A Fairy, a Witch and a Princess (+ iPhone)

It's November! Wow. This year has gone by so quickly. A year ago, the idea of my life changed. I became intellectually separated from my husband and started counting the days until he moved out. We are getting along quite well. And I feel like he's way more involved with the girls than he was when he was here. I don't reject his offers for assistance with them and I feel like I can rely on him way more now than before. Maybe because I don't let him off the hook now. I have more expectations. Funny, huh?

So let's get to the good stuff! Halloween! This year Omari wanted to win a prize at school. Every year she'd been disappointed and I told her she needed to be something that would stand out. We had initially thought up an iPod and then I changed it to an iPhone. She got an Honorable Mention because the judge for Most Original costume was a dork. Seriously! The girl who won that category was wearing a store bought bee costume. The only thing original about it were the long stemmed flowers she taped around her ankles.




My girlfriend liked it so much she bought it off of us and wore it on Halloween night. You can't tell that much from the pictures, but the icons are covered with vinyl to give it the look of a screen. The ear phones were made using lightweight clay and they're attached to cording. I taped the ends of the cording to make it stiff, added hot glue on top off that and stuck it into the clay. Then added more hot glue at the base. The sides are made out of felt that Omari and I hot glued on. It held up way better than I expected. I used foam board (expensive! $5.99) for the front and back. It was fun to make.


On Halloween night, Omari was a fairy. I made the dress. She wore it all of 10 minutes because it was so damn hot! We were at a birthday party and they had a bouncer. Once the bouncing started, the dress TORE! Right at the shoulder seams. I had to go out and buy the long sleeved shirt because that see through, glimmery fabric feels like powdered glass against your skin! Also, the dress was extremely low cut.


Naiobi's got the witch look down!


And since nobody wanted to be the princess, I ended up with that costume. I try to go with some theme every year. Naiobi says she wants to be a vampire next year. She's got a thing for the dark side.


And best wishes for a happy marriage and fertility to my darling friend Dionne who got married in Palo Alto last weekend.

What's cookin?

Okay Seriously? Who would make these pajamas for a GUY? Puh-lease! I was just checking out Simplicity's new patterns when I came across this. I do not like their new website. I can't figure out how to copy the picture which is why I could only post a link.

So what's cooking folks? I'm trying to work on Omari's fairy costume but had my laser eye surgery on Friday and my eyes have not been that great this weekend. Healthy but a bit blurry. They've also been getting very tired, forcing me to get to bed by about 10:30 the past couple of nights. I've been wearing contacts since I was 14. It's funny, because when my vision blurred before, I'd wiggle my contacts around. I keep catching myself about to do that now! I've had to increase my computers font significantly. I understand my vision will keep getting better and better.

Here I am during the torturous week before the surgery when I had to wear glasses.

And here I am the day of the surgery when I had to wear these all day, not read, or watch tv or use the computer, keep my eyes closed as much as possible but DON'T FALL ASLEEP for the first 5 hours! Huh? Eyes closed absolutely equals sleep!

So audiobook it was. I'm listening to The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. Sweet, beautiful and hilarious! I can't imagine anyone not enjoying this book. And I'm not even a dog lover. It's written from the dog's point of view. Makes me see dogs in a completely different way. You'll notice the paperback is less than $5. I paid $20 for the audio. Wasn't aware audiobooks are so expensive since I typically borrow them from the library. But these were desperate times! And it's turning out to be quite enjoyable. I can picture myself listening to it again. I don't appreciate the musical interludes however as I never compose a concerto between chapters when I'm reading the book myself.

Oh, remember that scene in Bridget Jones' Diary (I didn't read the book), when she's making dinner and she uses some blue string to tie some herbs together and the soup turns blue? Um, yeah. That's true. In my case I used a trouser sock because I ran out of soup socks. And as I was doing it, I played back that part of the movie and laughed. I was more concerned about soapy residue than actual coloring.

Here's the sock holding garlic and gloves inside and holding the dill and parsley together.

And the colored chicken. Maybe you can't tell that much, but it is black. See how it kind of looks like maybe the liver or something? Lesson learned. Next time use a white sock.

Halloweeny T-shirt Dresses

The girls were having some difficulty getting along. They didn't want to take pictures together. So I threatened not to take them inside the American Girl doll store to window shop.




The t-shirts are from Target. Naiobi had a FIT at home because her dress was not like her sisters and I made a dress for the wrong doll! Little Witch!!! She said she was NOT going to have a good time! Omari, Omari is just a sweet girl, happy with anything. That's why her t-shirt says Sweet.



I wasn't able to get a shot of Naiobi's shirt, but it says Wickedly Cute. She is.

Here she is in her sister's dress.


And this little thing was made for a little munchkin born just last week. Just for reference, this is a doll clothes hanger. I actually made it last month, before my kids came home from Berkeley. I shipped it off and it got returned recently. Wrong zip code. The little family is home from the hospital and will have a little gift in the mail on Monday. The momma also got a Hooter Hider and the poppa got some books to read to the baby.

Little bits

It's been a while hasn't it? I was scared about readjusting to having children again, but it's mostly gone smoothly. You do what you have to right? My baby turned 5 last week and we went to Disneyland.

We had a blast. Here she is trying a princess crown.


I've been fortunate in that I have "easy" children. But I must say that going to an amusement park without worrying about diaper changes, feeding, or peepee accidents just makes the experience wa more pleasurable.

I did sew something last month and I'll show you in an upcoming Halloween post. Last night I whipped up some Burrito Cozies.


I typically wrap the burritos in foil then wrap a potholder around and secure it with an elastic. These are cut at 8.5 x 8.5, two fashion fabrics and 1 of that insulated lining (can't remember what it's called right now). I sewed the outer and the lining together then turned it inside out. Sewed the lining right sides together and then slipped into the other piece. Then bound with Double Fold Bias Tape. Easy. This is their Friday lung. It's only lukewarm at lunchtime but they don't mind.


-- Posted from my iPhone

A cute apron and pondering Facebook

-- Post From My iPhone

I made this up yesterday for a friend who was having a housewarming party. I ended up not going because I was tired and had another event to go to that evening. Cute, yes? Hope she likes it. I overheard her saying she liked brown, not sure about the pink though. I used this pattern and all I did was shorten it by 2 inches.




Facebook has been a very fun social network, connecting me to people I had not known about in 20+ years. It's interesting to see how people turned out. There's a boy I dated briefly when I was 16 that I had pegged as a total playa. He seemed to be a road to nowhere but he seems to be quite a nice, balanced man. His Facebook friends all seem to have very high regard for him. He's a probation officer. A junior high friend was sorta a nerdy, skater boy (oxymoron?). And now he's all into guns and cars. He has a government job.

So, what I'm pondering is this: Do I remain Facebook friends with my ex? We don't chit chat anymore. All contact is as needed only. We always prided ourselves in the fact that we never argued. But I've had so many verbally aggressive fights with him in my head over the years that I'm surprised I'm sane. What we shouldn't be so proud of is the fact that we didn't communicate period.

Our Facebook friendship is something I've wondered about in the past couple of months. He posts pictures of him with the chick and for some reason, it irritates the hell out of me and that irritation in itself pisses me off. Why does it even matter?? Why do I even care?? And he comments on her pictures and it's obvious he's head over heels. He's met her family and hangs out with her nieces and all that gets my goat. WHY? And why do I torture myself by looking? And again, why do i care? I think my curiosity gets the better of me. I've sorta pieced together that relationship. He told me they'd met in January. But the pictures he posted today were from January first. I don't know when, how or where he met her. But she starts showing up on the phone bill in October, when we were pondering our future together but before we had decided to call it quits. That was a shock when I discovered that. So much so that I got a call from a good friend just as I was looking over the bill why my jaw on the floor and could I not even answer verbally. Some guttural sounded came out of my throat and friend went into panic and I still couldn't talk. I just started crying. Ugh! You think you know someone. But I digress.

I hadn't dropped him because I'm a curious girl and wanted to know his business. But I think I'm done. My irritation with his posts is just too much. He just irritates me I guess. Do I tell him I'm unfriending him or just unfriend him? I suppose that means I unfriend his friends too. They're all on a list together where they can't see my business anyway.

Breaking up is hard to do. In 8 more days I can ask for a judgement on the divorce if he doesn't file a response.

A Month of Freedom

I feel like I've been gone from here for a while. So much is going on in my life right now. I have not been all that crafty and don't really feel like it. My girls are still with my sister for 3 more weeks. This month really feels like I am on vacation. I have been going out a lot, enjoying drinks (responsibly) and dinner with my girlfriends, hanging pool side with no worries of children drowning or slipping and cracking their heads open. I enjoy my drive home, unrushed. I love walking into my home, knowing exactly what will be waiting for me. I even went dancing recently. I'm having a really good time. I started a boot camp at 6am, 3 days a week and am seeing results. I've lost 6 pounds in 2 weeks so far. It motivates me to keep going.

I finally filed for divorce and am counting down to the 31st day so I can go fill out more forms and get a judgement. I finally realized, or admitted, that I am really angry, bitter and resentful towards my ex and that I can not keep pretending to be his friend. I seriously thought and bragged, that he and I would be like Bruce & Demi. So I told him that I would remain civil but I could not be his friend. Both of those things were liberating. I feel lighter. Not only that, this past weekend I took out everything of his that still remained in my house. It's all boxed and bagged in the little room under the stairs. Outside.

I think I still held on to the hope that he would step up. But I've resolved and accepted that I can't count on him. I don't know why I had that little hope, if counting on him wasn't even possible when we were together. I am coming to accept that I am the only one that I can rely on, and starting to plan my life accordingly. I am thankful for my sister and her availability and willingness to keep my kids. I really needed this respite. I think I love my kids more now that I can let go of all the negative feelings I had. Any book suggestions on freeing one's soul would be appreciated.

I go to work and enjoy it. The new job coincided with my separation. It's been good for me. I like being involved directly with families again and I love the people in my unit. They are a fun, funny and loving bunch. I also started telecommuting on Tuesdays. No coincidence that I'm blogging today. I have the rest of the month planned out: a trip to New Mexico, housewarming parties, birthday parties, dancing, and going to try and see a comedy show at the beginning of September. Hope whomever is reading is also enjoying their summer. Oh, I never did figure out the boob issue with the swim top. Boning did not make one lick of difference. I did find out that I need to make it a teeny bit smaller or use less elastic at the top edge of the top and the bottom. Ask me how I know. LOL

Childless and Boob issues

So I'm computerless again. Same problem with the logic board. I'm childless this summer. Three weeks ago I spent a week up on Berkeley with my sister and left the girls. They stayed for a week, came down for a week and now they're back in Berkeley. There's lots of potential in a childless summer. Will tell you more later. So I'm working on this Kwik Sew 3608 swimsuit.
This is my muslin. Going well but I don't like how it makes my boobs look.

I'd written in all the bubbles before I found this application for the phone called Blogpress. I think I'm going to like it. Only draw back is apparently you can't move the pictures around. So their not in the sequence I would have liked.



This is the side view that really shows the sag/droop/side flop Do you think using those bra liner cups would help? I don't think making the shelf bra in a smaller size would help. This is a medium at the top tapering out to large.



-- Post From My iPhone

Sew, what do you think?