Cue the laugh track

Last night I attempted to make my first pair of pants, some jeans using the pattern in Sew U! from BuiltByWendy.  It was going so well - I had put in the zipper - my first real fly - and was to the point where I needed to sew on the front pockets.  Hmmm...pockets.  Hadn't cut those out yet.  I selected a nice slanted patch pocket for my jeans, and grabbed a large scrap of fabric to cut them out of.  Or, what I though was a large scrap of fabric.  After I'd assembled my pockets, folding under the edges and securing the facing, I looked for the front half of my pants that I'd spent the last hour putting together...and then I realized what the "scrap" was - I'd cannibalized my pants for the pockets.  I'd cut the pockets out of the lower leg of my jeans!   Holy crap!  That was pretty damn stupid!  Before I could start crying, I folded the pants in half, hacked off both legs to match, used the decent cut-off leg as a template for a second, and sewed both new lower legs back onto my pants.  Oh, that seam right below the knee?  That's not a F*&^-up, that's a DETAIL! :)  Grrr...this is typical of my sewing follies.  I need my own sitcom.

Happy New Year, Y'all.

Portended?

I've been holding a copy of the New York Times my brother asked me to buy him back in November.  It's the November 5 issue, to be precise (it should have the NYC marathon results in it).  I pulled it out today for him.  The cover story is "Pakistan Rounds Up Musharraf's Political Foes".  As many people are blaming Pervez Musharraf for Benazir Bhutto's assassination, I wonder if this headline wasn't an omen of things to come...

Loss in Pakistan

On my way to work yesterday, NPR announced that former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto had been assassinated.  My first reaction was sadness; I knew that she was a groundbreaking figure – the first female leader of a Muslim nation.  But I didn’t want to write a post here without giving it more thought.  What do I really know about this person?  Very little, actually; as a typical American, I feel that I am pretty ignorant on many world affairs.  I know Bhutto had been in exile and had recently come back to her country to run in the upcoming election, and that she was having a public battle with President Pervez Musharraf, but that’s about all I knew…  And now, even after a full 24 hours of constant news updates and a little research, I still don’t feel I have a full understanding of her role in the history and future of Pakistan.  Some sources talked about charges of corruption during her term in office, but was this just her opposition trying to cast doubts on her abilities as a female leader?  She was extremely well-educated, pro-democracy, and seemingly well-liked by her people.  She was brave – she knew that returning to Pakistan would be risky, but she came anyway.  But I’ve also read that she was supportive of the Taliban when they initially took over Afghanistan…  So rather than pretend I know all, I’m going to give a nod to the late Bhutto, and charge myself with yet another new year’s resolution – to be less “American” and more in tune with what’s happening in the rest of the world…

The latest news is that the suicide bomber that shot at Bhutto before killing himself was a linked to Al Qaeda, but this has yet to be confirmed.

Staple recycling

Not as in recycling staples, but as in Staples Eco-Easy electronic recycling program.  Starre on Eco-Chick mentioned this fantastic program, which is only fantastic to me because Omaha is getting its own Staples store this year.  For $10, Staples will recycle any large piece of e-waste (computers, monitors, etc) and small items like cell phones are recycled for free!  Sorry, honey, no more throwing out your own calculators and PDAs…  Staples recycles the equipment through Amandi Inc, whose website doesn’t say much about their process, but appears to dismantle and safety recycle recovered materials within North America, instead of shipping e-waste overseas.  

 

Happy Holidays

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas.  I know I did!  Not only in the “stuff I got” department, but also because I got to see my family and everyone got along.  Of course, Christmas gifts are always fun and I am incredibly happy with my haul this year.  I must have been pretty specific when I was asked what I wanted from Santa, because I can’t think of one “WTF were YOU thinking?” gift…  J  I received several books from my Amazon wish list, mainly sewing and crafting books, but also the Farmer John seasonal cookbook!  Yea!  I also got enough Christmas cash to combine with a Hancock giftcard from the DH to buy a serger last night!  Whoo-hoo!  Merry Christmas to me! 

Giving gifts is always fun too, of course.   I wrapped up 4 calculators for the dog to give to the DH.  Our last calculator finally died, so I picked up a bunch of replacements…it’s fun to watch someone upwrap the same gift over and over and over…  For my mom, in addition to a massage gift certificate, we gave her an ornament from the Statue of Liberty while I was in NYC for the marathon…  It took her a moment of closer inspection to realize where it came from and then her face just lit up – perfect!  My nephew seemed to like the sock monkey I made him…not as much as the paper and ribbons from all his other gifts, but he’s only 8 months old, so what’d’ya do?  I tried to convince my sister’s fiance that the golf course gift certificate we gave him expired at the end of January, but he caught on…eventually. J 

We didn’t give anyone too much – 1 or 2 gifts apiece – but I think we put a lot of thought into each one and that made them more than enough.  For an entirely mall-free Christmas expirience, I think we did quite well…

 

But Christmas has come and gone and it’s now time to focus on the New Year.  Are you making resolutions?  After cleaning out our pantry last night, and trashing about ¾ of my spice rack, I’m going to focus on being less wasteful with food!  I can’t believe how much I threw away…it was quite disgusting…  From now on, I’m not buying it if I don’t have a plan to eat it within the coming two weeks...which should have been my MO this entire time, I know… J

I’m also going to throw myself back into the the workout world – I’ve been slacking and it’s starting to show!  No sense in outgrowing all the clothes I’ve made lately.  I’m also going to push myself to dance everyday.  This was one of my Best Year Yet goals and I did well for about a week…  I love to belly dance, but practicing has never been something I can make a habit of… this is the year that changes!

Since my braces are going on in just under 2 weeks, my other new habit will be brushing and flossing multiple times a day… 

Happy New Year everyone!

 

Good thing I like my parents...

In Starre’s post today on Eco-Chick, she talks about the legacy we are leaving the generations to come, in the way of environmental disasters and other fun stuff.  Her point was basically that our kids are going to hate us.   The problems we don’t fix today are not going away, just getting bigger…and if the next generation doesn’t take action, the snowball of disaster just keeps rolling downhill.

 

While reading the story this line stuck out to me, , for entirely different reasons:

“Isn’t it the American way to hold your parents in contempt until you’re at least 25, and then become them?”

.  I have become my parents.  I see so much of their behavior in my actions.  My mom had a big garden when I was growing up.  She also had a compost pile, a memory that recently resurfaced.  She still loves to grow things in the dirt and make things – cooking, sewing, crocheting, just as her mom (as well as my paternal grandmother) before her.  Like both my parents I have a tendency to overbook myself – they are constantly busy and forever exhausted.  I also have the not-so-great trait of my father to hold a mean grudge…

Is it so bad, becoming like your parents?  Maybe not.  I like to think of myself as the upgraded version. J

 

but the interweb said it, so it must be true...

CNN ran a story today about “cyberchondriacs” – people who research diseases and health conditions online and convince themselves that they are terribly ill.  This is SO me!  This week, I’m sure I have fibromyalgia…although I’m probably just tired from late-night TV with the DH and sore from my run yesterday…  Over the years since I discovered WebMD, I’ve diagnosed myself with IBS, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, cluster headaches, hypothyroidism, and kidney disease.  Or not…  J  Generally, if a specific disease or condition requires long-term treatment, I can talk myself out of it.  I also have a severe allergy to medication commitment…

 

Just lost MY business

I've mentioned before that the DH and I are giving several of our loved ones gift cards this year for Christmas. Not because we don't know them well enough to pick out a decent gift...in fact, it's because we DO know them so well that we got them highly specific gift cards. :) I ordered these gift cards online and had them mailed to me. For the vast majority, the cards came in an envelope - an entirely appropriate method of delivery. However, for one specific card, which shall remain nameless to protect it's recipient, it came not only in an envelope, but in an envelope surrounded by flyers, a catalog, BUBBLE WRAP, and a padded security envelope! O. M. G. Seriously! Bubble Wrap??? For a gift card? It wasn't even a plastic gift card - it's a piece of paper! How much packaging is really needed to protect a piece of paper? Hmmm...maybe a small, plain envelop? C'mon, people, this is the reason our landfills are so full - all of the packaging. I can only imagine how much this company uses when they ship an actual product... Absolutely disgusting. I know this particular recipient loves this particular company, but I certainly won't be buying from them again.

great minds

ML and I exchanged Christmas gifts last night. Well, kind of. I ordered both our gifts and then just handed hers to her. J Turns out that we were planning on getting each other the exact same thing, so I offered to order them and save on the shipping costs. What did we get? SIGG aluminum water bottles…I picked the blue and ML got the red… As ML pointed out, we know each other well enough that not only did we pick the same gift, but we knew enough to ask if we picked the same gift. I’m glad we are so in-sync…I was going to buy one for myself, but decided I’d better wait and see what she got me… J

a big no-no

Confession: I broke one of my cardinal rules yesterday. I wore a scrunchy in public. I admit it – laugh away please. I’m surprised that I even own one of those things still, but they are just so good for wrapping around buns…usually I have enough self-respect and awareness to take it out before I leave the house! Oh, well…

It was another one of those crazy weekends, but it was fairly enjoyable and productive. I spent Friday night cleaning up the house (of course it’s trashed again already), then baking apple-stuff acorn squash and a nice apple crisp. ML came over and we worked on our zil-skills and attempted a Rania choreography dvd. My folks came to town, but didn’t arrive until 11:30 due to severely limited visibility – it started snowing that evening and didn’t stop until mid-Saturday morning…eek! I stayed up late chatting with my mom and cutting out cloth for a couple of crafty gifts.

Saturday morning, my mom dropped me off at my Jumble Shop shirt before borrowing my car. At the JS, I hit the used-shoe jackpot! Some girl had donated almost her entire wardrobe, including some barely or never worn shoes…in my size! I picked up a pair of Nine West black loafers, some Born brown flats, and a pair of tan Skechers. This brings my thrift-store shoe total to 7 pairs in the last month.

Saturday night, the DH and I headed downtown to eat Chinese food before strolling around the Old Market. We met up with ML and her new guy at a coffee shop, then donned our Christmas elf hats to watch “The Santaland Diaries”, an extremely enjoyable holiday play. I give it 5 stars and a candy cane!

Sunday was pretty relaxed…I worked on craft project – a crochet hook caddy for my grandmother and some rice-filled eye pillow for our aunts – and tried to finish a nearly-due library book. This week I need to return “Twinkie Deconstructed” and “The Girls of Riyad”. I’m not sure I’ll finish Riyad. It’s supposed to be this scandalous account of 4 girls in Saudi Arabia, but honestly, it’s pretty tame… What they consider outrageous behavior wouldn’t cause most to bat an eye here… Twinkie is great though! It’s about this man who decides to track down and investigate where each ingredient in a package of Twinkies comes from – corn syrup, polysorbate 60, artificial and “natural” flavors, etc. It’s very educational. And now I know the difference between baking soda and washing soda. J

ready for the weekend

Phew, it’s been a long week. A snow day on Tuesday left me with several hours to make up at work. Having mid-afternoon appointments on Wed and Thurs didn’t help either! On Wednesday afternoon, I stopped into the Child Saving Institute to help with the Guild’s Substitute Santa project. This project collects donated toys, games, etc. for social workers to give to their clients. While I was there, not much happened – it was the last day of the collection and it seemed everyone rushed in on Tuesday, despite the ice, and brought in their donations. I’m not sure how much help I was, since we weren’t busy during my shift, but I did get to meet a couple of nice ladies on the Guild and see how the operation was set up.

Last night was the December Nebraska Food Co-op delivery – this is my fourth one already! This fall has gone by so fast… It was especially busy last night as lots of people ordered their Christmas gifts from the co-op (myself included). There are several new producers as well – one lady was selling holiday greens (garlands and wreaths), and there were dog treats from The Healthy Pooch. It’s really exciting to be a part of an organization (and movement) that is so rapidly growing.

After the co-op, I headed home to wrap presents. I wanted to try to sew up some gift bags and wrap, but time is my limiting factor these days, so I opted to just use some of the paper gift bags from my stash. I collect them each year to reuse, so no new purchase were needed. Hopefully their recipients will reuse them as well, or just give them back to me!

This weekend should be relaxing – nothing going on tonight since I’m skipping the company holiday party. Tomorrow night, the DH and I are joining ML and her new man to see the Santaland Diaries at the Blue Barn Theater. Sunday, our dear Diva friend Susie is offering a relaxing holiday yoga class… ah, the weekend. Gotta love it!

An interesting post on Feministing today about the movie Knocked Up and a piece on Slate written about it. You may have seen star Katherine Heigl’s recent statement that the movie was “a little sexist”, while still being absolutely hilarious. Meghan O’Rourke’s article is well worth a read.

It's so cold in Omaha...

“How cold is it?”  J  All joking aside, it’s currently 13 degrees Fahrenheit, and the National Weather Service says the current condition outside is “Freezing Fog”.  WTF???  Last Thursday, we received our first first big snow of the season, 5+ inchese.  It’s been coming down, off and on, ever since.  Over night we’re predicted to get just under an inch of ICE.  Oh, yea.  This is the time of year when I’m grateful for the DH’s gas-guzzling, carbon-spewing Jeep.  And the fact that he’s willing to loan it to me for my long commute and drive my tiny Honda in exchange.  (And that he filled it up for me so I wouldn’t have to get gas this morning!).  As bad of an environmentalist as this probably makes me, I enjoy driving the thing, especially in the snow…it just feels safer.  I suppose it’s one of those necessary evils if you choose to live in this sort of climate…

Did I mention I signed up for another 4 months of Wardrobe Refashion?  This month I’m going to concentrate on making warm items of clothing, instead of the cute little dresses I’ve been sewing.  To start, last night, I whipped up a pair of fleece pants for the DH to wear around the house, and I put elastic in the cut-off sleeves of a sweater to make legwarmers…which are doing the leg-warming trick right now as I type this!  I need to make a full-body stocking out of leftover sweater parts…hmmm…  Also in the works is a pair of fleece pants for myself, as well as a couple fleece hats with whatever fabric is left.  If he’s lucky, Ryker will receive some scraps to warm his kennel for afternoon naps…

This weekend, the DH and I hosted our annual Diva Soma Christmas Party.  It was a Very Merry Diva Christmas, from what I remember.  The DH and I have thrown this party since 2004 and it’s one of my favorite parts of the holiday season.  Ryker loves it too – everyone feeds him “people food” until he is ready to burst.  Despite the icky weather, we had a full house.  And there is nothing quite like a house-full of Divas and their Diva Dudes and Cabana Boys…  What a party!

Of course, just one party does not a full weekend make, so the DH and I rounded it out on Friday night by eating out, attending the latest Bemis exhibit opening, and seeing yet another Film Streams movie – this time we saw “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.”  It was a family flick…with some sex, drugs, and killing thrown in.   Saturday morning we prepped for the party and finished up the majority of our Christmas shopping before I headed out to deliver some treats for a neighborhood cookie exchange.  I spent most of Sunday recovering, and then sewing, while the DH watched football and went to band practice…after cleaning up the entire party mess and retrieving greasy hangover food for me.  He’s so sweet.  I’m guessing I owe him a few… J

How do we do it all you ask?  By careful planning and making things as simple as possible.  We put up minimal Christmas decorations this year (despite my extensive collection), “cheated” on our Christmas cards (according to ML – we sent out photo cards and didn’t sign them), and bought the majority of our gifts online (or made them ourselves).  For the party, I planned a few simple treats that I do best, and the rest of the spread was potluck and BYOB.  For the cookie exchange, I simply doubled a recipe that I was already making.  Easy-peasy and much less stressful. 

That’s all for now – my fingers are getting too cold to type…better pull out the mittens!  Welcome to winter everyone!

 

One more reason to avoid the malls

Today in Omaha, a young man started shooting people.  Nine people have died, including the shooter, in the worst massacre in Nebraska history.  So far, no victims' names have been released.  I, like everyone else, am hoping that none were people I knew. 
I have many thoughts about why this guy chose a shopping mall as the best venue for a killing spree, but I'll save that for a later time.  Right now, all focus should be on comforting the grieving families that were affected by this tragedy.  My heart goes out to them all...

Going topless

The recycling bins at my gym have little signs on them proclaiming “Go Topless! (Lids are not recyclable.)”  Hmmm…I usually put my tops back on, so I guess I’ll stop doing that… 

just another manic day that ends in 'y'

Aren’t they all crazy?  Why save the maniacal title just for the start of the week?  Even so, I do hate Mondays with a passion… J 

It was a good weekend overall, despite the weather.  Friday night, the DH and I frantically searched the house for our tickets, and then headed downtown for our holiday tradition:  The Nutcracker.  This year the performance was the Imperial Nutcracker, Russian-style set in 1892.  Different but good…

Saturday dawned icy; a perfect day to stay home, but alas, the DH had to work and I roped myself into a substitute shift at the Jumble Shop.  The roads weren’t as bad as predicted, but not fun all the same.  The shop was sloooow, which was a big disappointment as this was the annual Toy Sale, and the biggest JS event of the year.  L  I did manage to score two pairs of nearly-new Gap jeans for the low-low price of $4 each.  Nice, huh?  I then spent the rest of the afternoon/evening working on “stuff”:  a couple of cholis, Christmas gifts, other sewing project, and making a large pot of Roasted Butternut Squash Soup.  Sooo good…

Sunday was the Omaha Running Club Annual Meeting and Fun Run.  The latter was misnamed.  It was NOT fun in the slightest.  It was cold and windy and had too many hills.  However, it was fun to run with some other girls that I knew – I didn’t even use my ipod, we just chatted the entire 4 ½ miles…

That night, I met up with my brother-in-law to see the American premiere of The Kite Runner.  It was a free event, sponsored by the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Center for Afghanistan Studies, which provided consultation for the film and therefore got a free screening.  There was a limited number of seats, so I was happy to score 2 of them.  The movie was good, but as my dear BIL commented “a little more child r@pe than I expected.” 

And with that thought, Happy Monday! J