It's Been A While...

...since I shared any backyard wildlife photos. And truth be told, these pictures weren't taken in the backyard. They were taken by the dumpster at the end of the street.

Happy Thanksgiving

Sure it's pretty, but will there be horcruxes? Scott and I are going nontraditional after work - Harry Potter 7.1 and then modified Thanksgiving dinner of chicken breasts, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and probably a vegetable. I made cranberry-orange cookies for us to take to work, but no dessert for tonight.

Anyway, have a great turkey day and don't forget to stop for a moment and remember what you are thankful for: ME! ;-)

Making Things

Whenever I make anything, there's this moment in the process where it goes from an abstract to an actual thing. For me, that's a bigger accomplishment than seeing the completed product. When making cookies, it's adding the flour that turns the slimy sugar-butter-egg goo into cookie dough. With soft pretzels, it never seems real until the dough has risen.

Today, I made a vest for Scott. I cut out most of the pieces yesterday, before realizing that we couldn't find the iron (umm...this also means I haven't ironed in over a year...is it wrong that I'm proud of that?). I quit for the night, and then finished cutting this morning after a run to Target for a $7 iron and an eggnog latte.

So really, 80% of this process happened today. After the cutting, I attached the front and back at the shoulders. Then came the long and tedious process of pinning and then ironing interfacing to the lining. (still not quite sure what the heck the point of that was) Then I attached the back and front of the lining at the shoulders. Then I spent an hour pinning the whole outside to the whole liner. Then it was finally time to sew more than 6" at a time.

Much like making a pillow, you sew the vest together with the "good" sides facing each other, leave a hole, and then flip it right-side-out through the hole. It wasn't until I did that flip that I looked down at the work table and thought, "holy shit - this might actually work!"

It's done now, except for the buttons. I'm waiting to have Scott try it on while I pin the buttons in the right spot. I'm so proud of myself. I haven't sewn anything since 9th grade sewing class and half expected to have a temper tantrum and never finish. Quite the contrary, I considered the extra fabric that I bought, and seriously thought about making a vest for myself. But then I realized how small our office is, and how I haven't had anything to eat since 8 am, and I thought perhaps I'll just take it easy for the rest of the day.

No vest for me, but I am going to use some extra fabric to make myself a matching belt/sash thing and a headband. You're going to love these pictures, I'm sure!

More Water, Please

I'm having a glass of water for breakfast.

Yesterday, I had multi-grain Cheerios for breakfast, a tuna salad salad (tuna salad on a bed of romaine) for lunch, and dry honey nut Cheerios for dinner. Dinner, by the way was partly before Candlelight rehearsal and then as much as I could swallow before 7:00.

That's right, I have fasting blood work this morning. And yesterday's meal was a feeble attempt to skew the results. Some may call it cheating, but I think it's just good sense. Plus, I had those home-made ravioli the night before last, so it's not like I've been sensible for long.

I know from a non-fasting cholesterol test I had at work that Cheerios for breakfast significantly lowered my triglycerides. I have my fingers crossed that I'll be back in the normal range without pharmaceutical intervention. Wish me luck!

...and after the blood test? McDonald's for breakfast!

Imodium

I took two Imodium Wednesday night. I rarely take Imodium at all, and when I do I've been known to take 1/2 a pill. I don't know how it works, but I picture it as one of those novelty capsule-that-turns-into-a-sponge-animal things, but with concrete instead of a sponge.

Anyway, at the time two pills seemed like the best thing for me. Trust me - I was near tears and tweeting to God for mercy.

Fortunately, the pills worked.

Unfortunately, the pills are still working.

I may be putting prunes on the shopping list.

Sad Jamie is Sad

Wow, it's worse than 2004. Rubio and Webster will be representing me and my district. I don't think I'll be excitedly waiting up for results tonight.

Damn...

The 'Dream' is a Floating Reality

Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to present you with my new computer desktop image:


photo credit. there are 71 photos in the gallery, and it's definitely worth spending a few minutes there

The Disney Dream took a major step forward (while being tugged backwards) over the weekend when her Floating Out took place at the shipyard in Germany. The official Disney take on the event can be found here (along with some other cool pictures).


It's hard to gauge the size difference between this ship and the Magic/Wonder ships until you take a look at a picture of the stern. At least that was true for me. Not only is this ship 3 or 4 decks taller, it's also broader. I don't even think that there are verandas on the other ships that face that direction.



Anyway, it's pretty awesome. And apparently the first 450 crew members will be moving on board soon to get the inside sparkling and pretty. She'll be doing sea trials for the next two months, and then heading "home" to Port Canaveral for her inaugural cruise in January. I can't wait to see her in person!