Whew! Friday, May 30 2008

Didja miss me?  No?  Oh well. 

Sorry about being MIA for so long.  First, I found a hobby besides playing The Sims 2 and watching TV:  Needlecrafts.  Specifically cross-stitch and embroidery.  I had so much fun sewing those pillowcases that I decided to find something else to do along the same lines.  Hobby Lobby is a great place to go for inspiration when you want to learn a new craft, but have no idea what.  I found, of all things, two kits, one for embroidery and one for counted cross-stitch, that were from the “For Dummies” line of instructional materials.  Perfect!  I knew next to nothing about sewing and things of that sort, so a kit for dummies was just what I needed.  What I have discovered is that I really like the cross stitching, but don’t really enjoy the embroidery so much.  I like the results of the embroidery, but the actual crafting is, well, boring.  It’s just satin stitches over and over and over…and over.  Bleh.  But, I didn’t even know what a satin stitch was two weeks ago, so I’m glad that I learned how to do it. 

On top of being just slightly obsessed with needles and thread lately, my power supply to my computer went kaput.  Or, actually, it was on the verge of going kaput.  My monitor would just go blank after several hours of being on, so we originally thought that it was my video card, but when the power supply was pulled out, we noticed a couple of resistor-thingies that were corroded.  The hubby is 75% sure that this was the problem.  It could have been an issue with overheating, since when he pulled out the power supply he noticed that the fans were all clogged with dust and cat hair.  Wonder how THAT got there?  So, between cleaning out all the dust and whatnot, plus the new power supply, I should be good to go.  The hubby reports that he’s not 80% sure that one of those two things were the problem.  Is there anything I can do for a solid 90%?  That would make me feel a lot better!

I have about one more week left of my break and then I return to school.  The kiddo is still in school, but next week is his last week.  This past Monday, while the boys were outside turning perfectly good pieces of meat into smokey beef jerky, I realized in the middle of a cross stitch that I finally felt ready to return to school.  Each semester really does take a lot out of me and it takes a bit to recover from it.  I feel like the past few weeks I’ve been convalescing instead of just being on break from school.  I’m not exactly looking forward to 16-hour days, but I do feel like I can get through them.

Well, that’s pretty much it.  I have an embroidery project calling my name, begging me to please finish it so I can move on to something more interesting.

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PICTURES! Monday, May 19 2008

I promised, and I’m finally able to deliver.  Apparently, to email pictures from my cell phone, I have to be away from the house and sitting at a red light.  That’s the trick.  Who knew?

First things first.  Pillow cases.  I have finally finished both new ones, but the second new one was just finished last night, so I don’t have any pictures of it yet.  It turned out SO much better than the first one!  We learn as we go, right?  So, here’s what the original case looks like. 

This is not the best view of the old pillowcase, but you can see the general pattern and how worn it was getting.  Especially in the right portion of the picture, you can see how the pattern is fading.

And here’s a slightly blurry close-up of one of the holes I’d managed to wear in the cloth.  Poor thing!

The material for this first new case is flannel pajama material, so it’s very soft. 

The pattern is a bit girly, but very cute.  I need cute in my life from time to time. 

The button on the front flap is just decorative.  It’s a happy kitteh!  As cute as all this is, there was still a problem…

Without the pillow in it, the front flap overlaps nicely.  With the pillow in it, though, and the corners peep out at you.  I fixed this on the second case.  I should have pictures of it soon.  I’m really happy with how it turned out!

And, because I know you skipped all the damned pillowcase pictures for this, I’m going to give you the couple of shots I could get of my hair.  They’re not great pics because it’s a bit difficult to take pictures of yourself!  Also, I hate that whole taking a picture of yourself in the bathroom mirror thing.  If I can manage a better picture, I’ll post it, but these will do to give you an idea of how short I went. 

Sorry about the red overtones.  I forgot to fix the white balance on the phone, and had the overhead light off.  Dummy me.  You can really see how short it is now, though!

I….have no idea what the expression is on my face.  I guess this is what it took to get a (more or less) centered shot of the side of my head.  Again, the length…magnificent!  I can literally wash my hair, brush it and walk out the door.  LOVE IT!

I’ll keep trying to get better shots of my new short hairs, and then finding red lights outside the neighborhood to send them from!

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Sew (So), a needle pulling thread…..and now my arm is tired. Wednesday, May 14 2008

I just finished eating the most delicious ice cream cone in history.  Really.  It helped that I was really, REALLY hungry.  It also helped that I was eating it in celebration of grades being released today.  I made all A’s. 

Didja see that?  Read it again.  Does it give you chills, like it did me?  No?  Hmmm…..

So, yeah.  Insert something about hard work paying off and all that, and you’ll have my thoughts about my grades in a nutshell. 

Anyway, today would have been a good day even without getting my grades.  It didn’t start off too well, because I slept MUCH later than I wanted to.  Since I’ve been on break, I’ve been letting my body tell me when to get up instead of relying on the alarm clock.  This morning, I woke up at 11.  I guess I was tired!  Well, when I saw the time, I just panicked.  I hate sleeping that late.  I threw on clothes, tracked down the only other person in the house who was awake (hubby was home, but is working graveyards right now) to tell her I was leaving, grabbed the paperwork I needed and dashed out the door. 

I only had a couple of places to go today, so there was no need to rush, I just didn’t feel like being out of the house until dinnertime trying to get those two errands done.

So, first I stopped at the gas station, since I was sitting near empty ($3.62/gallon!!!  Yikes!), the trekked into Baytown to get the Hubby’s tags renewed for his car.  They expired at the end of April, but I kept forgetting about them and he kept forgetting about them, and now they’re expired.  I expected to have to pay a fine, but I didn’t, thank goodness.  The line at the courthouse was pretty short, and what few people were ahead of me were being dealt with quickly.  When it came to my turn, the lady the helped me just went on and on about how much she loved my wedding ring and that when she’s been married for long enough, she’s going to get one like it.  You go girl!  Good luck!  It was nice, but a little embarrassing, mainly because I hate being the reason why people’s heads turn.  And then, when I was asked for my birthdate (for check verification purposes), the customer in the line next to me leaned over and said, “Happy almost birthday!”  Very nice, but very weird.  How often do you pay attention to other people’s birthdays?

Once I was done there, my stomach started reminding me that I left the house without a bite to eat or even a drop of coffee.  This was okay, because when I left I wasn’t hungry yet!  I stopped at Captain D’s to get a fish sandwich and Diet Coke, then proceeded to eat the fish from the sandwich but none of the sandwich….stuff, drank half my soda, and was totally STUFFED.  I was really happy about that!  Their regular fish sandwiches have very little “fish” and a whole lot of “sandwich”, so to be full from that little bit was just a delight.  I need to make a mental note to never eat there again, though, because everything was just dripping in grease.  I was wiping my hands for half an hour after eating because I just didn’t feel like I was getting the grease off. 

From lunch, I wandered over to the other side of Baytown and visited Hancock Fabrics.  I haven’t been in one of those stores since I was a little kid and I went with my mother!  It’s nice to see that some things don’t change as radically as others.  I needed to pick up some fabric, thread and decorative buttons for a couple of pillow cases I am making.  Years and years ago, my sister made me a pillow with a decorative case (covered with kitties, of course!) for Christmas.  I have slept with it every night since, and will even take it with me if I am going to be gone overnight.  I can no longer sleep without it!  About 2 years ago, I had to throw out the actual pillow because not only had the stuffing clumped into uncomfortable balls, but the fabric that the pillow was made from had holes worn in it.  I purchased a small travel pillow from Walgreen’s as a replacement inner pillow, and continued to use the original outer, decorative case with it.  A year ago, I replaced the velcro that holds the case closed.  Finally, last week, I noticed that one side of the case was nearly see-through, it was so threadbare!  So threadbare, in fact, that the very pattern was nearly invisible. I was sad to admit it, but my trusty, old pillow had seen it’s last day. 

I know zero about real sewing, mind you.  I have no idea how a sewing machine works, but if a button falls off, I can replace it.  If the button hole is too loose and I keep coming unbuttoned, I know how to fix that as well.  I can even mend simple tears and hems.  But to sew something from scratch with just fabric and thread?  Never done it.  The design for this pillow case was so simple, though, that I figured I could try my hand at it.  The case’s pattern is just like an envelope, with velcro on the flap to hold it closed, and a decorative, oversized button at the tip of the flap just to add a little whimsy.  I got home around 2pm and immediately got started.  I didn’t have to cook tonight, so my evening was totally free to focus on these pillow cases.  Around midnight, I finally finished the first one.  Not bad for a first try, but there are things I’d like to fix on the next one (I bought enough fabric for two cases).  When my phone is charged again, I’ll take some pictures of the original and my new one for comparison. 

I guess it would help if I mentioned that it took me ten hours to sew this thing because I was doing all of it by hand!  I still don’t know how to use a sewing machine. 

OH!  I totally forgot to mention that the Kiddo and I went to get our hairs cut yesterday.  I am now sporting a very cute, very short (for me) wedge.  It’s so short, in fact, that the stylist had to shave my neck.  I was freaking out a little, but I’m glad I went for it.  I really wanted something drastically different from anything I’ve ever had before.  This definitely fits the bill.  Yeah, the last time my hair was this short, there was a doctor in the room telling my mother to push.  But I LOVE it!  I should have done it years ago, really.  I figured that now was a good time to start looking for a ‘do that will work for me when I enter the working world again, but will still be easy while I’m in school.  Have I mentioned how much I love this hair cut?!?  I’ll try to take a picture of it tomorrow too, but no promises.

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Things you notice at 3am Saturday, May 10 2008

:snort:  I just noticed that I only posted five times in April.  Twelve times in February, but only five times in April.  It just goes to show you what finals can do to a girl’s time.

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Downtime Friday, May 2 2008

Yesterday, I took my last final of the semester.  Today, I am officially “off”.  And so, to commemorate this great day in history, I present to you another meme (unabashedly stolen from Robyn at www.bitchypoo.com.)

 

Title: Unknown

Would you kill your neighbor? Nah.  I do wish the folks on the right would keep their garbage in their garbage cans and their garbage cans in a place that raccoons can’t get to them, but otherwise they’re all okay people.

What were you doing ten minutes ago? Reading email.

What did your last text message say? Are you alive? (to the Hubby)

Who have you talked to most today? My Dad and Neptune are competing for top spot so far.

Do you carve pumpkins every year? I have no reason to.

What are you wearing? Shorts, t-shirt, sandals, hair in ponytail.  I’m breakin’!

Who’s on speed dial 2? Don’t use speed dial.

Whats your favorite season? Winter

How are you feeling right now? Pleased and a bit drowsy.

What did you do this past weekend? Finished up final projects and papers, and studied my butt off for finals.

How many times have you moved?Hold on.  I have to work this out.  From Houston to Pearland, from Pearland to somewhere else in Pearland, from Pearland to Sagemont, from Sagemont to Friendswood, from Friendswood to Pearland, from Pearland to Katy, from Katy to Friendswood, from Friendswood to  South Houston, from South Houston to Alvin, from Alvin to Channelview, from Channelview to Spring, from Spring to C’s house, from C’s house to Baytown, and from Baytown to Crosby.  That would be 14 times.  Yuck.

What is the last thing you touched? I’m touching my keyboard right now….

Would you do anything for someone else? What does this even mean???

Have you ever been called a punk?Maybe, but not ever to my face.  Cuz I’d mess you up! 

Was yesterday better than today?Yesterday was more exhilarating than today because I finished my last final.  Today is more pleasant because I got to sleep in, and lounge around the house with no worries.

What is your ring tone? Depends on who’s calling. If is the hubby, it’s s a rock theme that came with the phone, if it’s another family member, it’s “We Are Family”, and for everyone else it’s Newsboys “Wherever We Go.”  

Do you have a favorite number? Nope.

Do you hate anyone/anything? Nope.

Does your best friend have a myspace? Nope. (We’re on a roll!)

Last time you went out to lunch? On Monday, I went to lunch with three of my classmates/study buddies/friends to celebrate the end of the semester and their upcoming graduation.  It was awesome and hilarious.

Do you have any music you’re ashamed of? Nope.  I think more people should have my taste in music.  LOL!

Have you ever been in a physical fight with the opposite sex? I don’t think so…seems like I’d remember something like that.

How old will you be in 2 months? Thirty-four.  My birthday is in 26 days! 

Do you think you’ll be married by then? Oh yes, I think I’ll still be married.

Do you have one or more Britney Spears CDs?  Nope.  Her music never appealed to me because the girl can’t really sing.

What did you do last month? I was in school, in the midst of due dates, projects and tests.  Need I say more?

Do you have plans tonight? My plans for tonight include the television, a book and the couch.

What’s your favorite movie? There are two, depending on if I want to laugh or cry.  For laughing, VictorVictoria.  For crying, The Pianist.

Do people ever spell your name wrong? Occasionally.

Can you sing?  Yep.

Are you ever a freak about cleanliness or organization? About certain things, yes.  Overall no.  I leave that to my best friend. (Hi C!!)

Have you ever been to South America or Africa? Nope.

Do you know how to knit? Nope.  I never even learned how to use a sewing machine!

What are you doing right now besides this survey? Listening to Newsboys radio, since I had to go to their site (www.newsboys.com) to figure out the name of the general ringtone I had on my phone.  I didn’t know you could listen to all their music on their site!

Do you know how to play poker? The only card game I’m sure I know the rules to is Solitaire.

Baskin Robbins or Coldstone? Neither.  I’ll take Marble Slab any day!

Physics or chemistry? Oooooh!!!! PHYSICS!!!!  Yay!!!

Do you wear any jewelry? My watch and my wedding ring.  Sometimes, if I’m feeling like it or I’m going someplace special, I’ll wear earrings or a necklace, and very occasionally a bracelet, but generally I’m not hugely into jewelry.

What color are your bedroom walls? Off white.

When do you prefer to take a shower, morning or night? Morning.

Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or Star Wars? I refuse to choose between the three.  And for the record, I like ALL of the Star Wars movies.

Fly or road trip? Depends on where I’m going, but I do enjoy a good road trip.

Batman, Spiderman, Superman, Tanner Vineyard, or Shalayna Hatcher? Who the heck are Tanner Vineyard and Ahalayna Hatcher?!?  I choose Jesus.  So there.

What’s your favorite Disney movie? Lady and the Tramp.  I’m a sucker for romance, I guess.

What are you excited about? Getting my grades and dispositions for this semester, and (although I didn’t think I would be able to say this honestly, but I can) this summer’s classes.  Every class is one more closer to my degree!!!

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