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.