Phew. That's it for this year.

I'm definitely more tired than the boys. I've had significantly less sugar than they have, too.

I didn't get any good pics of their costumes, but am about to go make them put the bits back on for a picture...

There. Now I have to wait until I turn on my own computer and transfer them.

NaNo starts in 3 hours, but I'm going to be asleep. First thing in the morning and I'll get off to a flying start, I promise!

yeah. nerds rock!

teehee! (swiped from Pundit Kitchen)

Who? No, they're gone...

http://www.wired.com/vanish/2009/08/gone-forever-what-does-it-take-to-really-disappear/

How many books have hinged on someone trying to disappear?

Interesting article on Wired about disappearing.

true? false? they think it's true therefore it is?

Well, it might be true. But then again it might not be. But hey, slap it in the media and get a lot of attention either way...

Dystonia after flu shot?

I wish they were joking....

But there's an article in the local newspaper's online blog about a new stadium for a local high school.

Yes, they probably need one.

Yes, it'll be lovely and they hope it will stimulate the economy in the rather poor area it's going in.

It's a joint venture between the school district (closing and combining schools for lack of funds, laid off all the school librarians and much of the support personnel and tons of teachers, etc) and the City of Sacramento (can't balance its budget because of lack of funds, the city and county are laying off more people - the news this morning is that they are laying off people from Childrens' Protective Services. MORE people from there. To the point that it sounds like hey, you kids are on your own, OK? Oh and the county health clinics? DOOMED.)

But hey. The football team needs a nice field. To h*** with academics and jobs and basic health and safety, right?

yes THIS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewUt1PGTJyk&feature=player_embedded

Willie Dixon, Built for Comfort, not for speed :)

PICTURES - quilts first

ds1's quilt - half of it anyway



ds2's quilt top - finished and pinned


ds2's quilt in motion - note the jingle bells at the corners


And now the action shot!

Still can't get it to work...

I'm trying to publish a link on facebook each time I publish a blog post. There are some really complicated instructions I found in one place an a facebook app which is supposed to pull it automatically, but doesn't.

So I guess I'll just link whenever I think of it.

And lookie my new sidebar pic :) Yippeee Nanowrimo!

pondering shipping

I placed an order with Barnes and Noble and am waiting for my books.

So I went and checked and they said they turned it over to DHL in Reno on Oct 10th. So I check the link for shipping and they carried my books from 123 miles away from me to the East to 123 miles away to the South (according to google maps) and then handed them over to US Mail for delivery. They probably drove by 4 miles from my house on US 80. Maybe they flew over?

Now HOW does that save money? B&N has a good deal with DHL that beats USPS prices, but then DHL has a good deal with USPS that beats the price that B&N can get?

Very confused (and waiting for my books which would have likely been here already if they'd just dropped them in the mail in Reno a week ago)

UPDATE: they arrived not long after I posted this. yay for the mail-delivery-person!

quilts and more quilts

DS2 has been pestering me to learn to sew. Yesterday, since we were off school for teacher in-service, I gave in.

We started with a small pillow (a 'babysitter' in my family's parlance) and it's lovely. Then he got ambitious, so he chose some fabric and we cut squares for a doll-size quilt to be about 18x24 inches. I chose 7 inch squares so there would be lots of room for seams.

Because I can't cut a straight line, we used the rotary cutter and I did a lot of the cutting.

So DS1 decided to get in on it and while DS2 started sewing, he started cutting out 6 inch squares to be about... 28x33 when he's done (6x5 times 6 inches minus seam allowance.... Whatever that makes). DS1 did a lot of the cutting without my help, so he made more goofs and had squares he couldn't use. But he did I great job and has his squares. DS2 did most of the sewing on his squares and I finished up for him.

Today, I had DS2 pin his quilt top with the batting and backing and DS1 started sewing. Apparently, it takes too long and is really booooring, so he did 2 of the 6 columns and I did one and the rest is for tomorrow. It's shaping up really well.

So far only one rotary cutter accident and it was shallow. Also only one sewing blunder that had to be unpicked and that one was mine - which showed the kids that even experienced sewistas (though i don't have that much experience and am not that great) make mistakes and it's OK.

And then I got out a quilt top I made a few years ago that never got attached to the batting and backing and started pinning. I need the rest of my pins - the ones that are currently in DS2's quilt. One of these days I'll finish it. Probably.

oh that's all right then

Sacramento's unemployment rate is now only 11.8%. And only 12.2% statewide!

oy....

gloomy topics on a sunny day

cf. my last post about infant loss awareness day. My online friend Jeanette had a baby that they had every reason to believe was fine and healthy and yet the baby died within a couple of hours.

Another online friend, Jen, lost her nephew who was not quite three (not technically an infant, but at least as difficult)

I had a miscarriage about 3 years ago and it made me depressed for a long time. I was coming out of it when I got pregnant even though we were trying to avoid it and now I have my lovely, happy girl. Mostly happy. Hitting the twos a bit early and likes to climb things. But oh she's gorgeous :)

And then there are the goodbyes to older friends, too. Since it's breast cancer awareness month, there's a display at my gym and i keep tearing up while trying to work out, thinking about my mom's friend, Judy, who passed away a few months ago from pancreatic cancer after battling breast cancer for 30+ years.

And now sad news from England, where another online friend, Amanda and her family are watching her mother who has been fighting off pancreatic cancer as well, quite suddenly and massively fail. She is going very quickly now.

So rough day for thoughts.

Kids home from school for teacher in-service days, so I'm trying to not get gloomy. We'll be out running around to karate and soccer in a bit, which will at least be a distraction.

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day

October 15th is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day across the world. We would like to invite you to take part in the global 'Wave of Light'. Simply light a candle at 7pm and leave it burning for at least 1 hour to join us in remembering all babies that have died during pregnancy, at, during or after birth.
This can be done individually or in a group, at home or in a communal space. Wherever you do this, you will be joining a global wave of light in memory of all the babies who lit up our lives for such a short time.

For my online friend Jeannette

storm saga

Doesn't that sound dramatic?

In reality, i went shopping for a bit yesterday morning - in and out of the car and stores, getting totally blasted by rain and wind to try to find some boots for the toddler. I should have gone straight to target, but didn't want to drive that far.

Then we went to get the boys from school and got totally soaked (me all over except where I had her in the sling, her only the end of her legs where she wasn't protected by the sling and the poncho.

Then out and in for the library, out and in for the copy shop, out and in for karate - back out to wander for a very short time to keep her busy during karate and back into karate and out and into the car.

Then we pulled up out front of the house and the garage door didn't open. The electricity was off.

And guess what? Dumbhead me had been thinking for MONTHS that I should put the side door key back on my key ring, but had I? Oh no. So we went to Round Table for dinner - and it was buffet night and the boys ate some salad. *faint from surprise*

And back home again and the electricity was back on. otherwise, we would have driven for about 45 minutes round trip to get DH's keys from him at his work.

Oh, and we had to go look at our old live Xmas tree that was growing so nicely out front, but which apparently hadn't put down enough roots and so is flopped over sideways and we're going to have to take it out. sad.

And by this time I was soaked to the skin about 5 times. I was almost over that cold, too. Oh well.

So we came in and rebooted DH's server and I turned my crock pot back on to finish cooking the lentils that I wasn't going to have for dinner and went around fixing the clocks (elec was out for just over 2 hours).

From there, it was just a matter of getting DS2 to finish his math homework (no spelling this week because today is the last day due to teacher work days) and general goofing off and normal evening stuff.

Oh, and today I went all the way to Target and got to choose between Hello Kitty and Optimus Prime (transformers) for DD's boots. I sighed and went with the cat. I also got her some cheap tennis shoes. poor love has only worn soft leather shoes so far and wouldn't even take a step in her new boots because they were weird and heavy. She was stumbling around in the shoes, but at least she could walk.

I got some cheap shirts from the baby and boys' clearance racks at Target, too. Nothing is DS2's size, but we can now hand down some shirts that were getting too small for DS1, I guess.

cynic mode

Ever had the urge to make rude comments to everyone on your whole facebook and blog lists about every nit-picky thing you don't agree with?

So yeah. Don't talk to me for a couple more days.

Fighting off a cold and premenstrual. Feeling sharp!

Typhoooooooon!

It's not just supposed to be rain on Tuesday, it's supposed to be RAIN. It's leftover bits of a huge typhoon. 2 inches of rain predicted in the valley and 6 in the foothills, then a ton and half of snow up in the mountains. (and here we pause to think about the Donner Party and wonder if it was leftover bits of typhoon that stranded them up just this side of Lake Tahoe)

So everyone stay put in warm places up there in the mountains and keep an eye out for floods and landslides everywhere else.

It's going to be a bumpy ride!

Poor Girl Eats Well

I've just been introduced to this in the last week or so. Some of her recipes look really good, but I have my usual problem with them as I do with most recipes.

Take the French Lentil Salad she posted today: It sounds really great in theory. Only I really dislike half of the ingredients. I can substitute red lentils for green ones easily enough and get something smoother and less gritty (green lentils - pwah!), but once I remove the onions and the cilantro from the salad and the shallots from the dressing, well, I might just as well make up my own recipe. And I haven't seen Israeli couscous, so would probably end up with regular couscous.

And of course, my second problem with new things: my boys probably wouldn't eat it anyway.

And DH doesn't like lemon or feta, so there are two more of the ingredients...

waiting for rebates....

I got my check from the gas company for my washing machine rebate. $35.

I just logged onto the Sears site as i submitted the rebate for delivery right after I bought the machine adn it has finally gone through. They should be sending the debit card for $75 soon.

I have a coupon for money off at Lowe's if I use a certain credit card.

I should get gift cards for Lowe's with my rebates on that credit card.

That way, I might be able to afford a new door from the house to the garage. I still won't be able to afford the delivery and installation because those were totally ridiculously priced. Anyone local really good at carpentry?

Saturn's clouds

Interesting little bit on the hexagon at Saturn's north pole.

I think that's where they took the lug nut out that was holding Saturn onto its axis. Any day now, it'll be hurtling off into space.

Did I post the other day....

that I noticed that DS1's armpits were stinky?

Someone at Curves said their 4th grade supply list included deodorant, but I just shook my head, even though DS1's hair gets greasy in about 3 days.

Anyway, I noticed they were stinky and the next time I thought of it when I was at the grocery store, I got him some Tom's of Maine deodorant (non-antiperspirant) in unscented. When he took a bath, i said to be sure to wash all over and then use the deodorant in the morning.

So half an hour later, he's in his bathrobe and having his brother sniff his pits.

It turns out that he didn't wash his armpits, but he put on the deodorant and surprise surprise, it didn't cover up all the smell.

Adolescence is going to be long, isn't it?

How to combat sexism

Good, funny, and yet serious.

THIS article should be read by all.

Gems such as "6. Sit down to watch some Disney Princess films with young girls and ask some challenging questions. Such as: why can't the seven dwarves do their own chuffing cleaning? Never mind Cinderella hoping the Prince will fancy her - what if she finds him a boring arse? And why are all middle aged women cast as bitter, expendable trouts? Explain that television works in a similar way."