Celebration and the opposite

What a loooong week it's been.
I have been doing all the things that seem to pop up all at once this time of year. I never really noticed it before, but perhaps it's the few extra 'gotcha's' life's throwing in the mix this year. We're in Massachusetts, where cars need yearly inspections. I'm not sure if this is the norm in all states, now, but it wasn't when I was first driving. I grew up in Michigan, car capital of American, if you will. My first car was a hand-me-down '84 Chevy Cavalier (that I honestly loved despite it's MANY flaws) which I inherited from Auntie when she decided to get a $500 '79 Grand Wagoneer (sky blue...oh, it was a beauty!). When I had to leave the Cape our first summer (due to lack of funds and needing to live rent free with the parents for a bit...it didn't last long. I had just turned 21, I knew right away that living with my parents would never be an option for me!)...I drove that Cavalier back to Michigan...and then back to Mass a few months later. Before I could even change from my Michigan plates, I got pulled over after, what I thought was, my muffler had fallen off. When I took it in, I learned that my car was not legal. In Michigan, at that time anyway, you didn't get your cars inspected. You drove them if they moved, and if they didn't go...you sent them off to the junk yard. My car had a long pipe welded in place where the catalytic converter should be. "that's illegal'' is what the mechanic told me. So, several hundred dollars later, it was 'fixed'.
The point? Umm...Oh! State inspections...mine was due this month. So there was that. And my front brakes need to be done, though, they didn't keep me from passing my inspection. I did, however, have to make an appointment for this Thursday (there goes another day...day off, at least). That will be the day after the dog goes to the vet, since her annual exam always falls on February, too. And tax time!! We don't usually dread tax time, but the past couple years have been great big question marks. Last year, we only had health insurance for the last 2 months of the year, and so had to pay a fine. I have no idea what that fine was, but it cut into our tax refund. This year, we were covered the entire year, and were pretty excited about getting some moolah back in the back...until I sat down with the W-2's and whatnot. I found out, and this has actually happened to me before, so I should've learned my lesson...Trader Joe's has not been taking any Federal taxes out of my checks...for a year. The year I met Hubby, I had to borrow money from him to pay my taxes because I never realized my job wasn't taking any out. I believe it was around 5 or 6 HUNDRED dollars. It sucks, and it's been weighing on my mind...of course, until I go to work to straighten it out and COMPLETELY FORGET TO BRING IT UP!! Stupid!! At any rate, it was a slap in the face and a little added stress that I just don't need.
Not that everyone wants/needs to hear my sad story, but Hubby is also stressed at his job due to a financial situation his boss is in, resulting in no one getting paid last week. He's also worried that his boss is saying and doing things that lead him to believe he is looking for reasons to let him go. That would be a huge problem for us, to say the least, but the worst part really is the stress of not knowing. I hate to see Hubby stressed...that's MY thing! :)
So with all of that going on, I have finished my 10 day work week.
And there is some good, besides finally getting a day off. It is a day with Hubby, and it's kind of like two since I was home by 1 yesterday.
Valentine's day isn't a 'holiday' we celebrate, but since we got a day off together, so close to the holiday, I felt like celebrating. I have also been wanting to try some of the cheeses we have, since I am now in charge of ordering it. People will come to me and ask me about cheeses we have, so I need to be prepared. I am amazed by the number of people who will come into Trader Joe's, planning a party, but seeming to have no idea how to do it or what to serve. They literally expect us to plan their party, right there on the spot! But no matter...I'm the kind of girl who embraces her new challenges...I am a slave to my job, no matter what it is...I'm a loyal employee, to say the least. But, big fun! I spent a little bit extra when I did my grocery shopping this week. I got a couple cheeses to sample, and after my discount, it's almost like I got them for free (that's how I justify splurging when money's tight!). I thought a nice cheese tray, and our yummy Ham & Gruyere Tarte D'alsace and a bottle of wine would be a 'fancy' lunch.
I got the Pinot Grigio Salami that I love (I'm not really a salami girl, usually, but this one's nice..a little peppery); the Irish Dubliner Cheddar that we know we like; I have been wanting to try the English Cheddar with Caramelized Onions (the triangle pieces in the top right corner) ever since getting the Cotswold with chives for the holiday party I went to in December, and I'm glad I did! The one I've been dying to try is the wedge with the orange edge. It's Port Salut. It's a semi soft cheese that just looks delicious to me. It's so white and creamy...it just spreads on the crackers. It's so mild, that I had trouble really tasting anything. I truly enjoyed the texture and couldn't stop eating it, but I literally could not tell you what it tastes like! Has anyone else had this type of cheese? Could you explain or describe it if someone asked? Trader Joe's has also recently added a new cheese to their line up (I know I sound like an ad, but it really is just my life...not me trying to get you to shop their or even like the company...just me rambling on...). It's a 'melange' of goat and cow milk (it's the one at the bottom left corner, between the apple and the salami). It has a nice creamy texture, and you can really taste the goat part, but the cow milk cuts that sharp goatiness. It's nice for people like me who have to 'be in the mood' for goat cheese. My palette accepts it as a sour taste usually, which isn't particularly pleasant to me most days.
I rounded out the plate with some basic water crackers and yummy pita crackers, a surprisingly new favorite in our house.
And the tarte...Hubby doesn't eat ham, yet this is a favorite of his. It's a thin crust topped with Gruyere, ham, and caramelized onions. Unfortunately, when I took it out of the box, I discovered that it didn't survive my shoving it into the freezer after my shopping trip! Oh, well, just for us, no biggie.
So, we sat and ate cheese and tarte, and drank some wine and just thought about the good things...and that was what we celebrated.
Now the birds are singing. The days are definitely getting longer. Hubby has some freelance work going. I have a day off and the sun is shining. Who cares about the rest!
Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

done, and done

Sheet to dress #3: done.
here is a closer look at just how awful I am at the zipper thing.
I don't know why this picture uploaded as a vertical instead of horizontal, but the point is that it's all bulky and ugly...
What's even better than that? How I just can't seem to match up the sides when I sew the zipper in!! It's hilariously crooked, and it's going to stay that way...I can't imagine anyone looking closely enough at the back of my dress to realize it, anyway.
And this is how it looks hanging up...I honestly haven't even tried it on yet...I literally finished the zipper (hand-sewn) and threw the dress on the sewing machine, and went to make dinner.
front back

Today, I skipped my friend's knitting circle to get some stuff done. I'm nearly finished getting my taxes together, and now I can get to work on my valentines!

Anyone out there celebrate February 14?

not again!!

Okay, I am a gluten for punishment, for sure. Why...why, oh, why...why do i continue to try sewing?? The whole thing is just a mess of threads, crooked stitches, and patterns cut as if by some drunk!!
This time around I thought, 'I got this!' I was even going to buy a zipper foot, since that part is generally the hardest part for me. Would you believe, I couldn't find one!? The fabric store did not have one. They had an 'invisible zipper foot', for invisible zippers...so I bought that. It is a package of 4 different attachments for 3 different types of machines. Guess who is in possession of a machine that fits NONE of those feet!? My luck, of course.
'Oh, well,' I think to myself. 'I've done this before, here we go again using the regular foot for a zipper. Only this time, after the second time all the thread got all jammed up in the bottom bobbin (whatever that part of the machine is called?), I yanked and cut and threw the dress back into my 'sewing bag', put away my machine, and grabbed a beer and the computer.
I guess I have two options now:
1. try the fabric store again and see if they got any zipper feet (foots?) in yet; or
2. hand sew the zipper.
I will probably try hand sewing the zipper while watching TV tonight, because sewing makes me very impatient and I am at that point where I just want it to be done and over.

In the meantime, all of this sewing has kept me for practicing my clarinet, planning dinner and a grocery list, and my many mail art projects.

What have I learned from all of this? That I know why I had put aside sewing for awhile, and that I will likely not abandon it forever, even if I feel like it now! :)

(no progress pics...too frustrated today)

feeling a little down

I had planned on having a fun evening of football with hubby last night. He made bbq pulled pork in the crock pot, I picked up a growler of beer from the local brewery, and we had a platter of cheese/crackers/salami/veggies for a pre-game snack. It was shaping up to be a lovely evening.
But then, around 7:45 p.m. I could NOT keep my eyes open!! I blame the 4 a.m. wake up call for work, the hour long workout I squeezed in AFTER work, and the two pints of beer I had before 6.
I never feel bad about going to bed early, but sometimes, like this morning, I wake up thinking I made myself miss out on something. Sure, it was just him and me, but we don't get a lot of time together with our schedules as they are, and I feel like I should've tried to stay awake later.
Oh well, what's done is done, as they say...time to move on.

I am hoping to finish my dress by week's end. I am having some serious car (brake) issues...not sure it it's all the slush/ice/salt on the roads, or if I just need new brakes. When I had the back one's done, they did say I would need to start thinking about having the front ones done...'it's not urgent, but just so you know.' I have been wanting to start some new mail art projects, but have been filling my days with socializing, which is rare for me! Thursdays look like they will be my 'knitting group' day...I don't knit but I go have coffee with some girls and do some embroidery. It's a fun few hours.

I guess that's as much rambling as I can get in this morning...off to work!

dress making: day 2

After all the pinning, stitching, and ripping out the stitches, I finally got around to sewing the darts properly. Not too shabby.
So, moving right along, I thought I might be right on track to get this dress nearly finished (and maybe all done by the end of the weekend?). Then, as with EVERY time I've ever sewn a dress, I get to that part of the instructions that just don't make sense! This time it was the 'vent' in the back. A part that is probably not even going to be necessary because of the length of the dress, and how it's going to fit (it won't be a wiggle dress that is so tight I will have to shuffle my feet to walk!).
Sew it closed, cut this here, press this there, remove that stitch...I mean, come on! 'As shown' means nothing here, because even the picture is confusing and doesn't make sense. I just can't wrap my brain around how this works out in the end. So I did what any normal person would do...I skipped that part, and will just figure it out after the whole dress is assembled and I can visualize how it should look. I imagine I will just sew it right up the back...no, slit.
More to come, I'm hoping to finish it up this weekend!

a whirlwind of crafting

I pulled the sewing machine out again. And the flannel sheet that I snagged at the kennel way before Thanksgiving...please try to get over the fact that it is: a)a sheet that was donated to an animal hospital (we don't use the sheets that are donated...only blankets and towels); and b)well, the the fact that it's a donated sheet! :)
It is, of course, going more slowly than I would like a project to go. The reason my sewing is so crappy is mainly because I just don't want to put the time into precision. This dress, this fabric.
I cut out the pieces,and still have about half a sheet left. I, big surprise, didn't cut all the pieces I needed, and had to go back and cut a couple more pieces...for the lining for the top. And sewing that part was quite an adventure...'what!? how does this work...I have to pull it through...how do i do that!?' I figured it out, and Voila! a top is created!!
Oh, and the best part...the darts...oh, good grief, why do I do this? Being the clever (lazy) seamstress that I am, I used the hem of the sheet for the hem of the skirt...one less step, I love it! I even got the darts to look right. And then, I realized I did it inside out...so, out come the scissors, and out come the darts. Pin it all again, and times up...I had to put it all aside for another day.
Another day, like maybe the next day? Meaning, today?
Nope! I was invited to my friends' bakery for a 'knitting circle'. I don't knit...or crochet...or any of those crafty 'making-something-out-of-nothing' things. But, it turned out there was a woman there doing some 'foiling' for jewelry she makes. Anyway, I brought my embroidery stuff. And a skirt I had ruined many years ago. I had a job at a bagel shop, where I was basically a short-order cook, frying up eggs, bacon, Reubens, and all manner of greasy foods. Grease stains don't dye well, for the record. I took my khaki skirt and attempted to dye it black. As I was dying it, I took it out when it got to this fun grey-lavender color.
I decided to embroider something over the stains, to disguise them.
Not too bad, so far, but it's hard to tell where I'm going from here.
Now I have several unfinished projects AND I need to get a move on in the mail art department!
Home by noon tomorrow, gives me plenty of time for arts and crafts.

a great day to stay inside

I have a fairly long list of things to do today. All, except the one I really need to do, can be (and should be) done inside. And that's great, since it's cold and rainy, and the streets are basically sheets of ice today. It is, as a friend said yesterday, like living inside a slush puppie machine (or maybe, more appropriately, a slurpee?).

At any rate, I am, once again, debating whether or not to get my butt outside and to the dump to get rid of our trash and recyclables. It's just so yucky out there! :(

But, as I said, there's plenty to do inside today. I have the house to clean (bathroom and kitchen were mostly done last night...just need to do the floors!). There's the tax worksheet to do, and documents to gather to send off to the accountant. I have mail art to do. Music to practice. Animals to snuggle with.

And...I may try making another dress.

The blue one. I have an old flannel sheet waiting to start its new life as part of my wardrobe. I thought I had a picture of it, but I can't find it and I'm too lazy to go downstairs to get another. Yes, I am that lazy right now! It's 8 a.m. and I'm still in my reindeer jammies, too!

I am terrible at sewing, but I feel like it's that type of day, where my idle hands will continue to feed me until I find something else to do!

And the other question...do I go with Hubby for coffee this morning, even though the roads are bad and I've already had 3/4 of the pot I made this morning. Rough day, so far...aahhh...