Blue, White And Blue-Grey Duffle Bag

Lately I've been thinking about how time is passing so quickly that if I'm not careful, I may lose many moments in my kids' lives. My boy is 13 and my girl 11 this year. It wasn't that long ago when they were just little kids running around. Now I hardly see my son who stays in school until evening. I see my girl more but she has her own thing going on - music, books and facebooking.

Recently my son asked me to read this book, The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. This is an unusual request. In the past it was I who would recommend books to him. Naturally I was a little suspicious. Might it be required reading from school which he wanted me to read so I could help with his homework? Well, as it turned out, it was required reading but he thought I would enjoy the book. So, I'm going to read it so we can share. And I'm delighted that my son thought of me.

One of the "casualties" of my son growing up is us not enjoying the same music anymore. When he was little, I introduced country music to him. My husband introduced country music to me and I became hooked. Now, this may seem normal to some of you readers but understand that I live in Singapore. If I tell anyone here I like country music they'll go "Whaaaat?" and laugh so hard they pee in their pants. So naturally I was so happy that my son enjoyed country music and in iTunes, his playlist was similar to mom's playlist. So cute, right? We liked Brooks And Dunn, Garth Brooks, George Strait, Tim McGraw, Trisha Yearwood and Tracy Lawrence. Those magic days are over. Now my boy is just like any regular kid who listens to pop. In a way it's good he's over country because I don't want him to be treated different in school. Probably get beaten up! Now he introduces pop songs to me.

My girl and I shared Barbies and TV shows. Sadly, she's over Barbies. Why do kids grow up so fast??

In a desperate bid to hold on to more moments of my kids' lives, I started Movie Night. I copied this idea from Dad who would get the kids in my bed and they would watch something together. So when Dad's at work, and everyone's free, we watch a movie together at home. My son gets to choose the movie because he is super fussy about what to watch. The first movie we watched was Slumdog Millionaire. It was entertaining. The second movie was Bolt. It's an old movie about a dog-actor which believed it had super powers and got lost and had to travel across the country to save its co-star. It is the funniest movie I've ever watched. I'm someone who doesn't laugh easily when it comes to humour unless Steve Martin is in it.. I've often wondered why everyone's laughing at the cinema and I'm not. You should watch it if you haven't already. Laughed till I cried. Just imagine: Super Bark!

Back to my bags. Are you drooling over my latest bag? Because I am.  My husband calls this a duffle bag. I don't think it's a true duffle bag but I'll call it a duffle bag anyway. This bag is constructed the same way as The Money Bag. From a sewing point of view, it is an extremely difficult bag to construct mainly because the seams on the lining are hidden. But the result is well worth it. I included 2 front pockets and piping!

I'm sorry my husband had to pose for me again. Next time I'll dress up and be the model. In case you're interested to know how my husband's green jeans (see pic) helped save the Singapore economy, go here.

Can you see my husband in the background leaving for work? Okay, back to the bag. The pockets are binded for a sleek look to go with the piping.

See how hot it is over here?

The inner pockets match the outside. For the lining, handles, piping and binding, I used an odd blue-grey twill. Loving this bag. Might make another one!

Countdown to May MAAD. (1st to 2nd May) 3 out of 6 bags I said I would make for sale. 3 more to go in 6 days. See ya next post.