The things we do :-)

So our little Harry Potter fan, informed us he would like to be a dementor for Halloween. And after much persuasion (read: convincing, bribing, explaining), I convinced him to let me make it instead of getting the really cheesy one from the costume store. Huge leap of faith on his part.

This was of course BEFORE the accident.

So the night before last, it was brought to my attention, that at the local school fall festival... the kids wear their costumes. The Fall festival was yesterday... 6pm. I think some part of my brain new this, but with all else going on it blocked it out.

I almost fell over...

So yesterday morning, got up... fed, & watered the invalid (my wonderful, in much pain, can't move around much, thankfully still alive fiance). And got the little one off to school.

Then:
8:30 am: Cut pattern (realized I needed more fabric for arm"wings").

9:00 am: Sewed some of pattern.

9:30 am: Shower

9:40 am: get invalid's things together.

9:45 am: write note to school about friend coming home on bus.

9:50 am: Drove invalid to Dr appointment (45 min there.... appointment... 45 min back). Dropping off note at school along the way.

12:20 pm: Make & serve lunch.

12:40 pm: Go to fabric store to get more fabric.

1:00 pm: realize fabric is no longer in stock!!! start to improvise/ PANIC.

1:20 pm: still waiting in fabric store to have fabric cut.

1:30 pm: still waiting in fabric store to have fabric cut.

1:40 pm: : still waiting in fabric store to have fabric cut. Arghhhh.

2:00 pm: leave fabric store. (way to much purchased.. panic shopping).

2:15 pm: next store to find black sweats.

2:20 pm: non found!!! start to improvise/ PANIC.

2:25 pm: explaining to clerk why she has to ring up the shirt even though it has no tag...

2:30 pm: lose.. run back to find similar shirt with tag.

2:40 pm: drive home.

3:oo pm: Sew like mad woman!!!

3:59 pm: 3/4 of the way done.

4:00 pm: little one getting off bus. coming in feeling sick. Doesn't think he wants to wear the costume tonight... maybe Halloween.
(Loosing hair fast).

5:00 pm: done!!!! Holly cow.

5:15 pm: feed invalid, walk neighbors dog, get neighbors kiddo into costume, get little one in to costume... walk to school.

6:00 pm: Fall Festival, me and 2 of the scariest 8 year olds ever! (or that's their take on it).

For the record... it was worth it! The little one couldn't stand still for pictures he was so busy swishing his arms around, and he continues to inform me how scary he is.

The invalid has been informed he may not have any more accidents/broken anythings around Halloween.

I'm still exhausted :-)

Some days the world just changes

On October 14, coming home from work, my fiance.... crossed the double yellow line on his motorcycle, and hit an on coming minivan. He is OK... (so is the minivan driver, thank god)

I'm not sure how he's ok, maybe the sidecar, maybe his gear, mostly dumb luck I'm sure ...

He called me, after it happened, so at least I knew he was alive, or I assumed he was when I arrived on the scene. The local firefighters (our next door neighbors), were kind enough to bring me to the scene, and warn me that he was going to be helicoptered out. But I got to see him, and talk to him, and tell him I loved him.


He is now home.... he remains relatively unscathed. Has a broken leg, that required surgery that night, and a new permanent metal rod in his leg. Right now he cannot walk, and is in quite a bit of pain... He's lucky... I'm lucky... the little one is lucky.

I'm exhausted,
feeling lucky,
sometimes feeling scared,
feeling thankful,
absolutely amazed,
still dazed,
sometimes angry,
and still in love.

I need to send out a Thank you, to lot's and lot's of people, ambulance crews, firefighters, parents, neighbors, friend and family... We've gotten a lot of support, and it means the world.

Getting going in the Morning

Trying to get going in the morning, can be trying for me at best. Fortunately the little one, who seems to relish getting up at the crack of dawn, is quite good at getting himself together in the morning. Only he always seems to forget one thing... So I put together this list to help him out... I used fonts from skulladay.blogspot.com and played with some graphic fonts. A little watercolor and a wooden doorhanger, and ta da... It seems to have helped out a lot, also helps me to say "double check your list", instead of reminding him of everything he forgot, and feeling like a nag.

Now to make one for myself... perhaps it should say DO EVERYTHING... in the next 5 min... Ahhhhggg :-)

Patio Chairs

Chair Before:
I got this chair from a local freecycler, along with 3 other and a table. The chairs are sort of usable, as long as you don't mind your butt falling through the holes (for some reason this seems to really bother my boyfriend.. can't imagine why). But they also have a lot of rust, and didn't generally look all that nice. So I decided to take them on. I have been wanting to learn a bit about rust and painting metal, as I have an old car, with a still decent engine, that I dream about painting.. figured I'd start with the chairs.

Chair After:
We ordered the fabric part on line (apparently called a sling), cause I didn't figure my sewing machine could handle this type of fabric. I did spend hours, disassembling, wire brushing rust off, treating rust, priming, painting.... sigh. I like it. I have added a little gold spray paint, for a subtle sparkle, but it's not showing up so well in the photo. And getting the sling back in & stretched took 2 strong headed adults, an evening, some cussing, some paint scratching, and a BA in engineering, to get it on.

One down... 3 to go (and a table).

Feeling good, reusing, personalizing... happy to give it a new life.

Climbing out of my hole

Let me introduce you to my hole. When I get overwhelmed or depressed I sink in to my own little hole. It's a little dark, not a whole lot of food in there (some junk stuff). But warm, and lots of places to sleep. And someone went and put a TV in there! While I'm hiding in there, I have a hard time talking to people, and a hard time motivating myself. A hard time writing blog posts. Some times it takes me a while to realize I'm in my hole again... and then sometimes it takes me a while to find the will to crawl back out. And even sometime, I need a helping hand to start climbing & remembering that I don't actually want to live there.

My lover was kind enough to find it & shout down... so now I'm on my way out :-)