with cold weather. Highs this weekend are in the teens, lows around 0. Snow, flurries, ice, whatever. I'm ready for spring.
But at least January is about over. :)
I started on the new blocks of the month last night. It had been so long since I quilted I thought I forgot how. Still don't have my rhythm down, but that's alright, it'll come back. I'm thinking about packing the viking away for awhile and just using the juki for piecing. One of them needs to get put away so I have room for my little cutting mat on the side table.
All of the ebay stuff is on its way to new homes except for the snoopy machine. Waiting to receive a check, and then for it to clear, then it ships. The Russian packed it up pretty tight: 7 layers of bubble wrap, in a box, then in another box cushioned with 42 pounds of styrofoam plus packing peanuts. LOL well, almost 42 pounds.
This is the first month we don't have to make a house payment. Yay! Should I go shopping? :) It feels pretty damn good to be 100% out of debt, no cars, no house, no credit cards, nothing. I doubt if many people my age can say that.
More quilting tonight! The yellow and blue quilt is going to be interesting, I haven't started the Asian Influenced one yet, but I know who the recipient is going to be. And I'm considering donating the black quilt from last year's shop hop to someone in Juarez. I just don't know that many people who have a place for a black quilt with wacky colors all over it. However, just looking at the pattern makes me want to do one with the same colors in a bargello pattern. It would be funky 70's disco looking! I need 3 more hours in a day, anybody willing to give them to me?
Went to early church, home by 9:20 or so. Didn't find Remy to drop off more hats and scarves, so I still have the four I started with this week.
It's 6 degrees outside, with 33 mph winds. Uh, yeah.
Yesterday afternoon I got itchy and couldn't take it anymore, so I ran some hats through the Juki. I had been serging the main seam on them, but decided to do a regular straight stitch and see how it turned out. I got 12 done in a little under 2 and a half hours. Would have taken less time but I was watching movies and kept getting distracted. :) Anyway, that machine is SO FAST! I used the walking foot for the first time, and it does a nice job. I had some trouble getting it installed until I remembered to lift up the presser foot. Idiot.
Anyway, I've decided to finish the rest of the hats with the Juki and then all I'll have to do is serge the scarves when I get the serger back (or buy a new one...that decision is still up in the air). There's a lady at my church who works for the local Babylock dealer. I wonder if they ever get any of those Evolve machines in for trade? ;) Maybe I'm supposed to have one machine from each brand...I've had a Brother, Kenmore, Viking, White, Juki, Singer, Janome and a Riccar. Never had a Babylock, Pfaff or Bernina. Oh, and I've also had an International, although I never used it. I think it was beyond being saved by the time I got my hands on it.
Today's agenda: laundry and cleaning. My mother is coming to town next weekend. LOL If I get caught up with that I'll work on more hats.
The Russian is busy getting the Ebay stuff packed up and ready to ship. I'll be glad to see it all go away. More room for fabric! :) The last thing to move up to the new studio will be the design wall. Still working out where it's going to go. I think it will sit in front of the closet doors at least for awhile.
Gotta get busy
At the Chatham Library.
The Russian and I got up this morning and went to breakfast, then hit Danes and now we're at the library. I'm supposed to be picking up Sex and the City (season 1) from interlibrary loan, but decided as long as we were coming here I'd borrow their wifi to see if I could update some sites I'm behind on. No dice...having problems with IE (go figure), and can't get it to register port 80. I suspect it's a proxy problem, but I'll try again from home and see if it works there.
I pulled out the Jane's Addiction Ritual de lo Habitual again this morning. Man, that stuff never gets old.
Better get going before I frighten too many small children with my out-of-control hair. I think it's a little pinker now, I'm really digging it. I think I'm going back to the brindle look next time. It's a little less freakish, and a lot less maintenance.
On its way to the dealer today. She's going to take it to the repair lady on Monday and hopefully when it comes back it works. She had a 905 and a 910 yesterday, the 910 is pretty sweet but the more I'm looking at the 936 it seems like the way to go. Hopefully the White machine can be fixed and then I'm just looking at the repair bill instead of 2 grand for a new machine.
I cleaned up the sewing room last night, got some more stuff moved in. All I have left to do now is the closet, which is going to be a nightmare all on its own. There's so much stuff in there that doesn't belong! I really need to go through the fabric and pull out anything I'm not going to use. I've also been using it to stash yarn, and I'm not sure that's going to continue to work.
Several of you have emailed asking about the Fleece Project again. Our church kind of partners with one of the local low income schools (95% of the students are low income). In the fall we buy school supplies and uniforms, in the winter we provide coats and socks or whatever they need (last year instead of so many school supplies we bought socks and underwear...these kids didn't even have THAT stuff). In addition, several members mentor some of the students throughout the year, it's a really cool thing. Anyway, it was hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that there are little kids in this city who don't even have a hat or mittens for days when it's really cold.
So, the Fleece Project was born; a group of ladies and I got together last fall one Saturday to make hats and scarves. We learned early on that we could buy mittens cheaper than we could make them, and they would be warmer and more weatherproof. The hat pattern is actually the same one my mom and I use to make the hats we give to chemo patients, but with fleece in fun prints and bright colors, they're really cute for little kids. The scarf is a 5" wide strip, serged on the sides (not turned) and stitched 3-1/2" up from the bottom with some kind of decorative stitching, and then slashed the rest of the way down. We made 23 sets the first Saturday when we got organized, and since then I've made another 130 or so, and have another 48 ready to be stitched up once I get my serger back. I really wanted to provide 200 sets this year, and then we'll see about next year.
Right now I just want to be done with the project, it's been a little too consuming this winter and I've fallen way behind on my other projects. I have 20 yards of regular hat fabric to be cut out, in addition to several quilts that need to be completed for gifts. My goal is to be done with fleece by February 17th. Hopefully my machine comes back okay and I can whip through the final stack by then.
So that's all about the Fleece Project. Next year we should be a little better organized, maybe we can get more sets out. There are 590 students at the school, so I'm not sure we could ever provide a hat/mitten/scarf set for every child, but I guess that's why they call them goals, huh? :)
More Survey crap.
This Survey is about growing up
Name:
Tomi
Age:
33
Birthday:
9/7
Where did you first go to school?
Horace Mann
Your best friend in that school was?
Jennifer Allen
Public or Private?
Public
What was your favorite Cartoon?
Charlie Brown
What did you want to be when you grew up?
No clue
Did you go to camp?
yep. Church camp once (horrible) and 4-H camp once or twice (better)
What kind of neighborhood did you grow up in?
rural
Were you a bad kid?
not really
What did you do that was bad?
nothing much, there just wasn't that much opportunity.
Did your family move around a lot?
no
Have you beaten anyone up?
once
Who?
some kid on the bus, we were in 3rd grade and he was being a punk.
When you were younger did you shop lift?
I think when I was 4 or 5 I took some gum from the IGA. My mom marched me back in there and made me give it back.
Did you ever steal from someones house?
no
Where did you go to Middle school and what grades were in your school?
Malan Jr High, I had pretty good grades
Who was your favorite teacher in middle school?
Mr. (oh crap, what the heck was his name??? He taught 7th grade English and would get out a can of Lysol and spray a cloud around anybody that farted) Hodson! That's it! Mr. Hodson! He was hilarious! I learned a lot from him (besides all about flatulence)
Did you get detention a lot?
never
Did you get expelled?
nope
Who were your best friends?
I had a group of them. We were kind of joined at the hip
Did you have any boyfriends/girlfriends?
not in jr high
What was your favorite TV show?
My Pet Monster, Saturday morning cartoon
Who did you hang out with?
The group of girls I was friends with
Where did you hang out?
their houses usually, or at school
When was your first kiss?
14?
Who was it?
This guy from Fairfield, I knew him through my aunt.
Did you ever run away from home?
no
Did you ever smoke?
not in jr high (or high school, come to think of it)
How old were you and who gave you your first cigarette?
probably 19-ish or so, somebody I worked with at the mine, I'm sure
Who did you learn about sex from?
my friends
How old were you when you saw your first porn?
22? 25? Can't really remember, unless you count when I was 5 and saw my Uncle's Playboy magazine, freaked me OUT!
Where did you go to high school?
HHS
Did you get sent to the office a lot?
nope
Who did you hang out with the most?
The same girls I hung out with in Jr High
Did you lie to your parents a lot?
no
Did you sneak out of your house?
no
Where did you hang out?
Parker Plaza, mostly.
Did you skip class a lot?
no
Did you smoke at school....if so, where?
no
Were you ever suspended?
no
Were you ever expelled?
no
Who did you take to Junior Prom?
Brian?
Senior Prom?
Curt? I can't remember, those two might have been mixed up. Maybe it was homecoming. I don't remember, it's all a bad nightmare.
What was your favorite class?
Math or science
Ever tell off a teacher?
no
What is the worst thing a teacher had ever said to you?
probably something Mrs. Hayes said in 8th grade. Man, she was a horrible teacher. She's the sole reason in my mind why tenure is the worst thing that can happen in a school district.
Did you like gym?
sometimes
Did your school have a swimming pool?
ha, no.
What were you labeled as?
normal, hopefully.
Who did you eat lunch with?
my friends
Did anyone make fun of you?
probably
Would you ever go back to do it over again?
probably not.
When you were in school?
How old are you?
33
Did you graduate?
yep
Did you make good grades?
I guess so
Who was your best friend?
I had several
Did you have a boyfriend/girlfriend?
Part of the time
What brand of clothes was popular?
Guess
What brand of shoes were in?
Nikes
Were you a prep?
I don't think so, but probably wanted to be one.
Who was your favorite teacher?
Mrs. Way
What was your favorite subject?
Math or Science, hated history
Was there a bully?
Probably
Did that bully beat you up?
Nope
How much did school really prepare you for the real world?
Not that much. I learned what I needed to know in college and when I worked offshore.
Do you still talk to anyone from school?
occasionally
Did you take your lunch or eat school lunch?
both
Do you wish you could go back to school?
NO
Did you play any sports?
not in high school
Have you ever received a failing grade?
nope
Ever fall asleep in class?
not in high school (well, if I did I don't remember!)
Did you have a pocket protector?
no
Did you wear glasses or contacts?
yes
Did you ever have anyone else do your work for you?
no
Who was the nerdiest kid?
Can't think of one
Who was the most popular?
There were lots of them
Did you go to prom?
yes
Did you go to homecoming or court warming?
yes
Do you still have school pictures?
I still have yearbooks, but that's it
Did you drive to school or take the bus?
Once I got my license I mostly drove
Do you still have a crush on someone you went to school with?
no
Stupid serger. New needles, rethreading, cleaning out, nothing works. Of course it had to wait until I was down to the last on the fleece project before it croaked. Now I'm torn between having it repaired or getting a new one. The Russian says buy something new, but I still have an attachment to this one.
Anyway, I'm off to the local Viking dealer today at lunch to see what they have. The Babylock Evolve looks interesting, it seems to do a lot more than what I really need right now, but the coverstitch would be way cool. Somehow I have the feeling it's going to cost a lot more than what I would want to pay. And I'm feeling about as decisive as a houseplant right now.
Somebody, PLEASE, buy my snoopy machine...it's really pretty cool. You can put little Peanuts characters all over your clothes, towels, etc.; not to mention, you can use lots of other designs with it. Buy My Crap!
My serger is broken. :( I think I killed it. I didn't make it all the way through one set of hats last night before it started breaking threads and carrying on like a banshee. I'm going to change needles tonight, rethread from the beginning and see if it's any happier. I really REALLY need it to be working right now. I hate to take it in to the dealer because who knows when I'll get it back. I'm sure it needs more parts than what I've caught that's fallen off of it. Anybody got a nice Huskylock they want to unload? :) (don't tell Banana Hands)
More snow last night, but just enough to mess up the roads. I really hate January. It's that time of year when I want to take up naked sky-diving or something, just to get out of the ordinary. Can't wait for spring.
BTW, I signed up for quilt camp at Lake Carlinville in February. There are still slots open if anybody else wants to go, I think they're hoping for 15 or 20 people. I'm looking forward to just getting to quilt and forget about fleece for a weekend. I'm way far behind on several projects, and that's without taking any new classes at QU. Maybe next semester...
I need a vacation.
I almost forgot to post a review of the barbecue place where we had lunch on Saturday. *insert 4 out of 5 shaking fists here* It was pretty bad...very dry. Anyway, if you want to know where it was, email me. Blech.
The fleece is cut out! The fleece is cut out! Finally! I guess tonight I'll start sewing it again, I need to get at least the scarves and the hats serged so I can send that machine in to get cleaned and checked up. Parts are still falling off regularly, I'm hoping the repair guy can do something about that. And if anybody has any ideas about how difficult it is to change the blade on a White 2000 ATS, let me know.
I've been reading Ann Coulter's "Godless", so far it's pretty good.
The Russian's new nickname: Banana Hands (or nose, hehe)!
So it looks like the Bears are headed to the Superbowl, or so I'm told. I think this is probably a good thing...I can do anything and go anywhere I want on February 4th and EVERYONE WILL BE OUT OF MY WAY. :)
As the Russian says: if the Superbowl was being held in our backyard, and they had free beer, we probably wouldn't go.
Anyway, we headed to Morton/Peoria this weekend. I hit the Quilt Corner and got everything on my list and probably ended up selling someone a Handiquilter 16 in the process. Those shops should pay me to stand around and answer questions, really!
After I finished up there, we headed into Peoria and Carl got to visit a woodworking shop. We also hit up the Three Dog bakery, really cool place. No by-products, all human grade food. The kittens got some freeze-dried Alaskan salmon (big hit) and Ralf and Alice got biscotti. It's worth the price just to hear them crunching. I think Ralf actually smacks his lips after he's done. Heh.
That's about it from the Crapital, nothing too exciting. We got some more snow this weekend, it always looks pretty for the first 5 minutes. Saturday morning we had 20 deer in the backyard, probably is time to get a salt block for them. I turned on cat tv yesterday morning (filled up birdfeeders) and they had a ball pretend pouncing from the safety of the living room.
I'm almost done cutting fleece, one more section left which will be a nightmare (plaid). It's not straight, wasn't cut off the bolt straight, and somehow I'm going to have to make it straight. We'll see.
Oh! I have a bunch of embroidery machine stuff up for sale on Ebay, including the Snoopy machine. Buy my crap!
Home again, home again, jiggety jig.
It rained almost the entire way, but at least I missed the big ice storm. Sadly, my redbud trees really didn't fare so well and are mostly split in two. Not sure at this point whether they can be trimmed or if they have to be cut down.
The weekend was pretty uneventful. It rained a lot, we ended up going to Paducah for some shopping, and then came back up via Fredonia and Marion, KY. Crossed the river at Cave-In-Rock, for the first time ever my mom stayed in the car while we were on the ferry (she did roll the windows down, tho).
Anyway, all is pretty much quiet on the home front. Back to work tomorrow, yadda yadda. Still trying to figure out what what we're having for supper. Oh well, at least the cats missed me.
Going to be in Morton next weekend (not Pekin). Probably Saturday.
My cats are insane. One minute they're wanting to sit on my head, the next they're divebombing each other off the sofa. At least they're leaving the salt tank alone for the most part now. That's probably because there's no fish in it for the moment, but that will hopefully be changing in another water change or two. What should I get? Another royal gramma? I was thinking about either a skunk clown or maybe a goby or something, but haven't made up my mind yet.
If anybody wants the link to a really cool pda site let me know. My T|X is really happy with me these days, since I found it.
The Russian has joined a local band of woodworkers. I think he only likes them because they had ribs at their meeting. :P Anyway, I hear we're heading to St Louis in February to attend some kind of woodworking show, so he can play with toys that will probably end up in our basement. I guess I can't complain, I do have 5 sewing machines (well, 4 machines and 1 serger. Technically it's really 2 sewing machines, 2 embroidery machines and 1 serger). Anyway, he's having a good time and that's all that matters. That, and I get to have the remote for one night a month, and can watch something besides the History Channel.
We've been cackling about the Living with Ed show a lot lately. I can hardly wait for orange rain collectors to show up in our yard. (And they will meet a similar demise here, trust me.)
Big news in Springtucky today: The House passed a freeze on Ameren's rate, but it's not likely to go anywhere...I think it's a "symbolic" vote, kind of how we have "symbolic" politicians. Well, they accomplish about the same amount of crap, anyway. The Hair-gov was re-inaugurated today (The Russian interjects: Governor Corruptovich!). But the really big news is that someone is up in arms over local bars creating beer gardens for smokers. Apparently you can't just put up a tent and designate it the smoking scene. No one seems to be willing to let this poor horse be buried, but that's par for the course in this town. Grudges run deep, almost as deep as Hunter Lake. Oh wait, yeah, that one never got dug, my bad. Well, at least as deep as the doo-doo guv Hot Rod will find himself in when his father-in-law divorces him.
Anyway, that's enough cynicism for one day, I suppose. Some good news, however: it appears that my little hometown has come through for the taxpayers, finally. Word was that the school board was going to have a bond sale to the tune of a measly 1.8 million. Enough people were upset about it to pass some petitions that would at least have forced the issue onto a ballot vote. The superintendent made the statement that if enough signatures were collected (869, I believe) they wouldn't bother putting it to a vote, presumably because he knew it would never pass. The petitions were turned in today with a total of 1600 signatures. This probably comes as no surprise to anyone other than the school board. Now it remains to be seen whether the superintendent will keep his word; my guess is he won't. The big threat is that if they don't make enough cuts the state of Illinois will step in and make them anyway. Now there's a thought: the state of Illinois can run finances better than a local school board. Scary thought, eh?
So the Monday rant ends here.
I'll be in the Burg this weekend, and possibly Pekin the following Saturday if anybody wants to have lunch.
Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! *throws confetti*
Yep, planning for Christmas '07 has begun...the big change this year will be that I hope to not spend Christmas Day in the emergency room (which actually does not resemble Greys Anatomy in the least). There's no McDreamy or McSteamy, and I didn't even see one cute Asian chick in the whole joint. :( It also turns out that there is a major narcotic (dilaudid, for anyone playing along at home) to which I am allergic. Anyway, I'm alive and still kicking, so look out 2007!
That being said, I have a major announcement: our house is paid off! As of today we are out of all debt; we have no car loans, no house loan, NOTHING. Yay! And the Russian's idea of celebrating is to clean out the basement. *thwaps*
Anyway, other updates:
The Dyson vacuum is awesome! 3 minor complaints: the cord isn't retractable, it doesn't have a headlight (be honest, who doesn't vacuum in the dark?) and so far it doesn't work so well on my foyer rug. Otherwise it's a little dream to own, and I am simultaneously delighted and disgusted by the crap it's pulling out of our carpet.
The sewing room is finally seeing some action after I spent my entire break on the couch. Hats and scarves continue to be in production, but I don't see that the fleece stash is shrinking at all. I think it must be multiplying at night. I'm hoping to be done with this project by the time spring rolls around (ha ha) and then get on with some quilting. My Pennywinkle frame got moved to the old sewing room downstairs, and is just waiting for some action.
So far our winter has been anything but, and I'm getting a little tired of it. If it's not going to be cold, then I wish it would be spring so I can try out my new glasses on the VTR. They're ugly, but Wileys, and the lenses pop out so I can change from sunglasses to clear (for night riding, woohoo!). Plus, they have little eye-gaskets that are supposed to keep the wind from getting in. We shall see.
Work is still work, stay tuned for a bigger announcement on that.
The zoo continues to thrive, although I'm a little concerned that Kenny is liking the catnip too much. Last night I caught him chasing his tail and howling...
Alice is still the bane of the Russian's existence, and daily plots ways to take him out. Oh Oh Oh!!! AND...the emerald crab lives again! I saw him over Christmas break. I thought for sure he was a goner before Albert died, but he's still in there. Now I'm pretty sure I know what killed Albert...
Still trying to decide on another fish. My favorite local fish shop closed up (still depressed), I'm not sure if I'll buy local or not this time. Come back Ray!!! I need new corals!!!
Well, I think that's it. We're pretty boring during this time of year. January always seems to be the longest month of the year. Maybe I need new bubble bath. :)