My office will never be clean…
:smack:
I have waaaay too much crap in here.
So many creative people around here!
I’ve talked about it more than once, so people know I’m a fairly creative person. I write some, sort of a co-operative writing group and we play in a variant of the World of Darkness that we’ve made up… and other places. But I am also fairly handy with the womanly arts as they are sometimes called. I don’t know who first taught me what, many of the women in my family are crafty sorts, but I can remember Grandma teaching me to sew on her forty odd year old (maybe more) singer machine (that she still has, and uses regularly) for a Girl Guide badge. I no longer have the notebook we pinned and wrote everything in but I remember we made a cute purple shirt for my Barbie doll, making the pattern ourselves. I also made this giant blue caftan that had no shaping whatsoever. We went to the store and picked the material from the back of the shop, and Grandma helped me put in the zipper and trim it with a pink and flowery strip. It’s ugly as sin, but I still have it and wear it as a housecoat sometimes.
Grandma also showed me something of canning (not much though, as I was the one who got to peel and slice) and taught me to not sit in front of the tv and do nothing. If I ever dared to do that she’d hand me a crochet hook and yarn and I’d start making granny squares. I wonder whatever happened to the pillow I made. I made the squares then we sewed a pillow and crocheted the squares around it.
I still can’t sit and just watch tv or a movie most of the time.
My aunt and a friend of the family are the ones who showed me to cross-stitch. I don’t do it much anymore, though I enjoy it, simply because I don’t have the space for them. Knitting I can use, but there are only so many cross-stitch pictures I can give away or hang up on my walls. I really ought to finish my teddy bears of the world I have tucked away somewhere. I had a couple of them, one was Mexican and the other Australian.
My Mom isn’t much of a crafter. She can knit a little, and she is an okay cook… she excells at baking. I love coming home to fresh baked bread, or perhaps scones, or maybe a lovely pie. For some reason her cookies always come out crispy, but I blame that on an oven that runs a little hot. We’ve also decided that we need to take up canning again. Just a little bit, maybe some mustard pickles or pickled beets or some fruit. Maybe I’ll feel able to making jelly like Grandma does some day.
I’ll talk about the family gardening later. Myself? I don’t have the space but I always manage to at least have a few pansies. This year I have pansies and marigolds.
Jebus. Insanely busy around here for a Monday. Oddly I’m in pretty good spirits where by this point with as much as I’ve done today I’d be grumpy. I’m pretty sure it’s the vitamins I started taking a few months back, cos I get this way from time to time for no apparent reason. I like it.
Mahna[sup]2[/sup] - Oh, I’m not at all put off by the colour. I’m easily able to make the disconnect between perception and reality, so if I know what something is and tastes like (in the case of food) I won’t easily be put off by its appearance. I simply meant I could see why this wouldn’t exactly be a best seller, causing it to show up at a surplus outlet on clearance for a buck; not everyone can make that distinction quite so well. 
Lunch time. Japanese today. With chopsticks, no less!
Yeah, I think that’s a big part of why I stopped x-stitching too. Too many of the patterns are cutesy or hokey, and I’d never put those up in my house, and I don’t really want to subject others to stuff that I wouldn’t put up. Even the really beautiful landscape scene types… I just can’t see putting those up. It’s not the kind of art I’d want in my house. So that combined with the PITA-ness of having to change thread colors every two stitches for shading… well, I threw in the towel a couple years ago.
I’m glad #1 son made it back safely from Oz rigs.
I was watchin’ tv and a commercial for David’s Bridal came on. First, how bad would a $99.00 weddin’ dress look I wander. Second, “take up to one full year no interest to pay for your gown”. Ummmmmm… how freakin’ much would one need to spend on a weddin’ gown to take that long to pay for it? Third, why would anybody want to pay that freakin’ much for a dress?
Ok, I’m over that now. 
Picu I don’t know what I’d do if anything ever happened to my son. It’s something that will always be with you, but sometimes you can turn it into something to help others. The suicide hotline that Post Secret advertises was started by a man whose wife commited suicide… my aunt has turned to advocacy, raising money for agencies that help (she was recently written about in a magazine, it was saddening to read as she talked about Duncan and how it had affected her). You see, my uncle committed suicide a few years back. I was originally told he had a heart attack, which would be technically true (he overdosed) but the truth came out.
He was the one uncle who seemed to understand me and what I was going through. Looking back, it makes sense, because I was very depressed and on the verge many times though I don’t think I could ever take that step. At one time I despised myself for not being able to have the courage to do so… now I’m very grateful I didn’t.
I don’t know if it would help, but maybe helping others might help you. It’s worth a try, though it will never bring him back. hugs
The closing of an 1877 letter:
People were more flowery back then.
Reading that after the Chinglish thread is a balm on my soul.
#1 son is up now and due to work at 1pm, so he can’t go to the movie. Daughter doesn’t want to go (she’s going skating). So–it’s me and the Kid (aka #2 son). I’ll see if he has a friend he wants to invite.
I’m in love with a much younger man…my husband has pictures. (Or, my baby had a baby.)
Okay, my new grandson was born Saturday evening to my younger daughter. Angelboy came into this vale of tears via c-section just after 8:00 pm edt. At 8 lb 2 oz, thick black hair & dark green eyes. My husband’s camera has pictures of everyone holding baby (not important) and Angelboy himself (important).
(cue Mary Martin) “I’m in love, I’m in love, I’m in love with a wonderful boy!”
Love, Phil
Congrats on your new grandbaby, Phil.
I am sure much spoiling and loving will ensue.
The weather today is just beautiful. Why, oh why, did I decide to work today?
I just talked to my daughter. She has a job interview at 9:15 tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed everyone. This job would be perfect and convenient as it is located like 6/10ths of a mile from our house. She could easily walk there when we couldn’t give her a lift.
Drive-by…
PC is DOA, and this is from a friend’s unit. More, later.
::vroom::
ETA: First!
Fortunately, it’s not like that here. It’s overcast and hot and horrifically humid in the minutes-before-a-storm kind of way. Which makes it the perfect weather for a post-long-weekend Monday. No one wants to be outside anyway so we might as well be at work!
Yay for new grandbaby!
Congrats on the new grandson Phil. You have Mumper permission to spoil at will.
Just cause I can, Ima go take a nap now.
Later Y’all!
Forgot to congratulate GT on her very beautiful garden and pictures - thanks for sharing them with us all.
And congrats to you, Phil on the grandson!!!
Congrats Phil on the new grandbaby!
Fingers crossed for your daughter getting the job Taters!
I forgot to mention before - I will be finishing up at the hellhole on the 18th, so no financial crisis next month! My current boss told the other associate in the office that he was gonna pile the work on me during my last 2 weeks. How does he achieve this, you ask? By giving me 4 days to do an advice that I could finish in 8 hours, if I were actually motivated! The guy is truly a moron! Aaaahhhhhhh! Funny!
Yay grandbaby!
Fingers crossed for new job!
:: zoom ::
That’s wonderful, Dotty!
Congrats on the lil tyke, Phil. We want pics, dammit!
Taters–toes are crossed because I need my fingers to type.
Important Question: do I want another lemon meringue tart?
Of course you want another tart; nay, you *need * another tart for medicinal purposes.
Yes. They’re healthy!
Congrats, phil!
:Drives by:
Yay for the new grandbaby, Phil! Please supply photos - I could use something to squeee over today.
So, thanks to much caffeination over the course of the day, I managed to stay awake thus far. The half bag of wine gums I snarfed down over lunch probably helped out a fair bit too… I’m now trying desperately to pretend that the remaining half of the wine gums are sitting in my drawer, all lonesome and awaiting a chance to join its erstwhile bag-mates in my belly.
Dotty, isn’t it nice when you continue to get vindication even after you’ve already won? I suggest that you point and laugh heartily at dimwit boss as you leave on the 18th… he deserves it.