Ugh

Just spent a good hour of my time trying to figure out what widgets are, how to get them on my blog, got one on my blog, decided I didn't like it after all, and finally figured out how to remove it, thus eating up nearly all of my blogging time for tonight.

Still working on the dress; although, I didn't do too much on it this weekend. The husband was nice enough to stick pins in it, and himself, but not me, in order to help me take in the bodice. I stopped there, but am planning another marathon sewing day this Tuesday.

I tried out a new Weight Watchers shepherd's pie recipe that I quite liked. I don't think I can share it though as I'm sure the copyright gnomes will come and sue me in my sleep.

The only other news was the disaster we inadvertently subjected Chewy to on Saturday morning. I've been going to the gym at about 5:20 every morning and the husband has informed me, after the fact, that Chewy has been whining in his crate every morning after I leave. According to the husband, he's learned through trial that Chewy doesn't actually have to go potty; he just wants to get up.

So, Saturday morning when the pooch started whining at 4:30 am, which he never does, the husband thought he was crying wolf again. Turns out he wasn't. At all. In a nutshell, the new crate liner has been thoroughly broken in by a large puppy accident. Poor baby. They hate getting their beds soiled in that way. We knew the mistake pretty fast though once it happened because it stunk up the entire house in a nanosecond. Then Chewy accidentally stepped on it on his way out of the crate, so he had to get a bath while the mat was washed, the whole crate bleached, any nearby toys sanitized, and all the windows opened. The husband went back to bed at about 7:00 when the whole ordeal was over with, but I was traumatized into a wide-awake state. Chewy had come home from doggy day camp that day so exhausted we think he just forgot to tell us he needed to go before bed, and we didn't notice because he's usually so communicative about that. Ah well. This is life with a dog.

The flip side of that day was much more positive. A couple we're friends with have a new puppy, 10 weeks old, a mix. We brought Chewy over for a puppy play date and it was really fun to watch them together. The puppy is adorable, of course. And Chewy is much bigger than she is, but they soon settled into a happy game of Chewy lying on the floor, the puppy standing on him, sinking her teeth into anything she can. Mostly his cheek. But they both loved it. And the human company was fabulous as well. We played that movie trivia game: Scene It. I learned many interesting things that everyone else probably knows, but the most astounding was that Jack Nicholson only discovered as an adult that the woman he thought was his sister was really his mother! I'll leave you to ponder that one...

Tomorrow's Another Day

In addition to learning in the past few months that The Muppet Show is finally out on DVD, I am ecstatic to see that Newhart seems to be debuting on the DVD scent soon as well! I've been checking that one on Amazon over and over for months. I'm so excited! That was one of my favorite shows as a child, which was great because my parents liked it, too. In my browsing, I've also discovered Fraggle Rock and All Creatures Great and Small. Thank God for wish lists. I'm still trying to catch up on the series I have, though: the first seasons of Alias, Lost, and Veronica Mars; although, I did see the latter two in their original airings. But I'm more excited about all the old favorites showing up. After all, I can still watch Lost and Veronica every week.

Enough TV. The other thing on my mind today is cookies. As most of you probably know, it's Girl Scout Cookie week and there's no escaping them. I ordered three boxes, the first time I've ordered any in years. One of the PTs in my department has a daughter who sells them. My mom used to drive me around for hours after school and on the weekends, schlepping me all over rural Upstate NY, in the freezing cold, so I could be a top seller (and I was). So it's hard to turn those girls down. But the aforementioned father also continues to donate free boxes to the rest of the department as fast as we can scarf them down. I'm actually a little sick of Thin Mints now, impossible as that sounds. Today I managed to avoid the little boxes of temptation by staying out of my office completely. This was a successful strategy in that I got out of there in record time today, having seen all my patients by 2:00, but I was foiled by a nurse wielding a box of bakery cookies right under my nose. There's just no winning when it comes to cookies. I succumbed.

Sew-Sew

Quick post this morning. I had planned to post yesterday, as it was a day off from work for me, but I made a vow to myself that I was going to spend the whole day in my sewing room. I've just been longing to be able to do that for so long now and after being at work six days last week, I decided yesterday was the day. So there was no time for blogging. And now I'm getting ready for work again, so only have time for a quick post.

I finally finished Chewy's crate mat. I didn't take a close-up picture, but it's just straight line-quilted. The back is the same as the front. I inserted ties so it won't get all bunched up in one corner as he wiggles around in there. He may, of course, eat the ties. There's just a single layer of low-loft batting in there, so it's not that padded, but I'll be making him a real bed for the living room soon.

My current WIP is a dress for die Frau's wedding in April. This is the first dress I've made that wasn't a halloween costume. The first real clothing I've made at all, now that I think about it, because the pajamas I've made were not really on the same level as this. Here's a shot of the fabric I'm using. It's actually a home decor fabric, kind of heavy, so I'm hoping it won't be too heavy. The pattern I'm using is a Vogue, can't find the pattern on-line and don't have time to run and get the number for you right now, but I'll try to remember in a later posting. Anyway, it's supposed to be an easy one, an a-line with princess seams, strapless with boning, which I've also never used before. I've gotten as far as sewing all the panels together with the zipper in. My first invisible zipper and it turned out really well! And the thing mostly fits. Perfect in the hips, a little big in the waist and bust, no surprise to me there. So I still need to put in the facing and boning and struggle with the adjustments which will be the hardest for me, I predict. I understand how to take in the panels that are otherwise done at this point, not so clear on how to adjust the facing to match...

Okay, have to get going to work.

Rodents Of Unusual Size? I don't think they exist.

Ahhhh....so good to finally make time to blog some of the things that have been going on lately. Not that there's been anything oh-so-exciting, but it's exhausting to have partially composed blog entries running through your head day after day.

My mom was here visiting for about a week and a half. It was wonderful to see her and we had a very relaxing time. She accompanied me on many an errand, took us to dinner, babysat the dog so we could sleep in...It was heaven. I definitely missed her when I came home from work to an empty house the day she left.

One highlight was a trip to the Tucson Botanical Gardens, where they're currently displaying a butterfly exhibit. It's supposed to be one of the better collections in the country. The temperature inside was about 90 degrees with 87% humidity. I felt like my skin was melting off and actually didn't last as long as my mom did. You get spoiled by the lack of humidity in Tucson. I also was kicking myself for forgetting my camera, but I remember that the Blue Morphos, from South America, was one of the species most aggressively flying around. Several landed on me. It was very cool. We also paid a visit to the Phoenix Zoo, where all the animals were sleeping, despite the fact that it was not a particularly hot day. I can't remember what this animal is called. Something that starts with a "C," according to the zoo. But I defy you to tell me that this is not an ROUS.
These turtles were really funny. The were all sunbathing on various logs in the pond, and everytime another swam up and tried to climb onto the log, the log would roll and they'd all fall off into the water. So cute.

After some initial shyness, Chewy fell in love with my mom. And his grandma spoiled him in traditional fashion. She bought him a duck before she left, complete with duck-call squeaker inside, which he has been loving non-stop.

In sewing news, there are a few pictures of things I'd made in December that I never posted because they were Christmas surprises. I think it's safe for the big reveal now that it's February. The first is an apron I made from a pattern--can't remember which at the moment, but leave a comment, if you'd like to know and I'll go find it. I made a couple for friends and one for myself. However, my BFF's SO commandeered hers for laundry folding. In his camo hat, pajama pants, and Ithaca is Gorges sweatshirt. It's a look.I would have sworn that it was Stardust Shoes from whom I got the idea to stitch scrapbooking ribbon onto onesies, but now that I'm looking for the entry with which to credit her, I can't find it. I'm so sorry, whomever I borrowed this idea from. If you think it's you, leave me a comment, and I'll credit you. Anyway, I made some for both Baby J and Baby S. Sorry the second picture is crappy. It took me a while to figure out how to do it well, and I fear, as first borns are always required to do, that Baby J is suffering through the crooked, far from perfect, prototypes whereas Baby S, being the second infant to arrive in my life, got the mastered versions. It ended up working best if I fused the ribbon to the onesie first with interfacing, then used a zigzag stitch on the border. I think Baby J grew out of his about a second after wearing them anyway, so that's alright. Although, Baby S has had some incidents with her as well, so what can you do?

Chewy's crate mat is still coming along, at a snail's pace. I'm just sewing on the binding, but, man, me and hand-stitching. It's painfully slow. As a parting shot, here's his best shag rug impression:

What I lack in frequency, regarding blog entries, I make up for in length, no? Not really the way I intended this blog to be, but that's my reality for now. Thanks for your patience, dear readers.