You know how sometimes you're going along thinking you're doing a great job at that mom thing and then you're late to something and you lose the directions to the school project? I hope not. It does not feel very good.
First, I was late to the Halloween parade which meant Hartwell was the only one in the whole class without his costume. If you know me at all you know I am never late, ever, this was a miscommunication in scheduling. They send home about 8 pieces of paper with the exact same info and maybe one of them tells you something new. And that's the page I didn't read.
Then, I realize Hartwell's Dias de los Muertos diorama box is due in two days. And I didn't have the coloring pages that Hartwell is supposed to color and cut out. I put them in his homework folder for safe keeping and they were removed when he turned the folder in! Not wanting to pull a second FAIL! in a row, we went to Michael's in search of leftover Halloween stuff to make our box. Did you know Michael's no longer carries any crafting supplies? It's like a room full of floral centerpieces and Christmas villages. The superstore and its "stock what sells" mentality is driving us all back to the local, independent craft stores. Just like I planned! Ah-hahahahahahaha!
So, after buying a whole lot of NOTHING at Michael's, we went to the 99 Cents Only store. Don't be fooled, it's actually the .9999999 cent store, which is a dollar! I am not stupid! But they, at least, had some skulls and skeletons.
Down the street form the Just Call it a Dollar Store is an awesome fabric shoppe that I knew would have dias de los muertos fabric. Hartwell picked out two fabrics and we drove home all pumped full of righteous indignation and shouting anti-corporate sentiments! "Why you such a bitch, Michael's!" exclaimed Beckett*.
Back to dead day box, Hartwell and I tried to think of someone to make the altarpiece for. First, he suggested "Maggie and Audrey's grandpa." Which I thought was adorable, and a little creepy, but mostly adorable. We don't have a ton of relatives who have passed away/our extended family lives far away. So he doesn't know anybody who has died. I suggested my Grandma Lylia. Bee was really upset to hear my grandma had died.
Grandma Lylia was my vintage/antique/fabric/embroidery shopping companion. Most of what I know about that stuff came from her. For the "picture" above the altar, it was explained we could do something that represented the person. So Hartwell learned to embroider and made an "L" for Lylia.
It turned out pretty cute, for a dead person memorial. It was much harder than it looks as everything I bought had to be spray painted or somehow fixed.
After I finished the project, which was a couple of hours with red paint and spray glue covered fingers, I got an email that explained that the Dias de los Muertos boxes will be due on Friday. As in I now had three more days to finish the project.
Blergh. I need a Cheesy Blaster.
*not really.
