Nov. 16th, 2009 @ 04:29 pm (no subject)
And the mood of the moment is: drained
Had my Friday off and used the opportunity to do some housework and *gasp* actually get some sewing done. I got the skirt assembled for my sister's dress. Now normally skirts are ridiculously quick, but this one was a bit more of a brat. The chiffon layer had to be turned, which can be a tricky proposition. To stabilize the edge I zigzagged the hem before I cut (following the middle stripe) and only the cut and turned the edge under. Worked pretty well and the fabric didn't shred.

The skirt is gignormous. I lined the chiffon with a turquoise cotton sateen, which shows through nicely. But that means the skirt has a whopping 9 yards of fabric. Nine yards! For a knee length skirt!

I made a wee bit of progress on the bodice but not much. Not too concerned as I just need to get to the mock up/fitting stage before Thanksgiving so I can do check the fit before I start messing with the chiffon layer. The construction is insanely simple (no sleeves even) but I want a good fit. I'll have to threaten her with death this time to BRING THE RIGHT BRA.

On Sunday I did a construction project with my Kiwanis club. We're (re) building a water feature a children's farm in town.
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Nov. 12th, 2009 @ 12:36 pm I have gone over to the dark side
And the mood of the moment is: bouncy
Well, I finally did it. I bought my first ipod. The ipod nano, in purple.

I listen to the radio at work, for a good chunk of the day. I got really sick of being teithered to the computer if I wanted to listen. So I decided it was time to take the plunge.

I keep thinking I'm still tethered. And have decided against ever walking around at the office with the ear phones in, even to get coffee. Don't want to appear disconnected.

And I still hate ear buds. They suck. For a company with such a "design" aesthetic this one size fits all approach really is weird. They fall out and hurt. Way to go Apple!
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Nov. 11th, 2009 @ 11:52 am busy girl
I'm cleaning the front bedroom today (aka hubby's study) finally getting the sheets on the bed. Javi had piled up so much crap on the bed it too longer to sort it out than to make the bed.

I love my boy, but I really wish I could get him to be a little more mindful. Most of the crap was old magazines, to-do lists and receipts. Drives me nuts. Why should I have to clean up after him when he's the one who trashes the guest room?

I've overcome my habit of leaving that stuff around (thanks to Flylady) but I just can't get him interested in the techniques. Gaaa.

Am I just being the ferverent convert or is it a legitimat critisim?

Also, why doesn't lj moble have a spell checker?


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Nov. 8th, 2009 @ 11:56 am Ugh Yet lucky
And the mood of the moment is: tired but perky
So I mentioned here last Thurs that I felt "pre-sick.". Yep. Got that one right.

I called in sick on Friday and spent most the day resting and sleeping. It was a cold (not the flu as I feared; no fever) and my worst symptom was pressure in my chest and a slight cough. More than that I was wiped out.

By giving myself two days I'm doing better today. Very happy for it.

As far as flylady progress my weekend was shot. The big chunk of my weekend was to be yardwork, and heavy lift stuff at that. So I've settled for housework and laundry.

It never ceases to amaze me how 15 minutes on one room makes a difference. Even after trashing while sick the tast couple days it now looks clean.

My list for today:
- De-clutter living room. Done!
- De-clutter dining room
- Make up front room bed
- Wash towels and any other laundry
- Strip our bed and wash sheets


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Nov. 5th, 2009 @ 09:05 pm zonk
And the mood of the moment is: tired
That workout kicked my ass.

I didn't even do that much either, just a half hour on the Wii. But now my feet are up and the cat is on my lap. Javi is not helping my productivity because he encouraging her to settle in.

Doesn't he have a midterm tomorrow?

Anyway, I hope I'm not getting sick. I've got that "pre-sick" feeling that sometimes plays out and sometimes doesn't.

So, left on my list tonight is to clean the bathroo sink.

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Nov. 4th, 2009 @ 10:16 pm Progress
Went to my Kiwanis meeting tonight after work so I didn't get home until 9. Loooong day.

I was a good girl and did my half hour of exercise. Not a vigerous set but I got my blood moving.

Of course my step for the day was to deal with the mail promptly, and there was only one measely piece of junk mail. Intead I dug though the pile Javi leaves me and got it sorted. Without a real computer to check agaist with the boy in class I couldn't mark them as paid. Progress is progrss though!

And I remembered to take out the garbage! Which I forgot to do last week.
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Nov. 4th, 2009 @ 05:02 pm Self Improvement
And the mood of the moment is: listless
I'd recommended Flylady to [info]jennilon LJ earlier today and checked out the website, the first time in a while. I still get the emails but I delete them without reading it.

I came across Flylady about two years ago. Her routines really helped me get my act together in certain areas of my life, such as putting my shoes away and putting my purse in the same spot every night. It *really* helped but after I got comfortable I fell out of practice and stopped improving.

So, I'm going to start up again. Instead of following her baby steps, I'm going to make up my own as I go along. As I know I can do her basics I need to focus on my trouble areas.

I'm going to start to reinvigorate my blog here too by documenting my progress (and any sewing, of course).

I've started exercising nightly again. I'll count that as step one.

Step 2: Get the mail, sort and deal with any bills daily.
Step 3: Wipe down bathroom sink daily.
Step 4: Take vitamins. Actually remember to do so more than once a week.
Step 5: Shower at night rather than in the morning. You shouldn't be skipping showers because that extra half hour sleep is more precious.
Step 6: Put all clothes away before you go to bed. Not just your slacks and collared shirts.
Step 7: Put together full to-do lists every weekend. Regardless if you "have it in your head"
Step 8: Do all laundry every weekend regardless if you need clean underwear or not.
Step 9: Do 15 minutes decluttering every night.
Step 10: Do 1 hour gardening every weekend.

All this should take me about 2 weeks to implement, if not more. I'm sure this list will grow as I pull things together.
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Nov. 2nd, 2009 @ 05:01 pm Driving
And the mood of the moment is: nervous
I'm taking a company car home tonight, vs my normal ferry ride. Normally no big deal.

I'm dreading that I'll be driving across the Bay Bridge (which re-opened only this morning) to get home. Part of me thinking, cool, easy commute because everyone took public transit this morning! and the other part of me is thinking Aaaaah! The bridge that falls down!

You'd think as an engineer I'd be a little more rational about such things.

I think it scares me all the more because I know the mechanics of how it failed. Of how squishy the science actually is for this type of failure. And what it means structurally for the bridge. Gulp.

They did just announce they may close the bridge down again in a few months for a more permanent repair. For a structure that will be replaced in 2013. That means that any patch type fix that is done won't hold because the spot damage is a major stress point/weak spot. Which is very scary.

Maybe the Golden Gate Bridge tonight? Until 2013?
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Oct. 27th, 2009 @ 08:16 pm AAAHHH!
And the mood of the moment is: shocked
The Bay Bridge is closed!!

Crap. This is going to mean a fun commute tomorrow morning.

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Oct. 26th, 2009 @ 09:05 am Halloween Party Pic
Javi and I hosted a Halloween party this weekend. I went as Anne Boylen, albeit dead. Javi was my excutioner, sword and all.

Here's a pic of me and my friend Lisa. I'd already disrobed a good chunk of my costume at that point, but you get the idea.

Random Stuff 001

It was a good party. The house looked great and the company was good.
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Oct. 5th, 2009 @ 08:58 pm (no subject)
No sewing this weekend, but got some brick laying done

Patio

This wee little patio took us about 2 months of interminttent work to get done. Javi did most of the heavy lifting, whacking down the bushes and clearing out the soil (you can see the soil line where the paint starts). The patio is level to the original line of the soil, having cleared out the dirt up against the house..

We dug out a french drain and core drilled into the retaining wall to add a water outlet. Getting the soil off the side of the house and adding the draining should stop the basement from flooding.

For the patio, all we've left is to rent a brick cutter and add the sand between the joint. The next step is to add a retaining wall where the rail road ties are now.

We've got a wall fountain waiting for its debut in this little spot.
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Oct. 2nd, 2009 @ 09:32 pm Hee hee!
And the mood of the moment is: Tipsy
Nothing like drunken rumblings from hubby. I know what my Christmas present is, and I approve!

All though I won't commit to not freaking out about the price tomorrow morning.
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Oct. 2nd, 2009 @ 08:23 pm (no subject)
And the mood of the moment is: thankful
Hubby just made me an amazing dinner.

I am so spoiled.

He is so wonderful to me.
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Sep. 21st, 2009 @ 01:02 pm (no subject)
And the mood of the moment is: mellow
Not all to much on the sewing front this weekend.

Got my wool cut for my slacks, and marked with tailor's tacks. (fyi tailor's tacks are the best way ever to mark a garment. No pen/chalk/soap marks, and it is visible from both sides)

I just *barely* had enough fabric to finish up. I had about 8" of fabric that was unusable for the pant legs due to slubs (the wool being a bargain find) but I managed to eek things out. Pants take up more fabric than you expect (when you are used to skirts that is).

I'm still so in love with this fabric. It is really really lovely quality wool.

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Sep. 19th, 2009 @ 03:39 pm (no subject)
And the mood of the moment is: enthralled
There is something uniquely wonderful about laying out fabric to be cut for the first time. Especially when it is a beautiful quality wool...
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Sep. 13th, 2009 @ 08:14 am Some sewing accomplished
And the mood of the moment is: pleased
I've stalled on my sister's dress. I'm not willing to drive 2.5 hrs to fit a muslin for the bodice; she will have to come to me for that one.

I've been working on a pair of slacks for work. Very simple pattern, out of a lovely shark skin gray wool with a very faint pin stripe. The only modification to the pattern I'm going to make is the addition of a few welt pockets. I want a place to put my work badge clippy thing that isn't on the waist band, and need something to break up the line in back.

I finished the muslin last night. Man, fitting pants is *tricky*. Trying to make you butt look good without having "sausage thighs" isn't easy. This book has been a lifesaver in trying to read the wrinkles and knowing where to take in in and let it out. (OMG! They have a women's collection version! Squeee!).

I could have never bought this cut of slacks in the store - cut to the pattern's size, it initially went up my butt horribly. I had to add a full inch to that part of the seam. It is going to be so great to have a pair of slacks that fits in the waist and doesn't give me diaper butt. And long enough.

One thing I learned: when fitting a muslin for slacks, the full use of pins isn't recommended. It is best to sew the crotch in place rather than pinning it.
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Sep. 8th, 2009 @ 05:33 pm Can it be that she's actually done some sewing?
And the mood of the moment is: optimistic
So amid moving giant bags (well, not giant, just heavy) of dirt this weekend (we're building a patio), I actually managed to get a bit of sewing done.

I'm making another dress for my sister. We're doing 50's again, because she liked the look of the big skirt.

I found some cool printed organza in a vaguely Indian design. Not period but the dress isn't a period piece, just period inspired. It has a wide green and blue band which I'm going to use along the hem, with blue dots on a beige ground.

I was going to pick up some beige cotton for the under layer, but I decided to check my stash first. A while back my mother-in-law gave me a bolt of a bright blue cotton sateen. Waaay to bright for period work, so I figured I'd use it for linings. I'd not touched it since I put it away.

Well, this fabric freebee just happens to go perfectly with blue band in the organza I'd bought. (hubby was much amused by my excitement on this note) It's a brighter than the organza, but the organza tones it down to a perfectly matching level. I don't think I could have found a better color had I tried.

I spent yesterday evening making the bodice pattern. It's the first time I've made a pattern up from scratch (ie no book even) let alone for someone else, so wish me luck!
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Sep. 1st, 2009 @ 08:20 pm Holy S***
And the mood of the moment is: shocked
Vallejo's bankruptcy judge has thrown out a union contract.

Vallejo busted one of its unions, successfully. Not the most powerful of the 4 unions, but it still set the precedent.

This is going to change things for Californian city governments.

Wow.
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Aug. 25th, 2009 @ 03:05 pm Got my answer
And the mood of the moment is: nauseated
While I was getting ready this morning I heard NPR was doing a program on the congressional district next door to me, about the elections taking place next week. As the town I live in is severely gerrymandered I was curious to see what this district look like. See the nice big loop it does around Concord? If that isn't gerrymandering I don't know what is. I submitted a question via email without really expecting a response.

My question was read and answered on the air, about 20 minutes in. And the answer was, yes the district map was gerrymandered and it had nothing to do with the make up of the constituents. All they cared about was keeping the representative's home town in and Lawrence Livermore National Lab.

So the 10th Congressional District splits like communities in two and pits wealthy, suburban communities against very rural ones, for nothing more than political gain.   

*sinks into a cynical stupor*

Gerrymandering has been a problem since it was named in 1812.  And we're still doing it.
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Aug. 23rd, 2009 @ 11:02 am Forcing the boy works sometimes
And the mood of the moment is: relaxed
Javi has been loath to entertain since he's been in home. In the year and a half since he's been home, we've had all of 3 people over socially. It isn't that he doesn't like to, it is that he never wants to bother. He's the king of finding excuses. Kinda odd for the party boy he used to be.

So I tied his hands and just invited a bunch of people over last night without talking to him first. He couldn't object: just cocktails so his "too small" grill didn't matter, he didn't have to cook, school year hasn't started yet, no other plans.

It was fun. We had a good size group given the short notice, and had fun breaking in the new bar (yes, we bought it). Javi had a good time. A friend brought their 1-year old, who was much fun to watch and enjoyed being the center of attention.

Henry, our Maine Coon cat, put on quite the show as he is TERRIFIED of kids. You feel kind of bad for him but it was rather funny watching him run back and forth trying to figure out the quickest way AWAY from that little boy. All Henry had to do was see him and he'd cower, even though the kid wasn't interested in him. Something bad must have happened to that cat at the hands of a little kid.

Well, I'd better get started on the dishes. *sigh*
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