Bummer

Don't you hate it when you spend a bunch of money on your hair & you don't like how it turned out?

I can't be sure yet but it looks like I painted my hair. Tim usually does an AWESOME job. I've been going to him for about 8 years. Tried something new today with color. I think I hate it. I can't really tell because he had to split to his daughter's soccer game that he coaches so he didn't finish drying it & didn't style it at all. I don't mind that so much. He's a single dad of 4 girls & has alot going on. It's not so bad that I'll have to wear a hat for weeks. I just wish I liked the outcome of my $75.

I'm bummed.

Christmas Quiz (from Melissa)

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both. I reuse gift bags but there's still nothin' like rippin' into that wrapping paper.

2. Real tree or artificial? We borrowed my parents artificial one this year. This is our 1st tree in out 4 years. btw: I don't like the smell of evergreen in the house. It's a scent that should only be out-of-doors.

3. When do you put up the tree? Apparently when ever I can get over to Mom's to borrow hers.

4. When do you take the tree down? Around New Year's.

5. Do you like eggnog? sick-o

6. What about Fruitcake? Only Iris' Australian Fruitcake. It's REALLY good.

7. Favorite gift received as a child? My Effingham Field boots. I waited FOREVER for those things.

8. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, it came with twin shephers & only 2 wise men so we have Yoda staning in as the 3rd. He likes it!

9. Hardest person to buy for? Tony, Kaisara's brother. It's impossible.

10. Easiest person to buy for? My sis.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? The lack of a stocking.

12. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail. btw: I didn't much care for this year's choices of Christmas stamps.

13. Favorite Christmas Movie? Elf, and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

14. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Early fall is when I start thinking about it.

15. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No, those just usually go to the Goodwill.

16. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? I'm with Melissa on this one. Holiday M&M's (I like of the peanut variety).

17. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Colored, for sure.

18. Favorite Christmas song? Not really sure. I definately know my least favorite. "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" as performed by The Boss. AAAAHHHHH!!!!! I just turn & run.

19. Travel for Christmas or stay at home? Home.

20. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Not usually but I just learned that in German, Donner means thunder & Blitzen means lightning.

21. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel. It's a man angel. My Mer made him for me. Every reference in the Bible to angels is male & "do not be afraid" so the must be an intimidating presence so it's silly that almost all art & Christmas tree toppers make them foofy ladies. If I couldn't have the man angel, I'd go star.

22. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Chrismas morning.

23. What is the one present you want most this year? Paniers for my bike.

24. Most annoying thing about this time of year? People saying "Happy Holidays". It's Christmas people. Chanukah ended over a week ago. Does ANYONE know ANYONE who celebrates Kwanza? Just say Merry Christmas.

5. What I love most about Christmas? But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for ALL the people. Luke 2:10

I Know the Bad Guy!

Most of you know that I'm a huge fan of Heroes. I'm really bummed it's gonna be off the air for so long. Guess I'm lucky I've only got one show I'm really hooked on (right Melissa?).

Anyway, all last season we (the fans of the show) were wondering who the super-dooper bad guy was & what he did that Molly didn't want to find him. Earlier in the season we found out who the Nightmare Man was: Parkman's dad, Maury. Wow.

When watching those couple of episodes, I thought he looked familiar. But he looks like a character actor so I didn't think anything of it. At work this week we were discussing the upcoming show. One of my favorite actors of a couple seasons ago is coming back, Alan Bloomenfeld. He's only been in one show there but I got to do his costumes & he was a sweety. Just a fun, warm & fuzzy kind-a guy who was great in fittings & on stage. You can imagine my surprise when Laurie pointed it out to me. My response was, "AL'S THE NIGHTMARE MAN!!! oh my gosh...you're right!"

Super cool. I know a Hero. I can't wait to see him next week to let him know how creepy he was on the show. I hope Maury Parkman comes back to the show (even if he is a bad guy).

In less exciting, Heroes related news, the DHS officer guy in the future telling Peter about the mass deaths, has also been in shows at work. Lastly he was the title character of Cyrano de Berferac. I didn't work on the show but I saw it. Mark was great & apparently he's really nice too!

This is Major Tom to Ground Control

I'm not sure how regularly I'll be able to post. Our internet service was payed for by Kaisara's old company. They shut us off immediately & since then we've been piggy-backing off of near-by unsecured networks. They're getting slim now-a-days. Since there's no money to be grown-ups & pay for it ourselves, it'll just be hit and miss for a while.

So please forgive me if my posts are slim.

Would You Buy It?

Since the day I started sewing (or at least sewing well) I've heard it over & over again. "You should make that & sell them!" "That" has been a countless number of things. From maternity clothes to wet suit repair to seat covers & practically everything in between. I've heard it again and again. I some times get the nerve to ask back, "if I did, would you buy it?" Without exception I get a look of surprise followed by a look of confession because they & I both know their answer is "no". It's not no because they don't like it. It's no because that's not what they choose to spend their discretionary income on. They assume there are those out there that do. How to find "those" people. They've been allusive. I finally got off my duff and started making "that" to sell. Everyone oohs & aahs but to no avail. At the craft show I recently was a part of, I had a women pick up one of my purses and say that they were the best purses ever! So cute! So unique! So great! She then set it down and walked away. Of course that was also the same lady that said (and I quote) "it's the handles that make these". I'm sure she didn't intend on sounding hurtful. But it was. Just buy it! Don't tell me how great it is with excitement in your voice & then walk away!

This post is not intended to guilt my loved ones into buys any of my wares. In fact, I'd be ashamed of myself if you did after reading this. I'm just voicing my frustration I guess. I LOVE to make things. I make things while I'm making other things. I'm blessed to have a hobby that pays for itself. Not many can boast of that. I'm just tired of hearing how "they" would love my stuff and how "they" would hand over a bit of their discretionary income in exchange for "that". I'm thinking I'll slow production down & just wait for the perfect home for my "that" to come around & I'll just give it to them. Then I'll get hollered at by those that said "You should make that & sell them!" in the first place. I guess I'll just have to lovingly tell them to "Just shut-up & take it"

Well that was fun

I can finally blog about this. It's been chewing at me since summer!

Cat & I decided to surprise our little far-away friend, Dani, for her 30th birthday. She's in grad-school as a writer in Washington. She misses us. We miss her. We thought we'd rectify the situation & bought plane tix after clearing it with her folks.

Here's the nitty-gritty of the weekend:

We arrived just before noon on Friday. The flight was nasty. We had the worst turbulance that anyone one the plane (including the flight crew) had ever experienced. The flight attendant & 2 others puked. That's how bad it was. The flight attendant people!! Anyway after getting off of the plane we had on our bright pink wigs (apparently now a birthday tradition for us) & survived the odd looks of the security. Dani was expecting one pink wig but not two (her mom had to leak that Cat was showing up but I was still a surprise). After hugs & smiles & meeting mom, Neva & Dad, Roy we stopped by a new little bakery/coffee house for a little lunch. Delicious. We headed to their house, got settled, played a game of "Scene It" & then headed out to dinner & then to a play. We saw "Souvenirs". A great little play. The costumes, however, left much more than a lot to be desired. At one point Cat & I actually cringed back in our seats, making the stinky diaper face before looking at each other in disbelief. Wow! But like I said. I great play. I'd see it again.

We woke up Saturday to fresh baked apples with craisins & cinnamon for breakfast. After leisurely getting ready we headed out into the frigidness that is known as Liberty Lake, Washington (have I mentioned it was rarely about 32 degrees the whole time we were there?) We drove by the beautiful lake, through beautiful country & headed to downtown Coeur de Laine, Idaho. Yep, crossed the state line. We shopped & lunched in the cute little downtown area after seeing the lake & stopping to take some photos. Got a couple stocking stuffers there so the Christmas shopping has officially begun. We ended the day with Dani's birthday extravaganza by heading out to some of her favorite haunts & she showed us off to her local friends. Tea at the coffee house, pizza at the Catacombs, dessert at Ella's with a side of jazz, a game of Sorry & 5 games of pool at the bar. Dani & her friend Heather won 4 games but Cat & I finally snatched a victory on the 5th game.

Dani made us crepes for breakfast on Sunday. We then headed to downtown Spokane to checkout a new store chalk full of vintage jewelry & clothes. We then headed to the historic Davenport & checked out the candy shoppe, ballrooms, Christmas tree raffles & had a little bite in the peacock room. I can't even wrap my head around a life style that would include such a place. After a stop at the neat-o book store & game shop we headed home for dinner.

We slept in on Monday, had homemade pecan pie for breakfast & were treated to hot stone massages by our dear little masseuse, Dani before heading to the airport. Pie for breakfast, the company of great friends & a free massage. Could it get better? I think not!

Thank you my friends for a great weekend. Dani, we miss you already. Cat, you're amazing. I love you both.

Late-Night Literature

As promised, here's our masterpieces from Saturday night's Food On A Stick Night:

#1 Trotting ponies are cute & fiery and flames ruin stables. Ponies can't barf so they poop alot over grass covered lands. Riders guide many ponies through flaming fields of smoke. Hopefully the jockeys purchase ambulance insurance so they will survive eternally. Falling asteroids fall. Impact can often frighten riders' ponies. Now that the stables blaze brightly on their hellfire & tigers. Happenstance dictates the ponies exponential growth of mermaids. Oceanic tsunamis cause massive pony trauma. Veterinarians often chat with damaged ponies because therapy sometimes helps. However, usually the ponies bite seahorses. in the end, mermaids die without veterinary love.

#2 When children scream viciously to my mirror I retreat swiftly. Diagrammatically speaking, children posses an uncanny likeness of pigeons. Therefore we should all burrow vigorously under the bomb factory. Someday poop boy will relieve himself while skipping. Subsequently, holes from the droppings of elephants levitate. Until magical birds sprinkle seeps upon elves, raptors swim swiftly toward huge buoys. Furthermore, walruses' tusks tear open flesh. Somehow squires save the bananas extinction. Today, yesterday, and tomorrow bananas will triumph over evil.

and our favorite:

#3 Why does the rain fall so beautifully? I have never seen the dew form so quickly on the man. Therefore, hypothetically, when I sing gaily I look very gay. I sew blankets of wool for sheep. These animals are worthy of my efforts. So I continue my sewing endeavor at my leisure. Occasionally naked sheeplings run coldly through rivers of man dew. Consequently the water from farmers flows like on the asphalt. Once this group is over sheering they die.

Ya' know Dani, not everyone's gotta go to grad school to write brillliance. Maybe you learned a little somethin' somethin'. :-)

"Now there's somethin' you don't see every day"

Nothin' brings a group a friends closer than a marshmallow war. I know. I live to tell the tale.

Last night was The 2nd Annual Food On A Stick Night to celebrate Daryl's 31st Annual Birthday. In a word...Delicious. We had much the same fair as last year. Fruit skewers for as an appetizer & added this year to the course was 'lil smokies on toothpicks (as requested/demanded by Kaisara). Our main course this year was the same. Grilled build-your-own kabobs with shrimp, tri tip, chicken & all the veggies one would need. For dessert was the gooey goodness know as fondue. Daryl requested a caramel fondue so I nixed last year's marshmallow cream recipe & found a caramel one online. Because of the change in fondue I added crisp granny smith apples & rice krispy treats to the dipping menu along with the typical strawberries, bananas, pound cake, oreos, marshmallows...aaaahhh the marshmallows.

After we were finished gorging ourselves and we couldn't find our Apples-to-Apples game, the night took an ugly turn. Dana innocently tossed a mallow at Daryl who innocently volleyed it back to her. This went on for a time or two & then somehow (I have to remain neutral here) there was a wrestling match for the mallow between Katie & Dana on my couch. Before too long there was all out war & mayhem in my living room, dining room, kitchen, entry way, & bathroom. It was awesome! 7 grown adults having a full on marshmallow war. Poor Melanie was sleeping on the floor & was forced to sleep in self imposed exile on the floor of my bedroom.

Our war came to a slow end as eventually all of our ammo got gooey (at which point each mallow was retired) or Zelda snatched them up before we could pick them up to fire them off again. They're the perfect thing to pelt at a loved one. When you get a good, square hit it makes an awesome sound to let you know you hit your target but it doesn't hurt the target (even when it's in the face after being thrown HARD by an avid softball player).

We followed the war with a story telling game (outside on the patio since we were all sweaty). Someone starts with 1 word & then each person around the circle adds only one word to make a sentence & eventually a little story is born. I'll post our literature soon. It was crazy. Of course it was 1am & we were on a sugar high, but at the time our stories seemed hilarious.

We're all looking forward to the tradition of Food On A Stick Night continuing next year. Perhaps a new little tradition was born too!

Now I'll close with a "Ghostbusters" quote that I'm sure came to your mind.

Dr. Peter Venkman: What is it?
Dr Ray Stantz: It CAN'T be!
Dr. Peter Venkman: What did you DO, Ray?
Winston Zeddemore: Oh, shit!
Dr Ray Stantz: [somberly] It's the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Well, there's something you don't see every day.

Back in the Saddle, Again

So after a pitiful mileage tally for October, (life just got a little nuts there), I'm back on the bike. I rode from Kaisara's new work to my work twice last week (it's 1/2 mile further than his old work) and rode to church this morning (4.35 miles with several hills). I just did a little adding & came up with just over 500 miles for my so far annual total. Yeah me! I did it! I've even got 1 1/2 months to go.

Due to Tuesday's beloved Sewing Circle I can't ride that morning but I'm hoping to do the comute ride at least thrice this week. I eventually want my bike's saddle bags to not actually be my very own.

I Need A Nap!

Mom & Dad asked Kaisara & me to dog/house sit for them while they went to Vegas to visit Daddy's cousin who was there for a conference. We said "sure". Then the scheming began of something we've wanted to do for them for a while now. We called up the sis' & we got started. We re-did their bedroom. For weeks before we've been buying paint, new bed clothes, fabric for curtains, crown molding, base boards, a couple new pictures for the walls, hinges & knobs for their cupboards. We knew we'd only have 4 nights to pull it off so we prepped as much as we could before hand.

Jen doesn't work Mondays & Greg took of Monday so they could do all of the moving out. Kaisara worked 1/2 day on Wednesday & had all of Thursday off. It's a good thing. We'd never have made it! After working all day then re-doing bedroom all evening 'til 12:30am-ish. I'm beat. We're all beat. Daryl even came over to help a couple nights.

The room's finished & the parental unit is home. They love it. It's so nice to be able to do something for the people who've done so much for me.

Here's a before pic. with a couple afters.

We're Safe

Sorry about the lack of updates. We're fine. We're all fine. Turns out that the fire got 0.6 miles from our condo & 0.3 miles from our friend Katie's condo. It would've only taken just the right gust of wind & just the right ember & we'd (correction, no we. our stuff) be done for. Super stinky but we're fine. Katie & her tiger-sized kitties only stayed one night. We were glad to have her & her boys. Somehow it's comforting to me to comfort someone else. I guess the caregiver, mom type emotions kick in & I just need to make sure my people are fed & have a place to sleep with a warm blankie.

Other than the fires life is CRAZY swamped. Halloween parties, surprises for others to prepare for, birthday parties to plan, work, laundry, extra office work for the extra mooola, preparing for my craft faire. yikes! gotta go.

Sorry again to leave you guys wondering if we were crispy critters or not!

Play it once, Sam.

Your Love Life is Like Casablanca

"Kiss me. Kiss me as if it were the last time." For you, love is never finished. If you've loved someone once, you'll always love them.You're an old fashioned romantic... even if your relationships don't end up as romantic as you'd like. Your love style: Traditional and understated Your Hollywood Ending Will Be: Complicated and ambiguous

http://www.blogthings.com/whatmovieisyourlovelifelikequiz/">What Movie Is Your Love Life Like?

En Fuego! Really.

So this is a little scary. The fire is about, as the crow flies, 1.5 miles away. We came home early from work & are ready to flee to mom & dad's if need be. Our friend Katie's house is right next to the fire so her & her 2 kitties are here with us.

Prayers would be good. I'll keep you posted.

The Birthday Boy's Back!

Today's my boy's birthday. The big 3-4! Wow we're gettin' up there! He got a chair from me for a gift. He has sat in it every time we're in Target for the last year or so. I figured it was time to make it his own.

In even better news...Kaisara gave notice at his job!!! His last day is the 30th & he starts his new job the 31st. This has been a HUGE burden on Kaisara for months (and therefore on me). So much so that he hasn't been him. He didn't know he wasn't him but trust me, he wasn't. I hated it. I wanted him back! The morning after he gave his notice, while I was readying for work, he was laying across the bed on his stomach and was trying to clap with his feet. I didn't say anything at the time, I just stopped what I was doing and watched with a smile. HE'S BACK BABY!

Happy birthday, Birthday Boy!!

Guess What I Got Two More Of

Yep! godchildren. My first goddaughter & my third godson! Cool, huh?

Cat & Randy asked Kaisara & me if we would consider being their kids godparents. Like with Geoff & Melissa, after asking what that meant to them, we gladly accepted the honor. Abby & Alex were baptized this morning & we were able to be a part of that. Baptism & godparent-ness is are things I take very seriously. Biblicaly, I believe that baptism is not required for, nor does it grant salvation but it's still a huge thing. I get goose bumps at baptisms. I get goose bumps & a little scared being asked to godparent a child. I'm accepting some responsibility for their spiritual well being. Wow, that's huge.

I hope I do my precious godchildren the service that I've promised them, their parents & my Creator that I would do & that I would do it with love and grace.

I'm Okay With That

You Are a Brownie

Decadent and intense, you aren't for the weakhearted.Those who can deal with your strong flavor find out how sweet you really are.

http://www.blogthings.com/whatdessertareyoumostlikequiz/">What Dessert Are You Most Like?

Not Very Bloggy

Sorry 'bout that folks. I just haven't been very bloggy lately. Nothing extraordinarily good nor bad. Just didn't feel like typing about it. Here's an update:

Race For the Cure was last week. Team Galatians 6:10 was small but mighty this year. We raised over $500. Donations are accepted 'til the 19th of October so if you'd like to give, click here. Cat walked it with me while her man Randy ran the thing. Holy cow! I know that it's only 3.1 miles but please, run it? Some of it's up hill, man! Truth be told, after last year I wanted to run it this year but that just didn't happen. Several reasons but we won't go there now.

Yesterday I went to tea with Cat & Kathy, our mentor-turned-dear-friend. We hadn't seen her in months so having tea turned into a 3 1/2 hour event. It was lovely. The tea was great (can't go wrong with a good English Breakfast), the food was tasty & the company was perfect. I love my girls! Now Cat & I hold our breath for the next Sewing Circle. We need our fix.

We saw Invincible on Friday. I don't like sports but I like sports movies. I dunno. Just do. Anyway, it was really good. The 1975 clothes were awesome & seeing Mark Wahlberg in 1975 hair is worth the rental fee alone (of course Jeremy & Dana rented it so that was even better).

Heroes is back on T.V. I love that show. I'm disappointed in every episode but I love it. Again, I dunno. We went to Daryl's house to watch it last week. We're going to Brendon's tomorrow. Remember we don't gots cable so we only gots snowy-vision.

I went back to work last week & am working on the 1st installment of A Christmas Carol. One of the original actors retired last year so they had it in this year's budget to rebuild her stuff for the recast. I get to do it early so when the normal build comes, I'll be done with her & just have the others to do. I think I'm pretty much booked through January work wise so that's great.

I sold one of my purses on Lucky Zelda. It was my 6th sale but my 1st one that was something I'd made. That was exciting. I'm getting a bunch of others ready to post & also have for a craft fair I'm doing in November (more to come on that later).

That's all for now. Ciao!

Man Survey (stolen from Melissa)

1. Who is your man?
Kaisara

2. How long have you been together?
18 years

3. Dating/Engaged/Married?
Married 10 years

4. How old is your man?
33

5. What’s his middle name?
Leon (but with an accent over the o. Don't dare pronounce it without the accent)

♥You or your man♥

1. Who eats more?
He does. But I eat more often.

2. Who said “I love you” first?
He did.

3. Who weighs more?
He does.

4. Who sings better?
I think me. He's good too though.

5. Who’s older?
Him.

6. Who’s smarter?
Him, by a long shot.

DIFFERENT WAYS
7. Who’s temper is worse?
Yah, that'd me me.

8. Who does the laundry?
Me again.

9. Who does the dishes?
Me again.

10. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
We're one of the only couples that I know of that don't have sides. We switch.

11. Who’s feet are bigger?
Kaisara's.

12. Who’s hair is longer?
Me.

13. Who’s better with the computer?
I.T. Guy vs. costumer. You do the math.

14. Who mows the lawn?
Don't gots one.

15. Who pays the bills?
I think Kaisara's written 3 checks in his life. Yeah, that's me again.

16. Who cooks dinner?
Me again.

17. Who drives when you are together?
And again, me. Hey! He's got it too easy!

18. Who pays when you go out to dinner?
AAAHHH! Me but it comes out of the same pot so I guess that's both.

19. Who’s the most stubborn?
Him.

20. Who is the first one to admit when they’re wrong?
Me, I think.

21. Who’s parents do you see more?
Kaisara's

22. Who named your dog?
Zelda came with a name but I came up with her middle name, Ruth.

23. Who kissed who first?
He kissed me first.

24. Who asked who out?
He asked me.

26. Who’s more sensitive?
That's totally me.

27. Who’s taller?
Kaisara

28. Who has more friends?
Me, but we share almost all of them.

29. Who has more siblings?
Him.

30. Who wears the pants in the relationship?
He does. There's one job I refuse to take.

Wickedly Good

Kaisara & I finally saw Wicked. I got our tickets for my birthday & Dana got her & Jeremy's for her birthday. Last Saturday the four of us went to dinner at The Clubhouse before heading up to Hollywood. Is that ever a decent drive? I think not.

As a side note, Dana & I both looked super hot in our new dresses.

Anyway, we really enjoyed the show. The set was ugly & I would have done a few things different as far as costumes go but other than that...it was super good.

Kaisara REALLY loved it. As we were walking out he said he could see it again right then. I have to say that the close of act 1 gave Dana & me a wicked (excuse the pun) set of goose bumps. I finally had to tell him to stop gushing over it since we just saw my show the night before that I'd been killing myself over for a month & he had nothing to say about that one. Sigh...

I thought the last scene was unnecessary. It would have been a much more tragic ending without it & therefore less of a crowd pleaser but it would have been truer to the book (of which I'm really interested in reading now).

I think that if/when the show is ever done on a community level the Dana MUST audition for Glinda. It was like watching Dana up there & I know she's got more than enough voice to pull it off.

I love the theatre. I could go every night.

It's Been A While

Soooooooo, where to start...

My show is up and running. There wasn't enough theatre magic to get all of the costumes on stage for the first preview audience. But they were all up there for the 2nd. (Preview audiences are the first to see the show before the official opening. They get a discounted price with the understanding that the show may not be completely polished.) All of the costumes were however completely finished (100's of yards of trim and all) by the 5th preview (out of 6). So the day of opening was a complete breeze. I was even able to help the shop with the next show even though Amy had hired me for the week to work on any and all notes from A Little Night Music.

Kaisara & I went to opening night on Friday. I really enjoyed it. Musically and costume period-ly it's my favorite Sondheim that I've seen. Which isn't that many really. It's only beating out Into the Woods & Sunday in the Park With George. Story wise Into the Woods is my favorite. The story of this one is basically not being happy with who your with & sleeping with those you want. Not very moral but still a darn good show!

If you click on the link above you can follow a link to a slide show. Three of my costumes can be seen (on the slouchy girl with a big, blond, wig). My favorite costume didn't even get photographed let alone make it to the slide show. Probably because it's only on stage for 10 seconds. Anyway, in the slide show my costumes are, a turquoise chiffon robe, a light pink lace dress (in the background of 3 couples) and a peach with white lace dress (in that picture especially you can see my girl's stellar posture. AAAAAHHHHHH!)

At any rate, the magic of theatre got us to an easy opening night (we didn't even think that would've happened 1 1/2 weeks ago) and I'm fired for the week before returning to rebuild 1 actor's worth of costumes for A Christmas Carol. This week is to be filled with scrapping with my sis', pinning and finishing a quilt, scrapping with Katie, and getting more items on Lucky Zelda.

Not Gonna Make It

It's just not gonna happen. I put in over 9 hours of overtime last week & over 14 this week. (awesome paychecks, btw). Our first audience is this Friday & opening night is the following. We're just not gonna finish. I know I've blogged about the magic of theatre before & how it always gets done. Those of you in theatre know what I'm talking about. But this show would call for a ocean liner full of fairy dust to get it up on time.

All last week we concentrated on getting act one wearable since their first dress rehearsal is today (not this Wednesday as would be normal). Totally plausible right? WRONG!! My actress has 5 costumes, 4 OF THEM ARE IN ACT ONE!!!! They wanna wear Act two by Tuesday. Act two?!?! It's literally still in pieces under my table & I've still got hours of cutting to do on it before I can have the thing sew together let alone wearable.

The good news (I guess it's bad news too) is that everyone is this far behind. It's not just me. We started this far behind. For the AD's to think that a shop of this size can built 75% of "A Little Night Music" in 3 1/2 weeks is insane. We're supposed to start on the next show this week. No comment. Just hire more people you say? We've no where to put them & no machines for them to sew on if we did. I had both of my minions sewing last week while I was cutting. I was at a point I need to sew a littlebut there wasn't an open machine anywhere. We're tripping over each other there's so many of us in the shop.

Wait 'till you see what I've been making, though. GORGEOUS!!! I'm really excited about them. My actress has been a total head case but at least she's hasn't been mean (except for complaining to stage management that we were "picking on" her). In our last fitting, she's head to toe in fabric that's barbie pink with silver sparkle with her decolletage for all to see & she complains that she looks like a boy. WHAT?!?!?! She wants more shape. BUT YOU WON'T LET ME LACE YOUR CORSET TIGHT ENOUGH THAT I CAN'T PUT MY ENTIRE ARM IN THERE WITH YOU!!!! Of course you've no waist. In an earlier fitting she was freaking out, literally gasping for air & breaking out in a cold sweat because her corset was "too tight". I was able to get my entire arm, with room to spare, in her corset with her to do some pinning. How is that too tight? And I don't gots small arms!

All-in-all though, it's totally awesome. I love what I'm doing. I love the people I work with. It's hard, it's stressful, it's scary at times and yet my spirit smiles for the blessing to do what I love to do. Thank you, Jesus for the opportunity. I try every day not to take it for granted.

Ponderous

I am rich. I am rich in friends. My friends love me. I love my friends, deeply. I hope they know that. I'm confident they do.

I am encouraged by my friends. Not because I'm been low & they've edified me. We all know that that happens, goodness me. Quite the opposite actually. I love that I have friends that aren't perfect & can come to me, or allow me come to them, while they're broken. They allow me to see them broken. They can (and have) seen me broken. It's not comfy. It's not fun. It can be scary & ugly. There can be tears, uncomfortable silence, uninterpretable glances, awkward smiles, and sometimes insincere smiles. And we continue on as family. Not ignoring the ugly, not condoning the ugly, not even necessarily agreeing on what the ugly is or how it should be treated. But we continue. Loving each other. As true family.

I found it odd that I'm encouraged by my friends' hardships. Sounds a little sick at first. To tell you the truth, I was a little horrified. I didn't get it & have been pondering it for a while. It's not their hardship that encourages me but the fact that I have people that love & trust me enough that they can be real. We can see each other raw, broken & bleeding. That's friendship. That's real family. It's not catching a movie together, or chatting over lunch. Real friendship is powerfully, wonderfully and, at times, incredibly uncomfortably worth every emotion we got.

I expect my friends to grow, change & deepen. They better expect the same from me. I do not take well to ineffective complacentness. They better not tolerate it from me. Does this mean years from now I can't make silly faces, giggle or just plain do a whole lot of nothing with a true friend? Oh please, bring on the silly face making! But I will not be the exact same person 20 years from now that I am today. Buckle up, 'cause some of it's not going to be pretty. God is going to mold me into the woman He desires me to me. I'm going to let Him. It's not all going to be comfy. I trust Him with me. I trust Him with my friends.

I say thank you to my friends: broken, struggling, content, or peaceful. I've got ones that fit in each box. I say thank you to those that are willing to reveal your real self to me. It is encouraging to me that you love and trust me enough with it. I will treat it like the treasure that it is. You are a blessing, no matter the box you're in at the moment.

Well, I'Declair

For months I've planned on forgoing birthday cake and getting the I'Declair at Claim Jumper. Yesterday was the day & six of us went last night to split it. That sucker's HUGE! Of course they still brought out the free slice of birthday mud pie. SOOOOO delicious. None of us had had it before. Seriously, how could you? After a meal at Claim Jumper who has room for dessert? Besides, you gotta get the whole mountain of eclair-y goodness. This was the perfect plan. It was the perfect amount of tasty treat for all of us. I think it was the first time I left there not completely stuffed.

Of course birthday cake was not completely skipped. I had pink cake with the family on Sunday. Yesterday we had chocolate cake & macaroon cake at work. Yum!

Family Time

My family's coming over for dinner tonight. It seems like forever since we've all gotten together. It was in mid-July to celebrate my mom's & greg's birthdays. We had delicious eats at Lucille's. It made me sad last week when Kaisara's dad asked me how my folks were & I had to say, "Fine, I guess. I haven't seen them in a while." That's just studpid! I only live 15 miles away & the best I could do was, "Fine, I guess!" Whatever!

So Daddy wanted to break bread on the most excellent patio table in existance so everyone's coming over for grilled burgers (homemade, not pre-fab hockey pucks), chips, salsa, guacamole, watermelon, salad & some early birthday cake for a little certain someone.

Yeah!

Oh yeah...it's really hot.

All Grow'd Up!

I'm not a baby anymore. I just found out today. To quote The Princess Bride, "Let me 'splain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up."

I went back to SCR today. We're building a WHOLE LOTTA costumes for A Little Night Music. My favorite period, Edwardian. I find out I'm building (and by building, I mean patterning), from scratch, 3 dresses, a corset, drawers, and a robe. Wow, okay. I knew there'd be alot of work and that's the easy stuff? You see, I'm the baby cutter. I get the easy stuff. Not anymore! There's a new baby cutter in town & I've been moved up. (Technically the title is "Junior Cutter" but I think baby cutter's more endearing). Along with the new scary work load I got a little some-in' some-in' in the paycheck department.

Sweet! I'll post pics weeks from now when the show's up.

Glorious

Kaisara & I went to the beach this morning with Kyle & Lydia. It was wonderful. I love the beach. Why don't I go more often? I sit on my towel for maybe five minutes & I can't wait any longer, I gotta get in that water. Somehow it just feeds my soul. Didn't even know it was hungry. I swear going to the beach has healing powers.

All 4 of us got in the water, got out, had lunch, got back in the water. A big ol' wave took me out & nearly took my bathing suit bottoms clean off (that would NOT have been pretty!). Kyle made a comment that every time a wave comes he could hear me laugh. I confirmed it. The water makes me happy. The weather was awesome, the water was great.

What a glorious first half of the day. Now we're showered, groomed & heading over to Dana & Melanie's luau party. They're gonna crack up at Kaisara. He's going with his roots & wearing a lava-lava. Don't worry, he's wearing a shirt!

I'm Getting Things Done, Man!

Let me tell you, I am really enjoying "The Summer of Cate". (btw: in case you didn't know, that's what summer 2007 has been renamed due to the fact I'm no longer at Pageant). I've seen movies. I've had friends over for dinner. I've gone to girls' night. I've baked brownies. I've gone to bridal showers & wedding celebrations and didn't have to leave early. Most importantly, I see my hotty-hubby like every day. Who'da thunk?!

Today is my 2nd day off after finishing R & J at SOC. I'm really glad I took that miracle-in-plain-sight job. It was low key, the people were great & I got to make some neat-o things (I'm awaiting a photo CD from the designer). The shop manager wants to hire me for some other projects (did I already post about that? if so, sorry).

While now being out of work for 2 days I've done tons. Ran a bunch of errands yesterday, almost finished the quilt top for my etsy store, painted the door sashing for the bathroom, laid the contact paper in the vanity & drawers, did & put away I don't know how many loads of laundry, paid the bills, uploaded a few more patterns onto my store (hey, I made another sale too!), did the dishes, shall I go on? I tell you, I'm en fuego!

Tomorrow is fun with Cat, Saturday is Luau party with Dana & Melanie, Sunday is Luau birthday party for my niece & Monday is L.A. with Iris.

Better go, don't wanna loose my momentum!

It's Been a While

Not much going on here. I'm almost done with my job at Shakespeare Orange County (SOC). I've enjoyed my time there. It's much more relaxed and less stressful than SCR. The shop manager wants to hire me for other projects at Chapman so it's nice to have another contact. My last day at SOC will probably be Monday. I don't start at SCR until Tuesday of the following week. A little time off won't be complained about.

I'm heading up to Cat's shop at Cal State San Bernardino on Thursday. She thinks I'm going up to help her with Cyrano. I told her I'm mostly going to hang out :-) I'm sure I'll be able to squeeze both in there. Kaisara's going to take the train up after work & we'll have dinner with all of the Ericksons & we'll only have one car to drive home. I LOVE the train!

I still plan on riding my bike to work once I start at SCR again. I'll carpool with Kaisara to his work & bike from there. It's only 3 miles and it will probably only be one-way so my mileage is going to take a major hit. I'll have to squeeze in other rides elsewhere. Kathy better get her bike rack soon!

Kaiara & I are almost done with the master bath remodel. We started in January but why rush? It's turning out awesome. I've got the first coat of paint on the base boards & crown molding right now. Then all we need is to paint the door molding & a new medicine cabinet. I'll post pics when it's done.

Don't forget to join my race for the cure team or to donate toward my participation!

A Link Would Be Nice

It never really occurred to me until Kaisara asked, "Do you have a link to your store on your blog?" DUH! Not that I expect you all to purchase my items but because you may, from time to time, want to check it out, just 'cause. So I've added a link in the left column under "You Might Be Interested" called Go Shopping.

I recently added two more knitted purses. I'm 1/2 done with another. I'm also working on a quilt to sell. It's velveteen diamonds. Sort of like a harlequin.

Oh yeah! I made a sale! While on our cruise someone in Akron, OH purchased two of my vintage patterns. It was exciting. Someone I don't know, found my site & bought something! Since the customer was in Ohio, I can say my business is national. That's me, a woman with a national company.

Watch out!

Racin' for the Cure (again)

Most, if not all, of you who read this blog already this but I'm posting it anyway.

I'm heading up a team again this year for Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. I'd love for everyone to join my team. If you're too far away to participate, I'd love for you to sponsor me. Hey, I ain't to proud to beg!

The event is 3.1 miles long & is on Sunday, Sept. 23rd at Fashion Island. Last year our team, Galatians 6:10, raised $2,500!

To sign up & hopefully join my team you can click here.

To support my participation in the event you can click here.

Thanks guys!

Fillin' You In

O.k. I've had a chance to breathe so here's the cruise update:

We had a great time. Neither one of us had cruised before but I'd never heard anything but great things about it. I'm really glad we tried it. From the moment you show up at the dock you're treated as a guest, not just 1 of 2,500 passengers. Our cabin had an ocean view which was nice but I'm not sure if I'd spring for it again just 'cause we didn't spend alot of time gazing our window. I'm glad we did it this time though.

The food was delicious & abundant. No charge, of course. The say that the average weight gain on a cruise is 8-10 pounds. I really tried to keep myself in check but still enjoy what was offered. That, in addition to the 40+ miles in the gym, I came back 5 pounds lighter. Ha HA!

We pulled out of the port on Monday at 5pm-ish and spent that night & the whole next day at sea. Tuesday's weather was great. All of the sun decks were pack with people. We lounged, Kaisara napped, I knitted, we ate & repeat.

We woke up Wednesday morning to a gorgeous view of Cabo San Lucas (see photos). It was really hot and there wasn't a breeze to be found. We got sucked in to a resort time-share tour. It was an awesome place & I thought priced excellently but still out of our league. Once back downtown we shopped around (didn't buy anything) and had lunch. We asked a guy how to get to a beach. It was a crazy long walk & by then we didn't have time.

Thursday was at sea but the weather cold and windy. Kaisara kicked my butt at Scrabble.

Friday was Ensenada. We took a tour to the blow hole & flea market. That was cool. Again, no beach to be found. Dang!

Saturday we woke up in San Diego.

Best things about the trip: Time with my man (of course), being treated so great by all the staff, playing Bingo (even though I didn't win), watching the horse races (I didn't have any cash on me to bet), losing 5 pounds.

Disappointments about the trip: The pool was really small & 2/3 of it was blocked off for the water slide landing, the water slide was only for kids, no beaches at the ports of call (later we found out we could have taken a water taxi to one in Cabo), the shows were pretty cheesy.

Dana wants to take a friends cruise someday & I'm all for it! I'm gonna try to get my sis & mom to take a just girls cruise sometime too!

We're Back

I'll give more details later but...we're back from our cruise. It was awesome. The photos are up so take a look it you're interested. And while you're over in the left-hand column check out my weekly mileage. That's right! I hit the gym several times (had to burn off at least a little of all the food I ate).

Super Excited!

Kaisara & I are leaving Monday morning for San Diego. We're taking the train. I love the train. I'd go everywhere by train if I could. "Why are you going to San Diego?", you ask? Well thanks for askin'! Goin' to San Diego to catch a little thing called a cruise ship.

That's right people. We're cruisin'. Yeah! We're celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary (that's 18 years together for you math geniuses). We wanted to do something that was a big deal since it is the big 1-0 and because we haven't been able to celebrate our anniversary for the past 5 years (thank you very much Pageant of the Masters). We've got some catching up to do. We were going to go to Barcelona. But I ended up out of work for 6 weeks in early spring so it woulda' been even more of a credit card vacation than this. It's not as big of a trip as Barcelona would have been, but I'm thrilled with our choice. We leave Monday, return on Saturday so we won't be gone as long or jet-lagged in the slightest. Since it was cheaper than our original plans, we went all out & got an ocean view room.

I've dropped Zelda off at Grandma Marty's for summer camp. Dana's coming over a couple times to get the mail & water my plants. I've made all of our pre-boarding arrangements. Now all I have to do is pack & keep praying really hard that my co-celebrator recovers quickly. Yep, Kaisara's sick. Please pray that he gets better fast.

I'll close with a quote from What About Bob?:
Bob: Notice anything different about me? I sail.

I'm Not Made for Competitive Sports

It's true. I've no problem admitting it. I'm just not made for competition. I don't think I've got a competitive bone in my body. If you wanna play, sure, I'll play. I just don't care who wins. Let's just play for the sake of playing. I competed in horse shows in my younger days but that was more of a showing off frame of mind & doing the best I could rather than an "I'm better than you at this" mind set.

This has been drilled into me hard this weekend. Kaisara & I have two of our awesome nieces this weekend. Tiana & I took Kayla to her all-star practice yesterday & I watched the girls get yelled at for 3 1/2 hours. Today, while Tiana & Kaisara were at church I took Kayla to her tournament. I like watching them play but listening to the girls get yelled at for 7 hours really got to me. It's not even just the coaches yelling. Everyone's yelling! It's not even an "oh, I'm so excited this is a great game!" yelling. They're honest to goodness yelling. Get a grip people!

While at the final game I was reading a magazine. One of the ads said, in huge letters, something to the affect of, "An inspired child can do amazing things". Huh, never knew that yelling was a form of inspiration. I held it together long enough get to my bedroom & brake down for a moment. I'm better now & am inspired even more than I ever have been not to be a yeller (and that was already a major goal of mine).

I Killed Obi Won

Not really. In reality, Alec Guinness died in 2000. I did however kill him in a dream last night. It was horrible. I have no idea where it came from. I love him. I've only seen him in the Star Wars movies & Doctor Zhivago but I think he's great. The horrible part of my dream is that I killed him on purpose. Premeditated murder. WHERE DID THAT COME FROM??!!??!!? Let just say he wasn't at all expecting me & it was messy. Afterwards I was completely remorseful. I knew I did something horrible & that I deserved to go to jail. I wanted to turn myself in but I knew that everyone would know what I did. I was more remorseful of dissapointing those I loved more than the killing poor Mr. Guinness. That's so bad. I was however relieved that my dream was a dream within my dream. I "woke" up to find that Dana & Melanie had been planning a suprise 10-year anniversary re-wedding for Kaisara & I. It was beautiful. Thanks ladies. It was gorgeous. I wore my wedding gown (that was a little too big, yeah right) and my dad did my hair (again I ask, where did that come from). The dream ended with me running past the door where Kaisara was getting dressed & I hollared at him to where a white dinner jacket with a black tie (it was an evening event). I raced into my room (we where running late) and took my hair out of the hot rollers. I smiled at myself in the mirror & said, "I look beautiful". Way better than slaying Alec Guinness with a piece of glass from a bronekn window pane. Yuck.

Must...Stay...Motivated...

I'm working from home today since the designer & assistant wouldn't be in the shop today. I took homework home with me & got as far as I could. I need a pattern I left at the shop & didn't bring enough muslin for my mock-up any way.

I'm a much faster worker at work. Too many distractions at home. Well, back to it. I'm now working on a quilt a friend has hired me to make from her wedding gown.

Life's Been Busy

Last weekend Kaisara & I drove up to Cal State San Bernadino to see Cat in Noises Off. It's one of our most favorite plays so it was great to see Cat's shop's work again AND see Cat in the show itself. They did a great job. We laughed out loud for two hours. If you've ever an opportunity to see a production of it GO (& let me know so I can go too). After the show we went to Fridays with Cat, Randy, Kathy (whom Cat & I went to school with) & her beau Jody. We closed the place down. Not sure when the last time was that I had a restaurants lights turned on & the music off on me. Needless to say we had a great evening.

Sunday Four stories lead worship at church. AMAZING (as always). We then went to lunch with everyone & it was great to be joined with Alex & Becca. We sat & chatted 'til 3:30 when we had to go to our niece's birthday BBQ.

Monday & Tuesday I finished up my hours at SCR. I was originally going to be fired last Friday but Amy found 15 hours of "costume unassigned" so I put in all those hours in a day & a half so I could start my new job Tuesday afternoon.

Oh yeah, I got a new job. Perfect timing as I started right when SCR ended & this will end right when SCR picks back up. I'm the cutter for Shakespeare Orange County. It's been 4 years since I've done community theatre. Sure is different. I'm glad I'm there. Katie is the designer for both shows (oh yeah, we're doing Shrew & R & J). I know Katie from SCR. She's worked as Designer's Assistant & crafts on several shows. She's great.

Last night I picked up Dana as my date for Hamlet at SCR. Kaisara didn't want to go since everyone dies at the end & he's seen it before. I know it's one of Crista's favorites but I never heard from her so Dana was my arm-candy. I was really eager to see this production. I was really curious about how the actors I got to know a bit would pull it off & I, of course, wanted to see how the costumes looked after working on them for weeks. I did 13 pairs of pants as well as did all the costumes for a few of the actors. Go to SCR's website to see a brief slide show & video if you're interested. Dana & I both LOVED the show. Horatio, played by Michael Urie was our favorite. We both loved his performance, Dana thought he was hot & I know that he's a nice guy. So there ya' go.

I'm now adding a couple people to my "Rubbed Elbows With" list. You don't know their names but their faces might be familiar.

This weekend holds an Oceans marathon before viewing the new one and playing with 2 7-week old kitties that we're fostering for 2 weeks.

Born To Ride

I'm sorry, did you even notice my weekly mileage?

The booty's a bit sore but I'm goin' out again tomorrow!

Open For Business

So I've got my store up & crawling. I can't say up & running as I've only got a few items posted right now. I'm hoping to crank out a few more things & post them rather soon. I'm 1/2 done with another purse & I've got several more baubles ready to post I just haven't done it yet.

My store is Lucky Zelda. A fitting little name for anyone who knows me & my love for my pets (past & present). My super generous & talented Julia designed my banner for me. She designed three so I've actually got two others that I also love. I plan on rotating them every so often.

I'm not really eagerly anticipating regular sales. If I get one here and there, that'd be awesome. I'll get you posted!

Delicious Never Sounded So Good

Kaisara, Daryl, Kyle, & Dana (otherwise known as Four Stories) will be playing at The Corner Broiler on Monday, June 4th. The Corner Broiler is, in a word, DELICIOUS! The band plays from 7:00pm - 9:00pm. This is they're 2nd time there & they'd love to fill it again with friends.

Kaisara & I discovered the place right around Christmas last year. It's a TINY (and I mean tiny) joint in the Albertson's center at Muirlands and Rockfield. The owner, Chris, welcomed us in, the wait & bus staff were awesome & the food was so very tasty. Anyway, come to here the band & eat great food. If you don't want to fork it out for a whole meal, they've got a bar & you could just order a beverage (or the brownie al la mode).

We'd love to see you there! I'll be outside knitting as I want to leave the tables for actual paying customers. I'm hoping Lydia with be there too. We also have wonderful chats.

Not Cheating...exactly

I've made a decision. Since purchasing Silvia (by the way, I've named my bike Silvia. Odd, since most of my things get boy names, but Silvia's a girl so her name is Silvia. Not sure how I decided she's a girl. She just is okay?!) now back to my sentence... Since purchasing Silvia, I've been biking rather than walking. I've made the decision to modify my goal of walking 500 miles in 2007 to include biking rather than just walking. I feel like this is cheating a little but that's okay. The goal of the goal was to exercise more & Silvia enables me to do that more than a mere walk. My heart rate is increased much higher, I don't get bored & I can accomplish more while riding Silvia instead of walking places because well, you cover alot of ground on a bike in no time! I'd forgotten that. Man! My mom & I went for 14.5 miles on Memorial Day. We're practically athletes, ya' know?

Holy Jim, Batman!

We went hiking with the Stensons this morning. It was great. We picked them up in the topless jeep at 9am, drove into the local mountains, past O'Neil Park then turned onto the dirt road. After over 4 miles of bumps, ditches & Kaisara side-seat driving we made it to the parking area.

I really like this hike. I hiked it with Greg & the Dans a couple years ago. It's a there-&-back totalling 2.7 miles & it gains over 400 feet in altitude. Somehow my mind remembered it flatter. It wasn't to hard, don't get me wrong, I just told the others "Don't worry, it's really flat." Oops. It was a great morning for it and I was surprised there was actually some water falling down the water fall. I was expecting a trickle at best.

After Dana almost knocking herself out on a tree at the falls, we headed back down the trail much quicker than up. Then back onto to 4+ mile dirt road bumps, ditches, Kaisara's side-seat driving and all.

Yeah, Not That Kind of Biker Chick

I got a bike today! I'm so excited. I've been wanting one for a while now. Being a fatty, crazy high gas prices & a wanting to be more "green" all had a part in my wanting a bike. Kaisara got one too. They match. His is a large, mine's a medium (because I'm so petite, ya' know). They are '07 Schwin Sierra's. We both got dark red. Didn't much care for the tan. Can't wait to take out my new ride. It's gonna be awesome.

Kaisara & I rode bikes all the time when we started dating. Neither one of us was old enough to drive at the time so we rode our bikes all over the place. Mostly down to river bed to the beach. Spend all day at the beach & then ride home. Obviously we were both in better shape then. But we're headed back thera now, baby!

I'll close with an obvious quote from Napoleon Dynamite:

Napoleon Dynamite: Dang! You got shocks, pegs... lucky! You ever take it off any sweet jumps?



(and yes, Kaisara already bunny jumped his half-a-dozen times while test riding it)

My Mom's Better Than Your Mom!

Happy Mothers' Day, Mas Mer! I love you and am so grateful for the godly woman and mother you are.

To everyone else...na na nana na!

Tid-Bits

Here's a few items about me as of late. Not really in the mood nor the mind set for complete sentences:

-I'm crazy busy at work. We load out at the end of the day on Wednesday. There's no way I'll get it all done.

-I'm really looking forward to getting my web-store set up & running.

-I'm scared I won't sell anything on my web-store.

-I'm furious at myself that I've gained back all the weight I worked so hard to loose and then some. I'm the fattest I've ever been in my life. Gross.

-I want a bike. Not sure where I'd ride it. I'd have to go alone.

-I'm about to pick up another dead soldier project. I haven't actually ever started it so I'm not sure it's technically a dead soldier. Looking forward to getting it out of my closet though.

-Not sure I want to keep dying my hair pink. I love it but it's a hassle. And really, a fat, 33 year-old chick who doesn't even dress well with pink hair?

-I'm fired on June 8th. Looking forward to the time to crank out dead soldiers & items for the web-store.

-Got some turkey deli meat from Costco. It's super salty. Don't buy it.

-Painted my nails this weekend. Should do that more often. Work's not ruining them as quickly as I thought.

-Making salmon for dinner tomorrow. It's gonna be rad. OOOO maybe with roasted potatoes. Yeah, yeah, yeah...and salad of course.

-Super excited that Emma's sitting up on her own now. That's been a long time coming.

-Wish I could more effectively share my faith with others. Feeling totally inadequate in this area at the moment.

-Had a great fitting today. We all laughed the whole time & got stuff done. I love it when that happens.

-We're making progress on re-doing our master bathroom. It's slow but it's gonna be awesome.

-Made cheesecake from scratch last week. I think I like making them because not many people do it. I don't even really like them very much.

-I'm over 1/4 finished with my second list of 100 things. Perhaps I should add some of these items to it.

Lock & Load

I've got a name for my store. Thanks to all of you for your suggestions. After discussing them & others with several different people, I've chosen my name. I've got my graphic artist on the case of designing my banner. You'll have to wait to find out the name until my store's open for business. Some of you out there already know the name so keep it hush-hush until my unveiling.

I know you're all dieing of anticipation.

Let the Creativity Flow!

I need some creative, witty assistance. "But Cate, you're so creative & witty on your own!" It's true, I know, but you can't possibly expect me to think it all up on my own can you? I know plenty of people that fit the witty & creative label & I'm counting on your ideas.

Here's the deal: I'm opening an on-line store for my wares. Baubles, purses, perhaps some baby quilts, whatever. I need a store name. I don't want anything with "Cate". I'm not opposed to using Catherine or Esera but if it wasn't one of my names at all that'd be stellar. "Stitch in the Ditch" is taken as are "Sew What", "Bits and Pieces" and a number of other lame-o ideas I came up with. I'm putting a bit of thought into this since once the store is named I can't change it without re-inventing the store all over again & that would confuse the hundreds of customers I'm sure I'll have by the time I think of a great name on my own.

What do you guys think? Please comment with any and all ideas you may have.

Great Weekend

I got to sleep in yesterday. I love sleeping in. It's delicious. My Dad doesn't sleep in. His sleeping in is 7:30. Yikes! Needless to say it was 10 days of early mornings.

So I slept in yesterday. Worked on a couple of purses I've been making. Went bowling with Kaisara & Daryl. I did awesome! Probably near to my best score ever. Ready? I got 95!!!! Sweet.

We then went to The Corner Broiler for dinner. DE-LISH-SHUS! It's so great. If you've never been there you should go. It's not cheap the the food's great. It's a tiny place but the staff does a great job & the owner Chris is very cool. The band is playing there next month on the 7th. Stop by for dinner or maybe just dessert. I had the brownie a la mode & Daryl had the crem bru le. Yum!

Today we got to sleep in a bit since Kaisara didn't play at church so we didn't have to leave ultra early. We headed to Home Depot for some trim for our bathroom we've been working (rather, not working on). Then we walked over to Lucille's BBQ for lunch. So good! Came home worked on my Bible study homework a bit, took a nap, cleaned the house some then went on a walk with the best dog ever.

It's been a good couple of days. I'm so blessed!

Photos Up

I've put up some of the pictures from my trip with Dad. Take a look if you're interested using the photo album link on the left.

After These Messages...We'll Be Right Back

Dad & I are home safely. I'm exhausted. We were up at the equivalent of midnight this morning after only 4 hours of lousy sleep. I'm trying to stay up 'til bed time tonight to get back on Pacific Standard Time ASAP. Laundry's done & put away, now I'm starting dinner.

I'll fill you in with details & photos when I'm back among the living.

How Yooz Doin'?

We're leaving Chicago this morning & heading over to Des Moines. We went up 103 floors in the Sears Tower on Sunday & I had dinner with Julia last night. It was great to see her. It's beautiful here & crazy flat, just like Manetoba, Canada. Not a hill to be seen. Even from the top of Sears Tower. Yes, the deep dish pizza is delicious (and nothing like BJ's Brewery "Chicago Pizza".

Not sure when I'll have a computer again so I'll fill "yooz guys" in when I can. Chow!

I'm Leavin' On A Jet Plane

Many of you know this but others don't so I figured I'd keep you all informed. I know you're all waiting with baited breath to hear of my goings-ons.

I'm leaving for Chicago tomorrow with my Dad. Just him & me. We're flying to Chicago to visit his buddy, Tony, from Vietnam. We'll be staying at Tony's house for a few days, including Easter dinner with his large Italian family. I'm so very much looking forward to eating a delicious meal with a family of 25+ people. I'm sure there'll be people watching & food galore. I'm also looking forward to seeing Julia. I let her know that I'd be in the area (albeit an hour from her place) and we're going to get together sometime on Monday. I've never been to Illinois. I'm looking forward to it, even if tomorrow's forcast is something crazy like 28 degrees.

After a few day in Chicago we set off driving to Des Moines, Iowa to visit my Dad's sister, Neva, & other family members. My sister, Dad & I were in Des Moines in 1984 to bury my great-grandmother but I'm looking forward to seeing it & my relatives as an adult. We'll fly home from Des Moines on Monday, April 16th.

I'm really looking forward to this trip though I'm already feeling those excited/nervous jitters before any trip. I'll try to post while I'm gone but who knows what sort of connection/computer I'll have access to.

See you soon.

Dead Soldier Resurection

I started this project at least 5 years ago. When I began, I began with the notion that every good quilter has a 20-year quilt. I never heard that said but it just seemed to be the case from quilters I knew at the time. A quilt they started 20 years ago & never got around to finishing. This was going to be mine. I got the block pattern from Janice, Cat's mom. It's a Mariners' Star.

Each star block is 48 pieces so I knew this was going to be my 20 year-quilt. I made great progress to start then put it away not working on it again for a year or so. I pulled it out again only to run out of one of the fabrics so put it away again, not know how to finish. After some great advice from my boss at SCR I pulled this dead soldier out of the closet one last time.

In total, the quilt is 511 pieces. Only after viewing these pictures did I notice two of the blocks should have been switched. Dang! I can't believe I did that. Oh well, there's no going back now. SHOOT! MAN!

Any way, should you wonder who's going to be the recipient of this quilt & knowing that I've never kept a quilt that I've made, I'll close with a quote from Finding Nemo,

Seagulls: Mine. Mine.

Oh, Crap

By looking at my March walking total & this photo, I don't think I need to keep typing. Enough said.

Happy Birthday Bro'

Today's Tony's birthday. He'll never see this but I wanted to post it anyway. His Dad took him & Kaisara out last night to Ruth's Chris for fancy-dancy steak dinner. I heard it was delicious! Happy Birthday, Tony!

btw: He's still's got that same smile.

The Power of the Tax Right Off

A few years ago I worked for the month of December at Crap-Ann's. It had to be done. I didn't have work & December's a great month for temp. retail work. Anyway, I survived & so did they.

While there I got a super great Rowenta iron. Normally 90 bucks, I got it for like $25 or something with employee discount & coupons, etc. Rowenta's are great irons. A great iron is an important thing for someone like me. It cracks me up that most of my friends don't even own one. ANYwho...Zelda bumped my ironing board & the thing came crashing down 1 too many times (yes, it happened more than once). About a month or so after the last crash-landing the bloody thing started leaking. NOT acceptable when working on silk & the like. I figured the thing broke 'cause of my dumb dog & it's been over a year since the purchase date so, whatever. I have a spray bottle that mists well. That was at least 6 months ago. I've not worked on certain things several times due to the lack of a steaming iron. How can I be so cheap & in my line of work not to just go out & buy a new one? I amaze even me with my cheap-ness. Wow, this is a long post about a dumb iron. Anyway. I remembered today that I can write off the cost of a new one. Sweet! I headed to Bed, Bath & Beyond armed with my 20% off coupon. And what's this? A left over gift card from Christmas with $6-ish on it? Yeah! SO, I got a new Rowenta normally $49.99 for $36.18. Did I mention it came with a rebate for a $15 Bed, Bath & Beyond gift card?
Awesome! I've got steaming capabilities againAND mad bargain shopping skills.

A Little Update-y Matey

Well, here it is. I want to jab my eyes out. There you go. Read it & weep. Out they come.

Since my gig at UCI ended early I called my office work gal, Vera. She was thrilled. She sent me to an on-site office that no one has been there filing for a year. Scary. The property manager was told that I knew the ropes & would take care of everything. Scary. I get there & there's 8 file drawers & 3 cubicles filed with garbage-ito. Scary. One problem (of several) is that this lady's managing at least 5 buildings that all have several names. "Which name do want printed on your file labels?", I ask. Insert her blank stare here... She gave me a 1"x 1 1/2" post-it note with four little things written on it. Insert my blank stare here... An hour later, I ask if I can have a pen. She gives me a (meaning one, singular) writing implement. Another hour later (& I'm really getting reved up by now) I hold up my little piece of post-it note & ask if I can have something larger to write on as I'm trying to get a grasp of this 5 buildings each with 4 different names thing. I kid you not. She gets up & hands me a, (meaning one, singular) piece of paper. Sure glad she didn't throw her back out. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? Who is this lady?!?!?! Finally at about 3pm I ask "Where's the restroom?" Come on!! I shiver at the thought of her having house guests. She probably doesn't even feed them. Is she for real? I didn't have a computer, printer nothin'. Okay lady, I'll get right on this. Insert me giving a big ol', righteous, raspberry here.

It's not that it's office work & not sewing. I like to organize. I'm good at it. I get things done. Burn some rubber, ya' know? You want your crap organized? BAM! There you go. It's just this office itself. No one talks to one another. I am utterly convinced that most of the people there don't even no the names of most of the other people there. And this lady! I think I've gotten a dozen words out of her. And each one she makes me feel guilty for. And they're all work related! I'm really holding myself back in there! You know me! I'm a talkter! Oi! But I digress, I'll continue..

She was only there for 2 days then off to vacation for a week in Maui (poor baby). Sweet. Now I can really do my thing. During that time I got the 8 file drawers dealt with (all sorted, color coded & labeled beautifully). As well as made a huge dent in the cubicles. I'm talking papers dating back to 1989 people! She comes back today. Guess her response...wait for it...here it comes...a big fat NADA! Now, I know I need more positive affirmation than the next guy but I wasn't expecting that, let alone looking for it from this girl. But come on! Not a, "Wow! This looks great!",or a "It's really coming along.", or "Thanks for all of this.", or even a "Kiss my a**!" She didn't even say good morning. I finally did and asked her how her trip was. She says, and I quote, "Awesome. It sucks to be back." I just smiled & said, "Well that's a great way to look at it!" and continued my task. I can't wait to go back tomorrow!

It's Your Birthday, Thanks for the Gift

Happy Birthday to my best friend, Cat. Sure her birthday's almost over as it's 10:30 at night but it's still her birthday. I just came home from Sewing Circle at which absolutely no sewing was done. We just sat around, chatted, had birthday goodies & enjoyed each other's company. Oh yeah, and Cat gave me my birthday/Christmas present. It rocks. I got a page-a-day calendar (calendars are our traditional Christmas gift) & Fung "Shoe" book & last but not least, a blue velvet cape in which she hand embroidered my super hero name: The Amazing Catherine. It's sweet. And it's interchangeable between me, Kathy & Cat. Handy!

Happy Birthday, Friend! I love my presents

They Can't Be Trusted

Twice now I've used a pedometer to track my walking when Google's pedometer would have been too difficult. The first time was when we went to Magic Mountain. It read 7.8 miles. Really? Okay, but it didn't seem that far. Must have been 'cause I was having such a great time I didn't realize my feet should have been tired. Today I took a group of girls to the garment district. I wore the pedometer again. In fact I wore 2. One on each hip. After walking around the area for a bit we headed home. One pedometer read over three miles (doubtful), the other read .05 miles. Okay, now I KNOW that's wrong. These are even ones that you enter your stride length & weight & stuff. Still obvisously totally inaccurate. ANYHOOO, I did some more shopping & stuff today so I kept the higher reading one on (hey, I'm no fool). All in all it says I walked 6.8 miles. Again, doubtful. I'm going to be generous to my self though & only round down to 6 miles for the day (to make up for all the little bit's here & there that I do during the day just as part of life but don't calculate into my 2007 goal). This gets my weekly total to 15 miles. I finished February on target & March is starting out great!

Yahoo! You're 2!

Happy Birthday to my godson Elijah. He's a wonderful little boy and a great big brother to new comer Miles. Happy birthday kiddo!

No Much Going On

I've been working some overtime at UCI this week so there hasn't been much to blog about nor the time to blog it. Here's an update or sorts:

I ended February with 4.4 miles over my 10 miles per week goal. This is due to going to Magic Mountain last weekend and carpooling with Kaisara to work. Depending on the time in the morning, he drops me off at different points and I walk the rest of the way to the costume shop. Only once have we been early enough for me to walk from the 405. That's 2.9 miles but sure seems like it should be further. Kaisara offers to drop me off at the door but I try to get in my miles this way. We're also saving on me paying for parking at work. UCI doesn't pay for their employees' parking. $44 per month. I think not. That's almost 2 1/2 hours of work just to park. It's better for me, our bank account, and the environment by the way, for me to walk. So walk I shall.

My gig at UCI has been great. The manager, Vera, is awesome. She LOVES her job. She lets us know when we need to put our heads down & crank stuff out and she later lets us know how great we did & how much she appreciates our work. There is an opening for full-time employment there but I've decided not to apply. I don't think I could handle working with cynical grad students and all of their angst on a permanent basis. Bummer, the money's good and the benefits would be to die for. I'll enjoy my freelancing some more.

Of course, I am so good I've sewed myself out of work. We were supposed to work today after working late all this week. But no, we're done until after the first dress (Monday night). So I've sewed myself out of overtime today & there's no need for me to go in Monday since we won't have any notes by then. It really is a curse being so gifted. HaHaHaHaHa!

Vera's said she has work for me through Friday, March 9th but after that's an unknown. I'm not back at SCR 'til April 17th. Yikes! over a month with no pay. Again, the joys of freelancing. Not worried though. God will provide. He always does.

Well rather than working today & making the big bucks at time-and-a-half, I'm off to do a ton of laundry & perhaps work some on my dead soldier. It's getting nearer to completion.

Tons-o-Fun

Eight of us went to Magic Mountain yesterday. It's so fun! I haven't been there in at least 10 years. Needless to say they've added several new coasters since then. I love me a good roller coaster. The weather was great though once the sun went down it was super chilly. The lines weren't bad. The longest was about an hour. Mostly it was just a great day with friends.

Here's Melanie goofing off. Who'd a thunk huh?








James returning from his ride on Tatsu. Yes the picture is facing the right direction. You ride facing down as if you're flying. Let's just say...AWESOME!!! The first drop was terrifying. Come on, head first down a crazy tall drop at a super fast speed. Scary. It was so awesome!




Some of our group.


We ended out time at the park sharing a delicious, sugary funnel cake then headed to In-n-Out for dinner then drove home. We didn't even hit horrible traffic there or back.

To sum up my day, I'll close with a quote from The Incredibles:

Boy on Tricycle: That was totally wicked!

The Prince & the Pauper Photos

As promised here's a few pictures of the costumes I built for SCR's The Prince & the Pauper.

We made the Prince's gown (purple coat with brown fur). We also did MAJOR repairs to his doublet & pumpkin breeches.










We made the King's gown, doublet (though the doublet looks like a dress), fat pad & hat complete with fur piping.







We made Lady Jane's dress. I only patterned the sleeve. A co-worked patterned the rest of it before I started on the show.










Here's a close-up of the bodice & skirt. It shows the dreaded cartridge pleats. Man! I hated those things. Now that I've done them, they're not that bad. It's just ALOT of hand work.

I had a part time first hand and a mostly full time stitcher to get it all ready. Later, we got help from the rest of the staff as their show opened & they had a few minutes. I can't believe we pulled it off!

Government Agent

As many of you know I was fired for 2 months from SCR. I go back April 17th to start on Hamlet, but in the mean time they've got 2 very small contemporary shows so they don't need me. Before my time was up I started trying to figure out what I'd be doing for work for 2 months. I asked around Laguna Playhouse people and such but they've trimmed their shop down for some small shows too. Guess I'll just fill in at my old office job for a while. I made the phone call and Vera (the office manager) said she'd have work for me. Cool. Not a dream job but at least it's easy & the money's the same. Then out of no where I get a call from Vera (the shop manger at UCI). Basically the conversation went like this, "Hi, you don't know me but will you come work in my shop for 2 months?" "O.k." "By the way, we're gonna pay you almost $3 more an hour than you're used to." "O.k."

God is so good. He provides exactly what we need when we need it doesn't He? And the best part is, He knows what we actually need.

So I'm working for the government through at least March 9th & if they haven't found a permanent person by then I'll work there until they do our until April 17th to go back to SCR.

How Does That Always Happen?

Theatre is magical. Many people know that, but us costumers, we know it good. There's magic within them there walls. I was given the responsibility of getting SCR's production of The Prince & the Pauper up. I asked who else was working on it & I was informed that I had a mostly full-time stitcher & a half-time first hand. Oh. Okay. Well then. It's me then. Insert FREAK OUT here. Oh yeah, you've got two weeks. Insert SHEER PANIC mixed with FREAK OUT here.

I knew most of the costumes were going to be pulled from our stock or rented but still. I've got to build a velveteen boned bodice dress complete with heinous cartridge pleats and two velveteen, fur and brocade or silk King Henry gowns (similar to the really big red poofy sleeved coat thing in the picture). Oh yeah, and a hat. And King Henry's quick change doublet with built in fat pad. Two weeks. Okay. And all of the pulled/rented costumes that would need to be fit and altered and repaired. Lots of repair. I swear, everything rented was built in 1934. I'm not exaggerating. Those pieces had to be 70 years old. While trying to alter them velvet was exploding.

Add a wicked cold on top of all of this & let's just say I wasn't doing well. I was told today that they didn't notice be freaking out. Good to know. I guess I'm a good faker.

Here's the theatre magic: tomorrow is our first audience. We're pretty much done. Couple things here and there but if we all got hit by the chip truck, the show could go up as is. How does that always happen? There's always too much work & it's impossible to get down & yet it does. Even while freaking out I was telling Kaisara, "funny thing is, the magic of theatre will happen & it will all get done." Sure enough. I'll post pictures when I get them.

Came Up Short

You may have noticed my 2007 Mileage Tracker on the left. At the beginning of the year I made a goal to walk 500 miles in 2007. This is a spin off of Geoff's goal to run 1000 miles in 2007. Let's face it, I'm no runner so I figured half of a runner's goal would be good for a walker. So 500 miles it is. I figured if I get in 10 a week that'd give me 20 miles to spare.

I also figured this wouldn't be too hard of a goal to achieve since Dana & I have been walking before work a few times a week ever since the time change in October (do I even need to tell you how freezing & dark it is at 6am in December?). When we walk I get in 2.9 miles. We had been going Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays so without even trying that'd be 8.7 miles a week.

With January being 5 weeks long (I'm tracking Sunday through Saturday as a week not actual dates of the month) I should have had 50 miles in. I don't. I'm 7.9 miles short. For most of January, Dana and or I have been sick so we figured it's best not to make things worse & let our bodies sleep in the nice warms beds we've been blessed with. She started it with the coodies and I actually got up & walked without her for about a week. Then the toastyness of the blankies conquered me since I didn't have anyone counting on me to be out there tired & freezing.

I'm hoping I can make up for my shortage in February and get in 50 miles even though it's only 4 weeks long. On the bright side if I cut into my 20 spare miles, I'm not short. I've still got 12.1. Ouch. That's not much to hold me off for 47 more weeks.

It's What You Wear From Ear to Ear...

Tonight was my 5th free thing of the year, & in the 5th week of the year no less. I'm tellin' you, I'm onna roll. Next week I'll have another since the show at work's opening & I don't gotta pay for those.

Tonight was Annie at OCPAC. I got the tickets so I could take Lydia. She's new to theatre. She braved through Pippin with me but Annie'd be right up her alley. Alas, Lydia is a sickie like me, only worse, so she couldn't make it. So sad. I wish she was well. Not just for theatre, don't get me wrong, but I wish she was well enough to have joined me. She would have loved it. I took Mom instead. She never minds being my back-up theatre buddy.

It was neat seeing the show with Mom. Back in the day, Annie was my first live performance I ever saw. It was at the Pantages. It was cold outside while waiting to go in & it was magic inside. I guess one could say that Annie's the show that planted the bug of theatre into my little world. It's so great. A happy show with 30's clothes, fun songs & a great little story. What would a Broadway musical be without a little cheese, right?

If you haven't seen the movie, rent it. Keep in mind my above statement about Broadway musicals but, come on, Carol Burnett play Miss Higgins. That's worth the rental fee right there.