Holiday Displays in the Library

Years ago we found out that the Friends of the Library paid a local person hundreds of dollars each year to decorate our trees. Frankly, I was shocked. I mean, they were nicely decorated, but hundreds of dollars to decorate a tree?  Shortly after I found that out, we took over decorating our own trees. I wish I had thought to post our trees over the years as some of them were pretty great, but I did not. Anyways, here are this year's trees.

As we are a public library and we don't have a big budget, we try not to spend a lot of money on decorations. Last year our white tree was decorated with office supplies, including colorful post-it notes with reminders for Santa as to what each employee would like as a present.  Our large tree is a 9 foot tree and it can be a challenge to decorate such a big tree inexpensively. This year we decided to decorate with large tissue paper flowers...its the ROY G BIV tree. (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet don't ya know)

This was my Director's tree, and she filled in the spaces with lots of ornaments and silk flowers (we have a ton of them donated to us). It is a pretty spectacular tree, very colorful and eye-catching if I do say so myself.

I decorated the white tree, which seemed a little less white and a little more dingy this year. I went for subtlety with aqua and violet and only gold ornaments. The "garland" I used were left over from our Light Parade costumes...we were lit up jellyfish. The garland is made from bath scrubby things...what is the correct word for them? I don't know. You just cut the string holding them together and you have a nice long garland.

The other seasonal decorations were these ballerinas with snowflake skirts and this was a Pinterest idea that my coworker Kathy found. The bodies were cut out of posterboard, and the snowflake skirts from large rolls of paper.

Lastly, here is our entry for the Light Parade. We decided not to push a bookcart as we have in the past, as that also entailed pushing a heavy car battery hidden on the cart!  We liked the change so much we will probably not include the cart again if we can help it.

Here are photos of our Light Parade entries from the past couple of years, including the bookcart.

Happy Holidays to all, whatever you celebrate, or don't celebrate.    L

I'm starting to create displays for this year's Summer Reading Program. Our theme is "Every Hero Has a Story".  This theme had me really thinking about just what exactly I think a hero is. My first thought took me back to my childhood and watching the astronauts land on the moon. There is a wonderful book, "Team Moon - How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon" by Catherine Thimmesh that I used as my inspiration for this shadow box.

 I also thought about the bravery of Harriet Tubman, who risked her life and freedom to conduct slaves through the underground railroad.  I was inspired by Kadir Nelson's beautiful illustrations in the book "Moses - When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom" by Carole Boston Weatherford. My Harriet was done in collage and the background figures were watercolor illustrations.  Inspirational quotes from Harriet Tubman were featured on the back of the shadow box.

Most traditional fairy tale heroes are men, a fact I never considered before.  I made another shadow box for Sleeping Beauty, featuring the moment Prince Phillip is fighting the Dragon, and I made a large beanstalk, (from packing paper wrapped with floral wire) for Jack to climb to the giant's castle. I will be creating a castle to hang high up in the ceiling, with a cloud underneath (probably made from quilt batting) when it gets closer to summer. The beanstalk leaves will need to be attached to the stalk as well.

I started some super hero display pieces too. The first was just a mobile to hang up, it can be adapted to any super hero logo. It features the Captain America logo on top, with a picture of Captain America on the lower half that includes all his pertinent statistics.  I have a lot of places to hang mobiles, so I can do quite a few of them.  the other superhero I finished was an over-sized Jumping Jack of Superman. I reinforced all of the punched holes as kids can be kind of rough pulling on things.  Last of all, I made a couple bulletin boards, the Bat Signal cityscape one being inspired by Pinterest posts, and the Spiderman one with a web cut from brown craft paper.

 So that's it for now. I will publish more photos as I finish more projects.

A couple years ago I made a miniature replica of the Goodnight Moon room. I tried to include all of the many details of the room. I really enjoyed when I would see children ask their parents to pick them up so they could look inside. The next year I did Peter Rabbit's home underneath the roots of a large fir tree. This year's Summer Reading Program was a science theme, so I wanted to have a miniature that would also include something scientific or technical. I considered a factory scene of some sort, but I wanted my project to be book-related.

I decided to my project would be a tribute to Angelina Ballerina, the book character created by Katharine Holabird with illustrations by Helen Craig. After looking through many of the books, I settled on an illustration of Angelina's Dance Studio.

I used a cardboard box with a lid that was for copy paper. The lid was place upside-down and held the mechanism that turned the dancers.

 

Because the dancers spun as the crank was turned, I had to make them double-sided. The background figures did not move.  

The chandeliers and side lights were made from a sturdy but thin clear plastic. The side walls were lined with foam core board, so I was able to cut slits into the board and slide the side lights right in. The mirrors were cut from mylar, and I used rubber cement to attach them smoothly. I used small pieces of lightweight wire to hold the wooden ballet bars in place. The wire supports were poked into the foam core board.  All of the figures were glued to cardstock for extra sturdiness.  The curved roof of the studio was built from illustration board. 

I made the windows by laminating white tissue paper and cutting them to shape. They were just translucent enough. I painted the outside of the boxes a dark orange-y red and made it into bricks with a white crayon.

I included instructions so kids would know that this was something that moved, with an explanation of how it moved.

Sometimes the kids can be a little rough, however, this made it through the whole summer and it still works!

I haven't made a parade float for the library in years.  This year though, the library is putting an operating levy on the ballot and I thought we needed to be a presence in the annual Grand Fair parade. At first, I was going to make an igloo from milk cartons with the theme being "S'now Better Time to Read", but the Mom and baby I had in mind to ride the float turned me down, so I had to think of something else.

The fair had a weather theme...it was "Forecasting Record Fun at the Pemberville Fair". 

I decided to go with a pun, because well, I always go with a pun.

I decided I would make a giant goose, and dress up as Mother Goose, with the float theme being,  Fair Weather..."Fowl" Weather.

I had leftover cardboard from a local church's bible school. I believe this was a flying saucer for them.

I painted all the pieces white, as I knew the "feathers" that I would have covering the goose might show any color underneath. It was a white goose afterall.  I built a wooden frame to hold the goose down and strapped it to the trailer. I also added furring strips to the inside to give it added strength. The cardboard was held together with zip ties - my favorite cardboard construction tool.

The feathers were made from quilt batting. I used a low loft batting as it was cheaper. I looked at photos of feather patterns on geese so it would look more real. The feathers were applied with a staple gun, with hot glue holding down loose ends. I also used white spray paint to give the feathers a more shadowed effect.

The head and neck were built from concrete forms which can be purchased pretty inexpensively at Home Depot. I used 2 twelve inch wide forms, and one smaller form for the beak. After I cut the pieces, I taped them, and primed the entire head with white paint. I added feathers for the white part of the head and used orange tissue paper on the beak. I covered it with Mod Podge, so in case it rained, the bill would not drip orange!

I added eyes made from sparkly fun foam. It was sticky-backed foam, but I didn't trust it to stick, so I added a screw into the head to hold them in place. All I needed was for an eye to fall off mid-parade.
Parade day was beautiful. I made myself a Mother Goose costume. The skirt used $5.50 worth of a blue/green plaid material from a garage sale, and I cut a blue tank top down the middle to give sort of a bustier effect. I borrowed a witch hat from my daughter and added some ribbon to it, and I made a mob cap out of white scrap material I had lying around. My shawl was a vintage tablecloth!

The parade day was beautiful and I was glad we participated. The light parade is coming up in December! I will have to start thinking of ideas!

Using the resources provided for us!

This past week my Director looked up at the mobiles made from tree branches with Ellison die cardinals in them (that are hanging from the children's room lights) and asked what I was going to put up there for summer. This was a fair question considering those branches have been up there since the first weekend of December. I have to say though, I have never received so many compliments on any idea before. And it was so simple.  Naked branches with a red cardinal in each...the perfect winter decor. I thought about adding spring blossoms to them with tissue paper, but I was so busy with decor for Summer Reading Program workshop that it just didn't happen.

So anyways...back to the question...what was going to replace the cardinals? I hadn't considered it at all.  The Dig Into Reading theme is all about underground and when you are hanging things up, well...how do you hang up the underground?  And then it came to me, hang up "slices" of the underground with underground dwelling animals in them. At first I thought I would just use brown posterboard, cut out tunnels and laminate the creatures inside....but I don't have a laminator that is big enough. Then I looked at this year's poster. It showed underground burrows with yellow backgrounds. I could cut out burrows and glue yellow posterboard over the openings.

The best thing of all though, is that I could use Scott Nash's wonderful illustrations that were mine to use as they came on my SRP cd-rom. I enlarged them to the size I wanted and also copied and pasted to a second page which I then flipped horizontally...this way I could hang them up and they would be double-sided.

I cut out the brown posterboard first, traced the cut out part over the yellow posterboard, cut the yellow posterboard out with about 1/2" overhang and glued the yellow posterboard over the opening on the brown posterboard. I used clear tacky glue and put it on the floor of the storytime room with heavy encyclopedias on it to keep it from warping.  I cut out the Scott Nash characters (in color!) and when the posterboard was dry, I glue-sticked them to the inside of the burrows. I used my thin sharpie marker to make the details that had been cut off...the mouses tail and whiskers, the porcupine's quills, the hatch-mark shadowing.

 I used markers to add the detail to the layers of dirt, and I cut the bottom of the brown posterboard so it wasn't perfectly straight.  To hang them up I will use punch a couple holes through the top and hang it with monofilament.  So that's it, my easy idea. I let Scott Nash do all the artwork and all I had to do was cut and past. And a little shadowing.

Puppy Storytime

Last night we had a puppy storytime at the library. I haven't ordered "Charley's First Night" by Amy Hest with adorable illustrations by Helen Oxenbury, or I would have definitely used it.

 The books I included were "Some Dog" by Mary Casanova,







 "Good Boy Fergus" by David Shannon,







 and "Little Dog Lost: the True Story of a Brave Dog Named Baltic" by Monica Carnesi




I have done quite a few dog storytimes, and I needed a new craft. After looking online for a dog front and back template, I thought to myself..."I am capable of drawing something better than that."  I drew my pup front and back and made copies of it on cardstock. My storytime kids are pretty young, so I cut the shapes out myself, leaving the coloring, folding and gluing up to them. Each dog will need a strip of paper (approximately 2" x11.5)  This will be accordion folded and glued to the front and back of the dog. Please glue the folds so they face sideways and not up and down. If you glue up and down, the dog will sit down, and I think the kids would prefer that they stand.  I wish I had thought to take pictures of the finished dogs that were every color of the rainbow. 

Here is my sample: 


And here is the template. Feel free to use it.

Lilly and I share an appreciation for 1960s fashion, especially dresses from the mod era.  Anything that Twiggy would wear. And most especially an appreciation for Yves St. Laurent's 1965 Mondrian dress.  I decided I would try to make a version of this iconic dress, using a vintage pattern.  I found Vogue 4304 at an estate sale, and decided that, with some modification, this pattern could provide the basic outline of the dress.  I modified that pattern by removing all darts. I also used a finished Vogue Paris Original 1715 dress (designed by Patou) to give me some guidelines as to where the dress would be divided into rectangles.

    It was no trouble to find a nice solid knit at Joann Fabrics, however, I couldn't find a blue (too royal!), or a yellow (too orange!) that would suit. I ended up purchasing a blue polo shirt and a yellow polo shirt that were closer to the original colors at a thrift store. They were very inexpensive and I didn't feel wasteful cutting them up for fabric.

  I also bought a lighter white knit to be used as lining for each piece. I felt that if I didn't use lining, all my careful cutting would pull and stretch. One of the reasons this dress took so long was that I hand basted each piece of lining on to the dress fabric. I was being meticulous, but now that I'm done, I'm happy with the results. And here they are!

I did it! I did it! uh-huh, uh-huh

Okay that is me being all celebration-y. I sewed 4 bridesmaid's dresses, 4 junior bridesmaid's dresses, one flower girl dress (which was definitely more of an alteration of a dress I previously made...but still counts!) and one bride's dress. And veil. And it isn't even July yet. So there. I did it.

The past couple of weeks I would wake up in the morning with bridal dress anxiety and could not get back to sleep and would have to get up and sew. I would just be lying there thinking that I had to hem something or put a zipper in or what have you and no matter how hard I tried to think of something else, I could not get that thought out of my mind. So that's gone. I don't seem to be having any anxiety about hemming Al's pants or taking my dress in. I'll get around to that.

Maybe now that I'm done with major sewing I can also hang up all the things for my sewing room wall....thimble cabinet, thread and bobbin holders, bulletin board...maybe I can get that done on Friday afternoon. Now that we're just 2 weeks ahead of the wedding, it may be time to start the major cleaning. Cleaning that includes interiors of stove and fridge. Making sure that cobwebs around the ceilings are gone. Steam cleaning the carpets...I would so rather have them replaced. "Sorry, I don't want to vacuum these ever again, just rip em out and replace with hardwoods." Oh, sorry, I was having my lottery winner fantasy day dream again.

Oh, another word about the dress. Did you know that sewing patterns are sized for B cups? How many people out there are that size? Why do they not warn you, or tell you how you can adjust your patterns to fit someone larger? (the majority of women I would say) Thanks to this website's tutorial, (sewmamasew.com) the wedding dress fits. I would still be struggling with fit if I hadn't found this site. Can anyone say serendipitous?

It Must be Summer if We've Got the Air Conditioning on...

...either that, or spring is very humid. Yes, it is humid consistently, and although I am not a big fan of air conditioning in warmer weather, I am an unpleasant person when its humid. Everyone is spared my unpleasantness when the air conditioning is on. Although I do tend to look longingly at the back porch. (I could be sitting out there reading a magazine and enjoying the flowers blooming in the garden!) Please humidity, go away a bit.

I'm workin on the dress. The important dress. I am actually researching how to put the boning in correctly. The whole bodice is quite a piece of construction if you do it right. I may have an engineering degree when its all over. We dropped the waist about 4 inches which is a huge change to the look of this dress. It may end up looking quite different from what we envisioned. As long as it looks good.

As a back up I have a white bedsheet and white duct tape. Its called draping.

I am sort of thinking I may not wear my vintage hat which makes me sort of sad, because if you can't wear a hat to a wedding, well then, where can you wear a hat? As a matter of fact after being pooped on a by a pigeon with excellent aim at A.J.'s wedding, I would even say that wearing a hat is advisable. That was right before we got into the church. And all over my hair! Damn pigeons.

My dress was to be the last one I made, but now I am wondering if I will really have time to make myself a dress. Attention must be paid to the bride's dress and I do not want to rush it. (okay, the bodice is done- fetch me the bedazzler!) Also, when I looked at Joann Fabric the other day, I did not see fabric I liked in the color I wanted. Actually, I found the perfect color and pattern but the fabric was so heavy...unadvisable for July.

The better half and I went suit/dress shopping the other week which was a painful experience. My daughters know all too well that I am at my most impatient if I have to wait for someone to try things on. It turns on my boredom overheating sign or something. I also do not like pushy salespeople and lines for trying things on. The place we found the suit had lines for the dressing room, so after trying on the jacket we went to Dillards to look for a dress for me. (after promising we would come back to try on the suit). Right away the saleswoman was offering to help me. After finding out that I was a Mother of the Bride, (thanks Al!) she tried steering me toward these bespangled long dresses that screamed MOTHER OF THE BRIDE!!! I HATE those dresses...H-A-T-E! As in barf and yuck. She kept offering her "help" and I just wanted to be left alone to try on...it added a whole new dimension of pressure and unpleasantness to the experience.

We also stopped at the Dillards at Fallen Timbers where the saleslady was just pleasant, not pushy, and only as helpful as I needed her to be...Thank God! Unfortunately, I didn't find a dress there either. Again, bedsheet and duct tape. Afterall Duct Tape comes in so many attractive colors now...maybe Tiffany Blue!

The good thing was that Al found a suit that looks lovely on him. I need to hem the pants. (Duct tape again!)

I am in the process of refinishing a coffee table for Kristin's apartment. It was considerably less of a buy than the other things we found the previous week because of its really lousy scratched up condition. I should have talked him down to 5 bucks. Anyways...its closer to being done and will look so much nicer than the cardboard box she is using now.

Oh, Summer Reading Program has started at work. We are very busy. So there's that too. I remember a time, so very long ago when summers were long weeks of time spent at the pool and playing kickball in Janet Craig's backyard. Oh sweet nostalgia.

Spring Break! Spring Break!

Good Lord, I didn't post at all last month. Okay, so blogging is one thing I am not accomplishing every day. I sewed a bridesmaids dress yesterday. I made another sample bodice to send to Leann, (the first was too small). I sewed Lil an Easter dress last Saturday from an old pattern of mine. So I am definitely sewing and enjoying it.

This past week I had a week off. We took an actual spring break trip which is a first for me. We went to Chicago and I enjoyed it and would go back. Maybe fewer museums next time, although I would go back to the Art Institute in a heartbeat. One of my favorite moments of this trip was climbing the staircase to the Impressionist galleries and seeing "Paris Street; Rainy Day" ahead. I was so thrilled I almost cried. Everywhere we went in that museum were paintings and artwork I was familiar with. It wasn't until we got home that I realized that the game "Masterpiece" used only artwork from the Art Institute of Chicago. I used these paintings to decorate my Barbie houses! (Apparently Al had this game too)

Just a word about the Shedd Aquarium's dolphin show. No, one word won't do it. Dissapointing? Hokey? Over-produced? Stupid? Yes, all of the above. The show is called Fantasea and pretends to pull a random girl out of the audience and about three seconds into that you realize that this girl is a plant. The trainers are dressed in these hideous costumes, they bring these panicked penguins down in front of the audience where hardly anyone can see them, they ask do you like Belugas? Do you like sea lions? And then there are neither sea lions or Belugas in the show. We really wanted to see the belugas and the new calf and his Mother were not on display...which I understand, but you couldn't provide a video camera for people to view them? After paying 30 bucks a person to get in? I really left the Shedd feeling ripped off. The whole audience was like..."That was it? We paid extra for that?" I wonder if Second City does a parody of this show...they should, it was so terrible.

I needed Friday as a mental health day (read: totally lazy do nothing day) and then I felt like sewing again. I have to wake up early if I'm going to sew. If I sleep past nine, the day is shot and I've lost all motivation. I am definitely an early morning type of person.

So tomorrow is back to work and I am sort of motivated to get my butt in gear for Summer Reading Program. Oh so much to do. And oh so much to do at home. It will get done.

When you are not being too active, you tend to think more about TV

I have to say that I am finding the Olympics fairly interesting so far. Sports I didn't care for so much are now more interesting, or is it just better coverage? The woman's slalom last night kicked butt, especially the finals runs when the women really went for it. The wipeouts were just awesome. One comment I have about slalom though is that all these women are future knee replacement candidates...oof. Short track skating was absolutely tense too. At one point I wouldn't let Al leave the room because the last time he left the room a bunch of skaters wiped out. (yeah, sorry Canada, that was Al's fault)

The opening ceremonies were pretty good too. A lot of dancing which doesn't translate well to TV, but the special effects could be pretty spectacular. The moment where the whales swam across the floor of the stadium was a big highlight for me. I also liked the aerialist above the prairies where the music was "Both Sides Now"...that was lovely. K.D. Lang went a little long for me though I liked her song. I've just heard better versions. I felt sorry for the person who didn't get to help light the torch when her pillar didn't go up. I thought maybe one of the other "chosen" could've shared their pillar with her. But no, they were all like, "This is my pillar and I'm going to light it all by myself." Think if someone would've shared, that would've have been a much nicer Olympic moment that people would've remembered.

A couple weeks ago I remember sort of sighing and saying to myself that this was just not going to be a very snowy winter. So ha to me. I will be perfectly fine if I don't have to shovel for awhile. Last week I had a very sore shoulder and neck from moving that heavy snow around. I also had a snow day though which was pretty nice. I made oatmeal/raisin cookies so Al would come home safe in the bad weather...it worked!

Tomorrow night is the first night of the Westminster Dog Show...another TV favorite. I don't have a dog and don't ever plan to have one, but I sure like this annual show. Its the dog Olympics . Actually its more like the canine Miss Universe, but dogs are so much more interesting.

Okay. I'm out of things to say.

On break...but not broken

The home computer is being oh so slow lately, and since I am as impatient as ever, I have been staying off of it. So, I am actually at work right now, but on break, which is funny considering I have been here since 11:00 am, and it is now 7:37 pm. Oops.

We just had someone in here who was making nose-blowing sounds, without the aid of a tissue. I did not look at him, but it sounded like he was making snot-rockets near the DVDs. Susan reports he was actually picking his nose and eating it. I washed my hands with hand sanitizer after he left and after Susan told me that delightful news I wished I could wash my eyes with hand sanitizer too. The pain of that might make me forget the visual I now have. Bleagh.

I am about done with my first Bridesmaids dress and I think Jess's will be next. Although I have to say, I think Kelly should come over and get the measurements thing over with. I am pretty happy with how it looks and it was not too difficult either. 4 pattern pieces!

Also, I am happy sewing in my finished sewing room. The blue is a very tranquil color. And for those of you who have been around me while I sew, you know that tranquil is a good thing. The only problem is that it is supposed to be a cat-free zone, but the cats seem to find their way in to hang out with me while I sew. I need a good lint brush. And a white wastebasket.

Okay, short post...time to close here.

By the way, I forgot to celebrate national footbreaking month. Both Jane and Janet have broken their feet and apparently forgot to invite me to join them. So I am snubbing them both and refuse to participate. So there.

p.s. Kristin says there are 3 ladies at her school with broken feet. And one of them has a daughter with a broken foot.

There's this flaky white stuff falling from the sky...

Oh, how lame. I am talking about the weather. That is what I talk about with patrons I don't know very well. Scuse me please. Its just that you never quite get over the thrill of a snow day. Schools are shut here. I really get no benefit from that though (aside from hearing Lilly yell YEAH! when the school called to notify - good thing it was an automated call) considering that my workplace is shut on Fridays anyway. Still, it is sort of pretty out there.

I assembled my dress forms or mannequins or whatever you would call them. One is red and one is grey and even though they are headless, I sort of feel that they should have names. Ruby would be an obvious one for the red one, but then I thought of a beloved childhood book, "Ann Likes Red" ( A blue dress Ann? No, said Ann, "I like red". A red dress instead.) So the bigger is probably Ann. Scarlett is another possibility. I'm sort of leaning towards Charlotte for the smaller grey one. Maybe I should consider famous headless people? Marie Antoinette, Ann Boleyn, Jayne Mansfield? Ick. Maybe not.

I finally sent my Christmas cards yesterday. I know its late, but I didn't want to not send them. The problem is that I found ones I liked just the week of Christmas and I was already too busy then. I sent my thank you notes in the morning along with bills, and then wrote the rest of the cards during my lunch break at work and mailed them on the way home.

There was a lot of snow on the way home and I found that my scraper had completely broken off my snow brush. I did find a squeegee in the car that sort of took care of the ice. I drove home slowly, but it was definitely not the worst drive I've ever had. The bad ones are at night when its snowing so hard that all you can see is the huge white flakes coming towards you...its sort of hypnotizing.

We may go to Home Depot to get some easy shelf making materials. Easy means laminated boards and crates. I also want to go to Joanne Fabrics and look for more $1.99 patterns. Oh Joanne Fabrics, why are you leaving us? Now, when I need you more than ever? I may break down and buy the aisle runner at 40% off today. Or maybe I will be lucky and it will be 50% off. Or maybe they will be all gone. It's a crap shoot.

Waiting for Miss Kristin to come home from her first job interview. Drive carefully Kitten. Drive carefully Kari the-already-employed. Lilly's got her eye on the sledding hill today...Weeeeeee!
I see hot cocoa in her future.

Save me New Year's Resolutions!

I think the reason that people are enthusiastic about resolutions this time of year is that we are sort of self-indulgent this time of year. Like yesterday when my parents were here we sort of had a cookie buffet for breakfast. We may have fooled ourselves temporarily saying that we were testing the cookies for their "dunk-ability" with the coffee, but really we were just eating a whole lot of cookies. I vowed not to do that today and started off right with Raisin Bran, but after eating sweet potatoes and spinach for lunch ( and believe me, the spinach was au gratin and not healthy either) we another "cookie episode". Anyways, I feel all full (awful) and sort of bloated again. I will be glad to get past all this cookie eating and focus on something healthy again. Like sewing dresses.

I have really gotten lots of things done this month. For example, I put up two grab bars in the downstairs bathroom on Wednesday. I more or less finished the sewing room and we have the majority of my sewing stuff down there. It still needs to be organized, but the room is useable now. My possibly psychic Sister-in-law Rosie sent me a label maker for Christmas that will be an absolute godsend for that room...way to go Rose!

The one thing I didn't do was send my Christmas cards, in part because I had such a hard time finding ones that I liked. I finally found them, and it was the week of Christmas and I was too busy to send them. I think they will make acceptable thank you cards. Or late Christmas cards, depending on who you are.

I did have a lovely Christmas though. I was a little stressy leading up to it, but it wasn't too bad. People were helpful and cheerful. The house looked okay, as long as you didn't go upstairs to wrapping and storage central. The weather was fine for traveling. It was nice to be with our families, which is all too rare an occasion anymore.

One last thing...go to youtube and type in Super Library Lady to see the video that Lilly made me for Christmas. Lilly, you and it are awesome.

(At this point I am contractually obligated to say that Kari and Kristin are awesome too)

It's December, it must be time for another post

I should probably feel guilty about not posting more often, but I don't even have time to feel guilt this week. My day yesterday started at 6:00 a.m. doing some retouching and painting on the room downstairs that was having carpet installed at 9:00. I just couldn't paint in there with new carpet...I just know I would do something like drop a quart of paint all over the new carpet, that is such a me thing to do. So I painted the white trim, took out the garbage, came in and touched up the blue paint where I left some white blotches, made Lil's lunch, got her off to enrichment, folded several loads of laundry, showered, started making soup for dinner, let the carpet layers in, ran to Krogers for onions and tomatoes, finished making soup and stuck it in the crock pot, left for workat 10:30, checked in the deliveries, called the patrons who's books came in, worked on decorating the trees while attending the desk now and then, left for the branch at 5:00 where we did a 2 hour ornament workshop for 16 kids ( at least they were not so noisy as the 20+ kids the night before!), came home, folded another load of laundry, changed, went to the rec center, came home at 9:00 p.m. and ate dinner and watched the Office.

Almost all my tv shows are coming to an end! Dexter and Top Chef are about to end. Project Runway and ANTM are over...geez, I will have to read a book or something if there is nothing to watch! Or maybe I can even sew!!

Speaking of sewing...the new carpet went into the guest room/sewing room yesterday and I love it and I love Kirians! They are the best. I have not bought flooring from them for about 4/5 years and Mrs. Kirian still remembered my name when I went in. They give great customer service and they are just the nicest friendliest people...makes me want to install new flooring in every room. (no, they are not sponsoring this blog post)

Tonite Al and I have to go to Home Depot and get some baseboard for me to prime and paint so we can get that installed and move some furniture back in that room. I am moving all my sewing stuff down there, and some of the stuff that was in that closet is going upstairs. Fun, fun, fun.

This is Kristin's last day of student teaching and I bet she gets all emo. I can't believe 2 of my kids have graduated from college. Of course I had a Senior in high school helping me at the workshop last night, and I realized that I had her in preschool storytime many years ago and she used to insist that I call her Goofy. Hehe. I reminded her of this and then I said, Wow, I'm old!

I had such good dreams last night. I went to a big garage sale where everything was vintage-y and cool, and not outrageously priced either. Although I did reject some things as too expensive. Yes, I am sensible even in my dreams. I was really wondering if it was a wise thing to reject a black Patty Playpal in perfect condition at 79.99. Hmmmm. I will have to look on Ebay and see if I made a good dream decision.

The Days are Noticeably Shorter

I have to say that when I think of November, I think of grey skies and cold. (sorry Kristin) Its sort of like February in that respect. So imagine my happiness that this has been such a lovely November so far. Two weekends in a row of 60+ temperatures and sunshine. On. a. weekend.

So yeah, I've been accomplishin'. This week I painted the downstairs bedroom in Benjamin Moore's "Glass Slipper"...a soft grey blue. Its the kind of blue, that when you open the can, you say, "Hey, this is white". It does dry blue though, and I think its a nice peaceful color and much better than the unhappy beige color. I wonder who gets to name paint colors? I mean, I was deciding between "Glass Slipper" and "Sweet Dreams". I don't remember what the Beige color was, probably "Mucky Road Beige". I think its probably too easy to go wrong with brown shades. On the other hand, I love the Beige in my entry. (Benjamin Moore "Bleeker Beige".) Don't ask bleeker than what.

I brought carpet samples home and am trying hard to decide...which is very very difficult when the samples are only about six by six. I am getting a berber for this room so I can sew in there and not lose pins in the carpeting. Ya know what would work best for this? Hardwood!

Once I decide which carpet, we will order it and then I will be racing to get the wood trim up and painted. Or painted and up. No wait, Painted, and up, and then re-touched. That's more like it. Then the furniture can be put back and the sewing machine brought down. And the sewing can begin. At least, thats the plan. It would be nice to have at least one bridesmaids dress done before Christmas.

I packaged up some presents to send to Kristin for her birthday, and now I have to go and make this weeks Christmas cookies to freeze. Tonite...Lemon Crinkles...my favs. Best cookies for dipping in your coffee ever. Yum.

Just an observation before I close...there are times lately when Lilly seems so grown up. And then there are times like the other night when following a dinner of spaghetti I went to the bathroom and there on my formerly clean white handtowel was a mouth-sized orange stain. Or I was watching a video she had made on Youtube and I discovered that the Kleenex from my bathroom had disappeared because she made her Webkinz a couch out of the box, and the actual Kleenex was now a bed for her Webkinz dog. (the video was a tour of her dog's house)

At least she has stopped spilling cups of water and breaking glasses.

Trick or Treat

So last night we were watching the Hallmark Channel (! I know!) because it was showing a Disney classic, "The Three Lives of Thomasina", which we hadn't seen in like, forever. Whoever wrote the music for this one, also did the music for Pollyanna, cause it sounded just the same. When I remarked on this, Lilly asked, "What's Pollyanna?", and I was astounded and guilty that she had never seen it. So we will be renting Pollyanna some time in the near future. We also decided that cable should have a Disney Classic on Demand channel, and I am not talking about the animated movies.

Later in bed we were discussing what other movies would be on this channel. We came up with, The Ugly Dachshund, Clarence the Cross-Eyed Lion, That Darn Cat, The Love Bug, Old Yeller, Blackbeard's Ghost, The Shaggy Dog, and then there are others that we don't quite remember. Almost all starred either Dean Jones or Kurt Russell. Al was saying that there was a movie called "The Teenage Computer", which turned out to be "The Computer That Wore Tennishoes". And I am certain that there is a movie out there called "Bimbo the Wrong-Way Otter", but I could be wrong on that one too. Bimbo sounds wrong for Disney. I also think there is a movie about a raccoon named Rascal who makes a big mess in the house. Animals making big messes in the house is a reaccuring theme in these Disney movies.

I took 4 bags o' stuff to Goodwill yesterday. They only sat around for like...a month and 1/2 before I took them, so yay me! I also finished Lilly's Halloween costume, based on her own design. She is going to be a Ninja Bunny. I had to make fluffy numchucks to go with it. The outfit is pink and she has a fluffy bunny tail and bunny ears. It is long sleeve and long pants but unfortunately it is going to be cold tonite, so she may be a lumpy layered Ninja Bunny.

Last year we had hardly any trick or treaters which was sad. Except that all the kids at the library got my extra candy, so it was nice for them. Al is out getting candy now, so you can just bet that there will be Nestles Crunch and Mounds (he likes 'em) and SweetTarts (which he does not like and gives to Older Kids.) Unless on Halloween day, those choices have already dissapeared off the shelf. I have to carve my pumpkin today, which leads me to ask, why did I get such a big pumpkin again? So I would have even more glop to scoop out? What was I thinking?

Come back Indian Summer! I want more of you!!

Ginger Ale and Chicken Noodle Soup

Okay, it seems like a very long time since I've written anything here. I remember vowing to put the shut-off valve on the washer and that was accomplished.( Of course, while it was being installed, a fitting blew, spraying water all over the laundry room floor and making water spots on my kitchen ceiling...hey, wait a minute, isn't this why I am having this done?? So that doesn't happen?) Luckily we have some spray on Kilz, so the spots are gone. I need to find some ceiling white that will cover the Kilz, as it doesn't quite match.

Last week was something of a blur, as Kristin called, crying, on Tuesday afternoon. She was feeling very sick and her Doctor wanted her to get chest xrays. I jumped into my car and made the trip to Berea to bring her home. Luckily, she did not have pneumonia, but did have the flu, so got Tamiflu right away. I took her back to school on Sunday, (a beautiful day!), with plenty of chicken soup and other things to make sure she eats now and then.

I have still continued to make accomplishments, but most are nothing major. Some sewing here and there, although I did make a bedskirt for my bed, which was a fairly big job. I made the bedskirt out of scraps from the headboard material. I intended to buy a new bedspread as our old one is showing its age, but I can't seem to find the right color. Lands End has discontinued the green color, so I need to find something in a similiar color. I suppose white would work too, but something tells me that white would not be the greatest choice. I will keep looking.

I fell asleep in front of the tv last night and woke up around 12:30. I went upstairs to go to bed and stopped to switch the laundry from the washer to the dryer. As i was doing this I look up and there's Lilly (scared the poo out of me!) and she says, "I woke up!". I said, oh, okay. After I was done with the laundry, I went to kiss her goodnight and she wasn't in her bed! I thought...she thinks its morning and she went downstairs...and that is exactly what she thought. She gets up at 6:00 a.m. most days and goes down to sleep on the couch until I wake her up again. So I went downstairs and there she was asleep on the couch. I informed her that it was not quite 12:30 and she needed to go back to bed. I took her back upstairs and tucked her in. She was a bit shivery, and I thought a bit warm, but at that hour, she was not interested in taking any medicine.

Of course this morning she has a headache and fever. Yesterday she had a sore throat, but managed the whole day at school and swim club too. So right now I am home, and waiting to see if Jane wants me to come in today. (Al can cover today, but not tomorrow) If I stay home, I may actually get something done! Right now, I feel the need for coffee.

Good health to everyone!

Diversity in the Workplace

I have tried to diversify my accomplishments a bit this week. I got Kristin's curtains done which was a big check off the list, I got 2 test bodices sewn for Kari's dummy dress, and cut out and sewed the skirt for that dress too. I also basted the skirt onto the experimental bodice so she could try it on. I think she has decided for the changed bodice. Which I think is called a "basque" waist. I cleaned out my kitchen junk drawer for the first time ever I think. I also added a couple more coats of drywall mud, but that is such a slow process it doesn't feel like I'm really getting things done.

Today Lil and I went through her closet and dresser and put her short sleeves in the dresser and hung up the long sleeved tops. She had to try on all of last years long sleeves to see what fit and what would be passed down. This is a job we always dread, but actually its not so bad to just do it and get it over with. I need to put some stuff together for Goodwill too and donate it tomorrow.

AND I NEED TO REMEMBER TO CALL THE PLUMBER AND HAVE THOSE THINGIES INSTALLED ON MY WASHING MACHINE SO I DON'T FLOOD MY ENTIRE DOWNSTAIRS!
(hows that Dad?) Of course, saying I have to remember to do this and actually doing it are two very different things.

At home we are fighting the battle of the Fruit Fly. Did you know that one fruit fly can lay 500 eggs? I think we have 100 fruit flies laying 500 eggs each...I am sick of seeing the little buggers. We have vinegar traps all over and have resorted to vacuuming them up, which is a lot easier than smashing them in your hand. There is a certain satisfaction in actually smashing one in your hand though...the odds are against you though - fruit flies fly fast. (say that 5 times fast!)

Oh, lovely October. You are my favorite month.

Okay, well now we can have Indian Summer

There was frost on the lawn this morning and the house was so cold that we turned on the heat and its still on, although I will be turning it off before I go to work. I also made Autumn Soup this morning which is making the house smell good and cozy. I made home-made applesauce last night because I realized that Lilly can't bite a whole apple with her braces and we were out of fruit other than apples. Back to Haslingers to replenish the apple supply during work break today. I also took the screen door off and replaced it with the storm door. So I guess I am doin' things.

My accomplishments are still crack-filling though, because it takes a long time before I am satisfied with it. I don't want to see that those cracks were ever there. I have lots more things I can think about doing though. If I am going to sew in that downstairs room I want to repaint it first, which means I have to prime it first. I finally got muslin to line the drapes for Kristin's room, so I can also do that. I need to have a day off to get something like that started...hello Friday!

Tiney goes to vet tomorrow for second set of shots and also to see if she has worms. I hope the treatment doesn't involve giving her pills because that is one of the most difficult things to do...getting a cat to swallow pills. It takes at least two people to do it. How do single cat owners give their cats pills I wonder? It boggles the mind.

Is anyone enjoying watching the PBS/Ken Burns movie about the National Park System? I have been watching it and it makes me want to go and visit them all. It also makes me feel very lucky that my parents took us out west when we were kids. I have wonderful memories of those vacations and the many beautiful places we visited. The Rocky Mountains, the Sand Dunes in New Mexico, the flat golden fields of Kansas...we really live in a beautiful country. I have mostly blocked the memories of Janet getting carsick. No seriously, thanks for that Mom and Dad.

Time to turn off the heat and ride the exercise bike.