I'm wearing my modest dresses every day now. My energy is climbing again, and I'm spending most of my time sewing for our upcoming LOTR Hike.

The girls are at school. The boys and I won't start homeschooling till after Labor Day.

I looked at patterns for plain dresses, but they're not cheap, and I'd have to buy the fabric, too. I finally remembered Ebay--they have lots of Amish and Mennonite-made and styled plain dresses, in all sorts of fabric choices and sizes, in all price ranges. So that's the cheapest option--and re-using a dress is much more earth-friendly than making new anyway. Plus I don't have to do the sewing! :-)

I'm bidding on a few very inexpensive dresses. I realized that if they don't fit just right, that's okay--I'll use them to make my own Amish quilt, with the right colors.

I've been sewing and watching movies with the boys simutaneously. But then I turned the tube off, and discovered that not only is it so much more peaceful sewing in quiet, but concentrating on my work more, I got it done much faster. Learning to focus on just one task at a time is an Amish habit I want to learn.