Church starts in 20 minutes. We will probably be late.
The rant is because I just got a phone call asking me to help out in the nursery today.
The nursery.
Again.
You would think these people think I like children!
Why do I never get called to substitute for any other primary class?
Just the heathen nursery. I swear I am the only one they ever call. I don't know why.
Are they incapable of asking a dad of a kid to help out? Do all the other moms flat our refuse? Am I just gullible?
You know being almost 6 months pregnant I should get some breaks.
I hate being pissed off when I go to church. Especially since I will probably sweat even more than the typical pregnant woman thanks to running like a furnace. Boo on you nursery.
Lets hope I don't end up getting hormonal and crying. Being pissed off is easier to hide.
Sunday, September 13
Wednesday, September 9
Alice update post!
I haven't had a "mommy blog" post in a while, so here goes.
Alice is talking more. Thank goodness. We were afraid that she stopped saying words she had been in favor of dragging us to the desired object.
She now says yes.
Holy cow.
Accomplishment.
Seriously, we have heard no's of all volume and emphasis, but never anything in the affirmative for so long. The closest she would get would be delighted giggles or squeals.
And then it happened. She was dragging me into the kitchen for something to eat. I tried several options. Then I asked bagel? and pointed to the bag.
"Yeah!" giggle and squeal. To her a bagel with cream cheese is like a really fancy graham cracker with frosting. Lets just say, she would probably live on graham crackers and frosting if we let her.
Then tonight we were taking dinner to a family in our ward, and I realized there was a solitary chocolate chip cookie left over from scouts still in the car. I gave her a piece.
Then she wanted more. whine, whine, I am a toddler whine.
"Mom cookie."
She got the rest. What can I say, it was positive reinforcement. Of course, once it was gone she screamed until she passed out. Good times. Good times.
Alice is talking more. Thank goodness. We were afraid that she stopped saying words she had been in favor of dragging us to the desired object.
She now says yes.
Holy cow.
Accomplishment.
Seriously, we have heard no's of all volume and emphasis, but never anything in the affirmative for so long. The closest she would get would be delighted giggles or squeals.
And then it happened. She was dragging me into the kitchen for something to eat. I tried several options. Then I asked bagel? and pointed to the bag.
"Yeah!" giggle and squeal. To her a bagel with cream cheese is like a really fancy graham cracker with frosting. Lets just say, she would probably live on graham crackers and frosting if we let her.
Then tonight we were taking dinner to a family in our ward, and I realized there was a solitary chocolate chip cookie left over from scouts still in the car. I gave her a piece.
Then she wanted more. whine, whine, I am a toddler whine.
"Mom cookie."
She got the rest. What can I say, it was positive reinforcement. Of course, once it was gone she screamed until she passed out. Good times. Good times.
Tuesday, September 8
To do list (well sort of a work in project list)
1. Replace elastic in diapers. I don't know why Hancocks didn't have swimsuit elastic (or at least elastic labeled that way). I came home with some well priced elastic though, so I will just replace and call it good.
2. Cut out hooter hider. Yes I am making one. Its also called a nursing cover, but I like the name hooter hider. Call it my schlectness. (yes not a real word, but schlectness celebrates all things bad or at least taboo). Its sort of a trial run, but I think it will go well. Its all straight lines!
3. Finish priming the upstairs bathroom. I was up late last night (because sleep was not happening). I started it, but it was hot, and I probably didn't have enough ventilation, and I wasn't going to possibly wake Alice to steal her floor fan. It actually looks pretty good in the places where I primed. I admit surprise this morning. I really doubt any more will happen while I am alone with Alice though. I can just see her stepping in the primer and leaving footprints all over the carpet. and on me.
After that, we just need to mud coat, sand and prime again. It will look good, and we can put up the cupboard and towel racks that I have had for a while now (less than a year, most of summer and some spring). Yes, there is lots of motivation in our house. /end sarcasm
2. Cut out hooter hider. Yes I am making one. Its also called a nursing cover, but I like the name hooter hider. Call it my schlectness. (yes not a real word, but schlectness celebrates all things bad or at least taboo). Its sort of a trial run, but I think it will go well. Its all straight lines!
3. Finish priming the upstairs bathroom. I was up late last night (because sleep was not happening). I started it, but it was hot, and I probably didn't have enough ventilation, and I wasn't going to possibly wake Alice to steal her floor fan. It actually looks pretty good in the places where I primed. I admit surprise this morning. I really doubt any more will happen while I am alone with Alice though. I can just see her stepping in the primer and leaving footprints all over the carpet. and on me.
After that, we just need to mud coat, sand and prime again. It will look good, and we can put up the cupboard and towel racks that I have had for a while now (less than a year, most of summer and some spring). Yes, there is lots of motivation in our house. /end sarcasm
Saturday, September 5
My Sewing Skillz
I admit, my sewing skills are limited. In middle school we had 'technomics' class (which was really a less insulting way of saying Home Ec, though all the teachers were female, and very few males took the class). I took a couple of sewing modules, but they were fancy things like machine embroidery. It was pretty fancy for the early 90s at least. Most of my other things were with kitchen chemistry and cooking, which by the way I can do. Even without a recipe. If I see a recipe, or have a meal and get a basic idea of how its made, I can duplicate it.
But, back to sewing. Well, I can do hand sewing, and hand embroidery though I haven't done much of either since then, just small repairs like sewing a button back on.
Last week I started some sewing projects. You know, besides my "I can sew a straight line {mostly}" baby shower presents.
Project #1. Make maternity jeans out of an old pair of jeans and a stretchy T-shirt.
Trial #1. Using really old jeans that I never wear because they are the high waisted jeans of yesteryear.
Data and Conclusions:
1 seam ripper lost its life in this project. Ripping belt loops off of jeans is not the job of a small sewing kit seam ripper. Lets just say, I literally got the metal head part out of the plastic body. It was a surprise to say the least.
Old school high waisted jeans are not a good choice to turn into maternity jeans. They end up feeling really high, and they are just too tall to put a giant gut in. Lets just say jean material cutting into an area where I am aleady getting abuse from the inside. I wear the jeans when I am doing laundry or around the house. They will need a big strip of elastic sewn in before they are even close to comfortable.
Stretchy shirts must have a high lycra count, or you will, again, need the elastic sewn in. Note: I need to buy some 3 inch elastic for waistbands. Especially for the second pair of jeans that I have not finished yet, but are newer, they just had a broken zipper and zipper replacement is major UGH.
Project #2. Repair Alice's BumGenius diapers with (FREE!) repair kits from the manufacturer.
Trial 1: Major success!
Data and conclusions:
I did all the seam ripping first. I again, killed my (brand new, used only to finish the jeans and to start this project) seam ripper. I blame it on the cheapo WalMart brand seam ripper I bought. It was surprisingly large, but I figured that didn't matter. Aparrantly, I am really good at breaking seam rippers. Mad skillz!
I sewed on the velcro tabs. The top tension needs to be at 3 (on my machine) for the hook and loop tabs.
I sewed on the inner loop squares that the tabs attach to when they are washed. Tension needs to be really low, like below 2. The cheapo and for that matter really old walmart thread that I was using, kept breaking on this low setting. I had to switch to better thread, but that also meant I switched to colored thread. Its ok though, everyone needs a little shock of bright orange on the inside of thier velcro to keep things alive.
Trial 1 of diaper repairs: Complete!
I started a second and messed up, but to prevent stopping for seam ripping, I started the third. Then I ran over my finger with the sewing machine.
Not the needle. Just the big screw thingy that helps hold the pressure foot on. Took a bit of skin off. Had to get the first aid kit out. Stopped to blog. Figure I might as well get out the seam ripper to undo my mistake on diaper #2.
Need to do:
Buy 3" (or close to that thick) elastic for the jeans.
Buy swimsuit elastic (the diapers also could use some elastic repair around the legs and on the waistband).
Buy high quality white thread. Its amazing the assortment of colored threads I have, and I don't have any decent white or black thread. Its probably because I don't sew things with those colors really. I like matching thread, or at least colored thread.
So yeah my sewing skillz are so mad they lead to bleeding and lots of seam ripper action. It doesn't stop me from trying though. At some point I might even learn how to do decorative stitches (you know besides top stitching). And when I have more complete use of my right hand, I will maybe even take pictures. That and after I take some tums. Cookies for breakfasat are almost always a bad idea.
But, back to sewing. Well, I can do hand sewing, and hand embroidery though I haven't done much of either since then, just small repairs like sewing a button back on.
Last week I started some sewing projects. You know, besides my "I can sew a straight line {mostly}" baby shower presents.
Project #1. Make maternity jeans out of an old pair of jeans and a stretchy T-shirt.
Trial #1. Using really old jeans that I never wear because they are the high waisted jeans of yesteryear.
Data and Conclusions:
1 seam ripper lost its life in this project. Ripping belt loops off of jeans is not the job of a small sewing kit seam ripper. Lets just say, I literally got the metal head part out of the plastic body. It was a surprise to say the least.
Old school high waisted jeans are not a good choice to turn into maternity jeans. They end up feeling really high, and they are just too tall to put a giant gut in. Lets just say jean material cutting into an area where I am aleady getting abuse from the inside. I wear the jeans when I am doing laundry or around the house. They will need a big strip of elastic sewn in before they are even close to comfortable.
Stretchy shirts must have a high lycra count, or you will, again, need the elastic sewn in. Note: I need to buy some 3 inch elastic for waistbands. Especially for the second pair of jeans that I have not finished yet, but are newer, they just had a broken zipper and zipper replacement is major UGH.
Project #2. Repair Alice's BumGenius diapers with (FREE!) repair kits from the manufacturer.
Trial 1: Major success!
Data and conclusions:
I did all the seam ripping first. I again, killed my (brand new, used only to finish the jeans and to start this project) seam ripper. I blame it on the cheapo WalMart brand seam ripper I bought. It was surprisingly large, but I figured that didn't matter. Aparrantly, I am really good at breaking seam rippers. Mad skillz!
I sewed on the velcro tabs. The top tension needs to be at 3 (on my machine) for the hook and loop tabs.
I sewed on the inner loop squares that the tabs attach to when they are washed. Tension needs to be really low, like below 2. The cheapo and for that matter really old walmart thread that I was using, kept breaking on this low setting. I had to switch to better thread, but that also meant I switched to colored thread. Its ok though, everyone needs a little shock of bright orange on the inside of thier velcro to keep things alive.
Trial 1 of diaper repairs: Complete!
I started a second and messed up, but to prevent stopping for seam ripping, I started the third. Then I ran over my finger with the sewing machine.
Not the needle. Just the big screw thingy that helps hold the pressure foot on. Took a bit of skin off. Had to get the first aid kit out. Stopped to blog. Figure I might as well get out the seam ripper to undo my mistake on diaper #2.
Need to do:
Buy 3" (or close to that thick) elastic for the jeans.
Buy swimsuit elastic (the diapers also could use some elastic repair around the legs and on the waistband).
Buy high quality white thread. Its amazing the assortment of colored threads I have, and I don't have any decent white or black thread. Its probably because I don't sew things with those colors really. I like matching thread, or at least colored thread.
So yeah my sewing skillz are so mad they lead to bleeding and lots of seam ripper action. It doesn't stop me from trying though. At some point I might even learn how to do decorative stitches (you know besides top stitching). And when I have more complete use of my right hand, I will maybe even take pictures. That and after I take some tums. Cookies for breakfasat are almost always a bad idea.
Thursday, September 3
A Day of Cooking!
Holy Cow my kitchen (and dishwasher consequently) have been busy lately. Everything for LINK is taken care of. In fact, I don't have to even think about LINK until December! (Well, maybe November, but we don't serve again until December). Thank goodness. I have lots of other stuff to do.
I cooked my 'high protein' casserole this morning. It was a rotini casserole with buttloads {technical term!} of hamburger and additional Hamburger TVP added. I ate some. It was good, but much better with cheese. I sent it with cheese layered in the middle and on top. You can never go wrong with lots of cheese.
I have also diced 5 lbs of potatoes, an onion, celery, and baby carrots. Those are in the crockpot becoming potato soup
Last, but not least, I have the little 6 cup slow cooker (imitation crockpot) heating up stuff that will hopefully become some yummy tasting PB fondue. I will know more at a later date. You know, when it actually melts.
I am also going to try making a roasted tomato vinegrette dressing. If it turns out good, I will have a great solution for some of the millions of cherry tomatoes that are still coming off that poor blighted plant. How a plant can look so bad and still produce so much food is an emigma to me.
In a non cooking note, I have hewn some flowers for the centerpieces, and half of them are dropping petals like crazy. I hope we have enough. My phone totally died, so I can't contact anyone about back up flowers. Sad sad times.
I cooked my 'high protein' casserole this morning. It was a rotini casserole with buttloads {technical term!} of hamburger and additional Hamburger TVP added. I ate some. It was good, but much better with cheese. I sent it with cheese layered in the middle and on top. You can never go wrong with lots of cheese.
I have also diced 5 lbs of potatoes, an onion, celery, and baby carrots. Those are in the crockpot becoming potato soup
Last, but not least, I have the little 6 cup slow cooker (imitation crockpot) heating up stuff that will hopefully become some yummy tasting PB fondue. I will know more at a later date. You know, when it actually melts.
I am also going to try making a roasted tomato vinegrette dressing. If it turns out good, I will have a great solution for some of the millions of cherry tomatoes that are still coming off that poor blighted plant. How a plant can look so bad and still produce so much food is an emigma to me.
In a non cooking note, I have hewn some flowers for the centerpieces, and half of them are dropping petals like crazy. I hope we have enough. My phone totally died, so I can't contact anyone about back up flowers. Sad sad times.
Wednesday, September 2
Done list!
~Put cookies away from yesterday. (Yes, thats 3 dozen 'flops' and 2 dozen {for next week} cub scout cookies.)
~Moved the food storage under the side table in the dining room.
~ Vacuumed the dining room! Its been way too long.
~ Vacuumed the living room. Just ignore the 96 crayons and the mister potato head that are all over now. They weren't there 5 minutes ago.
~ Changed a poopy diaper. Ok, that wasn't exactly on the list, but whatever.
~ Started a cub scout worksheets notebook. The worksheets make it easier for me to get requirements done. Plus, if we still have the calling next year all the planning will be taken care of!
~ Got inspired for the food storage class on the 19th!
~ just realized the laptop is dead. OOps!
~Moved the food storage under the side table in the dining room.
~ Vacuumed the dining room! Its been way too long.
~ Vacuumed the living room. Just ignore the 96 crayons and the mister potato head that are all over now. They weren't there 5 minutes ago.
~ Changed a poopy diaper. Ok, that wasn't exactly on the list, but whatever.
~ Started a cub scout worksheets notebook. The worksheets make it easier for me to get requirements done. Plus, if we still have the calling next year all the planning will be taken care of!
~ Got inspired for the food storage class on the 19th!
~ just realized the laptop is dead. OOps!
Sunday, August 30
The disease has spread
Alice's disease ridde nose has passed on to the rest of the family. I haven't had so much of a runny nose, but other symptoms. We all passed out for at least an hour Saturday afternoon, and went to bed early. Only, I can't sleep because I am sick. Its sad.
I did take the time to look up H1N1 symptoms. Cause, its important to be prepared. Essentially a mild case of swine flu = a cold + fever over 100. More severe cases include GI symptoms.
Well, aside from the fever, I totally have swine flu. As does the chainsaw next to me, and the one down the hall. I caught myself sounding like a chainsaw earlier today and I wasn't even asleep!
So there you go. My life is now a world of Kleenex, TP, and sanitizer solution. Oh and spicy food. Cause it clears out the chainsaws from the nose.
The cause? Enrichment meeting Thursday. Everyone that went there, except one, is sick now. Alice had a bit of a runny nose then, but my guess from seeing another kid, we got it from her. Darn drippy noses in toddlers.
I think my pain killers (acetaminophen) has kicked in so I can sleep more comfortably now. Its too bad i drank all that water with the pills. I love my bathroom, even if it needs cleaned.
I did take the time to look up H1N1 symptoms. Cause, its important to be prepared. Essentially a mild case of swine flu = a cold + fever over 100. More severe cases include GI symptoms.
Well, aside from the fever, I totally have swine flu. As does the chainsaw next to me, and the one down the hall. I caught myself sounding like a chainsaw earlier today and I wasn't even asleep!
So there you go. My life is now a world of Kleenex, TP, and sanitizer solution. Oh and spicy food. Cause it clears out the chainsaws from the nose.
The cause? Enrichment meeting Thursday. Everyone that went there, except one, is sick now. Alice had a bit of a runny nose then, but my guess from seeing another kid, we got it from her. Darn drippy noses in toddlers.
I think my pain killers (acetaminophen) has kicked in so I can sleep more comfortably now. Its too bad i drank all that water with the pills. I love my bathroom, even if it needs cleaned.
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