Monday, June 9th, 2025 10:21 pm
I have four and a half polka dots left. The ones near increases and decreases were weird to go and have a few blips, but I'm happy with my dots! I wanted to finish today, but was tired and realized I wanted something to work on during my window tinting appointment tomorrow, so didn't rush.

Tinting came with my car. I want to get the lightest tinting with the most UV/heat blocking. That's probably an upgrade.

And at last, my new glasses work! I'm still adjusting, but it's normal adjusting. Whew.
Monday, June 9th, 2025 09:50 am
Internet went out again on Friday. I couldn't do anything about it until I got home, and customer service ended up calling out an actual tech to fix it since our router was truly borked. Again.

Baby was up early on Saturday, around 5:45, which I was not prepared for, ugh. We got up, had some cuddles, brushed our teeth together, then had breakfast. Since it was early and cool, I decided to take her to the park so she could run around before the heat set in. It was practically deserted when we arrived, save for one very early dog walker and a couple of middle-aged dudes on One Wheels zipping around the walking paths.

She ignored the woods this time and went straight for the playground. I pushed her on the swing, which she thought was amazing for about 30 seconds and then wanted back down. The merry-go-round was a huge hit, and we actually spent most of our time sitting on that. We spent a good hour at the park before I could tell that she was getting too sleepy and I packed her back up.

On the way home we stopped at Walmart for a few things. It was her first trip inside a grocery store, and it went pretty smoothly. It was also pretty deserted, save for about two dozen employees who were picking items for online orders. 

Home, second breakfast, and then she went down for a loooong nap. I made myself breakfast once she was down and then tried to nap on the couch, but only got maybe 20 minutes of sleep before the internet tech knocked on the door. He did many mysterious things with cables and such, replaced the router again, and voila, the return of internet.

M got up when the tech knocked. The baby woke up just before the tech finished, and once he was gone, M started packing up for a trip to the range. His friend came to pick him up, and they spent the rest of the day out shooting, coming home right as I was starting to cook dinner.

Hamburgers for dinner.

Saturday was the only decent day of the weekend, because the rest of the time it was just a series of fights between me and M. He's going through one of his depressive periods, and he always gets really agitated and combative, and we had a major row on Friday night, and another on Sunday night. I'm hoping it's done now and things will calm down again, because I am exhausted.

Sun-dried tomato pesto chicken with mashed potatoes for dinner on Sunday. The baby learned to give High Fives, and spent a lot of time running around the house high-fiving everyone, which was pretty adorable. 

M's vacation is over and he's back to work today. I'm entering my slow period at work, so things will be quiet for a while. Captain's out on vacation this week, which also makes things quiet. Hopefully things are just...calm.
Monday, June 9th, 2025 07:52 am
The start of a weekend always feels so hopeful. Most of the time. Boss and coworker wanted to go to the Oilers store near the arena and I tagged along for funsies. It was hopping! But when we got back and I checked my phone, there was a message that my partner in crime N's dad had passed away not long before. He was admitted to the hospital the day before and eventually diagnosed with an obstructed bowel, but the doctor was not hopeful AT ALL that he'd even make it through the night. The family was hoping to buy enough time for a cousin to be able to make it in to say goodbye. He lived about 10 years longer than anyone thought he might, and he will be dearly missed.

Hockey game went to a second overtime period. I fell asleep before the second one started and woke up an hour later to find that the series is now tied. Game 3 tonight in Florida, obviously rooting for my guys! And I won't fall asleep again hahaha. Thursday is game 4 and M and I are going to the watch party at the arena. Gonna be fun.

On Saturday I said YES I am GOING TO CUT OUT TROUSERS. And then cut out a dress instead whoops lol. While opening bins for bottomweight fabrics, I found the massive chunk of chambray and said yes, this is perfect for a swooshy ruffly dress! I got the bodice all assembled but for lack of bra rings/sliders to finish the straps, and ripped all of the panels needed for the skirt. An unfortunate slub in the warp had me rip a long section vertically D: Not a complete waste of time/effort, it was sufficiently almost centered to be used for the back panels. I calculated the length of the hem and then divided by the width of the material to get the panels to be full-width rather than cut and having a loooooooooooooooooooooooooong leftover strip, plus then I didn't have to finish edges by using the selveges.

Aforementioned lack of bra hardware. The straps etc. are of course inset before the lining is done which means I can't really continue on that until I have them. But it was OK because the zippers arrived! So the green dress is now all done minus a hook and eye at the back neck. Photos to come bc so far I've only put it on my dress form and the background items are horrid lol.

Sunday I decided to work on the skirt. It was exactly as boring as 9x 44" wide panels can be. I thought that I'd rather try out the ruffling foot before stitching a gajillion gathering rows, so out came Jenny the Janome and the modern (c. 2011) ruffling foot. First test was quite tight, and second test was inconclusive bc the little blade that controls the ratcheting motion snapped off! GDI! FINE well I have two more, one older than the other. Honestly not sure which one I grabbed, but only one small adjustment had the gathers pretty much perfect. Charm helpfully included the gathering ratio of 2:1, and it was 3 and 6 panels so. Pefect.

Did the lower tier first, and then the second, which got squirrely at the end bc it wasn't gathering anymore. I shortened the stitch length which did work but I wasn't assed to do the entire last panel AGAIN and ehhhh it's fine. I'll fudge it along. That ended up being just as annoying as it sounds, and the gathers (which are tiny pleats, really) still needed some fussing to lay properly even when the foot was working well.

Probably would have been smarter to do the hem before everything was attached but... whatever. That worked out just fine too even if by then I was running low on the main thread colour and could have avoided that entirely by doing it first lol. Would have cared less what colours were in the seams as they wouldn't be visible.

Even busted out the serger to finish raw edges galore, who is she!! I've been wanting to move it from its home to be closer to where I do most of the work, and it still needs some adjustments to the stitch length and ratios as I STILL get skipped stitches, but it was fine for this. Probably needs a new blade too, it's been probably 18 years since it had a new one.

But for the upper gathering, which I WILL do the "regular" way, the skirt is done. I am considering a line of navy rickrack along the seams ala the pattern photos (which is piping) and that would be easier while it's all still separate. Just holding the skirt up against myself, it's delightfully fluffy. Very excited to wear it.

So tonight, being game night, will be the usual round of dishes and dinner while I listen. I need a singular can of coconut milk to make my planned meal, which is a Thai curry soup. I got kale and bok choy in my veggie box this week, plus with the carrot and peppers and onions I've gotten in the previous boxes will make a fine soup indeed! I pulled out a length of teal twill for the trousers but am, of course, doubting that as the best choice. Also waffling on sizing bc trousers don't fit like skirts do! I really ought to make a mock up first and I'm so tempted to just #yolo it but if it's WRONG then its WASTED. Thanks brain, for that unhelpful line of thought. Jury is out on that for the time being.

Speaking of the veggie box, this week's "mystery item" was no less than THREE heads of garlic. WTF am I going to do with three heads of garlic (before they go bad) lol. I recall a recipe of some sort of basically baking them in oil. That shall be a project for my looong day at work doing... not much.
Sunday, June 8th, 2025 05:16 pm
I finished knitting the suit this morning!

I might want the straps an inch shorter, but I'm not sure I want them shorter enough to unravel and redo them.

The first three polka dots are on, and it took wn hour and a half to mark the rest. It's a very hard thing to do if you have no spacial awareness and can't count.

And I decided to go to the beach. I didn't go the last day of school like I did the last two years because I had just gotten back from Catalina and the suit wasn't done.

I've wanted to make bathing slippers instead of boots (which I don't want to wear with this suit--they're too early), but I might get canvas ballet slippers instead. We'll see how fast the embroidery goes and what I feel like.

Everything *gestures broadly* is awful, and planning a trip to Southern California today of all days sounds I don't know, weird somehow. I wish more people could enjoy small things instead of doing whatever hateful things they're doing. Finishing a project makes me happier than they'll ever be. My words aren't coming out right, so I hope that makes some sense. Sigh
Sunday, June 8th, 2025 07:14 pm
I finished the kids' Christmas ornaments early this year. These are the second half of the "Christmas Village Ornaments" kit. Once again I left off the cording so these would match the first three from 2023.

“Christmas Village Ornaments”
Saturday, June 7th, 2025 09:38 pm
I'm still knitting them. I think I'm nearing the end? They're not a lot, but they're annoying to knit. They nine stitches each and tangle since I'm doing both at the same time.

I made smaller buttons last night too.
Saturday, June 7th, 2025 06:27 am
I finished the beading on the skirt of my 1897 satin evening gown yesterday. Now it just needs to have the waist and hem finished. Of course, 1897 takes a lot of work to make a hem.

I also finished the embroidery for this year's crop of Christmas ornaments. I started working on them at home after I finished the "Street Scene."
Friday, June 6th, 2025 09:48 pm
That's all that's left! Unless I want a belt. Or don't like the buttons I just made. I like them, but they're wooden buttons covered in knitting, so large.

I tried it on as much as I could with the side straps, and I think they're the right size. I hope. I wove the ends in because there were so annoying.

I know the straps will be annoying to get the right length. I'll knit them at the same time so I don't have to worry about making them match.
Friday, June 6th, 2025 08:12 am
Finished my book not long after arriving home. I'd started getting a migraine aura literally 5 minutes before I left work, which made getting home fun bc the aura is right in the middle of my eyeball. Got home when it was still going on so I at least managed to drug up before it developed into a full-blown migraine.

But I wasn't feeling great (still get a bit of the hangover), so i took it easy all night. Dinner was a leftover dish from work that wasn't great. Pinned and pressed the hem for the dress, then played a bit with how to trim the hem and ended up going with the same as I'd put on the rest of the dress. But that's basically an edge stitch and I didn't want to trim the hem down, so I started stitching on some lace. Then I ran out of bobbin thread 2x so I decided to open up the machine and oil it bc it was sounding a bit grindy again (there's something in the middle that is also grinding that I can't figure out). Probably need to hand-stitch the lace down but it was "late" (like almost 9) by then so I said nah.

I ordered zippers on Amazon yesterday (thanks work bonus program for the gift cards!) and they should arrive tomorrow and then it will be done!

I also put my green bra that I tried to modify onto Josephine (dress form) to get a better idea of the bust fit. I really need to adjust the form to better reflect me. Perhaps that will be a weekend project.

Game 2 tonight, so tonight, since i don't have a library book to mainline, I will do my dishes while listening, and attempt to make the dinner I didn't make last night. And I guess it's time to decide on a new project since the dress is nearly done!
Friday, June 6th, 2025 08:46 am
I really need to remember not to take the Zofran when I'm nauseous, no matter how bad I feel, because the side effects are not worth it. Ugh. Sat at work yesterday with horrible stomach pains and got out of there as soon as I could so I could wallow at home instead of doubled over at my desk. 

Since I was sick and miserable, M went out and bought us some sausages at the fancy grocery store to cook up for dinner. He got our usual standards (beef and bacon sausage, and a Cajun andouille) plus two of their seasonal ones, a chicken and garlic sausage and a cranberry citrus pork sausage. Both the seasonal ones were excellent, and we plan to get more so we can freeze them for later. Still kicking ourselves that we didn't do that when they had the cherry pecan chicken sausages last Fall, because once they're gone, they don't usually bring them back, and those were amazing.

Cooking put M into a good mood, so we had a pleasant rest of the evening. Until bedtime, anyway. He got miffed that he lost computer time because the baby needed to go to bed and ranted about how he never gets time in the evenings to himself anymore and why'd he even take vacation if he wasn't going to get to do anything, and yadda yadda yadda. I have become more than annoyed at his self-pitying rants because I've had all of two weekends off since the baby was born, and all of my vacation PTO has been used to watch the baby while he has work stuff going on, so yeah, you're barking up the wrong tree, buddy. 

Anyway, we put in an order for a new mattress for the pack & play to see if she'll sleep better with a thicker bed. The one time she managed to get out of the p&p seemed to be a fluke since she hasn't managed to do it again, but she also refuses to sleep in it, throwing out the foam mattress that's in there now, as well as all her blankets and her pacifier. Hopefully once it's comfier she'll just nap instead of destroy, and that way M can have is precious computer time at night. Yeesh.

Went to bed not long after the baby went down. Then M woke me up at 1AM asking if I'd changed the AC settings. I was so pissed off that he'd wake me for something so trivial when I've been so sick all day and just wanted to rest that it took me a while to calm down and go back to sleep.

Alarm went off at 6:30. Got up, cleaned the few dishes in the sink, made the baby's breakfast, had a bit of breakfast myself. He's hoping today is a better day.
Thursday, June 5th, 2025 08:34 pm
The back is almost half done. Then the side straps, then the straps, then embroidery, then decide if I want a belt. I'll need a beach vacation after this!
Thursday, June 5th, 2025 07:55 am
(Post is nothing but excited screaming as Cup finals game 1 was won at 19:29 of overtime by our boy LEON DRAISAITL!!!!!!)

I was reading during the game last night, happily pretzeled on the couch with Calcifer on my legs or feet. And since we had a full overtime period* it was rather late by then and I was already in bed lol.

*regular season hockey is a short break and 5 mins of overtime before going to a shootout. Playoffs overtime is the full 15 minute intermission and full 20 minute period, for as long as it takes. Memorably in 2006, when Edmonton finally won a game in one of the earlier rounds at 1-something in the morning, in OT period 3.

I must finish and expect to finish my book today. Back to regularly waffling about sewing anon.
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Thursday, June 5th, 2025 08:39 am
Headed home from work at noon yesterday, even though my doctor's appointment wasn't until 2. When I got home, M had just managed to get the baby down for a nap, so I heated up some leftover pizza for lunch, he and I chatted a bit while we ate, and then I hopped in the shower for a quick scrub. 

Appointment went fine. It's too early to know the sex, and too early for really much of anything interesting to happen, so it was mostly just "yup, there's still a fetus in there." Next appointment is the beginning of July, and they gave me a referral to the high-risk doc so we can schedule the amnio once I'm at 15 weeks, and that was it. 

Poor Kate was very worried for me the entire visit. As soon as I got up on the exam table she started crying, probably because the exam table at the pediatrician is where she gets her shots and those are the worst thing on the planet and how dare you hurt mommy. Many snoogles were given afterward to assure her that I was fine. 

M had had a bad night's sleep, so he went to bed almost as soon as we got home. I made dinner for the baby and played with her a bit, but her nap had been short and she was a bit grumpy. I tried to get her to go to bed early, but her internal clock is basically atomic with its accuracy, and if you put her in bed a second before 8pm she will absolutely not have it. As soon as it hit 8, she flopped over on her belly, pulled the blankets around her, huffed at me, and went to sleep.

Since I'd been up so early, I was basically a zombie at that point. I tried to relax a bit on the couch, but I was so tired that I couldn't get comfortable, and I just gave in and went to bed. Slept mostly through the night except for a few wakes here and there, but I was determined to get as much sleep as possible. Body tried to wake up at 5 again, but I really wanted that extra hour and a half.

M was awake when my alarm went off, and he hadn't been in bed most of the night, so he's going to have a rough day today, I tell you what.
Wednesday, June 4th, 2025 10:01 pm
I finished the front to the straps and just finished row 8 of the back, so I'm where I was when I ripped the top out. I also tried one duplicate stitch polka dot, so I'm actually a little ahead. Someday I'd like to not have to restart a vintage project! Ok, I've done a few things just once, but still...
Wednesday, June 4th, 2025 08:22 am
I am covering the front desk today so lots of alone time with minimal supervision or interruptions.

Nothing to really talk about lol. I played games for a bit. Dinner was a spinach salad with chicken that I liberated from a meeting yesterday. Then I sat down to read and it took me forever to just f'n do it, while I noodled about with games (again) and various internet searches (forgetting what I was looking for, picking up my book, remembering, and looking again). I went to bed around 9, but mostly so I could read there. Had to pause to "scrub" the cats (they both like short intense sessions where I mess up all of their fur and smooth it out). Around 11 I hit my self-imposed "goal" of roughly 1/3 of the book and a good place in the story to pause.

Book megrims )

Tonight I plan to tackle the dishes while the hockey game is on, eat a food, and then possibly attempt trousers again. Maybe I will hem the dress instead. Either way, I need to read another 3rd of the book (I have brought it with me to read on my lunch break since I rescheduled my therapy appointment and I don't feel like trekking across the street to fetch my knitting).
Wednesday, June 4th, 2025 08:29 am
The evening yesterday was pretty nice. The baby was in a fine mood and content to play on her own, while occasionally running at me full force to give me a hug, which was lovely. M picked up our grocery order from Sam's and the pizza from Mama's, and the rest of the evening was quiet. Baby went down at her usual time and fell asleep right away, and I tidied up a bit before collapsing into bed myself. We had a lovely storm roll through in the late evening, which was very soothing.

This morning was equally nice. Because I'd gone to bed so early, I woke up naturally just after 5 again. Since I didn't have anything pressing to take care of, I just sort of rolled around in bed for a while and slowly woke up. I finally oozed out of bed around 6, did a couple of small chores like put away the clean dishes and make the baby's breakfast plate, and then I actually had time to make breakfast for myself! Had an avocado toast with a fried egg, some strawberries, and some grapes. It was so, so nice and stress-free, and it felt amazing to leave for work with a full belly for once.

Left for work a little early, then lingered in the parking lot whiling away time since I'd arrived a good 20 minutes before my shift. Finally managed to muddle through the Duolingo lesson that's been tripping me up, and finally got my Duolingo Chinese score (10, which means I am the greenest of beginners.) 

OB appointment later today, so I'm taking a half day for it. It's going to be (relatively) cool and cloudy today, with a high of only 81, and I plan to enjoy it. 

I'm starting to feel a bit of my sewing mojo coming back. There's a Green Tea planned for next spring (I missed this year's Red tea because I couldn't put anything together in time for it), and my brain went straight to the 1830s and my beloved green serpentine stripe fabric that I worked so hard to get. I'll need to finish my stays (just needs grommets) and get my corded petticoat situation figured out (stupid cursed thing) and then I'll be able to work on it. And since I have an entire year to make it, I should be able to pull that off. Right?
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2025 01:54 pm
My phone rang. I actually answered it. I was right, it was the eye doctor's office.

I told her what happened, she said something about the -8.5 prescription, I said no! Delete that! And she fixed the date on the -8.0 prescription. Whew.

I was afraid that if 1800 Contacts did it first, I'd get more of the -8.5.

Are there hybrid doctors? I think after this, I might need to see an optometrist/psychologist for my appointment next year...
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Tuesday, June 3rd, 2025 10:28 am
5AM wakeup was a success this morning! I hit snooze only twice, too, and managed to be out of bed by 5:20-ish, and in the kitchen by 5:40 to start on dishes. 

I had vastly underestimated how long the dishes were going to take, because I ended up spending two entire hours working on the dish pile, and my drying setup spread to every counter I had available. Yeesh. But they are done! I don't have to think about them again! Now if I can just maintain

Baby woke up at 7:30, which is usually exactly when I'm walking out the door, but I had planned to go in a little late today because M had a job interview at 9, so I got the baby up, we had some morning cuddles, and I made her a couple of eggs for breakfast. M was up not long after so he could get ready.

Since I had the time, I ironed a dress and undershirt for work. While M was having his interview, I took the baby into our bedroom so there'd be two closed doors between us to muffle any noises. She had a grand time exploring the big room she never gets to go in, and I finally got around to unpacking my petticoat suitcase from the Navasota trip. Yeah, it was four months ago, I'm really bad at unpacking.

Once the interview was over, I dressed and got ready to head out. Then I discovered that we have ants, because they were crawling all over the baby's bowl of eggs that she'd left on the windowsill. I cleaned up the bowl and made her a new batch of eggs, but somewhere along the way she realized that I was getting ready to leave, because she became very clingy. She flung herself into my arms and laid her head on my shoulder while giving me sad little sniffles. Very sweet. Very hard to go to work when she does that.

Put in a Sam's order for pickup this afternoon. M agreed to pizzas for dinner so I didn't have to cook after such an early morning, which I'm quite pleased about. Hoping for a quiet evening tonight.
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2025 09:04 am
I had an email from 1800 Contacts that I uploaded an expired prescription.

Only I didn't.

The doctor didn't change the date from last year's prescription.

I left a voicemail at the doctor and told 1800 Contacts to please get this prescription. My wrong prescription is probably still on file as current.

I hope I don't have to go back until my glasses are ready. At least I only wear contacts at events.

I am SO jealous of people who can just see.
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Tuesday, June 3rd, 2025 08:47 am
Yesterday I did indeed dye my hair. It is all the same colour again woohoo! While the dye was setting, I prepared my noodle salad and I had *just* enough time. I'd set the timer for 35 mins and it had 3 mins left when I finished prepping. Since I had taken time after the immediate dying to clean the bowl and sink, I figured that was close enough and it was time to rinse and condition and rinse.

As predicted, I was then very tired. Shave/shower will be a future me problem. I was already ready to stay in bed but the kittens were very brrt? brrt? brrt? and in my face, so I scooped the box for them. I don't think that's what they actually wanted but it's done now.

I did absolutely nothing except play video games. Not even read my library book which is due back Friday and I haven't even started. Eep. I noticed it more in the way my hands and shoulders ached so I really need to stop doom-playing. That is the plan for tonight, no doom-playing, more reading. I can def get it read without staying up late if I start pronto!

Making pants are back on my mind. I've been wearing my green ones bc they are less stretched out than the black ones, which I really cannot tolerate putting back on my body. They are always slipping down but tight on the calf and thigh and GRRRRR its becoming a sensory nightmare. So that's gonna be happening soon.

I forgot to mention it, but when I saw the friends on Sunday, I brought the two heads of icky celery and made others take them home. They kept asking "are you sure?" and I really don't think anyone understands how deeply I dislike it, except other celery haters. TAKE IT, PLEASE!!!