Current Mood : Seeing if there's still light out from under my rock

Current Image : Wanna see the underside of a rock ?

I feel a little bit better about myself, but it may be a while before I'm confident and happy enough to venture forth. I'm kind of hovering between my usual ‘Eff off, world.' attitude and the not-unfamiliar and rather whiny ‘Do I have to deal with people today ?' one. On the whole, I prefer the ‘eff' one.

Didn't help that Beloved was home and suggested going for walks, or signing me up for a gym or martial arts classes. If I wanted any of it, I'd do it, but with him kind of not allowing me to relax and finish my thought process, I felt that he was pushing and poking at me, and told him so. It's sweet and thoughtful, true, but it also makes me feel like he thinks I'm not doing enough, or I'm not good enough. Or, even worse, I'm not thin enough. I came into this relationship with food issues, I don't need more of ‘em.

So I cleaned and tried to get some house stuff done. Went to hem his Aikido pants, and ended up not even being able to sew right. This was a bigger blow today than it would have been last week. Even the stuff I could do, I suddenly couldn't, and that hurt. It was going fine until the thick outer seam broke the needle. All of a sudden, the machine skipped stitches and wouldn't pick up the bobbin thread, no matter how I cleaned it, oiled it, swapped out thread top and bottom, futzed with the tension, and tried two other new needles, it kept screwing up. Beloved actually pushed me aside to look at the machine, which kinda stung, too - he's never sewn a stitch on this machine, but suddenly he was the bigger expert on it.

While he futzed with it, I looked up ‘sewing machine repairs', about the time he decided we'd just have to buy a new one, I must've broken something when the needle broke. Turns out the needle was in backwards. Machine's fine. I'm fine, but I still feel like crying when I look at it. At least the cleaning did her some good.

We did end up going out, to Hastings. Beloved found a Judo book and Dearest Son located a Love Bug Herbie movie he didn't already have, but all I found interesting was a scrap-craft book that was waaaay too expensive for what it detailed. So we got it for less than half price from Amazon, and to get the free shipping, Beloved got another martial arts book. Not sure why he's so suddenly into this, but it seems to be making him happier than I am lately.

And I have something to look forward to in the mail ! I guess I can add ‘purses, boxes, socks, and earrings' to stuff I can buy or make when I don't feel like confronting a mirror's reflection.

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 5:39 PM CDT

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Current Mood : I can't really describe it all right now...

Current Image : Pretty much sums it up, right there...

Today was... not really a good day. I'm still working through some stuff. Y'see, Beloved Hubby and I were discussing a few things last night - not a fight or anything, just a chat about some recent actions and events that we hadn't really talked about before, for various reasons. And we touched on some other stuff that's been bugging us. Long story short, we both have some issues to think about, and I'm kind of in a crappy mood because of it. I'm glad he was honest with me, but some of it kinda hurt.

Y'see, Beloved Hubby got to say all he wanted to. And he feels so wonderful that we had such meaningful conversation that he wants our heartfelt communication to continue. I don't feel like I had my say, but if I bring my crap up now, I'm not advancing or letting go. So he's bright and chipper and hopeful, and I feel like I have to change nearly everything about myself, that he feels perfectly fine with who and what he is, and the end result is that I want to clip him upside his happy head.

I've pretty much gone through my mid-life crisis, and I was happy with me on the other side of it. Beloved, however, has just hit his, and he wants to be young again. Wants me to be younger, too. So the next few weeks are gonna be interesting. I think I'm gonna wait him out, because we always return to what we are, but some of what we talked about I need to hash out for myself.

It was kind of a crappy day, really, with or without last night. Yard sales were plentiful, but there was next to nothing out there, even the ones that advertised toys were lousy. And I always love it when the sellers are talking to other browsers, and they say things like, "Oh, you should have been here yesterday, we had sooo much more stuff !" . Yeah, well, too bad your ad said the sale was today, ‘no early birds', ya wanker. Believe it or not, two of the five sales I hit today had the sellers saying something to that effect.

I did find two brand new -tags attached - pair of jeans that are just Dearest Son's size. And a wire shelf-rack that's about hip high, with four shelves. It'll come in handy for various misc. in the Lab.

Thrift stores were also a washout. Walked around with a Barbie outfit in my hand, but put it back. I was only buying it for the shoes, but I think I have plenty of pink flats already. All told, I spent a big $1.50 on yard sales and thrift stores, which is pretty small for me ! It's a rare weekend that I go out and spend less than $5.

Since the sales were so lame, and Kohl's very kindly sent me another ‘$10. off any purchase of anything, markdown, clearance, you name it !' card, I decided to go over. I'd wanted to find something special for Dearest's first day of school next week, and soon located a great Star Wars Lego t-shirt for him. Nothing interesting in the housewares or toys, so I thought I might look at clothes for me for a change. It was loosely related to what we'd discussed yesterday.

Now, let me say this right off. I'm big. I mean it, I'm fat and even if/when I'm thin, I'm still ugly. Goss knows my parents and the rest of humanity saw fit to remind me of it often enough throughout my years on this blighted planet. So, surprise surprise, I've never really cared much about clothes or fashion. What was the point, dressing a pig doesn't make it a supermodel, no matter who designed the dress. And truth be told, I buy dolls and toys because I get the thrill of a new or new-to-me acquisition without being painfully reminded that I'm a *&^$ing whale. And I can make a blouse for just about any doll without needing enough fabric to gift-bag a Buick. It's just easier on me and my screwed-up psyche to create for dolls and shop for ‘em than it is to do the same for myself. Last thing I want to do is attract attention - and along with it, more ‘helpful' critiques.

I also know that no one is to blame for my size but me. I eat crap because it gives me some pleasure and I don't exercise because it's not fun or I have to do it in a room full of people all of whom are looking at me with, "At least I'm not HER." clear on their faces. A girl gets tired of being everyone else's worst case scenario. I thought the Wii would help motivate me off my butt, but Dearest and Beloved soon figured out how to work the remote without moving their bodies at all, and I always lost when I moved all of me around to play. So it was soon pointless for me.

So this, and yesterday's discussion, was in my mind when I made my way to the back of the store where they hide the Women's Department, over behind Maternity, but still within sight of the cute little tiny blouses and designer jeans in Juniors. Gee, don't I feel beautiful. Found my size was about the upper reaches of what they carry, but at least they still had some pretty t-shirts on a good markdown sale. So I wouldn't have to do this again any time soon, I bought four. And waddled out of the packed-together racks, feeling even bigger than I felt when I schlumped over there.

I'd wanted to look at lingerie, just to feel that something about me was pretty, even if it was only my underwear, but that was a really bad idea. I trust I need not delve further into this part of my thrilling day.

What's sad is, I'm not really that big. Oh, yeah, I'm fat, but when I look around, I'm far from the biggest orange on the tree. If I'm having trouble finding clothes, how does the woman who's twenty pounds heavier than me ?

So that's kind of where I am now. I just can't bring myself to happy, for various reasons. Ordinarily, I'd make jokes about yard sales drying up into crappiness, just in time for my annual Fall introspection, but you deserve to know both the good and the bad of me. Right now, I feel sorry for myself, and rather angry, but maybe that's what I need. School starts up next week, it's entirely possible I need some motivation after a summer of sitting on my butt.

Because, ya know, I can only bi#ch and whine for so long. Then I have to do something - or at least stop with the b-and-w fest.

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 5:39 PM CDT

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Current Mood : OK, just sorta bleh.

Current Image : Spaced ! 

It's raining again. And it's nice enough that we can have all the doors and windows open, so we can air out the house and enjoy the sounds. It's been so long since we last did that.

Dearest Son has his last long weekend with his grandparents - they picked him up today after lunch. I had some plans to hit a thrift store or two, but I haven't been sleeping well, and instead took a nap. Beloved Hubby was home for part of the day, and we finished watching our DVD of Spaced - we just loved watching it on YouTube, so it was great to see it without having to find the next part every nine minutes.

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 5:38 PM CDT

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Current Mood : Bleh

Current Image : Why I haven't been sewing, either. (Jack version)

Kind of a ‘bleh' day again today. Not a lot happening. I'm thinking of using some flannel-backed plastic - it's probably tablecloth fabric - I got in a yard sale box last month to make a cover for Beloved Hubby's table saw. If I get it done before September, I can enter it in Craftster.com's "Cozies with Irony" contest. Won't win, but it'd be fun - a table saw cozy. It'll be ironic in one way - the table platform is cast iron.

Haven't gotten Dearest Son's bus assignment yet. While he'll probably be on the same bus, I kinda need to know when to have us out there. For some reason, the school board set school beginning back five minutes, and it doesn't make much sense, but I'd hate to wait 20 minutes for a bus that arrived five minutes before we got out there ! Monday, I'll call Transportation.

I guess we all felt a bit ‘bleh', because we did an Un-Birthday party for Dearest tonight. Made a sundae cake, complete with candles, and a card. I traced a coloring-book image of a VW Beetle onto a card, using the lightbox Beloved made me last year. He loved it, and immediately after dinner, colored the card. Hmmm....coloring birthday cards...

Anyway, I really should have put the lightbox away, but I still have a few small projects to do with it, so it's still out on the table. Now, I just have to get off my backside and get the projects done !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 5:38 PM CDT

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Current Mood : a bit down

Current Image : Why I haven't been in the Lab a lot lately...(DC version)

Not much of a day today - slept in a bit, grabbed a shower, and took Dearest Son on the grocery run. Let him pick out the notebooks I forgot - we needed two, according to the supply list - and his new shoes. We're so proud of him. He wanted lace-up, no cartoon character shoes. Like Daddy's. He found a pair he liked and we got the size he needed.

It's kind of funny, but his last shoes, a Cars pair from Payless, was the most expensive pair he's ever had at $28. They also wore out the fastest, and the damage is pretty extensive. The $20. ones -  with Cars, Thomas the Tank Engine, and Transformers all lighting up on them - lasted about five months before they really showed wear, and Dearest said they were getting tight. Payless' lasted about three, but they didn't really get tight until this month. Oddly enough, the next size up in his new shoes was too big, and we ended up getting him the same size, but with that ‘finger width' at the toe to grow on. He proudly showed them to Beloved Hubby, then put them back in the box for next Wednesday.

He traded in his tickets for a new Tonka police car. I could swear, the thing says ‘no warrant, no warrant' after some ‘police radio' gibberish when one of the buttons is pushed. I got m'self a bit of a treat, too. A pretty sparkle tulle remnant in a luscious lavender that'll look great with the starred purple cotton I bought for Jasmine's costume. A little over a half yard, too. I could swear I've never seen that color there before...

And, as you can see from today's image, I went ahead and got the ‘Galactic Heroes' Leia - only $6. and just sooo cute. She came with a ‘drink server' R2-D2, which made Dearest's eyes light up, so he now has three astromech droids. One came with the Millennium Falcon, one with the X-Wing, and now this one. The little drink tray comes right off, and the ‘spigot' type thingie pulls out of the hole it's in easily.

It's easy to tell that Mal-Wart's gearing up for Big Toy Season - i.e., Christmas - already. Shelves that haven't been touched since Valentine's Day now have shelf talkers and plan-o-grams (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planogram) attached to ‘em, listing upcoming stuff and placements. Stuff that's been spread out to the point of sprawl is all compressed and lined up like soldiers on the march. I'm not sure where I lost my excitement over this (it's probably under a pile of new-to-me fabric in the Lab !) but it's just not there.

I guess I'm kinda getting my annual ‘fall melancholy' out of the way early this year. We had a bad thunderstorm last night that stripped leaves off trees and scattered them everywhere. Even though they're still green, the fallen leaves put me in mind of autumn. Especially when preparing Dearest for school is added in. I guess I'm just a bit sad that the rush of acquisition is over and the time to stay in and enjoy it all is fast approaching. Don't get me wrong, I acquired a ton of stuff this season, and I don't need more... but I always mourn the end of yard sale season, in my own way.

As is usual after a weekend - and even more so when Beloved's home on Monday - the house is a complete disaster area. About all else I got done today was several days' backlog of dishes. Oh, and I assembled Dearest's school supplies, and together he and I went over the checklist. He's kind of excited, and I sort of am - but I'll miss the time I squandered, just like I do every year, as summer ends.

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 5:38 PM CDT

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Current Mood : Indolent

Current Image : Soon-to-be Kira, in the shoes (good), panties (not good) and prototype harem blouse (not right) I made. (sigh) Back to the drawing board ! 

Finally got off my butt and re-measured the soon-to-be-Kira Aurora doll for Doll Shop Deluxe. Printed out a new version of the ‘harem' costume for Jasmine, but I haven't sewn it yet. Man, some of my measurements were waaaay off. If I remember right, nothing I made those dolls initially fit, and some of the patterns created were... warped or something, it was like some of the numbers were so off, they affected other measurements, so the resulting pattern printed like a Mobius strip, defying dimensional reasoning. I just knew I measured everything correctly, so I tweaked random numbers until things mostly fit. All because of a cruddy tape measure. I'm surprised what I sewed, ill-fitting as it was, turned out as well as it did. Here's hoping the new printouts sew up better !

I have to confess here how lazy I've been. I have a really expensive software pattern generator. I have more fabric than yer average Mal-Wart. Especially these days, as many of ‘em are closing their fabric sections. I probably have enough thread to sew the continents back together, and enough needles and pins for an acupuncturist's mobile office. So, what have I been doing with this largesse ? Have I been expanding my skills, and improving my self esteem ? Seeking new solutions to old problems ? Designing something new and original and delightful ?

Oh, heck naw. I've been on eBay, trying to find Jasmine's costume, so I can buy it instead of make one. Only reason I'm still gonna make one is because the ones I've found have been too expensive. (sigh) I'm so lazy...

While I had Kira-Aurora around, I played a bit with the shoes. I'd just put them on her for fittings before, so her feet weren't really seated in them well. Amazingly, she can stand unassisted in them ! She is, in the picture ! That makes me happy - that my shoes are well-made enough that they don't interfere with the doll's stance. She's as good as barefoot ! I also checked for staining. None yet, but the next pair of black shoes I make, I'm gonna use a white lining, not the same black fabric inside and out !

Joined craftster.com yesterday - it's a nice group. Someone had a question about My Size Barbies, so you know I had to weigh in ! Tons of craft patterns and ideas over there - thanks for the heads-up, Michelle ! Hope I see you there sometime.

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 5:37 PM CDT

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Current Mood : Cricket-distracted

Did some recycling today. Beloved Hubby brought leftover sushi home in a pretty container last week - although it was yer standard Styrofoam tray with a clear plastic snap-on lid, the Styrofoam was black, with a pattern of red fans over a gold ‘basket weave' design. Very elegant ! And much too lovely to toss, in my opinion. So once Beloved chowed down, I got the pieces washed up. Now they smell like citrus antibacterial dish soap, not fish and ginger.

While quite lovely, they were also quite shallow, both tray and lid. But that's OK - my pattern cabinet has several narrow, shallow divided drawers ! Both pieces fit great, and now organize various pens, pencils, and other pattern marking devices, along with doll hair implements, like clear elastics, hairbrushes, and tiny snap clips. Those especially look pretty in the ‘Asian' tray !

While sorting out stuff in the pattern cabinet, I found several of my old ‘hole punchers'. But you know me, these cut out stars, moons, and rabbit silhouettes. At one point I had five or six of ‘em, including a cat shape. Bought ‘em decades ago, before scrapbooking popularized them so much, you can now find ‘em in Dollar Tree stores. Back in the day, these bad boys were like $10. each, but again, you know me, I got mine on sale from a stationery store going belly-up. While on vacation. Anyway. Few weeks ago, I bought a small box of Valentine's Day decorations, including red foil stickers of hearts and cupids, at a yard sale, dirt cheap. Lotsa fun craft ideas in there.

One sheet of stickers hadn't been touched, the other...had been denuded of stickers. Not one remained. But it was far from useless. I took the big star hole-punch and proceeded to make red foil star stickers ! Y'see, there was plenty of red foil still on the backing, and the hole punch made it easy to use it all ! Heck, now I may have to look at those punches at Dollar Tree next time I go...

Of course, you could do the same thing with a pair of scissors, and get shapes that no one ever made a punch for, but it felt good to use these old tools ! And it's now much easier to tell my tape dispenser from Dearest Son's once-identical one. Mine has red stars, a red moon, and a red rabbit ! Now, if I could just find my AWOL cat-shaped one...

It was another goof-off day. I got the Happy Meal toys cleaned up - well, mostly. I wiped them and the ‘Shannen Scooter' down with disinfecting cloths. For some reason, Mal-Wart had ‘em marked down, two 35-sheet Lysol Wipes containers, for a dollar. So I got eight packs. Dearest's teachers always ask for ‘em, so I stocked up. While this de-virused the toys, it didn't take much dirt off. So the toys either need soap and old toothbrush action, or the grime's there to stay. One of the Mulans, for some reason, has a Klingon forehead that is both rippled and dirty. Weird.

The little scooter cleaned up OK, and will fit the LDPs pretty well, if they're not wearing thick-soled shoes. If the steering handle was only about a half inch taller... hmm, I may have to see if I can fix that.

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 4:53 PM CDT

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Current Mood : Bewildered

Current Image : Ariel's in her 'new' dress - a 99c eBay find - next to the 'infant carrier' I got from a yard sale for 25c. Ariel herself came from GoodWill for $1. I just love my second-hand finds !

I don't know what was wrong with me yesterday. Shortly after I wrote yesterday's entry, I was so sick, I thought Beloved would have to take me to the ER. Jack, our black kitten, scratched me kinda hard after dinner - he was trying a long jump and missed, so he used my leg as a recovery zone - and three episodes of Spaced, and my chest was getting a bit tight, and it was late...plus, my tummy felt like I'd gorged myself at Thanksgiving, but the sub I had wasn't that filling. I figured I just had some gas - sorry for the TMI !- and a lie-down would soon either have me asleep or feeling better. Just in case, I took a hit on my asthma inhaler and a half-dose of that noxious pink goo that works on various digestion aliments, and tried to relax.

Half an hour later, I was roiling in pain. My stomach was heaving, my back was radiating stabbing pain, I was roasting hot, and I was nauseous. I couldn't find a place or position that was anywhere near comfortable, and every movement was torment. It was like every organ lower than my lungs had detached, and they were all using my bladder as a bean-bag chair, so I was constantly, unnecessarily, running to the bathroom.

Losing dinner helped, at least the pain went from widescreen HDTV plasma to portable UHF black-and-white when it was over, and while I still hurt and still ran to the bathroom, I could actually sleep a bit. About 2am, I gambled on eating a couple of the crackers Beloved set out for me, and washing them and two ibuprofen down with the ginger ale he'd run across the street to obtain. I didn't wake up again until 7am. And, while my gut was still muttering, it wasn't an insane caged beast like it'd been just a few hours prior. I still have no idea what caused it all. I just know I'm gonna avoid those prime rib subs from now on !

So today, I rested and recovered. I'm about back to normal, and just as lazy. Jack wouldn't leave me all night, and every time I woke up, he was watching me. Poor Beloved slept on the small loveseat in our bedroom, so he'd be close if I needed him, but my agony had me sprawled over most of the bed. He had to work this morning, but I made sure he got a nice long nap when he came home.

Dearest was home about 9am, and he played with the Robin Hood figure I got him. If his tail had been a bit smaller, ole Robin probably would have piloted that X-wing Dearest got Tuesday. Oh, I forgot to mention - I got Baby Ariel's original dress yesterday. Not the LDP, the smaller 12-inch infant one also made by Playmates. I think her name was ‘My Baby Princess Ariel'. I found mine nude at Goodwill, her hair still in the factory set, her vinyl still harboring a faint scent of baby powder. I only made her one outfit, so I was glad to find this one. Very simple design. Easy to copy... (evil chortle)

If there's anything that teaches you to appreciate health, it's being massively sick ! tomorrow, I'm finishing laundry and I'm gonna sew something ! Hmpft.

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 4:53 PM CDT

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Current Mood : Happy Exhaustion !

Really busy day - although I was all over the place today, I really didn't find much. The ‘big huge' sale turned out to be fairly small, but I got a few things - shirts for Dearest Son, a few small toys, including a 5-inch Baby Sleeping Beauty. Those things are still on Mal-Wart shelves, but I got this one for a dime. That's also what I paid for an Ariel children's wig. Depending on how bad the tangles are, I may use it to reroot my LDP Ariel.

From there, I hit Target. They also have not only the new Tinkerbell LDP, but also the Snow White one. Yikes. No accessories, no jointed wrists, and rubbery clog shoes. You know, I thought their simple same-satin slippers were cheap until I saw their new shoes. Yikes. Snow's outfit had been stripped down to the bare essentials, too. Thinking back now, I can't remember if she had tights or not. No. No, she didn't. Well, with all the strippedness, she was only $14., but I think I'm seeing the end of the LDP line, and I'm glad I bought the girls I bought when I bought them !

Since she's now starting to make an appearance on eBay - well, you can hardly blame speculators, this under $20. doll out four years ago routinely fetches $40. and up still-in-box now ! - I stole some images for today's side-by-side comparison. Far as I can tell, the costumes are identical on both Tinks, right down to the shoes and undies. It's mostly the facial paint and wrists that are different. Evidently, Playmates has gotten rid of the poseable wrists on all of their LDP dolls. And while the deep, almost hypnotic eyes on the new Tink are lovely, she'd kind of look out of place with the rest of my other LDPs. And her bright lip color make her look more sophisticated and older. Well. Kinda annoying when you're glad you're not mad at yourself ! So, unless you're completing a set, you Tink fans may wanna check her out. Price is certainly right !

Oh, and the ‘fluttering wings' feature on the original Tink ? There's a sort of pinch-spring in the back of her dress that makes the wings flap. But only while you're pinching it open and closed. Hmpft. Not impressive. I notice that the box on the new one doesn't mention anything fluttering...

Snagged Dearest Son's Prang watercolor set from Hobby Lobby. I still don't get why area teachers insist on Prang by name in the supply lists every year. They're $5., only one place around here carries ‘em, and I honestly wonder what the big difference is to yer average pre-K, K, First and Second grader. No kidding, I've had to buy this set every year, and looking down the rest of the list, seems like I've got two more years with them. Told Beloved Hubby that I think it's some sort of odd test. When most kids show up with the Crayola and Rose Art watercolor sets that Mal-Wart and Target have, and this kid has the Prang, they kinda know who's willing to make the effort, ya know ?

I also bought another cardboard triptych, while they were on half-price. I had many high plans for the one I bought last year, but the kittens more or less wrecked it. Ironically, I later had to move it out of the way to recycle all the cardboard boxes from the groceries that had built up in Molly-car's backseat.

A few minutes later, I was walking out of Community Thrift, empty-handed. Yes, they still had the American Girl bathtub and doll set, but the tub was narrower than I remembered, so it was too small for the LDPs, but too out of scale big for Elphie. Looking at the doll a bit closer revealed that she wasn't an AG, and was damaged on both hands. I'm sure she'll be gone next time I visit.

Then it was off to the flea market. Buying the triptych eliminated the need for the Happy Family ‘Grandma's Kitchen' set I was thinking of buying from that one seller, and she otherwise didn't have anything I wanted. Saw one of those really long-legged "Hi Glam" dolls, just a buck, but she was just too freaky for me. Her face was pretty, and she was very delicate-looking...but her legs were longer than a Barbie leg stacked on top of a Skipper leg. I wonder if the ‘Leggy' doll made back in my childhood days had the same long gams. It hardly seems possible ! I let someone else find her, but I propped her up to make it easier.  She was in company with several Barbie princesses, which made her clothes look funkier, but her legs look weirder.

 Found a new dealer with boxes of old Happy Meal toys - they gave me a Mal-Wart sack and said I could stuff it full for a buck. I claimed a Razor-type scooter from Mattel/Tyco's "Super Scooter Shannen", a remote controlled doll set from 2001 or so. The Mattel/Tyco name is confusing. I've seen some in a box labeled Tyco, others listing Shannen from Mattel press releases. Mattel bought Tyco in 1997, but continued to use Tyco RC as a separate brand name. Kind of like how most folks think Fisher-Price is independent. Nope, Mattel owns them, too. I guess if it got out how much of the toy market they own, it'd stir up anti-Mattel sentiment. So they don't make a huge fuss about it, even though the information is easy to find.

The rest of the bag was all silly, small Happy Meal toys. I kinda like it when my dolls have dolls, so I've been on the lookout for toys for LDP Mulan, Alice, Jasmine, and Pocahontas. Figured I'd find some in those dusty boxes ! Scored  a Robin Hood figure for Dearest, a blue-dress Sleeping Beauty, two Janes and a Tarzan, two Esmereldas, two Mulans, a Flit, a John Smith, and a Powhatan (no Pocahontas, though !), two different Anastasias and her dog, a Hercules, a Chel (Road to El Dorado), an Abu (no Jasmine, though), a Madame Alexander ‘Sailor Girl', and three HM Snow Whites, two all-plastic, one with crappy hair.

It seems greedy to buy multiples, but most were dirty, and it was rather hot in the barnlike building that usually hosts the Flea. I figured that having a few to choose from, if removing dirt took off paint, or Snow #1 was damaged, would be OK. Could always donate any spares, too. PDorrie has already claimed Sailor Girl...

Found a couple cheap CDs, and another set of Elphie sized miniatures - a set of soda cups, a hamburger, and useless fries. The soda cups have been in several of Elphie's photos, and I wanted a few more, but Hobby Lobby quit carrying ‘em. So I was happy to find this set, and for just 25c !

After all that, I was tired and hungry, so I headed for home. And basically sat around until Beloved came home. We hit a bookstore for a volume he wanted, and got the whole series of Spaced, a favorite BBC show we caught on YouTube. A stop and Subway, and our evening was set !

But it's nearly bedtime for me. Busy day after all ! Tomorrow's gonna be much lazier...which is good, I still have cleaning to finish !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 4:53 PM CDT

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Current Mood : Stormy

Current Image Notes : Here's the chair I got today ! 

Busy day today. Storms were on radar, expected to break this afternoon... but I had three loads of laundry to do ! So I had it all washed, line-dried, and dryer-fluffed by 12:30. It helps that, even when thunderstorms are expected, it's still 90 degrees at 8am ! I'm hoping tomorrow is sunnier, ‘cause I still got two more loads waiting !

Found a yard sale not far away, so Dearest Son and I went. He found a miniature replica of Beloved Hubby's diesel Ford truck, and a VHS copy of Air Bud. I hope I can keep him away from the Air Buddies sequels - smart-aleck puppies are just not my speed ! I found a VHS of Cinderella II , which I've never seen, and a largish doll chair, in dark wood and green upholstery. New, it was probably $20. or more. But I paid $7.50 for all our goodies ! Doesn't PDorrie look so cute in it ?

Shortly after lunch, DMIL picked up Dearest for the ‘weekend' at his grandparents, and he was happily chattering about his new X-Wing spaceship and the toy Ford. I still had groceries and school supplies to snag, so I did that, and hit Community Thrift. I may be going back there tomorrow... I just don't know...

While I was there today, I found an American Girl doll's bathtub - had AG on it and everything. Taped inside it was a doll, and numerous plastic bubbles. After much thought, I put it back, as I'd just bought the chair, and big props take up much space. I thought it might fit the LDPs, but wouldn't you know it, someone bought the Cinderella that was there for so long ! Now I'm wondering if the doll inside is an AG, and why that should matter. Do I just want it if it's fabulously cheap, or because it was a pretty doll, and I can use the bathtub with the LDP dolls ? (I took measurements, and once home, figured that it'd work after all) I'm really not sure. So I may stop by tomorrow. Sometimes I think I'm just nuts... I mean, do I even want an AG doll, or do I just want a really great deal ?

Anyway. Found some pretty hair dye for $3. that I hope will transform a spare LDP Cinderella into a lovely Molly. If there's one thing I learned from the MSB girls, it's that white-blonde doll hair really alters the dye color. It'll be a while before the project gets off the ground - but I'll be sure to take pictures !

Beloved Hubby came home and darn near went right to sleep. So I put the laundry away, made m'self a nice fried-egg -and-ham sandwich, and sewed up a prototype ‘Jasmine's Harem Blouse' from the Doll Shop Deluxe pattern I printed up. Um, no. I have to completely remeasure everything. The blouse is too tight in the back, billows in the front, and is shorter than I wanted. At least the armholes were good. I can take in a tuck or two in the front, and it'll fit, but those side seams are waaaay off from where they should be. I'll have to take a photo of the ‘Kira' doll wearing it and the panties I made earlier - neither fit very well, but somehow, she looks cute wearing them !

So now, I'm tired - it's probably that milk with dinner ! - and tomorrow's a busy day. More laundry, a good fund-raiser yard sale, the Flea Market's back in town, and I may end up at Community Thrift. Oh, and I have just one more school supply to buy, and there's only one place that carries ‘em. All the way across town, of course !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 4:52 PM CDT

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