Snow Day for both kid and me…

I couldn’t get to work today.  I should have known better than to try when I saw the 3-foot snowdrift in my driveway, which has since returned.  The wind was blowing so badly that there was about a 100% chance of going into the ditch.  The ditches here are not shallow either – let’s just say that my little square car would not have been seen from the road in the ditch. It was so warm yesterday that all the snow melted, then last night it dropped 35 degrees in 4 hours.  It was a veritable ice field today.

No going to work for me today.
Thank goodness for remote workplaces…

Glitter Glue Princess has been occupying her time with multiple sewing projects  – so far a cat bed filled with catnip, a bookmark and a totebag.

No sewing for me, though – I’m still working…

A Big Foundation For A Small Plantation…

That statement is what my father used to call me, and well, now it appropriate for the Glitter Glue Princess.

We were looking at the Hushpuppy outlet at the Merrell shoes for her yesterday, not finding any that she was happy with. Her feet were getting a bit big for her size 3′s, so it was time to find new shoes. The 4′s were o.k, but we could not agree on any that were acceptable. I looked in the womens 5′s and found a pair she liked – they were *too small*! Finally, we found a similar pair in size 6 that she could get her foot into -I’ll say it again – size 6. I’m totally freaking out here – is it normal for 9-year-olds to have this big a foot?!?!?!

Of course, after she realized that she could fit in women’s shoes, she decides to try on heels. I warned her – “Oh mom, they are only kitty heels, they will be o.k” she says as she rolls her ankles around and can barely stand. Umm, me thinks the child has seen too much “What Not to Wear”. Then she tries on some harley davidson wedge sandals with fire embroidered on them, laughing the whole time. I’m still freaking out.

She settles on some of the most boring gray Merrells I’ve ever seen. They look like work shoes to me. At least they fit, have a nice wide toebox and they make her happy, as they look more “grown up”. The world of shoe possibilities has now cracked open and my daughter is not looking back.

I’m still freaking out.

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! (insert sound of head banging on wall here)

In the transition of my computer over the last two weeks, I had a sudden realization that I couldn’t find the last 3 months of pictures. AAAARRGGHH! I’ve got nothing from October to December 27!

I found a file called My Albums on my external drive that I moved, but no My Pictures.

Please learn from my mistakes and make SURE that you have everything before you reformat your old computer drive.

I’m off to my photo host to retrieve my pictures now – thank goodness for that at least. I’ve got all the decent pictures that I managed to save at the very, very least. After that, I’m backing everything up onto a dvd. That will teach me, right?

Webkinz, webkinz, and more webkinz…

Introducing the Glitter Glue Princess’s Webkinz Kollection… (She made me do this….)   She took all these photos and insisted on sharing:

The crew:

Honey:

Cosmo:

Blue Berry:

Dancer:

Fairy Magic:

oreo:

Vanilla:

She was very specific on the spelling of each one’s name, just so you know.

This concludes our presentation. Thank you…

A wordless post – the views from our house…

A Fleece Fest…

Yay, sewing for me. This post is a bit overdue, but I just got pictures taken.

I sewed Kwiksew 3459.  The pattern is extremely easy – front, back and buttonhole stabilizer.  The collar is a bit tricky if you fly blind without reading the instructions – I sewed the seam in the collar facing out as I was following the lines of the back seam the first time.

The first version is in hot pink Malden Mills 200 fleece. While it is very nice, and doesn’t look like your standard fleecey jacket, it seemed a bit, ummm, short in length for those of us over the age of 30. Seeing how clean the line of the front was, I was hesitant to put the pattern’s button in it.  See below:

For me as the wearer, I’d prefer my jackets to end a bit more longer. While not evident in the picture, the uncomfortable part of this as the wearer is that my bustline makes the bottom of the jacket stick out and not lie flush with the body.  So, I made a modification – extended the length a generous 3.5″, and used the hooded version of the pattern for the following:

I prefer this one, because it feels more like a cropped jacket while I am wearing it, and the bottom DOES lie more snugly against me as I wear it. At least now, I can stay warm at work and look at least a wee bit fashionable.

What I like most about this pattern is that it gives the impression of a boiled wool shrug, without the wool! (I’m allergic.)

I have plans for a third, in a mid weight grey fleece, and this time, I’ll put the button on it…

Sigh, dreaming of tie-dye, colorways, and Vista…

The weather has been unusually warm. So much so that I actually thought about going out into the garage and doing some LWI dying – I owe R&M a dyed chair cover to make their couch; my winter wardrobe doesn’t have enough color in it to keep me sane over the winter months… The problem is that I’m not prepared to bring dye powders into the house. There is too much chance of them getting onto other things, like carpeting, my fabric collection, or my grout in my tile floor.

I’m ready to branch out a bit on my dye adventures for myself and go to new color combinations….  I have found a few websites, more intended toward the web developer, that have led my mind to try a few new options:  Color Combos, and the Color Scheme Generator are a couple that are great fun…  This one inspired me to try raspberry and orange together for a new shirt…

Even though the weather gods had blessed us with warmth in January, my mind was distracted. S agreed to let me get a new computer, as mine has had sluggish performance issues in the past. His parents were looking to get something new, and quite frankly I didn’t see them managing to figure out windows vista too easily. So, since I needed a less sluggish computer anyway, we’re opting to reformat my existing machine for his folks. I found a new machine on Sunday, picked it up last Monday, and have been fighting the reinstallation of my software ever since.

The glitter glue princess appreciates that she can have her own screen instead of having to share, and she has taken to it like a fish to water. I’m just having to bear through little burps and hiccups that come with trying to reinstall everything we need back on the machine.

This whole vista compatibility thing is driving me nuts too – I can’t run my old Nero software, can’t run a few of glitter glue princess’s old games (that I must admit to playing more than her now – shhhh!).  At least, for now my embroidery software and pattern drafting programs still work.  Those are the ones that matter most….

Then…. there is the black screen of death, as I’m now calling it.  I’m in the midst of discussions with HP and microsoft on how to handle a little problem that Vista is having.  When my computer goes to “sleep”, it actually goes into a coma and won’t come out till I unplug it.  I get no reaction at all from restarting the computer.  This has monopolized the majority of my time of late.

So, if you are wondering why I’m not around, give a little pause and send good thoughts my way while I try to hold my temper with this transition….

Be The Duck – Quack, Quack

Glitter Glue Princess is at that age where little girls begin the whole rumor spreading thing about each other. She has not been herself of late, and while driving last night she told me that a couple of girls are making up rumors about her, that the boy who sits next to her is her boyfriend, that general sort of thing. One of her friends told her about this because the friend didn’t know if they should go to the teacher about it or not. She was internalizing a lot of anger at these girls, but rather taking it out on me.

So, last night I taught her about my new bit of wisdom and mindset – Be The Duck.

I developed this while working in an atmosphere of rumors and poor behavior too.

It is like this: Ducks are waterproof – they shake their feathers and all the water just rolls away. What ever rumors, lies, and such come at you – if you are the duck, they will roll right off.

It is kind of like the childhood rhyme “I’m rubber and you’re glue; whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you”.

Quack, quack, quack. This is our new mantra at our house. She’s only in fourth grade, so we’ve got a long ways to go…

My sewing resolutions

1. Sew something for me more frequently. No offense to my kidlet, but sometimes it feels like I do more basic sewing for her than for myself, which would be much more mentally challenging. Admittedly she has needs as she grows, but I need to balance my sewing so my closet doesn’t look 5 years out of date, which it does right now.

2. Become more proficient at Pattern Master Boutique. They are coming out with a new version next week, and while my items sewn have been nice, I know that there is more I can do with it. I really need to get measured again, as my body feels to have gained padding from from my last fitting, and I’m hesitant to let a relative do it again for true objectivity. I admit to using the Child’s Play more than Boutique, as it just makes sewing for the kidlet easier than modifying every pattern I bring in the house for her.

3. Clean my closet of all things that don’t fit – see #1.

4. Re-seek my own personal style. I’ve never been one to follow trends. I used to be a funky boho style gal who had long skirts, empire waist dresses and cool shoes – the cool shoes are still there, thanks to the Merrell outlet nearby, but I feel that the funk has gone, after my wardrobe was altered from being forced into a uniform for two years. Right now, the most funk I have is my tiedye shirts, and they have been known to be quite polarizing in terms of style – you either love them or you totally hate them. I need to find myself again, as I fear that the boho style will now look frumpy on this body. Anyone have any good references to give me a shove???