Sleepy...

Worked all day, ended up having to park in the back parking lot after lunch, and felt like I almost wasn't going to make it to the building. Worked a little late, then had to take my son to a constellation party tonight at school for science. Walked around way too long trying to figure out where this was going to be, then stood for an hour while the kids made observations, and looked through telescopes*. I got to see Jupiter and 5 of its moons, which was cool.

And when we got home, I had to do laundry, because my son forgot to throw his band shirt in the laundry basket after he wore it last. He has to wear it to the game tomorrow night under his band uniform. The dryer just finished, so it's time for me to go to bed. I definitely overdid it today, and tomorrow evening I will have no time to rest before the game. :( Oh well... dozing off as I type, so good night all!

* Apparently, Johnny Carson donated 30 very nice telescopes to the school in honor of Carl Sagan! How cool is that???? The kids can check out a telescope over the weekend if they want! We are totally doing this the next time we go visit Manson (very little light pollution).

Yay! (TMI alert!)

I am feeling a LOT better in the last hour or so, although I really wish I could find my bottle of tylenol, as I still have a headache. And I should really eat something before I go to bed, but don't want to.

This was a weird stomach thing... Unpleasant, headache, body aches, fever went up and down until around 3 or so today, intense nausea but no vomiting (as in, I tried, and couldn't!), and the Other Problem.

Anyway, I am not terribly sleepy right now, as I slept in this morning. I slept a LOT yesterday, except for last night when the Other Problem keep intruding.

I cannot WAIT to feel well enough to eat REAL FOOD. You see, we went on a massive grocery shopping expedition on Sunday afternoon, then went HyVee Monday night to get the rest of the stuff that we couldn't get at Super Wal-mart (call me nuts, but I like the hyvee brand cheeses a lot, and for some reason walmart did not have the type of pizza sauce we like, nor any good roasts). So, for once, I had planned out menus for the next three weeks, was all organized... and then promptly got sick and was unable to eat any of it.

Here is what I ate the last 48 hours:

3/4 cup oyster crackers (including some in soup)
1 can of chicken noodle soup (minus the chicken), made with 1/2 can water instead of full can (condensed nutrition), over two days
about 9 vegetable crackers
1 tablespoon of cashews
3 pieces of wheat toast with margarine - one yesterday, two for lunch today at around 2pm
10 holiday grapes (most of these were eaten monday night, but I had a couple last night because I was so sick of tasteless food)


Anyhoo, I think I am finally sleepy enough to actually sleep.

Here is what Obama really said to "Joe the Plumber":

'Spread the Wealth'?

Responded Wurzelbacher, "the reason I ask you about the American dream, I mean I've worked hard. I'm a plumber. I work 10-12 hours a day and I'm buying this company and I'm going to continue working that way. I'm getting taxed more and more while fulfilling the American dream."

"Well," said Obama, "here's a way of thinking about it. How long have been a plumber?"

Wurzelbacher said 15 years.

Obama says, “Over the last 15 years, when you weren’t making 250, you would have been given a tax cut from me, so you’d actually have more money, which means you would have saved more, which means you would have gotten to the point where you could build your small business quicker than under the current tax code. So there are two ways of looking at it – I mean one way of looking at it is, now that you’ve become more successful through hard work – you don’t want to be taxed as much.”

“Exactly," Wurzelbacher said.

Obama continued, “But another way of looking at it is 95% of folks who are making less than 250, they may be working hard too, but they’re being taxed at a higher rate than they would be under mine. So what I’m doing is, put yourself back 10 years ago when you were only making whatever, 60 or 70. Under my tax plan you would be keeping more of your paycheck, you’d be paying lower taxes, which means you would have saved…Now look, nobody likes high taxes."

"No," said Wurzelbacher.

"Of course not," said Obama. "But what’s happened is that we end up – we’ve cut taxes a lot for folks like me who make a lot more than 250. We haven’t given a break to folks who make less, and as a consequence, the average wage and income for ordinary folks, the vast majority of Americans, has actually gone down over the last eight years. So all I want to do is – I’ve got a tax cut. The only thing that changes, is I’m gonna cut taxes a little bit more for the folks who are most in need and for the 5% of the folks who are doing very well - even though they’ve been working hard and I appreciate that – I just want to make sure they’re paying a little bit more in order to pay for those other tax cuts. Now, I respect the disagreement. I just want you to be clear – it’s not that I want to punish your success – I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you – that they’ve got a chance at success too.”

Urg.

I am a little upset right now. I finally thought that I was feeling better. I managed to eat some chicken noodle soup with oyster crackers. About 30 minutes later, I was still feeling okay, and was starving, so I had a handful of vegetable flavored crackers, and about a tablespoon of cashews. Like I said, I was starving. This was about an hour ago.

And now my stomach is all goofy again.

:(

And I'm doing my civic duty by watching the debate instead of the season finale for Project Runway.

And McCain is being disrespectful to the moderator as well as Senator Obama. Gad, it's worse than I thought it'd be.

The only thing worse that throwing up, is feeling like you have to throw up and not being able to.

I have the stomach flu, and it sucks. My stomach feels like there is a large massive ball in the middle of it, that needs to come out and won't.

This is my TMI post for the month...

A very worrying development that the media completely ignored...

Are we still living in a democracy?

Why is a U.S. Army brigade being assigned to the “Homeland”?

Several bloggers today have pointed to this obviously disturbing article from Army Times, which announces that “beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months, the [1st Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Infantry Division] will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North” — “the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to NorthCom, a joint command established in 2002 to provide command and control for federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities.” The article details:

They’ll learn new skills, use some of the ones they acquired in the war zone and more than likely will not be shot at while doing any of it.
They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack.
The 1st BCT’s soldiers also will learn how to use “the first ever nonlethal package that the Army has fielded,” 1st BCT commander Col. Roger Cloutier said, referring to crowd and traffic control equipment and nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals without killing them.
“It’s a new modular package of nonlethal capabilities that they’re fielding. They’ve been using pieces of it in Iraq, but this is the first time that these modules were consolidated and this package fielded, and because of this mission we’re undertaking we were the first to get it.”
The package includes equipment to stand up a hasty road block; spike strips for slowing, stopping or controlling traffic; shields and batons; and, beanbag bullets.
“I was the first guy in the brigade to get Tasered,” said Cloutier, describing the experience as “your worst muscle cramp ever — times 10 throughout your whole body”… .
The brigade will not change its name, but the force will be known for the next year as a CBRNE Consequence Management Response Force, or CCMRF (pronounced “sea-smurf”).

For more than 100 years — since the end of the Civil War — deployment of the U.S. military inside the U.S. has been prohibited under The Posse Comitatus Act (the only exceptions being that the National Guard and Coast Guard are exempted, and use of the military on an emergency ad hoc basis is permitted, such as what happened after Hurricane Katrina). Though there have been some erosions of this prohibition over the last several decades (most perniciously to allow the use of the military to work with law enforcement agencies in the “War on Drugs”), the bright line ban on using the U.S. military as a standing law enforcement force inside the U.S. has been more or less honored — until now. And as the Army Times notes, once this particular brigade completes its one-year assignment, “expectations are that another, as yet unnamed, active-duty brigade will take over and that the mission will be a permanent one.”

The full article is a must-read, and the links provide essential details. Still shaking my head over this...

Two Videos tonight

From bloggerinterrupted.com:

The McCain-Palin Mob

Part 1:



Part 2:

VIDEO: The McCain-Palin mob in Strongsville, Ohio
Wed, Oct 8, 2008Politics
UPDATE - THANK KOS & WONKETTE & DIGG!! Please donate to keep my camera charged and the gas tank filled for more Ohio fun!
It’s no wonder that the slightest incitement from Sarah Palin or John McCain will turn one of their rallies into a lynch mob. Just talk to the folks who attend.
My camera was rolling for literally seconds before people happily said to me, on camera, that Barack Obama is a terrorist. If I hadn’t spent most of my time at the event inside, waiting for the candidates to show up, I could have gotten dozens of these people on tape.
...

I’ve been doing blog video for a while, and presidential rallies a lot longer. And this is the most strange, ignorant, uninformed, angry, up-to-no-good, and gullible group of people I’ve ever seen at a political rally.
Ever.

Other highlights:

• The guy who said he'd never heard of Obama.
• The blonde in the 1st video who keeps getting in the way of the camera when the interviewer is trying to ask questions (what was she drinking before she got there?). And she's GOT MORE COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION THAN OBAMA.
• The parent whose child said that you'd have to wash your hands after touching Obama (wtf???).
• Wow, they really can't get over his middle name, can they. Isn't it the equivalent of John for popularity?
• They keep praising Sarah for being a normal person. Excuse me, but I think we need someone extraordinary to head this country. Personally, I've never met anyone at a bar that I'd want running the country. Seriously, folks. We're in the middle of a fucked up mess here.
• I like how one lady says that she can tell he's a Democrat, because he put words into her mouth...

Don't get me wrong, I do not for a second believe that most Republicans are like this, but enough are. I am deeply, deeply troubled by the fact that these people are CONVINCED that Obama is a terrorist. This is irresponsible, and dangerous, not to mention completely unfounded accusation. There are people screaming, "Kill him!" during rallies for McCain and Palin???? What does that teach your kids? Nice family values, right?

So, in America, the American Dream is that anyone can pull themselves up from nothing, be successful, and become President. I guess whoever crafted that dream did not really mean for it to apply to everyone.

Folks, this is all that the Republicans have at this point. They are behind at the polls, so they feed some story about someone Obama barely knew, who btw is now a respected Professor. Honestly, have we ever seen such underhanded tactics in an election? Don't answer that...

But still, death threats?

"Must-watch" video

KEATING ECONOMICS: John McCain & The Making of a Financial Crisis

A little hint of how we spent our Sunday...

Shaking my head at this...

Palin Can't Name Any Supreme Court Cases

Glad I'm not the only one who feels this way...

CNN Jack Cafferty - Palin is a JOKE

Anyone else wondering what the frak is happening?

Seriously, folks. Just wondering if I am going to have a retirement fund or not. It's not like I have a lot of money or anything, and I wouldn't be accessing it anytime soon, but it would be nice to know if the last nearly 9 years of paying in isn't going to vanish overnight.

I've been trying to make sense of this whole mess, and to be honest, it sounds like there are some pretty stupid people running the show. Someone thought it would make sense to sell off bits of debt, to other banks, to spread around risk. Now, instead of keeping the amount of this debt to something realistic, they instead loaned out MORE THAN THE AMOUNT OF MONEY IN THE ENTIRE WORLD.

Did you get that last part????

Not only did they make loans that totaled more than the amount of money in the whole WORLD, they also apparently couldn't really track any of it. Entities don't even know how much of these pieces of debt that they "own". And they loaned it to people who they KNEW would have problems paying it back! This couldn't have worked out better to screw us over if it had been planned!

Deregulation, folks. It was responsible for the Enron fiasco, and now it is responsible for the World Wide WTF that has been echoing across the earth for the last week.

Funny thing, these regulations. You see, they were put into place after the Great Depression, in order to prevent the same thing from happening in the future. Regulations are not fun. They aren't supposed to be. In the 80's, there was something called the Keating Five. Look that up. Guess who was one of the five?

So, are we surprised this happened again? After all, there were still regulations in place to prevent the mergers of banks at a certain level, so we wouldn't get massive banks/insurance/brokers/etc. Except that those got chipped away, too.

So, all of the safeguards that were put into place after our first major lesson in humility were swept away in the push to get people into homes they couldn't afford, so a few people could make a lot, and I mean, a LOT of money. The lure of easy money makes one less likely to ask the hard questions, such as, "What happens when people default?"

And who is this 700 BILLION going to help?

Well, it will help some people keep their jobs. Some of those people need to be fired for gross incompetence, but I doubt that the real culprits will take the fall. It will be the chewing gum in the dam crack, though, frankly. Shockwaves are going around the world on this, and already countries are getting nervous. And there absolutely HAS to be accountability, as well as careful consideration of all aspects of the bailout plan. We don't want to agree to something that is going to come back to haunt us. Congress has the President on their backs, trying to hurry them along, which I think is a mistake. This is a seriously ass-load of money. They have to have the details sorted out before committing.

Eight years, folks. Eight years from fiscal solvency as a government, budget surplus, to the mess we are going to wake up to every day for a terribly long time. We will never be able to pay all of this back.

What a fraking mess...

So, there's no way he got this from my son...

My nephew has Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease! It's been nearly two months since my son had it, and my God, I just realized we haven't gotten to see them since the week before he got sick. :(

Too much going on!

Anyway, the big news last Friday was that the Des Moines Renaissance Faire's final weekend was postponed due to extreme weather. Flash flood watch, lots, and lots, and lots of rain and mud. Turns out it was a good idea to postpone, as Sunday ended up being extremely cold and dangerously windy. But, things should be dried out by this weekend, when we will don our garb, and double-up on some parts to make up for key characters who cannot be there. It will all work out!

Gotta go finish the laundry. Wouldn't you know it - the first weekend I've had off in ages, and the laundry room was closed all weekend. Luckily, we had clothes for the weekend and today, but I would much rather have had all of yesterday to work on it, than trying to cram as much as I can in the evenings of this week.

Oh well.

Arg!

I was actually making decent progress tonight on the King's doublet, until I got most of the cotton drill pieces pressed.

Until the iron quit heating...

...With only part of the cotton drill pieces finished, and none of the black cotton lining ironed at all.

...Which means that I can't even get a few of the pieces basted together, as I need to baste the black cotton and the drill together, treating them as one piece and constructing the garment.

And of course on the night when I really am not sleepy at all, thanks to new medication, so I am actually not really ready to go to sleep yet, although I should be.

Well, I guess I could spend some time cleaning...

How to tell when the GeekGirl is really exhausted...

She's having a hard time staying awake long enough to watch Mad Men.

Note: I had a "Forest of Windsor" moment earlier today. I'll explain more later, but for now, I'll simply say that someone got a bit of a crush, and I was unable to remove myself from the situation in time to avoid feeling very uncomfortable. Last weekend's enthusiastic fan was following the rules of courtly love, and only bantered with me (and at least near my age). Not so this one...

Exhausted, but had a great opening weekend!

I am still trying to recuperate after the opening weekend of the Des Moines Renaissance Faire. The word of the weekend was, "HOT!". Temps were in the upper 80's, with yesterday hitting 90.

Lots of photo galleries are in the works. I'll post links once I get a moment. And since I have until Friday evening to finish the King's doublet, I may not get a chance for awhile.

Two great weekends left!!!!

I knew that we wouldn't get through the summer without an ER visit...

Feeling pretty calm and relaxed right now. I am tucked into bed at 8:23 on a Thursday night, and feeling comfy and sleepy.

And the reason for this?

Weeelllll... I had to take a little ER trip today, as I was having shortness of breath, and a tight chest: basically what felt like an asthma attack that was not responding to my inhaler.


Verdict: anxiety attack.
Solution: relaxation medicine.

I'm going to sleep now....

Frazzled.

I worked from about 8 to about 9 tonight, as I had to stay late to train new monitors. I didn't have time to eat supper, as I was rushing around Hy-Vee trying to buy snacks and pop for the training session.

I have 21 pearls left to sew on my red skirt, then I have to sew another trim to the skirt to tie it together visually with the bodice. I also have to sew lacing rings to the bodice, as we need the sleeves to lace on for the fashion show.

All of this, and nearly all prep work for Saturday, have to be done tomorrow night, as we will be at the I-Cubs game Friday night, to pass out fliers, and be background while the "King" throws out the first pitch.

We open Saturday, and I am really, really stressed out, and just starting to get that glimmer of excitement.

I think if I had time to sleep, I'd be even more excited...

If there were ever a night I would sew through my finger with the sewing machine, it would have been tonight.

I am exhausted. Can hardly keep my eyes open. And to top it all off, my son has to get on the school bus before 7 am.

Oh, this ought to be interesting...

Top Ways to Tell if you are under too much stress.

1. You keep forgetting key items before leaving the apartment, necessitating an about face halfway down the hall.

2. You leave to go run an errand, and realize halfway down the hall that you are still wearing your fluffy slippers (twice yesterday).

3. You have to write everything down, in order to make sure you don't forget to do something, bring something, or miss appointments. We have activities written on three different calendars at this point, and I have two little notebooks in my purse.

4. You make a list of things you need to get from Wal-mart over lunch, that you need for work that afternoon. You get to wal-mart, realize you forgot the list, and can only remember two of the three items on the list. After about 10 minutes, you give up on the third item, as you have to get back to work. When you get to work, and see the list on your desk, there are only two items on it. Both, luckily, are the items you actually bought.

And today's latest:

5. You feel all special because you planned a crockpot meal for dinner tonight. You got everything put together, crockpot turned on right on time. Then, you had to move it to make lunch. 2 hours later, you discover that when you moved the crockpot, you neglected to turn it back on. Dinner is ruined.

What is it going to be like when school and classes actually start????

What is the matter with this picture?

Animal rescue leads to child endangerment charges

ST. LOUIS, Missouri (AP) -- More than 360 domestic and farm animals, many of them emaciated, injured and suffering from mange and parasites, were rescued Tuesday from a filthy southwest Missouri property where they were hoarded and bred, authorities said.

Dogs taken from the Missouri property wait to be unloaded from a truck at the Humane Society.

The owner of the property was charged with child endangerment because six children, ages 1 to 11, also had been living in what authorities described as an unbelievable scene: 12 to 15 house trailers stacked to the ceilings with junk, trash and debris, crawling with cockroaches. The only water source was a bunch of garden hoses strung together.

"These homes are not fit for anyone to live in," human or animal, Polk County Sheriff Steve Bruce said.

The 363 animals include more than 70 dogs and more than three dozen cats, plus donkeys, rabbits, ducks, chickens and exotic fish. The Humane Society of Missouri and Polk County also found 12 to 15 dead rabbits, dogs, cats and poultry.

Authorities descended upon the property with warrants after the family who owns the land failed to heed warnings last month to begin providing proper care, said Tim Rickey, the Humane Society's director of rescues and investigations.

Nowhere else in the article are the children mentioned. Seriously. All sorts of stuff about the fate of the animals who they rescued, nothing more about the children.

Priorities, people.

Shot of reality.

Sigh...

I've already been on the verge of tears today about 10 times, and all of a sudden, another urge to feel sorry for myself just came over me.

Folks, in just over a week, I will officially be the parent of a high-schooler.

Tomorrow, the teenager starts marching band practice, and the beginning of a fairly busy week before school starts. We had the band parents meeting this evening, and got a chance to meet the directors. Monday, I took my son to get a hair cut and to buy something to wear for his school pictures on Friday. He would not budge on the style, which is the same he's had since he was 4, nor could I convince him that a little hair gel wouldn't kill him. Pick your battles, right?* He also determined that black and dark charcoal gray look best on him, which gave him a huge boost of confidence. He was also shocked that there was no school supply list, really, and that he pretty much got to choose what would work best for him, rather than someone else's idea of what works best for many. I think he's ready for this, but I really am not.

I am trying to get the schedule worked out, three calendars so that I can try to impress into my brain and into his how many different places he needs to be in the next week. I am afraid we're going to miss something...

Anyway, part of the reason that I am feeling a bit teary-eyed and nostalgic for his younger years, has to do with this:

Someone reminded me recently that in four short years, I will be an empty-nester.

Part of me had to laugh, but the other part felt incredibly old at that point, even though I generally don't feel old enough to even have a kid in high school. In four short years, he'll be starting college. I'll be forty.

What a cheerful thought.

Okay, I have to get some sleep so I can lug around equipment tomorrow again. Night folks!

So, what the heck have I been doing lately?

Sewing. Rehearsal. Work.

That's pretty much it. It occurred to me just a bit ago that I haven't linked to my latest project. Awhile back, I started a sewing blog on wordpress, mostly because I had a super-secret project I was working on that I wanted to share with people, without the recipients getting wind out it. This is also why this summer has been light on blogging. I've been sewing and trying to occasionally update the sewing blog. And I just kept forgetting to link to it.

So, without further ado, here is the link to my sewing blog.

The Clumsy Seamstress

A sketch of my current project:



Concept sketch of the queen's gown for the royal wedding at the Des Moines Renaissance Faire, 2008.

So now you know why I've been so silent this summer. :)

Thanks for the heads-up on the broken link, griff!

Wow. I feel really special now.

I finally received my copy of the "Who's Who" spam...

Dear Candidate,

If you have received this email previously, we apologize. Our service provider had a small technical issue that has since been resolved. You were recently appointed as a biographical candidate to represent your industry in the Who's Who Among Executives and Professionals, and for inclusion into the upcoming 2008-2009 "Honors Edition" of the registry.

We are pleased to inform you that on July 9th, your candidacy was approved. Your confirmation for inclusion will be effective within five business days, pending our receipt of the enclosed application.

The Office of the Managing Director appoints individuals based on a candidate's current position, and usually with information obtained from researched executive and professional listings. The director thinks you may make an interesting biographical subject, as individual achievement is what Who's Who is all about. Upon final confirmation you will be listed among thousands of accomplished individuals in the Who's Who Registry. There is no cost to be included.

We do require additional information to complete the selection process and kindly ask that you access this form on our website by Clicking Here.

How in the WORLD could I EVER ignore this exciting opportunity to be in a book full of people who also paid to have their biography published in this book?!?!?!?

Trust me, when I finally decide to sit down and write my biography (and there would have to be a serious amount of money involved), it won't fit into four paragraphs.

And no, I did not click the link in the email. I feel dirty just for having opened the message...

p.s. This is blog theme is starting to irritate me... Can that quote text get any more yellow-green?

Busy day.

Worked like crazy on my friend Lynne's new gown. I got tons of work done on the bodice, including cutting and smoothing all of the boning.

Things of beauty:


Sewing the boning channels.


Nice and smooth edges!


Front of the bodice lining. Pretty! And this is only the lining.

Time to put the project aside. Sewing after 10pm never ends up going well...

I hate it when this happens!

I overslept by about 2 HOURS this morning. I even went to bed early last night, because I was exhausted due to a very busy day at work. I obviously turned off the alarm at one point, because I didn't move until 10, when I heard my son close the bathroom door.

I hate oversleeping on Saturday, because it pushes back all of the chores, and steals time that needs to be spent sewing. Luckily, we don't have rehearsal until later this afternoon today.

Okay, time to get off of my chair and get to work on the laundry and picking up the house, so I can get to the real work I need to do today.

He's got WHAT?!?!?!?

Kind of a long day today...

By Saturday morning, my son's fever had broken, and was nearly normal. He still had a sore throat, but I felt comfortable enough to leave him at home, so I could go to rehearsal in Des Moines. When I got home, he told me that he had white spots on his tonsils. By this time, we still hadn't heard the results of the strep culture, but I assumed that they would have called by then if it were positive. By this point, he was complaining about food like tomato soup burning his throat (I know, he insisted he wanted it, though). He also couldn't eat chicken noodle soup. Basically, I stocked up on banana pudding, chocolate ice cream, and chicken broth.

Sunday, still had the spots.

This morning, I had to go back to work, but I called the clinic to see if he needed to be seen again. The nurse called me back about 45 minutes later to tell me that he needed to come in, so they could double-check to make sure he doesn't have MONO. At this point, I'm two steps away from freaking out at the thought, as school starts in a month, marching band in a couple of weeks, faire in five weeks.

After stewing in the waiting room for awhile, and then discovering that he's already lost two pounds, the doc breezed in, took one look at his throat, and said...

"Hand, foot, and mouth disease. The spots on his throat and tonsils are canker sores, which explains why it hurts a lot to eat. He'll be back to normal in a couple of days." She went on to explain that teens don't get it as badly as younger children, he may luck out and only have the sore throat.

And that was it.

After talking with my mom, she googled HFMD, and of course got the scary CDC explanation. This is apparently highly contagious. Soooo, I am disinfecting the whole house, have bought paper plates, bowls, and disposable cups and utensils for him to use, plus paper towels so he doesn't have to use the hand towels and washrags.

At least 2 more days until this is over, and he can be contagious for more than a week after, although not as much as during the first week.

But, no matter how annoying this is, it could have been worse.

At least he doesn't have mono... ;)

Why is the alarm set for 3:20 a.m.????

Long day.

I have to get up at 3:20 to give my son another dose of tylenol, to keep his fever down. He's been running a fever of about 101°F with the tylenol, and about 102 without it. The last reading before the last dose of tylenol, however, was 102.9°F. My plans of letting him sleep all night to get recharged have changed. I am not risking having that fever be that high for several hours. No way, not good. I'm just glad he's 14 and not 4 at this point, so he's really helping out by resting and doing what he needs to do to get better.

The doc says that it's most likely a virus causing the headache, muscle pain, slight sore throat and high fever. The quick strep test came back negative, and the results from the longer culture should come tomorrow or Sunday. For now, all I can do is keep him hydrated, and giving tylenol to keep the fever down to a manageable level.

I am pretty sure that things will be better tomorrow morning, but it's still shocking to see that high a number on a thermometer...

Friday night musing...

Perhaps it is not such a good idea to watch a sappy movie while attempting to hand sew. Sitting here bawling while sewing the joins in L's new paned sleeves.

I think I need to stick to "Mad Men" and BSG while sewing...

My little sister...

Wednesday night, just as Project Runway was starting, my youngest sister called.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Just sitting down to Runway. Why?"

"I just wanted to call and tell you that I'm engaged!" she gushed.

"That's WONDERFUL!" I cried. "I'm so happy for you!"

The rest of the call was short and sweet, as she was working through the list of people to call.

And all I could think about was when she was a small, sweet little baby who had a habit of wanting to be up too late. I'd feed her the 10:30 bottle, so Mom could sleep, since I was a night owl, too. I remember introducing her to scary movies, probably too young, but she liked this certain living dead movie that we'd laugh, and laugh about. And how her favorite song when she was 3 was "Pour some sugar on me", and she'd freak out whenever the video came up on MTV (you know, back when it was MUSIC television, and not a haven for bad reality shows).

And now she's getting married.

Time really flies.

Strange mood...

I'm to the point where I'm not sure what I'd do if I actually got more than 5 hours of sleep a night.

I'm sure, however, that I'd be a lot more productive if I didn't feel like I wanted to go to sleep at 6 pm. I have massive amounts of sewing to do for the fall (mostly for other people), and I really don't need insomnia to rear its ugly head right now.

I'm off to try to get to sleep sometime before 1 a.m., and hopefully stay that way...

Snork!

You have to watch the whole thing...

Absence makes the heart grow fonder....

I really start out each day thinking that I need to blog.

Okay, I'm lying.

I don't, really. In fact, I haven't really thought about blogging much lately at all. There really is not much of interest going on in my life right now. I go practically nowhere of interest, and I see practically no one at all. It's really pathetic. I'll be the first to admit that I really have no good friends outside of the ren faire folk (who, BTW, are some of the BEST friends and people I have EVER met). My early friendships with the parents of my son's friends have all gone by the wayside, due to changing activities of their children.

But anyway, I digress. I really need to blog more often. I stumbled across some writings from an earlier blog, an anonymous blog, and I was struck by the clear difference in writing from when I was writing daily, and now. At the moment, my brain, which used to be so full that I HAD to write to get all of the superfluous thoughts, seems nearly empty of meaningful ideas. Who wants to share there innermost thoughts on the price of potatoes at the store (nearly doubled in two weeks!), or the fact that a week at home on "Vacation" has resulted in a five pound gain in weight, just like a real vacation would...

Or what about the fact that right now, I am sitting on my bed, writing this blog post because I cannot sleep, on a night when I really NEED sleep, because I have to go back to work in about 6 and a half hours? Truly pathetic, really. And what is a blog post other than a more socially acceptable form of talking to yourself, with the added bonus of sometimes generating comments, so that one doesn't feel quite so isolated...

I'm thinking a return to anonymous blogging may be in my future...

Sunburn

Tip: When attending rehearsal outdoors, in sunny weather, do not forget the sunscreen.

We were outside from 9:30 to a bit after noon, quite a bit of that in the sun. I did not have time to put on sunscreen before we started, as I was hosing off my feet and legs (and capris) behind the castle. My cross-golf course trek landed me in mud up to my ankles rather suddenly. Flood mud. Icky, smelly flood mud. Luckily, I was wearing flip-flops that were washable.

Anyway, the new opening gate show is really funny, and our first rehearsal with the Predators of the Sea went well (only two were there, due to work schedules). Dancing went well, too, and we have a new royal court member: Merriweather Milquetoast is joining us!

It was a long but productive morning, as we had to block the opening gate show, move the trailer, and discuss changes and additions to the shows. After the rehearsal, we had a little excitement crossing the bridge from the faire site.

The site flooded during the big flood, and washed away some of the ground around the supports. So, we had about a foot jump to get up to the bridge, and on the other side, a narrow trench between the edge of the bridge and the ground. That wasn't the problem.

About halfway over, I suddenly realized that the bridge was swaying rather alarmingly with so many of us going over at once. So, we all stopped in our tracks, then proceeded more carefully, trying to walk so as not to start things up again. I was glad to reach the end, as things had started to sway again.

I didn't realize until I had gotten home that I was a bit crispy. Really starting to itch...

Up too late

Giggling over the commercials on Comedy Central... boy do things get weird after midnight...

Of course, the reason I am up so late is that I had a hard drive fail in my computer earlier this evening. Luckily, the drive that failed was not the boot drive, but a second drive that had Classic on it. Unfortunately, it also had my music and photos on it, too. Which meant I had to run to work to find an old copy of DiskWarrior, and borrow an external drive to shuffle data. Took about an hour to find what I needed, as I was looking for a CD, only to remember that I had purchased Diskwarrior as a download and the CD copy came later. Found it on my computer at work. Duh. I copied the MacOS 9 stuff to one of the FW drive partitions, booted from it at home, and managed to copy about 99% of the files after Diskwarrior couldn't repair the damage. I'm just lucky that 9 could mount the drive...

Moral of the story is: backup.

Okay, time to sleep now before I nod off at the computer...

Harumph...

Anytime it takes more than 25 minutes to bake a frozen pizza, and it's still soggy on the bottom and in the middle, you know something's up...

I think my oven is conking out. And probably the stove top, too, as pasta is taking forever to cook lately, like the temp isn't steady enough. :( Luckily, I rent, so I just have to call up the maintenance folks tomorrow, and have them see what's up.

Unfortunately, that means that I had to spend precious time cleaning the stove, and straightening up the apartment. All on the one evening I actually could have gotten to bed early, due to NOT having to stay awake to monitor the extremely bad weather we've been having.

So, I'm done now, and exhausted, and I am two steps away from falling asleep at the desk. And my house is clean. Yay!

Exhausting, but great day!

Good-bye icky old car, hello gorgeous midnight-blue 2002 Buick Century!

Yep, the water pump was the last straw. Monday morning, my mom called very early, and told me that she had found an incredible ad in the Fort Dodge paper. Monday was a flurry of talking with the bank, getting an application faxed to me, and then faxed back to the bank, and approved. Mom and dad test drove it Monday night, and I filled out the papers and picked it up today!

What a relief...

Photos from Dubuque!

Here is a pic from the last royal audience of the faire. I was exhausted, but the music in the air made things quite bearable. :)



Here are some links to show what you missed!

Dubuque Renaissance Faire 2008 - AtTheFaire.com

Digital Dubuque - Renaissance Faire

Flickr Set from cdedbdme The photo at the top of the post is a crop from one of this user's pics, used through a Creative Commons License.

This is what I have for now, as far as links. If you attended this faire, and have photos to share, please leave a comment on this post, and I'll add your link! :)

Wish list...

First thing I am buying after next year's tax refund...

8 yards of Periwinkle Blue Silk Dupioni - I666

A bit spendy, yes, but I love this shade of blue, and have been dreaming of a gown made of this color for ages... this summer is far too busy to make a new gown for myself anyway, so I can wait patiently...

Insult to injury...

First, let me say that this weekend at the first annual Dubuque Renaissance Faire was extraordinarily fun! This event was very well produced, and we had many people (vendors and entertainers) comment that the faire was more like an event in its fourth or fifth year than its first. Just fun!!!!!

And now, because I have had more than my share of bad luck this spring than is fair, for the bad.

#1: car. leaking antifreeze. My poor dad came to tow it from Dubuque, as we were unsure that it would make it home. Luckily, Chris gave us (and our luggage) a ride home to Ames. We actually had a great time, and kept each other awake (we didn't leave D. until after 8, and had to stop at the QD in Dyersville for supper). Just got home.

Bad thing #2: we lost electricity sometime over the weekend. Now, my math is probably off, but it was 12:01 am when I went into my room and saw that my alarm clock read 6:01 pm.... So, I have no idea how long we were without electricity. Which means, everything in the fridge and freezer will have to go, because I have no idea if it was off for five minutes or five hours. Guess this is an argument for an old-style plug-in non-digital clock...

Okay, tired now, going to bed as I have to go to work tomorrow...

Let's lighten things up a bit...

Falling off of my chair laughing...

Horrifying.

Iowans Sort Through Massive Tornado Damage

I am just feeling overwhelmed by this right now. On the heels of a weird spring, this round of severe weather just caught me off-guard mentally.

And we are not even into summer yet...

Trials and Tribulations

Sigh.

Where to begin.

I am distracted right now, by many things. On the one hand, I have a ton of sewing to do this week and next, to get ready for the Dubuque Faire (May 31- June 1st!). I also need to clean my house, because a friend and her daughter are coming over tomorrow evening, so I can shorten the straps on a prom gown (for a fifth grader for a dance recital). And believe me, after six weeks of sewing projects, the end of the semester, and more sewing projects, it needs it. I am also distracted by huge hardware failures in our PowerMac dual-2.7GHz G5s. If you are a tech on campus, you may have already heard this one. If you haven't yet, you will at the next MacOS X Admin meeting, provided I haven't gone nuts by then.

However, the most irritating thing that is distracting me right now, is the most annoying thing that a seamstress who has to wear contacts in less than two weeks can have.

Conjunctivitis (pink eye) and blepharitis (which is probably temporary, and caused by the pink eye).

Anyway, my cleaning break is over. Back to cleaning. Have to scrub the kitchen floor and dust the living room. Then, on to sewing until at least 11 to catch up.

If I can stay awake that long...

Finally, (for better or for worse): Steampunk article in the New York Times

Steampunk Moves Between 2 Worlds

Photo by Robert Wright for The New York Times

For better or worse, a mainstream newspaper has picked up on the Steampunk movement.

Quaint to some eyes, or outright bizarre, steampunk fashion is compelling all the same. It is that rarity, a phenomenon with the potential to capture a wider audience, offering a genteel and disciplined alternative to both the slack look of hip-hop and the menacing spirit of goth.

The elaborate mourning dresses, waistcoats, hacking jackets and high-button shoes are goth’s stepchildren, for sure, but the overall look is “not so much eyeliner and fishnets,” said Evelyn Kriete, who sells advertising space for magazines like Steampunk, The Willows and Weird Tales, and who manages Jaborwhalky Productions (jaborwhalky.com), a steampunk Web site.

Ms. Kriete and her eccentrically outfitted cohort of teachers, designers, writers and medical students, drew stares last week at a picnic at the Cloisters in Manhattan, but provoked no shudders or discernible hostility.

“As a subculture, we are not the spawn of Satan,” Ms. Kriete said. “People smile when they see us. They want to take our picture.”

Robert Brown, the lead singer for Abney Park, a goth band that has reinvented itself as steampunk, echoed her sentiments. “Steampunk is not dark and spooky,” he said. “It’s elegant and beautiful.”

While I normally play in the Renaissance, I have been picking up patterns for Victorian costumes, with a mind to modify them for everyday wear ala Steampunk (to be fit for work, of course). Believe it or not, my son is extremely interested as well, especially in Steampunked tech. Geeks like costumes, you know.

I think we'll see more of this on the runways next year, which would be refreshing...

"“I’m so sick of baggy pants hanging off your bottom,” he said. “This is more refined. It goes back to a time when people had some dignity.

“It’s a new day.”" - Mr. James

Great diet-friendly find!

I just have to say, with summer around the corner, I found a great treat to have on warm afternoons:

Edy's Fruit Bars: No Sugar Added (Strawberry, Tangerine, and Raspberry)

Zero. Points.

Ohhhhh yummmm....

So, what did I do today on my afternoon off?

Well, for starters, I ended up leaving nearly an hour and a half late, due to needing to finish the DASH posters.

I went home, had lunch at 1:45 pm, and then sat on the couch, "for a few minutes," and fell asleep about 20 minutes later.

Good one.

I have tomorrow off, too, but it is scheduled breakfast to dinner with non-stop sewing. Oh, and I have to pick up the corsage at 4:00...

I totally did not want to waste this afternoon, but it felt great to snooze with the windows open....

Milestones...

Well... it had to happen sometime.

My son will have his 14th birthday this coming Monday.

And next Friday...

He will have his first date!

!!!!!

He asked the girl that he likes to the 8th grade semi-formal. Apparently, he's been thinking about it, and trying to figure out how to ask her for about two weeks. He finally told me about it Wednesday night, and I gave him a couple of pointers.

He had decided to ask her yesterday, and was a little scared when I asked him if he was still going to ask her, as he was leaving for school. Then, turns out that she was gone yesterday.

So, this morning, when I asked him if he was still going to ask her, he had a very firm "yes" as the answer.

He called me when he got home from school, and I could tell right away that he was smiling. "She said yes!" And apparently was smiling the whole time she said it.

And from what I understand, he's one of the few boys who actually asked a girl in person, and not through post-it notes left on lockers... It took guts to just go for it, and I made sure he knew that I was proud of him. :)

I am very happy for him, and at the same time, I'm feeling incredibly old right now...

And...

The Boomstick has it! (Joint poll between blogspot and renspace, and lab monitors!)

Okay, quick poll...

Buying my son an iPod shuffle for his birthday (the red one). It comes with free engraving if you want. So, I'm torn between two quotes. Can I get a quick vote from people as to which quote?

1. "'Tis only a flesh wound!"

or

2. "This... is my boomstick!"

Any thoughts????

One major project hurdle passed...

I am now at the halfway point on one of my major projects! The most complicated part is finished, and the rest should be really simple. I learned some new fabric finishing techniques, and am really excited about the results.

And this post degenerates into a series of nearly unrelated items. Enjoy!

Well, McDonald's had cheeseburgers for 59 cents and hamburgers for 49 cents today. My son begged and begged to have cheeseburgers for supper tonight, even calling me at work to remind me about the deal. So, I bought him three cheeseburgers, fries, and a coke for supper. You would have thought I was buying him an iPod or something. ;)

And speaking of iPods...

My son is turning 14 next week, and as a mark of his new maturity level, instead of video games, he's asked for a red iPod Shuffle (1GB model). I have to go back to WalMart tomorrow night, and see if they got any red ones in, because the last time I was there, they only had silver and purple left. He's already planning what songs he wants to put on it if he gets one. He he!

And because this is Iowa, turning 14 means that you can take the test to get a learner's driving permit.

!!!

Obviously, he has a lot of studying to do, and he needs to bring his grades up a bit before he can take the test. I did, however, stop by the DMV to pick up the book for him. Here's a hint: Don't go to the Ames DMV at 4:45 pm on Tuesday. The place was PACKED, and the line went out the door. I was very glad I only needed a book. He was a little surprised when I handed it to him. :)

Okay, time to try to sleep tonight. I slept great last night thanks to that Tylenol PM. My leg is feeling much better (no limp now - I had forgotten how awful a strained muscle can feel), so I am not going to take any tonight. It was nice to not wake up a bunch during the night, though. I didn't wake up until the alarm went off, and normally I wake up around 5, and then try unsuccessfully to get back to sleep until the alarm goes off at 6:30. If this lasts much longer, I am going to talk with the doc about it. I'm a night owl, and I cannot, repeat, cannot get up at 5 if I can't sleep until 11:30 or midnight. Tried it once, and it was the worst day... I was sleepwalking through the whole work day. That is a recipe for disaster in IT.

Seriously, good night. Hope you enjoyed the weather today!!!

End of a long day, beginning of a long week.

(I'm sure I've used that title before...).

I got a lot done today. I didn't sleep well last night, due to noisy neighbors during my optimal "drift-off" period. It was VEISHEA weekend, so it was a given that it would be louder than normal. The iPod did an okay job of drowning out the drunken college boy yells, but not quite enough.

I was up later than normal anyway, due to trying to copy out a list of materials needed for this massive costume project for the Des Moines Faire. I was also trying to get some research copied out, so Holly and I could work on our outline for the show we are going to co-write with Lynne (Queen Catherine of Have Court, Will Travel). We are putting together a show for the ladies, since the men have their weapons talk (very well attended last year!). We will be dressing a lady of the court from pretty much the undergarments out, and explaining the various articles of clothing of that era, along with historical information. It will be both amusing and informative, and should be really fun! There are nine pieces of clothing that we will have to create, so we are anxious to get the planning out of the way so we can start immediately after the Dubuque Faire.

Speaking of the Dubuque Faire, Holly and I are trying to put together a short version of this show really quickly. Since there will be only two ladies in attendance, besides the Queen, it has fallen to me to be the model for the talk. There should be some great jokes in there, as we have toyed with the idea that I would be "late" to the show, as I felt it was inappropriate to accept the Earl of Oxford's generous offer to help.

Anyway, I think the Tylenol PM is starting to kick in. My legs and shoulders are in a great deal of pain, due to the enormous amount of sewing, cutting, ironing, and general costume creating that took place this weekend. Every single night this week has to be dedicated to sewing so I can complete everything I need to finish on time. I have a very hectic schedule pretty much starting this weekend, until after Dubuque.

I think it's really great that the court is booked at three faires this year. We have so much fun together! I'll have a post with all of the faire information later, as I am really sleepy right now. So much fun just around the corner!!!! :)

Snow

Yep. It snowed. It is snowing, just a bit. Obviously, we did not go to the parade (which just started about 10 minutes ago). I have a problem with standing in the snow to watch a spring parade.

Anyway, so I decided to start working through the massive list of things I need to do this weekend. Laundry is in the washers (three loads - one of the benefits of apartment living).

I got out the project I am working on, and discovered that I cannot find my good fabric scissors anywhere. Just gone. I have looked every conceivable place in my newly rearranged (and organized) bedroom, in the kitchen, and living room, and came up empty handed. I even looked under the couch. I am baffled. I really do not want to have to go out and buy another pair, as they can be pricey. I also don't want to use my paper scissors to cut fabric, as the sharpener I have is for the good pair, and may not work so well on this pair.

Anyway, I know they haven't left the house, and they will probably turn up where I least expect it. And my house is not that unorganized. I left them on the dining table, next to the pattern pieces that had been cut out. The teenager claims he didn't borrow them.

Well, I have to get back to my search. What a waste of time....

Blogging Drought

Sorry. I meant to blog more frequently, but I've been working late nearly every day this week (and to be honest, for the last three weeks). Yesterday was the first time I was able to leave on time for awhile, and I was able to repeat that feat today. Yippee!

So, what have I been doing this week?

Well, last Saturday, we drove to Manson so I could work on my mom's computers, and my dad could change the oil in my car. We had a great time!

Can't remember what I did on Sunday. Drawing a blank. Monday through Wednesday were spent wrestling with a problem on our new printer (which is INSANELY BEAUTIFUL), nicely resolved by finding the correct drivers for the Macs. Thursday was spent adding the fix to the labs and rewriting installer scripts.

Oh, now I remember what I did on Sunday - I was sick all afternoon. I woke up around 8:30, after not really sleeping well (we didn't get home until nearly 11). I slept on my right shoulder wrong, and was in a fair amount of pain. I still managed to rearrange my bedroom, mostly because I had started before I started feeling ill, and couldn't just stop at that point to rest. Anyway, the reward was getting to take a nap afterwards, with the windows open. I slept a solid four hours without moving, and then of course, couldn't sleep that night.

And that was the theme for the week. Not able to sleep at night, extremely busy days, little time at home in the evenings. I slept well last night, and still managed to doze off for an hour this evening. I am hoping to be able to sleep well tonight, too, so I can get a bunch of things done tomorrow.

My son really wants to go to the parade tomorrow, but I am not so thrilled about the idea. We have a 50% chance of rain or snow flurries, and it's going to be windy and cold. We'd have to take the bus, as parking on campus will be insane, and I just cannot be out in that type of weather right now. I can't afford to have my cold get worse, as there is too much going on in the next seven weeks or so.

Anyway, so that's the update. Not terribly interesting, but such is my life right now.

15 Minutes to BSG...

So many questions....

5th cylon cannot be Baltar...

Long day yesterday, but even better than I had expected!

After getting home around 12:30 am, I was too keyed up to sleep right away. I think I fell asleep around 1:30 or 2.

Anyway, yesterday afternoon, we had our first rehearsal of the year for Have Court, Will Travel. I say rehearsal, but besides reviewing the dances, it was mostly a meeting about what changes we are going to make this year, what new shows we are adding (I'll get back to that in a sec), and what we are going to do at Dubuque (if we get to go - crossing fingers!). All that and about about 15 minutes of us all talking over each other because we were so happy to see each other again!

So, the big news for DMRF for this year is the addition of two shows: The Royal Wedding (which will replace the coronation), and something we have dubbed The Fashion Show, which will be the ladies' equivalent to the men's weapons talk (which is always our most heavily attended show).

I am really excited for both of these shows, but even more excited about the Fashion Show because....

I get to work on it! Hollie (the Duchess of Kent) and I are putting together the research and clothing, and with the help of our Queen, write this show. L even told us that this was our show! We will be dressing a lady in waiting from the smock and corset out. And since this particular lady is new, we will be sewing every stitch of this new garb, and will make it as historically accurate as we can possibly get. No theatrical shortcuts whatsoever. We will also dispel some myths of renaissance life, like the myth that they seldom bathed (maybe not in a full tub of water, but most of the middle and upper classes washed every day). I think we can really pack a lot of information about renaissance clothing and day to day life into this show.

I'm so excited!!!!!

Anyway, Hollie and I figured out that we have nine separate pieces of clothing to make for this demonstration. We set a general schedule, and will be meeting a bunch to work on this stuff over the next couple of months.

In addition, I will also be making garb for another court member, plus my son once he's done growing a bit more (I never start his garb until July, or I run the risk that he will have grown out of it!).

Anyway, more on all of this later, as we start working.

I am going to have a great summer!!!!!

Way too many things to do today...

But I still slept in for the first time in a month. Now I have to get my behind off the couch and get busy. It's going to be a pretty good day, if I can get things done as planned. :)

Byers, and Frohike, and Langly, oh my!

Okay, so I have a small Caffeine-Free Diet Pepsi problem. It used to be a straight Dt. Pepsi problem, until last May, when I was forcefully reminded of the negative health benefits of caffeine on someone with high blood pressure and a history of stroke in the family.

So anyway, I have a flavored, carbonated water addiction.

This addiction has translated into a ton of those yellow bottle caps (orange if you buy it from a convenience story or soda machine) with the Pepsi points codes. I have been accumulating points and have entered 115 codes (and have another 25 caps waiting to be entered once I get really bored).

If you are unfamiliar with the Pepsi Stuff promotion, head on over to the Pepsi Stuff site for details. You can get free MP3 downloads, TV downloads, CDs, DVDs, and assorted crap electronics by collecting points. Free stuff is good.

So, awhile ago, I had earned enough points to get a DVD. And in the list of available DVDs, I spotted a blast from the not-so-distant past: "The Lone Gunmen: The Complete Series". I just had to get it! I had forgotten about this show, which is weird considering how avidly I watched it, and how terrible I felt when they canceled it (everything I like gets canceled).

The DVD arrived today, and I had the pleasure of introducing my son to yet another geek classic. :) He loved it! So, between working our way through the entire Star Trek Next Generation DVDs (Net Flix), season 3 of Battlestar Galactica (massive marathon necessary this weekend in prep for next Friday!), and now The Lone Gunmen, we're set for awhile.

8 days to season 4 of BSG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Keep feeling like I am forgetting something...

1. Laundry - Check
2. Wipe off counters - check
3. dishwasher loaded - check (not full yet, so can't run it)
4. crochet for 20 minutes - check +
5. Groceries - check (bought and put away)
6. Diet - still on track, but getting harder. Damn restaurant commercials.

And yes, I did not forget about taxes, I'm just feeling allergic to math right now...

CBS you suck.

Just watched the last episode of Jericho, and I cannot believe that CBS is so stupid as to cancel it.

This literally was the last show on network TV that I watched regularly, besides the news.

Every other commercial during Jericho was for shows that are finally starting up after the end of the writers strike.

Every single commercial was indistinguishable from every other commercial. Only the characters are different. This is what we have to look forward to. And reality shows...

Sorry. I'm done with you.

Please, SciFi, please buy Jericho! We can't be left hanging like this.

Seriously meant to blog more this past week...

Spent another day sick at home. Friday, I barely made it to lunch, and had only gone in because I needed to cover the lab because the lab monitor was sick. Got home, slept for four hours straight. Fever never hit above 99°F, and was gone by morning.

Saturday morning, my stomach felt fairly normal, but I had the hardest time concentrating on what I needed to do to get ready to go to my parents' house for the weekend. I finally made myself sit down and eat a snack around 11, just before hopping in the shower (did laundry and packed all morning). Had to take my son to get a haircut, and to pick up the Easter candy. Felt fine the rest of the weekend.

And then, this morning, I woke up with body aches, icky stomach, chills, and a low-grade fever again! Of course, we had nearly no food in the house, because I didn't do the shopping this weekend. I dragged myself to the store around 11:30, and it was a huge mistake. I really couldn't sleep either, so I am worn out.

So far, the fever appears to be gone, but I still feel achy. I started to get restless around 7:30, so I pulled out some crochet that has been long overdue for attention. I struggled for awhile with the way I was attaching the second row of loops, then had the a-ha moment that finally made everything go faster. I ripped out the ten inches of the second row, and started over. I finished the second row in less than an hour, where it had taken me well more than an hour to get the ten inches done (40 inch strip of crochet, tiniest thread and hook I've ever used).

The only problem with crochet is that for every hour I do it, it is as hard on my hands as 3 hours of hand sewing or beading. I am all over the place with my typing right now, as my fingers just do not want to move normally. I tend to try to keep crochet time limited, and never when I also have to do hand sewing or cutting out pattern pieces or fabric. This piece should be finished in a couple of days, though, even with limited time. I just want it finished, as it is for someone else.

Okay, there is the rambling post of the week... I may have time to post tomorrow night, if I am not upset by the very last episode of Jericho...

Diet Progress

Things are going pretty well with the diet. I was a little disappointed in my supper choice tonight, and couldn't finish it. Then, I thought I would try the baked Doritos and salsa, because I was still hungry, and I have been craving it for the last couple of days.

Baked Doritos = gag.

Over that craving.

So far, 11 pounds lost, mainly due to the fact that my parents keep cramming good food down my mouth on the weekends. :) Oh well. :)

Anyway, still have the determination to lose this weight once and for all.

Thank God baked doritos don't taste even half as good as regular....

This is what happens when I get bored.

(cross-posted from my renspace account)

I was bored the other night, and decided to try my hand at making a necklace to wear with my noble garb. I had bought red glass beads, "gold" metal beads, and spared a few 8 mm glass pearls from my collection. The tear shaped pearls are from a Christmas ornament from Hobby Lobby (plastic. unfortunately). I used beading wire as a base. I love how this turned out, and my son thinks I need to make more and sell them. About the only problem with that would be that I can't seem to find glass pearls in the tear drop shape, and these would end up being fairly expensive. It has a nice weight to it. I think I'll be redoing my girdle belt with the wire instead of beading thread.

Anyway, let me know what you think!

Spring is a beautiful thing

It's days like this that give me hope that spring will actually arrive, winter will end, I will lose forty pounds without being hungry, find eternal happiness, and live happily ever after.

Well, the first two, anyway...

It got up into the 50s today. Squee!!!! The entire week looks good so far, including the weekend. This winter has been awful, and I am overcome with spring fever now that it looks like it might be winding down.

I'm cautiously optimistic in hoping that we won't end up with a late spring snow storm/ice storm/tornadoes, etc. Of course, this is Iowa, so we'll probably get all three next week...

Of course, I am also in a good mood, as we will be starting Royal Court rehearsals soon, and got a little information about bookings for this season. We have two solid bookings, and one that we just found out about today (doing a happy dance! Once it's booked for sure, I'll share!).

Things are looking up!

Fiasco of an afternoon...

My son was absent from school yesterday due to illness. This afternoon, when he called me after getting home from school, he was really upset.

Basically, when he opened his locker this morning, his textbooks were missing.

The 8th graders basically have only two real textbooks (don't even get me started on that subject) - American History, and Science. Both were missing.

His teachers were no help, basically told him the books hadn't been left in their rooms, and told him that he had to find them himself. Eventually, he found the American History book on the top of his row of lockers, which was NOT where he had left it (in a padlocked locker). He couldn't find his science book.

So, after telling me this, I called the school to find out what we could do. That was another exercise in futility. The school's phone system is completely messed up. I managed to leave a message with the dean of students, but couldn't get through again. Finally, I left work early, picked up my son, and went to the school.

We met one of his teachers while we were looking in their work room (where all found textbooks are supposed to be returned). We didn't find his book in the room, and the teacher kept telling Ian that he shouldn't have left his books on top of his locker, because people will take them. We kept trying to explain that he never leaves his books out of his locker, and that I was concerned because it meant someone else might have his combination. Just didn't seem to get that this was a real problem.

After some searching, we finally managed to find his science book on top of lockers in another wing of the school. Went back and told the teacher we had found it, and where exactly we had found it. Turns out, that row of lockers belongs to some troublemakers who give my son a hard time.

What a mess, but at least we found his books....

Pizza Quiz

What Your Pizza Reveals

People may tell you that you have a small appetite... but you aren't under eating. You just aren't a pig. You consider pizza to be bread... very good bread. You fit in best in the Midwest part of the US. You like food that's traditional and well crafted. You aren't impressed with "gourmet" foods. You are dependable, loyal, and conservative with your choices. You are definitely unique and artistically inclined. You should consider traveling to Prague. The stereotype that best fits you is geek. You're the type most likely to order pizza to avoid leaving your computer.

What Does Your Pizza Say About You?

Very short quiz... Kind of interesting.

Damn, I want pizza now...

Weekend Plans - It is actually going to be above freezing!

I have big plans for this weekend.

Spring. Cleaning.

I am soooo ready for spring. It is supposed to be in the 40s this weekend, so the windows are going to be opened, and the house is going to be cleaned from top to bottom.

My son is going to go through his room, box up all toys except Lego™, and pack them away to take to my parents' storage room. You see, we were going to do that before Christmas, but since I've felt like I was sleepwalking since before Thanksgiving, it didn't get finished. Now that the sun has been out a couple of days, and the snow is melting, I feel finally awake and ready to work at this. And I have a very willing helper. A helper who is going to be sucking up big-time for a very long time, and has nothing better to do, as he is grounded.

Don't even want to talk about it except to say that he has received his first and last D, and is fully aware of the mistake he made when he kept telling me that he was doing well in math this trimester. Whoops.

We've worked it out, and set out the restrictions he is going to have. I want to say that he learned a valuable lesson, but I think I'll have to wait to see if he really got what I was trying to say.

It was so much easier in elementary school...

Sigh...

Disappointed in Project Runway.

If you were watching, you know that Chris is out and Rami is in.

Yuck.

Honestly, I loved Chris' clothes, and if I had the body and Budget, I would wear them in a heartbeat.

Rami's clothes were boring. Honestly boring.

Okay, I'm going to go back to reading a book and waiting for next week, when Jillian had better take the prize, or we'll know this show is rigged.

Don't even ask me how the weather is up here...

Especially if you are a telemarketer from South Carolina who has the guts to ask an Iowan how the weather is...

Today was an interesting day. Morning started out rough, with the accmulated snow and ice needing to be scraped off of the car. I left the house 20 minutes early, and it barely was early enough. The roads were awful in town, but cleared up by noon.

The diet has been going surprisingly well. I think I am more motivated than I can ever remember being about losing weight. I am going to make this work. Follow the program, learn to make good choices, and take off the damn weight. I am not as hungry as I was last week at the beginning of this. Part of that is timing and content of snacks. :)

Anyway, today's totals:

Breakfast: shredded wheat - 3 pts
Morning snack: Fat-free pretzels - 2 pts.

Lunch: Smart Ones Chicken Alfredo - 7 points (not terrible, but not the best)
Broccoli - 0
One slice of bread - 1 point

Snack (3:00): animal crackers - 3 pts

Dinner: 3 oz baked chicken - 3 pts
8 oz steamed potatoes with butter spray and Lawry's Salt (oh yummy!) - 3 pts (this was a serious amount of potatoes, if you've never measured. almost too much to eat)
winter mix vegetables - 0

Evening snack (8 pm) - pretzels - 2 points

Totally not hungry now at all.

Total: 24 points - very good!

Accidental Art

From this month's issue of National Geographic:



The God Particle

Yummy pics of the Large Hadron Particle Collider, and a very interesting article, too. We haven't gotten our print edition of this mag yet, as we always have a gap in our subscription due to renewing through the magazine sales at the middle school (then we get two months at once). Can't wait to get it!

Visit the article, and see more incredibly beautiful images of this collider. To me, part of what makes it so beautiful is that the design of the collider was dictated by its needs, symmetry combined with practicality. I would love to be standing were the man in the photo is standing. It would be overwhelmingly lovely!

Geek Outing

Yesterday, for a scout activity, the kids had planned to go to the Science Center in Des Moines. The plan was to explore for a few hours, then go to an IMAX movie.

Well, it turns out, the only people who were able to go were my son and I, and one of our assistant scoutmasters (we have a very small troop, and initially, two more boys and their father were going. But, one of the boys was behind in homework, and so they called to say they weren't coming). We still had fun. I can't remember getting to explore the center in such detail before.

I knew it was going to be a good visit when we walked in the front door, and found this:



The teenager wanted to take it home with him...

I especially like the space room (surprise, duh), and we spent a long time there. They had huge binders with collected space news, and good info and shots from current missions. They had a nice display about an astronaut from Iowa who was a commander on a recent shuttle mission (nice ISU shirt!). We built Lego spaceships (the teenager built the Galactica, of course, in the amount of time it took B and I to even put parts of generic ships together), and the teenager helped little kids play with the marbles in the gravity well.

I even did something I never thought I would do in my entire life.

I touched a snake.

Yep, I really did. One of the staff had one out for people to see and touch. Non-poisonous, of course (they have plenty of poisonous ones there, too).

Lunch was good, but we all ate too much. My son had a cheeseburger, fries, and a piece of pizza from my personal cheese pizza, and one from B's meat-lovers pizza. We also shared an order of breadsticks. I know the teenager had skipped breakfast to be able to eat there, but I had no such excuse. 13.75 points for the pizza*, 3 points for the breadstick, 1 for the sauce. Oh, but it was good. The guys said the cheeseburgers were really good, too. My son declared the cheeseburger and fries better than Culver's, which made me regret not getting that instead of pizza.

Anyway, we never had a chance to get bored at the center. My only complaint would be that they are not maintaining the exhibits as well as they should be (which was a problem in the old science center, too). More things were broken than should have been. For some, things that a simple blob of glue would fix. For example, in the reptile room (not its real name), they have drawers with fossils, rocks, and leaves. In some drawers, the individual pieces had come unglued, and were loose and out of place in the drawer, making that drawer pretty much unusable for its intended purpose (identification). At least two drawers, out of six, in each of the three towers had problems. I wanted to tell someone to give me a screwdriver and the glue gun, and I would fix it myself.

In all, I counted five activities that were actually broken (that would take more than glue to fix), and that didn't include the problems with the Galactic Jukebox, where you could put together clips of what you wanted to see in the Star Theater. The putting together of the show worked, but when we viewed them, everyone's shows had clips that would suddenly drop out early, or the wrong audio was with the wrong video. It was weird. We made sure to tell a volunteer about this, so they could fix it. It was more disappointing that anything, because when it works, it's really cool.

One exhibit room was completely blocked off, with no signs to explain why (were they putting together an exhibition?). We weren't the only people to comment on this.

All in all, it was a good day, but I could have gone to a regular movie theater to see Spiderwick, and been happier with it. I wouldn't have had kids kicking my seat and talking through the ENTIRE MOVIE, nor would we have been sitting next to adults who treated the place like their living room (what adult needs to leave THREE TIMES during a 90 minute movie???). From what I hear, that's a Des Moines thing... And yes, I did ask the kids to please quit talking, but if the parents don't back that up, it's a losing battle). For the love of God, teach your kids how to act in a public theater before taking them to one.

We did, however, decide to go back next Saturday morning and see the Mars movie. That would be worth seeing, and I doubt any little kids will be in that one.

All in all, a good day. :)





* 17 for a whole pizza hut personal, regardless of toppings, so really, it was probably slightly less points total. I am not going to post a complete points breakdown for yesterday, but believe it or not, by good breakfast and dinner choices, I stayed within my points for the day.

I'm honestly not really trying to bore you all...

I'm just not the most interesting person in the world. Sorry. That's what happens when you take the chocolate away from me. Seriously.

Okay, today, I did okay on the diet. I saw a slight improvement on the scale this morning, but it's too early to count. Anyway, here is today's totals so far:

Breakfast (broken record):
shredded wheat - 3 pts.
BTW, this shredded wheat is the Strawberry Delight frosted mini-wheats. Very good!

Snack:
fat-free pretzels - 2 pts.

Lunch:
Smart Ones Fettuccine Alfredo, with extra broccoli: 7 6 points. Loved this!

Snack:
more pretzels - 2 pts.

I've been chewing gum to get through the early evening until dinner, so was able to cut out a snack.

Dinner:
4 oz chicken, cut up and fried with Pam - 4 pts.
wild rice - 3 pts
water chestnuts - free
soy sauce - 1 (less than 1, really. Only 10 calories per tbsp.)
onion - 0

Yes, I need a snack right now. Not sure what it will be. Maybe an apple or applesauce, and pretzels...

Day 2

Breakfast: shredded wheat - 3pts.
mid-morning snack: same - 3pts

Lunch:
Weight Watchers, Smart Ones: Slow Roasted Turkey Breast, with mashed potatoes: 4 pts.
green beans: free
bread, three slices: 3 pts. (hoping to avoid afternoon cravings)

Snack: Harvest Cheddar Sun Chips: 4 points - helped bridge the gap, as dinner wasn't ready until after 7.

Dinner:
4 oz. chicken breast - 4 points (baked, with butter spray, and crushed Italian croutons, less than 1/4 serving)
cauliflower - 0 points
instant mashed potatoes*, one serving, with butter spray and garlic: 2 points or less (did my calcs on the info on the box for the prepared mix, but left out the butter)

Snack:
One serving fat free pretzels: 2 points, for 32 pieces. great snack, couldn't tell they were fat free at all.

Guilty pleasure: 1 cadbury caramel chocolate egg. I told myself I wasn't going to eat it, but that would be like telling Riker he couldn't go on an Away Mission. I ate it, I'm owning up to it: 4 points.

Total: 29 points, but probably less considering I used no butter on the potatoes.

Disappointing. But, I had points left over yesterday, so not a terrible start. Tomorrow night, I'm adding exercise.

* Note: The only reason I used instant potatoes was due to the fact that the bag of potatoes I bought last week smelled musty when washed. I hate it when that happens. The garlic seasoning helped mask the school-lunch taste.

Day 1 - Diet Begins

Accountability is key. My range: 22-29 points. If you are familiar with WW, you will be able to guess my weight. I am very alarmed by it myself, because it snuck up on me. This is the first step to getting rid of bad habits and getting healthy. And getting into my corset and court gowns...

Breakfast: yum!
1 serving Frosted mini-wheats = 3 pts.

Lunch: very good, and filling!
Weight Watchers, Smart Ones: Slow Roasted Turkey Breast, with mashed potatoes: 4 pts.
green beans: free
bread, two slices: 2 pts.

Snack: work, 3:15
one serving animal crackers: 3pts
100 calorie snack pack, Ritz Snack Mix: 2 pts. - YUCK. I should have just poured the salt straight down my throat. Couldn't finish this.

Dinner:
Healthy Choice French bread pizza - cheese: 7 pts. Yuck. Too much sauce, and the sauce was not good. Waste of 7 points and $3
1 cup unsweetened applesauce, with nutrisweet: 1 pt.

Evening Snack: (Yes, I'm a snacker. That's how I got into this mess!)
one serving microwave kettle corn: 3 pts.
one apple: 1 pt.

Today's total: 26 pts.

Still hungry, though, and I shouldn't be. Tomorrow, I'll actually cook dinner, and I shouldn't have any problems. Heck, I really started this last night at dinner, and didn't have any problems. Wasn't hungry at all last night. Tonight... should have had soup instead of the popcorn and apple. Same points, would have been more filling.

Anyway, more updates tomorrow...

Something I forgot to add to the last post...

Is there any reason why I should have my third sore throat in three weeks??? Seriously, this is getting ridiculous... I really do not want to have to go to the doctor again this month (had a checkup two weeks ago). No fever or anything, but this is not normal. WTF is going on? Maybe I do have mono after all...

P.S.: The reason I am up so late posting, is because I fell asleep on the couch at 4, and did not wake up until nearly 7, when my son woke me up because he was hungry for dinner. I could have slept until morning if he hadn't.

How I spent my lazy Sunday evening...

Second week in January, I went to Hobby Lobby, to scope out the 80% off Christmas items sale. I picked up some really great stuff, including this bead garland, for $1.



I spent a bit of time last night trying out possible "edits" to this garland to turn it into a renaissance girdle belt, playing off different styles seen in paintings of the period, and a little jaunt to the Sapphire and Sage site for inspiration (if I had the money, I'd spent a LOT there.).

I discarded the first variation, then spent more time tonight trying different options before coming up with this final version. This is just the section that will hang down from the center front of the belt.



This is the bottom edge, showing the bottom decoration.



This photo shows the center section, so you can get an idea of the pattern to the design. Nearly all of the "gold" plastic (shudder) beads are from the Christmas garland. The except are the gold metal beads that are placed next to the larger pearl crosspieces. The large pearls are from a Christmas ornament that I bought at the same same for 50 cents (and I had pearls of enormous size left over). Again, plastic. Yuck. But, they will do. The smaller pearls are 8mm (oyster) and 10 mm (ecru) glass pearls. The red glass beads are 6mm, and quite a lovely red (not so bright red as in the photos). The red oval-ish beads at the bottom of the piece are acrylic, and I have had them for years.

I was worried about using the plastic beads, but this ended up being pretty heavy as it is. I can't imagine what it would weigh if I had used all metal and glass beads... Besides, no one is going to get close enough to be able to tell the difference. The designs of the beads are within period bounds, so I am not too worried. I am creating a look, not 100% accuracy. Besides, the dress itself usually weighs enough that saving weight elsewhere is essential.

This was a great project for a blizzardy day...

Note: This was a "stash" piece. I did not buy anything to complete it, with the most recent purchases being the garland and ornaments. I am trying to see how many jewelry and garb pieces I can complete without additional purchases (with the exception of duct ties, for bodice boning, because I am completely out). The only additional allowable purchases will be thread, fastenings, and maybe cotton for lining.