Here I am!

Okay, I have been crazy busy. I have been working 97 hours or more every 2 weeks. My days off are random and jam packed. As I typed earlier I don't have time in my daily schedule! I get up, drink my coffee and eat a bit of something, change, stretch and hit the road on my bike by 10am at the latest. When I get back I stretch, shower and get to work. When I get home from work at night I plan my biking and work clothes for the next day and lay them out, make lunch, fix my coffee sans ground beans, do laundry and other tasks and get to bed by 11pm. I hate to be tired especially if I am working many days in a row so I make sure I get my sleep. I know this crazy schedule wont last forever and the beefy paychecks are helping me catch up after the months off of work. I have also bought a few Christmas presents as I figured out what I really wanted to get folks. Okay, so I don't have much of a life but I am taking care of business!

I had Monday off so I was going over to sew the awesome coat with my mom. I suspected things might get d-railed when we were starting at Costco. I had no idea. I knew my dad has been anxious about my eyes and my brother Mike. My dad was diagnosed and treated for Macular (wet) eye disorder earlier this year.(it can make your vision dim and eventually you can go blind) My Brother Mike was diagnosed last week. I have not had my eyes checked since the last glasses my mom got me for my birthday 2009. As we walking in my dad looked over at the eye glasses department. I told him I was thinking of looking at glasses and get my eyes checked. He beamed and said "No problem, Kid - take your time" It made for a long Costco visit. The short of it I am a clean bill of eye health but needed a stronger mid and low level prescription to my Progressives (the reading) so I picked out new frames. More later.

We had a snag in the sewing of the awesome coat. My shrinking and a generous pattern slowed our progress. We also had trouble finding the trim that goes all around the edges of the coat since it is not lined. After much asking and several fabric stores we have it. Sunday should finish it and not soon enough! It has got nippy here!

The car accident I had late in the year in 2008 has mostly (finally) been settled. Cant quite talk about it yet but that was most of my Tuesday off. Sunday is the next day off after a double shift Saturday. Good times. So there you go. Back dated posts to come but I don't know when.

I'm in and out!

Had a great and busy two days off! I got my hair cut and colored, (great cut and a bit different color - love it!) Derby Freshie Reunion, biked, grocery shop, paid bills, got the fabric washed and dried at my moms. More later but honestly the fun creative cool of my Sunday was looking through first my Grandmothers button box then my Moms. It was so interesting to see how well and interesting buttons used to be made. In my Mom's buttons it was a blast from the past. If my mom got rid of any of the many wonderful items she made she would save the buttons. We spent two hours going through buttons first looking for buttons for my Leopard jacket and then for changing out on some current garments that have the "wrong" buttons.

Anyway, it was hard to go back to work today especially knowing I am working 9 days in a row. The up side is paying most of my bills and being so close to a catch up! Gots to go to bed now.

I promise

Okay all, now that I started updating I have so much more to say. I don't want to drag my computer with me to work today. I started a book yesterday and am already hooked! It is "Night of many Dreams"by an author I like, Gail Tsukiyama.I think I have read it before but it could be the formula this author uses. I finally finished the book "The Help". It was 400 plus pages! I liked it in it's own right but not as much as the movie. I do recommend reading it even if you have seen the movie.

My bike is calling to me . . . .

sewing photos

Here is the photo of coat pattern (the camel colored coat) and the leopard sheer ling fabric! The sheer-ling is the inside and soooo soft!

Sorry for ther internet silence

You asked for an update to my internet silence so here we go! I had to bring my computer to work with me and use a word processor to get this done. If I did not have e-mail access on my phone I would not know what was going on! I really don’t have time to be on the computer at home these days. I get up in the morning and have my coffee and breakfast, bike, shower and head to work. When I get home from work I get things ready for the next day and do tasks like laundry and then go to bed. I don’t stay up late or I don’t have time for my bike ride. I have to have my bike ride! The biking is very important to my mental health and dealing with the ever present nasty hormones so I have been faithful with that daily even if it is only a 30 minute ride but it is usually longer. I am excited to note that I am back in scrub tops I have not fit into for about a year and my scrub pants are loose! The seat and thighs have always fit snug and sometimes the waist but now loose all the way around! I feel things going differently as far as the peri-meno. I went almost 2 months without a period. The hormones are fluctuating. Sometimes I feel “normal” but I think the biking is helping greatly as well.


As for work, I am on day 4 of a 10 day stretch of work days. I need to catch up on bills and figure the opportunity for OT may go away at some point so I am doing it while I can. It can get a little frustrating for me when Wil does not keep on his house duty of the Kitchen. I don’t have time and it is the only common area chore the kid has so come on! The new job is okay. I could do without some of the people. I will leave it at that. I really like the ability to take care of myself financially but really wish my job had creative outlet and more team players.

“Ages Three and up”
On my day off the last week in September I went biking on a beautiful Fall afternoon. The sun was shining and it was nice out but not too warm. It was my day off so I wanted to go on a bit longer ride than I usually have time for. I was adding miles by circling through the Oaks Park parking lots before heading back towards home. I was cruising along enjoying the river, the smell of fall, the feel of sunshine when a used “Sticky Hand” toy glommed onto my new awesome front bike tire and “WHAM” I went down! I was pissed! Don’t parents understand the reason (besides choking hazard) why there is a warning label on small toys?!? It was discarded in a pile of leaves all wadded up. I ran over it and it “stuck” onto the side of my tire but enough in the tread that it made me crash. Since I was almost 7 miles from home I popped right back up and started riding towards home. I did not want to stiffen up. I was pretty lucky in my minimal injuries but my bike mirror is not so lucky. The holder is fine but the mirror has several cracks in it. They cost a lot more these days than they used so but have been told a nice trick to get by. I just need time to go to a hardware or auto parts store . . .

As soon as work simmers down I would like to get back into doing social events and concerts. I joined a social group site called “Meet up” and selected a few groups to belong to. I am trying to find that balance, still. I also have some DIY projects that got put on hold through to whole hiring and getting started in the job process.

DIY and crafty too
I finally got the curtain rods and hardware to finish the awesome Asian screen! They were on back order for 2 months so that really put my project on hold! The frame is in my place but the fabric is not touched yet. My parents have been out of town but they are back now. My long stretch of work days is almost complete so I hope to find my creative soon.


My mom is going to help me make an awesome coat - well 2 of them. I was looking for a coat pattern to make a fabulous red cashmere coat. I just cant find any the last 2 years that I like and that fit me. My mom helped me look at patterns and see what I can make with her help. Her idea was to make an inexpensive coat with the pattern first to get a feel for the pattern before investing in cashmere. I am excited by the fabric I got for coat one! I will add photo of fabric and pattern later. I still have two purses I was going to make then the whole unemployment thing took some of the wind out of my sails . . . . Finding it now. I have the pattern, the fabric and all just waiting for me to get busy!

My mom said when she was in SF recently she was really paying attention to fashion after our time at the fabric store. My parents walked through Nordstrom since they stroll through the Downtown one a lot. She said they dress a lot nicer in SF. There was a lot of clothes in the Nordys there that we don’t have here. Are we getting too Northwest Wilderness attire here? TTFN