right now

right now

Nov 3, 2011

Aprons and Rants...

Count me in for the apron sew-off this month!  These are the patterns I had in the house to choose from:




I swore I wouldn't go buy and books or new patterns since we just spent so much on a computer.  Next I need to check out my fabric, good thing I have a good stash of that, too!  I'm thinking the top pattern, since I really don't like aprons that "tie" behind the neck, I like the simplicity of the old styles that just just require flopping over the head and that have big pockets.  What do you think?

Sparkless expressed that she needed a good rant from me :), and wow do I have some from the past month.  I'll be quick though since I don't really want to rehash the loss of the computer!  Okay, here goes...

You know what the worst part of the computer ordeal is?  The fact that the old computer is bigger than the new one, and that the style hasn't changed one bit!  There's something nerve wracking about spending money on something YOU ALREADY HAVE (albeit non-functioning)!!  One would expect "new" to be "different" - maybe a light show or that it now doubles as a serger machine...something!!

4 year old mac now resides on the floor next to stacks of Halloween decorations...


New, smaller (but faster and functioning) mac on the desk...


I guess it's good news in disguise, the design is so awesome that it hasn't changed LOL, the other good part is that I have more desk space!  The bummer part is that we did have to put it on a credit card, but at least we were able to score it at the Navy Exchange here which had 0% interest for a year, 10% off and no sales tax, which is a pretty big chunk of change on such an expensive purchase.  As far as choosing the computer, there was no contest for me, since macs are all I've ever owned and they are wonderful (the demise of my last one was due to a storm and my not taking proper precautions!).  The kids' old style iMac with the dome drive is still functioning and it's really old, but it's also really slow, LOL.  Hopefully this one will last, and lesson learned:  this time I sprung for the extended Apple Care warranty :)

Only one more hurdle to overcome, and that's the fact that my iPhone died the same day Steve Jobs did.  Consequently, right now I'm paying for cell service I can't use, grrrr!  It was kind of overdue though, since I'm one of the proud ones that was still using the 1st generation iPhone, it was getting to be kind of a badge of honor whipping that relatively big iPhone out and having people ask "that still works?"!  Well, no longer, and that's next on the list.  It's hard for me to upgrade the thing since I only text and hardly ever use the phone to actually talk, BUT I did like having it when I needed it...   

*  Side story here: as the 1st "smart phone", I thought it was pretty cool to have years ago when it first came out but thought "really, will I ever use it for what it is?"... After having it for only a month, we took a road trip home to MN and when we stopped at a rest stop at midnight in the Middle of Nowhere, PA I went to get Finn (then about 2 yrs old) out of his carseat in the dark, I noticed little pills scattered all over the backseat.  He had managed to lift up a bag off the floor with his foot, root around in there and come up with an irresistible shiny foil package of estrogen pills.  Oh yes, he had popped them all out and I had no idea if he had ingested any!  Now I'm screaming and freaking out, Charlie is sticking his finger down his throat trying to make him throw up, the dogs are barking in the back, it's the middle of the night and it dawned on me:  smartphone!  I was able to look up  poison control on the internet even as my "voice" calls weren't functioning, and was able to get an "online help" person.  She assured me it was not an emergency when I told her what the pills were which was a huge relief!  The real relief came when hubby retrieved all the pills from the floor, seat and Finn's clothing and found that they were all accounted for!  So there's my little story for the day, haha!  
The End

Not really the end, of course... I have questions for you!  To save some $$ and get my new cell phone, I've been thinking of dropping the land line to the house.  Have any of you done this?  I don't know why it's so hard to drop that historic "landline", but really it doesn't seem to serve much of a purpose anymore.  

Okay, next up today I need to start digging through my fabric.  Was that enough of a rant, Sparkless?  :)  And ooops, I guess I wasn't very "quick" about it, was I?!


Nov 2, 2011

Fall is having an identity crisis here!

It's hard to get back in the blogging routine!  I do NOT recommend taking that kind of time off personally, as for me it resulted in a slight depressive state of not doing anything, since I didn't feel "accountable" for doing anything!  I'll have to ease back into things so I don't end up in a rant about the past months' events in an incoherent manner.

I'll start by showing you some photos of what our place looks like today.  I've been enjoying so much seeing everyone's fall photos, and it's a good thing y'all are posting them for me because fall just doesn't seem to "get it" here this year.  Although the past few days have been wonderful with lows in the 40's and highs in the 50's and 60's, as recently as last week it was still in the 80's.  Consequently, we have some split personality stuff going on out there.

This is my view now from the computer through the back door, I do like this!


For a different perspective, this is the stand of grass from the other side of the back door/deck:


The past year this clump that was planted from 8" plants 2 years ago has spread and is now a welcome privacy screen, no wonder Ms. Dove loves this area for raising her babies!

The "mud clump" I received as a gift from one of the Master Gardeners in my class 2 years ago is now a full 12+ foot tall stand of Maximillian Sunflowers.  Those are dead hops on the trellis behind, ooops!


Mums surprised me this year - they bloomed all summer since I neglected to prune them back in June, but they still bloomed for fall anyways...this is one thing I will miss someday, mums being perennial!


Rosemary hedge is in full bloom


Herb containers are blooming


Summer is hanging on in some places...


While obvious signs of fall are 10 feet away!  This is a 14 year old "Dwarf" Burning Bush... LOL I wonder how big the non-dwarf is?  :)


Found this still going strong -


Didn't plant this but maybe it's a blanketflower from last year?


Still cotton out there!


I imagine we will go straight from flowers to snow here, a very strange year.  Keep posting those fall leaf photos, everyone - some of us are relying on them!

Now I'm thinking of updating my blog look as well, I'm loving all the photo headers everyone is changing... change is in the air!

Oct 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!

I'm back!  I have been lost without a computer for all this time, but I'm back in the blogosphere now and can't wait to "see" you all again!  Lots of catching up for me to do, but these pics will have to do until I have time for a proper post, so Happy Halloween y'all!


This week's big event was Finn losing one of his front teeth, no more perfect little boy teeth - he's officially moving into that "awkward stage" :)



We did the "Trunk or Treat" thing this year, here's the Subaru all decked out...


All you 80's moms can appreciate the kids' costumes this year LOL...


Next up, I hear I need to post a pic of an apron pattern, so I'll get to that tomorrow, don't count me out yet - I'm planning on participating in Susan's challenge!  Hope you all have a great Halloween.