Trinkets

DF recently revealed that I would be receiving some "trinkets" in addition to the Las Vegas trip for my birthday. Granted, he did feel the need to warn me that this wasn't the type of gift-giving he'd be doing every year, just the "significant" ones.


Because he has a busy work schedule until the day we leave, he decided that I needed to receive the trinkets this weekend, so they could be ready for the trip. And here they are:









Much downloading and gnashing of teeth later, I have songs, video, and podcasts loaded onto the iPod Touch (but no wifi yet), and the headphones are ready to go.

DF is kind of tech-heavy on the gifts, which is OK by me!

Whoops, an Addendum

That meme I did on the 28th has been circulating on the blogosphere, and I've noticed that many responses have an additional question:

Jobs I have had

Hmm, I didn't answer that one. But here goes! These are the ones I've had since completing my formal education in the early '80s, starting with the most recent:

• Business relationship manager for a large regional bank (my current job).
• Back office support for a large mutual funds company.
• Accounts receivable for an international medical supply company
• The dreaded mortgage brokerage job I mentioned the other day.
• Marketing rep and financial consultant (2 jobs) at a credit union.
• Credit analyst and branch manager (2 jobs) at a large local bank in NM. This bank later became the bank I work for now.
• Business relationship manager for a bank in Florida.
• Loan officer for a non-bank lender in Florida.
• Advisor/consultant for a Small Business Develpment Center in Mobile AL.

And before all that, a variety of jobs through school: waitressing, retail, etc.

No matter how bad the particular job has been, I've learned from each of them. I should be grateful for that.

Tagged Again

MarmaladeKiss recently tagged me with a meme. On this one, I have to answer 6 questions about myself. At the end of the post, I then tag 6 people and post their names, then go to their blogs and leave them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read my blog. Then, I must let the person who tagged me know when I’ve posted my answers.

What was I doing ten years ago - 1998

Uggh, 10 years ago I was working for a horrible employer in the mortgage business. Looking back, I can't believe I worked there and put up with it as long as I did. Without going into a lot of detail, let's just say it wasn't a happy time for me for the most part. Good thing I had sewing to keep me sane!

5 things on my to do list for today

Go to the gym. 5 pounds have snuck back on. Must. nip. in. the. bud.
Do some more work on a top I'm sewing.
Laundry, a never ending chore.
Top Chef (is it on tonight?)
Plan what to pack for Vegas trip.

Snacks I enjoy

Triscuits, hummus, cheese (current favorites: Wensleydale with cranberries and Kerrygold Dubliner), dark chocolate.

Things I would do if I was a billionaire

Hmm, not as easy to figure this one out as I thought. It would probably need to go in phases.

Phase one: pay off all debt, quit my job, set up finances so DF and I can live comfortably the rest of our lives. This phase would include a home that would have room for our various interests. A studio for me, a man-cave for him. Office space. An indoor/outdoor kitchen. Exercise room. I know, it sounds kind of shallow at this point, but it's my fantasy.

Phase two: travel, travel, travel. I've never been to Europe, and DF wants to go back to Vietnam. It would be great to have the money to go and stay for extended periods of time.

Phase three: set up a foundation to fund community projects that are important to us. Establish trusts for relatives, so they're taken care of. I don't want to just give it to them, though. I think it's important to have incentives in life and strive for yourself.

Places I have lived

Louisville KY; Nashville TN; Florida (Gainesville, Panama City, Merritt Island, Melbourne, Miami); Mobile AL; Albuquerque NM

6 people I want to know more about

Umm, I've done several of these lately so I think I'll probably cheat on "spreading the love", and not tag anyone. No offense, hopefully. This is a good exercise, and I think it would be neat if some of these queries filtered into some other blog posts.

Cacti: Prickly Pear

The flowers on one variety of prickly pear started blooming yesterday. These are the traditional variety; I haven't seen any on the bear's paw yet. Below is a closer view with lots of buds:




On a tangent: Ghost isn't the only cat who hangs out in the sewing room. Tonight Smudge decided he would use the ironing board as a bed, and a stack of patterns as his pillow:

Cacti: Cholla

The large cholla in the front yard is starting to bloom. It only has a few flowers now, but before it's done, this cactus will be covered. See all those buds waiting to pop?

I love the color of its blooms. For the most part, cacti have very bright flowers. The barrel cacti (now finished) have bright orange, and the prickly pear (coming next) are a cheerful yellow shade.

This is a big plant--it's taller than I am; for reference, I'm 5'4". For years, birds have had a nest inside. What a great place to protect those babies!

For the most part, it's been unseasonably cool this spring. I'm still running the furnace from time to time. Usually, daytime temperatures are in the 90's by now. Thursday, we topped out in the low 60's, low 70's yesterday, and may reach 80 today. Brrr!!

Decorative Pillows: Done!

I finished the other 2 pillows yesterday, so now I have a complete set! They already have fur on them but remember, these are washable--so no worries. The cats love them and so do I.

Decorative Pillows

I have a blouse on deck, but I'd rather learn how my new Bernina works with something simpler. So I pulled out a project that been ready and waiting for a while.


My bedroom is decorated in an Asian theme. Currently I'm on my second set of black silk throw pillows--not a bad choice with a gray cat, but the other one's white. What was I thinking? Well, I know, actually. I was thinking decor--not pets. Anyway, the pillows are nice, but they can't be washed so they're always covered with white cat fur. Not attractive.


I decided to recycle a set of pillows that I had at my previous house, when the bedroom decor was more shabby chic/Mary Englebreit. I had this nice set of square pillows, consisting of 3 pillow forms covered with removeable embroidered white shams. Hmm, I could make a new set of washable covers for those pillow forms, couldn't I?


Off to Ann Silva's, where I found 3 beautiful Asian-style quilt cottons. Still in black, but washable printed cotton this time. And after laundering, the yardage has been sitting ever since.





With projects like this, I find that it helps me if I have a reference. For general instructions, I went to Summerset's tutorial on pillow-making that she did last November. I also like to sketch out the project, like I did in my sewing journal:





Then, I used the sketch and tutorial to determine the dimensions of each piece: the front and two back sections. On projects like this, I'll rip to the dimensions if the fabric allows. It's easier and insures the pieces are on grain.





The plackets and buttonholes on the back of the pillow were the first parts to be done. The tutorial advised a 1" wide placket and lined up the buttonholes parallel to the fabric edge. After doing this, I realized that the next time, I'm making the placket wider and aligning the buttonholes perpendicular to the fabric edge. Not that there's anything wrong with Summerset's tutorial. It's great, as usual. It's simply a matter of personal preference and will also give me the opportunity to use some of the one of a kind buttons in my stash.


The buttons I chose are a pale green, sort of a jade color that works well with the Asian theme. Yes, even though they're on the back of the pillow, I'll know they're there. This picture shows the layout of buttons and buttonholes (with optional cat tail accessory).





When planning, I allowed for a 1-1/2" flange. This is a design change I added to give the pillow more "presence". I also changed the thread color to red when sewing the flange.

As the photo below shows, Smudge approves.





One down, two to go. Then I'll start making duplicates for easy bedlinen changes.


On a tangent: As one of the pictures above shows, Ghost is my sewing room helper. She has her own perch on top of the Wall of Sterilite, complete with her own fleece blanket. Her fur continues to fill in. Maybe it's my imagination, but it seems to be a slightly lighter shade than the rest of her pelt.

Going Postal, Part 2

Yes, the rogue postal carrier has struck again, less than one month later. You all might recall that I had a book stuck in my mail bin about a month ago. And I was mean to the customer service person as a result.

This time, I just had to laugh, because it's so stupid. I had a large J.Jill order in the parcel bin, and the postal worker left me a little key so I could retrieve it. How difficult would it have been for him/her to just put the little parcel in with the big one? Duh...

So I called customer service, filed a report, and a supervisor will call again tomorrow. I'll let you know if it happens again next month.

My New Toy

Well folks, DF decided to buy a motorcycle. The 2006 version of this one:

BMW F 650 GS Dakar

Of course, I needed a toy as well. I went to Ann Silva's at lunch yesterday to buy some Do-Sew (pattern tracing paper for my non-sewing friends), and saw a sewing machine that seemed to have the features I needed. Although I have sewing machines (yes, plural), I'm not a big fan of the Brother I'm using now as my primary. The New Home 5000 is a nice machine, but it may have a bad touch screen on it and probably not worth fixing since it's a 1993 model. The Janome Gem is a nice little machine, but a bit too small and basic for a primary. As you might suppose, I was open to the idea of a new machine.

I went back after work, played with it for a while, pulled out the plastic, and brought it home:

Yep, my very own Bernina 140. You'll note that it's a "Patchwork Edition." I don't quilt, but no matter. Manny, Ann Silva's resident sewing machine wizard, says it's just the regular 140 packaged with an assortment of stitches that quilters like to have. In other words, it doesn't mind if you make clothes on it. Not a new machine, but new to me. And not cheap, but a lot less pricy than the brand new comparable models.

So there you are. I've gone over to the Dark Side.

DF was even pleased that I'd bought it, although he found my comment that it was "a BMW of sewing machines" a little silly. However, it's nice that he realizes that price and value are not the same.

A Literary Meme

Materfamilias has selected me to participate in the following meme:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

So I'm sitting here vegging on the couch after work, and honestly, the closest book is Nigella Lawson's "How to Eat", Wiley paperback edition. Yes, I like reading cookbooks for fun. This one is as much food philosophy as a collection of recipes:

I don't want course upon course, and I don't want excess every day. But when it comes to a feast, I don't know the meaning of enough.

Cooking for two is just an amplification of cooking for one (rather than the former being a diminution of the latter).

So there you are, and how true both thoughts are!

Time to choose five more people. Since I recently did a different meme, I won't pick on you all again. However, if you'd like to do this one instead of the last one, feel free! And vice versa. This is all in fun, folks!

This time around, I invite Christina, Stacy, Melody, Shannon, and Vicki to come out and play.

The Vegas Deal

OK, time to spill about Las Vegas...

No, I'm not getting married (yet).

My 50th birthday is coming up on June 8th, so DF and I are taking off to Sin City for some R and R that weekend. As I mentioned in the meme post, I've lived out here for practically 20 years and have never gone there. So it's time to go.

Damn you Viagra, for ruining a perfectly good Elvis song! And if those guys are having so much fun with their Viagra pills, why are they hanging out with each other instead of their wives, girlfriends, or significant others? But I digress.

Anyway, we're staying at the Mirage. We're going to see the comedian Ray Romano, of the TV show "Everybody Loves Raymond" while there. Beyond that, I don't know exactly what we're up to. After all, I could gamble here if I wanted, so that holds little appeal. We'll figure it out, and it'll just be nice to get away.

ETA: Clarified when my birthday is, the weekend we're going, and an event we'll see.