Now Playing: nice, quiet house
Current Mood : busy and slightly worried I won't get it all done in time.
Spent on dolls today : $3.22
You probably won't hear much from me this week, doll-wise. Between Dearest Son's school party, making 24 shoe pincushions and two bus-driver treat sacks, counting folders, and general runnin' around, there just won't be much me time. Which means, not much doll-time either. ‘Tis the season, and all that.
But it won't be so bad. Honestly, I'm about sick of that blue stars-and-crescent-moons pajama top fabric right now anyway. And as far as festivities go, nearly all mine are all over Thursday afternoon. I've already done my party ($12. so far) and giftcraft shopping, so it's just down to getting it done, which'll take most of Tuesday and Wednesday.
Friday, I get to goof off and do whatever, because I'll be spending most of the weekend cleaning. Family Christmas is at Chez Insanity this year, so I'll float a sprig of ivy in the toilet tanks and glitter up the cobwebs. Maybe attach a bit of mistletoe to the Wii. If they're lucky, I may actually clean something. Not sure what the menu is yet, but if I know Beloved Hubby, it'll probably involve a ham. And if I know DFIL, I'd best be prepared to devil some eggs.
Had a nice workout this morning, dragging tree limbs into one spot of the front yard. Pickup isn't until Friday, so I'd as soon leave ‘em inside the fence and away from traffic ‘til then. Some I can't lift, and others are still attached to the tree by a few splinters, but I felt good getting it done so Beloved doesn't have to. And I needed to get my butt and blood moving.
Also felt good to donate six darn close to new dolls to the Center this morning. Four My Scenes, one Fashion Fever, and one Chat Diva. Yup, I thought long and hard about that one, but I came to the realization that what I wanted and what I got were two different things, and the gap was too wide for an ‘oh, well'. Not one feature advertised on the packaging worked well. It was a lousy MP3 interface and the "doll ‘sings' along" feature was grossly misrepresented and over-stated. I didn't play with her. I was a bit angry because Mattel duped me again, and ended up hating the doll. I redressed CD Teresa in something that would allow her to function on the serial port interface/stand, and packaged the whole thing together - even the manual and a cell phone. Batteries still work, too. They were happy to see such a variety of dolls, and said they'd find either good homes with the resident kids, or see lots of play in Therapy studios. Awesome !
Managed to spend a few bucks for m'self, too. Dollar Tree, natch. Found a crystal cat and a crystal champagne bottle that'll fit in Elphie's curio and liquor cabinet. Yeah, Elphie already has lots of décor and quite a few bottles of booze, but that champagne was cool ! And, truth be told, I kinda wanted the cat for myself. But if it works for my dolls, it's a double score ! They're in tiny black and white boxes in with the other sculptures and knick-knacks. They even had more of that sewing machine statuette I bought months ago - I may take Elphie back there, see if she fits the typewriter they also had. Plus I found a glass dish that looks like beads of water on a slightly curved surface, and somehow, I'll work that into a photo somewhere ! Such pretty things...
While digging in the Barbie Stuff storage bins - was lookin' for a cell phone for CD Teresa - I found the wire Christmas tree I bought last year. Pulled that out and realized that I have a lot of space still in those bins. Managed to squeeze in all the stuff I've purchased at various flea markets in the last couple of months in there, freeing up a laundry basket and a bit of space in the Lab. Between that and donating the dolls, I'll probably soon have enough space for that huge pink Rolls-Royce I bought a few weeks ago ! I can almost walk in there now.
Spent the downtime between a late lunch and waiting for the bus to bring Dearest home by vigorously applying Goof-Off to a gold and clear plastic zippered tote bag. Few months ago, I bought it at GoodWill, mostly due to a pair of green Mary Jane-style Teen Skipper shoes. Several Chez Insanity dolls can wear those. There were also a few other interesting bits and bobs inside - it's how I found out Lila can wear Bratz shoes - but part of why I shelled out the $2. for it was the bag. I can always use small to medium bags for various doll clothes and pieces, and this one was nice. It was a Classics Bath Beauty Kit bag - there's a half-decent photo on eBay auction #9511871765 of a full one - and it was a good size for misc. stuff. It's about the size of one of those clear purses a big dept. store in a mall gives you when you come to work for ‘em. Yeah, it's insulting because it's an instant accusation of shoplifting, but you choke it down ‘cause you wanna work there.
Only problem was, the bag was taped to within an inch of impenetrability. Once I bought it, getting the stuff out was a challenge on par with getting a mid-90s collector Barbie out of its Mattel-secured prison. I'm amazed that I could even see the shoes, there was that much tape on it. Not just over the zipper, but across the zipper and around the bag twice going one way, and twice the other. They must've used six yards of packing tape. Maybe I was supposed to ditch the bag, but I liked it. Still, that much tape was silly. It's not like the Barbie doll shoe market is so cutthroat that theft is a real concern. At least now, the tacky tape residue's off, and it even removed the logo and writing. I can use it - once it airs out a bit. Goof-Off really stinks.
Well, I promised myself that, if I was still gonna make gifts this week, I'd get the living room cleaned at least. Life seems much better when junk isn't clumped up like dead leaf piles in every corner in there. While waiting on the bus this afternoon, I swept off the front porch and walkway. Tomorrow, I'm gonna wonder why I'm so tired and my arms hurt !
