent in the house folding laundry and homeschooling a four-year old and periodically breastfeeding a cranky toddler. Yummy Mummy? What's the point?

All that said, I guess I'll still keep the project going. Maybe there's something for me to learn by the end of it. I hope it's not that I should start dressing like a slob and give up on make-up and forget all about having my own style, because I don't want to turn from Yummy Mummy to Slummy Mummy. I always liked looking nice and having fun clothes and wearing lipstick. I don't want that to change, though I can feel the Giving A Crap slowly fading away. Besides, I've got to keep the project up for Fifi's sake. She's doing such a good job of it and having so much fun with it, I don't want to spoil that for her by giving in to my own boredom and dislike. She even told me today she was doing better at the project than I am, and she's right.

She has been looking awesome.

On Wednesday (gosh I'm so behind on posting the pictures), Fifi rocked her dress with a "Little House on the Prairie Meets Hipster" style by wearing Her Dress as a top tucked into her favourite white ruffly maxi skirt and topped with her awesome star-elbow grey cardigan. You can't see in the picture, but she's wearing once again her favourite neon wedge sandals.


Yesterday, she went all skater-chick on me with Her Dress as a skirt under a cool black and white stars t-shirt and red tights with sparkly silver shoes. She got a new hat and gloves the day before so of course she had to sport the new hat. We were in a rush to get to school on time, so I took a photo as we power-walked.


Today she went Friday casual (how would you spell 'caj' as in short of 'casual'? I wanted to write 'caj' but can't figure out how it's spelled. Ideas anyone?) She wore Her Dress under a cute t-shirt that says 'Smart Girls Rock' (which they totally do). Her black Mary Janes completed the look.


As for me, on Wednesday I got creative with some items of clothing that were given to me when I moved here, and wore The Stripes with a long-sleeved black shirt underneath and a black waistcoat over it. The black sleeves and waistcoat together formed an almost jacket-y look, which I liked. I added black leggings for warmth and - you guessed it - the same old black flats. (I'm beginning to think those flats could have a Shoe Project month all to themselves.) By the way, all this black is depressing me. I miss colour. Which is why I added the colorful sparkly scarf.


Lolly, by the way, who has no interest in the October Dress Project, has started protesting over not getting her picture taken everyday. So I've been taking Lolly shots daily now too.

Yesterday, I held out hope that it would stay as cool as it had been the day before, so I wore jeans under The Stripes and my favourite owl hoodie over top. To be honest, this outfit made wearing The Stripes completely superflous but whatever. I wore a different pair of black Mary Jane flats, a more sporty pair, and didn't fix my hair or my make-up. Hey, workin' the stereotypical Stay At Home Mom look, well done. Unfortunately, it got warmer later on so I ditched the hoodie and the jeans all day until I had to go back out for soccer practice, and put the jeans back on with a black polo over the top. Still no hair or make-up. I spent all that time on soap operas and magazines I guess...

Oh and this photo was taken later in the day by Lolly. Hence the finger in the top left corner of the second picture.


Yikes, we need to cut our grass.

And then today I went ahead and looked frickin' stupid walking to school with that thick red belt around The Stripes, which I tucked into a red miniskirt. I wore a big black scarf to cover up some more of The Stripes. I wore black leggings with my black flats. I even wore a red hat with it for a little while, before it got too hot. The outfit was kind of cute, I guess.


On to Day 12 tomorrow. Nearly half way there...

Sincerely,
The Whiniest Girl in the Project.

(And ironically the same girl who not to long ago posted about how great it is to own nothing. Hmm.)

ODP Days 7 & 8: A Quickie

Just a quick one tonight. I have had a severe headache since 1pm, and I just don't want to think too much (or look at a computer screen too long).

So I missed posting my outfit yesterday, but you didn't miss much. I woke up yesterday morning completely uninspired by the dress so I just layered over it. It was a relatively cool day for it, so I got away with it.

I wore The Dress with a pair of black capri leggings underneath and those same black flats as always.  Walking to school each day really puts the nix on wearing my fancy shoes.  Over the dress I wore a turquoise three-quarter sleeved hoodie. So stylish....

I had a Pampered Chef party last night, so I had to spruce the outfit up a bit for that. I took off the leggings and the hoodie, wore some brown flats instead and put on a wide red belt. I didn't get a photo of it, but that's okay, because I'll be repeating that outfit soon. Probably tomorrow for my next Pampered Chef party.

Today I searched and searched for my full length black leggings, since it was to be cooler still but couldn't find them. (I eventually found them folded up underneath some papers on my table.) So I wore jeans under the dress, and a long sleeved black shirt under the top.  For the earlier half of the day I wore the dress tucked in like a top but got tired of re-tucking it in after every breastfeed - Jaguar was kind of needy today - so I went the rest of the day with it out.  I finished the outfit with a soft, flowy, black flowery scarf. And brown flats instead of black.

Fifi has been doing great with Her Dress.  Yesterday she wore it as a skirt, paired with a cute black t-shirt with a big metallic heart on the front, and her silver sparkly slip-on shoes.  It was cool, so she also wore her pink Gap fleece. She wanted to wear her hair down, but since she decided a few weeks ago to CUT HER OWN BANGS, I pushed her uneven wisps back with a blue headband.

Today, so looked stylish as ever in Her Dress with her new turquoise long-sleeved t-shirt with the word 'peace' scrawled across the front in sequins.  She wore black leggings and the silver sparkly slip-ons again. Her bangs don't look so bad today, since they naturally swooped to one side this morning. (To be fair, they actually don't look bad at all. It's probably only noticeable to me.)

And that's us caught up. I'm now going to get a tall drink of water and 'hit the hay'.  I'm so tired.

I'll do my best to get some good blog-chat going in the next few posts. Believe me, my head is spinning with thoughts important enough to jot down but finding the time and the energy..... That's altogether different.

ODP Day 6: Zoo-Wear

Today I wore The Dress as a shirt again for heading to the zoo. We got that lovely weather I was hoping for! The forecast 'claimed' it would be in the upper 50s/ lower 60s today, so I wore The Dress tucked into a pair of jeans with a black jumper over it. I went with some orange accessories: my favourite orange shoes (purchased from a charity shop last October for this project), my Irn Bru necklace (a gift from one of my favourite Scottish ladies, Sheila), my orange button earrings (a birthday present from my sister-in-law a few years ago) and my orange and green headscarf, to cover my washed-but-not-dried hairdo. I figure it's close enough to Halloween to start pulling out the black and orange combos.

Fifi wore Her Dress plain and simple with just a matching blue ribbon belt, white knee high socks and black Mary Janes. And of course, for the zoo, her tiger ears headband.

We had a lovely day at the zoo, with Granny Marion and Daddy both experiencing it for the first time. I like our zoo; it's full of character and eccentric animals and it's just the right size. Though I do feel some of the enclosures are too small for some of the animals. The elephants, for instance, were displaying behaviours of depression, which I've heard is common for elephants in isolation. There are a lot of complaints to be made about zoos actually, but they also care for injured and endangered animals, and, well, I'm just not willing to go all PETA about it.

Animal rights issues aside, I still love zoos.

The kids love it too, even Jaguar. The grown-ups loved it. I loved spending time with my husband and kids and mother-in-law in a low stress environment. We all had a great, and exhausting, day.

The McFarlane Family

Homo Sapien:  Commonly known as 'human' or 'man'

Depressed Elephants

Giraffe licking the window with its gross fish-tongue

Jaguar spots the Ocelots

Serious PDA: These lorikeets were totally making out

The oldest granddaughter with her Gran

Three siblings... and some penguins

ODP Day 5: Rainy Days and Saturdays

Today was another perfectly Scottish day. We enjoyed a light misting of rain all morning while at Fifi's soccer game. Amazingly for America, it wasn't cancelled due to 'rain'.

Because the plan for today had originally been soccer game then zoo, I opted for a casual outfit. I wore The Dress with an Arkansas Razorbacks t-shirt, and my tartan sneaks.


Fifi wore Her Dress as a skirt with a ruffly, sparkly grey top over it. She wore her favourite neon wedge sandals with it and a red bow in her hair. Speaking of those sandals, they caused a major fight this morning, because Lolly wants them really badly. I think I'm going to have to go see if they are still for sale and get her her own pair.


After the soccer game, we took the kids to our favourite place to eat, The Mean Pig. As always, we took the obligatory Pig Bench photo. One day, I'll compile all these photos on this bench in chronological order and make a photo montage of our family growing up.


I have no idea what possessed Fifi to make that face.

While at Mean Pig, the heavens opened up properly, and we got a down pour. We decided that, as Scottish as we are, even we didn't fancy the zoo in such rain, so we headed back home. Granny entertained the kids while I took a nap with Jaguar. Then the kids entertained us with a 'play'. Then...

Granny babysat for us, so Scott and I could go on a date.

Hence the Evening Outfit. For our date, I changed out of my t-shirt and into a green shrug and my usual black flats. I grabbed my mini-bowling bag handbag that I'd used this morning with my casual outfit and easiest costume change ever.

Tonight was the first night out Scott and I have had together since moving to the US. It doesn't seem like it, but we've been here almost 4 months, so it was high time. We never got to go out for our anniversary, so this was our make-up date. We went to go see a very romantic movie, Don Jon.

Oh, did I say very romantic? I meant very disgusting. But entertaining. But disgusting.

It was just really nice being away from kids for a couple of hours. We didn't get to do much talking or catching up, but even just the silence and being next to each other was blissful. Though I have to say, the price of movie tickets is bloody ridiculous.

We came home to a cheerful baby and two almost-in-bed daughters. I put Jaguar to sleep, and my mother-in-law and I watched a couple episodes of Bodies. She'd never seen any of them before, so I enjoyed watching her squirm during the gross, bloody parts. I also enjoyed watching her reaction to the plot line. I hope she's up for watching a couple more episodes again with me! (I did not, however, enjoy watching the nudey scenes with her. There are still some lines that oughtn't be crossed with the mother of my husband!)

Tomorrow, if we're lucky, we'll hit the zoo, before Marion flies to Texas Monday morning to spend a week with her Texan family. I'm hoping for some good thunderstorms tonight while getting ready for bed, and then a nice cool cloudy day tomorrow.

Arkansas is much more tolerable with clouds.


If you're going to try to ruin my picture by making a dumb face because of the flash, you're going to get that picture put on the Internet.

ODP Day 4: Homecoming!

 

I don't know how it happened, but today I was thrown back to approximately 13 years ago in my past. I went to a Homecoming Parade.

Not just any Homecoming Parade, MY Homecoming Parade. My alma mater, my high school. I heard the cheerleaders young enough to be my daughters calling out the same cheers they did 13 years ago. I watched school club 'Sweethearts' in Barbie dresses ride on top of convertibles and wave like the Queen. I actually cheered a loud, inappropriate 'WHOOOO!' when the Forensics and Debate Sweethearts drove by. I got a little teen-angst when I saw all the popular girls who got voted Homecoming Maids and Queen smiling their (what I perceived as) fake, condescending smiles. I felt like I had zits on my face all over again.

And I had a lot of trouble believing that they didn't look back at me and see a cool (ish) teenager with red hair and piercings,  but a soccer mom in her 30s sitting in the trunk of her mini van looking a little like mutton dressed as lamb.


I'd forgotten how awful high school is.

The parade was fun though. The kids loved it, even Jaguar. There were marching bands and a gazillion cheerleaders and the ROTC and fire trucks and some local businesses with floats. Even though the humidity was torture (particularly for my mother-in-law's Scottish blood), we enjoyed ourselves and were glad we made the effort to go. (We nearly didn't.)










I picked Fifi up from school, and we drove straight to the parade, though it wasn't starting for another hour and a half, to avoid the traffic. We got a great parking spot facing the street and walked down to the ice cream parlour to kill time before the parade.

I say ice cream 'parlour' but I should really call it ice cream 'nirvana'. This was the first time I'd ever visited the 3 Flamingos Frozen Yogurt, but it won't be my last! The place was amazing. It was a self-serve frozen yogurt bar on steroids with every conceivable flavour of frozen yogurt you could imagine* and every possible topping you could ever literally dream up. You choose your fro-yo, top it up with sugary awesomeness and weigh it to determine the price. It was A.MAZ.ING.

(*Redundant wording, yes, but necessarily so.)

Ice Cream and Gran - what more could they want?

Buzzing with parading patrons.

Tahitian Vanilla and Gummy Bears for Lolly.

This is how much Jaguar loved the fro-yo.

I will be going back there often, with or without children.

******

Oops I think I blinked.

So, you've seen the sneak peaks of The Dress already now, but here are the 'official' shots. We were running late this morning for school, so there was no time to get artsy-fartsy with the camera-phone.

I wore The Dress at a top today, tucked into my jeans. I loved the look, but it was too daggum hot today for it really, and I pretty much cooked all day long. The bird scarf and the pinstripe hat didn't really help with the heat. The shoes were my $5 number from Kmart.

Fifi wore The Dress under her school t-shirt, with a pair of pop socks and light-up graffiti sneakers. She wore a matching red ribbon in her hair. The t-shirt came off halfway through the day at school, because it was so hot, and then she swapped the dress out for running shorts and the t-shirt again for the parade. Fair enough, it was really humid and awful today.

******

One last thing. Last year, if you'll recall, I participated in the October Dress Project to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support in Scotland. This year I still want to do the project for a cause, so I'm opening up a Pampered Chef Fundraiser Show to raise money for Help Whip Cancer. 15% of the sales will go to charity, so if you place an order, you'll be contributing to the fundraiser. It's the only way I can think to do ODP for charity this year, so please feel free to share the link with whomever, and hopefully together we can make a difference!

ODP Day 3: Solidarity Sister

I wasn't very inspired this morning by The Dress. I tried a couple of different things, but nothing felt right. In the end, I opted for black leggings under The Dress, burgandy heels (which got ditched super early, as they are not comfortable with bare feet!), and a zebra print belt. Why a zebra print belt? Because I own exactly two belts. I put my hair in pigtails for lack of anything better to do, and added a heart necklace. I'd post the heart necklace and zebra belt close-ups, but my other half needs all our current bandwidth at the moment, and I'm banned from uploading. Good thing I uploaded some photos to Facebook this morning, which I can 'img src' to.

Fifi, however, was very inspired by her dress. She wore a black and white striped blazer of Lolly's, since her pink and navy striped blazer needs a new button sewn on, her Hello Kitty hat (the black and white chevron ribbon matched the blazer) and a blue hand-knitted scarf from her Neena. She completed her ensemble with rainbow striped ankle socks and her neon wedge sandals. Has that girl got style, or what?

I asked her after school how her dress went. I am not going to lie, I'm worried about her getting bullied for doing this. She said, "It was great. No one even said anything about wearing it yesterday. No one even noticed. You know what Dorothy said to me? She said, 'You look dazzling.' I was, like, 'No more compliments!'" I think so far, she's going to be okay.

It's actually really fun doing this with Fifi. I may not have Heather and Susan and Kirsty participating with me this year, but I've got Fifi. It's fun seeing what ideas she has about fashion. She's too young to get the greater concept of this project, but she's loving the challenge.

The greater concept for me, I think, is going to be tough this year. I'm trying to keep it Simple; my whole year has been about simplifying, but sometimes I think I'm having to take it too far. I love clothes. I love dressing up. Having so few accessories and shoes and clothing pieces to work with is frustrating. It makes me want to shop. It makes me want to blow caution to the wind and go on a spree. But I'm not giving in. What do I really need? is the constant question of the day. It's tough breaking shopping habits, especially when to some degree, there actually is a need (aka I have nothing). But I'm relearning the meaning of 'need' this year, and it's a good lesson, albeit not very fun.

For now, though, I'll not focus on the rubbishness of what Simplicity is costing me (or not costing me, to be more exact). Sure it would be nice if I had my old collection of belts and scarves and Primark solid coloured t-shirts in every colour imaginable, but I'll make do with what I have.  Tomorrow is another day with the same dress, and I'm going to go to bed imagining what I can do with it from what I've got lying around.




EDITED TO ADD...
a couple more photos. If you're wondering what's up with the seemingly pretentious lighting effects across the upper left hand corner of each shot, it's my artistically smashed phone screen running across the camera lens.

ODP Day 2: Mixing Patterns With a Cherry On Top

Today was another long day. Good, but long.

All morning, the black clouds billowed over us and thunder rumbled in the distance and little showers of rain wet our lawns, but the heavens didn't really open until later this afternoon. We were able to get a lot done in the morning before the rain came, and then when it did come, it was beautiful.

Marion made cups of tea, and I sat in my rocking chair nursing Jaguar to sleep in the darkened living room, watching the rain fall from dark clouds, while Lolly sat quietly with Granny on the couch, with an iPad, and Granny knitted. It was so calm and peaceful - so unusual for a mid-afternoon. It was a simply wonderful break in an otherwise hectic day.

This morning I drove Fifi to school since the skies looked so threatening. When I got back, I did some homeschooling with Lolly while Marion did a little tidying up for me. Then we all took yet another trip into town (I seemed to have whistled a happy Cheerio to the September Shopping Challenge!) to run some errands. We came home, had lunch, did some more cleaning and then enjoyed our storm break. The storm break had to end though at 3pm, as I rushed back to the school to pick up Fifi (in the car again) and came back to do more cleaning and cooking. I needed to get everything ready for family coming over for dinner and for babysitting a friend's kids. I got pizzas baking and out of the oven just in time for the three kids whom I was looking after to arrive. Moments later my dad and stepmom arrived with my brother, and just after that came my other brother, sister-in-law and niece. It was a wild and busy night - and that was the adults! The seven children in my house tonight were perfect; we heard narry a sound come from any of them.

The family all left one by one, leaving me and Scott with six kids. We put on a DVD, popped some popcorn, and I tried desperately to stay awake until 11.15 when their parents arrived to pick them up. I am now utterly exhausted.

But not too exhausted to show you my outfit for today.

Today I mixed patterns with stripes. I wore The Dress with a corset-reminiscent cherry patterned top layered over it. I paired it with frilly socks and black shoes and even accessorized a bit more with a cherry necklace and earrings. I've recently totally gotten into the mixing patterns thing, so I liked this one today.

But you know what I liked even better? This:


Fifi, my six-and-a-half year old, wants to do the October Dress Project with me. So she has chosen a cute sky blue dress to wear. She paired it today with white knee socks and neon wedge sandals, and her fringe (bangs) pulled back with a clip. I wonder how long she will last this out with me? She's a pretty determined girl, until she gets bored, so we'll see! I asked her what she'd say if anyone tried to tease her about wearing the same dress each day and she brightly said, 'I'll just tell them I'm doing a challenge!' She is so confident, I love it. I can't wait to see how she wears her dress tomorrow!

October Dress Project: Day 1

It's October 1st!

I woke up this morning and stepped into the shower, half asleep, wondering what I was going to wear today. I had a stripey t-shirt lying out that had only been worn for a couple of hours last night; I thought, 'I'll wear that. Now what goes with stripes?'

Then I remembered. Stripes.

I was kind of relieved and kind of worried. It was calming to realise that for the next 31 days I won't have to think about what to wear in the morning. On the other hand, for the next 31 days, I have to find ways to make my dress interesting.

I chose a stripey dress for two reasons. One, I felt last year's black dress was just too easy, and this year I wanted more of a challenge. Two, I don't have as many options this year, due to not owning very many clothes or accessories any more and due to the warm not-so-good-for-layering climate here.

Today, I decided to wear The Dress pretty simply as just The Dress. I put on some black flat Mary Jane shoes and my silver heart locket. I had two turquoise hair clips pulling back the sides, since I didn't have time to straighten or blow dry this morning, and so I used the turquoise to further accessorize with earrings, a hand clutch and a scarf (the latter two knitted by my mother-in-law who is visiting from Scotland right now). Admittedly, it was really too hot most of the day to wear the scarf, but I persevered. It's a long month to wear no accessories simply because of the heat.

*****

So today was a really long, tiring day. Maybe it was the humidity, but I just felt the life had drained out of me today. Being super busy from the moment I woke up didn't help I suppose. I am just so grateful Scott's mum is here; I would not have done well today if it hadn't been for her. Tuesdays and Thursdays are aggravatingly busy around here, with soccer practice starting at 5.30. Fifi doesn't get home from school until 3.30, and we need to leave at 5 to get to soccer on time. It may not sound like much, but in that hour and a half, I have to cook dinner and actually get us all fed that dinner. It's just not enough time. Marion took all three kids outside to ride bikes while I fixed some spaghetti for my darlings (and us) to scarf down before practice. I felt like I was half dead trying to multi-task the dinner-making, and Pampered Chef stuff, and getting soccer equipment rounded up. I got it all done (mostly) and just before I started getting the kids ready to leave, Marion offered to keep Jaguar at home with her, so I could get a little peace at soccer. I could have cried; little did I realise it until she said it that that was precisely what I needed. So I left Jaguar and took the girls to practice... and actually somewhat relaxed! I got to have normal conversations with the other parents ... who knew?!


*****
I'm now in bed, spending precious time that could be spent folding laundry or sleeping (sleeping), making sure I get my ODP post written. I loved checking in every day last year and want to commit some time to doing that again. I love this time of year; between ODP, NaBloPoMo and DeBloAdMo, I got the winter blogging covered! I do wish I had someone else doing ODP with me this year. Last year was so much more fun with my solidarity sisters, but for this year, the October Dress Project Facebook group will do. Perhaps it will form into a theme for next year's self-improvement. This current year it's all about Simplicity, perhaps next year it can be about learning the value of going solo!