On the way to church this morning we took a different road. A country road. A one way road. Under power lines. The main highway that we normally travel is being resurfaced so sometimes there are delays.
Ds2 asked me to stop right at the beginning of the power lines, right at this canal. He said he wanted to take some pictures. He stepped out and told me there were a ton of tiny little creatures swimming around in the ditch.
It turns out they were tadpoles. Every little black spot you see below are tadpoles swimming around. Click on any image to see a much larger photo.
Here you can see some baby... toads? Frogs? We usually don't have frogs because the desert doesn't have much water, so we usually have toads. But these were green tinted, more like frogs than toads.
Here is a tadpole with backlegs.
I managed to catch one of the tiny little things.
Here it is in the bottom of a styrofoam cup. That's a sunflower seed shell next to it. Heee!! It's so tiny!
I tossed the little thing back into the water and it swam away.
Here are some more lounging on the beach.
Until next time.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
TYDSITC -Tadpoles!
Labels: Things You Don't See In The City
Saturday, August 11, 2007
One Layer of the Veil Beaded
I'm so happy I found a white dress so that I get to wear a veil. My friend BB said she didn't want a white dress either until she went into a bridal shop and the first one she tried on she was hooked. She felt like a little girl again and wanted to be a princess.
I guess deep down inside there was a part of me that wanted a white gown and a veil. Another part of me was dead set against it, because that part of me is old-fashioned, thinking only virgins should be allowed to wear white.
I realized this morning that it was not very intelligent of me to clean the house straight through until 1pm and THEN sit for three hours straight beading on the veil. The last time I did that I got a terrible crick in my old neck and back. So today I cleaned house for 30 minutes (set the timer!),then beaded about 16 inches or so worth of the edging. That worked out MUCH better. I cleaned the living room, kitchen and defrosted the big freezer, vacuumed, swept and mopped the kitchen floor, washed several loads of clothes, folded and put them away (yippee! clean underwear for the entire next week!), washed ds2's bedding and put his bed back together, cleaned the meat from a cooked chicken, strained broth, washed milk jars, scrubbed the boys' toilet... that's all I can remember. I am so happy it's done! Tomorrow morning before church I'll clean ds1's bedroom and the rest of the day should be free. Let's pretend I already figured out the money and budget at the first of the month, shall we? That is probably what I will tackle tomorrow after church.
I managed to get one layer of the veil beaded. The bottom layer. I stitched the top together so I will know where to start beading on the other side of the material. If I bead along the same side for the entire perimeter of the veil, then when I fold it over, one side would be on the inside instead of the outer side.
The table I got for five dollars ended up being too tall after all, but the legs come off easily so I was able to set the table on two chairs and then sit on the couch. Perfect height and I'm not sore at all. Of course, not beading for two hours straight probably helped a great deal.
Here's my equipment. Nylon thread (hate it!), needle, pin cushion, scissors, beads, and ruler.
Here's a shot of the lower edge of the veil.
When I got around to where I started, I realized the beads were starting to loosen, because on the first length I didn't tie enough knots! I hope the other lengths will be okay. I had to take two sections out and redo them! Agh! I would say I put at least 2 hours into beading today.
Until next time.
Comparison Between Kodak and Nikon Cameras
Labels: Just Stuff
All right, first of all, if spiders make your squeamish, turn back now.
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YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!
Pioneer Woman posted a series of spider pictures on her blog today and when I got done milking I saw our spider again. When I saw what she was working on, I made a point to remember to bring the camera back out. Actually since ds2 was still home, I had him come with me and take some pictures with our new awesome camera which I don't know how to use. My pictures were taken with my company's camera a Kodak EasyShare CX7430. I've been happy with it until today. Now I hate it. Ds2 is still getting the hang of using our new camera, but it's obviously hundreds of times better. It's a Nikon Coolpix S10. We got it from Costco for $219.99. The total was 245.50 after tax and shipping. It also included a 1GB SmartMedia card.
Okay, the first picture was taken with the Kodak. Click on any of the images for a much bigger image. This first image is unphotoshopped. As you can see it is dark and blurry.
Here I've lightened the image, but it is still blurry.
And now I've sharpened it, but it really didn't do all that much.
Here is a picture ds2 took at lower resolution. The image is about 450KB. I've cropped out most of the image except for the spider and bug, and made the picture a little bit smaller. I left it at 12 inches wide.
Here's a picture ds2 took at the higher resolution. I also cropped it and made it 12 inches wide.
I love this picture. I took a picture of ds2 taking a picture of the spider.
We both had a pang of regret for the bug... but I figure the spider has to eat and it probably already poisoned the bug, so the bug will die anyway. The bug was still alive. If you look at the bigger images you can see that the spider is working at wrapping the bug up in webbing.
Until next time.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Lace Tablecloth - Take II
Labels: Wedding
One day I'll learn how to stop being swayed by what other people say. I don't know if it would be better to just stop asking people what they think? Is the problem that I ask for their opinion because I am seeking their approval? Or is it all a learning experience for me so that I can learn to do what I want even in the face of adversity? I think people will hate me if I don't follow their advice. But it's impossible to please everyone.
I wanted to make the tablecloths from lace, as I mentioned in my entry Lace Tablecloth. I bought the lace and took it in to work to show my coworkers. Our janitor loved it and thought it would make great tablecloths. My boss seemed to like it. I showed it to Deema and was promptly shot down. When I first told her about it, she gave me about five reasons why I couldn't use lace. It's too hard to sew with (um, she does not sew AT ALL), it isn't DONE, how am I going to make a perfect circle that big, and a couple others I don't remember. I'm trying to persuade her to start her own blog because she has definite ideas about how the world and society should be and act. I know I do, too, but she's really insistent. I know that part of the reason she opposes me is because she would NEVER consider doing anything like this herself.
So I brought the lace in to show her. She hates it. Here's what the lace looks like draped over a table.
She said I was supposed to use plain linens for the tables. Well, I told her I wasn't using linens because they were too expensive. She asked me why I just didn't use paper.
I told my boss that Deema hated the lace tablecloth idea and she said, "It's for the HEAD table," because you see, even though my boss is a tough bird, she also likes to please people (you wouldn't know it from outward appearances). So she said what I should do (compromise suggestion) is to make a tablecloth for the big rectangular tables we have and use that for my head table.
So then I started thinking maybe the lace tablecloths would look way too fancy for my afternoon not so formal wedding. And then I got confused.
Dh had a dental appointment to have deep scale cleaning done and we initially thought his appointment was at 2:30. But then it ended up being at 1pm. He picked me up because I was going to go over to the fabric store and buy another length of the lace so I could get the one experimental table made. I had said I'd use the lace for at least for the bride and groom table. Now it all changed to where I wasn't even going to make even one circle tablecloth, maybe. He ended up taking me to get something to eat and driving me back to work, then back to his appointment.
Regarding the confusion, if I wasn't going to go to the fabric store, what was the point of going with him to his earlier appointment, since I had to go back to work until 2:30 anyway?
Then on the way back to work, I started wondering why wasn't I going to buy the lace and make the circle tablecloth anyway? Why was I letting people tell me what to do?
If the tablecloth was going to look too fancy, that's one thing. If it was going to look like I was trying to hard or something... I just don't know what to think. I especially don't know why I have to be so eager to please everyone. Although Deema did finally sigh and say, "I may as well stop talking because I know you are going to do exactly as you please." Knowing full well that many things she has said have influenced me to do something different. So now I don't know whether her comment had a hidden message in it (my mother used to do that) trying to persuade me further or take it at face value. When she said that I said, "I am going to make at LEAST one tablecloth to see how the material is to work with. If it's too hard, then I'll drop the whole idea." Because each tablecloth is going to cost about $3.25.
She was the one that said my original dress, the one I was going to sew for myself, looked like a "Mother of the Bride" dress. I thought the blue one looked even more like a MOTB dress.
Enough of that. Today ds1 and I went shopping together. We stopped at Denny's for breakfast. That was a nice treat. We did the "shred" pickup, and shopped for a few things while at Walmart. We were home by 1pm. I was so tired that I decided to lay down for a nap and ended up sleeping for three hours. That's why I'm up so late.
We also went to a thrift store and I found a fold up table that I wanted. I was very pleased when I found it was only five dollars. It is about the width of a card table, but longer. It is shorter than the dining room table so I think my neck and back will ache less when doing the veil beading. I hope.
I decided today that working all morning until 1pm is a good plan. So that is what I'll do tomorrow. I'll see how much I can get done in the way of housework, and then start working on the veil again. I also want to try sewing with the lace. That was the main point of making one tablecloth, to see how difficult it was to sew and work with. Then Sunday is church so I'll have to figure out how to divide up my day.
I have realized that I love lace. This store that has it on sale for $0.75/yard, I would just love to buy yards and yards and yards of it and drape it all over the place. It is just beautiful material.
Dh's mother has asked if we would be interested in having a night or two at a local resort for our honeymoon. Dh asked me why people keep pushing this on us? (My friend BB also offered that she has a timeshare at a local resort hotel). He just doesn't understand the whole idea of weddings and honeymoons. That's my macho man. :-) When I explained to him the main reason why, he said maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea. ;-) She said to give it some thought and let her know what we would like to do. She is the best mother-in-law that anyone could wish for and I'm so pleased that she will become my lawful MIL once again. She has told me over the years that she will always be my MIL, so don't stop referring to her as that. I have actually known her longer than I have known her son!
Until next time.
Pay It Forward Meme
Labels: Just Stuff
The rules:
- I will send a handmade gift* within the next 365 days, to the first three people who leave a comment requesting to join this PIF exchange.
- I don't know what that gift will be yet, but it will be handmade*.
- If I do not know you personally, I will be emailing you to ask your favorite color, and mention a few things I am able to make. If you prefer to be totally surprised, just let me know.
- I will need to have your address eventually, in order to ship your gift.
- Please leave your email address with your comment so that I can contact you with more details. Blogger does not include your email when you comment, so I will not be able to contact you unless you leave your email address. Please feel free to disguise it.
- The only thing you have to do in return is "pay it forward" by making a similar agreement on your blog. It would be nice if you mention and link to my blog as the place you heard about this meme.
And that's it.
Now here's how I found out about this fun meme!!
I thought this meme sounded fun and when I saw that Ruth over at SewChic had posted it, I decided to join in. IIRC, I found the SewChic blog via Google search when I was interested in sewing my own wedding gown a few weeks ago. Ruth's daughter Jessica made her wedding gown last year. It is just gorgeous and she is a very talented seamstress. I really admire that she was able to make her gown to match what she envisioned. Jessica also made her own bridal bouquet using silk flowers, which was amazingly beautiful. Her reasons for using silk were very logical and I was thinking about doing the same thing until I saw that the bouquet I wanted to make for myself would cost around $80 for the silk flowers alone. Here is a video on making a cascading bridal bouquet. My friend Rees loves the idea of using real flowers, so with her counsel I've decided to carry a bouquet of white roses. I still like the cascading bouquet idea... I read someplace that carrying a cascading bouquet has a slimming effect on plus size brides.
Funny thing about the meme... the first place I saw it was on my friend bfmomma's blog. I've known bfmomma from another email list we have been on together for at least 7 or 8 years. It was too late to join hers by the time I saw it. After I joined Ruth's, I wondered who had signed up for my friend bfmomma's PIF meme. One of the people who signed up for her PIF meme was Mamafitz. bfmomma has MamaFitz linked from her site, so I have visited her blog once or twice. Then I clicked on MamaFitz's PIF meme, to see who signed up for hers. I was AMAZED to recognize that Ruth had signed up there. It's a small world, even on the Internet!
Until next time.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Day Eleven No Poo
Labels: Just Stuff
[This was posted Thursday night, and I added to it on Friday afternoon]
The last time I tried going "no poo" I'm pretty sure I gave up after about a week. I remember feeling really frustrated and exclaiming, "My hair feels like straw!"
However, this time it seems to be working great.
It is amazing to me how wonderful my hair smells! It reminds me of that wonderful baby smell. You know how breastfed babies smell so delicious? You would think my hair would smell like vinegar, but it doesn't. If I didn't know better, I'd think I have been using regular shampoo and conditioner. But I have only been using the baking soda rinse and apple cider vinegar rinse. And not every single day either.
Okay, I've done some digging into my sent email box and apparently I tried going "no poo" but I was trying to not use shampoo which is considered detergent. I *was* using goat's milk bar soap on my head. I think I used soap for a few days, then after my hair was already freaking out, tried the baking soda and vinegar rinse. And it was feeling like straw and I thought it was because our water was hard.
Ds2 has also gone no poo. His hair looks fuller and less greasy. And it smells wonderful.
I asked my dear honey to smell my hair again this morning. He, like me, just can't believe that something isn't scenting my hair. He says it must be scent left on my pillow from the shampoo, but I wear my hair up in a bun. It's too long to sleep with it not tied up.
He said there's no way my hair can smell like strawberries and cream after eleven days without shampooing. LOL!
One other thing I noticed this morning when showering. Usually when I don't brush my hair for more than a day (I sometimes am in a hurry and just rake the front part with my fingers to make it look presentable, then twist it into a bun) and when I shower on the second day without brushing, clumps of hair fall out. When I wash my hair I twist it gently to remove as much water as I can and there are always long strands of loose hairs at the end of the ponytail. But this morning, instead of a honkin' clump, there were only 3-4 strands.
Here's the link again: Why You Should Go No Poo
Here's another article: The Great Shampoo Scandal
And another with reasons of why you should at least be careful about the ingredients in your shampoo: Can the Methyl Paraben in Your Shampoo Make You Fat?
Until next time.
Every Woman Series - Sexual Purity
Labels: My Faith
Ds2 found a great series of Christian books written to guide men and women to sexual purity. There is a series for women and one for men. I recently ordered Every Woman's Battle by Shannon Ethridge, curious to see what she had to say. Sexual purity is important even within marriage. The men's series begins with Every Man's Battle.
During the many years when I was abstinent, looking for guidance and support, there were few limited resources. One book I owned was Elisabeth Elliot's Passion and Purity. I also learned a great deal from a woman named Margot Sheahan who started a group for unwed mothers who she taught how to practice chastity. Margot passed away a few years ago. Her passing was a great loss. Another excellent down-to-earth resource was Teri Lester's Healthy Love: 36 Questions and Answers on practicing abstinence.
One of the things I found interesting in Every Woman's Battle was the discussion regarding how women look at other women and compare bodies. It struck a chord with me and my body size issues.
Mrs. Ethridge's counsel is persuasive. If you are a Christian struggling with your sexuality, I believe you will find these books very helpful. If you have children that you wish to guide onto the path of sexual purity, you will want to read these books.
This topic is controversial and indeed for many years I went along with the whole "If it feels good, do it" philosophy. But it did not serve me well. When something doesn't work, you seek out what does.
Until next time.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Wedding Programs - Who Knew?
Labels: Wedding
I've seen some about these "wedding programs" and found a really cool link this morning. The two wedding planner books I bought didn't mention them much that I recall.
About Programs
Sample Programs (very helpful!)
Until next time.
Lace Tablecloth
Labels: Wedding
I picked up the material on Monday. I found some really pretty white lace that I think will work great. I don't think too well when it comes to material and how much I'll need based on how wide the material is. This particular roll was 44" wide. I determined that I would really need a circle of 84" in diameter for the 60" table.
So the width was good. Sew together to get 88" (minus the material for the seam) but then I'd need my length to be at least 84". That's if I don't sew a hem. Which I really don't think I'll need to get that detailed. I don't think you can really tell the ends are raw. I mean who is going to be examining the tablecloth edges? So I really needed to have at least 4 yards and 2 feet. But I got exactly 4 yards. I could make the tablecloth hang over only 6" but I think it will look better hanging over 12".
I realized all I really need to do is to buy another 7 feet of material. At first I thought I had to buy the entire 4 yards and 2 feet all over again. Duh.
I am not sure what will be entailed to cutting out a perfect circle. The fact that we don't have an area in our home that will accommodate a piece of material that big (save the queen size bed) will be a bit of an issue. OOOOooooh, look what I found: Learn How To Make a Round Tablecover. The cost for each tablecloth is now $3.25 in material (4 3/4 yards at $0.75/yard).
Until next time.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
My Eye
Labels: geek-stuff, Just Stuff
Nothing wrong with my eye. I like the iris of my eyes. Hazel.
Then I decided to Photoshop my eye. I have Photoshop 5.0. A really old version, but I like it a lot. There is a free program very similar to Photoshop - it's called Photofiltre.
Here's my eye crosshatched. Clicking on each image will give a bigger version.
Here's my eye poster-edged.
Here's my eye reticulated.
Here's my eye note-papered.
Here's my eye neon-glowed.
And here's my eye stain-glassed.
Pretty neat, huh?
Until next time.
My Poor Nose
Labels: Just Stuff
So my good friend Rees, who is doing my hair and makeup... couple weeks ago when she did my first test makeup... noticed my nose had a buncha little blackheads in it and told me I had to get my pores clean asap!
I remember when I was a teenager, having lots of time to examine my skin in the mirror, but as I grew older I didn't find so much time. Nowadays, I'm lucky to draw eyeliner and comb mascara on before we're out the door by 4:30am.
I promised I'd clean my pores, so this past Sunday I took the time.
So here's my clean nose... and here it is today.
It's kind of hard to know when you've pressed several layers of skin off your nose...
Until next time.
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Floral Centerpiece
Labels: Wedding
Here's a test centerpiece. I think it looks very pretty! Silver tinsel in the vase (juice glasses!). Now I need to decide on what color tablecloths. I'm thinking white would be best. That would mean I could get purple eating ware if the tablecloths are white... more thinking out loud. I was thinking about the blue dress, and although it is beautiful on me and accents my body nicely, blue really isn't one of my favorite colors. I love pink and purple. I love one more than the other at different times. I'm very happy that I'm going to use purple as my other color at the wedding.
Until next time.
Pants Hemmed!
Labels: Wedding
I have completed my weekend obligation to coworker Deema. She complained about buying a pair of pants for $9 and having to pay $15 to have them hemmed by an alterations shop. I told her why not let me hem them for her? So she decided to take me up on that offer last week.
I'm feeling tired. My back and neck were hurting so much that I decided to take two aspirin. I rarely take pain killers, but this was really a stiff crick in the neck.
Now I just need to complete my other sidejob, the bookkeeping one and I'll be done with my obligations to the outside world.
I'm supposed to pay bills this weekend but I don't see it happening. I have most of our bills automatically paid, just a couple that I write checks for. But I need to get some money moved from the checking account to the credit cards. Extra aside from the monthly payment.
I did finish another line of beading. What I mean by a "line" is I thread the needle with nylon thread, about 18 inches or so and bead that entire line's worth. It took me 23 minutes to bead 17 inches. That's 1 1/3rd inch per minute. I was surprised to see that I have nearly the entire 108 inches of the bottom completed. That means I only have another 108 plus 34 plus 32 inches left to go. I think I miscalculated earlier. I think it's going to take more like 4.5 hours to bead the entire outer edge. I also put on a three bead cluster to see what that would look like. I think it looks pretty cool. I'm thinking a three bead cluster every five inches or so. I don't know. That's probably going to be a million bead clusters. Let's see. 108 inches across, so 22 clusters across the width. Five inches from the bottom as shown. Then I'm thinking a second row of clusters five inches apart, 10 inches from the bottom, staggered. Maybe on just the top tier. Hmmm... maybe the top tier doesn't need beading on the edge. No, I think it does. Just thinking out loud here.
I noticed earlier today that my camera was dating 2008. Rest assured, it's still 2007.
Until next time.
Clean Kitchen: 3 Hours
I'm finally done with the kitchen. It took three hours. Dh did the bulk of the dishes this morning so not many dishes, but the counters all needed to be wiped and scrubbed, along with the stove and floor. I also washed cabinet doors and pulled out the stove to clean under it. I've found when I do it more often it is much easier to clean. Don't even ask me about refrigerators...
My back and neck still feel stiff from working on the beading earlier. I really need to figure out how to do it without putting my body in distress. I'm feeling a bit obsessed with it and am going to work another line of thread and then start on something else.
Until next time.
Maybe I *Am* Nuts
Labels: Wedding
I've been working on my veil today. Yesterday I got it cut into the shape I wanted, which was basically just a huge oval. I tried sewing the 1/4" satin ribbon on yesterday, first using my sewing machine and then by hand. I finally figured out how to do it by hand so it didn't look puckered, but then I decided I didn't want ribbon on the edges anyway. So I took it all out.
I started today with the beading. Maybe it's true what my friend BB said, "You're nuts!". (She said this when I told her I wanted to make my own veil.) I got six feet of edging beading done in about two hours. I have to admit that once I got the hang of it, it went much faster. But it still takes about 15 minutes to do 1 foot. I have fourteen feet to do, so that's at least 3.5 hours. Hmmm... that's not TOO bad. Although unfortunately I do not see myself being able to do this while riding in the car. A flat, still surface is definitely necessary for success. My friend Rees has offered to make my veil, but stubbornly I insist on spending hours and hours beading... I decided on a row that looks like the one below. Two pearls, then a flute, then a ball, two flutes, a ball, two flutes and two more pearls. This is just the edging. It's actually kind of addictive and the two hours flew by in no time. Luckily for my sister who is having a bad man day. Usually I'm so busy doing something that I don't like being on the phone.
Now my back and neck are stiff, and it's time to clean the kitchen. Ds2 and dh are working, ds2 already told me they were bringing home dinner so once I get the kitchen done I can concentrate on other things.
Until next time.
Friday, August 03, 2007
Wedding Veils
Labels: Wedding
I've been researching veils. I found a great site - the owner - bless her heart - includes great closeup images of her veils, plus gives information on the detail of the veil, like size and the edging. My point is she gives SO much information and detail that I could easily recreate some of the veils.
It is really a bit frustrating because I although I have spent years trying to not please everyone else, I still find myself thinking "Oh, I love that!" but then when one of my friends discounts it, or says something negative I find myself changing my mind.
I'm also torn between making something really simple or trying for something a bit more complicated.
I'm finding that my energy is waning for some detailed jobs. For example, I started painting the gold onto the cream colored envelopes and now the only gold in my wedding will be my wedding band. Since deciding to go with the white dress, I am going to keep the same shoes which are silver. So I was thinking for the colors white, silver and hunter green. But then I found these really pretty purple and lavendar greenery things on clearance at Joann's and now I'm thinking since I do like purple (nearly an equal favorite to pink), maybe I'll do white, silver, green and purple. I got the white roses for $0.59 per bunch and the purple were $1.49. They were 70% off! Dh and I went to another Joann's after work and I found more of the rose bunches. I bought those, but not the purple ones. I'm thinking I should have! These were primarily to be used for table decorations, flowers for the little vases. But then I started thinking I should get the purple ones for more room decorating.
I'm really wanting to buy lace for the tables, but I realized I'll need 4 yards for each table. That puts the cost at $3 per table. But then there is the time to spend cutting the lace and sewing it back together. The tables are 60" wide and I was thinking 2 yards = 72" so the tablecloth will only drape over the edges about 5-6 inches. Would that look awful?
I wish the fabric store with the cheap lace wasn't so far away. If it weren't, I'd just buy four yards and see how it would work out. Maybe that could be my project for next weekend. Maybe I could just do ONE table... the bridal table... hey now that's an acceptable solution! I'll make ONE really pretty tablecloth, and see how long it takes. Heck if it ends up taking 20 minutes to do one, that wouldn't be too bad to do the others. If it takes an hour or two, I'll just do one for a really pretty table. I like this plan.
Back to the veil. I went to lunch with my friend BB, whose wedding is three weeks after ours. We went out for lunch on Thursday and stopped by a place that she had been told had a large selection of veils for sale. Well bummer, we drove 16 miles only to find that they had three veils and they were very plain and expensive!
I've learned there are several lengths of veils: Shoulder, Waist, Fingertip, Chapel, Cathedral.
* Shoulder or blusher, 18"-24"
* Waist, 30"
* Fingertip, 40"
* Chapel or floor, 60"-72"
* Cathedral, 108" or longer
I'm thinking waist length. I like the double tier look better than the single. I am torn between edging with 1/4" satin ribbon, or pencil edging. Look for AA001 on this page for pencil edging, AA002 for satin ribbon edging.
I also like the edging on this veil, BA8234 but wow, the work this would entail. I have those barrel shaped crystals, but they are iridescent rather than clear. I also have little pearls. I also like BAC541, the cluster of pearls and the rose; however, my dress doesn't have roses, it has something more like daisies. Here's a closeup of the front beading. Click on it to see a much bigger image.
I don't want to get halfway through beading, only to find I am running out of time, energy or drive. I end up feeling like I'm a failure before I've even started. I was thinking maybe I could do something like decide where I want to bead at, for example, if I want to put clusters of pearls or one little pearl at a time, space them way out, like one at each side, one at the middle and then I can put one in between each. Like one at 3 o'clock, 6 o'clock and 9 o'clock. Then try putting smack in the middle between 3 and 6 o'clock and 6 and 9 o'clock and so on. At least that way if I find myself giving up (although I'm so not one to give up easily!) I can just finish up the other "middles" and be done with it.
I also learned the material is called tulle, sometimes illusion tulle. I wanted the 104" width material for more fullness. I want the veil to come down just to my rear, just meet the "shelf" I think. The tulle cost $3.98/yard at the "veil place" where they had only three veils. It was $2.69/yard at Joann's. Walmart carries tulle, but only in the 54" width. So I'm really glad I shopped Joann's because I want to at least get the shape cut out this weekend.
I'm also very surprised to see that the ends are not sewn up or hemmed. They are mostly left raw.
Dh has been talking more about the cake he wants to make, and he's also going to make the arch for the pastor to stand under. The "skeleton" part of it he's going to make using PVC. Then I'm going to decorate it (see I could have used those purple flower things!). I'm also thinking about using white Christmas lights. I bought a ton at the 90% off Christmas sale 2005. Now I just hope they weren't thrown away when the big rolloff was here!!!!
On the bright side, I get to stay home tomorrow AND Sunday! Although I have been enjoying going to church, it does break up the day taking about four hours.
Tomorrow I plan to hit the house pretty hard, cleaning as much as I can so I can do some enjoyable things on Sunday. Sometimes my plan backfires and I end up moping around all day trying to make myself clean and then have to work like mad on Sunday. We'll see what my energy level is like. I also promised my coworker D that I'd shorten and hem her pants and have them to her on Monday. I also need to get our bills paid and my side job bookkeeping needs to be done again.
History and Tradition of the Wedding Veil
My ballroom dance tape arrived. It doesn't look too hard, but I sure wish I could figure out what this means: The slow waltz is danced to music written in 3/4 meter with 30 - 32 measures per minute. I have no idea at all what that 3/4 meter thing means. How do you find out which songs would work? I know it has something to do with the beat of the music. I remember puzzling over things like this in music class. Never could get it.
Until next time.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Day Four No Poo
Labels: Bargain Hunting, Just Stuff
I thought I'd blogged about this already, but I guess I haven't.
I have been using Herbal Essences shampoo and conditioner for the past few years. I kept forgetting to put shampoo on the list until I finally ran completely out last week. Ds2 and I went shopping at Costco on Sunday and he picked up a bottle for me there. I figured it was Herbal Essence brand so no need to check the ingredients on the label. Well, doggone it, this particularly concoction "Hello Hydration" includes an ingredient which I've known for many years causes my scalp to itch. It's the "Ammonium" part: Water , Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate , Ammonium Laureth Sulfate , Sodium Chloride , Cocoamide MEA , Glycol Distearate , Dimethicone , Ammonium Xylenesulfonate , Vanilla Planifolia Fruit Extract , Cocos Nucifera Milk Coconut , Fragrance , Cetyl Alcohol , Polyquaternium-10 , Sodium Citrate , Sodium Benzoate , Disodium EDTA , PEG 7M , Citric Acid , Propylene Glycol , Methylchloroisothiazolinone , Methylisothiazolinone , Blue 1.
Normally, the ingredients contain "Sodium" which is why I began using Herbal essences in the first place: Water , Sodium Laureth Sulfate , Sodium Lauryl Sulfate , PPG-2 Hydroxyethyl Coco/Isostearamide , Sodium Chloride , Citric Acid , Sodium Citrate , Coral Flower Extract Russelia Equisetiformis , Prunus Persica Nectarina Extract , Fragrance , Sodium Benzoate , Tetrasodium EDTA , Polyquaternium-10 , Propylene Glycol , Methylchloroisothiazolinone , Methylisothiazolinone , Sodium Xylenesulfonate , Yellow 10 , Yellow 5.
So come Monday morning I get my new bottle of shampoo and glance at the ingredients just to make sure, and there it is: Ammonium.
So I decided to try no-pooing again. So far it's worked out good. The last time I tried it, I couldn't get past 10 days or so. Dh says my hair looks greasy. I washed it this morning, but just twisted it into a bun without brushing and it was still damp. Here are before and after brushing photos:
BTW, my camera was set to the wrong day. I did take these pics this morning before work.
It's cheaper to use baking soda and apple cider vinegar than to buy shampoo and conditioner. Especially since my ds1 who has alopecia with no hair at all uses 1/4 bottle of shampoo each time he showers. No wonder I run out so fast!
Why You Should Go No-Poo
Until next time.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
If Men Planned Weddings
Labels: Wedding
1. Idiots that tried to dance with the Bride (unless they were really old) would get punched in the head
2. Big slobbery dogs would be eligible for the role of Best Man.
3. The bridal bouquet could be recycled from a previous funeral or something.
4. Men wouldn't ask... "Well, what do you think, dear? The burgundy or wine colored napkins?" They'd just grab extras from the nearest McDonald's.
I researched veil making a bit yesterday, along with hairstyles.
Look at this terrible mess:
I'm thinking something along these lines:
http://www.ascostumejewellery.co.uk/veils-gallery2.htm
Until next time.
