Curtain rods at the ready

DH and I have been bitten by the mini-DIY bug lately - last weekend, we replaced the godawful sinks in the master bathroom, this weekend it was all the cabinet and drawer handles (since the new faucets are chrome, we need new drawer pulls) and ordered some new lights as well, from Home Depot - they don't stock 7 and 5 fixture vanity lights. We found some nice ones from Progress Lighting, which should arrive in 7 to 10 business days.

DH also put up curtain rods around the window in the master bedroom closet, which have not had curtains ever, and you can see them from the street (they're high up so you can't see anyone in the closet (not that either of us are in the closet) but the sun comes in during summer afternoons and burns all the clothes crispy. I had to get rid of some old business suits cause they faded badly. Harumph! Anyway, I'm going to do some little white shirred curtains for the window - dimensions between the support rods are 45" by 25", so it shouldn't be too much trouble (she says now...)

The problem with home improvements is once you start, you really can't stop until the whole damn house is done. We broke out the leftover paint and touched up where our walls have been nicked and scratched and where DH was attacked by my sewing table and took a huge divot out of the sewing room wall, patched the holes in the living room wall where someone gouged out huge pieces of the drywall for speaker wires. Sigh... it never ends.

Update from the City of Brotherly Love

My sister informs me that Philadelphia has already lost its collective mind. She's actually refusing to go to a Super Bowl party and will be watching at home with her boyfriend John, because she's going to cry, either because they win and she's thrilled, or they lost and she's crushed. She's been filling my inbox with Eagles fan jokes.

My (and DH's) jersey is In the Mail.

On my own for a week while DH is away on a business trip. So of course, I stay up until midnight last night and can't get up in the morning. Good thing work is not heavy going at the moment. I'm in Flylady mode at the moment...

On a sewing note, I am leaning towards making shirred sheers for the master closet - that window is buggin' the crap out of me now, I really want it covered up now. The baby stuff may have to wait - the little one's not due until April anyway... :-)

Got a new quilting catalog this week - it has a book about making T-Shirt quilts, which I might do with all the Three Day stuff I'm getting. Or have the team sign patches and embroidering them afterward and making a quilt out of that...

Penny

Go Iggles

Yes!

My Eagles are going to the Super Bowl *finally* (thankfully, since I've already told everyone about the Super Bowl Party at my house). Must make sure the hot tub and champagne are ready in two weeks. Was trying to get onto their official store to buy a Super Bowl replica jersey, but the page won't load. Will try again later tonight. I suspect other people have the same idea.

As much as I would like to actually be in Philadelphia to witness all this, I can't say I'd want to be there for the nor'easter that just dumped a few feet of snow on them. I have to say, I don't miss snow a bit.

Started the training walks for the Three Day - it was 7 miles (in two hours) on Saturday, and my knees and ankles are not thanking me for it today.

DH decided we had to replace our master bathroom sinks this weekend, so as soon as we got back from the training walk, it was off to Home Depot, Lowe's, The Great Indoors and another Home Depot before purchasing two Kohler sinks and two Delta faucets. then spending the rest of the day installing them. His sink went in without any problems, but mine was a surprise - there was a homemade connector to accommodate the A/C unit drain, which comes out into my sink's drain. Three post-purchase trips to Home Depot later, and we have two new sinks...

Saw The Aviator this morning - not too bad, which is saying something since it's a looooong film AND it stars Leonardo DiCaprio, who I really do not like at all, but he did a good job.

The sewing plan for this week is more work on the current baby gift and possibly work out some sort of sink curtain for the half bathroom (that all our Super Bowl guests will be using) since the pipes and connectors are out on display for all to see, which I don't like. I'd also like to do some curtains for the master closet - the sun comes in strong in the afternoons, and it looks very bare and ugly from the outside. We'll see if I have enough time this week, it promises to be a busy one.

Paperwork

Am drowning in paperwork. This sponsoring DH for a Green Card thing requires Brazil-type paperwork. Keep meaning to start sewing again, keep not doing it. Must really pick out those fabrics for the table runner.

We are hosting the Super Bowl party again this year - this time I plan on attending. (Last year, I forgot I had a business trip to San Francisco planned, and had to miss my own party. I did get to the hotel early enough to catch the infamous wardrobe malfunction. What a fuss over one little boob!)

Signed up for The 3 Day Walk for Breast Cancer sponsored by the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. James and the Mammo Mammas are back and better than ever! If you are feeling generous, you can sponsor me here. If you see a gaggle of women and one man walking around McKinney, TX early on Saturday mornings, that's us - wave!

home sick

Woke up today feeling like complete crap, so I'm bailing on work and staying home. DH brought me coffee in bed. I like this being married thing.

Did manage to get to the fabric store last night and buy buttons for my denim chair seat, and the bias tape for the baby towel, so I might do that today. Slowly, with many rests. I'm moving like molasses. Forgot to bring the yardage requirements for the first quilt project, and was feeling yucky and wasn't in the mood to pick fabrics, so I didn't.

I could start thinking about the window dressing for the utility room - I decided that I would start there, since no one really sees it but me, it would make an excellent place to get started with drapes. The problem is what to do? The window is tall and skinny, and I don't want floor length drapes - they'll just get in the way. I was thinking like a Roman shade, but permanently pinned back to one wall, so you see the underside of the fabric. I'll see if I can't find what I'm thinking on the web and report back later.

Frustration

So DH and I go to Kinko's last week to get passport pictures done for my name change in my passport. Show up, tell the woman we need pictures, she takes us to the back of the store, takes my picture, prints it and cuts it using the special 2x2 cutter that they have, takes us back to the front, we pay and leave. This takes all of 10 minutes.

Turns out we need more passport pictures for DH's Green Card application, both of him and me, since I'm sponsoring him. Okay, back to Kinko's. Instead of the nice efficient woman, we get Mutt and freakin' Jeff. We tell them we need pictures done. They look at each other blankly. One has done this before, the other hasn't. Who takes our pictures? Well, clearly it should be the one who has no experience doing this. It take Mutt 10 minutes to figure out how to actually take the picture - his methodology is: press button, wait, ask me if there was a flash (I reply no), look at the flash in stunned silence, repeat procedure. Finally after 4 times, it works. Then he has to go ask Jeff how to print. Jeff comes back, points out large "Print" button on top of camera, disappears again. Mutt prints. While we are waiting for the print, DH asks if we can take his picture while the printer is running. Stunned silence. Mutt disappears to ask Jeff if this is possible. It turns out Jeff is in a panic because they've misplaced another customer's floppy disc and they can't find it. So what does Mutt do? Well, he tries to help Jeff find it. Hello, we are standing here waiting for you! Then the phone rings. The two of them look at each other blankly. Mutt answers it. When he's done, he goes back to helping Jeff. I say, "Excuse me, can we finish with these photos so we can go home and have some dinner?" Mutt looks at me. Comes over. Sits down. Doesn't apologize. Says, "Oh yeah, I was going to ask him if I could take a new picture while the other one is printing," and leaves again. Completely disregarding the fact that the picture is DONE printing and the question is now moot since he's wasted so much time.

Then the cutting saga. Mutt can't figure out how to cut the pictures. DH points out that there are perforations on the pictures so you can get rid of the margin and fit it into the cutter. Mutt goes, "duhh... thanks." First picture is okay - DH's face goes in right way up, picture fits in cutter, Mutt cuts. Second picture - oh big trouble here. DH's face doesn't fit right way up, but rotate 180 degrees and it's fine. Mutt just can't handle this. He keeps putting the picture in with DH facing right way up, noticing it doesn't fit, putting it back in rotated, noticed that it did fit, but he's not confident enough to actually cut it like that. So his solution? Go hunt down a pair of scissors (5 more minutes wasted) so he can manually trim the edge so he can put the picture right way up and cut it. I was ready to grab his shoulders and shake him to pieces.

Of course,then we go to pay and Mutt screws up the VISA payment, so we have to void the first one, and there's something that needs to be printed for the void, so Mutt and Jeff search around for the right form (another 5 minutes), print, redo VISA transaction. Just shoot me! This isn't rocket science, fer Chrissakes! The whole thing wound up taking an HOUR.

And then today, to make things better, I called the tree guys to check when they are coming to take down two of our mature trees that have root rot :-( I called to schedule a date in November (the 8th, to be exact) and was told it would take 8 weeks, but I was now on the schedule and they would call me a week before they came out, but it would be early to mid January. So I call them today to see when they were coming - guess what? We're not on the schedule!

Turns out the person I spoke to on the 8th was the office manager, and she didn't do a damn thing about my phone call. To their credit, the woman I spoke with today apologized repeatedly and said she was going to go over and discuss this with their scheduling department ASAP to see if they could squeeze us in. It probably doesn't hurt that this is a HUGE job (we are also trimming the other trees and cabling our big oak so it doesn't drop another huge limb and crush the other side of the house, like it did two years ago.) and they will lose a few thousand dollars (tree maintenance is EXPENSIVE!) if we go with someone else. Which I will do if they tell me I have to wait another 8 weeks....

I *was* in a good mood today, too!

Welcome Liz to Blogdom

My old friend and MOH Liz has a brand spankin' new blog - the Von Brock Family Singers. Although her email address is not myname@myaddress.com as advertised...

Dear Lord, there's a picture of me on there - holding the wedding afghan that is now featured in our family room. And yes, it is on the heavy side. But well crafted.

Help help! I'm being repressed

Actually, I'm being held hostage at work by my DH. This carpooling stuff sucks when one of you is ready to leave hours before the other. And I was going to go to the fabric store tonight to get the supplies for my first quilt project. Phooey. Now I'm hungry and we're stopping off at Kinko's along the way home to get INS photos done for DH's Green Card application. By the time we get home, it'll be 8:00, he won't want to cook 'cause he's tired and crabby that he couldn't get his new PDA to sync with his laptop using Bluetooth. Sigh...

On the upside, I bit the bullet and joined Weight Watchers again. This time online. I've already dropped 5 pounds in 10 days by not eating out, but this will only last for a short time... must not get any fatter. I'll look like Ralphie May, and that's not a good thing.

starting up again

Forgot to mention that I had made a little sheer shrug for my office Xmas party in my great big list o' projects for 2004.

Started the new duckie baby set yesterday - glad to see I had enough left over from last time to complete the set, but unfortunately, I am out of the bias tape I used to bind the towel edges - the pattern calls for you to make your own out of the towel terry cloth, but that's murder with something that is both bulky AND fraying - e.g. terry cloth. So bias tape it is!

Starting to get more interested in quilting - have been reading Carol Doak's Your First Quilt Book (or it should be!) just to get familiar with terms and such, then it's a trip to the fabric store for fat quarters galore, then it's 9-patch blocks out the wazoo, I think.

Off in a minute to go see Meet the Fockers. Can't wait.

Highly inconvenienced

So today, the DFW To-Be-Wed forum on The Knot is down, and frankly, it's killing me. I know I spend way too much time over there, and really should be working (since I'm at work and all!) but I need to be able to check in with the girls. Plus I have stuff I want to tell them about, like my year end bonus (one month's salary. Gotta love it) and I just like reading it. I find it relaxing...

Erm... year end summary, anyone?

Well, I shall follow the example set over in Yarnhead land and tally up a summary of projects completed this year, though I doubt I will remember them all, as I am not nearly as organized as Kate, although maybe since I am significantly less productive than she, my list will be easier to compile...

2004 - Sewing:

Baby Fleecy Thing - for Kaylie N.
NFL-print tablecloth - for Super Bowl party
Bridal veil - for me
Baby Fleecy Thing - for our nephew John
2 wrap skirts - for honeymoon
Dupioni silk bag - too small to be useful, unfortunately...
Denim knitting bag and needle organizer - for my MOH Liz
Wedding Memories box - for me, from Clotilde's Sewing Savvy
Square fabric bowl from Fast Fun & Easy Fabric Bowls - test drive, now in guest room
Baby Fleecy Thing - for Matthew Preece (it rhymes - fleece and Preece)
Fleece mittens - for me (test driving freehand mitten creation)
Hat, mittens and scarf in Rocket Ship fleece - for our nephew Luke
Scarf in Sea Life fleece - for our niece Rebecca
Soft blocks - for our nephew John (called Herbert by his parents now, apparently)
Embroidered our names onto the Xmas stockings I made for Xmas 2003...

And, last but not least, I am STILL working on the denim chair seat that I started back in 2003. I just need to sew on some smooth buttons and it's finito-ed. I may not use it for anything - I certainly don't feel like making 5 more of the damn things...

On the plate for 2005? Well, I have a messenger bag to repair, I want to repeat the duck bath set I made for Jiny's baby Joe a few years ago for my friends John and Suzanne's new little one, curtains loom large, though I may chicken out and get my friend Pascale to make them for me.

Enough for now....