I've Officially Lost My Mind, edition ?

Yet again, I have made choices against a deadline. And yes, they are choices that I have deliberately made.

1.  Tomorrow is the Band Parent Vendor fair.  I'm the co-chair.  I'm in charge of the vendors, and I have yet to make the plan of who gets which table (if we have people selling similar products, they get REALLY cranky if they are next to each other, and some people need electricity, and some have more than one table...). I also have to stop by the middle school and ask permission to put up a few posters because they are having an event tonight.  I also have not made said posters.

2. I have also volunteered to bake a couple of dozen cookies for said Vendor Fair.  Which is tomorrow.  I have not started (although the butter is softening right now).  I have ambitions to make cupcakes as well, but that may not actually happen. I know, I didn't need to make cookies - but we are having a sad lack of participation from the Band Parents for this event, and since I've told two different vendors they cannot sell baked goods because we're going to, I feel somewhat obligated to make sure there are baked goods.

3. Rachel and JC are going off Live Action Role Playing this weekend. JC has LARPed many times before and has his kit together pretty well.  This is Rachel's first time.  She asked me quite some time ago to make a white shirt for her existing Renaissance Faire costume - she has a two-sided bodice we bought her, but the floral side doesn't play well with her current striped shirt.  Yesterday, I decided I had the fabric, I really should do this.  They leave this evening.  I declare victory on this one:

 If you're thinking, "that looks like a nightie!", you are not far off.  A chemise was the multi-purpose undergarment of the Middle Ages. You wore it next to your skin, under your corset/bodice/jerkin, and it also acted as your slip or underskirt.  At night, you took off your outer clothes and slept in your chemise. I whipped this together after dinner last night (hemmed this morning).

I made it from a very simple pattern (rectangles and straight lines) I found online.  However, and I am kicking myself because I've made it before and had the exact same problem, this pattern makes an armhole that is way too tight for even a skinny girl like Rachel. She said it was "okay", but with that tone that says, "no, really it's not but I don't want to make a fuss."

Behold the fix:

That, my friends, is an underarm gusset.  My first ever. It is not the most perfectly sewn thing, and may break all sorts of tailoring rules, but I am hopeful that it does the trick. It's a costume, after all, and is only required to be reasonably sturdy and washable. And at least somewhat comfortable. But sucked up time this morning.

4. Rachel realized last night, in the middle of chemise construction, that she wants to play a spell caster. Spells are represented by mini bean bags. Oh. There are some for sale by enterprising players, but I really hate spending money on something I really can make for almost nothing. Put it on the list for today while the cookies are in the oven.

5. William has soccer practice right in the middle of when JC and Rachel are planning on leaving.  The saving grace is that JC can drive them, so I don't need to spend 2 hours on the road tonight.

6. Oh, and I probably need to go in and meet with the school janitors to explain how we need the tables arranged.  Guess I better get working on the floor plan.

I made the commitment to the Vendor Fair months ago, although I suppose I didn't need to say I would bake. And I could have been working on the sewing last week or even earlier this week.  The floor plan and cookies are really the things that HAD to wait until today (we still had vendors signing up earlier this week).  But you know? Don't tell anyone but the urgency is kind of fun.  Wouldn't want to do it every day, but once in a while adds a little spice.

I Am in Love

Yesterday was rather challenging. I lived in Boston 4 years during college, and have been back many times to visit. We still have friends in the area, and in fact, were there less than 3 weeks ago for Spring Break (in Copley Square on Boylston Street, no less). My heart goes out to all those affected by the bombs, and I pray for healing for the city.

That said, this morning, I missed a step while taking out the garbage and twisted my ankle (a bit, no swelling but it twinges some). Seemed like a perfect excuse to sit on the sofa with my foot up and cruise the internet.  And I found this:

http://thekidshouldseethis.com/

This is a magical website full of fabulous videos. I started with Adam Savage of Mythbusters 
building a miniature Strandbeest. (Google it, it's awesome) I have watched video from a weather
balloon in space (with Hello Kitty!), how to make several recipes, liquid density experiment, and
on and on.  It is a simply marvelous collection for young and old.

I love this website. And it was just what I needed today.

Begin Again

What can I say?  I haven't posted for a couple of months.  Life hasn't been any busier than usual, but I guess my motivation was lacking (in many areas, not just blogging).

I did go on a bit of adventure earlier this week, albeit a bittersweet one.  One of my favorite yarn stores is closing in May.  I didn't go there often because it's about 45 minutes away, but it was lovely and helpful and all the things you would want from a local yarn store.  So a friend and I trekked down on Tuesday, stopping for lunch at a charming deli/luncheonette along the way.  (They were so delicious I bought chicken pot pies for dinner, which JC and I devoured.  He wanted the rest of mine, I refused, and then regretted because eating it all was a bit too much.  But so yummy!) The yarn was rather picked over, but I found a few things that were lovely, of course.

And then this morning, I got a notice on Facebook that my other local yarn store is closing in May.  What???!! This one is much much closer, not quite as large but equally nice.  In fact, I just had a wonderful experience there about a month ago, buying yarn for a chemo hat for a friend of my mother's. The saleslady could not have been more helpful.

So now I am left with no LYS within 45 minutes of here. I know, many knitters survive on the internet alone. But sometimes it's nice to touch things.

The Morning After

I don't know about you, but my recovery time goes up along with my age. We had a few friends over for the Super Bowl last night, and a)I didn't drink anything and b) I hardly cooked (heating up ham and appetizers from Costco doesn't count). And yet I still feel sluggish and hungover today. I guess it's the staying up late and having to be more social than usual.

I spent part of the morning reviewing the reviews of Super Bowl ads. I don't know about you, but our consensus last night was that there weren't any really memorable ads - remember the Budwieser frogs? Not sure there was an ad last night that everyone was talking about in the morning. And the list of 10 best and 10 worst varied from place to place (including the occasional "my worst is your best", which is always entertaining). There were some very touching ads (Oprah's Jeep am, Budweiser, the Paul Harvey Dodge ad), and some clever ones (I liked the Mercedes sell your should to the devil one), but not much that made us laugh out loud.  Oh well.  It was still fun, and a good game in the end.

And dinner tonight? Maybe those appetizers that I forgot from the freezer...

It's Cold

Yes, I'm going to while about the cold, just like every other East Coast blogger.  Yesterday morning, I checked the Weather Channel and our town clocked in at 8 F.  Single digits don't happen very often, and just for perspective? Toronto, Canada at the same time was officially at 11 F.  It was colder than Canada, people.  That's cold.

This morning, though, we're besting Toronto by a full 4 degrees. Ooo!

Invariably

I always sit in the chair at the end of the counter. Since I'm always the one getting up to fetch things during meals, it has become MY chair.

It has also become George's cuddle place.  If I sit for more than 5 minutes, George will hop up on my lap, whether I invite him or not. And he likes to be held, with my arm around him.  Anywhere else, he'll sit on my lap for awhile, but won't tolerate being held.

But every time he hops up, I was about to get up to do something - refill my water glass, stir a pot on the stove, something. It's uncanny how bad his timing is.

I need to teach George to bring a cup of coffee with him.

Small Things

1. Last Friday, I took Rachel to school. We left as the sky was just starting to brighten with the sunrise, and it was bright red. Candy apple red streaks, and really striking.  It wasn't until later in the day, when it had started to rain/sleet, that I remembered "red sky in morning, sailors take warning." I guess it's true.

2. I have studio time on the printing press today and tomorrow. The studio is sponsoring a print exchange - if I can get 25 prints done by the deadline, I'll receive 20 different ones in return. I have a somewhat ambitious plan, wish me luck! I'm hoping to remember to take pictures of the process.

3. I spent a very enjoyable morning last Thursday helping a friend learn to knit.  She is a long-time crocheter, and had a good grasp of knitting except for the casting on. I cast on a scarf for Rachel (Wingspan, on Ravelry), and am close to finishing the third triangle, which makes me excited since I might finish it before winter is over.  Maybe.

4. The scarf is to match her new winter coat.  It's purple and blue plaid. Do you know how many purples are in my stash, none of which were a good match for the coat? We settled for a variegated blue.

5. I have rediscovered my father's treasure trove of Terry Pratchett books. Terry Pratchett is a British fantasy author with a wicked sense of humor, best known for the Discworld series. I'd read a number if them, Rachel and JC have read almost all of them, but I picked up one of the books a couple of weeks ago, and now I can't put them down. I think I've been through 4 in the past week and a half or so.

6. Pinterest is to the Internet what crack is to cocaine. I might need an intervention.

7. I can't decide if I'm amused or annoyed - my computer has a touch screen (which I never use). Sheba the cat has decided that if I'm on my computer, that's the perfect time to get very affectionate with me and anything in the vicinity.  She rubs up against the monitor, and invariably her tail touches the screen and selects something random.