Happy September !

 

Current Mood: Happy (Mealed)

 

Poor DC-kitty. It was cool enough last night to turn off the AC and go with open windows - and about 4am, there arose such a stink ! I think it woke me up. I muttered ‘skunk' and Beloved Hubby, probably also awakened by the fresh stench, agreed. Whew !

 

DC likes to come in once Dearest Son has departed for school. He gets more attention that way, even if it delays his breakfast a bit. Today was no exception, but -whew ! Evidently the stink was DC's encounter with that same skunk. Poor kitty. We cleaned him up as best he'd let us, but the scent remained, if blunted somewhat.

 

We had to go pick up Friend again - one of the last times, since he's only got to insure and plate his new-to-him car, and for that he needs another paycheck. Still, hurray ! So we piled in the car and went for dinner on the way. I scored the Felicity paper doll set this time. Colonial America, neat. I think I'll have to yard-sale the Molly set I want.

 

Aand...that was about it for the News of the Day. I've really gotta get off my butt, it's not like TV's keeping it there, I don't even turn it on some days. But I'm still quite lethargic for some reason.

'All About Cars' Monday

 

Current Mood : Slightly whiny

Turned out I had time to finish the latest Mt. Clean Laundry Sunday evening - Beloved Hubby came home with Friend in tow, and they spent the rest of the early evening on Craigslist looking at cars for Friend. About 8pm, they departed to look at a car in a town an hour away - each way - so he was gone ‘til nearly midnight. (sigh) So much for family time. But Friend has a car now, and next week, he'll be driving himself to and from work from now on. Only reason that doesn't start tomorrow is that he can afford insurance or tags, but not both right now. So we still have to give him a couple of lifts, but I will be sooo glad when it's over.

 

Of course, since he spent so much time looking at used cars, now Beloved's thinking of getting another ‘real deal'. Um, we already have a DOA truck of our own in the backyard, another DOA truck that belongs to DFIL keeping it company, and my window and windshield wipers still don't work. You could say I'm being less than encouraging about this latest car-hunt.

 

Since he was so tired, Beloved stayed home today, and watched TV. For some reason, when he does that, I feel compelled to sit with him, so I don't do anything. Yet I know he won't miss me desperately if I'm in another room, either doing dishes or sewing. But no matter how boring a three-hour marathon of Top Gear can get for me, I still sit there. I gotta knock that off !

 

Darn near passed out lazy...

 

Current Mood : Beyond lazy and nearly without a pulse...

 

Sunday. Laundry day. Well, let's face it, I only work when Beloved Hubby does, so laundry day could be any day ! But today it was, so I did four loads - two waiting for later in the week - and got it all sorted. Only have Beloved Hubby's hill and Dearest Son's mountain to put away. I'm taking a break before I tackle Beloved's, and all else fails, Dearest's can wait ‘til he leaves for school. Since I have it sorted enough to find something for him to wear tomorrow, there's no rush. But I really wanna get Beloved's done. Oh, and I have a basketload of socks to pair up. That normally becomes the afternoon bus vigil job. Makes the wait seem less long.

Finally - a new page on the main site !

Current Mood : Happily busy

 

 

The few yard sales I found yesterday weren't worth getting out of the car for, so I was sort of in a ‘stay at home and veg' mode. It's yer classic "po' folk weekend", wherein we basically sat around and watched TV and ate stuff found in the freezer. Weekend before rent is usually like this. I slept a straight-eight last night, and awoke ready to go. Maybe I'm simply not getting enough sleep, or like Michelle theorized, the change of seasons busts our collective butts.

 

We were watching an especially boring movie (that Beloved was enjoying) when I remembered that, when I initially found the Liv Dolls ‘My Room' playset, I was frustrated that I couldn't see the whole thing, or even how it worked. The images on the packaging only showed what I could already see ! And it was too new to have much of an online or fan presence. So I decided to add a new page to the site, detailing everything about the playset, to help any other curious doll fans decide if the $20. purchase was worth it or not to them.

 

I viewed this as the perfect opportunity to use the camera tripod Beloved gave me months ago, but as it turned out, the flash bounce with it was just too great. I took much better photos when I held the camera and moved me around. Oh, well. At least I was able to find it !

 

Two hours later, I had the photos done and the text written, and it's published it to the web. Wanna see ?  https://dorriebelle.tripod.com/id47.html  Since Lucretia was handy, I used her for scale, but she really looks good in the photos. I'm thinking of doing another photo essay of the Target ‘Then and Now' Barbie. It's so rare for me to buy new stuff, I like to get the most out of it, with web site expose pages ! Plus, the TaN Barbie looks fantastic with her earrings removed - the included walkman/mp3 player fits right in to the ear holes and looks just perfectly natural ! And doesn't slip or slide off like the ‘headband' earphone sets.

Hey - a picture today !

Current Mood : content

Spent on small toys : $2.08

 

Today didn't start well. Dearest Son was a bit reluctant to get dressed today, but he was OK with wearing the last of the ‘car' shirts. At least, that's what I thought, until I saw Beloved Hubby redressing him in the shirt he wore to bed last night. I admit it, I felt rejected, and said that, if he didn't want to wear what he asked me to make, I wouldn't make anything else for him. And he'd done another end-run around me, which is also problematic.

 

About this time, Beloved noted that the nightshirt was stained - he'd been wearing it all week - so he ended up back in what I made him, but it still bothered me. Beloved and I talked for a bit, and I felt better, but I still wanted out of the house for a while. Since there weren't any interesting yard sales (never are, just after the free weekend), I decided to hit GoodWill and go from there. Two sales had already cancelled. Darn it.

 

It's typical that, when I go out to look for ‘me' stuff on purpose, I always find ‘Dearest' stuff. Today, it was a pair of jeans, a pair of khakis, and a pair of sweatpants, for $6. I also noted that the first big ‘wave' of Disney Princess paraphernalia is starting to hit the thrifts here. I must've found about 30 themed little-girl shirts, dresses, and backpacks today. Was sorely tempted by the Snow White costume, but it would've required extensive alterations to fit the My Size girls. I really need to make them new Halloween costumes, I haven't sewn any in years.

 

From there, I decided to go ahead with my special lunch. While it was being made, I hit the thrift next door. Picked out four of their 50c grab bags - for a cake decoration Barbie miniature, a Han Solo ‘Galactic Heroes' miniature, a kids' meal Star Wars bobblehead for Dearest, and a cute Kelly in an adorable sundress, and matching shoes. Also a fold-away pouch that now holds the digital remote. All the rest's going back to the thrift. And the DecoPak Barbie is today's image. Since I now have three, it's a collection, so they're going on the kitchen windowsill. That way, I'll have pretty stuff to see when I'm doing the dreaded dishes !

Doll sale misunderstanding... darn Craigslist !

Current Mood : slightly miffed

 

Major thunderstorm last night - we lost power about four times between last night and this morning. So, when the bus was about 20 minutes late this morning, we went inside, so I could check for any delays. Of course, that's when the bus showed up - we made it, but really had to run for it.

 

So I figured I'd best double check, see if that doll sale I wanted to go to was still on. When I tried to find it, using the street address and the city, it wouldn't come up. Did with the street address... so I reread the ad. Doesn't mention the actual city or town, just the street name. Cross-referenced a business mentioned in it - and it's about 40 miles from here. Well, shoot. Same exact street address is here, too. Oh, well. At least I wouldn't have to get out in the rain so early today. No way was I driving in rush hour traffic through Capital City to get there.

 

So I did some housework and frittered around. Beloved Hubby was home early, so I ended up taking a bit of a nap - the thunder kept waking me up last night, so I didn't sleep well. Tomorrow, I'm gonna hit a couple yard sales that I know are local, and maybe the GoodWill, since I haven't been there in months. And I'm still hoping for a special lunch in the bargain ! 

 

Oh, and the near-endless blizzard of papers from Dearest School has begun. It's ironic to me that most companies I deal with bug me endlessly to ‘go paperless !' with my bills, but I end up with over a ream of event flyers alone, in every color imaginable, every school year. I can't use scrap paper fast enough to keep up !

Yawn.

 

Current Mood : Yawn. 

 

Another day down the ole tubes. About all I did all day was cook meals and get Dearest Son to school and ready for school tomorrow. I have got to get off my butt. All I want to do is sleep ! I have no idea what's wrong - I'm taking my medicines, and going to bed at a good hour, but I'm still barely awake all day, and that's with glasses of sugar and caffeine, aka, soda. Dearest seems to have perked back up, but Beloved Hubby and I are still lethargic and sleepy. I hope we're successfully fighting off something.

 

Found a yard sale that starts tomorrow - the ad says they have older Barbie dolls and clothes. If they do, I probably can't afford anything, but I'm going anyway. I found another overdue library book to turn in, a bill payment to mail, and there's a thrift store on that end of town. I may even spring for a non-leftover lunch, depending on what I spend on stuff.

 

In the meanwhile, it's nearly bedtime, thank Everything. If I did anything else as much as I've been sleeping lately, I'd be bored of it by now.

Got a few things done, but then went right to sleep !

 

Current Mood : Perked enough to shop a bit, but still tired.

Current Image Notes : Here's the two dolls I've purchased recently, in the 'kid couture' outfits I bought them in. While most adults wouldn't pair tutus with t-shirts, it's still darn cute ! 

Spent on dolls : $5.92

Spent on patterns : 54c

 

 

I think the whole family's coming down with something. We're all constantly tired and almost always prefer sleep to activities or even the plentiful new TV shows. I'm trying to dig out of my sleepy rut, but it's not going well.

 

Went grocery shopping - Mal-Wart's got a ton of stuff on markdown from the toys and doll sections, but when it's $15. instead of $18., it's not much of a motivation to ‘buy now !'. So I only bought food and a new pair of pants (and markdown underwear) for Dearest Son. I was surprised to find that his favorite pants were about two inches too short, and very tight on him, this morning. Too bad we were already running a bit late when this was discovered ! I sent him in another pair that fit a bit better, but has permanent stains, so they've been ‘weekend wear', not school clothes. I figure, I can buy a pair of new pants a week as part of the grocery money, and in a few weeks, he'll be ready for winter. The clothes I bought this weekend are the next size up. Well, when it comes to Dearest's clothes, ya buy what you can, especially when you find it so cheaply.

 

Also dropped off library books and donations while I was out. Found a pattern that duplicated one I bought earlier, for sewing machine covers. Last time I bought McCall's 5017, it was missing all the ‘cat' related pieces, for the kitty-themed cover and pincushion. So, I bought it. I'd already donated the missing pieces one, noting on the envelope what was absent in Sharpie marker. Also found a Ken outfit from 1996, still in package. Nice brown penny loafers, they'll look great on Leia.

 

But the big buy of the day was a two-doll baggie. I got new still-on-store-shelves Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty dolls in awful outfits - they also had the new Belle. But I just wanted SBeauty. She greatly resembles Agatha's mother, Lucrezia Mongfish-Heterodyne, in Girl Genius. Looks like I'll soon need to brush up on my Victorian corsetry to dress her accurately. I've been wanting one, and contemplated splashing out $12. to $17. for her new, so it was great to find her for just $3.99. Cinderella, who is similarly nearly perfect, if badly dressed, will probably be donated.

 

I seem to be overflowing with blonde dolls lately. Guess I've made my peace with it. Appropriate during Barbie's 50^th, huh ?

I'm still wiped out - it's making me nervous.

 

Current Mood : Still lazy, surprisingly.

I'm not sure what happened today. Beloved Hubby wasn't feeling well, so he was home...and once Dearest Son was home, I stretched out on the sofa. And fell asleep for nearly four hours ! I had no idea I was so tired. I woke up often enough - Beloved and Dearest were working on the latest Lego set, with its attendant exclamations and sounds - but I still fell back asleep every time.

 

By the time I woke for good, it was nearly 7pm, no one had eaten, much less worked on Dearest's homework or anything. So I whipped together a quick dinner (Chicken Pasta Salad) and we did homework (just some reading) and got Dearest into a bath. Got him into bed about a half-hour later than I wanted, but considering the day, it wasn't so bad.

 

Didn't get much done today, as you can expect, when I was awake. Kitchen's still wrecked, but I made an embroidery design out of that Hello Kitty silhouette. Hope to stitch it out later this week. It was so nice outside this morning, we had the door and some windows open, which brought in a buncha flies. Darn flies.

 

We went out for a bit, since Beloved had a few errands to run. Mal-Wart had a ton of toys on markdown, in preparation for early holiday stocking. Most of the ‘World' Barbie dolls were down to $20., and the remaining 50^th Anniversary repro and classic stuff was marked down a few bucks, but not much. For example, the magnets that were about $1.50 were down to $1., and the repro Barbie case was $15. instead of $18. or so.

 

On the newly reorganized shelves, the Liv dolls were plentiful, but I decided against getting one. Same for the Moxie (i.e., ‘These aren't Bratz !' from Bratz manufacturer MGA) dolls. But it was nice to see new things out there. 

 

Called Big Lots, and ours didn't get any of the Adult Collector dolls, not a one. Which is fine with me. I wasn't sure if I wanted one because they were a great deal cheaper, or if I wanted because I really wanted the doll, at any price. I'm glad I don't have to decide, actually. I gave Beloved the $20. I had in reserve for it, since he was broke, and I still had a few bucks. I may hit the thrifts later this week, just because I haven't in so long. I also have a backseat-load to drop off. And some more-overdue-by-the-day library books !

Oh, and I forgot to tell you - Dearest Son won me a new doll or doll furniture from playing the 'Pink Ticket' game that came on my new doll. Only kids twelve and younger can play, so I let him. And we won ! We also 'won' a $5. coupon off our next doll purchase, but the thing wouldn't print out with the newest Firefox update... which I'd just downloaded and installed Friday. (sigh) Maybe next time. In the meanwhile, I'm wondering if Mattel's sending a package or a gift card...

Nodding off Sunday

 

Current Mood : Amazingly lazy

Current Image Notes : Here's the box back for the doll I bought yesterday. Tomorrow, she's still in the box, and you get to see !

 

Not much of nothin' happened today. Dearest Son is home, Beloved Hubby is tattooing Friend with the art he's been sporadically working on for a week or three. I downloaded the last of the designs I wanted from the two sites I have a membership to, so all that's left is waiting to see if I want anything new between now and the day I cancel my subs. Tonight before bedtime, I'll burn a backup disc.

 

I know I'm doing all this design downloading to rekindle my interest in embroidery - I haven't been near Brody in weeks. I think sewing for eleven straight days burned me out worse than I thought.

 

Dearest came home with the ‘Kaya' American Girl Happy Meal set. I'm gonna see if I can find the ‘Molly' one - if I was suddenly given my choice of any AG doll, I'd get her. She's always been my favorite, long before Pleasant Company became a Mattel subsidiary. It'd be fun to get the paper doll version. If I don't, no big deal, I'm sure I'll find one at a yard sale or at a thrift store sooner or later. According to the box bottom, the next toys are Barbie and Hot Wheels !

 

Brought in all the weekend's finds, but aside from dumping Dearest's ‘new' clothes into the hamper, I haven't done anything with any of ‘em. I may keep the bistro table top, and just add a simple tablecloth. But I really have to redo the seat cushions.