Fiberaddict's Fiber Fumblings

OK, NTIF was this weekend, so I'm tired. It was fun - I have new yarn! And Herself sold 3 pairs of earrings! And I might be able to move Himself's kilt hose (he'll never wear them, and told me it was OK to rehome them.) Moving on...

Re: Comment from Anonymous on my entry on my worthless health insurance. "I wold keep that insurance like Gollum wanted to keep the ring." You DO know how that ended up for Gollum, right?

Look. YOU might be able to afford to *waste* $709.00 per month on a crappy product. *I* cannot. *I* cannot afford to throw $6,000/year away on something that does NOTHING. Do the math:

$500/month premium. $25/visit, that DOES NOT INCLUDE x-rays, lab work, MRIs, etc. ($40 for approved specialists/$60 for NON-approved.)

Let's see how this works out, shall we?

Let's posit 1 doctor's visit per year - because you are healthy. Doc orders a bunch of lab work. So. Using my numbers above, you are out $6,000 for insurance premiums, $25 for the visit, and.....let's see. X-rays are $231 on my plan, let's assume lab work will be.....less than (because I am trying to be positive, here.) $115 for the lab work. That adds up to $6,140.00 for *1* visit.

What about self/cash pay? Well, my doc charges $85/visit - which INCLUDES lab work. I think it includes x-rays, as well, but for argument's sake, let's say it doesn't. The Ortho charges $100/visit for self/cash pay. Let's look at THOSE numbers, shall we???

2 Doc visits = $185. X-rays - you know what? I googled, and x-rays cost on average, $260 - $460 for CASH pay. Let's average those numbers, which gives us $360 for the x-rays (and I was charged - WITH insurance, $231.)

So. Had I gone in under self-pay, I'd be out $545. That's IT. I would have SAVED $5,595. But some anonymous person thinks I should keep this crappy insurance.......why? Because YOU have insurance that costs you $709/month? Why should I cause financial hardship for me and mine just because you do? That...makes no sense at all.

Oh, and prescriptions? You can get free discount cards that will help offset cost of prescriptions. I don't take any prescriptions. I WON'T take any - most of them have more side effects than I am comfortable with, and I can find herbal remedies that a) cost less and b) have little to no side effects. So.......:shrug: NO, I won't keep this waste of money. You do you. If you like spending that much money ($8,508/year, if you do the math), then more power to you. I do suggest, gently, that you run the numbers, though. Unless you have a life-threatening condition (which, actually, we ALL do - we are all terminal. Death WILL happen to everyone at some point.)...in which case, well, do what you gotta do.

On to FUN stuff: Wolfhounds, and the life with one. :lol: We're on #3, now, so I have a *little* bit of experience.

For your first one, I'd HIGHLY suggest going rescue, and getting one at least 1 year old. 2 years is better - the brain fairy doesn't visit before 18 months for girls, and 2 years (IF you are lucky!) for boys. Puppies are...a LOT of work. Bree was 6 months old when we got her; Duncan is now almost 8 months. (I need to register him...wonder if the AKC will accept his full name "Dammit Duncan!" ? :rofl:)

The chewing stage started at about 5.5 months with him (Bree was.......well, not as bad. The worst was my Bible - she took it outside and shredded it. Guess she thought she needed to INJEST the Word. :lol:) So far, we've lost a few shoes, a TON of dishtowels (I really need to buckle down at the loom. Really.), 3 skeins of yarn, charging cables, a portable DVD reader (it's still usable, but it has some new.....markings), some belts, a My Pillow, and - just yesterday! - the husband's hand-knit, hand-felted, Balmoral hat. :sigh: The main problem is that with Wolfies, if they can SEE it, it's theirs. Or so they think.

And when they are tall enough to see over the table before they have a brain, well........

Don't get me wrong - they are FANTASTIC companions. They are NOT "dogs" - they are honestly more like people that just happen to be in dog-form. Even at this young age, you can see him *thinking*....he just doesn't have the brain-power yet to realize what is a bad idea. (Hey, SOMETHING had to give. You grow THIS fast in such a short time, something has to be put on the back burner. The brain lost out over massive size. If you can deal with that, then stop waiting and grab a Wolfie!)

So far, we've not had a Wolfie try to go over our 4' fence. They are sight hounds, not jumpers. (Don't take them off-leash anywhere. You.....might get them back, eventually, if you have enough cheese. Cheese is like their kryptonite. Buy stock. Or goats, to make your own. Cheese has it's own line-item in my budget.....) They are VERY independent. Don't expect them to play fetch - they will do it once, maybe, then stop, look at you, sit, and VERY clearly tell you "What. You want the damn stick, YOU shouldn't have thrown it away. YOU go get it." They are not good watch dogs - they are, generally, standoffish to strangers, but they won't *guard* stuff. They'll guard *people*. THEIR people.

Duncan is, so far, the most...shy Wolfie we've had. He doesn't bark at strangers, he just pulls back and watches them. He will warm up, if you don't force it, but he won't go out of his way to check people out. Most Wolfies will stand there and boredly allow strangers to pet them, IF Mom and/or Dad says it's OK. If cheese appears, well.....they are your best friend. :lol:

I hope I didn't scare you - seriously, I love this breed to death. Because of the size, the usual puppy antics are magnified, and you have to keep reminding yourself that yes, he IS still a baby. They don't *need* a lot of space (no, really!) . They are professional-grade nappers - most of the day is spent speed-bumping around the house, with spurts of the "zoomies". (I did a post a LONG time ago, outlining Bree's typical day. It consisted of a bunch of photos of her sleeping in various spots in the house, following the sun beams. They don't really outgrow that....)(Nov 11, 2010, if you want to journal-dive. Seriously, it's just Bree sleeping around the house.)

Food-wise......they don't eat a lot. Honestly. He's getting...maybe 4 cups/day of puppy chow (but I need to switch him over to adult food soon. I think there's a little too much protein in the puppy chow......we'll see.) Bree got.....2.5 cups, maybe? We have 5 dogs, and go thru 1 bag (40 pounds) of puppy and....3 bags (40/50 pounds each) of regular dog food/month. Vet care is a little more, because of the size/weight, but - so far! - they've all been healthy.

But. Life-span is about 8 years. TOO short, but there ya go. I wouldn't miss it for the world.....but it is a short time. :sigh: I think it 's worth it, though.

So. How've you been? I've been busy - as usual. :lol: Himself asked me to replace his shirts with me-made ones, :gulp!: so I've been in the Studio working on a muslin for him to abuse. Funny thing - about the same time he asked me, Fabric Mart sent me an email with all shirtings on SALE. DEEP sale. (Gotta love Divine intervention, no? :rofl:) He now has 5 pieces of designer (seriously - Ralph Lauren, a "famous Hawaiian designer", and someone else I can't remember) cotton waiting to be turned into lovely button-down shirts. The muslin just needs buttonholes and buttons, then he gets to abuse it for a couple of weeks before I start on the "real" fabric.

In the meantime, I'm going to be sewing him a body double - Bootstrap Fashion has done it again. They offer custom drafted dress form patterns now....$24 for most sizes ($35-ish for the standard, multi-size patterns). I have his pattern, and we went out Friday and picked up the fabric for it (plain, gray, mid-weight cotton. He didn't want a pattern - even though it's in MY Studio. I don't mind - as long as it's in the color scheme I have going, it's good.) Soon as I get the buttonholes in, I'll start on it. :excited:

I'm not doing goals/resolutions/aspirations this year. Too much stress. :lol: Instead, I'm going to look back at 2018, then forward to 2019 to see what I plan on doing.

Knitting: Last year was pretty much a bust once FIL died. My knitting mojo left, and still hasn't really returned. I think it's because I had just finished a pair of stained glass socks (he LOVED them), and started another pair when he died. I finally finished the 2nd pair in....August, I think (he died in MAY). I started a scarf for Himself in December, and I'm finally 2/3's done.

This year, I'd like to knit more. I need to finish his scarf, knock out a hat for Herself, and start on this year's scarf for Himself. And finish a few pairs of socks for me. We'll see.....

Sewing: Last year wasn't too bad. I spent at least half focused on bags/purses, but I did get a few clothing items done. This year, I want to do Himself's shirts, then focus on undergarments for Herself and me. And a few purses, here and there, for the shop. Oh, and a few laptop cases - Cyn needs one DESPERATELY, and I want to see if maybe there's a market for geeky ones. (Hers will be the tester. :lol:)

Spinning/Weaving: I honestly haven't done much of either. I NEED to get back to the loom - I need the quiet contemplation weaving brings me. Spinning......well, can't do that in the house right now, as Duncan would eat the wheel. Teething wolfhounds are...well....a MESS. But cute!

Exercise: By December, I had a decent routine worked out. Sun/Tues/Thurs I do the weight machine. Mon/Wed/Fri I do a Pilates tape - 20 minutes right now. I want to keep that up - I've lost an inch in my waist so far! :huzzah!: Soon as my ankle gets better (don't ask) I'd like to hit the treadmill.......:sigh:

The contract job has sorta started back up. We'll see how it goes - I don't mind it. The money is nice, and the work is easy. I'm supposed to help Cyn with tax returns, so that'll also help.

Himself has gotten me to play some video games with him - it's fun. It's also a good way to bond...so this Mama is going to try to become a gamer. :gulp: So far, he's got me into Subnautica (creative only - I don't DO scary sea monster jump scares! I like building underwater bases and exploring.), Medieval Engineers, and he wants me to start playing Space Engineers, too. Oh, and Kerbal Space Program. :lol: He's offered to buy me the older Star Wars games, too.....but that's going to involve getting a MS :hiss: machine to properly run them - Macs aren't great for gaming. (I think I'll be getting one, anyway, for the contract stuff. All the programs client uses are MS based.....:sigh: I HATE MS machines! I'm an Apple fan......) Ah, well - it's fun. The kids are currently playing Borderlands 2........it's too violent for *me*. I'm a wuss.....

Let's see....oh. Monday last Tigger had a seizure. NSDH immediately ran her to the ER Vet - she's now on anti-seizure meds. (Don't mind me. We can't afford for me to go get my ankle checked out, but we can go into debt for a dog. Sure. Why not?) She's doing fine now - we have no idea what caused it. Our vet said they don't diagnose epilepsy after the dog is 5.....she's going on 11 now. So....who knows? She'll be on pills the rest of her life (at $75/month. Really, don't mind me - I'll get over it eventually.)

Anyway, I think that gets me up to date. Tomorrow is back to Cyn's, then Tuesday is finish the bloody shirt and start the body double day. Should be fun!

Been busy - the contract job is nuts. The lady....well, her employees don't give a flip, and most of what she has paid/is paying me to do is fixing their mistakes. And boy howdy, do they make mistakes! STUPID mistakes....and they don't key the stuff into the computer. They had marked 1 bank account as reconciled......I had to go back to *2014* and reconcile, as it had NOT been done. :sigh: And they hadn't input the transactions on 3 bank accounts.....since MAY. (And...that's what they are paid to do.) Oh, well - I don't mind. Money is money......:lol:

My son bought my Hanukkah present today - a Bissell Crosswave Pet Pro. Basically, it's an electric mop/carpet cleaner. Fancy! Works a treat - the carpet cleaner is...lacking, but it'll work as a once-a-month thing. The mop works FANTASTICALLY - and since we are completely vinyl, it was worth the cost. Especially since we had a 20% off coupon. I had borrowed Mom's carpet cleaner (which is what started my search!), so the rugs were clean - I wanted a smaller model for us so I could keep them that way. (With the dogs....well, the rugs were FILTHY. I cleaned them Friday; today we cleaned the 2 kitchen rugs. The water was dirty, but no where NEAR what it was on Friday.)

There's not a lot to talk about - the contract job has been more steady than I really wanted. NOT complaining, mind you - but I had planned on 1 day a week, not 3. Or 4. :sigh:

Hope y'all are doing well. Hopefully I'll get back here later this week!

Can't sleep.....ankle still screwed. I had the pain down to mostly manageable levels....then I stepped in the husband's trench yesterday. :sigh: Ah, well. I was fully aware of the risks.

Last week we finally replaced the piece of junk sofa/loveseat set we got 5 years (or so) ago. RTG told us it was "leather everywhere your skin touches, and bonded leather everywhere else. It'll last!" Yeah....not so much. The back of the top of the couch - where you stretch your arms out - started flaking off within 6 months. :sigh: Biggest waste of money.....

Anyway. One of the reasons I took the contract job was to get the funds to replace them. The original plan was Ikea......but I got to thinking. $1500 for a set I wasn't really in love with. So I hit CraigsList....and Wednesday I found a nice-looking set, in the next town over. I quickly emailed and was told, well, someone was coming out to look, but they'd keep me in mind. The seller's next email went to Spam. I found it Thursday afternoon, quickly emailed, then called......long story short, we ran out Thursday evening and came home with a new-to-us REAL leather set. Built in 2003. In EXCELLENT condition. (Pictures when it's not so early.)(And after I clean them - it's been raining here. 14" or so in OCTOBER alone. Mud. :sigh: Why I wanted leather!)

Duncan is growing. I've been sewing. Himself has joined Herself in making earrings

Oh! Husband has a new job!!!!! It's an answer to a prayer - Praise God! He starts next Monday - no more contract labor!!!!!

Need to rustle up breakfast. Today is personal sewing (I need a new wallet), so should be relaxed. I'll try to be more consistent in posting.....since I switched our checkbooks to an accounting program (Manager.io - it's like QuickBooks, but FREE) I should be on the laptop more (it's easier to post from the laptop than the tablet. It's easier to use the tablet......you see my problem? :lol:)

We didn't get to visit the breeder this weekend (more on that in a moment), but she sent me some lovely pictures yesterday. He's gotten Big!







We're planning on going out this weekend, since all our necessary chores are done (as of today - right now, in fact.) See......last August, when we got our septic tank pumped, they informed me that the tank (fiberglass) was collapsing, and gave me anywhere from a few months to a year.

It lasted just at 1 year. Last month, the alarm went off - so we called. They sent out an inspector.....long story short, the tank has totally collapsed and needed replacing STAT. Gave me an estimate of 6 weeks......2 days later the planner came out, did a drawing, and gave me an estimate of, still, 6 weeks.

3 days later, he called and said they'd install the new CONCRETE tank, in *3* weeks. Or, today. :gulp:

So. I went into work mode. No one else did. :sigh: Last weekend, SG finally realized that Oh, S**t! Tank install is THIS THURSDAY oh dear! :sigh:

The back fence has been moved to behind my Studio (FINALLY! 2 years I've been waiting......) We put up a temporary side fence, and yesterday (yup. YESTERDAY. Why do I even....?) the old back fence was removed (well....most of it. There's still 16' that needs to come down....but at least MOST of it's down, right?)

This AM, SG removed the temporary side fence so that they could get the equipment in. I have 5 very upset dogs in the house right now - don't I understand that there are THINGS that need barking at? Outside? Now???? :lol:

We also got Himself's Studio and the "sweat shop" (what? It's better than "torture chamber", yes?)(home gym) painted, all the lights/fans installed, and measured for carpet. The carpet has been ordered and paid for, and the floor store ordered it Tuesday. Should be here in 2 weeks or so.....

Herself and I have "opened" an easy store. There's only 1 thing in it right now (Pokemon cards), but soon it'll be stocked with geeky jewelry and bags. I'll post a link once it's open - and then I will try not to mention it much again. I don't want this to devolve into an advertisement channel. :lol:

ETA: well....I am a klutz. While the guys were getting ready to remove the electrical box for the old system, they told me they needed to cut the power. I said OK, then realized that they didn’t know to also cut the solar box. I ran outside and got them safe, watched them remove the box, tie off the wires, and restart both boxes. I turned to walk back to the door, and found a hole Chloe had dug....and felt - and heard - something in my left ankle POP. Sigh. I have an orange-sized ankle now, turning a lovely shade of black - down from the softball-sized ankle of yesterday. Hurts......but I’ve survived worse. I e is my friend.......

First off, thank you EVERYONE that has kept us in your thoughts/prayers. It's been.....tough. Thank you for helping us.

Let me see....

Families can be...tough. We had some drama....but I am trying to ignore it. The Estate was to be split 3 ways, with the kids splitting 1 share (their dad's, basically. 3 kids in the family. I was honestly surprised that the kids were included, even though SG told me I shouldn't be. :shrug: I am VERY grateful!) BIL said we could all go thru and take what we wanted, with the understanding that Herself got ALL the stained glass components (not the finished stuff, but the glass/tools/etc. Apparently, I was the only one that didn't know she got the glass as well as the tools.....Surprise! :lol:) Ended up that 1 family member basically stripped the house of everything worth something.......including a couple of first edition books. :sigh: It's only stuff.....the only thing that hurt was 1 of the beds - it had been left to Herself, and EVERYONE knew it. We talked it over - we have NO room - and SHE decided it should be included in the Estate Sale, and everyone could get a piece of it. It.....got taken. Oh, well......I think I have Herself accepting it now, but it has been hard. Himself didn't want anything, but I got him some of FIL's things from Lockheed - like the tie tacks representing all the planes he worked on. :lol: And FIL's Navy yearbook.

Anyway - *7* full Jeep loads later (and 1 truck load!), we have all (or, almost all) of the glass and tools here. FIL....well. He'd been doing stained glass since the '90's.....and he had a bit of a....well.....stash problem. AND he was an Engineer.....so he had ALL the THINGS. And now we have all the things......Oy Vey.....We had spent the Tuesday evening after the funeral emptying out Herself's studio, cleaning it up, and painting the floor. Everything was outside, because it's JUNE, and that means HOT and Dry. Only......at 4:00 Wednesday AM, I was awoken by the distant rumblings of thunder. At 5 AM, SG was awoken by a HUGE clap of thunder, and we spent the next 45 minutes frantically hauling stuff back inside, trying to keep it dry. We.....failed, but the kilns and my soap was safely inside before the rain hit. Nothing got ruined, but...what a way to wake up! (The plan had been to bring everything inside Wed. morning, carefully putting it where it belonged, then taking Himself to his therapy appointment. That was a fail!) At least we had room for the glass storage......I thought. :lol: I didn't realize how MUCH glass he had....let's just say that *I* no longer think I have a yarn problem. :rofl: (It got SO bad, that I was yelling at the kids to QUIT opening boxes in FIL's garage. Seriously - every single time we opened a box, there was more glass. Or patterns. Or tools. We now have....8 soldering irons. The man had backups for his backups! :lol: And I'm sure we left some stuff......I have asked that the Estate Sale guy put any glass stuff aside for us, but if he doesn't, oh well. I think we can afford to buy any tools we may have missed. :nods:)

I have been trying to organize.....we have a large filing cabinet full of patterns. We will NEVER need to purchase a pattern...ever. We have tools I don't know what they do. And....I need to learn, because Herself only wanted the scraps for jewelry making, and we have panels. And panels. And large scraps. And did I mention patterns? Because.......yeah. :lol: Guess I have a new hobby.....I have plans. I want to eventually do a panel for our back door.....and transom-type panels for the top of each window in the house. I've been reading - this doesn't look like a difficult hobby. You trace your pattern on the glass, cut it (either with the hand wheel, or a saw - we have both), grind it (have 2 grinders), then foil it, tin it, and solder it. Add a frame (of lead - we have....quite a bit) and hangers, and voila! Done! We're going to start with mosaic stepping stones, so we can learn to cut and grind on pieces that don't...matter so much, then move to sun catchers. Then panels. We just have to get her studio fully organized...which will take some time. And some new furniture - she needs a larger desk to hold the workspace - the table FIL used will be where the saw and grinders live. (He had a HUGE workbench where they lived, but we have no room for that. We can squeeze in a desk, though, along with the table.) He also had a microwave and a microwave kiln for slumping glass.....:whee!:

And.....I think we are with puppy. I found a breeder not too far away that has a litter of Wolfhounds due 7/10. The sire....is closely related to Bree. :sob: and :lol: We visited them Sunday, and he is a HUGE love bug. The mom-to-be was a little more aloof than other Wolfies I've met, but I figure it's due to the pregnancy. She's got the more classic, bulkier/chunkier build than Bree (and the sire) had - which is actually what I want this time. And I want a boy. I told the breeder I'd be there the day after the litter arrives to put the deposit down; I didn't want to put down a non-refundable deposit and then not get a boy. :sigh: IF this works out, we'll be bringing the laddie home on or about Sept. 18......:fingers crossed: I miss my Wolfie......

Think that brings us almost up to date.

Guess what I got for Mother's Day? A new windshield for my Jeep! :lol: It was much needed - it was all cracked; last Monday I got hit with another rock that made it all the way thru. :sigh:

Himself made me a double batch of honey-free baklava. :mmmmmmmmm: I have a happy tummy now! :lol:

I have a Harrison Shirtdress laid out, ready to cut. I compared it's measurements with SOI's Vintage Shirtdress....and went with a 12 E/F. :gulp!: I added 2" to the length (I don't like knee-length dresses, I like them almost tea length. Yes, the pattern is drafted for 5'6"; I am 5'4". On a good day. However, the pattern looked like it ended right AT my knee......we'll see.), but the rest is going to be made as drafted. I'm hoping to be able to cut it out today, and maybe start sewing it up. We'll see - since it's already in the 90's here, I need all the lightweight, floaty dresses I can get my hands on. :sigh: It's looking to be a HOT Summer!

Speaking of.....we're making some changes around the homestead. After a LOT of talk, we've decided to ditch the pool. Yes, really. We only use it 3 months out of the year, and only - maybe - 5 days/week at that. The deck that the husband wants will cost us $10K.......and Himself has requested his own space to do his own thing in. (Why not? The other 3 of us each have space - Herself has the Garage Studio, I have my Studio, and the husband his shop. Himself is getting into modding Nerf blasters, and needs space to do so.)

So. We have negotiated a deal - I give up my pool, but I get a 14' x 32' building. With a hot tub annex added to one end. Himself gets half for his space; the other half will be a "workout" room, with access to the hot tub.

Being realistic, I know that the husband will use the workout space for.....a month. Maybe. Himself and I will use it long-term; I can't do any of my workout vids in the house because dogs. :rofl: And the hot tub will - WILL - be used by me year-round. I like taking hot baths - this will save money and time. The building will be where the pool is now, so right outside Herself's Studio doors. We can dry off in the "gym" before heading inside.

We're looking on CL for equipment; I want something that can do multiple exercises, to save space (and money!) The Total Gym is near the top of the list - we'll see what happens. (For the record - in the past year I've lost 3.5" in my waist and about 4" around my hips. I still have a ways to go, but at least I am moving in the right direction. The husband....not so much. He can't seem to understand the relationship between eating all the time and weight gain. :sigh:)

Anyway. That's what's going on here. Hope all is well with y'all!

1. Took Bree to the Vet - she's OK, just old. Looks like she has arthritis in her back/hind legs; she is on meds now. :sigh: Still - she's doing well for an 8 year old Giant.

2. New dog has a name: Suki. Yup - she's staying. Vet says she appears healthy; we'll be doing the whole check-up and spay thing soon (she had an upset tummy and diarrhea, so.....we have to get her over that, first.) She's sweet......but very much a puppy. Still in the chewing stage...:sigh:

3. Sewing: Not much. (See #2). I have a SOI Nancy cut out, but I need to widen the sleeve - the tissue doesn't fit. I think I'm going to recut the armscrye to the next size, and try THAT sleeve; we'll see. It's in time-out right now.

Instead, I'm working on a Swoon Pattern's Nora. A doctor bag. This one is going to be used for all the chicken medicines we have; eventually I'll have 3 - 1 chicken, 1 goat, and 1 horse. We'll see how it sews up - I have it all cut out (and all the stabilizer/foam/interfacing cut, too!), I just need to actually sit down and sew it.

4. The garden is...well. Suki LOVES to jump into the beds. She's killed 2 cucumber plants, so far. :sigh: The potatoes are going gang-busters, and the watermelon looks good. So do the strawberries. The rest....we'll see. :lol:

Not much else going on right now.

But it's a good tired! Let's see if I can get y'all caught up.

1. Studio: Have recovered the couch in the Studio (this was a while back, but still - need to update!). It was a really....out there 60's brown/yellow/orange/brown plaid; now it's plain canvas. I also made a quilt and 4 or 5 throw pillows for it. MUCH nicer in there, now!

1a. We also got rid of "Big Ugly" - the old entertainment center I had in there. Now I have a double Billy and a single, in white. They....well. Big Ugly was 3' deep; the Billys are 15". So all the fleece is hanging out next to the loom. But! The Billy's have glass doors, and my yarn looks VERY NICE now. I can actually SEE what I have....which...well. I don't need any yarn for a while. I have enough in most weights to make almost anything. (Only 1 sweater's worth set aside; if I decide I NEED another sweater, we'll have to go shopping. But for hats/gloves/socks/scarves, I'm set.

2. Knitting: Have banged out 3 hats and a few pairs of socks. I've slowed down recently - I messed up my right elbow last month and can't do a lot without pain. :sigh: I have 2 pairs of socks on the needles, but they are stalled. No biggie - I'm sewing, instead!

3. Sewing: I joined Sew Over It's PDF club, and have taken advantage of it. I jumped on the new "Ultimate Culottes" - I have 3 pair, so far. Have plans for a few more - the goal is to get rid of my default sweat pants, and replace them with something a little more feminine. These fit the bill, at least for Spring/Summer/Fall. Have some Jeans patterns I need to work on, but right now I'm focused on Summery stuff. (It's been in the 80's...in MARCH and early APRIL. How hot is August gonna be????) Fabric Mart had a huge sale, and I scored some really nice Cotton Lawn. Already knocked out 1 SOI Vintage Shirt Dress; I have SOI's Nancy Dress (a Swing Dress) that I think will make a lovely tunic that I will tackle next. (SOI FITS me. I have to do very very little modification to their patterns, which is very very rare for me. SO NICE!)

4. Life, in general: Himself is.....better. He has developed an interest in modding Nerf blasters, thanks to the YouTube channel "Battle Universe". We've been having Family Nerf battles every Saturday evening....I am bruised, but it's fun. He still can't deal with crowds, so he stayed home yesterday while the rest of us went to Dallas Fan Expo.

FYI: IF you should decide you'd like to take your family to a Con (and have never been), might I suggest Sunday as your first visit? It's generally less crowded and a little bit cheaper. Most vendors (but not all!) are willing to slash prices so they don't have to move the stock back home. BUT.

If, say, there are more than 2 autographs you want to get, and they are BIG names, I highly recommend you spring for at least 1 Premium ticket (or VIP, but those prices are.....well. $$$$) We learned this with Mark Hamill - Sunday tickets, long lines, almost didn't get the autograph after HOURS of standing in line. For David Tennent, I did the Premium - we got 5 line jumps, so there was very little waiting.

This time......well. It was HUGE. Just some of the stars: Princess Bride Vizini, Wesley, and Humperdink; 2001 (the 2 main male characters); Back to the Future Biff, Doc Brown (Michael J. Fox and the girl had to cancel last minute, but STILL); Val Kilmer; Chuck Norris; Richard Dean Anderson; Inara from Firefly, Anthony Daniels (C3P0), Billy Dee Williams (LANDO CALRISSIAN, Oh My Goodness!!!!)...and the list honestly GOES ON (oh, Ben Afflack was there....he's a bit full of himself.). There were 9 autographs SG wanted, so -after a lot of waffling, to the point he missed the VIP pass - he went for a Premium. He decided on 4, total...and got the 3 "big" ones on Saturday. (He would have gotten some on Friday, but the guys he wanted didn't make it before he had to leave.) Sunday he got Inara's while Herself and I waited in line for the 2 SHE wanted - the English voice actors for a Japanese anime called "My Hero Acadamia". If you haven't discovered it yet....go. Go NOW. It's just started Season 3, and it's WONDERFUL. (Basically humans have evolved super hero powers, called "quirks". There are a few quirkless folks around - the main protagonist is a 14 year old quirkless boy named Midoriya. (Called "Deku"). The Number 1 Hero is All Might - and Herself LOVES them. Here, let me show you:



When she found out Justin (Deku) and Chris (All Might) were going to be here, she pulled out the Sculpy and went to work. :lol: We took them with us yesterday so she could give them to the actors....who are both simply LOVELY people. Very, very, very nice and personable, and both of them were SO NICE to my out-of-her-element Aspie. :hugs: So nice, in fact, that she willingly got selfies with both:



That, my friends, is Chris Sabat, voice of All Might (and Vagita from Dragonball Z). He is.....well, you can see. :lol: (She is bounding as Bonnie from FNAF. She crocheted the guitar. Yes, it's awesome. :lol:)



This is Justin Briner, voice of Deku. VERY nice guy!

She is thrilled - SG bought her a print with the whole ensemble (Class 1A from the school), and both Chris and Justin signed it. If any of the other actors come thru, she'll get them to sign it, too. (Yes, *I* also have their autographs...because I really like the show, too.)

We came home with 2 new plushies for her (Oh My - 40" tall Bonnie and Chicka from FNAF. They barely fit in the car!!!), a Gjallorhorn prop from Destiny (it was a flash sale....for 75% off! Himself is looking into modding it to actually fire Nerf missiles. :lol:), a bunch of art work, and some custom-painted Nerf blasters. Oh! We also had a photo op with the Princess Bride trio - it was a hoot! It was a good day! But exhausting - today has been very laid-back.

things are going....well. Himself is doing better - his therapist is considering going to 2x/month instead of 4x. Last night we had a family Nerf war - HIS idea. It was fun! (FYI - Nerf darts HURT.)

Irish Fest was last weekend - it seemed to be not as busy as in years past. :shrug:

My baby is now *18*! How in the world did that happen????? :lol:

I've been busy. Yesterday I banged out 4 Nerf ammo pouches - they worked well. I have also made a new purse organizer, finished my Shirtdress, and am planning some culottes and a couple more dresses. AND working on a gender-swapped Han Solo outfit (probably not gonna be ready for Comic Con, but we'll see.) We have a new cushion set and placemat set for the kitchen table.....yeah, I've been trying to keep busy.

I've also been knitting. Socks, mostly.

I'm going to try to update more often.......things are sorta settled into a new normal.