It's SOOO satisfying for a hoarder type to be able to think of a use for those calendar pages that were just too pretty to throw away!
Pretty, yes?
Unlike my larger dreams and plans, a craft on this scale actually ends up being made :-)
Making CD Sleeves from Calendars
That's the level of craft I can handle these days :-)
It's SOOO satisfying for a hoarder type to be able to think of a use for those calendar pages that were just too pretty to throw away!
Some time ago I opened up a CD sleeve and copied it onto thin cardboard for tracing.
It took some trial and error (as you can see) to get a square just the right size, but once I have that, I can fold the flaps over it and they come out perfect every time.
Pretty, yes?
Unlike my larger dreams and plans, a craft on this scale actually ends up being made :-)
It's SOOO satisfying for a hoarder type to be able to think of a use for those calendar pages that were just too pretty to throw away!
Pretty, yes?
Unlike my larger dreams and plans, a craft on this scale actually ends up being made :-)
Homemade Pot Rack
I have some very nice stainless steel pans that came from a relative, but in this little apartment kitchen there's nowhere to store them. I love my kitchen, LOVE, I'm just saying there isn't room for the pans!
Last year I got clever and harvested a vine maple branch from the woods behind us, crafted some hangers from hangers and there you go.
There's still that certain level of celebration because "there's nobody to stop me!" from dragging forest products indoors to use for stuff.
And yet. Now we have a saggy branch with the bark still on hanging in my kitchen.
They were for a project she was going to make and then didn't.
When I had the idea I grabbed that long board and sawed it into the length I needed really quick before my conscience could kick in.
Hey, she had left it there a LONG time!
Yeah, okay, I'm gonna discuss it with her.
Meanwhile.There's the hand drill I got at a garage sale for $4 back when I had money :-)
I ALWAYS drill pilot holes, just because I love my non-electric drill so much.
Sawdust!
You mean man glitter?
Sudden sidetrip down memory lane, as I remember being fascinated by the piles of sawdust under my dad's table saw. As a little kid I loved sweeping up that pleasant-smelling sawdust and vacuuming under the mats.
It's not visible here, but of course I put the two legs on the wrong way the first time.
Just take 'em off and reverse 'em, no harm done.
The pizza peel is a storage problem.
Really the only place for it is standing alongside the fridge, then it has to be washed before use, which isn't ideal.
Apparently that piece of 1x2 oak cost twenty some bucks. Gulp.
DD graciously forgave me and converted the theft into a gift :-)
Life and My Homemade Pizza are Amazing
Now, here is an example of provision. Long ago I had a big pizza stone, but it got left behind.
A pizza stone doesn't qualify as something we need to spend money on. Actually very few things qualify as that!
But this one was free! It may be smaller, but it's prettier, and it's free and out here in the freedom to go home with us.
I did get the pizza peel. That's the huge wooden surface with a handle, for getting the pizza in and out of the oven.
Making homemade pizza is so fun!
In my case there's a slight overtone of defiance that goes with it.
Everybody knows the ex is horrible, we're used to that. That's why he's the ex.
Mine, among his more serious offenses, also told me not to make homemade pizza any more, "Because you trash the whole kitchen doing it!"
That wasn't a health and safety issue like the ones I eventually divorced him for, so, fine. No more homemade pizza.
But how about now?
Nobody to stop me.
I'm gonna make homemade pizza! See? SEE ME DOING THIS THING? Nyah, nyah, nyah, I'm making homemade pizza!
Yeah. It's like that.
The discount grocery doesn't have organic pizza sauce, so I made my own, with tomato sauce and tomatoes and basil and oregano and garlic and pepper and minced onions sauteed in olive oil first. Oh, yeah.
You ought to see the oven. It doesn't show up in the picture, but there's cornmeal everywhere. The cornmeal doesn't go in the pizza, it goes on the peel, so it's the first thing your tongue comes in contact with when you take a bite. Another little detail to makes it taste all authentic and stuff.
But yeah, I'll have to be cleaning the oven tomorrow.
So WHAT if I get cornmeal on the floor? I'll clean it up!
The second pizza can honestly be called round.
Onions on top of the pizza guarantees that this one's mine-- or so I thought.
Actually that didn't work. The darlings are old enough now that a few onions won't stop them. I had to hork down some pizza in a hurry before it all vanished.
Mike said, "This pizza is AMAZING!"
A pizza stone doesn't qualify as something we need to spend money on. Actually very few things qualify as that!
But this one was free! It may be smaller, but it's prettier, and it's free and out here in the freedom to go home with us.
I did get the pizza peel. That's the huge wooden surface with a handle, for getting the pizza in and out of the oven.
Making homemade pizza is so fun!
In my case there's a slight overtone of defiance that goes with it.
Everybody knows the ex is horrible, we're used to that. That's why he's the ex.
Mine, among his more serious offenses, also told me not to make homemade pizza any more, "Because you trash the whole kitchen doing it!"
That wasn't a health and safety issue like the ones I eventually divorced him for, so, fine. No more homemade pizza.
But how about now?
Nobody to stop me.
I'm gonna make homemade pizza! See? SEE ME DOING THIS THING? Nyah, nyah, nyah, I'm making homemade pizza!
Yeah. It's like that.
The discount grocery doesn't have organic pizza sauce, so I made my own, with tomato sauce and tomatoes and basil and oregano and garlic and pepper and minced onions sauteed in olive oil first. Oh, yeah.
You ought to see the oven. It doesn't show up in the picture, but there's cornmeal everywhere. The cornmeal doesn't go in the pizza, it goes on the peel, so it's the first thing your tongue comes in contact with when you take a bite. Another little detail to makes it taste all authentic and stuff.
But yeah, I'll have to be cleaning the oven tomorrow.
So WHAT if I get cornmeal on the floor? I'll clean it up!
The second pizza can honestly be called round.
Onions on top of the pizza guarantees that this one's mine-- or so I thought.
Actually that didn't work. The darlings are old enough now that a few onions won't stop them. I had to hork down some pizza in a hurry before it all vanished.
Mike said, "This pizza is AMAZING!"
The New Curvy Barbie, and Newsweek Interview
Well, wasn't that a fun surprise! A request for an interview by a Newsweek reporter!
It made me feel famous! Hehe, although it didn't get me any fame-- my page views are the same or actually a little less than average since the article came out :-)
Whatever else, it was a fun way to shake up a morning. One minute I had dropped off the kids to school, was sitting down with my breakfast and to-do list, and of course sparing a moment to indulge in re-examination of my pain and familiar dilemmas, with some self-doubt and ennui. Next thing you know the phone's ringing.
I only had time enough to say, God, don't let me say something stupid!
And then I was chattering all kinds of cheerful, positive and enthusiastic opinions about my almost-forgotten hobby, from the almost-forgotten old days.
Here's the article:
http://www.newsweek.com/new-barbie-dolls-what-will-they-wear-421358
After the interview, I was kinda wound up, and on a whim I jumped in the car and zoomed down to Walmart to get one of the new dolls. Only a few minutes' thought or one minute's research would have told me it'll be a long time before the new body dolls hit the big box store! Oh, well, there were plenty of other things on my shopping list, it wasn't a wasted trip :-)
The new Curvy dolls can be pre-ordered here: http://www.barbie.com/en-us#curvy
And I did so as soon as I got home.
Went with this one:
Not only because she was only ten bucks.
I love the hair. Remember what I said about the purple-hair girl?
Blue hair makes me think Space Princess, possibly another of Captain Kirk's girlfriends.
It probably would have been this one if not for the bent arm, obviously-dyed hair (I see that blue hair as natural, just not from this planet) and the fact that her face reminds me of someone I know.
And she was $20. Yes I am that tightfisted. I'm only allowing myself to *buy* a doll because she'll further the hobby, which does at least pay for itself :-)
I'm set up to make some clothes, now.
In this apartment, I have a bedroom all to myself-- a little 10x12 square all my own that I love and am so grateful for! It's not that there's ROOM for a sewing table, it's kinda sitting in the middle and I go around it to go to bed!
I gotta do something with that website.
People still write me occasionally, still send me thank you notes and pictures of what they've made with my patterns, but I've fallen behind the curve. It's time to get those photos up, fix some errors I know about, make some long-overdue improvements, even add some NEW CONTENT.
I got a notifier yesterday saying Miss Blue has been shipped.
I can't wait! I'm gonna get a wardrobe together for her lickety-split, post the patterns and sell the prototypes. Yay!
Hey-- did you notice what just happened?
I just admitted that I bought a Barbie doll because I wanted it.
When my early teens turned into my late teens I got self-conscious about my Barbie collection and packed it away, but with so much regret!
Then, I was an outsider, exiled from the pink aisle.
I was so glad once my baby girl was big enough to look around and reach for things, so I could carry that baby girl into the pink aisle! She was my ticket, my passport back into the world of Barbie!
The girls are now 17, 21 and 23 years old, but I'm 45 -- I could wear a red hat if I wanted to, but I don't! But I'm plenty old and bold enough to admit I'm buying a plastic doll because I jolly well want to!
It made me feel famous! Hehe, although it didn't get me any fame-- my page views are the same or actually a little less than average since the article came out :-)
Whatever else, it was a fun way to shake up a morning. One minute I had dropped off the kids to school, was sitting down with my breakfast and to-do list, and of course sparing a moment to indulge in re-examination of my pain and familiar dilemmas, with some self-doubt and ennui. Next thing you know the phone's ringing.
I only had time enough to say, God, don't let me say something stupid!
And then I was chattering all kinds of cheerful, positive and enthusiastic opinions about my almost-forgotten hobby, from the almost-forgotten old days.
Here's the article:
http://www.newsweek.com/new-barbie-dolls-what-will-they-wear-421358
After the interview, I was kinda wound up, and on a whim I jumped in the car and zoomed down to Walmart to get one of the new dolls. Only a few minutes' thought or one minute's research would have told me it'll be a long time before the new body dolls hit the big box store! Oh, well, there were plenty of other things on my shopping list, it wasn't a wasted trip :-)
The new Curvy dolls can be pre-ordered here: http://www.barbie.com/en-us#curvy
And I did so as soon as I got home.
Went with this one:
I love the hair. Remember what I said about the purple-hair girl?
Blue hair makes me think Space Princess, possibly another of Captain Kirk's girlfriends.
It probably would have been this one if not for the bent arm, obviously-dyed hair (I see that blue hair as natural, just not from this planet) and the fact that her face reminds me of someone I know.
And she was $20. Yes I am that tightfisted. I'm only allowing myself to *buy* a doll because she'll further the hobby, which does at least pay for itself :-)
I'm set up to make some clothes, now.
In this apartment, I have a bedroom all to myself-- a little 10x12 square all my own that I love and am so grateful for! It's not that there's ROOM for a sewing table, it's kinda sitting in the middle and I go around it to go to bed!
I gotta do something with that website.
People still write me occasionally, still send me thank you notes and pictures of what they've made with my patterns, but I've fallen behind the curve. It's time to get those photos up, fix some errors I know about, make some long-overdue improvements, even add some NEW CONTENT.
I got a notifier yesterday saying Miss Blue has been shipped.
I can't wait! I'm gonna get a wardrobe together for her lickety-split, post the patterns and sell the prototypes. Yay!
Hey-- did you notice what just happened?
I just admitted that I bought a Barbie doll because I wanted it.
When my early teens turned into my late teens I got self-conscious about my Barbie collection and packed it away, but with so much regret!
Then, I was an outsider, exiled from the pink aisle.
I was so glad once my baby girl was big enough to look around and reach for things, so I could carry that baby girl into the pink aisle! She was my ticket, my passport back into the world of Barbie!
The girls are now 17, 21 and 23 years old, but I'm 45 -- I could wear a red hat if I wanted to, but I don't! But I'm plenty old and bold enough to admit I'm buying a plastic doll because I jolly well want to!
We went skiing!
First time I've ever been to a ski resort during snow season.
I didn't get to ski, only the boys did, but I still had a lot of fun. Just being up there was a new experience for me.
I spent the day wandering around at the bottom of the runs and all around the buildings and pathways, just taking in that crisp, refreshing air and enjoying the snowflakes on my face.
It's been SO LONG since I was on a snowy hill. I used to live in a place that got a lot of snow, but here in Olympia we're lucky if we get a foot, and we rarely get that much.
Dave rollerblades and Mike longboards, so Dave took to skis and Mike to a snowboard, like naturals. Like Norwegians.
They are 1/8th Norwegian!
There go the twins headed up the mountain.
I'll just stand right here and wait for them to come down.
So that's why people wear bright neon hats or vests or bold stripes-- so that family can recognize them when they come down again. It was impossible to know which ones were my boys, in their plain black. I tried to watch everybody who was roughly their size, and then they would come up from the other side and say, "Did you see that?"
That was a beautiful place to spend the day, and I went away very happy.
I didn't get to ski, only the boys did, but I still had a lot of fun. Just being up there was a new experience for me.
I spent the day wandering around at the bottom of the runs and all around the buildings and pathways, just taking in that crisp, refreshing air and enjoying the snowflakes on my face.
It's been SO LONG since I was on a snowy hill. I used to live in a place that got a lot of snow, but here in Olympia we're lucky if we get a foot, and we rarely get that much.
Dave rollerblades and Mike longboards, so Dave took to skis and Mike to a snowboard, like naturals. Like Norwegians.
They are 1/8th Norwegian!
There go the twins headed up the mountain.
I'll just stand right here and wait for them to come down.
So that's why people wear bright neon hats or vests or bold stripes-- so that family can recognize them when they come down again. It was impossible to know which ones were my boys, in their plain black. I tried to watch everybody who was roughly their size, and then they would come up from the other side and say, "Did you see that?"
That was a beautiful place to spend the day, and I went away very happy.
Lonely Eve
Shocking, right?
It did take long enough.
"There are worse things than being alone!" oh yes, you'd better believe it! But once you get away from those worse things... there are also better things than being alone, and even introverts can get lonely. Eventually.
Here it is, July 3rd. The kids have gone to the fireworks, and I stayed home by choice and by introvert habit, but amazingly enough, for once it's not, "Yippee! I'm alone, CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES!"
I'm alone and lonely.
It's a new and fascinating sensation!
That's despite having a new computer that just arrived a couple hours ago and is still sitting in its box. New to me, anyway, haha, just as old as my other one that died; hopefully this old computer works! I haven't had a working PC for half a year now. I've been writing my diary on that same trusty little netbook that came with me when I escaped.
That's despite having a couple different projects I'm working on, sewing, organizing, etc, all of them fascinating. I've recovered enough to feel interest in life, and a looking-forward sensation to doing more things, new things.
That's despite God being so good to me, as he has been recently and all along; not only providing every kind of blessing leaving no lack, but sending another messenger to point out wonders that I hadn't been able to see on my own.
Shouldn't God be enough?
Adam had such a relationship with God as to be in the habit of walking together in the cool of the day, having conversations with the inventor of knowledge, yet he was alone to the point of it being "not good".
I guess that's nothing new, then.
Sigh.
So here I am, home alone on a Friday night, and for the first time in human memory, lonely.
Crying about it to the echoless vastness of the internet.
Even chocolate gets to be too much after you've gorged on enough of it.
I'll still tend to be in the "Loneliness is GOOD" camp... by nature and habit.
Yeah, I've said that.
Is it a girl thing to THINK she wants to be alone?
I've heard so many women complain about their husbands being clingy and needy and wanting to do life arm-in-arm, and they have to do some clever shaking to dislodge him without wounding him.
I've only seldom heard a guy whine that he can't get his girl to stop following him around trying to join him in everything he does.
The guy complaint goes, "But she just wants to go off and do her own thing."
In the wonderful book His Needs, Her Needs, it's pointed out that most men have certain emotional needs, and so do most women, but these needs are different. If each person is generous and loving they will try to fulfill their mate's needs but unfortunately they try to supply the things that they themselves would want. Which usually only annoys the recipient, who didn't need that.
I noticed one of the big needs for men was "recreational companionship" which does not appear on the women's list. Men want to go bowling, hiking and camping WITH their mate, but it's such a strong underlying need that they'll also do the most boring, lame female activities as long as it can be WITH her.
Back to Eve.
Did you ever think about why Adam ate the fruit?
It says Eve was deceived, but Adam wasn't. That means his sin was worse. Got it.
But if he wasn't deceived, then WHY did he even do it? Did he even want to?
Eve wasn't the dumb one of the pair. She had a very thoughtful, scientific decision-making process:
"So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise..."
She was deceived, but not passively. She gave the idea some thought, and after consideration, decided to go for it. Notice how confident she was, making her decisions alone.
She must've been attracted by the idea of being wise and powerful.
She was either confident that Adam would join her in her new rank, or simply didn't care. Maybe togetherness just wasn't very high on her list of priorities.
Why was our little scaly buddy after Eve in the first place?
Was it really, as I've heard so many times, because Eve was soft in the head?
Or was it because Eve was the independent one, who would make the decision while she was all alone.
I'll bet you that if Adam had been tempted, he would have gone running to the woman first, "Hey honey, listen to this, doesn't this sound like a good idea?"
And then Eve would have talked him out of it, because there's nothing with a spine of iron like a woman who thinks she has a more righteous position than her husband, hahaha.
In any case, if they had been together, they would have been unbreakable.
"She took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate."
Poor Adam's downfall consists of only two words, "He ate."
Just the action. No thoughts.
Why did he do it?
Maybe he just didn't want to be alone again. He's the one who knew what it was like to be alone, and the urge to be together overshadowed all other considerations. He wanted the woman so much that, if she had to be thrown out of paradise to suffer trouble and mortality, he wanted to go with her.
Check the posture. Yep, looks about right. That woman's confidence is gone and it ain't coming back.
Suddenly she appreciates the arm.
I've sometimes thought about our part of the curse, "desire shall be for thy husband and he shall rule over thee." It's been explained all kinds of different ways that didn't make much sense to me. Having a libido isn't exactly a curse, and "he shall rule over thee" would only be a bad thing if it hasn't just been stated that she would want him to.
I can think of few women who REALLY have confidence in themselves.
Maybe that's where it went :-(
We abused our independence, so it got taken away.
I think the curse was, "After this, nothing will ever feel okay again unless there's somebody around to tell you that it's okay."
When I Left My Child in a Hot Cat
Andrea wanted to wait in the car while I ran an errand.
Well, actually she didn't want to *wait* anywhere.
So she tried to get me to hurry up, in her own inimitable way...
Well, actually she didn't want to *wait* anywhere.
So she tried to get me to hurry up, in her own inimitable way...
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