Musings from the throne room

A Day in the {Vintage} Life - Top Five

2011-04-21T10:35:00.000-04:00

The top five reasons that I'm happy I don't live in the United States in the early part of the twentieth century:

Air conditioning
Miscegenation is no longer illegal
Steel belted radial underpinnings are no longer de rigeure
It doesn't take forever to get from point A to point B
There's no more rationing even though we're involved in three wars

And the top five things I wish we retained from that period:

A sense of self-sacrifice and doing one's patriotic duty to help the war effort - even if you don't agree with the concept of war in general or specific
Social propriety - I really DON'T need to know the details of your [insert private topic here]
Modesty in dress
The dearth of Big Box Stores and the supply of locally owned businesses
A cultural norm of walking or bicycling to where you needed to go, less reliance on motorized transport

I'm sure you could think of other things to add to either column. What do you think? Leave your replies in the commbox and I'll respond to them next week. I'm observing "radio silence" over the weekend in observance of Good Friday and Easter.

Pondering a new direction

2011-04-09T20:42:00.000-04:00

for my blogging attempts.
I do some of my best thinking while I'm soaking in a hot bath and tonight was no exception. I had some deep thoughts swirling in my head and I'm trying to make some sense out of them and see where this blog and my other main blog converge, diverge and otherwise exist.

Bear with me while blog things evolve. I feel like I've evolved quite a bit thus far and am still evolving and my blogging can and should show that. I'd like to think that it's been somewhat evident in content, but I could be mistaken. I feel like there's been a shift inside my head, though.

I know that I want for this blog to be content rich. Like a nice meal. Not drive-through fare.

People get ready...

Bake on Saturday - A Day in the {Vintage} Life

2011-04-02T17:00:00.000-04:00

No baking to be done today. Yes, I need to do it, but I'm still recuperating from lack of sleep. I did manage to procure a new seam ripper, affectionately known as Jack the Third. He replaces Jack the {seam} Ripper v 1.0 and 2.0. Also picked up some lovely blue and white patterned fabric for an upcoming refashion. Should be interesting to say the least.

Market on Thursday - A Day in the {Vintage} Life

2011-03-31T20:00:00.000-04:00

After running out of essential groceries like eggs and milk and not being able to serve even cereal for breakfast before school, I HAD to go to "market". Or as I like to call it SuperTarget.

Again with the morning rounds of drop offs, then to SuperTarget complete with Starbucks! then home again, home again, jiggety jog in the most NASTY weather ever. It was raining sideways by the time I got back home and unloaded. There were tornado warnings all day long, so I unplugged everything and listened to NPR on my MP3 player - yay for FM radio - and portable speakers while folding laundry, washing dishes by hand and so on.

It looked a little something like this...

Thankfully, we didn't suffer power outages like my family 6 blocks away! I was able to have a chicken in my (crock)pot with broth, onions, carrots and celery with a sprinkle of sage and salt/pepper ready for dinner with no fuss and very little muss.

I was able to finish my middle child's costume today including dance pants, crinoline and all. I must confess that it took me a WHILE to get motivated to even do anything because it was so grey and dreary today due to inclement weather. I was almost ready to pack it all in and take a nap instead, but I muddled through somehow.

Question of the day: When the weather is severe and you might be without power for a while, what do you do to pass the time?

Clean on Friday - A Day in the {Vintage} Life

2011-03-31T17:00:00.000-04:00

Actually, Friday did NOT see much cleaning as exhaustion from dealing with lack of sleep and suspected pollen made me quite the zombie. I did manage to get to physical therapy, and then on the drive home made it halfway before realizing the office supply store was back from whence I came, so I made the grand circle tour to get the tracing paper needed to finish grading some vintage patterns up to my actual size.

Mrs. John McWeeney can take her happy little schedule and stick it today.

Mend on Wednesday - A Day in the {Vintage} Life

2011-03-30T20:00:00.021-04:00

After an uncomfortable night's sleep on the couch and waking to the World's Most Annoying Alarm Clock Ever™, I roused the children, got them clothed, off to school in time for breakfast (we were flat out of EVERYTHING) and got myself home before 9AM.

The husband was still sick with flu, so I worked around him, taking care of laundry and dishes and starting up dinner in the crockpot: Split Pea Soup. I also managed to color my hair as well, so I'm newly fuschia up top.

Because of the bruised tailbone, I had a physical therapy appointment the next town over, so off I went at 11AM. After PT, I headed over to Chipotle in search of gluten free, dairy free fixins for lunch before heading over to the school and on my normal rounds for the day.

After picking up the girls from school, we were headed to Girl Scouts when the leader called to let me know that there was a tornado watch in effect for our area and so she didn't want us on the road. OK, so we skipped that and the dance class and went home and did homework and played for a while while we waited for the weather. Which barely skimmed by us. It was, however, severe enough that we unplugged all our essential electronics! Hence my posting on Thursday.

I did manage to do some work on my middle child's ballroom costume for her first competition in July. I guess that counts as "mending".

Iron on Tuesday - A Day in the {Vintage} Life

2011-03-29T13:39:00.000-04:00

I'm beginning to see the wisdom in separate sleeping arrangements. With my better half sick with flu, sleeping right.next.to.him where I can breathe his viral germies all night is just not happening. So I've been on the couch for the last two nights. Which is to say, I haven't slept well AT ALL. I'm still groggy...

And of course, because I didn't sleep well AND my circadian rhythm is OFF because the living room is dark and our bedroom faces east so the rising sun helps me rise and shine to greet the day... I overslept AGAIN. Mrs. John McWeeney would be so ashamed.

Breakfast was nuked gluten free lemon muffins on the run for my girls, preschool breakfast for the boy and Starbucks oatmeal and soy chai for me. I endeavoured to stay out of my husband's way so he could rest and so I didn't have to listen to crappy daytime TV while he "recuperates". I needed to kill some time between 8:30 an 9 (when the local Fabric Mega Mart opens), so I hit my SuperTarget Starbucks. From there, off to the fabric store for an hour to get some neon fuschia sheer fabric and a leotard pattern while I waited for the optical department at Target AND my nail salon to open. Oldest child's new lenses arrived yesterday and my feet needed some TLC.

After the pedi, I headed over to Target, did the lenses thing and picked up a pack of 2 new ceramic bowls. One of mine had broken, so it needed to be replaced. Now I have a spare. I'll spare you the litany of the goodies I bought myself because I'm sure you're not interested.

Got home, felt woozy and stuffed my face with a couple bits of leftover roast peking duck (cold!?), some dairy free cheese slices, a gluten free donut, 3 gluten free chocolate snaps and a couple of handfuls of trailmix. Let's just say when my bloodsugar tanks, any semblance of a "balanced" diet goes smack out the window. It's "keep me from passing out" time.

Once I got over my low blood sugar, I headed into the kitchen to give it the old once over. Yesterday I managed to get it fairly decent, so all I needed to do was empty the dishwasher, rinse the sink and dry it and spritz the counters and wipe. Hooray for not having to hand wash!

I'm sitting here with a couple of hours to kill before heading to the bus stop to collect the children and cart them to the pediatrician for their annual checkups before taking them to Catechism class. They keep changing the name, so we call it "church school". CCD/religious ed/Catechism/whatEVER. They're going. Usually their father takes them because I do Girl Scouts/dance class taxi service on Wednesday. However, Flu Boy is staying home so as not to contaminate the faithful.

I suppose I could do the few things I had on my "list":

Crock Pot dinner
put away kid clothes
mop floors
last load laundry

But where would the fun in that be? Mrs. McWeeney is in the background wagging her finger at me, though, so I suppose I must away and deal with the last lingering bits. My poor bruised tailbone doesn't hurt if I'm standing/walking/moving, but it sure does if I sit for too long. Maybe it's a sign?

A Day in the {Vintage} Life - Wash on Monday - Recap

2011-03-28T14:35:00.003-04:00

Ahhh....

In my comparison of my day to that of the housewife of 1946, the venerable Mrs. John McWeeney, I've found a few things to be true.

1. Things like doing dishes take a lot less time. I still have to handwash a few things, but nowhere near the volume of dishes that she did.

2. Daytime Television SUCKS. Yes, yes it does. Normally I do not partake of daytime programming, choosing instead to listen to NPR. There's something about radio that's nonintrusive to one's daily routine. It doesn't require me to sit down and look at it while I could be doing other things. Alas, my poor better half is home sick with flu, so he propped himself on the sofa to be entertained by "courtroom" dramas and the ubiquitous Jerry Springer.

3. Making beds take the same time today as they did 75 years ago. Yes they do. I dare say, though, that making our bed is easier because there is but one AND it's a Select Comfort mattress. It weighs next to nothing so when it comes time to tuck in the sheets, Bob's your uncle, up goes the end and it's a nice hospital corner.

4. Made a supply run to the "grocers". In my case, that would be SuperTarget. I had to see the eye doctor about my new glasses - surpise! I need bi-focals! So I decided to pick up a few things to see us through the week and grab some soup for Flu-Man.

5. Between coming back from the morning school runs and leaving to the SuperTarget, I was able to give the living room a once over and take the laundry to the childrens' respective beds to be put away later. After coming home from the SuperTarget, I managed to squeeze in loading up the dishwasher, hand washing a couple of items, making up the soup on the stove top and cleaning the pan.

Right now, I've got half an hour before picking up the girls at the bus stop. From there, I'll pick up the boy at preschool and head home so that oldest child can do her homework (provided she remembered it) and I can get dinner under way.

One thing I've noticed is that the internet is an amazing time-suck. It's so EASY to sit there and watch just one more YouTube video or play one more round of Tetris or farm just a few more things in FarmVille. Really, I have MORE free time in my day to do - whatever - and somehow...

Incidentally, today, before jetting out to appointments, the mail came. Instead of tossing it on the desk to deal with when I got back, I went through it, took out the one bill - Orkin, termite protection - paid it, wrote it down in the register and put a stamp on it so that when I drive by the post office later, I can just toss it in the box and be done with it.

Wash On Monday - A Day in the {Vintage} Life

2011-03-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

Taking a page from the post over at Glamour Daze, I thought I'd compare/contrast my day in 2011 with Mrs. McWeeney's day in 1946. Bear in mind that my children are all school-aged, there are no nurselings in our house and no one comes home for lunch so there are going to be some fundamental differences from the get-go. That said, on with the show!

click image to embiggen

As you can see, her day is pretty full while mine is... not. Yet I always feel like I'm behind, behind, behind.

One thing Mrs. John McWeeney didn't have that I have is the internet and all the new-fangled things like fully automatic washing machines and dryers and dishwasher and so on. Or the internet! But she had an infant and those take a TON of work. Notice that "change the baby" was not listed on her side of the list. And she got a NAP!? I know for certain we don't do anywhere near as many dishes per week as she did.

Mondays around here are pretty hectic in the morning because I have to listen to the litany of "I HATE SCHOOL!11!" from the peanut gallery and they have to practically be dressed/shoved out the door. I usually make my kids' lunches and send them to school and my husband takes his lunch to work most days as well, so there's no "make lunch" for anybody but me. And that's usually a microwaveable something or other. If I remember to eat anything.

Today my husband is home sick, so the "routine" will change a little bit. I had to chuckle at the notion that Mrs. McWeeney makes beds. FIVE of them. We've got four beds and we're lucky if ANY of them get made regularly. Of my three children, my middle child is the one who makes her bed. The youngest doesn't have a top sheet, just a "fuzzy blankie", so his bed is generally pretty neat. And our bed isn't getting made because it's occupied.

Question of the day: Do YOU make your bed EVERY day? Do you have a truckload of toss pillows and other stuff on your bed? Or is it pretty plain?

A Day in the {Vintage} Life

2011-03-27T09:00:00.001-04:00

Another imported post from my other blog.

Sometimes you get inspired in the strangest places. This musing was inspired while having a rare treat - a bubble bath. As the scent of Lemongrass and Green Tea soothed my frazzled nerves, I began to wonder... What was the housewife of days gone by's life *really* like. Not what we see on RetroTV or in black and white films. But REALLY.

How does her life intersect with ours in the 21st century? Did she have more or less spare time than we do? Was there a concept of "me time"? And if so, how did she spend that time?

Dear readers, this is a topic I've wanted to explore for quite some time. If you have any insights, please, please share them with me in the comments! I'm thinking of making this into somewhat of a regular feature.

My great grandmother had handtowels made of flour sacking that had the following embroidered on them accompanied by an illustration:

Wash on Monday
Iron on Tuesday
Mend on Wednesday
Market on Thursday
Clean on Friday
Bake on Saturday
Rest on Sunday

I find this blog to be very interesting as our home was built in 1921. It's a little window into what life might have been like in our little town during the same time period. Too bad the last entry is from July of last year. I'd like to have more to read.

This blog entry sums up a day in the life in 1946. I find it particularly interesting because we are a household of 5 also.

I dreamed a dream...

2011-03-26T17:01:00.001-04:00

This post has been imported from my other blog.

I have a dream...

Of one day owning a quaint little shoppe in our quaint little downtown area. I've even got a location all picked out. The pictures are courtesy of the Sanford Historic Trust.

1923

2011

I want the corner space on the right, bottom floor. It's got GREAT street visibility and is right next door to the Sanford Visitor's Center/Historic Trust. When I first moved to Sanford over a decade ago, this building caught my eye and it spoke to me. That's how these things normally start, right?

So more about my dream.

One thing this town needs desperately and doesn't have is a children's boutique. I remember going to "Nana's Kiddie Shoppe" or something similar when I was a little girl. It had fluffy dresses, pretty underthings, fancy shoes and hair dos and some toys, but not many. They sold suits for boys, too. The thing about Nana's was the QUALITY. Quality that you just don't find very often these days. And I can promise you that there isn't a store like that in our area unless you're willing to DRIVE. FAR.

So I want to fill that need. I think I became most aware of the "lack of" in this area when my oldest was a baby. I had to drive 40 minutes just to get a decent christening gown. And we won't even SPEAK of what passes for children's "fashion" over the last almost a decade. I have contented myself with shopping for my kids in three places: Target, The Children's Place and Justice with an occasional side trip to the Disney Store. And even then, I like the stuff I make best. So do my kids.

Which brings me full circle.

Imagine a working studio...

The front windows would have displays of things I've made in the past for us while an lcd monitor on the wall shows images of things I've made for others in a slideshow while gentle music wafts from the speakers mounted near the ceiling. In the front fourth of the space there will be a rack of some children's clothing I've made to sell. There will also be super comfy seating and a play area. To separate the work space from the "retail" space, there will be a wall that is only 4' high allowing a clear view through the work space to the front windows.

The remaining three fourths of the space would have all my machines, adequate work areas and a private consultation area. The walls would have shelves with racks of fabric and patterns and all manner of sewing stuff. It would be inspirational and functional. And MINE. ALL MINE.

A girl can dream can't she?

PS: I've already got a label name for my designs, but if I told you what it was I'd have to kill you...

WIMP-Weds Triple Shot Edition

2011-03-02T12:00:00.006-05:00

The original

The remake

The remake of the remake

WIMP-Weds: Valentine's Ed. Vol 4

2011-02-23T15:14:00.001-05:00

WIMP-Weds: Valentine's Ed. Vol 3: Love's Theme

2011-02-16T12:00:00.006-05:00

11 years and 5 days ago, my better half and I embarked on a journey together.

WIMP-Weds: Valentine's Ed. Vol 2 Two-fer

2011-02-09T12:00:00.006-05:00

Lulu

Tony Meredith & Melanie LaPatin

And may I say, that this was a total Pain In The Buttocks to acquire. It didn't exist online until I captured it from a VHS tape that was in my archive from 1997. I recorded it off TV back in the day and now it's here for your viewing pleasure. Sorry for the quality. My VCR is ancient as is the tape.

WIMP-Weds: Valentine's Edition Vol. 1

2011-02-02T12:00:00.000-05:00

Monday Musing - Music

2011-01-31T12:00:00.013-05:00

I mentioned before the "30 Days" meme/theme from Shoes and Pie. I'm taking one per week in order down the list instead of daily, because, well, life just gets in the way. This week's theme is "Put your iPod on shuffle and write 10 songs that pop up." Well, I don't have an ipod, but I do have a media player and here's what came up, in order...

U & Ur Hand - Pink
C'mon & Ride It - Jay Ski (Drew's Famous Halloween Mix)
Swing Rose - Lifescapes
Rock 'n'Roll Part 2 - Gary Glitter
Ven Devorame Otra Vez - Palmer Hernandez
Born of the Flesh - Sonseed
Kashmir - Bond
Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love) - Billie Holiday
Walter Winchell Rhumba - Xavier Cugat
Las Tres Mujeres - Lifescapes

Dames, Booze & Bad Guys

2011-01-28T12:45:00.000-05:00

What do you do when you don't feel so great? Me, I curl up on the sofa or in bed with the laptop and watch Film Noir movies on Netflix. There's something about this film genre that A) puts me to sleep like a baby when I'm overtired and B) makes me feel not quite so bad. I dunno if it's the black and white (because film noir can NOT be in color. It is an abomination!) or if it's the acting style (somewhat Shatner-esque) or if it's the [insert evil thing like POOL] will send children to jail as juvenile delinquents hyperbole or what. But there's something about it that I like.

I'll say this... The problem with Veronica Mars was that it was sometimes Noir and sometimes Buffy. You can't do both.

WIMP-Weds: Retro Edition

2011-01-26T12:00:00.000-05:00

From senior year in high school: it's gettin' kinda heavy.

WIMP-Weds

2011-01-19T12:00:00.000-05:00

A couple of naughty words in the video, but still...

As one of the "underdogs", I totally get this song.

2011-01-12T12:00:00.000-05:00

The latest installment of WIMP-Weds

Call me crazy, but this just screams "Tarantino". I chuckled all the way through it.

Come Monday

2011-01-10T09:00:00.031-05:00

How was your weekend? I'm borrowing a meme from Shoes & Pie. Today's theme is "Someone who came into your life unexpected and made an impact".

Once upon a time, there was a girl. And she would frequent a nightclub. And there was a bartender who would flirt with the girl. And for one glorious summer, the bartender and the girl had a glorious time. He opened her eyes to a different world and she taught him the word "recalcitrant". And though the summer was short and both went their separate ways, the girl will always look back at that summer and smile. Because for one summer, she was able to be free. To just be. With no expectations of who she was supposed to be. NO need to perform for others. And it changed her life forever. The bartender opened wide a window that could never be closed tight again. And with the sun and the fresh air and the freedom came a hint of what she could do and who she could be in the future. That summer was a very long time ago. The bartender and the girl moved far away from each other and found life partners of their own. The girl found her happy ever after eventually. But she still smiles every time she thinks of the bartender. And she's willing to bet that the bartender smiles when he remembers her, too.

What's In My Player Wednesday

2011-01-05T12:00:00.019-05:00

The most recent addition to my media player

Dirty Dancing for the New Millenium

Monday, Monday

2011-01-03T09:00:00.002-05:00

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood! Breathe deep and smell the fresh air, drink in the gorgeous sunlight and be happy. Be mellow and greet the year with optimism. It's a new year, a new day, new week.

What will you do this week? What will inspire you?

Find something to be positive about. Find something to make you happy.

Happy Monday!

What Day Is It?

2011-01-02T12:43:00.000-05:00

With the Christmas holidays starting late this year (12/23) and running halfway through January it seems, I keep forgetting which day it is. Especially when we go to Mass on Saturday afternoon instead of Sunday morning. I get all wonky with my days.

I ~think~ today is Sunday. It has to be because today was Sunday Sweets over at CakeWrecks. Isn't that scary? I'm checking the blogroll instead of the calendar to know what day it is?

Anyhow, the New Year Festivities™ are behind us, Christmas dec is taken down - not voluntarily - and there's only one week in the Octave of Christmas left. The ennui that I felt leading up to Christmas has been replaced by a sense of anticipation for what 2011 is going to bring. I've said I'm not making resolutions but rather looking to start a revolution. Because we all want to change the world. I'm not naive enough to think that I can change the world solo.

Can a blogger even change the world? Have I changed your world somehow?

I have to shout out to a few bloggers who have changed my perception of the world:

Joe George at Urban Simplicity
Jane Lebak at Seven Angels, Four Kids, One Family
Jen at Epbot/CakeWrecks

If you were to ask me how these bloggers changed my perception of the world - and let's face it, perception is everything - I would say...

Joe - challenged me to look past the ordinary and slow down and appreciate life in the slow lane. I found his blog looking for a recipe for Ezekiel bread. I stayed for the rest. While I haven't climbed on my recently repaired bicycle yet and used it as an alternate form of transport, I'm really looking forward to it.

Jane - opened my eyes to the world of the supernatural in ways that I'd previously been ignorant of. I've "known" Jane online for almost a decade and she's funny and witty and wise. My world would be a much duller place without Jane in it.

Jen - is "local" to me in the sense that we live in the same metropolitan area. But we've never met in person. Life is like that sometimes. But between the funny that is CakeWrecks and the artsy inspiration that is Epbot, I feel connected somehow. Jen is the kind of person I would TOTALLY hang out with in meat life. Totally.

So, which bloggers have changed your perception of the world or made your world a better place? Leave a comment so I can check them out!

2010 Year in [Pictorial] Review

2011-01-01T09:00:00.000-05:00

Before eald for Bucks

After Bald for Bucks

Miami Beach Post Passport Office

Dance Recital Costumes

Sewing Class

Ballroom Class

Ama's Koi Pond

Sea World Jakarta

Ancol Beach, Jakarta

Sushi Tei - YUM!

Jakarta Sunrise

Crazy Kids!

Durian Boy

McD's Jakarta Style

Bali Hotel Lobby Pond

Best Seafood Ever!

Bali Beaches

Bali Beaches, Too

World's Best Martini according to Bourdain

Visiting KungKung

Ama & Kuku

Cuties

Thing 1 & Thing 3

Thing 2 in a mood

These are a few of my favorite things

2010-12-31T23:59:00.000-05:00

of 2010

Iced Lemon Tea
Lemongrass essential oil
The smell of laundry dried on the line outside
Snuggles from my kids when they ask for "Mommy Time"
The sense of accomplishment when I try something new and succeed

Yes, these are a few of my favorite things.

There's no raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but these are things that lift my mood considerably when I'm feeling a little down.

Have a wonderful New Year full of promise and good things!

It Is What It Is

2010-12-30T12:00:00.000-05:00

You know how life throws you a curveball? Here I had all these amazing plans to clean house and make everything shiny new for the New Year. Guess I'll be putting that off until Chinese New Year because of "the arm".

I'm not sure if I've blogged about my right arm before. Maybe so. I know I posted it on facebook. To recap, I've got this weird bone issue stemming from an unresolved case of nursemaid's elbow when I was 4 or 5 years old. Basically, the radial head on my right arm was dislocated and never got popped back where it belonged, so Hey!, now it's grown really misshapen and out of joint.

As my ortho has said, I'm a survivor. I've made do with what I've got and adapted to the situation as best as I can. However, I'm inching closer to 40 every year and the older I get, the worse the pain gets. The pain I had as a kid was NOTHING compared to what it has been like the last 24 hours or so. The surgeon has had me on a ten pound weight limit for almost a year and I'm relapsing.

To give you an idea of why the arm is the way it is, here's a picture:

Right Radial Head Dislocation, 2009, ~32 years post trauma

Basically, there's no elbow joint. There's just skin/muscle holding the joint in place. FUN! Except when it isn't. Now, I'm not crying in my beer. Or milk or whatever beverage of choice. To quote Johnny Magic, "it is what it is". But when the pain gets severe, the only thing that helps is high doses of narcotics and complete rest. Which would be fine and dandy if I weren't 75% right-handed and the kids are home on vacation until January 10th. not that I'm counting. How many days is that anyway?

The LAST time this happened, I fractured my left thumb overcompensating for not being able to use my right arm because it was in a sling. And that left thumb? It STILL hasn't healed completely. I've been to see the ortho so many times in the last 9 months that I've got a "frequent shopper" card.So here I am propped up in bed with the laptop while the kids make themselves Nutella sandwiches and watch Dinosaur Train, Fairly Odd Parents and National Geographic documentaries on Netflix. I better order them another pizza for lunch. At least that has vegetables on it.

Fortune Cookie Fridays

2010-12-27T16:04:00.002-05:00

Will be back in 2011!

Just Dance!

2010-12-06T22:11:00.000-05:00

or "Why video games are GOOD for you!"

I will say it loud and proud - I'm a gamer grrl. I lubs me some video games. Racing, FPS, RPG, puzzle, action/adventure, you name it. And I've tried to instill in my children a love for gaming. Especially in my daughters. Because it's a sad day when a guy gets married and his wife can't STAND how much time he spends gaming.
Sample conversation:

Her: I can't BELIEVE how much time you spend on that stupid thing!

Him: [grunt]

Her: I might as well not even be married for all the good it does me!

Him: [grunt]

Her: FINE! I'm going shopping!

Now that might not be exactly how it might go down, but I think it's pretty close. And that's why I'm letting my girls game. Because gaming is here to stay and it's FUN and why not have something in common? Right? Around here, it goes down a little some-something like this:

Him: Are you going to use the computer all night?

Me: Well the kids have the Xbox going and I was trying to unlock the next level of Farmville...

Him: Can you take the lapop and do that? Because I have Steam installed on the PC and I really want to get back to [Fallout New Vegas/Total War/Dragon Age/game du jour].

Me: KIDS! It's MY TURN now! You use your computer and watch Netflix or something!

Kids: What are you going to play, mom? Braid? The ball game [Luxor2]? Splinter Cell? I want to play Kingdom Hearts! How come sister gets to play DDR so much?

This is what happens in a one TV/multiple gamer household. We've got two consoles, three computers and 5 users. And the kids will use my laptop over my cold, dead body. Well, dead at least, because I'm freezing my naughty bits off over here.

Recently, Microsoft released Kinect. It was known pre-release as "Project Natal" and boy-oh-boy is this a good one. It basically eats the Wii for dinner and the PS Move for dessert. Imaging gaming without having to hold some crappy controller! Dance without a dance mat! Be fit without needing any specialised gizmos! Yes, indeedy, Kinect is an amazing awesome terrific fandabidozie dealio. Which is "me speak" for "the shiznit" which is Snoop Dogg for "Nifty!"

You'd think in a household that has as many game consoles as we do, that we'd have run right out and purchased Kinect the day it debuted! Not so, dear readers, not so. For while we lubs us some technology, we like to save our little pennies, too! Our first Xbox was a refurb, as was the first PlayStation. We tend to wait until after the first price-drop to acquire entertainment stuff just because you can save some serious change over time.

But that doesn't mean we haven't had a chance to play with Kinect, oh no it doesn't. We've got friends who have it and they invite us over for playdates pretty regularly. Which is COOL. Who woulda thunk that someone pushing 40 would get to go for a playdate at a friend's house and get to play with their toys?

The best part of playing with Kinect as that we don't even need to buy one. Because the kids? Well, they *pretend* we have Kinect! It's a total laugh riot! They stand in front of the *turned off* TV and wave their arms and jump around pretending to play Dance Central. No kidding.

Which leads me to my final point... The best thing about Kinect is - in my oldest's words - "You don't need a dance mat and you use your WHOLE body! not just your feet!" It's true. There's nothing like being able to bust a move without fearing that you'll accidentally lose your grip on your upchuck and smash your big screen tv. It's actually a total body workout and you don't need anything special. No special mats or slippers or platforms or anything. Once you have the Kinect sensor and whatever game you want, you're golden.

Now get out there and DANCE! And if you have the extra dough to spend, why not clicky the linky and help me make some money so my kids don't have to pretend we have Kinect?

Wayback Wednesday

2010-09-29T11:00:00.000-04:00

Fourth Grade - very popular on the playground at Agape School in Winter Park, FL. Which just goes to prove... Just because you send your kid to Christian School... Doesn't mean they aren't going to be exposed to stuff you'd rather them not see/hear.

8th or 9th Grade. I can't remember which. It could have been 10th grade when I heard it for the first time. See commentary above.

Fortune Cookie Friday - Keep Cool

2010-09-10T09:00:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday To Me!!!

Fortune Cookie Friday - Open Doors

2010-09-03T09:00:00.000-04:00

Fortune Cookie Friday - Success

2010-08-27T09:00:00.001-04:00

Sky rockets in flight...

2010-08-20T11:22:00.000-04:00

Name the song title, win a prize! Today's winner will receive something, I'm not sure what, from my Stash o' Stuff™ at some future date. It could be a non-working pen or a funny card or something. No promises.

Anyhow, before I head out for the afternoon rounds, I wanted to catch you up on the whole "since we got back from Summer Vacation" thing.

Jet lag. It's a [redacted]. Might as well be called "Jet Hag". I'm VERY glad we had almost a week between getting home and the start of school.

Lost bag(s). Because we flew standby to get home faster than our actual tickets, our poor bags didn't make it home with us. And you know what? I don't care. I was WASTED and didn't want to deal with 6 HUGE checked bags the day I got home after being on airplanes for over 24 hours. United's customer service ROCKS OUT LOUD. Especially Ms. Eileen Yearwood. She made it possible for us to get home WELL before midnight with three exhausted kids. If it weren't for her, we would have been grounded in DC because of weather and had to cool our heels in the airport overnight.

I found out I'm gluten intolerant! While I'm not diagnosed with Celiac's Disease, let's just say that eating gluten for me is Right Out.

Eldest Daugther received a diagnosis of ADD which is a GOOD thing. She should be able to get the help she needs for FCAT testing and stuff. In related news, the therapist also believes that Middle Child also has ADD but manifesting as extreme hyperfocus and anxiety over change/disorder. So while we have to work with Eldest Daughter to get her MORE organized and on task, we have to work with Middle Child to get her LESS anal. The advice given: "Let stuff slide for her. Let her mess up." I really do expect Middle Child's head to explode from this. She's Lawful Good. She's like a Paladin on crack.

I know I've got more to say, but honestly, my brain is mush because of Jet Hag.

So I'll catch you all on the flip side and update some more later.

Fortune Cookie Friday - Business

2010-08-20T09:00:00.001-04:00

Fortune Cookie Friday - Loyalty

2010-08-13T09:00:00.000-04:00

God told Noah to build him an arkie, arkie

2010-08-06T09:00:00.001-04:00

Otherwise known as "A Rainy Night in ~~Georgia~~ Indo".

Once upon a time back in 2002, we visited and it rained and poured so badly that we had to evacuate the house a few days prior to flying home.

8 years later, and it rained so hard and the water rose so quickly that the hubs and I looked at each other and said "Can you believe this is happening AGAIN?!11!?"

Thankfully, with prayers from my friends and a water pump with enough gas to last 8 hours running, the water level has subsided to the point where we're in no danger.

Check the slideshow to see how bad it was!

The sink water is water that came UP through the pipes. I won't tell you what it smelled like. Use your imagination: developing country, lousy infrastructure, lack of public trash cans...

Fortune Cookie Friday - Gift

2010-08-06T09:00:00.000-04:00

Never Ask…

2010-08-05T10:00:00.001-04:00

“What else could happen?”

I should know this by now. Yesterday, the children were at their father’s cousins’ home. Someone thought it was a brilliant idea to allow the middle child (6 years old) to sit ON TOP OF the billiard table while the “bookends” jumped from sofa to table and back again. Unlike her siblings, the middle child is EXTREMELY cautious and obeys “the rules” to the letter of the law. So one wouldn’t think that *she* would be the one to get hurt.

No one knows quite how it happened, but she fell off the billiard table and smacked her head on the marble tile floor. With the headache, dizziness and glassy eyes, we took her to the ER to get checked out. This hospital was different from the one I was at, but also excellent. We were triaged into the ER in UNDER 1 minute and were taken to CT within FIVE minutes of our arrival. They ran the CT and had us back in the ER in under 15 minutes. Everyone was extremely kind and gracious and EFFICIENT.

Total cost of the ER visit: 128.000.000 Rupiah (+/- $130 USD)
Having a 100% OK kiddo at the end of it all: Priceless!

Now let me just say in parting that the ER bill when broken down looked something like this:
100.000.000rupiah – CT scan
27.580rupiah – CT film
270.000rupiah – ER cost including doctor, administration, etc.

If we were back in the states, the ER copay alone would have been $150 and the total bill would have been in the thousands of dollars.

To put it in a little local perspective, the minimum wage here is 120.000.000 rupiah/month, so an ER visit for a local person making minimum wage would be a hard bill to pay. But I can GAURANTEE you that an ER visit at our local hospital back home wouldn’t cost $1300 (Florida min. wage is $7.5/hr, X40 hours, X52/12 to get monthly wage) total out the door cash price. Multiply it by 10 or 20 and you’d be close to the actual “cash price” of a “simple” ER visit. A Jakarta local could possible scrape together an ER visit cost, but I don’t know anyone who can scrape together $13000+ for an ER visit.

Now if you’ve got decent insurance in the States, you don’t have to come up with the “cash price”. You pay your copay, meet your deductible etc and you’re good. But what happens if you DON’T have insurance for whatever reason? Then what? I try to stay pretty apolitical here, but the differences in medical care and cost between the States and here are pretty striking. Something’s got to give. I don’t have the answers and even if I did, no one is asking me for them.

One more thing, health insurance isn’t available to everyone here. For most workers, they alone are covered by their employer thusly: they get sick, employer pays the bills for THEM ONLY. They have to pay out of pocket for their dependents. Or, if you work for an employer that offers health insurance, if you’re male, you are covered and your dependents if your wife doesn’t work. If you’re a woman, your insurance only covers YOU. Unless you’re a single mother in which case it covers you AND your dependents. This is to prevent “double dipping”. It looks bizarre from the outside, but I think it’s one thing that possibly helps control health care costs.

Fortune Cookie Friday - Smile

2010-07-30T09:00:00.000-04:00

We All Shine On...

2010-07-29T22:00:00.001-04:00

Instant Karma's gonna get you... Or why you never ever laugh at your childrens' first attempt at ice skating lessons.

Because after the lesson when the little cherubs want to "practice" some more, you get on the ice with them and "help" them, only to have one of them pull down onto the ice so hard you get an EPIC bruise on your unmentionables. Luckily, nothing is ~broken~ and the next day you have an appointment with a sports therapy doctor who hooks you up with three sets of meds to ease the discomfort.

So we all shine on... Like the moons and the stars and the sun...

FINALLY!

2010-07-28T22:00:00.002-04:00

I'm caught up with my blogging from the last two weeks. I tell you, being laid up for 4 days when you have a zillion things to write and catalogue is tough going.

Today we had a repeat performance of Taman Bunga Nusantara *and* Cimory so the hubs could experience them. One thing that really stands out is that Puncak and Taman Bunga in particular seem to be *the* destination for tourists from Arabic-speaking countries. And we're talking women in FULL burqa with just their eyes showing. You'd think that it would be a normal sight for a predominately Muslim country, but it ISN'T here. From the last time we were in Puncak in '07, to today, 2010, the area has changed DRAMATICALLY. Almost every sign in Puncak is bi-lingual Arabic/Indonesian. "One almost doesn't recognize the area anymore" to quote the supir (driver) who is - incidentally - Muslim. Of course, the closer you get to Jakarta, the more relaxed the dress code is. In 2002, I saw exactly ONE woman in full burqa. And she was with her family staying in a hotel, so not local. In 2004, I saw NONE. In 2007, again, NONE. But now? I lost count. The only concern here is that the brand of Islam could become very much more strict and veer toward Sharia law. No one really thinks it's possible, but there has been a party trying to gain control for just about forever that endorses that viewpoint. And that's as far as I'm going with that.

Before we headed up to Puncak & Taman Bunga, we stopped off at Bogor to visit Papa's (my FIL) grave. We make the trek up the mountain every time we visit and we pull weeds, place flowers and take a moment to reflect. The older the children get, the more bored they get, though. However, I must say, they willingly arranged the flowers and it was really sweet to see Lorenzo being so careful to "make them pretty for Kung Kung".

Hooray for BALI-wood…

2010-07-24T10:54:00.028-04:00

Hooray for BALI-wood…

We re-visited some of our favorite places like Ibu Oka’s Babi Guling and the Sacred Monkey Forest at Ubud. We stayed at my favorite Bali hotel – Hotel Santika – which has this amazingly refreshing drink made with lemongrass, sugar and water. Oh my. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

The Family at the Sacred Monkey Forest

We had some fun at the pasar at Suka Wati and I scored some great deals for being bule.

We've decided that we really need to build a bale bali in our backyard. And if we ever do massive renovations to our house? I'm SO going to buy in Bali and have it crated and shipped home. The craftsmanship is unrivalled.

While in Ubud, we stopped in at Naughty Nuri's which - according to Anthony Bourdain - has the "World's Best Martini". Which I took a picture of. And believe me, when you pay $10USD for a martini in Indonesia, it better damn well be the "world's best". It was smokin'! See?

"World's Best Martini"

Now, I'm no connoissouer of alcohol, so pardon me when I say it tasted like lighter fluid. And O.M.G. did it have a kick. It took me, my husband AND my BIL to finish it. Don't let that innocent lemon twist fool you. That thing was PURE HIGH OCTANE. No wonder Bourdain called it "World's Best". But at least I can say I've had it.

Fortune Cookie Friday - Rerun

2010-07-23T09:00:00.000-04:00

Beware the Ides of Ice

2010-07-20T10:00:00.016-04:00

Technically, the Ides is the 15th, but work with me. I had the ice on the 15th and ended up cooling my heels in hospital for four days with a roaring case of food poisoning, fungal infection of the lower intestines, bacterial infection and diarrhea that was… Well… There’s no way to politely put it. I’m sure you can imagine.

Thursday evening after we got home, I was feeling like death warmed over and so after paying my dues to the porcelain god, I went to bed. Friday morning I woke up around 1030 feeling crappy. After taking my temp which read 38.5+C (101+F) and feeling pretty low, I decided to get out my handy dandy Indonesian grammar book and write a note to Ibu Sum – to be read by my oldest – asking for someone to call Mama, get me to a doctor and generally keep me from dying.

My brother-in-law happened to be home, intercepted the note and drove me to the nearest hospital where I was triaged and seen by an internist in under 20 minutes. From the time I was triaged until the next day, I was delirious and alternating between having chills and feeling like I was on fire. Blood work was done, urine samples were taken, even stool samples were eventually taken.

I didn’t – make that COULDN’T – eat anything from Friday until Sunday morning. If I ate ONE BITE of anything, within 5 minutes, I was running for the border, dragging my IV line with me. I was hoping that I would get to go home before Sunday, but it was not to be. Which really added insult to injury because my husband – whom I had not seen for three weeks – was arriving Sunday morning. The absolute last thing I wanted was for him to see me laid up in a hospital bed with IV lines and a portable toilet by the bed. But, he arrived and I swear I started to feel better the moment I saw him. I could have eaten him up with a spoon!

There were a couple of things that kept me going while I was in hospital: 1) a forum I’m on had a thread about “Child hits doctor” which ran into the thousands of posts and it was so unwieldy that “cliffs notes” had been posted summarizing it. I remembered a lot of those threads just to keep from going crazy while I was bed-bound. 2) the portable potty seat was labeled “Dharma”. I kept thinking that the label was all wrong! Instead of looking like this:

it should have looked like this:

Yes, I really was that delirious. But by Monday, I was raring to go home. Not just because my butt was sore from laying in a hospital bed, but also because Wednesday morning we were leaving for Bali and I was NOT missing THAT for no reason. Nuh uh.

Fortune Cookie Friday - Prestige

2010-07-16T09:00:00.000-04:00

On the road again…

2010-07-15T10:00:00.006-04:00

Another day, another road trip. This time we’re headed off to Bandung. Please note the pronunciation is BAHN-doong. Not Ban-duhng. I don’t care if Anthony Bourdain says it the latter way. He’s wrong. I’m right.

After a couple of hiccups trying to find a restaurant that is fairly well-known and kid friendly… AND CLOSED, we ended up at “House of Risoles”. The food was very tasty. But the ice was deadly. But more on that later.

Here's a pic of the kids outside the restaurant...

Bandung is reknowned mainly for one thing: OUTLET SHOPS. Now I’m still not sure if “outlet shop” means “fell off a truck” or an actual outlet. Our destination in Bandung was Rumah Mode (roo-mah mo-duh) where I scored an Old Navy skirt for $10 and a Ralph Lauren top for $12 as well as authentic (if not really out of season) Disney Store merch. for $5 each. Picked up some Thomas “take-along” toys for $3 each, too. Unfortunately, the kids were antsy and I was feeling REALLY odd. Like passing out odd while there, so we cut our trip short. Remember what I said about the ice being deadly?

By the time we were on the way home, I was almost delirious and singing the theme songs to “Green Acres”, “Bonanza!” and “Mister Ed” in the car. My children were miserable and annoyed. But I had fun shopping, so the after effects of the “batu es” (glass of ice) were well worth it.

To Be Continued…

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blogging…

2010-07-13T22:00:00.016-04:00

Where to begin? While this is being posted as of the day it actually happened, I’m writing this 2 weeks later to the day.

Last time I blogged, we were headed out to Puncak for a day trip. On the way up to Puncak, we stopped at Cimory for lunch – they make their own yogurt and sausages! Lorenzo ate a HUMONGOUS sausage “hot dog” sans bun with ketchup so quickly that everyone thought he didn’t eat at all.

The highlight of the trip was Taman Bunga Nusantara. It’s a ginormous botanical garden with topiary animals and ducks and fish to feed as well as a theme park-like area where there are bumper cars and train rides and pony rides and so on. It wasn’t very crowded as school had just started when we went.

I’ve got a slideshow of Taman Bunga Nusantara that you can view here.

After Taman Bunga, we headed back to Jakarta and stopped off at Rindu Alam for dinner and souvenirs. I managed to score two lovely handmade batik artworks on the cheap. The starting price was $12 EACH. Final price for two? 60.000rp. That’s right at $6USD. Mama for the tawar win!

Here's Lorenzo enjoying his favorite fruit: Duren (Durian)

To be continued…

Chop Suey

2010-07-10T21:00:00.001-04:00

In other words, this one's a mish-mosh post. And like chop suey, there's a little something for everyone.
We went to Central Park today. That's Central Park FAR EAST, not Central Park East NYC. And like pretty much every other mall in Jakarta, they're doing a special event for the 487th birthday of the Capital City/Province of Jakarta. Central Park featured Dora the ~~Annoyer~~ Explorer's "Explorers Wanted" expo. Fokloric dancers from around the world were a featured attraction.

While at Central Park - and you must understand that going to the mall requires at least 4-6 hours of the day - we ate lunch in the food court and dinner at Sushi Tei. We'd had a previous trip to CP either yesterday or the day before and had teppanyaki - the best I'd ever had. Which brings me to the next video segment.

Yes, my children have finally mastered the art of chopsticks and food. And I've got video proof. And the oldest finally decided she likes sushi. The real stuff, not fake-o California roll, either. Which is a good thing because if you're looking for California roll here, you'd be S.O.L. Which since this is a PG-rated blog, you'll have to for yourself.

In other news, I've come down with the "flu" (or as we know it in America - the common cold) not to be confused with the influenza virus. I've not got a fever, just coughing, sneezing, stuffy head, gee I could use some Nyquil about now so I can rest blargh. I've been dosed with anti-nausea meds, antibiotics (because EVERYTHING gets treated with antibiotics) and a combination cold/pain reliever. I'm on day 3 of medication I think. And I'm slowly getting better. And with that I'll leave you with the following...

Fortune Cookie Friday - Express

2010-07-09T09:00:00.000-04:00

Eastern Journeys

2010-07-06T09:00:00.005-04:00

What I’m listening to: “Semarang” by Daniel Sahuleka

Indonesia is a land of extreme contradiction. While there are mansions and malls that have shops that the average American could only dream of being able to afford the wares, there is also extreme poverty. It’s hard to describe adequately. I’ve been pondering what I’ve observed over the last couple of weeks and just trying to absorb it all. It’s difficult at best to even attempt to assimilate all the sights, sounds and experiences that make up Jakarta and it’s environs and put it into any kind of neat little package. Jakarta defies being put in a box, really.

One could almost call this “A Tale of Two Cities”, really. And I never realized just how well off my husband’s family are. Compared to the average American family, they would be considered “wealthy”. Compared to other family members here in Indonesia, they would be considered solidly middle class. I finally realized why our little family from America is looked on – not necessarily with pity – but with the good ol’ phrase “bless their hearts”. And because of my upbringing as a child of itinerate ministers who barely made ends meet and relied on church pantries and so on for a period of time, I still feel a little out of place in the more “upscale” areas. Like an interloper. I keep wondering when I’ll be told “you don’t really belong here”. I guess it’s no surprise that I feel more comfortable in the less affluent areas which abound.

We made a visit to the shore at Ancol and the beach was less than 2 metres wide and was littered with plastic bottles, bags and other refuse. But local children played in the sand as though it were the most amazing thing ever. Tour boats were moored along the sea wall that separated the Hotel Mercure from the shore and the Java Sea. In that few minutes of observation, I realized how grateful I am that our beaches in Florida are clean. The elder daughter became extremely distressed over the state of the beach at Ancol.

On July 4th after our outing to Ancol and Sea World, we dropped in at the wedding of one of the office workers in my family’s factory. I was warned by my mother-in-law that they were not very well off and not to be surprised that the wedding wasn’t very elaborate. I was not prepared to see a wedding that was on par with almost every single wedding I’ve ever attended in the US. Gorgeous wedding gown, faboo cake, nice decorations (silk flowers), buffet of appetizers, party favors and ice cream? Check. In fact, I think that compared to a lot of the weddings I went to in college, it was a step up. Comparing that wedding to the wedding of my brother-in-law blew my mind. That’s what really drove home just how well off my husband’s family is.

Our home-away-from home is located in a very industrial area compared to some of the really nice homes. The house is situated between the injection molding plant and the metal-stamping plant – both of which run around the clock except on national holidays and Sundays. To get to the house from the main road, you have to cross a bridge – Jembatan Genit* - over a river that is a sludgy brownish grey and littered with Styrofoam and other sampah**. The river is cleaner now than when I first visited in 2002, though. In 2002, the river was so full of trash that rats the size of Boston Terriers would run from shore to shore on mountains of crap. You couldn’t even SEE the water. The eldest daughter was even more distressed about the state of the rivers and canals in Jakarta than the beach. She’s decided to make cleaning up her home town her life’s work. She has always been concerned for the environment – it’s just her nature to care about God’s creation – but seeing the way the environment is treated here has really driven home for her the necessity of taking care of nature and the consequences of NOT being a good steward of the Earth’s resources.

The first time I visited my in-laws was in January of 2002. My father-in-law had passed away and my husband and I came home for the funeral. My mother-in-law was embarrassed by the location of her home. Once upon a time, her father had owned all the surrounding farmland but it had been sold off piecemeal for factories, so the family complex was surrounded on all sides by industry. What was once Mama’s garden is now a factory and office. To add “insult to injury”, the last few days of our stay were rained on to point of banjir***. We had to be floated out the back gate to the road on a getak****. Mama was very distraught that my first impression of her home/Jakarta would be tarnished by the experience. Far from it, however. What’s a few feet of water among family? I had the time of my life. It was like being at Disney World only without the “Disney-fication Factor”. It was real and unsanitary and amazing. I’d never experienced anything like it before and I still haven’t. But I fell in love with Jakarta. I’m almost more at home here than I am at home in the US.

Roundtrip tickets for 5 people from Florida to Jakarta: $8000
Seeing for yourself the reality of protecting the environment: Priceless

*Genit - Crooked
**Sampah - Trash
***Banjir - Flood
****Getak - a type of bamboo raft

Photo Op

2010-07-06T06:50:00.000-04:00

To Amerika with Love

2010-07-04T22:00:00.002-04:00

Dear American Expats and Tourists,

We know that sometimes you get lonely for home. So to honor your 4th Juli celebration, we offer you (overpriced) American magazines and "homemade American treats". You can stuff yourselves with tortilla chips, oatmeal raisin cookies, bread, cookies on sticks, cinnamon rolls and yes, even apple pie.

So have a happy 4th of July and enjoy!

Summer + Vacation = TOURISTS!

2010-07-04T19:00:00.003-04:00

Most of the time, when we visit Indonesia, we don't do the "tourist" thing. Especially since Mommy is bule*. I tend to stick out like a sore thumb OR get confused with being Australian expat. Until I open my mouth. Confusion abounds since I don't talk like an Aussie. When it's revealed that I'm an American "on holiday", eyebrows reach for the hairline. Until I explain that I'm visiting family.

"Expat?"

Ngga**. My husband is a local.

Then wreaths of smiles and questions about how I like the food, "what's your favorite [thing/place/dish]?", "have you been to [place]?" More smiles when I say "Oh yes, I love [place] and I'm going back there this trip. Bali is nice and we're going there again this time also. When I retire I'm going to expat to Indo..." Which I fully intend to do. I LOVE IT HERE. It's my home away from home. And sometimes, when I'm not expecting it, it feels MORE like home than home.

Especially when home has Sea World and here has Sea World. See?

Parking at Ancol: 10.000Rp ($1.10)
Admission to Sea World Indonesia: 36.000Rp/person ($3.75USD x 6 = $22.50)
Souvenir plate with the kids' picture on it: 55.000Rp ($5.56)
Spending the day with Ama**** and Kuku***** and making memories that will last? PRICELESS

*Bule: Foreigner

**Ngga: No
***Ama: Nana
****Kuku: Daddy's Sister

Selamat 4 Juli!!!

2010-07-04T00:00:00.001-04:00

In other words:

Happy 4th of July!

Mal Taman Anggrek

2010-07-03T21:00:00.000-04:00

or "Orchid Garden Mall" as it would be known in English, is home to a variety of shops and department stores, hair & makeup salons (at least 6), luxury textile stores, bridal salons, children's play areas, Starbucks AND The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, McDonald's, Wendy's, Popyes, A&W, KFC and a couple other US Imports as well as a fitness center, full size skating rink and 21 screen movie theatre (currently showing Toy Story 3, Knight and Day, Eclipse and who knows whatall else) AND 8 towers worth of condo/apartments. But the main attraction is generally what's happening in the main lobby area (Ground Level). During Christmas holidays, it snows and Santa Claus and his elves/reindeer are there. Barbie has been there and during the time leading up to Chinese New Year, the area has been decorated to celebrate, complete with exhibitions and whatnot. You just never know quite what to expect from T-A (tay-ahh as it's called here). Did I mention that the mall is 6 stories tall? That's roughly 3 times the size of our local mall back in Sunny FLA.

Anyways, today when the mall opened, the back-to-school partay was in full swing. School resumes for the new term in just a couple of weeks, so EVERYTHING is on sale with "back-to-school specials". Between that and the Jakarta Great Sale (22 Juni-25 Juli 2010) to celebrate 487 years since the city's founding, there is MASSIVE shopping to be done.

The Body Shop has the entire lobby arena area set up with their new line of products and their wares are being sold by a most energetic group of young adults. What they lack in trained skill, they more than make up for with enthusiasm! Perhaps if the shopkeepers in the US had choreography to go along with their product, the recession might move along?

Photo Op

2010-07-03T00:29:00.000-04:00

The former housekeeper's live-in quarters

Pantai Indah Kapuk

2010-07-02T21:00:00.007-04:00

Or more literally "Beautiful Kapuk Beach". Which is ironic considering that the beaches of Jakarta are - to quote the family - NASTY and SMELLY. However since we're not referring to the ~actual~ beach, but rather the grandiose (think Jan Crouch on crack) Mediterranean-inspired complex that includes a well-known golf course, Waterbom Jakarta water park, town houses that are incredibly gorgeous on the outside but - according to family - pretty ordinary on the inside and mahal* to boot and the Clubhouse Acasia where the kids are taking their swimming lessons this summer.

One month family membership to PIKFit: 670.000Rp. ($67+/-USD)

EIGHT Private swimming lessons with English-speaking teacher for three kids: 560.000Rp x 3 ($56USD x 3)

Seeing your oldest child learn to swim on the first lesson: PRICELESS

*Mahal: Expensive

Fortune Cookie Friday - Belief

2010-07-02T09:00:00.000-04:00

2010-07-01T04:33:00.000-04:00

Since we’ve arrived, our sleep schedule has been really odd. We’re sleeping earlier – much earlier – and as a result, waking EXTREMELY earlier than usual. To give you an idea, I’m usually awake by 3 AM. The children have woken up anywhere from 2AM to 4:30 AM – when the Masjid broadcasts the call to prayer. This morning was no exception. Since the “bookends” were awakened by the call to prayer, I popped “Ponyo” in the other laptop for them to watch and I took advantage of a little computer time for myself on my laptop. Towards the end of Ponyo, the sun started to rise and it was so beautiful that I had to capture it.

The time is approximately 5:45AM – 6AM but has been compressed to under 5 minutes. The video was taken from the roof of our house looking East. You can see the top of the Masjid in the right side of the frame. The song is “Jakarta” by Daniel Sahuleka from the 2008 compilation album “Eastern Journeys”.

Dr. Michael Triangto, SpKO

2010-06-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

Today I visited Dr. Michael Triangto, a sportstherapy doctor and author on how to be slim and healthy. I was weighed and had my blood pressure checked by a nurse and then was hooked up to a machine to measure body fat, lean muscle mass and water percentages. After that, the doctor checked my heart and vitals and then measured my waist, hips and thighs with a measuring tape before pulling out the calipers to measure whatever it is calipers measure for. He was concerned that I’d had my gallbladder out before I was 40. He told me I was much too young to suffer from gallstones. What I didn’t tell him was that it was over 2.5 years ago. Then there my sister in law and I consulted with the doctor about the plan of attack for becoming healthier.

The Vital Stats:

Body Fat: 57.8% (48kg) Ideal: 28%*
Lean Muscle: 42.2% (33.6kg) Ideal: 45kg
Water: 30.9% (24.6l) Ideal: 51.5%**
Basal Metabolic Rate: 1193 cal.

The doctor warned me that if I didn’t change my lifestyle I’d be in for a slew of health issues like heart attack, diabetes and all the other bad things that go along with being overweight. Which was no surprise considering that I’ve been exhibiting many of the symptoms he’d outlined. He was extremely confident that I could lose 3kg per month for the next 6 months and would be healthier for it. Now here comes the twist in the plot: he counseled me about diet. And unlike every other “diet” plan out there, Dr. Michael’s advice was completely contrary.

~Don’t exercise. Apparently, exercising stenuously while overweight is dangerous for your health. And since I’ve got firsthand knowledge of just how dangerous (stress fracture of the knee), I’m down with this advice.

~Eat rice. [cue James Bond voice] Rice. White rice, steamed. In the US, rice is “teh ebil” and to be avoided at all costs. Not so in Asia. Apparently, not eating rice is heresy or apostasy or some other unconscionable act.

~Eat dinner after 7pm. Eating too early causes blood sugar issues and the urge to snack. Eating at 7 pm with a bedtime within 4 hours of that time is healthier for you. Which I can totally understand.

~Take BIG portions and not small ones. Taking a big portion causes you to actually LOOK at how much you’re eating while taking a small portion means that you say “oh that was just a bite, I can have more”.

I can totally understand if you’re skeptical right now, gentle readers. Especially if you’re in the US. Dr. Atkins would be totally spinning in his grave at this advice. Now on to the more conventional wisdom:

~Walk 30 minutes per day, 3-5 times per week minimum. The catch: NO jogging. No running. JUST walking.

~Drink more water. But NOT soft drinks INCLUDING diet(!) or drinks made with sugar or milk. In fact, milk is prohibited completely or at the very least to be avoided as best as possible. I could dwell on the fact that this totally is going to kill my Starbucks habit, but I’m just not going there right now.

~Eat fruits and vegetables. Except for Durian, Avocado, Mangos, Bananas and a few others that I don’t know the English names for (Sawo, Nangka, Sukun, Termasuk Ubi, Singkong, Talas & Kentang).

~Avoid the following:*** anything fried, made with sugar, chocolate, coconut milk.

After all that, then there’s the training program. At Mal Taman Anggrek (Orchid Garden Mall), Dr. Michael has offices and a ladies-only training facility. Each session is conducted one-on-one with a personal trainer with nurses and oxygen on standby. Each client is monitored for heart rate and respiration. After the training session, comes the stretching and massage.

Start Package****: 2.700.000Rp. ($273USD)

Being told you’re already slimmer than the average American: PRICELESS.

*According to US numbers, 28% would be considered “obese”, however in Asia, that is not the case.

** Apparently, I’m SERIOUSLY dehydrated.

*** By avoid, Dr. Michael is by no means prohibiting the consumption of these things at all, just to not eat them most of the time. Not eating them at all is best but to deny them at all is bad psychologically, according to the Good Doctor.

**** The total package includes 2 consultations with Dr. Michael, 1 fat test & 12 personal training sessions.

Slim+Health SPORTSTHERAPY by Dr. Michael T.

Taman Anggrek Mall 1st Floor, #172

Jl. Letjen S. Parman Kav. 21

Jakarta 11470

slimnhealth@hotmail.com

Photo Op

2010-06-27T08:30:00.001-04:00

Bersih Sehat, Since 1983

2010-06-25T20:00:00.000-04:00

After a brief rest at home, I was treated to a two hour massage at Bersih Sehat in Jakarta. In a quiet room with massage tables separated by white cotton curtains I waited for my masseuse, Mulya. The gentle aroma of peppermint was soothing while the only sounds were those of the occasional thumping of the massage in progress next to me and the extremely muffled sounds of traffic outside.

With fingers of steel, Mulya worked muscles I didn’t even know were tense. After a two day plane trip, though, it was to be expected that I would be stiff. It was the best massage I’ve ever had.

2 hour massage: Rp. 100.000 ($11USD)

How I felt after: PRICELESS

Fortune Cookie Friday - Advice

2010-06-25T09:00:00.000-04:00

Fortune Cookie Friday - Accomplishment

2010-06-18T18:26:00.000-04:00

New Blog Feature - Fortune Cookie Friday

2010-06-06T20:51:00.001-04:00

We eat a lot of Chinese food. Some of it good, some of it so-so, but always, there's a fortune cookie. And after the last 50 or so cookies turned out to be very insightful, I thought I'd incorporate them into my blog. And so, Fortune Cookie Friday was born. I've been rather neglectful since I was looking for an awesomely awesome way of showcasing them, so here it goes. This was tonight's fortune and we can pretend it was from Friday.

Gee. How ~did~ that fortune cookie know I was headed out of the country?

Counting down the days...

2010-05-05T18:39:00.000-04:00

until we see Indonesia again!

Stolen moments

2010-04-23T15:17:00.000-04:00

Prince Lorenzo lounging with "Pucco"

Speak like a native in 20 easy lessons!

2010-03-30T23:06:00.000-04:00

or something. We're tentatively planning to visit our family in Jakarta over the summer. Now I've been trying to get my dearly beloved to teach me his native language for going on a decade now. With very little in the way of results. So I took matters into my own hands and borrowed Pimsleur's "Indonesian I" CDs from my local library.

I've come to the conclusion that:

The powers that be at Pimsleur haven't ever BEEN to Indonesia
The "native speakers" are so "precise" in their diction that they don't resemble ANYONE I've ever interacted with before, not even the newscasters on local TV
Whoever is writing the scripts is OBSESSED with booze and food.

Why?

Lesson 1: Hi! Howzya doin'?

This lesson centers on the ubiquitous "Do you speak English". Which, if you're in Jakarta or Bali, the answer would be YES for the most part if you're in places where tourists actually go. The only time the answer would be NO is if you're acting like a jerky tourist. I've seen this in action and it's quite hysterical.

"Ibu menggerti Bahasa Inggris?"

"Tidak, bapak."

If one is actually in Jakarta, it would look more like

Ibu is the polite form of address for a woman and Bapak is the polite form of address for a man.

Bu menggerti Inggris?

Ngga, 'pak.

Tidak is the uber polite form of "no" but ngga is Jakarta street slang. Guess which version my husband and his family use...

Skipping ahead to the second half of the lessons (8-20) which center on food and beverages.

Yo! Wanna get some grub?

Ibu mau makan?
Ya, bapak.
Ibu di mana mau makan?
Tidak di tempat.Saya mau makan di restoran.
Ibu mau makan di restoran Gadja Madah?

Eh, lu mau makan?

Ya.

Di mana?

Kantin Laris? Nyonya Whatsherface with the Ayam Mbok Berek?

Ok-la. Eh, Ma! Lu mau ayam mbok berek? Anton? Lu mau? Prapto di mana? Eh 'to! Mobilnya...

OK is the same there as it is in the 'States.

No one uses the formal "Saya" referencing themself. Usually it's dropped and inferred OR the slang term "gue" is used if you're a Jakartan. Lu is the extremely informal "you" and is used between immediate family and close friends.What's even funnier is that there seems to be but one restaurant in Indonesia - Restoran Gadja Madah. The chapter on directions to and fro gives it as reference point.

Moving on from word choice, food choices... Since wine and beer seem to be the ONLY things that Pimsleur-folk know how to order, I feel it's really important to note that most Indonesians don't guzzle the booze... Why? Many Muslims don't partake of alcohol and so it's really funny to see such an emphasis on wine and beer... Indonesia is primarily Muslim... Moving on to what most people drink...

Air - Water
Teh - Tea
Teh Panas - Hot Tea
Es Teh - Iced Tea
Es Teh Manis - Sweet Tea (a close second to Southern Sweet Tea)
Es Jeruk - Iced Orange Juice
Susu - Milk
Teh Botol - my favorite beverage of all time. It's made by Sosro and is a type of sweet Jasmine tea. You can buy it stateside in tetrapaks, but it doesn't taste the same as the ones that come in glass bottles. I can drink a case of it in short order.
Green Sands - now this is allegedly alcoholic according to my husband and his brother, but I swear the formula was changed since they were kids. It's a fizzy drink with grape juice and other stuff. Reminds me a bit of Vernors, but without the kick.
Kopi - Coffee.
Starbucks - Yes, there is Starbucks in Indonesia. I've been to a few in Jakarta and one in Bali. It's my goal to visit every Starbucks in Indonesia before I die. There's some competition for Sbux in the way of "The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf", but seriously? Sbux is BETTER.If the conversation were to take place within our family, it would look something like this:

The Book Is Better Than The Movie?

2010-03-28T10:35:00.000-04:00

Or is it...

Recently, I was turned on to the Albert Campion series of stories by Margery Allingham. I ran across them in movie format on Netflix and was entranced. First off, they're set in the 30s, and I'm a sucker for that period. And Peter Davison as the charming Albert Campion, well, what's not to like there? While browsing other titles that Peter Davison had appeared in, I ran across "All Creatures Great and Small" by James Herriot. Now I can remember LOVING those book as a kid and getting to see Peter Davison as Tristan made it even more perfect.

Once the Campion series on Netflix was finished, I turned to my local library to catch up on the rest of Campion's adventures. But I was sadly disappointed. Dear reader, the idea of a mystery is to keep the reader hanging until the end of the story and not to give it all away in the first few pages. However, I'm afraid that Ms. Allingham had either lost her touch by the time she penned "Tether's End".

Within the first 34 pages of the book, not only was the murderer exposed, but also the most major clue was given and repeatedly pointed to as if the reader was an imbecile. So, I'm forced to say based on this sampling that the movie was indeed better than the book.

Moving on to All Creatures Great and Small, this BBC series ran for 7 seasons. I'm currently on season 4 and I must say that seasons 1-3 were every bit as good
as the book(s) it was based on.

But something happened between 1985 and 1988. It's commonly referred to as "The Other Darrin" phenomonon AND the "Recycled Script" phenomenon. Truly, I do believe that the powers that be at the BBC invoked the "Seven Year Rule" on the series, because there are episodes where a large portion of the dialog is lifted from season one (aired in 1977-78). Which I supposed would be forgivable had the beautiful Carol Drinkwater as Helen Herriot not been replaced with Whatsherbucket with the horsey-face and the grating voice. How DOES one explain moving from a lovely, mellifluous-voiced actress to another that is downright homely and irritating? Was it the ostensible "twelve year gap" between 1985 and 1988? Did Helen turn from lovely young wife to harridan? And adding "the other scotsman" with his bagpipes and bumbling good looks as the replacement n00b-Herriot? So I have to rate the first three seasons as at least as good as the book, but beginning with season four, it's a snooze-fest.

Goji-Bali Dreaming On Such A Winter's Day...

2010-01-09T11:57:00.002-05:00

With my sincerest apologies to the Mamas & Papas, and mad props to the Live Green Smoothie Diet and it's creator and online friend of mine, Angela, I have to blog.

I've been a subscriber to the LGSD daily recipe since September. I haven't made every one of the recipes that has crossed my email box, nor have I even attemtped. But the recipe from the 7th of January really spoke to me. What's not to love about young coconut? I'm willing to bet that most people in my neck of the woods haven't seen a young coconut nor even tasted one. And they are HEAVENLY. Even if you don't believe in an afterlife, the young cocount would make you a believer in the divine. SRSLY. It's just that good. And when you crack the top off of one, squeeze some fresh lime juice inside and then stick a straw in it? ZOMG. Yeah. Then you take the metal spoon and scoop the flesh out and eat it.

I've been to Bali *twice* and both times I've nearly made myself sick on this particular delicacy. And since we're experiencing icky weather - snow flurries predicted in Central Florida?!11!? - I really was delighted to see something that reminded me of my Favorite Place on Earth. I may live in a suburb north of the Happiest Place on Earth (East), but Bali is *my* happy place. I fully intend to expat and retire there in 30 years or so.

But all of that won't tell you about my Smoothie this morning. Inspired by the LGSD recipe but lacking some of the essential ingredients (clementines/oranges/banana)... Well, I *do* have Tangerines, but I'm not venturing outside in the dreary, cold rain to get one. I crafted my own Smoothie. Here's the recipe:

1 young coconut - water and guts
1 lime, peel removed and juiced
1" fresh ginger root, peeled and juiced
1/4" fresh turmeric, juiced
1.5 cups fresh papaya, seeded and peeled
2 Tbsp. organic Goji berries
1 cup frozen mango
1 cup ice

Blitz this in your favorite blender/smoothie machine/Blendtec (jealous me if you have one) and enjoy.

Some notes for this recipe:

Lime MUST have the peel removed so it's not bitter.
Juice the lime, ginger, and turmeric together into a cup and then add to the blender.

The mommy & daughter smoothies:

This is so very good and not overly cold even though it's got frozen fruit and ice in it. It's nice and thick like a milkshake, but no dairy at all. It also gets "things" moving along nicely. Speaking of which...

My middle child is so... anal... that on xrays, she's backed up all the way to her stomach just about. Miralax can only go so far with her... So I'm trying this smoothie on her to see if that's a more gentle way of getting things to "move on". Of my three children, the younger two give this smoothie 2 thumbs up out of 3.

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T12:07:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd try and come up with a snappy title for this post, but alas, the cold spell (and nobody laugh at me because I think under 50 degrees F is a cold spell) has sapped what few remaining brain cells I have left.

As you may know if you're a FB friend/flunkie, I have had my in-laws visiting since December 17th. And you're probably familiar with our humble - read SMALL - abode. You also know by now that there are 5 of us in here on a daily basis and adding guests makes us cramped. But this post isn't about that. That's a post for a different day and a different blog. ;-)

Today, I'm posting about the year in retrospect. I don't believe in New Year's Resolutions because... Well... We ALL know how those end up, right? But I'll gladly recap this year and how I hope 2010 will be better. I'm going to go backwards from December because, well, it's my blog and I'll do it how I wanna.

December:

Gained some weight due to HIS (Holdiay Indulgence Syndrome);
Beatles RockBand Limited Edition with Sir Paul McCartney's Hofner Bass and Ringo Starr's Ludwig "Drum" Kit;
The aforementioned houseguests;
Holidays without TOO much drama (just don't talk about Obama) - ooooh I made a rhyme;
School closing down forever and moving to the new facility which meant that the Elder Princess Ella LOST her brand new Disney Fairies lunch kit. I shoulda knowed this would happen;
Major "Spring" cleaning thanks to my mom panicking (spelling?) because the aforementioned houseguests were coming;
Making myself crazy with one too many sewing projects which I DID eventually finish in time for Christmas. Although I've still got one gift in process but that's no big because we're not exchanging until later;
Dealing with the Hospital's Office of Quality Care and how I'm SO NOT PAYING for...

November:

The Great MRSA Scare of 2009 just in time to NOT get to have Thanksgiving with the family;
The Yard Sale from Heck where I ended up with MRSA?!?!;
Repainting darn near every flat surface in my house. Which came out VERY well, if I do say so meself;
Sad Event: my dear friend Shelly McKinney passed away way too young. I want to be like her when I grow up. She will forever be missed. But I know she's kicking it in Heaven, so rock on with your bad self Shelly. But PAUL MCCARTNEY IS MINE!!!!!!! ;-);

October:

The Annual Christmas Picture Escapade. No one lost any lives or limbs and the pictures turned out FAB-U-LOUS. Shout out to Portrait Innovations for the 4th or 5th solid year of Xmas pics;
The Annual Halloween Sewing Fiasco: 1 Disney Fairy, Silvermist iteration, 1 Disney Snow White, "Classic" iteration, 1 "Star Rocket Boy" aka Star Trek TOS Mr. Suluh (heh);
Sewing costumes for The Hub's office spooktacular. Bonus? Getting a sushi gift card from the coworker whose costume I made. It was really nothing at all to do and it was a LOT of fun for me. Shout out to Uncle Robbie, THANKS!!!;
Somehwere between here and September, being diagnosed with Multiple Hereditary Osteochondroma;
Which meant I was poked, prodded, scanned, iradiated, xrayed and medicated;
Which is OK for me because I finally got some answers. Not the ones I *wanted*, but answers nonetheless;

September:

I turned 36. Yippee;
I hurt really bad due to unknown causes. See October;
We celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary and didn't kill each other. Actually, I'm being flippant. We really do love each other and the cruise we took really was a blessing;

August:

The aforementioned cruise for our anniversary;
The girls started public school (K and 2ng grade) for the first time. Bittersweet. But an AWESOME school;

July:

Toodloo Tonsils! Which was hellish. Really. I expected to breeze through it, but whoa nelly. I survived. And the thing is, I haven't been sick more than a day at a time since. Prior to surgery, I would get a "cold" that would last 6 weeks or more and I'd be Sick As A Dog;

June:

We purchase the new-to-us Kia Sedona LX. Which we love. Adore. Treasure. It's amazing what being a 1-car family for 18 months does to your "gratefulness quotient". Not that I've got a beef with Lynx, but still... Not having to wait for the bus in sweltering weather with no sunshade/wait in the rain with no place to stay dry, well, I won't miss it;
Elder Princess Ella turns SEVEN;
Dance Recital;
We lived through all the above AND homeschooling 1st Grade. See August for results;

May:

Uhh.... Something;

April

Uhh.... Something;

March:

Prince Lorenzo The Magnificent turns THREE. What are these "Terrible Twos and Threes"?;

February:

The Younger Princess Ella turns FIVE;
I end up at the pain management specialist for a lovely series of steroid injections in the back to control chronic Sacro-Iliac Joint pain;

January:

Something. I can't remember. It's been almost a year. And I've got three kids. By now, my brain is mush.

Now that I've recapped 2009 - and I left out a LOT, I'm sure, let's talk about 2010 since it starts in just over 12 hours.

My personal priorities for the new year are:

Talk to my physician about all the CRAP I take. I've got a pharmacy full of meds in my house, many of which are heavy duty narcotics for pain relief. There's GOT to be a better way. SRSLY.
Get a 2nd opinion from an Orthopedic doc on the Osteochondroma on my right knee and the Radial Head Dislocation on my right arm, both of which are severely aggravated by cold weather/extreme changes in temperature.
Get out of my gym contract. I've not been able to go to the gym more than a few times this year and I've got another full year left on the contract. With all the health issues, surgeries, pain meds/management and whatnot, I've really not been able to take advantage of it and it's a waste. Wish me luck on this one, folks.
Physical therapy 3x/wk for SIX weeks. Which was ordered sometime in September but which I've not had ANY chance to get to.

As you can see, the typical "resolutions" just don't appear. "Lose weight" just really isn't doing it for me right now since I'm completely off most forms of physical exercise and I can't swim and we don't have a pool.

Things I've learned in 2009:

I'm not meant to eat lots of non-raw food. I do a lot better both gastro-intestinally and emotionally when I Eat More Raw. Forget "Eet Mor Chikin". Shout out here to Angela @ Live Green Smoothie Diet.
I really need time to myself to be the best me I can be, both for my children, my husband AND everyone else around me.
I can NOT "do it all". It's just not possible. I have to come to grips with the fact that I'm NOT "SuperWoman".

Things I Really Want To Do Just For Me in 2010:

Focus more on my skill set: sewing, writing, baking, photography;
Blog more. With pictures.
Participate in Iron Cupcake: Earth more frequently. With PICTURES.
Get stuff up in my Etsy shop. You know, this place?
Participate more at Sew Retro. With pictures. I LOVE that place.
Try something new. I'm not sure what, but I promise that bungee jumping is NOT one of my options.

Thanks for reading this far and I hope every single one of you has an AMAZING 2010. I plan on it.

You Are Golden

2009-11-06T22:25:00.000-05:00

Today I got the news that a dear friend of mine had passed away. She was the first of any of my friends to go and it hit me like a ton of bricks. You expect your elderly grandparents to go before you. You expect your family members/friends who have been ill for a long time to go before you. But you don't expect a young woman with a family - even grandkids - to head to the great Beatles Listening Party In The Sky at such a young age and with no apparent warning.

The thing is, my friend Shelly is someone I know only through my computer. She sent me this awesome Facebook flair:

I remember smiling from ear to ear when I received it. Because it sums up a lot of my life. I'm pretty much separated from my friends by distance and so we keep up with each other online. Over the last few years, I've come to know Shelly as being an amazing mom, devoted wife, on fire Christian, lover of the Beatles and Disney and all things wonderful.

She hadn't been feeling well lately and on November 1st had posted to our message board the following:

As soon as I can get one or two good nights sleep I'll be golden:)

Little did she know just how golden she was going to be. The thing is, November 1st is All Saints Day. It's the day that Catholics celebrate all the Saints in Heaven. I firmly believe that God has her in His arms right now.

So I've lit virtual candles for her and will light more at Church on Sunday. If you want to light a candle and say a prayer, you may do so here.

Turning over a new leaf...

2009-10-29T17:52:00.001-04:00

Fall is the time for changing leaves and chilly air and all sorts of wonderful goodness. It's my absolute favorite time of the year. I think it's because it gives a needed respite from the Endless Summer that Florida is famous for.

As you know, the hubs and I went on a cruise for our 9th wedding anniversary. While on the cruise we got to have our bodies analyzed for fat content, toxicity and all kinds of equisite goodness. The upshot of the whole thing is that we both need to detox the liver. Me moreso than him since I'm working sans gallbladder which means poor Liver must be working overtime. And the Tonsils are gone so my lymphatic system is taxed, too.

So we did some reasearch and I'm going to detox ye olde liver and colon with products from Dr. Natura while I jack up my raw food intake with some goodness from the Live Green Smoothie Diet website. I'm going to detox for 30 days - which is apropos since November has but 30 days in it. I'll blog my results - both weight and psycho/emotional - and measurements right here. I figure if I can't be an example, at least I can be a warning.

I may even post pictures from time to time of the naked truth - with the naughty bits covered for "decency"s sake. Although I don't think anyone would get "excited" over seeing the Great White Whale.

Since I'm a vintage sewing addict, I'm lifting the picture from VintageTextile.com to accurately chart the changes in my body's shape/measurements.

I've even disassembled Hildegarde so that at the end of the 30 Day Detox, I can put her back together with my new measurements. Which brings me to a kid funny... After disassembling Hildegarde, The Boy brings her boobs to me, waving them in the air... "Here mommy! Here your BOOBIES!!!! You want boobies?!11!?"

Back to the measurements... As you can see from the picture, the highlighted areas are what's going to be tracked. I've numbered them for ease of tracking.

What I WON'T be tracking?

Calories
Fat
Carbs
BMI
Exercise
Steps
Anything else that one typically gets anal about when trying to "reduce".

Think of me as the "Anti-Biggest Loser". Which is a WHOLE 'nuther can of worms. I won't get into my opinions on that right now because I don't think there's enough bandwidth in the universe to handle it.

With no further ado, here are the measurements Pre 30 Day Detox:

41.5"/105.5cm
37"/94cm
44"/111.5cm
34"/86cm

And the weight - 167.7 - which I will not be tracking until December 1st. That's right! You heard me. I'm not going to weigh in at all. Not even once a week like I did with Weight Watchers. I want to just get my head in the health game and avoid worrying about "dieting".

One thing I'm really interesting in tracking as well is my exczema. I get some SERIOUSLY bad patches - to the point where my face is completely peeling and bloody AND my scalp peels away in huuuuuuuge swathes. I've been tracking it somewhat since I was a teenager. The patchiness on my face started when I was around 16. I would get it around my mouth (terribly embarassing) and it would flake off and just keep on flaking. I've always been prone to "cradle cap" but over the last few years - and with the sheer quantity of grey hair, it's been getting WORSE. As of yesterday, even WATER made my face hurt. And the urge to scratch... Oh my. I've always been a compulsive scratcher but this is beyond the pale. I did find a recommendation to use coconut oil and turmeric (kunyit) for the scalp. I will say this much... I'm greasy and smell like like pembantu (now there's a catchy song title) but I don't itch and burn. My pillow and towel and pajamas were yellow from the drippy goodness that was virgin organic coconut oil and freshly pulverised kunyit. And my fingernails look like I've been making some kind of tasty Ayam Makassar or something. But I do NOT itch. For the first time in my memory, my scalp does NOT itch. I will admit to washing the ends of my hair in some Pureology stripping shampoo so that I wasn't sooooo drippy and greasy. But I made double sure not to get it anywhere near my scalp. So my biggest hope for the detox period is that my skin clears up and goes back to something that looks less like the "Visitors" (circa 1985).

Because red, patchy, peeling lizard skin is just sooooo chic. Especially when paired with red catsuit and overturned lexan mixing ball in "azure".

Where No Man Has Gone Before...

2009-09-15T11:20:00.000-04:00

Technically speaking, more than a few men and women have gone down the road I'm going...

It's getting close to Halloween and this means the Annual Halloween Extravaganza at the Prince Consort's employer. Those of you who know me personally will find this ironic...

The task this year is to create a Starfleet (original series) uniform on the cheap. While this is definitely sewing related, I felt it better to leave it here rather than post it at The Vintage Family blog because it's retro kitsch, but not vintage. ;-)

The process begins at Dharma Trading Co. Since I've got my supplies on order, I'm not going to give the full on tutorial here, but it will happen soon!

Live Long and Prosper... And don't spend a fortune on a halloween costume!

Housekeeping

2009-09-13T17:32:00.002-04:00

I'm doing a little housekeeping and I'm going to be moving a lot of posts over to my "other" blog. It's specifically geared to retro life and vintage stuff and so most of my posts about sewing and stuff are headed over there.

This blog will be about the more random stuff happening in my life and my writing and stuff. There's just so much here that I feel it's better for everyone - ME included - if I clear the cobwebs and all and make it all neater. So stay tuned! Good things are happening!

$1.73 at Taco Bell saves lives?

2009-09-09T17:47:00.003-04:00

I can't say for certain, but I firmly believe that a trip to Taco Bell saved the lives of two small children today. I missed lunch today and was contemplating going to Taco Bell "A" which is on the way to my children's school. As I was pulling out of the driveway, I was prompted - no doubt by my guardian angel - to drive in the opposite direction. As I contemplated pulling in to McDonald's and Burger King, I was prompted to drive past them. I thought "I"ll just pull on to 1st Street and check out one of the local eateries" and immediately felt cautioned to go LEFT onto highway 46 rather than right on to 1st Street. I've learned from past experiences to follow the prompts rather than ignore them. So I dutifully turned left and continued past the hospital over the Amtrak and down towards the mall and whatever food was there.

As I'm driving, I see a young man in his early to mid twenties pushing an umbrella stroller with two babies in it. The older of the two was holding the younger on it's lap. The oldest was perhaps two and the younger was 8-12 months old. The young man had stopped momentarily and looked absolutely exhausted.

If you know anything about Florida, you'd know that pedestrians die here in unreal numbers every year due to car vs. pedestrian incidents. The young man was walking in an area with no sidewalk on the paved shoulder with traffic going around 55 mph. I contemplated pulling a u-turn and offering them a ride since I had an empty car and carseats, but I felt a prompting NOT to do so. As I was driving, I felt compelled to call the non-emergency police number but when I did, I was connected to the Sherrif's department. When I relayed what I'd seen, they connected me with the dispatch department who took all the information and sent out a deputy to check it out.

I made it to Taco Bell and got my two crunchy tacos ($1.73) and was all set to go the back way home to pick up the girls from school, but I was compelled *again* to go back the way I came to check on the young man and babies. I watched the road for signs of them but didn't see them at all. I did see a Sherriff's cruiser looking for them, so I can only assume they either caught a bus (unlikely) or a Good Samaritan gave them a lift where they needed to go.

Buried In Bali

2009-08-08T21:15:00.004-04:00

My favorite place in the world is Bali. I’ve been been blessed to be able to go there twice now. Each time has been a “family vacation” with all that entails. And yet, despite the responsibilities of parenting first two and then three children under 6, including “losing” the oldest on the last trip, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed myself both times.

The first trip was just the four of us and my mother-in-law. The second was the entire sibling group, mother-in-law and our three for a total of 6 adults and 3 children. And this was the time that the oldest of my children wandered away from the group and was “lost”. I find this very funny now although it was not funny when it happened. At the time, I wondered how two ostensibly responsible adults (my brother-in-law and his new bride) could “lose” a 5.5 year old. When one realizes that it was their honeymoon, it’s not that hard. And the oldest of my progeny has this way of slipping off from the group that is maddening.

But enough about that one little blip. I’m telling you about Bali itself. This is not meant to be a travelogue. All I’m doing is giving you my innermost thoughts.

Bali is my favorite place on earth. It’s pure and unspoiled. For the most part. If you don’t mind the tourists and the shopping malls that are an inevitable part of tourism. For me, the pasar-pasar (markets) are more intriguing than Starbucks – even though I made a concerted effort to visit every Starbucks in the areas of Indonesia that we were located. For me, finding the perfect batik tulis (hand-dyed batik) was the main attraction – more so than the most killer wave that the surfers all come for. And Ibu Oka’s babi guling (roast suckling pig) mean more to me than the local McD’s. Ibu Oka’s babi guling is such an important treat to me that I will eat there every day I’m in Bali if I could. It’s nearly impossible to make here in the States so I have to gorge myself while I’m resident in Bali. Another treat that I try to get while I’m there is klepon. They are little balls with gula merah (brown sugar) inside and coated with coconut flakes. Truly addicting. And fattening in large amounts.

But beyond all that, there’s a peacefulness in Bali that I’ve not found anywhere else in the world except Bogor on the island of Java – where my father-in-law is laid to rest. To say that Bile is restful is an understatement. Even in the aftermath of an earthquake during our first visit, the serenity of the island was unbroken. We barely felt the earthquake when it happened. We were at a lake resort/tourist stop with the ubiquitous Hindu temple and a restaurant that served pisang goreng (fried bananas) that were heavenly.

The Balinese people live by the philosophy – rooted in Hinduism – of being at peace with God, then nature and each other. Truly, this way of living permeates every interaction I’ve had with the Balinese - a lovely people who are almost always smiling.

Since Bali is primarily Hindu with a smattering of Muslims and Christians unlike the majority of the Indonesian archipelago, there are hundreds of temples to the Hindu gods all over the island. Many of the temples are still in use today and one can observe Hindu services in progress. The ancestors of the Balinese came from India via Java around a thousand years ago or more. They were forced there by the newer Muslim settlers that came via the Middle East while on the spice trade routes. The Balinese language is very similar to Hindi or Thai script with it’s curlicues and basis in Sanskrit. There is also somewhat of a caste system remaining as well.

But none of that has any real bearing on why I want to bury myself in Bali and never return to the outside world. The “peaceful, easy feeling” washes over me the moment I step off the plane and I head toward the baggage carousel. Despite the almost 100% humidity – which to this Florida native is normal – and the language barrier – I speak VERY little Bahasa Indonesia (the official Indonesian language) and NONE of the Balinese language – I feel at ease with life and humanity. It’s as if the Balinese philosophy becomes part of me and I become one with the Island.

Bali is verdant. Unspoiled. You can stay in a five star resort or in a private residence where there is no one else around for at least 200 meters. In either case, you still will have an amazing view. The sounds are similar to what I imagine the Garden of Eden was like. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that Bali could *be* the Garden of Eden. Lush vegetation, beautiful fruits and vegetables, flora and fauna that intrigue… All that and still there are pockets of “civilization” where one can get wi-fi and a Starbuck’s latte or McDonald’s hamburger and fries – if that’s what you really want.

Bali is the best of both worlds, really. And when I retire… If I retire… That’s where I’m going. And I’m never coming back. Never. You can keep your shopping malls and all the “modern conveniences”. I’ll take the sounds of silence, the frangipani flowers and my babi guling over them any day of the year.

If you’re in the mood to visit there, I recommend the Santika Beach Hotel and the Santi Café. Second to Santika Beach Hotel is the Hotel Padma. The Mandara Spa at the Hotel Padma is *amazing*. Even though there is a Mandara Spa local to me, I’d much rather go to the one in Bali. It’s just NOT the same. The Santi Café has the most AMAZING seafood in the world. You can pick your lobster, crab, shrimp, fish or other fruits of the sea from a tank as you walk in. And the chef prepares it to order. The bill for our meal was small compared to what it would have been in the States. It’s said you’re considered “lucky” if you get the shrimp with the most roe. Well, I was the one who got all the shrimp roe. And I guess I am pretty lucky to have been able to visit Paradise twice in one lifetime.

And now I’m suffering withdrawal. But life is good and I know that one day, I’m going back to my happy place. And if I’m lucky, I’ll never have to leave.

PS: I promise I'll put in some pictures so you can see why I never want to leave Bali.

PPS: The image header on my blog contains photographs from my Bali trips.

Featured Blog Post: Aux Belles Choses

2009-07-20T16:19:00.003-04:00

And the "Alice Apron".

Once upon a time a girl had so much vintage fabric
she didn't know what to do.
So she cut it all out and stitched it together
and said to herself, "Now that is MUCH better".
But still she was blue for she had no more room
to keep her creations.
So she packed it up and mailed it forthwith
from Florida to Texas as a surprise gift.
Little did she know that that little thing
would be one tiny spark and from it a business would spring.

Stephanie was the recipient of the apron in the "poem". I took pictures of it and here they are:

I've been so thrilled to watch her progress as an entrepreneur and sewist. The Alice Apron is - in my opinion - one of her best works. From concept to creation, she's really captured the feeling of Alice in Wonderland but with a mature twist.

I Just Can't Get Enough

2009-07-19T22:33:00.005-04:00

In trying to come up with a posting for how much I love my new steam cleaner, I'm at a loss. And then I had a flashback to 1990 and the Depeche Mode concert in Atlanta. But those guys have NOTHING on The Saturdays.

Seriously. I'm convinced that this song was written to a Wagner 905 steam cleaner. That's how totally awesome it is. This bad boy has 240 reviews on Amazon and only 13 of them are less than 4 stars. That alone should tell you something.

I'm in LOVE with my new steam cleaner. I won't tell you what I've blasted to kingdom come tonight. You might think less of me. ;-) Let's just say that instead of looking like a pin-up girl, I resembled something more like Lara Croft.

Earlier today I blasted about 3 years worth of cobwebs, dead bugs and dirt from the dresser that's getting redone. And it was *good*. But now? Oh my lands. This appliance - for which I'm not getting paid to sing it's praises - is even more of a workhorse indoors. It's cute, too, in it's yellow and black bumblebee-ish way. It's so cute it needs a name. I think I shall call it Bumblebee as an homage to the spunky Transformer of the same name. The same Transformer who "pees on the baaad wobots" according to Thing 3.

Lyrics are as follows - just in case you missed them:

When I`m with you baby
I go out of my head
I just can`t get enough
I just can`t get enough
All the things you do to me
And everything you said
I just can`t get enough
I just can`t get enough
We slip and slide as we fall in love
And I just can`t seem to get enough

We walk together
We`re walking down the street
I just can`t get enough
I just can`t get enough
Everytime I think of you
I know we have to meet
I just can`t get enough
I just can`t get enough
It`s getting hotter, it`s a burning love
And I just can`t seem to get enough

And when it rains
You`re shining down for me
I just can`t get enough
I just can`t get enough
Just like a rainbow
You know you set me free
just can`t get enough
I just can`t get enough
You`re like an angel and you give me your love
And I just can`t seem to get enough.

A Defining Moment

2009-07-19T14:56:00.002-04:00

Have you ever had a moment that hits you so hard that it helps shape who you are? I've got one to share. I was seven years old. For those of you who are counting, that makes this instance 29 years in the past plus or minus a few months. What could be so incredibly noteworthy that I'd remember it this long and it would influence me to this day?

Mean girls. At church no less. I vividly remember being in "children's church" on a Sunday evening back in 1980. Remember the 80s? Wayfarers with those goofy strings with the plastic loops to keep them around your neck? Grannies would wear the metal chain ones, but the cool kids had them in neon colored cord.

Here's the scenario... Two girls who were so fashionable by the standards of the day - feathered hair and pants AT CHURCH [gasp] are trying to fix the aforementioned combination of wayfarers and neck cord. The repair was very simple. Slide the metal coil back over the plastic loop and Voila! it's fixed. Since these oh so fashionable girls were having trouble, I asked if I could help. Their response?

"What would you know? You're wearing a ~dress~."

As if wearing a dress - to church - in 1980 was such an oddball thing. The denomination we belonged to frowned on women wearing pants in general but to church in specific, so the fact that these girls wore PANTS to CHURCH was really pushing the envelope at the time.

And if you really think about it, what does having a dress have to do with being mechanically adept or smart? Madame Curie wore a dress. Susan B. Anthony wore a dress. Queen Elizabeth wears dresses.

I think the real deal here was that I just wasn't "cool" enough on the outside so they assumed I didn't know jack squat about what the "cool" kids were wearing.

And yes, I still think about this to this day. It does haunt me a little bit because in some ways, I'm still that shrimpy seven year old who is just a little behind the curve as far as "fashion" goes. Not by choice, just because it is what it is.

There are days when I'd dearly love to be on the cutting edge of "fashion". But secretly, my inner fashionista isn't House of Chanel. She's on the L.A.M.B.

True Confession Time: I'm not a conventional person on the inside. I'm loud, crazy and technicolored. I'm a round peg in a square hole. I may be sitting down on the outside, but inside I'm doing back flips.

Ugh

2009-07-06T17:12:00.000-04:00

Sick kid + sick me = no sewing. Grrr.

You had it coming!

2009-06-26T07:43:00.002-04:00

And not the "Cell Block Tango".

I've been working furiously to get my cruise wardrobe finished. Flu?! BAH! Bronchitis that makes me cough so hard I pee myself? Piffle!

I've got the luttlerloh blouse (155) on the dressform. It needs two MORE buttons at $3.25 for two buttons. GAH! By the time I'm done, I'll have $8 worth of buttons on it. A casual blouse to wear with capris (154)!!! RAWR.

The coordinating capris are done (but for the hem). May I just say how awful the sketches are for the luttlerloh patterns? Especially when you're used to vintage pattern envelop illustrations.

The luttlerloh skirt is finished and has some nifty crystal fringe on the hem. It also goes well with the blouse, but is much more dressy.

I've got the Butterick 3052 pattern graded up (fingers crossed it works).

This will be made in two different views (A lower left & B) in two different fabrics. One is butterflies/flowers to go with the above skirt. The other is in yellow/black/grey to go with the skirt (yellow) and slacks (grey) from the Simplicity 4044.

Speaking of which, I'm headed out today to get that pattern copied at my local blueprint copy store. It will run me about half what Kinko's would charge. Once I've got my pattern copied, it can be graded up a bit and then ONWARD!

The Golden Rule?

2009-06-17T10:59:00.005-04:00

OK, so I made my first Lutterloh outfit last night. Well, mostly made. Not sure what I think of it. It went together easily enough and my invisible zipper rocks, but for some reason, using the correct measurements, I have to make my seam allowance 3/5" instead of the 5/8" that I measured out from the pattern. Once I'm finished with it I'll post pics. Hopefully. ;-)

Hah. Proof that nearly anything can be found on the interwebz! The skirt part of the picture below is what I'm making.

Image courtesy of LutterlohSystem.com

Oh The Huge Manatee

2009-06-16T15:40:00.004-04:00

You'd think I have enough on my plate with regard to sewing, right? Obviously my childrens' new school thought I had plenty of spare time on my hands...

Yesterday, I registered the girls for school and got the news that uniforms were being required this year for the first time ever (thanks! I just spent all my clothes budget buying my oldest clothes for school because nothing fit her already yet) and I could conveniently array them in polo shirts (for GIRLS??? WTH??? Say it ain't so!!!) and either khaki, navy or black bottoms (pants, shorts, skirts or skorts). Oh yes and by the way, mom, you can get those polos at The Evil Empire.

Now let me go on record as saying I despise Wal-Mart. I understand that for many, many folks, that place is the ONLY place they have to shop and I'm sorry that is the case. Aside from that, I'm unimpressed with their so-called "everyday low prices" because at my last comparison shop, they weren't any cheaper for the same items I buy at my local Super Target. So here I am, trapped in a no-win situation. I have to give Big Box Mart my hard earned cash because it's the ONLY place to get the shirts required for school at anything resembling a *reasonable* price in the correct colors. ORANGE??? NO ONE sells them except BBM. No one. Unless I want to spend $35 for an already embroidered "eurostyle" shirt. For a child. Oh hell no. So BBM got $50 (that's ten shirts) + 7% sales tax.

And on top of that, I'm going to have to alter each and every shirt to get them to fit my children. because obviously size XS (4/5) means Muy Gordo in BMM-ese. I'm not kidding when I say that my 5yo would be able to wear these shirts well into high school. Heck, *I* could have worn them in high school. She's such a TINY little thing. She still wears size 1-3 dance tights and can wear some 18-24 months pants. When I sew for her, it's around a size 2-3 and those still have room to grow. So yeah, mommy is going to have to de-sleeve, take in and re-sleeve and then hem all ten of these mother-lovin' shirts. Because the 7yo swims in them, too.

Add to that the necessity of britches. I *could* send my kids to school in the unaltered shirts and call them dresses, but I'm pretty sure that isn't what the school admins had in mind. So britches it is. And I'll be doggoned if I am going to spend $10 to $Infinity on school bottoms. No Way No How. $5 and they might have had me. So off I go to Joann's because the rules say "khaki, black or navy" and there's NO restriction on what kind of fabric I can use. OR the style. Heh. I'm obeying the letter of the law, I promise! It's not my fault I conviently have

Simplicity 4384

and

Simplicity 5540

in both of my girls' sizes... ($1 each a couple of weeks ago on sale!!! WOOT!!!) AND that Joann's had all their bottom weights and suitings (except Sew Classic) on 60% off sale. How could I resist that? For $51 & change, I was able to get enough fabric to sew each girl at LEAST half a dozen bottoms (if not more) which will last them at least 2 years each. That breaks down to ($51/12)/2. Or $2.13 per item per year. Now tell me, is there ANYWHERE you can manage that (inlcuding sales tax?) For custom tailored pants/skirts/shorts? In really AWESOME fabric that has spandex for better ease? I.Don't.Think.So. Heh.

And I don't mind ironing on a few school patches. Not at all. Really. Because it's not as if I've nothing better to do with my time.

car shopping, an exercise in futility

2009-06-07T19:43:00.003-04:00

The title says it all. Once upon a time, we were a two car family. Two paid in full cars. Until one got stolen. And it didn't have theft insurance because it was such a beater. And so we perservered with one car for one year because we didn't want to make a "rash" decision and then another five months because we didn't have adequate fundage to commit to such a purchase and because gas was SO HIGH and we were used to it all. Now the time has come to purchase a second car. And loathe as we are to take financing, it's just going to have to happen. We're not picky, really. If we were going to write a personal ad, it would look like this:

Hot mama needs hot car. Fuel guzzling road hogs need not apply. Import a
plus, and if you're RED, so much the better. Leather seats turn me on. Must have
adequate entertainment features for those long hauls.

The reality is, finding a CLEAN, low miles, appropriate (think three kids in car seats) vehicle that is in our price range is nearly impossible. Bah humbug. It's not like we're on a deadline or anything. It's not like August 24th is LOOOOOOOOMING or nuthin'.

Harumph.

There's nothing like the smell...

2009-06-04T15:53:00.003-04:00

of devil's food cake cupcakes baking in the afternoon. I haven't baked a thing since March and I was going through baking withdrawal. It's amazing just how *soothing* the smell of chocolate is to the savage beast menstrual female psyche. Even if I can't *eat* them myself, it's taking me to my happy place.

Unfortunately, I missed entering ICE: Savory. I had the ccakes made but didn't follow through. Too much going on. And I'm not entering June's because I just am Way Too Busy. Maybe July or August, but definitely in September depending on the challenge ingredient.

Tomorrow is the last day of Pre-K for the middle child and I volunteered to make treats for the class. It's also "water day" which means bathing suit, towel & spare clothes. Water day is fun day for sure.

Well, the timer is about to run out on the second batch of cupcakes. Can you smell them from where you're sitting? Maybe I'll even post a picture. ;-) But then I'm evil like that.

Progress Update

2009-06-04T00:34:00.000-04:00

Vogue 2636 is about 70% complete. Bodice needs to be attached to skirt, sleeves to bodice and zipper to side. Hem also needed but that means yet another run to the fabric store to get the appropriate hem tape. I'm thinking that happens on Saturday...

Round Three

2009-06-02T10:46:00.003-04:00

Of my sewing-capades is in full effect. I cut the pattern on the largest size because my measurements differ anywhere from 2" to half an inch from the [cough]size 22[cough] on the pattern envelope. Talk about demoralizing. Anyhoo, the pattern is kick-a$$ awesome. I never thought I'd like it as much as I do. And this fabric that my MIL gave my nana who didn't want it and gave it to me because it was "too expensive" to have it made up is to DIE for. The picture just doesn't do it justice...

Here's the project in progress...

Sew Say We All...

2009-05-31T21:50:00.004-04:00

Today I finished the two piece vintage skirt/midriff top (except for buttons). I'm saving the buttons for TV time. See? I can multi-task. One thing though... Simplicity 9978 only calls for FOUR buttons for that outfit. For the top. It's plain to see that the skirt buttons, but I guess we're just supposed to *guess* how many we need for the skirt. Meh. I bought some lovely sand infused ones that are semi-transluscent and they totally go with this better than the mere FOUR buttons I purchased earlier that there were no more of today. I guess it was meant to be since I wasn't really keen on the first set anyhow.

I also started on the Vintage Vogue 2636 I posted about earlier. Because I've got a weird shape, of necessity I must pin-baste the thing together FIRST and then go back and sew it. Which is PITA but oh well. I'm 98% done with that step and tweaking the fit. I will say that it looks very nice on the dress form. Better than I anticipated. The backing of the fabric is super silky polyester knit. No slip necessary, yay! The skirt on it isn't nearly as full as some of the others, but it's got plenty of ease.

And in other news, I bought a new pair of scissors. But this time, instead of buying the "chipper chicken" (name the movie this references & win a prize), I sprung for the spring action knife edge Gingher scissors. Sure they were a mere $44 & change. But I was SICK TO DEATH of having to find the doggone "sweet spot" on my POS spring loaded scissors so as not to mangle whatever I was working on. And did I mention I got 40% off? WOOHOO. So they only ended up being $26 + tax. Not too bad, really.

Also, I've begun conceptualising my oldest's First Holy Communion Dress. That's for Easter 2010. I've already got the fabric and the pattern and the thread. I've had those for years now. Today I scored (on my button run) a pearl headband for the veil. Tissues out... I'm going to use the pearl enhanced netting from my wedding veil for hers. Sniff sniff. My baby is getting so big. And I got 40% off the headband, too. I had a dream about it last night actually. And there it was.

Last week I got the most adorable cuddle fleece for oldest daughter's winter coat. Again 40% off. Which since it was already $13/yard was VEEERY helpful. It will be lined with cotton interlock fabric that is super soft so it has a little extra warmth and body. I found the perfect pattern for ONLY $1 folks. A BUCK!!!! Crazy, no?

I'll post pictures of all this madness later on. Right now, I'm too pooped to pop, so I'll sign off and check you on the flip side.

Hidden Treasures

2009-05-18T09:20:00.003-04:00

It's funny how the Universe gives you little surprises.

I've been cleaning out my pattern stash. Not the "good" ones that I keep in acid-free envelopes and protected from wind, rain, sleet, snow, fire-breathing monsters from outer space and small children... You know the ones. The ones that you have no idea how you got them, where they came from, or maybe even they were the ones from when you were a kid and now they're missing pieces and parts.

I realized as I was cleaning out my last bin - hacking, coughing and wheezing all the way - that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I had NOT intentionally bought them. Nope. Because if it's a vintage pattern, I'd have all the bits-n-bobs that go 'long with. Then it came to me... There was ONE pattern envelope that didn't contain what it was supposed to. I only paid a quarter for it, so no big, BUT! Goldmine!!! THREE vintage patterns in varying stages of completeness... All Simplicity...

Simplicity 3335 which is either from 1940 or 1950. My money is on '50 based on the style. See?

Next is Simplicity 1790 which again could go either 1946 or 1956. Since S3335 has more stuff printed on the pattern paper, I'm going to say that S1790 is from '46. It also has these AMAZING little transfers for embroidery. I wish I had a picture of this one....

The next one is from 1972 - Simplicity 5214. Again with the "no envelope/cutting directions" stuff. This one is an easy pattern to figure out though. I've got 6 out of 7 pieces which means it's definitely functional.

Strictly speaking, ALL of these patterns are functional because I can always redraft what I'm missing. I can't wait to make these up. Except for one small problem... None of my kids are small enough anymore. I guess I'm going to have to wait for grandchildren. Which had better not happen ANY TIME SOON. Otherwise I'll have to kill someone. And then it will end up as an episode of Law & Order: SVU...

Armchair Archaelogist

2009-05-17T15:22:00.004-04:00

I always wanted to be an archaeologist in the grand style of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and dig up ancient cultures. Alas, I was born about 150 years too late and with too much of a love of air conditioning. However, I still love to seek out new worlds and new civilizations and boldly go where no man has gone before: vintage sewing patterns.

I've been archiving my collection in Silver Comic Book sleeves with acid free cardboard backers. $3.99 for 100 sleeves and $7.99 for the backboards. I've been labelling away and had a little trouble with a couple of patterns' dates. I knew from the styles that they were without a doubt from the 30s, but other than a decade, I couldn't get much farther. One was a Ladies' Home Journal pattern sold by Ed. Sarrazin of Fayetteville, TX at his general store and the other was a New York Pattern. Both LHJ and NY Patterns' information are hard to come by since not much detail is known about them.

However, both of these patterns had something in common... A strange little symbol of an eagle holding something and the initials "NRA". Now in modern parlance, NRA means the National Rifle Association. But in the 30s, notsomuch. In 1933, FDRs New Deal was supposed to help ease the effects of the Great Depression through the creation of numerous federal entities that would oversee different aspects of industry and commerce. There's a little blurb on this at History Matters. I'd say history is repeating itself right now...

But aside from current politics, the symbol intrigued me. I looked up the slogan "We Do Our Part" in Google and was led to Wikipedia's entry. Basically, that little emblem and slogan narrows down my patterns' ages to between July of 1933 and Spetember of 1935. That's less than a two year spread!

Once I'm done archiving these patterns, I'll be scanning them and fixing them to upload to the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

Hello Look Out World!

2009-05-16T19:00:00.002-04:00

She's on the mend.

Okay, there's a prize* to the first person who understands the significance of this post title. And you don't even have to know 1337 to get it.

I'm feeling SO much better than yesterday. But not as much as tomorrow. There's a prize* for the person who correctly identifies the significance of that phrase. And no cheating with Google.

I can NOT believe how much better REST makes you feel. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids. But let me tell you something... Having three little [cough]angels[cough] hanging around with the ~~pitter patter~~ thundering of ~~little feet~~ pachyderms is NOT conducive to recovery. Thank God for family that lives nearby.

Here's the Weekend Wacky Wondering for you... When you're home alone, do you close the bathroom door?

And on a more serious note, have you ever had a book that you've really wanted to read but no matter how hard you try you Just Can Not Get Into It? Mine is this one...

I've wanted to be able to read and really understand it's concepts for years. But I swear, it's written in some sort of scientific-ese that this dancer just can't get. I'll go you one further... My eyes start to glaze over after about 3 pages worth.

Anyhow that's the Weekend Update. :-)

*All prizes are virtual and have no monetary value and are subject to withdrawal at the sole discrection of the blogger, but not Blogger. This offer null and void in most parts of the Non-Free World and some parts of the Free World.

Possum Oil! It'll fix you right up!

2009-05-15T18:51:00.005-04:00

Asian redneck say wha?!

With apologies to Miley Cyrus and her writers at the Disney Channel, "[insert descriptor] say wha?!" is now my phavorite phrase. Pher realz. Ok, enough with the alliteration or consonance or assonance - first person to call me an ass gets a possum thrown at their head - or whatever.

Possum Oil. That's what the hubs calls the Po Sum On Medicated Oil.

Which strikes me as funny. You'd have to know him to really get this. Let's just say that when we got married, I donated all his "Garth Brooks" shirts to Goodwill.

Now before anyone gets the wrong impression, I don't think I've ever really introduced the hubs. He's from Indonesia. Not India like the seven-gajillion telemarketers selling calling cards to "India, Pakistan and Bangladesh" would like to think. Now *I* am indirectly of Indian descent (bio dad was part Indian) but hubs? Not likely. Second of all, just because his name is sanskrit means bupkis. Bahasa Indonesia is a derivative of Malayan and is comprised of Portuguese, Dutch and Sanskrit words in addition to Malayan.

Sepatu? Got 'em on my feet.
Meja? That's where the plates go.
Guru? That's the teacher.
Pandeta? That's the prophet/apostle/mystic.
Geritji? That's the mother-in-law. Along with siblings Maritji, Julius and more.

So for the love of mercy telemarketers, don't ASSume that because some dude is named Surya that he's desi. Freddy Mercury the hubs is not. But he can play a mean classical guitar.

So back to the topic at hand. While I've been crouping away and generally feeling nastay, the hubs has been the most supportive dude in the world. He hasn't even made one joke about how I look like death warmed over. Anyhow, one thing I've found that really makes me feel better is to have this process done known as "kerik" (that's my spelling) because that's what the implement is called. Wikipedia has an article on it that is semi-complete. I feel the article lacks *something* that I can't put my finger on.

Anyways, instead of the raw ginger that hubs's Popo uses, we have this little tool (pardon the crapola picture taken with my laptop webcam):

I'll tell you this... If you aren't sick, this procedure won't do squat. In fact, it could make you worse. Or so says the hubs. Also, it's supposed to expell the "wind" or "air" and restore everything to it's natural state of balance. The first time he told me that... Well, I thought pigs were going to start flying. But after seeing my previous post... Well... It DOES work. And it hurts like a MOFO. The key here is to barely scrape the skin. You aren't going for torture, just deep massage. I'm just glad our nearest neighbors are 60 feet away in any direction. Otherwise the sounds emanating from our house would probably scare the daylights out of them. Now let me say this... If you are sick, it's GOING TO HURT. Even if you're only being lightly touched. But once it's over... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH How do you spell relief? "Wacky Indonesian by way of China method of flaying the skin off one's back after having rubbed in some medicated oil that burns you alive".

Which leads us back to Po Sum On [bonus points for you if you were singing that to the tune of "Do A Deer" from "Sound of Music"]

I have an extremely high tolerance for most medicated liniments/oils/cremes/etc. My husband's dresser is a veritable Asian pharmacy of varying Chinese/Japanese/Indonesian creams/rubs/balms/liniments/etc. They mingle with the Dolce & Gabbana for Men, the Target brand of Purell Hand Sanitizer (cuz I'm germy) and Aveeno lotions. Of all the medicated stuff we've got, only Po Sum On even registers on my heat index. We have a game to see which one will be "hot". So far, none of them get hot. They only tingle a bit. My dad on the other hand.... Well, he was feeling ill a while back and so we bought him the Po Sum On and the hubs went to do the "coin thing" (kerik) on his back to make him feel better. Dude. We nearly had to pry Dad off the ceiling because it was "SO HOT!!!!"

One other thing about this procedure... You MUST get reclothed immediately after. Otherwise you can get sicker than you were from letting "wind" back in. Take it for what you will, all I can say is that this is the One and Only Thing that's made me feel human while I've been sick. See? I don't look like Night of the Living Dead anymore! And I'm not even wearing makeup. I contemplated putting some on, but figured that would A) be overkill and B) a waste of what little energy I have. So here's my bedridden face for all the world to see... Oh yeah, one more thing... This pic was taken with the lights off (thanks headaches). The colors in the picture above are the accurate ones.

Now one more thing before I go post something else... I've had a LOT of time to think while I've been in bed. "A dangerous pasttime I know"... Tell me where that phrase comes from and you'll win a prize. I'm not sure what, but it will be a prize. Thinking gives me fodder for writing. So stay tuned. I'm sure there will be some interesting posts forthwith.

I meant to post this on Tuesday

2009-05-14T08:54:00.003-04:00

but I got to feeling ill and then forgot...

So better late than never...

As I promised earlier, Simplicity 9978:

I'm actually a bit farther along than the pictures attest. I've got the sleeves sewn and pinned to the bodice and the skirt is complete except for... BUTTONHOLES. I figured I'd better quite while I'm ahead. I was afraid to manage buttonholes while I'm sick with the flu. I mean, I'm good, but I'm not THAT good...

The hem of the skirt and the lower edge of the bodice and sleeves are finished with bias tape in a nice "bright pink". Who comes up with those names anyway? Shouldn't it be called "Hibiscus" or something? "Bright Pink" is just so... ordinary... Henceforth, "bright pink" shall be called "Hibiscus".

Anyways, I'm just about done with this one and then on to the next project...

Vintage Vogue 2636

But not the jacket part. This dress will be an actual challenge for me because of my body shape. And I'm up for the challenge. I got this pattern like a million years ago from Lanetz Living.

What starts with "Eff"

2009-05-13T22:08:00.003-04:00

And rhymes with "loo"?

The irony of this? I've never had the flu before. So I always thought I'd get it when pigs fly. Sweet, sweet irony. The fact that I'm even able to post anything at all is a testament to my internal fortitude and better living through pharmaceuticals.

Thank whatever deities you worship that I have broadband internet access and netflix on my laptop. Otherwise I'd be going nucking futz over here.

On a lighter note, the Elder Princess Ella was deputized to be "Junior Mommy" and mind her siblings while I died the death of thousand chills. She was beyond pleased to be "Junior Giovannina" for a day. I just hope it doesn't go to her head... It's big enough already. Like mother, like daughter I guess.

So far today, I've gone through an entire box of kleenex (yes, Kleenex brand facial tissues for those of you linguistic purists). I'm staying hydrated and in bed so I don't contaminate the whole of my fair town. Although, the dude who decided it would be cool to rape and rob a woman at gunpoint and THEN try to sell his victim drugs one block away from my mom's house is welcome to come over and get GOOD and INFECTED. Just for him I'd share my germs. Everyone else stay away. FAR away. Far FAR away.

In fact, run away!

And just because I love you all a LOT, I'm adding a bonus video:
Star Trek Knights of the Round Table

I have made buttonholes!!!!

2009-05-12T10:49:00.004-04:00

To some people that may seem like no big deal. Prior to completing this dress, though, I had gone 35.75 years (granted not all of them sewing years) without ever having to make a button hole. I don't know why they were so scary. Maybe it was my defective sewing machines that didn't like me. Who knows. Here is my "bumblebee" dress in all it's buttonholed (6) glory:

Now all I need is a WIDE black belt so I don't look so WEIRD....

I will say that it's got a LOT of ease. I'm finding that to be the case with most patterns even though I'm substantially larger than the patterns...

I've also started on the two piece retro Simplicity number (bottom left)...

From Musings from the throne room

I'll post pics of it soon, I promise!

Wardrobe Refashion - Ready, Set, Sew!

2009-05-01T09:00:00.000-04:00

You know those items of clothing you never ever wear? The ones lurking in the dark recesses of your closets and the depths of your dresser drawers? And don't tell me you don't have at least ONE item you never wear for whatever reason. Well, those are the items I'm going to get started on during my 2 months of WR. Bear in mind I'm also sewing from scratch a wardrobe of outfits, so if the Closet Refugees don't get gotten to before the 2 months is up, don't sue me.

The first candidate is the sort of neat denim skirt. It's just HUGE in the waist. I mean HUGE. It rides so low on my hips, it could fall right off if I suck in my tummy. It also has these side button slits with brass buttons that dig into my rump and thighs if I sit down wrong. Tres Uncomfortable. So that's going to be my first victim.

To begin with, I'm going to revamp the waist and put the zipper in the side. Front zippers are mannish. Side zippers (or back ones, even) are sexay. Then, I'm going to rotate the skirt around so that the button slits are front to back not side to side. The back ones will be removed and the front ones will be expanded to get some sexyfront (as opposed to SexyBack). The inset pockets will be removed and either replaced with patch pockets on the front or foregone altogether. It depends on just how much fabric is left when I'm done frankensewing this thing backtogether.

[Forrest Gump]

One thing is for sure: those brass buttons are never going to dig into my but-tocks again.

[/Forrest Gump]

Before & After Pictures Coming Soon!

Rest In Peace Frankie Manning

2009-04-29T21:47:00.002-04:00

The LA Times has an article on Manning.

Frankie Manning was the godfather of the modern Lindy Hop movement. He will be sorely missed.