chochiyo_sama

Well, Sunday has not been one of the best days of my week--but it could have been worse.

I did not wake up in time to take a picture of Mom's little car. In fact, I only got out of bed to pee a couple of times until after 4 pm. Mom went to her church pot luck at about 4:30--then I went upstairs and ate some of the hotdish she had left for me and took a bath. I feel so much better now that I am clean!

When I came back downstairs, I sorted my laundry, stripped my bed, and started my wash. My sheets and mattress pad are clean and dry. The comforter and pillow shams are in the dryer, and my dark clothes are in the washer. I will have red and white loads to do tomorrow, and I may wash my blanket and afghan as well, just to have a completely clean place to sleep.

I did some rearranging of fabric containers and picked up some doll accessories that have been laying around for a while. I emptied out a shoe-box sized tote that has a top with a handle on it for the Ideal family (Tammy & Co.). I tossed in some fabric I thought would make nice shirts for the male dolls. I haven't put the dolls in there yet. They are all nekkid except for Pepper at the moment.

When Mom got home, she came down for a while and told me about the pot luck. It sounds like they had fun and that the car we made was given many admiring glances, even though it did not win.

There was not much to watch on TV. We ended up watching CSI:Miami. I worked on the doll dress I had cut from the Halloween hankie I bought at Walmart in Rochester. It isn't the nicest fabric--it is pretty thin, but the skeleton and candy corn design is so danged cute I can't stand it. I think it will make a very very cute little dress. The other Halloween hankie is also cute and much more ornate. I am going to have to think carefully about how I want to cut it out.

I have the skirt half sewn onto the bodice. I will finish that tomorrow. Then all I will have to do is sew it up the back, put snaps on it, and try it on the doll.

That's all I accomplished today. I was feeling a little sick to my stomach and had a headache today, so I spent a lot of time just sleeping or messing around with my computer.

Tomorrow I will do better.

Current Mood: queasy
Current Location: Lair
Current Music: Tyger Lilly trying to get moths on the OUTSIDE of the window

I had to be up and out early today as I had to take Mom back to the doctor's office to have a bone density scan. I have never seen the parking lot at the clinic as full as it was today. There was literally not ONE open parking space. We had to park across the street in a lot. I stayed in the car again and sewed. I finished the plaid flannel outfit except for snaps and buttons. I also sewed the polka-dotted black shorts and got the bodice of another summery dress partially done.

When Mom got done--really quickly today--we went to Perkins for breakfast. She had a ham and cheese omlette and I had my favorite mushroom, asparagus, and cheddar cheese omlette with two link sausages.

When we got back to Ellendale, I took Mom to Steve's Meat Market to buy bacon for Cora and Caleb who will be with us tomorrow night while Jack and Kari celebrate their anniversary. Our family is weird. Tammy and Burt's anniversary was Wednesday, Kim and Kevin's was today, and Jack and Kari's is tomorrow. They were all married on different years, but all within a couple days of each other on the calander.

Joni and Jeff are the odd balls. They got married in July.

Anyhow, when we got home, we watched a movie that mom had recently bought. I cannot think of the name of it to save my soul. All I can think of is "Just Go With It." But that is wrong. It's about this young couple and their best friends who each love their friend and the friend's husband, but hate each other passionately. They become God parents to the couple's child and then the couple gets killed in a car accident. It turns out that they have left guardianship of their daughter Sophie to these two together. It's sweet, kind of a tear jerker, and extremely predictable.

While we watched that, I sewed a bit. When that was over, Mom watched the tape from Dancing with the Stars, and I retreated to my Lair to snuggle my kitties and mess with my computer. I came out later and watched some dumb Campus PD realtiy show while I ate my Jimmy Jones from yesterday. Then I returned to the Lair, caught up with all my Scrabble games, and poked around on my computer.

Tomorrow I meet DeAnn for brunch at Perkins in Owatonna, which will make four days in a row that I have had a meal at Perkins...twice in Albert Lea, once in Rochester, and now in Owatonna. LOL. I hope to get up early enough to take a bath before I go--I feel crusty.

Not much else is new. Tomorrow I would like to do my laundry. Mom did hers today. My bedding really needs to be stripped, washed, and my bed remade.

Sadly, that's about all I have for today. Stewie is snuggled tight against my thighs and stomach, purring and smiling. He is such a little sweetie. Peaches is licking Tyger Lilly's tail, and Tyger Lilly is licking her own paw. LOL.

Cats.

Current Mood: eh,,,
Current Location: Lair
Current Music: Cat's slurping and squeaking

I was up earlier than normal today, despite the fact that I was up till 3 am last night. I folded and put away my clean clothes then cleaned the litter boxes and put the new bags of cat food into the plastic containers to keep it fresher. I sprayed the bedroom and bathroom with Fabreeze to freshen it up and sacked up a bunch of garbage. The area next to my bed (on the right side) had become sort of a nest of debris, so I cleaned that all up. I also gave my little black doll a bath as she was sticky. When she was clean, I dressed her in a cute little pink dress. I put away a few odds and ends, like the broom and dust pan. Tomorrow, I may sweep the furnace room, especially near the litterboxes.

Mom carried my bag of recyclables upstairs and set my three Native American Precious Moments vinyl dolls up on the dresser.

I cut out a couple more outfits for Chryssie. She has amassed a pretty good wardrobe already. Today I cut a little paintsuit out in a Christmas fabric. I also cut out a pantsuit with a pirate motif. I think the pirate outfit is going to be very cute. I made the raglan sleeve pattern, but I extended the length of the sleeves and put contrasting cuffs on the sleeves. I also added the same fabric onto the bottom of the shirt. The main fabric is black with skull and crossbones wearing eye patches and red scarves on their heads. The contrasting fabric is red with white stars. The long pants are of the red fabric. I may make another pair of pants with the pirate fabric if I have enough of it left. I have the shirt all sewn except to sew up the sides. I haven't started the pants yet. I still haven't uploaded my pictures to flickr so I can put them on here.

Jeffrey (my brother-in-law) had his surgery--it lasted fourteen hours. Apparently they scraped all the rotting gunk out of his foot on Monday and yesterday the reconstructed the muscles and stuff in his foot. He is in intensive care now--and probably will be for a couple of days. It was much more messed up that they thought--and they thought it was plenty messed up to begin with. Joni says he is in a lot of pain, poor guy.

Joni also said that Erik has already eaten one whole plateful of the sugar cookies. LOL.

It was actually cold today--apparently there was frost in some areas near here, but Mom says she didn't see any frost anywhere this morning. Now it is supposed to get warmer again. I suppose the trees will really start turning now that we have had frost. On the news tonight, the weather guy said that this is supposed to be the best fall color season in ten years. I thought last year was pretty good. I will have to take some pictures if it is gorgeous. I love the fall. The only thing bad about it is that WINTER comes after it.

I started reading Never Let Me Go today. I've had it for some time, but never really got time to just sit down and get into it. I've been looking forward to reading it for a long time.

I brought my vintage Tammy family down to my room a while back, but they've just been sitting in the bag. Tomorrow I would like to take them all out and scrub them up. They look grungy. They are really nice looking dolls except for the fact that they have those crappy legs that spraddle out like Vs when they sit. That makes them look cheap.

I considered getting rid of them, but I do like them, and I can't get rid of my Tammy. I have had her since I was a little girl. She deserves to have a family of her own "species." She lived with the Barbies for many years, and they looked down their noses at her because of her big head and fuller body. At an antique store, I got her Mom and Dad, and her brother (or perhaps her boyfriend--I can't tell the two apart). At a second hand junk shop, I got her little sister Pepper.

Once I get them cleaned up, I'd like to sew some clothes for all of them. They don't have much. Perhaps I can find some shoes for them on EBAY. One day, perhaps, they can have their own "home."

Not much else going on. Mom and I finished the left over KFC for lunch and had popcorn for supper. I didn't go up for breakfast.

Mom is going on a trip with her church group on Saturday. I was looking forward to an excursion--maybe to the movies--while she is gone, but I guess I will be watching Cora instead. Maybe we will bake something. She loves to bake. The hardest thing about living here is not feeling free to go as I please. I enjoy doing stuff on my own--but, I am thankful I have a place to live and am not out on the street or trying to sneak three cats into a homeless shelter. LOL.

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Location: Lair
Current Music: hum of computer..

The very affectionate nature of my cat, who insisted that his very ability to continue living depended on my turning off the computer and cuddling him, caused me to fail to post yesterday. There wasn't a whole lot to say, anyhow...

Monday--

Got up early. Mom was already washing her living room windows when I went upstairs. She is insane about her windows. She must wash them a dozen or more times a year. Mine were never washed the entire time I lived in my house.

I made poached eggs for us for breakfast. We also had toast and grapefruit. Then I went down to the Lair and worked on some stuff. I'm trying to find places for the last of my stuff. Mom came down later with my debit card for my unemployment. I activated it and asked her if she'd like to run into Owatonna with me later. (I knew she wouldn't want to miss her soap opera).

So, we drove to Owatonna and went to Walmart where I got two bags of cat food, another container of litter box deodorizer, and an air freshener to put in the furnace room near the litter boxes. I also bought 2 boxes of generic Nutty Bars, some apples, a case of diet coke, a carton of laundry detergeant which was on sale, a jar of peanut butter, since I heard that peanut butter is going to become insanely expensive in the near future, and two cute little outfits for my niece which were on sale for $3 each.

After Walmart, we went through the drive through of McDonalds for a twist cone. We stopped at Kentucky Fried Chicken and bought the eight piece meal package, all dark meat. We had that when we got home--it was good. I prefer the roasted chicken, but mom likes the original recipe, so that's what we got. I paid for it as Mom had bought my meals at least three or four times while I was poverty stricken.

That was our very late lunch--and we had no supper.

We watched TV for a while, though I don't remember what we watched. I wasn't paying much attention. I was working on the cute little outfit I was making for the Chryssie doll. I have to upload these pictures to Flickr so I can put some of them on here.

Mom had Bible study at 6:30 pm. After she left, I went into my Lair and read for a while. I finished reading The Rowan by Anne McCaffrey. It was okay. Her heroines are always these teeny tiny but fiesty little things and the heroes are always these huge, muscle-bound guys with square jaws and hard eyes that only turn tender for the sweet little chick heroine. It gets old.

I tried to play scrabble on line, but the damned website was not behaving well. I chatted with my former student, Bill Wilson, who told me that he had survived cancer four times and was now fighting it for a fifth time. Then he told me it was a brain cancer and that he had been given 8-14 months to live.  He assured me he intended to beat it again...I hope he can. I suppose he is in his early thirties now. He was always a good kid.

That was depressing.

Tuesday

I woke up today and had a Nutty Bar for breakfast here in my lair. I sure wish I had my little fridge down here because then I could keep milk right in my room and have cereal every morning. I took my meds then started working on my laundry. I had three loads. The last one is in the dryer now. I'll fold it in the morning.

I also cleaned the litterboxes, gave my cats fresh food and water, and put the air freshener out there.

I put away a bunch of books that had been in Walmart bags and worked on the Lair most of the morning.

Mom and I had Kentucky Fried chicken left overs for lunch. Then she came downstairs and we watched a bunch of judge shows while I finished the little outfit I had been working on yesterday. We had hot green tea and some cookies while we watched TV.

Cora came over at about 5:30 as Caleb had a football game and she doesn't enjoy going to the games. She gets bored. I gave her the two little outfits I had bought her and she liked both of them. She sat on Grandma's lap for a long time, reading her book and trying to persuade Mom to take her home so she could ride her bike and Mom could watch her. LOL.

At 7 pm, she and Mom went upstairs to watch Wipeout, which I do not enjoy because I think it is stupid and pointless. I stayed downstairs and watched NCIS. Jack and Kari and Caleb came to get her around 8 pm. They hung out very briefly as it is a school night and the kids had homework to do before bed.

I had begun sewing the little black silky "witch" costume for the Chryssie doll. It is completely done except for the hem and being sewn up the back. I think it is too short, and I am going to add a ruffle to the bottom of the dress to make it longer. I may make it a double ruffle, with the underneath one being made of that black fabric with the holographic silver stars on it. I am planning on making her a cloak out of that as well.  I saw a very cute pair of boots on EBAY for her, and I am tempted to get them for her. I have a $70 credit on my Target card...

My little Stewie Bug is being a big cuddle-bug tonight. He is pressed up as tight as he can get to my stomach. I have to stop typing from time to time to pet him and tell him he is Momma's precious baby boy....yes he is! Yes he is! LOL.

That's about it. Tomorrow, I may sneak out to Owatonna while mom is at bible study--need to get my license tabs and also would like to get some of the stuff she would not approve of--like chocolate candy. Also, I have sugar cookies to deliver to my nephew Erik and some books for my sister Joni. Another thing I hope to do tomorrow is to wash my bedding and vacuum the lair.

Current Mood: blah
Current Location: Lair o' Despair
Current Music: nada

My knee is much better today. I didn't take any of my codeine pain pills today. It is a little tender, but not giving me the agonizing pain that I was having before.

Today, I did a little laundry. I called the unemployment office, and for the FIRST TIME since all this shit hit the fan, I talked to a human being who was actually compassionate and who LISTENED to what I wanted to do. No bullshit about how I should go on disability or give up and retire early. She actually LISTENED and UNDERSTOOD why I did not want to become NOTHING or give up thousands of dollars in retirement funds.

I would think that if anyone was likely to be rude and unkind, it would be the unemployment people--they deal with so much all the time--but she was awesome. It makes the TRA woman seem even more cunt-like in comparison.

We got the news on my Aunt Lily's biopsy today--There are three tumors on her pancreas--two on the outside and one on the inside. There is a cyst on the outside as well. All of the tumors are malignant. This is not good news. All I could think of was Patrick Swayze and Michael Landon...pancreatic cancer is not a good thing.

She took it pretty hard. My uncle choked up when he told my mom.

I did not get much done today--I finished sewing the Asian pattern slacks and top outfit I made for my Chryssie doll. I started on the fourth of July one--got the pants done, and the shirt is ready to have the facing sewn on the neckline. I cut out another little outfit for the Fourth. It will be a shorty "dress" with shorts to wear under it. It's white with hearts all over it, and the hearts are like little American flags, only in heart shapes. It will be a cute outfit.

I warmed up some pizza and took my morning meds at about 3 pm. I sat in the upstairs recliner and sewed while mom called various relatives to pass on the news about Lily. At about 6:30 we went downstairs, and Mom made popcorn for supper. We watched Wheel of Fortune and NCIS. It was the episode where Mike Franks dies. I liked Mike. It made me sad and angry when they killed him off.

Then she watched America's Got Talent. It was okay--but not something I would deliberately CHOOSE to watch on my own. I liked the black guy whose name I don't remember. He sang--and he sounded EXACTLY like Frank Sinatra. He was amazing. Apparently, in real life he works at a car wash. Then there was a group of young kids--one girl and several boys. They sang a Jackson medley--and it was fantastic. That little girl has an amazing voice. If it were up to me to choose, those two would tie for the win.

I sewed while I watched TV with Mom. She has decided that she will come with me to Rochester tomorrow. I have an appointment with my therapist--I'm not sure how I feel about her coming with...I hope she doesn't want to go and sit in the waiting room while I am in there...it would be okay I guess, since I don't scream and cry and shit while I am talking to my therapist. But it would just feel weird.

I took some pictures of the Chryssie doll wearing her new outfits. I put them up in my Yahoo doll collecting folder. I have to upload them to Flickr before I can post them on here.

Mom went up to bed at about 10:15. I returned to the Lair of Despair and took some pictures of the doll clothes I'd made earlier. I caught up with all the scrabble games I have in progress on Facebook. And I roundly cursed Facebook for being so slow and glitchy. I finally got them all caught up--talked to Shane for awhile about the Rethuglican party and their evil ways--and enlightened him about how Ronald Reagun was NOT the kindly old grandfatherly figure he is presented as. He was a callous, cold hearted bastard. He funded terrorists in South and Central America, and is responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians down there. He also began the destruction of the Unions that have protected the workers for generations and set us on the deadly path of "RAY GUN NOMICS." In which it was proven to anyone with a single brain cell that when we depend on the rich to let the money "trickle down" to us poor folk, the only thing that they allow to trickle down on us is their urine.

He showed me the bullshit site, Conservapedia...my God! Seriously????? It is such a pack of bullshit and lies...and in it they actually discuss rewriting the Bible to make it more in line with Conservative values. Seriously???? Don't they know that there is a verse in the Bible that curses anyone who changes so much as a dotted I in the Bible? One more bit of evidence that they REALLY DO NOT BELIEVE IN GOD AT ALL. They just use the concept of "god" to strike terror and loathing into the hearts of their brainwashed minions.

Pricks. If there is a hell, many of them will burn in it. Personally, I don't really believe in hell. I can't see a loving God making ANYONE burn throughout eternity--especially if their only fault was not being a believer.

But that is a discussion for another day. I am trying to be in bed no later than 2 am.

I have an appointment with my therapist at 1 pm tomorrow, and I would like to be up early enough to take a bath and finish my laundry.

Oh, one more thing....fatty pants Tyger Lily knocked the freaking closet door off its slide again...and it is hell to get it back on again. I would like to take both of those doors off, and just let the closet be open, but I know mom would have a fit about that. They don't slide well and they are a huge pain in the ass.

So, that is it from the Lair of Despair....good night!

Current Mood: worried about Lily
Current Location: bedroom
Current Music: snoring cats

More strange dreams last night. They were so random that there really wasn't much of a theme or plot to them. In one part of the dream I was in a large building--it was a school, but it was enormous. I was with a bunch of kids, and we were being kind of rowdy and obnoxious. Something was wrong with the ladies' room, so people were taking turns going into the men's room. Well, I had been waiting and waiting, and when it was my turn, a boy zipped in front of me and ran in. I knew him in the dream, but I don't recall who it was now. Some tall and gangly kid. Anyhow, I said, "Ah, fuck it. I'm going in too." Now, this is not something I would say in real life to a kid. But in the dream, I was feeling kind of devil-may-care and flippant. Inside the bathroom there were long rows of stalls (like the ones in Somsen Hall at Winona State).

The bathroom was old and grubby, but not filthy. The stall walls were not very high--you couldn't see the person in another stall sitting on the potty, but you could see them from about the shoulders up.

Pavlo, one of my former students who was from Greece, was in this dream. Strangely some big, scary looking Russian dude who spoke with a barely comprehensible accent was looking for Pavlo. I don't know why, but it seemed important to keep the guy away from Pavlo.

I think that (in the dream) Pavlo was the son of rich and politically important people, and this Russian dude and his burly associates were going to kidnap Pavlo and hold him for ransom.

I recall that the Russian dude and his entourage arrived in a huge black car...it was not a limosine unless it was an archaic foreign limo.

There was a lot more to the dream, but these are the main parts of it that I remember.

************************

Mom had to babysit Cora and Caleb this morning as Kari had a workshop in New Richland for the paraprofessionals. Mom left the house before 7 am while I was still sleeping. I did rouse enough to hear her leave...but I went directly back to sleep again.

I got up around 9 am and went upstairs to take a bath. I was feeling really grubby and disgusting, and after the bath I felt quite wonderful. I was getting dressed when the phone rang and it was Lily calling to tell us that her biopsy (of the tumor on her pancreas) would be at about noon today. She wanted Phyllis's email address so they could keep her informed of what was going on.

I explained that mom was at Kari's and that we would be leaving shortly to go to Kim's to pick up the McDonald's stuff for her pre-school celebratory picnic.

I was only partially dressed when she called. Then I heard the garage door go up and the patter of little feet as Caleb and Cora raced to the stairs to come down and see me and my cats. They are polite enough to knock, and I hollered, "Just a minute!" as I was only partially clad. I would not want to permanently scar these children by such a sight!

Once I was decently clothed, I told them to come in, and they played with the cats as I put my shoes on.

We went directly to McDonalds as Kim had already called in the order. It came up to $62.17, I hope those parents appreciate all she does for those kids. Some of them are complete brats...but really, that is their parents fault too, for either overindulging them or pushing them away and ignoring them. The kids were very excited about their picnic. :D

Kevin, who had made such a stink about getting the food for her, was not around when we delivered their food. I suppose he was embarrassed, as well he should be!

Mom got happy meals for Cora and Caleb--and a fish sandwich for herself and a 6-piece chicken mcnuggets for me. They handed her two big cups, so she filled them with diet Coke for herself and me. Turns out that they should have been Sweet Teas for Kim and Lucas. LOL. Poor Kimbies.

Well, by the time we got stuff in order for Kim, Cora had finished her meal and Caleb had discovered that instead of giving him a plain cheeseburger with ONLY extra pickles, they had given him a cheeseburger with everything on it, including onions, which he hates.

Cora asked if we could go back to McDonalds and get ice cream cones, and I told her she would have to ask Grandma. LOL. I knew Grandma would deny her nothing. So, I ate my mc nuggets on the way back to McDonalds. We got Caleb a different happy meal, ice cream cones for me, mom, and Cora (Caleb declined), and, for a lark, two sweet teas for Kim. When we brought them back to her, I could not hear her, but I could clearly read her lips, "Oh, what did you guys do now?" Then, "You didn't have to do that."

But, the poor thing's life sucks hard enough with that asshole she is married to. The least we can do is bring her some sweet tea, since she loves it so much.

It made her smile. So it was well worth the extra trip.

When we got home, I sent Caleb down to the basement for my sewing box. We were going back to their house, and I did not want to be bored. We hung out there until Kari got back. Mojo, their new kitten sat with me for a while. He is truly the sweetest little kitten. I can see why Cora had such a fit about leaving him. I think I would have cried over him too. He didn't look too little when I saw him for the first time, but once I picked him up, I could tell he was as light as a feather, compared to my three mooses. He slept for a long time on Mom's lap and for a long time on Cora's lap.

He's this little orange kitten, but he has the loudest, most gravelly MEOW I've ever heard. My stewie is a big boy, but he has a little baby kitten voice still. Mojo sounds like an enormous old hobo cat who's spent half his life swilling white lightning. LOL.

When Kari got home, we chatted for a while as she snuggled little Mojito. Somehow, perhaps on tv, the subject of olives inspired me to comment on how hungry I was for olives. I was actually hinting to mom that perhaps we should order a pizza tonight. (Hint was completely not "got.")

After we left, Kari and the kids ran into Owatonna to get a few groceries. When they came back, they had brought me a jar of those giant, delicious cocktail olives. Mom and I ate a couple immediately. They were so good.

I had a little nap in my lair with the kitties cuddling with me. Mom snoozed upstairs until 7. Her cold seemed better earlier, but tonight, she was hacking and coughing again. I ventured upstairs at about 7:30 to get something to eat. Mom was eating chili left over from yesterday, but I decided to finish off my orange chicken left over from my "date" with DeAnn at Appleby's. It was a little soggy from sitting around in the fridge for so long, but it was still delicious.

Mom and I came downstairs after eating and watched the movie Twister. It is totally unrealistic, but I enjoy it anyhow. I finished the full skirted Valentine dress I was making for Chryssie. She looks awesome in it. I then started the OTHER Valentine dress in the same style which I had cut out for her. I got the cuffs on the sleeves, sewed the bodice and lining shoulder seams together AND got the bodice and lining about half sewn together. I sat up with mom until midnight as she had missed her soap opera today while we were in town and slept through the six o'clock showing of it.

The only other thing of significance that happened today was that Kari gave Mom a book Kim had lent to her. It's called Running Hot by Jayne Ann Krentz. I just looked through it a bit to see if it sounded interesting, started reading it, and like it. I will probably have it read by Saturday if nothing major comes up to distract me.

I barely got anything done in my room. I unwrapped some stuff that was in the laundry basket Kari carried down for me yesterday. I got my stemmed glassware out of it and put it in the downstairs kitchenette. I have to find a spot for the stuff in the cupboards. There are two tall stemmed glasses and four goblets that look like the kind you serve margueritas in.

Tomorrow I hope to deal with the rest of the stuff---or at least much of it. There is very little left in the porch now--but I need to deal what is in my room NOW before I mess with any of the rest of it. I also need to do laundry tomorrow or the next day as I have quite a bit pilling up again.

Current Mood: sort of sad
Current Location: bedroom
Current Music: ceiling fan

Another pretty crappy day, though I did accomplish a few things.

I woke up around 9 am, though I went back to sleep again a couple of times. I got up for good at around 11 am. There was no breakfast and no lunch today. I worked in my room all day until about 4:30 pm. I moved the rest of the Barbie Bazarre and the Nutshell News magazines into the bookshelf in the closet. I put away the other bag of Barbie accessories. I moved the laundry basket full of my afghans into the closet except for the two I kept out to put at the end of my bed. I emptied another laundry basket which really did not have all that much stuff in it. I put away some of my hand embroidered pillow cases--stuck them in with the embroidered dish towels in the dresser in the bathroom. I found a bunch of grungy looking towels and dish clothes that had been in a blue walmart bag. They must have been in the porch and got hauled down at some point. They've been sitting in the laundry basket for quite some time.

I moved the Barbie doll furniture from the tote with no cover to another tote WITH a cover and then made another tote with just the Tonner sized furniture and accessories in it. I moved them to the doorway between the bathroom and the furnace room. Tomorrow I will put them in there in the shelves. There are a couple boxes and totes in there that I have to go through, but I will wait until I get more shit out of the porch. I really want to get that done. Tomorrow will be a big "porch" day. I have my three little Precious Moments dolls which are in the garb of South and Central American indigenous peoples. One is "from" Peru. I don't remember which ones the others represent....but they are so dang cute. They were not cheap either.

I have a few other dolls up there that have to come down too.

I've been thinking of selling the Saucy Walker doll if I can get a couple hundred bucks for her. She's cute, and I like her...but I don't have a real emotional attachment to her. And I am so fucking broke right now. By supper time I was feeling pretty damn hungry--and I was thinking how good a pizza would be...but I have a single one dollar bill and a crap load of change. We had popcorn for supper again. And after mom went up to bed after America's Got Talent, I ate two of my little tapioca pudding cups and a couple of nutty bars.

I finished reading the book After, by Francine Prose. It was a sort of dystopian novel. It was about how the school in a town turns into a fascist prison-like place as they try to control the student body after several teachers and students are shot and killed in a nearby school. I would have thought it completely unrealistic before the Bush Jr. presidency, but now....Now anything seems possible with the Republican Fascist Party.

After I finished the book, I worked on another little Valentine dress--this one with a full skirt and moderately puffy sleeves with cuffs for the wardrobe of Chryssie. I will probably finish it tomorrow if I have some sit-down time.

Because I didn't really eat anything today, I didn't take any of my major medications. As a result, my knees hurt pretty bad tonight. Tomorrow I HAVE to eat, whether Mom is eating or not. I also really need to take a bath.

Mom was a little better again today, but as night came on she was hacking again. She has decided to skip her Bible study tomorrow because she doesn't want to give this miserable cold to Marge, the leader, who is quite elderly or to Sherry, who is battling cancer.

I can't think of anything else of interest to discuss.

Stewie is pressed up tight to me, so I am hoping he wants to cuddle when I finish this entry. I really need a good cuddle session tonight.

My life is pretty fucking bleak at this time. Things may look up once I start collecting a little unemployment. Right now, I feel completely powerless and helpless.

Current Mood: gloomy
Current Location: bedroom
Current Music: ceiling fan

I seriously did not want to get up this morning. If I had been on my own, I would have slept all day. I know I would have. But, Mom came down to ask me something, and to torment and cuddle the kitties. She admits she likes them. :D They are very lovable kitties, I must say.

Anyhow, she wanted me to put my dishes in a tote so they could be put on a shelf in the garage--but when I went up to go through the boxes she thought were dishes, they were not dishes! They were framed pictures and knick-knacks. I packed all the pictures into a tote that will come down to the basement and go on a shelf in the furnace room that was previously occupied by Mom's coolers and canners. She put those out on the new shelf in the garage--and really, they will be more convenient for her there as the garage is right off the kitchen which is where she uses that stuff.

The totes full of pictures and knick knacks were too heavy for me to carry, so I have left them in the porch until my brother or some other big strong person comes over. I may carry the knick knacks down in the Walmart bags as I am hoping to put those out on the bookshelves in front of the books or on a shelf.

I brought a blue Walmart bag full of little barbie accessories down to my room and sorted it out into my tall sterlite drawered unit. The bottom drawer contains miniature food, dishes, and pots and pans. It is nearly full. I may have to remove that stuff from the drawer and put it into a larger tote and put it onto a shelf in the furnace room...I maybe should sort it out so that the food is in one spot and the dishes and cookware are in another.

I found one of my miniature pound puppy dogs for Hector's room. I know I have at least two more, but this is a start. I also found two of the pound puppy horses for Chryssie's box o' stuff.

I finished the Valentine jumper for Chryssie today. It's cute, but it needs something else--buttons or lace or something to give it a little more pizzazz. It is a sleeveless jumper, so maybe I can crochet her a little shawl to wear over her shoulders...or enlarge one of the pattens I have for the Marley girls and make her a "onesie" turtleneck to wear under it--and tights too.

Mom's sickness has gained strength again. Yesterday, I would have sworn that she had just about kicked it, but today she was hacking and choking on those deep, nasty coughing fits again. So far, I have remained healthy despite my exposure to her. I have had a headache that has lingered and lingered for the last couple of days--but I think it is stress rather than anything more serious.

Mom and I had scrambled eggs for lunch. We had Velveeta macoroni and cheese and cabbage salad for supper. When I came back downstairs to put that stuff away, I ate a Nutty Bar for dessert and took my evening pills with a can of diet coke.

I am going to start trying harder to be in bed and sleeping by midnight. It's nearly 1:30 now, so it won't be tonight....however, it isn't 3 am yet, so I'm doing better than normal.

I'm heading to dreamland now--hopefully I will get some more stuff put away in here tomorrow so I can drag a little more down from the porch. I think my Stewie darling is ready for some much needed smoochy cuddling! He is my good little man.

Current Mood: headachey
Current Location: bedroom
Current Music: ceiling fan

When I woke up this morning, I cut out and organized the patterns I had printed off the Kish Chyrsalis Yahoo Group last night. I put them in page protectors, and then I got three different kinds of "Valentine" theme fabric from my holiday fabric organizer. I cut out two gathered skirt dresses and one jumper.

Mom called me up for lunch. We had fresh sliced tomatoes on toast and orange juice. I love the tomatoes on toast. The tomatoes came from her garden and they were huge and juicy and delicious.

At about 12:30, Kari, Tina, and Lily came to pick us up. We met Kim at the movie theater and saw The Help. I really wanted to read the book before seeing the movie, but I did not get to. The movie was good. It was extremely funny in some parts and incredibly sad in others. It's hard to believe that people can be so cruel and nasty to others....but I know it is true. Thank God we have moved past the idea that we will contaminate ourselves if we sit on the same toilet as someone from a different race. I suppose there are still stupid people who think that way....but hopefully most people do not.

After the movie, Kim went home, but the rest of us went to Culvers for ice cream. Mom, Lili, and I had a turtle sundae. Kari had some kind of sundae, but I don't think it was a turtle. Tina had a turtle concrete mixer (Culver's incarnation of the "blizzard.") Culver's has the best turtle sundae. And the serve them with the biggest, fattest, juiciest maraschino cherry you can imagine on top.

When we got home, I went down to the basement to look over the three envelopes full of crap I got from the unemployment office. I filled out four pages of shit. What I filled out before told me that I had to submit my request for payment on August 28, which is today...but when I went to the web site, it wasn't up. The fuckers apparently don't have it open over the weekend. So, why the FUCK did they tell me to apply on the 28th? I suppose this means that getting the benefits will be delayed by a greater length of time.

All these programs that are supposed to exist to help you--they really don't give a shit. They look for reasons to deny you. And then, in the case of those fuckers at TRA, they laugh at you.

Oh, and one of the letters they sent me, the unemployment office said that there was "Something Questionable" in my application that might lead to me being ineligible for benefits. WTF??? I've paid into that shit for all these years. I worked my ass off. I hardly ever called in sick, and I always put in lots and lots of extra time. And now they want to fuck with the benefits I am ENTITLED to? What is their malfunction?

And then people yell at me and treat me like I am being a selfish whiney baby when I am depressed and feeling hopeless....really? really???? I wonder how THEY would feel if they got fucked over like I did, lost everything, and got terminated two fucking years before they could collect their full retirement.

Sigh.

Any how---after I was done messing with all that shit, I took my sewing box into the family room and watched a couple of episodes of Auction Hunters and sewed on one of the little dresses I had cut out for my Chryssie doll. This one is a jumper. I got the shoulder seams sewed on the jumper itself and on the lining. I also got the lining sewed to the jumper and one half of it is turned right side out. I'll do the rest of it tomorrow. I think it will be really cute, but I have to find some cute stuff to trim it up with. It really cries out for some lace. I wish I had patterns for crocheted collars in doll size.

Mom came down and we had popcorn for supper. It was pretty good.

Mom is feeling better today, so I am happy about that.

Tomorrow I will work on this room again. I have some stuff that needs to be put away. Then I want to drag some more stuff down from the porch--mostly dolls and small doll accessories.

Stewie and I had a good snuggle, but then I had to pee, so now he is disgusted with me for leaving him and will not return to the snuggle pillow.

Now I am ready to go to sleep. I have a faint, irritating headache which I wish would go away. I am sure it is the constant stress I have been under that makes my head hurt.

Current Mood: annoyed
Current Location: bedroom
Current Music: ceiling fan

I've been busy--primarily because last week was midquarter--midquarter of THIRD QUARTER. It is incredibly hard to believe that the school year has been whizzing by so quickly.

I am losing too many good and fun kids to adulthood this year. Time needs to slow down. I'm not finished enjoying their presence yet.

Not even close.

:(

Anyhow--

Last week is pretty much a blur in my mind right now. It was stressful as so many kids have just blown off three weeks worth of work in my Music as Lit class--Their assignment was simple and (I think) really fun.

Choose a song you like.
Get a copy of the lyrics.
"Analyze" the lyrics (ie Write a short paper explaining what they mean to you. Include a paragraph telling why this song appeals to you. Give a little background on the artist who performs the song.
Put together a digital slide show OR a poster board containing images that illustrate the meaning of this song. (Your own interpretation.)
Play the song for the class.
Present your slide show or poster to the class and share your analysis and what you learned about the artist.

They had three weeks to do this. Three freaking weeks. The kids who got to work on it right away had it done in three days. And they really enjoyed the activity.

sigh.

I get frustrated when people just don't make an effort.

Hopefully this week will be better.

Anyhow--enough bitching.

On Friday, i managed to get most of my correcting done before I went home. I rode with Susan, so I just chilled on the way home. It came to my attention that Gran Torino was playing in Kasson. I have wanted to see that movie since it came out.

Susan dropped me off in my driveway at 3:30 pm. The movie started at 4 pm. I didn't have enough cash on me, and going into the house to fetch some cash would have made me late for the movie.  I did have a $19 check from mom in my billfold, so I went through the drive through of the bank and cashed it. Then I headed to Kasson. I made it right at 4 pm, and was happy to find a parking spot right across the street. i dashed in, bought my ticket, some popcorn, and a bottle of water. The theater was packed,and I had to sit in a 4-seat row with two other people.  I felt uncomfortable. I prefer a wide berth.

Anyhow, the movie was excellent. It was surprisingly both tender and sad. (In addition to being a racial slur fest of epic proportions. However, the purpose of that was to show Walt's evolution from an ethnocentric grumpy pants to a more culturally aware not-so-grumpy pants.) A lot of people left the theater sniffling when it was over.

His relationship with his sons made me feel sad. It reminded me of how my own father just didn't really connect with us kids. I feel like I hardly knew the real him. around us, he was completely absorbed in his TV sports events. There were very few times when he actually just sat and visited with us about life. Maybe he just didn't know how.

God knows his own parents were pathetic and useless. It's no wonder he had such poor parenting skills himself.

Ah, well.

When I came out of the theater, I discovered that I had parked in a very poorly marked handicapped space. I about peed my pants. but there was no ticket on my windshield, so I guess I dodged the bullet. There was no sign in front of the spot, and the icon on the road was all covered with slush and ice. I could just barely see a little piece of it sticking out from under the snow when I pulled out.

So, that was a little scary.

When I got home, I heated up my left over beans and hot dogs then went upstairs and called my mom. I was going to have a short nap, then get up and clean the bathroom and pick up the big pile of crap that had formed next to my bed.

Well, I woke up from my "nap" at 3:30 am. So, I put on my pjs, turned off the lights, and went back to sleep. when I awoke in the morning, I cleaned the toilet and the sink, sacked up a lot of upstairs garbage, and cleaned out the mess next to my bed. Then I sorted out some fabric I wanted to bring home to mom's as she had volunteered to cut out some patterns for me.

When I had finished that, I went downstairs and packed my laundry in my big suitcase. Then I threw it into the car and headed for Ellendale. I made a stop at Starbucks for a green tea frappachino, which is one of my current obsessions. When I got to Ellendale, I made a stop at Lerbergs to pick up a couple of pounds of Hope butter. That is the very best butter ever made.

Mom and I just hung out on Saturday. We watched several episodes of Burn Notice. Later we watched Clean House. We had popcorn for lunch and she made a very tasty roast beef with potatoes, carrots, and cabbage in her crock pot. I sewed all day and she cut out doll clothes for me.

On Sunday, she made waffles for breakfast. This is solid evidence that mom is so thrilled to have me visiting. I have always been an enormous fan of waffles, and she has always said that they are too much work. she made me waffles for breakfast the last time I was home too. :)

We watched some Lifetime movie called "A Father for Brittany;" it was, of course, a real tear jerker which contained death, insensitive officials strangling the human heart with red tape, an adorable little Asian baby girl, and the evolution of Andrew McCarthy from a callow youth to a sure-enough, growed up man.

We met Jack and Kari and the kids at the Chinese restaurant in Owatonna (the one near Walmart). Cora ate a cup of chocolate pudding and Caleb ate some noodles. I don't think we should have had to pay for them.   Cora was a little shy and stand-offish at first, but i teased her about eating frog legs so she could jump really high. Then Caleb brought me a cream puff. I separated the top from the bottom and made it look like the cream puff was talking to her. Then I stuck a broken piece of fortune cookie into the top of it and made it say, "Look, I've got a hat. Do you like my hat? Hey! Hey, you! Do you like my hat?" She started giggling then. After that, I stuck a piece of fortune cookie in the center, so it stuck out like a tongue. That set her off again.

It was pretty amusing. She cannot resist me. Mwa ha ha.

Mom and I went home right after that (well, I took her to Target as she wanted some photo sticky tabs, but they were out of them). We watched a couple of Clean House episodes. I sewed, and she cut out some doll clothes patterns for me.

Poor mom's eyes are still not functioning like they should be, and that is very frustrating for her. She is hoping that her vision will improve more after she has her cataract surgury. I hope it does too. It breaks my heart to see her fretting about her vision.

Jack and Kari and the kids came over after a bit and we played a rousing game of Settlers of Katan. Though I was getting NOTHING in the beginning of the game, I somehow managed to win. whoo. My victory was only because I had good brick and wood numbers and could build a really long road. The "Longest Road" points were what allowed me the victory.

We just hung out and talked after that.  I didn't start for home until after 6 pm.

I stopped for a cheese burger at Burger King as I did not feel like cooking anything when I got home. Their medium drinks are enormous. I had to get up to pee like 5 times last night, and I only drank about half of it.

When I got home, I unpacked my suitcase and hauled the clean laundry upstairs. I didn't put it all away yet. I will do that when I get home tonight.    I filled my pill caddies and watched an episode of House. I turned on my computer, thinking I'd read some of my kids' creative writing journals, but I was so tired I couldn't keep my eyes open. I ended up sleeping from 8:30 til about 9:15, then I woke up, turned off the computer, and went to bed. i'd had enough for one day, I guess.

Current Mood: okay
Current Location: classroom
Current Music: kids doing their classmate interviews for senior sem.

My Tonner men dolls have been laying around my house naked for months. I buy them cheap from Ebay--and they usually are naked as someone bought them for their clothing--or someone bought them cheap and separated the doll from the clothing and attempted to make massive profits by selling them separately.

I don't care about the clothes, especially, as I can make my own clothing.

However, I don't get a whole lot of joy out of sewing for the men dolls; thus, the poor things have been laying around nude. If they had any, they would have frozen their gonads off. Poor things.

Well, I finally cut out a bunch of shirts and pants for them and have begun sewing them. I have finished three shirts and two pairs of pants.

This is my Rhett Butler doll from the Gone with the Wind Collction. I liked this brown fabric--it looked like something a man's shirt would be made of.

Here he is wearing the brown pants I made for him. I bought the brown shoes from a doll friend's "boutique" for doll clothes and shoes. $14 for a pair of doll shoes. Ouch. The men aren't getting many shoes. Most of them are going to go barefoot for a while.

This is my Lord Asriel doll from the Golden Compass collection. I got him naked too. His pants are tan corduroy. The shirt is kind of a cream and green. I have a sleeveless cream-colored t-shirt to put under the shirt.

I have a second shirt just like the first brown one sewn, and I am almost done sewing another pair of brown pants.

I have a variety of shirts cut out. I have a pair of light tan pants cut out too. I need to cut out some more pants. I have a few more stark naked men dolls laying around.

I like to sew for the Marley dolls the most. They are very sweet.

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: bedroom
Current Music: NCIS

I spent the weekend at my mom's. I left West Concord at about 8:15 pm. I stopped at Starbucks for a green tea frappacino as I had a bit of an upset stomach, and that always seems to settle it down.

At mom's, I started my laundry as soon as I got home. I had four loads. I brought the laundry to my mom's in my big suitcase on wheels as it is easier to take it there and do it than it is to make 8 trips up and down my steep basement stairs to get laundry done.

I worked on the doll clothes for my friend Dave Kelley's granddaughter. I got them all made. As soon as I take pictures of the doll wearing the last of the outfits that I made, I will send them all to him. I hope the little girl likes them.

Mom and I stayed up till midnight watching TV, then we went to bed. All day Saturday, I worked on my laundry and on the doll clothes. I finished the four pairs of pants for the LeeAnn dolls for their "world scout" uniforms. I sewed together the bodice linings for the shirts. I will try to get the shirts sewn torrow at our faculty retreat.

Mom and I decided to go out for supper on Valentine's Day. I took her to the Kernal. We both had fish, but I had a baked potato and she had mashed with a yucky gravy on them that she did not like.

I called Kimbies and asked her to join us, but she was too busy with cleaning her house. So, after mom and I were done eating, we each got a piece of pie to take home and I think that it was the most delicious coconut cream pie I have ever eaten. On a whim, we bought a piece of chocolate cream pie for Kimbies and took it to her house. We hung out there for a while and just chatted.

I learned something I didn't know before regarding my Uncle Rudy. Apparently he was unable to sleep in the bed he shared with my aunt Darla after she passed away When he finally felt able to, he went up to discover that some asshole had laid one of her nightgowns out on the bed.

Apparently, he was devastated by this. If I knew who did it, I would pay them a visit and we would have a little chat about appropriate behavior. And I might have to punch them in the face too.

How could anyone be so cruel and nasty? That isn't a prank or a joke. That's cruelty.

I also learned that Kaylee was finally home from the hospital after four continuous months in the hospital. She is apparently doing pretty well, too.

Mom scanned a bunch of old picures fo me, so hey. I will be inflicting them on you, my dear readers.

Here's one of two of my sisters and myself.

Joni Beth is in the front. Kimberly Kae is in the middle, and there I am at the back. Joni was probably about one in this picture, so Kim would be three and I would be five.

I actually remember having this picture taken. I remember the dresses were red and of a sort of shiny material.

This was supposed to be it, as far as the number of kids in our family--but four years later, my mom had a surprise. Tammy Jo was born, and two years after that, they decided to try one last time for a boy and got Jack.

I left mom's at 1 pm today. When I got home, I cut out some more doll clothes to take with me to the faculty retreat. I cannot stand to be bored, and so I need something productive to do in the evening after the meetings.

I also hauled my clean laundry upstairs and put it all away.

I got a pay-per-view movie "Righteous Kill" and watched that while I was cutting out doll clothes.

I took a bath, then filled my big pill caddy. My little pink pill caddy is mysteriously missing.

My digital camera, which had been missing all week, finally turned up tonight underneath my bedspread. Thank goodness. I was so afraid it was gone forever.

That's about it.

My big exciting weekend. Whoo.

Now I am going to bed. I'm very tired.

Current Mood: weary
Current Location: bedroom
Current Music: nothing

Last weekend I visited Mom, and while I was there, I sewed doll clothes. Here are the ones I sewed there:

I love the sailor bear fabric.

I sewed this one today. For the first time since I got sick, I felt well enough to sew. I sewed a little, then put it down a while, then sewed a little more. I really like the way the brown fabric looks on her.

I had only the Valentine print dress left to sew after this one, but I cut out a Christmas dress, a Halloween dress, and three pairs of pant--one red, one blue, and one yellow. I also cut out a pair of white underpants.

As soon as I get those sewed up, I will be mailing them off to my friend in Utah. I sure hope his granddaughter will like them and enjoy them.

If she doesn't like them, I want them back! There's a lot of work in all these clothes!!

Current Mood: very tired
Current Location: bedroom
Current Music: faux news

I am back at school after taking a couple of days off to deal with my mom's surgical issues. I headed to Ellendale immediately after I got my shit together for a sub at school for Wednesday and Thursday. I had to make a word search and a crossword for my Misfits, Outcasts, and Monsters class. I had no sub for Wednesday, but Renee was in for me on Thursday.

Now, I have a crapload of correcting to do. sigh. It never ends. I would like to stay at school until i get it done tonight, but unfortunately, I gave Susan a ride in, so I will have to leave at about 3 pm to take her home again. I hate brining my school work home with me as I can't focus on it there. I'd rather do it at school, as everything is right there, convenient to file and put away things.

Anyhow--I wanted to talk about Mom and her surgery.

I called mom when i was on the road and asked if she wanted me to bring anything home for her. She said Tammy (my little sister) was hungry for mashed potatoes and gravy, so could I please stop and get Kentucky Fried Chicken for supper. Well, yeah, i could do that.

So I got an 8-piece bucket-o-chicken with sides of potatoes and gravy and cole slaw. I am not a huge fan of Kentucky Friend as it is soooo greasy, but I can choke it down. LOL. For a treat, I also got the small box of honey-bbq wings. They are not as good as they used to be. I used to just LOVE those.

After we ate, we adjourned to the basement where we watched Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (voices of Mickey Rooney and Fred Astair.) When that was over, we watched The Punisher, which was a lot more violent than I remembered it being. Still, the guy who played Frank Castle was gorgeous.   I am quite disappointed that he is not playing the role for the new version that is coming out.

I sewed on my doll clothes, Tammy read a book, and mom played her hand-held yatzee game. The unknown creature that is living in my mom's basement croaked at us quite a lot that night, and Tammy said she was awakened by him croaking at her at about 4:45 am. It has to be some sort of frog or toad.  Jack is still freaking out and wanting her to get an exterminator for the poor little guy. Tammy's husband Bert instructed her to put out a bowl of water for it as it might be thirsty.

Mom has enough spiders and centipedes in the basement for the little critter to feed on, so I am not too worried about him.

We were on the road to the hospital by 5 am. She needed to be there by 5:45. The bad thing about the trip was that the roads were pretty icy. (We saw a semi in the ditch on the way in.) The good thing about the trip in was that there was hardly any traffic at all. The hospital parking lot was almost completely empty, so I got a good close spot. I dropped Tammy and Mom off at the front doors and then hobbled across the parking lot myself.

I was a little worried about how far i would have to walk on my own gimpy leg, but it wasn't very far at all. i was thankful. Mom went into surgery at about 7:30 am, and Tammy and I sat out in the waiting room. Tammy read her book and I sewed on my doll clothes. i completed all the fabric with the cute summery flowers and orange/lime slices motif that I had cut out. I had one little summer frock, two pairs of capris pants, one spaghetti strap blouse, and one pair of shorts. I had one other summer frock, but i didn't have the pieces for the bodice lining, so it is waiting for that--the shoulder seams are sewn. When that was all done, I worked on this blue fabric that had multi-colored flowers and pinwheel motifs.  I also didn't have a lining for the halter top I'd cut out of this, so that has to wait. Of that fabric, I made a pair of capris, a pair of shorts, and i hemmed all the edges for the spaghetti strap blouse. I hadn't brought any extra fabric to make the straps for that. (Pictures will be posted when I have time to take them.)

Mom's surgery lasted about an hour. The doctor (Dr. Eckhart) was very nice. He called us in to the consultation room and told us that there were no surprises except that she had another small tear in the miniscus on the other side of her knee. They repaired everything and said that she was in the recovery room waking up. Mom opted to be put completely out rather than be awake for it. I think I would do that too. A shot in the spine would hurt like a mother fucker, and who wants to lay there listening to them drill in your leg for an hour? NOT ME.

Tammy and I went back to her room as soon as they had her out of the recovery room. We laughed and chattered away while mom sorted drifted in and out of sleep. Michael called me shortly after they had given her some vikodin, and we both giggled about the time he had called me in the middle of the night, higher than a kite on vikodin after his surgery, and professed his everlasting love for me. "I love you" *sniffle* "No, you don't understand...I really, REALLY love you" *sob sob* "You've made me a better man." *voice crack* "I lo-o-ove you." *sniffle sniffle sob sob.*

He was so embarrassed the next day, and I thought it was the sweetest thing EVER. When you are "under the influence," and your subconscious mind is speaking, a person KNOWS you are telling the truth.  So, for me, his drugged up confessions of love were so sweet.

I do love my little buddy Michael.  He is my sweetness.

Mom doesn't have the same reaction to being given some vikodin. She just went to sleep. LOL.

After a while, the nurse came in and said we could get her dressed and the PT would come in and teach her the exercises she had to do for her knee.  That was a bitter sweet moment for me, because I recalled my sweatpea Mitya working with the exercises for my own knee with me, and I wanted to call him so bad and say, "Guess who's in my mom's room! A PT, just like you!!" But, I was strong. It was sweet because I have nothing but sweet and loving thoughts for my good friend. My heart soars like an eagle whenever my mind wanders in his direction. I still feel his love and affection for me wrapped around my soul. Just as I feel mine for him, warm and rich and full, pulsating in my soul like a heart beat.

I helped my mom dress while Tammy went to buy her new crutches.  After the PT worked with her, I went to get the car. (I stopped on the way to see if her new glasses were in, but they were not).    She was pretty perky at that time, and was able to get into the car with very little help.

She and Tammy were both starving, so we went through the drive-thru of McDonalds where we all got Big and Tasty burgers, fries, and diet cokes. The guy who served us was a sweet and friendly grandfatherly type, but the dumb shit forgot to give us straws!!

The roads were much better on the way home--but we could see lots of spots where those who thought there was no reason they could not go 80 mph that morning found out why they shouldn't go that fast. *snark*

We got mom in the house, and we all just chatted until Tammy had to head for home at about 2 pm. Then mom said she thought she would take a nap. My intention was to wait until she was asleep then go down to the basement to mess around on her computer and finish my laundry. Instead, I fell asleep. i woke up at about 5 pm when Kari called me for an update.

Mom and I watched Ghost Hunters together--well, I watched it. She dozed. I sewed. I was working on my 3 fairy print "English Garden" pattern. The pattern is a little fussy, but it turns out so cute every time. I have all the pre-sewing stuff done--the sleeves are hemmed, the bodices are lined and top stitched, and the skirts are hemmed on three sides. All that is left to do is attach the sleeves, sew up the bodices, and gather and attach the skirts. My gathered skirts are looking a lot better since i have started gathering and sewing on the skirts a forth of a skirt at a time. They are much more balanced now than they used to be.

My doll clothes sewing skills have improved immensely.

I'm so happy with the way things turn out.

I am making a little care package of marley things for my doll collecting friend Doris because she sent me a Gene doll that I hope to repaint one of these days when I have a moment of time to breathe.

My mom and i just hung out on Thursday. I had intended to be home by 3:30 pm on Thursday, but I never left my mom's house till about 4:30. It was dark when I got to West Concord. It was pretty slick in Owatonna. I stopped and got myself a hot chocolate at Starbucks because my throat was dry and scratchy. When i got home, i took my meds and went to bed. I was tired.

Current Mood: overwhelmed with kid noise
Current Location: classroom
Current Music: kid noise

I woke up feeling okay--no queasiness or anything -- but after I got to school, I started feeling queasy at about 10:30. I stuck it out until the kids were dismissed at noon, then I skipped out of the meeting and went home.

I was able to do al my correcting up (except for one packet of papers) and get my Wednesday reports written up for all the homeroom teachers before I left.

When I got home, I just sat around for a long time in my new chair and sewed on some Marley T-shirts. I dozed a little. Then when I woke up I felt a little renewed, so I crushed out that feeling by doing three loads of laundry and cooking up the chicken tenders that I had bought on Sunday with rice and cream of mushroom soup. I also fried up the beef chunks that I had planned to make stew of with onions and dumped a can of cream of mushroom soup in it to make a gravy. Then I peeled and boiled some potatoes, so I could have the beef chunk gravy over potatoes. Then I split one of the squashes I had on hand down the middle and baked it--the oven was already heated up from the chicken and rice, so what the hey!?

That was about all I had the strength to accomplish. If I have any life in me tomorrow, I am going to try to vaccuum the downstairs. The kitchen floor also needs to be swept and scrubbed again.

I should have done the dishes but I was just too drained. Tomorrow they will be all stuck on and nasty and I will have to soak them for a while--but I just didn't have the will do do them.

I did get two loads of laundry upstairs and folded, though. tomorrow, I will finish what's left.

I guess I had better go to bed.

It's getting late and I have school tomorrow.

bleah

I'm glad it will be thursday tomorrow--that means friday is almost here.

yay!

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: bed
Current Music: nothing but the hum of the computer

These are all going to Anne from the Marley doll collectors yahoo group. It is very late, but I think she will love. the variety.

In this swap, she sent the fabric and trims, and I was to make something for her out of them. Well, i got a little carried away and added some of my own stuff.

The "onesie" (body suit) and socks are made from what appears to be fabric from a little girl's t-shirt. It's got little butterflies all over it in green, blue, purple, and a lighter shade of purple. I loved it and was hoping that there'd be enough left of it to make one for my own dolls. I don't think there is enough left--sad to say. The little girl's t-shirt was for a very little girl. the jumper over the body suit was also from the fabric Anne sent me. I added the buttons down the front from my private stock of stuff, but the lace trim at the bottom was from her. Green and purple are not usually a color combination i groove to, but with the body suit, it seems to tie together pretty well.

I had some purple felt that melded nicely with the color scheme Anne had sent. she sent the butterfly 'buttons' which i put on the front and the 'dragonfly' buttons I sewed onto the back. i htink the jacket turned out just darling, and I am definitely going to make some of these for my own Marley and LeeAnn dolls. I think i will make them just a little longer, however, with just a little shorter sleeves.

The purple flowered fabric for these bib overalls is mine. Anne sent the adorable pink flowers. I loved those. Next time i go to JoAnn fabrics, i am going to look for some for myself. I wish i had made the bib just a little higher.

These capri pants are cute--I haven't made a shirt to match them yet.

I made a pair of long pants out of the same fabric. They look pretty good with the little jacket.

Here's the back of the jacket with the dragon flies.

I love to sew for these dollies.

Current Mood: getting tired out
Current Location: classroom
Current Music: kids talking about their experiences in 'cop cars" in "cuffs'

Profile

chochiyo_sama

October 2024

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31

Syndicate

Page Summary

Sunday
Thursday
Thursday
Monday/Tuesday
Tueday
Thursday
Tuesday
Monday
Sunday
(no subject)
Naked Men in my House....Finally Clothed!
(no subject)
I promised these pictures of doll clothes...
My Mom is recovering...
Resurgeance of sickness....
here are the most recent items i have created for the Marley dolls

Style Credit

Style: Green Machine for Lefty by sarken

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated Jun. 15th, 2025 02:15 pm

Entries tagged with sewing

Navigation

Sunday

Thursday

Thursday

Monday/Tuesday

Tueday

Thursday

Tuesday

Monday

Sunday

(no subject)

Naked Men in my House....Finally Clothed!

(no subject)

I promised these pictures of doll clothes...

My Mom is recovering...

Resurgeance of sickness....

here are the most recent items i have created for the Marley dolls

Profile

October 2024

Syndicate

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags