29 December 2011

Hunger Games- my thoughts

So now that I have a Kindle, I have been reading books in record time. Finished the Hunger Games books.

I thought they were entertaining, but, as usual, overrated. Especially the last book.

I think the thing that bugged me the most is how... whiny... the main character is. She's not a very strong female character. I kept waiting for her to man up, stop feeling sorry for herself, and kick some ass. She was pretty much forced to kick any of the ass she did kick, with people coddling her the whole way.
The way she keeps blaming all the deaths on herself... it's a freaking revolution, bitch. People die in revolutions. It was going to happen eventually anyway. They are not all directly related to you. So stop being such a weenie whiner and start being a leader.

And then I got to thinking, maybe that's what the writer wanted- to portray the other side of this type of character. To shed light on how hard it is so be in that kind of situation and still care about and worry about your loved ones, and how a support system is crucial.

But anyway, the books were entertaining and, apparently, thought-provoking.

24 December 2011

be nice to people

So this is Christmas... Eve. When did this sneak up on us?

Things are new this year. We're starting new traditions. I have to work tomorrow, and so does my brother in law. Instead of waking up hungover at the ass-crack of dawn and tearing through presents with one hand and sipping spiked coffee with the other, we are waiting until the evening to have a nice dinner and open gifts. How very adult-ful of us.

It's a little sad that this is the first year we have to break tradition. But, it was bound to happen eventually, with all of us growing up and moving away and whatnot.

Instead of feeling the Christmas cheer, or even greed, I find myself a little detached- standing back from it all and just feeling incredibly grateful. I'm surrounded by an un-falteringly wonderful family, an amazing fiancee who returned from a war zone unharmed and ready to marry the shit out of me, understanding friends, supportive coworkers...

There are plenty of shithead people in this world, but there are also a ton of incredible people. It feels like I'm surrounded by all of them.

And I feel like I don't deserve it.

I'm not an especially kind person. I used to be, before the stresses of the world made me crabby and tired, and, overall, I slowly started caring a lot less about people. I used to be the girl that was always smiling, always had energy, always went out of my way to help or listen, always ready to give, always had a way to brighten someone's day.

Now, I'm the one who's flicking you off when you're driving too slow, scowling when you've held up the line at the grocery store, blowing you off when you need a hand. Holy crap, when did I become such a bitch? What happened to the kindness of stangers?? When and why did I become this person?

I was browsing pinterest the other day and caught this: 


The pinner had placed it next to her door so she'd see it on her way out every day, as kind of a daily motivation.

And I thought of how I'd change things if I had that near my door. I certainly work hard, but I'm not especially nice to people. I've noticed the harder I work, the less nice I am to people. And I also decided that there's no reason I can't work hard and also be nice to people. It's just got to become a habit again.

Maybe it's time to re-learn how to be one of those incredible people that I'm surrounded by.

22 December 2011

sickly

Do I know my body, or do I know by body? I knew I was going to get sick.

I woke up this morning about 30 minutes before my alarm went off, in a state of fever-induced shivering. Still, I forced myself out of bed and figured that I might feel better once I got to work and started moving around.

Nope. Awful decision. I spent the most miserable hour and a half of my life at work before my boss got Andrea to come in- on her day off. I felt so bad making her come in. But I haven't been this sick in a long, long time.

When I got home I took my temperature (103) and fell into bed. I woke up a few hours later and took some medicine, and I could literally feel the heat leaving my body as the fever slowly went down.

I'm feeling ridiculously better now that it's under 100, and I'm not sure if it's run its course or if the medicine is just still working. I still can't shake this headache though.

I figure it's just a random bug that I happened to catch. Hopefully it's a 24-hour thing, because no one wants to be sick around Christmas.

21 December 2011

hey ya

Christmas party at work today. I may bitch about my job, but at the end of the day I've got some amazing coworkers and a kickass boss.

I feel like I'm definitely going to get sick. That achey, tired, slightly headachey feeling that comes the day before you get a massive cold or flu. Drinking tons of fluids and plopping some airborne into my drinks, lots of vitamin C. I don't want to get sick!

Reading the second Hunger Games book on my new Kindle. I love that thing. One-handed reading and page-turning. Diggin' it.

Still smitten every time I get a glimpse of my ring. Reaching for something, making a turn in the car, putting it back on after a day in the lab. I'll just notice the sparkle when I'm doing everyday things.
It's not only that it's absolutely stinkin' gorgeous, and sparkly and so damn perfect, it's the thought behind it, the idea that it represents. Still takes a few seconds to sink in. Gah, I'm so happy. I'm so lucky to be so happy.

Anyway, enough shmoop.

I just overheard my mom talking to my sister: "This year is going to be epic. People are going to be going apeshit over this 2012 thing. I can't wait to see all the crazy people!"

19 December 2011

here & there

You know it's time to shave your legs when your boyfriend  fiancee gets a good look at them and says, "Good Lord, woman!" To my credit, this is the first time he's noticed and I haven't shaved them in several months.

Like most of us, I've been trying to get my Christmas shopping done. I've still got a few stragglers, mostly because I have no idea what to get a few people. I usually don't have this much trouble trying to find gifts.

Nothing much else new. Only been working 3 days a week so there are no crazy work stories. Been spending as much time as I can with Chris and it's so nice. This morning I woke up sandwiched between him and Pumpkin and feeling quite content. I could get used to that.

Meh, have to get up for work tomorrow. Meh.

12 December 2011

oh, happy day.

This weekend was fantastic.

Chris came home a day early and surprised me. I came home from work Thursday and when I opened the door, I saw a camouflage backpack on the floor and some boots. And just like that, he was home.

We planned a trip to San Antonio just to get away and take a mini-vacation. So we spent some time on the riverwalk and had a fun, relaxing weekend. It was like he never went away; again, he just fit right back in where he was supposed to.

And, also, because it's late and all of the details aren't that important anyway...

Someone got engaged this weekend!

Completely caught me off guard, wasn't expecting it. Absolutely thrilled.
I adore that man, for so many reasons.

Requisite picture of the bling:

click to enlarge-- do it!

The picture does not do it justice. It's absolutely gorgeous. I love it, it's perfect. I never want to take it off. It sparkles like a holiday. Holy crap, I'm engaged. I love it.

My family's reactions were awesome. Amazing. Champagne on the back porch on a Sunday night- that's how we roll.

I just... no words are happy enough to describe this.

05 December 2011

yeah babay

Today I ran. My goal was 6 1/2 minutes. It's in the 50's, nice and cold, so I learned from past experience and put on chapstick beforehand, covered up my ears, and stuck a couple of tissues up my jacket sleeve.

I warmed up with brisk walking to a peppy song. Then I started to jog.

At first, it wasn't bad. Then at about 3 minutes I felt like I wanted to die. I was tired, I was chilly, my muscles were stiff, it was hard to breathe, every part of me was yelling- no it was more like whining- stopppp. There was no way I'd make it to 6.5 minutes. But I kept going. This feeling continued up until about 5:45, when I started to feel less like I wanted to die and my body got warmed up and started running on autopilot.

Then as I hit 6 minutes, I knew I'd be able to make my goal. Then I hit my goal, and didn't immediately feel like I needed to stop. So I kept going, feeling good. I'd zone out and check the time every 30 seconds or so, assessing how I felt and deciding if I wanted to stop or not. At about 8 and a half minutes, I really, really wanted to stop. But I figured I went this far so I kept it up until I had ran an even 9 minutes. Then I slowed to a brisk walk, and felt like I wanted to barf. But I didn't. I breathed instead.

And I felt proud that I had run that long.

DIY Safety Cat Collar- Tutorial

Remember the incident where I swore I'd only put safety collars on Pumpkin from now on?

Well, it's become a pain in my ass. She loses her collar at least once a week. Sometimes, they only stay on for a day. It's getting to be expensive and it's annoying to run to Walmart all the time. And in the meantime she's running around all free and naked like a wild cat.

So, I decided to make my own. It's super easy and way cheaper.

You just need fabric scraps and heavy duty velcro. You can use the non-adhesive kind, which I plan to eventually do, but I found some adhesive stuff stashed away in a junk drawer. It sticks surprisingly well to fabric and releases with about as much force as the regular safety collars.

Step-by-step: (click to enlarge)


1. Grab a piece of fabric that will fit around your cat's neck, with enough room to put two fingers under the collar. I found 9 inches long and 2 inches wide fit nicely.

2. Fold your fabric hot-dog style and iron a crease in the middle.

3. Unfold the fabric and fold one side of the fabric towards the middle.

4. Iron a crease.

5. Repeat with the other side, with both sides meeting in the middle.

6. Fold along the middle crease so that the raw edges are completely inside the hot dog bun.

Sew along the edge of the strip. Do the best you can with such a thin strip. Your cat won't care if its not perfect.

 

You will end up with your collar. If you'd like, fold down the ends and sew so they won't fray. I'm not bothering, because I know she'll lose them soon anyway.


Attach your velcro, cutting it to fit if needed. Just sew around the edges if you don't have the adhesive kind.


The finished product:


I tried to get a picture of her wearing it, but she was more interested in playing with the camera strap than modeling her new collar.




I made about 10 of these in less time than it took to write up this post. And, if she loses them quickly, I'll have another one waiting to be put on. I win, cat!

P.S. For identification, I print out my phone number using a label maker and loop it around the collar. No sense in spending money on tags that will just be lost. I'm sure there are quite a few collars with my phone number strewn about the area.

04 December 2011

descriptive

I don't believe I've ever told you about the time that we got a really unique order for a culture.

It was pretty early in the morning and I was on autopilot, entering lab orders into the system. A phlebotomist came in to drop off some specimens, and stopped to show me an order.

I looked at it and did a double take. It was an order for a culture, and they have to fill in the source. The nurse had written, "Pussy Discharge."

Oh, my.

We sat there for a minute, amused and a little shocked. Usually they write "genital" or "vaginal," but this nurse apparently decided to use a different word. Then I looked at the patient's information, and noticed that it was from a male patient. Hrm.

Now, I have seen a few transgender/ transsexual/cross dressing patients, but they are usually biologically male. Thinking that there may have been a mix-up with the paperwork and/or specimen, I checked the actual swab. Sure enough, the name matched the paperwork, but the source was specified as something like a right elbow wound.

Then it occurred to me. PUS. Infection. Pus-like. Oh my gosh, this nurse meant to describe the pus from a perfectly respectable wound site, but instead wrote something much more vulgar. Hilarity. I wonder if she ever had any clue or just hurriedly filled out the paperwork. Regardless, we had quite the laugh.

Just another day at work.

03 December 2011

fight for red & white

Oh my gosh.
I hurt everywhere.

Just as I was winding down for the night, my mom bursts in saying the neighbors are having a garage sale and they have a nice dresser. Just yesterday the most frequently used drawer in the old hand-me-down I'm currently using broke and I started looking for a new one.

So I crossed the street, and handed over $100 for a very nice dresser, two matching night stands and a mirror, and a really cute kitchen table with chairs. STEAL. Then of course there was a flurry of moving everything in & out and switching things around. I could barely keep my eyes open towards the end of it.

I figured I'd be a little sore but damn. Even my boobs are sore. Although I'm not sure that has much to do with the insane amount of cleaning/moving I did yesterday; it just rounds out the whole-body aching-ness.

Today, my coogs are going to kick some ass. Akhtar took it upon himself to purchase a ticket for me, and it couldn't have been a better idea.


Every time I get ready to go to a game, I can't help but reminisce about alllll the crazy fun I had at these things when I was a student. Those were some of the best times of my life.

02 December 2011

hey heyy heyyy

I love sticking my nose into Pumpkin's fur when she comes in from outside. It smells so fresh and cozy.

Today I cleaned. And when I say cleaned, I mean cleaned. I scraped unidentifiable scum from behind my stovetop. I found things I thought I'd lost. I found dead bugs. I made my vacuum cleaner quit working because it got overheated. I dusted. I scrubbed. I bleached. I swept. I mopped. I laundered. I freaking cleaned. And apparently I haven't done it in a long time because shit was nasty.

Then I shopped. I bought Christmas gifts. I got retail buzzed. I just might go back out and get some more shopping done.

Or, wine and some Will & Grace while I organize my closet/ pack away some summer stuff and pull out some winter stuff.

Good day.

Fabric framed mirror

Just wanted to share a quick little project that made a huge difference...

I had an old framed mirror hanging in my bathroom. It was a cheap plastic frame that had been dropped and cracked and glued together... very unattractive.

So today I finally decided to do something about it.

The easiest way to make it pretty and cover up the crack was to cover it with fabric.

Before:


First I pried the mirror off of the back. It was just glued on so it wasn't hard.

Then I cut strips of fabric that were wide enough to go around the frame.

I used hot glue to attach the fabric. Important: Glue the fabric coming from around the outside edge of the frame before gluing the fabric from the inside. If you do it the opposite way, you'll be able to see the edge of the fabric reflected in the mirror. Also, make sure the edges of the fabric are glued in the middle of the frame so no frayed edges will poke out on either side.


First glue the short sides completely, trimming any excess. Then glue the long sides, but leave the fabric long so you have enough to cover the corners.


Once you've got your sides glued, form the corners like this:

They will end up looking tidy:


And the finished product:


Glue the mirror back on to the back side, making sure it's secure. Then hang it up and admire how un-ghetto it looks.

After:


It really makes a huge difference in that corner of the bathroom- it's lighter and looks more put-together and infinitely less crappy.

01 December 2011

IUD Adventures

Continue reading at your own risk if you're afraid of periods and uterus talk and all that jazz.
When I was doing research about this, I would have loved to come across someone talking frankly about what really happens- rather than the product websites and message boards which spout gloom and doom and side effects and problems. So this is how it really went.


My uterus is now practically an impenetrable fortress.

That's right, I'm walking around with a flexible t-shaped piece of hormone-coated plastic inside my uterus. Baller.

But let's break it down a little.

The doctor instructed me to come in for the procedure during my period, for two reasons:
1. He wanted to be sure I wasn't pregnant, and also so it would be effective right away.
2. The cervix is a little more dilated when you're menstruating.

When I went in to the doctor's office, I peed in a cup and they made sure I wasn't pregnant, then I got undressed from the waist down and sat there with a paper cloth over my lap on the examination table, eyeing the rather long box on the counter.

Now, I swear this always happens to me. I never, ever go to the gynecologist without ending up with a student observing. Do I just happen to always choose the teaching facilities? But anyway, he said that there were 3 students who had never seen and IUD insertion before and would I mind if they came in? Nah, send 'em in. Let's have a party where we all stare at my vagina.

They were actually 3 really nice girls, coming in and introducing themselves and shaking my hand. While I was naked from the waist down. Surprisingly not awkward.

The insertion procedure was like a really intense pap smear. You get up in the stirrups and scoot your butt down to the end of the table (Does anyone else feel really strange scooting your nether regions towards the gyno's face? I always feel strange doing that).

Then, I tried to watch him take it out of the box but the girls were blocking my view. It's got this device that has a long tube, and I'm assuming the IUD is at the end of the tube. The handle of the tube has a switch, much like you use to slide a flash drive out of the stick. They stick the tube up past your cervix and with the flick of the switch, deposit the IUD into the uterus. Then you're all done. Yeah, easier said than done.

Since I have not had children, my cervix needed to be dilated a bit. I was thinking, "Whoa, is he going to give me drugs?" No. It's just a fancy way of saying that they're going to stick this long metal thing up there and mechanically open the cervix. Fun.

At that point I had three girls intently staring between my legs while the doctor did his thing, and I was trying not to be a wuss, but I did give an "ow" and try to find something to grab on to- which ended up being the side of the examination table. The procedure took about 3 minutes and was only about 30 seconds of pain, but imagine a really sudden, really intense cramp. The kind that makes you hold your breath. Then, it was over.

I got dressed and they gave me some meds for pain, which I didn't end up needing. Then I went grocery shopping.

I had pretty significant cramping on & off for a few weeks, and very light spotting the first day, but that was it.

The other night I was talking with my aunt, who is the one who originally suggested the IUD, and we got to comparing birth control methods. I don't know why I didn't do this sooner. It's kind of a no-brainer for me.

First, consider the cost.

The Mirena cost $45 for the actual IUD, and $115 to insert it at the doctor's office. Total of $160.
The Pill, with my current insurance, costs $45 a month.
The Mirena is good for 5 years. So over the course of 5 years...

Mirena- $160
Pill- $2,700

Yowza.

With the Mirena, your periods gradually become lighter and they usually stop altogether. You don't have to take a daily pill or change a monthly patch or go in for a quarterly shot. It's also one of the most effective methods of birth control. Also, most of the hormones stay inside the uterus- only a small amount gets into the bloodstream. Basically the only thing you do is stick your fingers up there once a month and try to find the short strings that tell you that it's still in place. (To date, I have not been able to locate mine.)

Not to say that there aren't potential side effects and problems, including problems with pregnancy, embedment to the uterine wall, perforation of the uterus, and infections. I mean, that's to be expected when you put a foreign material inside your uterus.

However, cost-wise and practicality-wise, I'm very glad I decided to try this.

One last thing- the doctor mentioned that my partner might be able to feel the strings at first, because they're kind of coarse but soften over time. He told me, "But don't tell him that, because then he'll feel it for sure. If you don't mention it, he probably won't even notice. You know how guys are- don't give him a reason to complain."

I had to laugh. I get to test it out in about a week, so we'll see.

**Update**

After having the IUD for about a month and a half, here's some thoughts:

I had pretty significant cramping for about a month, and when I got my first period, it started on time and lasted about 2 weeks. Mostly light spotting, a couple days of light bleeding, and more spotting. The spotting lasted forever and was kind of annoying, but the cramps eventually went away.

The fiance could feel it- he described it as "scraping" which made me cringe, but he said it wasn't that bad.

Other than that, I'm hardly ever aware of it and have had no other side effects. I still have not been able to feel the strings myself.

**Update**
See the conclusion of this adventure here

24 November 2011

Thankful.

First and foremost, I was woken up this morning at about 6:00. I assumed it was work, but when I looked at my phone, I saw something I haven't seen for 7 months- Chris's name on the screen.
Safely back on US soil. Oh, thank you, thank you God.  He sounded good. Huge weight lifted off my shoulders.

(Pictures of their homecoming)- I couldn't find Chris in there, but I did borrow this one:


Can you think of a better way to get off the plane- greeted with a cold beer? I am so damn proud of him.

To continue the thankful trend...

Thankful for my amazing family. Not all families are like mine- and I am thankful for each and every one of them.

Friends- the family you get to choose. Again, I know some pretty damn wonderful people.

Thankful I have a job, even when it gets stressful. Thankful for the kickass coworkers that help me get through the tough days. Thankful for the regular paycheck and the roof over my head, the food in my fridge, the car in my driveway.

Too many things I take for granted on a daily basis. I am truly blessed.

23 November 2011

surprise!!

Just... wow.

I have literally postponed writing this, trying to find the words with which to capture the sheer awesomeness. But... I just can't. Also, I've been waiting for some pictures.

I have to say, yet again, that I am incredibly lucky to know such amazing people.

Let me explain the reasons for all of this gushing-ness.

I've always wanted one, and have jokingly talked about who is going to throw me one for years, but this weekend I got a surprise birthday party!!

I love surprises, but it is very hard to surprise me. Once I find out something's going on, I can't stand it. I have to know what's going on. Especially if it's behind my back. I can usually read people and tell that they're hiding something. Or I over-analyze and think they're on to something when they're not. ... Or ARE they?? I am very impressed that they managed to surprise my paranoid, sneaky self.

But they did it, oh, so freaking good. I was shocked. Stunned. Never in a million years would I have guessed that I was walking into a surprise party. My friends are goood.

They planned for months, thought of every last detail, and panicked because they thought I had caught on. They had plan B, plan D, plan F to make sure I got there. They had secret meetings and mass emails. They almost accidentally talked about it in front of me several times. And they freaking pulled it off!!

I never had a clue!

The entire party was gluten free- sandwiches from Jason's deli, cheese balls, fruit trays, organic wine, some amazing spicy mac & cheese (Jen, I need that recipe!), brownies, I mean everything. Akhtar even baked a gluten free cake that was better than the last one. I should have grabbed a piece to take home!


There were pink and polka dot streamers and balloons



 A banner that everyone signed


Party hats, an owl pinata filled with little bottles of liquor (GENIUS!)


 A jumbo-sized Jenga game, a little booty-shakin', and a really good time.


And, AND, they all pitched in to buy me...


a new tv.
A freaking TV!
OMG THEY GOT ME A TV. A really good one.

Not to say that my old tv wasn't super awesome...


 but this is clearly a vastly superior tv.


The party was amazing, but by far I'm most touched by the amount of thought and effort everyone put into it.

I just...  no words. These people are amazing. (Plus Akhtar, who isn't pictured because he took all the pictures!)


And to be a good sport, here's a video of the surprise:


22 November 2011

20 fo sho

Happy birthday Suzy Bear!! You are an amazing person and you are so loved.

 (diggin how they're creeping in the background lol)

19 November 2011

dress

Yesterday I did a little shopping and came home with this dress. And I paid 50 bucks for it.

I didn't go shopping for a dress. I tried it on on a whim. I generally don't even try on clothing that is mainly polyester- I like my fabric to breathe. But, I figured what the heck.

And it looked awesome on me. So it came home, non-breathable fabric and all.

Now I need somewhere to wear it. I don't want it to be one of those dresses that looks amazing and sits in my closet for 3 years before I ever wear it.

18 November 2011

dream weaver

I'm tired of having dreams about work.

I fell asleep wrapped up in an extremely cozy cocoon with my feather comforter and the cat.

Then I had horribly stressful dreams. I dreamed that we took on a ton of new homes and we had phlebotomist after phlebotomist coming in the lab to drop off rack after rack of blood. They were literally crowding around the centrifuge and piling their racks of tubes on top of each other all around the lab, wherever they can find the space. I can quickly see that there's no way that we will get all of it done in a day's time. Visions of overtime and working terribly long shifts and exhaustion dance in front of my eyes.

And the whole time they're untrained, and asking me questions and loading the centrifuge wrong so it's making a bunch of noise and wobbling all over the place. So I grab the phlebotomy manager, who in real life is kind of a smartass but overall a nice guy, and ask him to help me out with training the phlebotomists. And he just looks at me and tells me to deal with it and walks out.

Then the cat woke me up and forced me from my cocoon to be let outside. Man, I can't wait for a cat door.

But seriously, I deal with enough stress at work. Why does it have to invade my dreams?

17 November 2011

butt

My dad can't stand it when my sisters or I wear pajama pants in public. I always figured it's because it looks sloppy, but recently he told me it's because, "boys can look at your butt."

...Oh.
Supposedly they can't do that when I wear regular pants?
And I'm sure boys aren't craning their necks to get a look at my fanny- pajama pants or not.

Funny how dads think.

16 November 2011

flashing lights

I have no clean spoons.

This will be a problem tomorrow morning when it gets to be cereal-eating time.

I was all set to do the dishes, when I happened to glance over here at Lappy and remembered I have a story. So dishes will wait, or possibly get postponed until tomorrow morning when I wash a single spoon for cereal-eating purposes. Or I'll use a plastic spoon. *shrug*

This morning I got pulled over.
That's right, at 4-o'freaking-clock in the morning.

I was turning out of my neighborhood, and I saw the cop sitting there at the intersection, one of those killer whales. I see them on this particular stretch of road a lot, especially early in the morning.

So I made sure to come to a complete stop before I turned right on red. I always glance in the rear view mirror when I pass a cop, and I saw him start driving. Fuck.
Still driving, looking in the rear view mirror, he got up right behind me. Fuck.
Lights come on. Fuck, man.
Racking my brain, I realize I did not use my blinker when I made the turn. Do people really get pulled over for that? Maybe I had a headlight out.

So I pulled into a parking lot and he comes to the window. I roll it down.
BAM flashlight all up in my face. I squint, "Good morning."

"I'm officer so-and-so. License and proof of financial responsibility, please."

As I reach for my wallet he asks where I work. I tell him, and he asks where that is. I tell him that, too. Making conversation? Or making sure I'm not a secret druggie/ serial killer/ arms dealer/ rapist disguised in a cute hair bow and scrubs and a pink sweater?

I hand him my license as he asks me if I know why I was pulled over. I tell him, "No I'm not sure why," as I start to reach towards the glovebox for my insurance card. Silently hoping that I remembered to throw the current one in there.

He tells me, "You didn't use your blinker when you turned," Blast. He keeps going, "and you turned into the left-hand lane."

Derr, what? I vaguely remember some obscure page in the driver's ed handbook that mentioned that rule about having to turn into the right-hand lane when making a right on red. Oops. I made a kind of exasperated, "I'm such a tard" noise like I knew about that rule all along and I can't believe I broke it, as I dug through my glove box... and finally pulled out the insurance card.

He doesn't even take it. He hands me back my license, says something I didn't really catch, and gets back in his car before I have a chance to say thank you in the direction of my open window.

Hm, okay. Must have had something much more important to do. My dad would say there was probably a sale on squishies at the Valero. He probably got radioed about something? Maybe a robbery or something exciting.

But, I was annoyed that I was pulled over at 4am when there's no one on the road to be a hazard to. He was just waiting there for someone to screw up. Like forgetting to use a blinker. I'm so damn dangerous. (In hindsight, how could I forget to use my blinker?? There was a cop RIGHT THERE! Geez.)

And also, don't waste either of our time if you're not going to ticket me, or give me a warning, or whatever. Not that I wanted a ticket, but why did he even bother?
Maybe I was going to get a ticket and I just got lucky. I wonder how much a ticket for that would cost?

Maybe he was just bored and curious about what type of person is driving around at 4am, not using their blinkers and turning into left-hand lanes.

In that case, I probably deserved it.

14 November 2011

the real reason for VS 5/$25

Dear not-really-my-period-but-light-spotting-signalling-my-period-will-soon-start,

Thank you for ruining a really cute pair of underwear.

-Jen.

I know you all feel me on this one. (Well, the girls anyway)

[and actually it's 7/$26 right now...]

13 November 2011

Braided Tshirt Scarf Tutorial

This weekend we made two different kinds of scarves from tshirts. The first is a Ruffly one. 

This is the second kind of scarf we made- using this pin as inspiration. There was no tutorial to be found, so we kind of made one up.

Braided Tshirt Scarf:

Lay your tshirt out and start cutting through both layers of fabric. Make the strips fairly thin- about an inch or so. You will end up with loops of fabric.


Once you have the loops (we ended up with 12), start stretching them. I had no idea they could stretch so much! We had some fun with that, haha.


 fun with stretching!

After they're stretched, cut through each loop- turning your loops into long strings.


Set aside 2 strings.

Have your friend hold one end of the remaining strings while the other braids, or anchor it under a piece of furniture. Separate strings into 3 equal-ish ections and braid about halfway down.

Take one of the strings that were set aside and tie it tightly with a double knot at the end of the braid. Wrap the rest of the string around tightly and double knot it. Trim and tuck in the ends.


The next part is a little tricky. We found it easier to sew all the strings together at the two ends, then sew the ends together.

Meaning:: we sewed all the strings at the top of the braid together, then we sewed all the ends of the loose strings together. I neglected to get a picture... hopefully it's not too confusing.

I sewed them on the machine, but hand-sewing would work too.

After we got all the crazy strings into more manageable bunches, we connected the two ends of the scarf. There will be a lot of bulk, but do your best. Trim as much extra string as possible.

It will end up something like this (again, with super awesome paint effects):



Take the other piece of string that was set aside and wrap it around the ugly sewn-together part so that it looks similar to the one securing the braid.


Finished product:








Not bad, eh?



Ruffled Tshirt Scarf Tutorial

It was a crafty weekend over here.

One of the projects we tackled was the making of scarves... from old tshirts!

We made two different kinds. 1. Ruffly and 2. Braided.

First, the ruffly one. Complete with super awesome paint effects that hopefully make it clearer.

Ruffly Tshirt Scarf:

Take your old tshirt and lay it out flat.


Cut off the bottom hem.


Cut straight up one of the sides, about 3 or 4 inches.
Then start cutting a strip across on the top layer only- not through both layers.






When you're cutting, cut at a slight upward angle instead of straight across. You're going to be cutting in a spiral up the tshirt- ending up with one big long strip. When you get to a side, just flip it over and continue cutting, maintaining a fairly constant thickness.


Once you've cut all the way up to the sleeves, there will be a part of the big long strip that was originally the bottom of your tshirt. Cut off the wonky part where you started the spiral so that you have a smooth edge.


You will end up with a long piece of fabric- and you want it as long as possible. Also, don't worry if your strip is not the same thickness all the way down- once you make the ruffles, you won't even be able to tell.

Next is the fun part. Make the ruffle by setting the sewing machine tension at its highest setting, and choose the longest stitch. Just feed the fabric through and sew right down the middle- and it will make a ruffle- no fancy feet needed. Also, don't backstitch.
We found that the combination of highest tension/ longest stitch created a ruffle that was too tight- so we pulled out the threads and tried it again at a slightly lower tension.

 very intense work, this ruffle-making is


Once you've got a ruffle that you like, set the tension and stitch length back to normal and sew back over your middle line, this time making sure to backstitch.

 

*While the ruffles are pretty stable at this point, they are still move-able if you tug.
To get a ruffle that will definitely stay put, you need to stabilize it with a piece of plain fabric down the middle, or make your ruffles using elastic. But that was too much fuss for our interests.

So there you have it; a ruffled scarf using an old tshirt.



12 November 2011

Pinteresty

I made something I pinned on Pinterest!

A lot of wonky sewing (that darn bias tape is tricky) and a little bit of blood (rogue pin), and now I have a "mug rug."



I eat at my computer a lot, and the spot in front of my laptop always gets a little grody. I'm also a little lazy at cleaning it regularly, so I definitely need a "cereal bowl rug." Overall, I'm happy with the result.

11 November 2011

feel-good

A few months ago my parents were drunk at a party watching a football game. At one point, my dad said to one of the children there, who was about 6 or 7, "If you go bet my wife that her team is going to lose, you could probably get a bike out of her."

At this point my mom was in her "Give away money and make bets" stage of drunken-ness, and her team was very far behind towards the end of the game. So the kid runs up to her, "Miss Roberta! I bet you a bike that your team is going to lose!" And, of course, my mother insisted that her team would win and the bet was on.

When her team ended up losing, this little kid was beside himself excited. Jumping up and down, "I get a bike! I get a bike!"

My mom didn't have time to hold up her end of the deal before they had to leave (they were several hours from home visiting friends and had to get back home for work), but promised the boy that she would get him a bike the next time they visited.

This past week they ended up back in town, and called up the boy's dad- who was a friend of a friend. He said that he'd been talking about that bike ever since he had won the bet. Can you imagine the torturous suspense?? A little background on this family: 3 little boys, one of whom belongs to the wife's niece who couldn't take care of him so they took him in. So money's a little tight.

Anyway, they took the boy and his two brothers to Walmart to buy them all bikes. The other boys didn't want bikes, and instead wanted toys like a remote control car and lego sets. But the original boy ran to the bikes and picked one out, in the super excited way that only a little boy picking out a bike could be.

My parents were just about as giddy as the kids- they were all glowing with huge smiles as they walked out of the store with their new toys.

10 November 2011

ketonuria

Been experiencing a little bit of discomfort lately, so today I ran my own urinalysis.

For Suzy:




Anyway, I was surprised to get a ketone result of 15 mg/dL.

And I really don't see a good reason for it.
I mean, I've recently taken up jogging, but it's definitely not prolonged or excessive.

Garr, something new to worry about. At least until my pee gets back to normal ;o)