Sewing, part deux

Here are the dresses, finally finished (almost--I still need to put a hook & eye at the tops in back). I think they're cute, but as always, I think they "look homemade." I've never made dresses in matching fabric before, so I also think they're a little "matchy-matchy." But at least they're done, and now I can move on to my next 50 projects.

Bleep

I like sewing, right? So why am I so ticked off right now?

Because, even though I made multiple perfect practice button holes on some test fabric, the top buttonhole on Sarah's dress has not worked three times now. I'm starting to worry about the integrity of the fabric, but I put it away for now. I still have to hem it, and it's too big around, but I can't change that.

Because I wasn't paying attention when I laid out the bodic pieces for Lauren's dress this afternoon and I cut the bodice front right down the center. I don't have enough fabric to cut the front out again, so now I get to go to the fabric store again and try to get a new piece. I am not looking forward to that.

Pictures are Tuesday, did I mention that?

16 days 0 days since Lauren's last accident.

You know, like the signs they have at construction sites?

Although she still frequently wets the bed at night, she hasn't had a daytime accident since November 3rd.

Hey, she needed a bath and hair washing anyway . . .

Scientists say cold noses reduce ability to fight virus attacks

Interesting, but short of a balaclava, how do I keep their noses warm?

http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/11/14/cold.chill/index.html

"If they become chilled, this causes a pronounced constriction of the blood vessels in the nose and shuts off the warm blood that supplies the white cells that fight infection. The reduced defences in the nose allow the virus to get stronger and common cold symptoms develop."

Edited to add: I guess a balaclava really wouldn't cut it, since it doesn't cover the nose, as I thought. "Ski mask" probably would have been better, but I don't think they would wear that, either, so I'm back where I started.

Well, that's cleared up

Last night, around quarter after 10, the phone rang, and the caller ID said, "Nevada." Um, I don't know anyone in Nevada, so I didn't answer it. But I checked the voicemail a few minutes later, and apparently, I do know someone in Nevada. It was my brother. My brother that no one has heard from in weeks. When my sister-in-law got a really good job offer in Las Vegas, they couldn't turn it down, so they moved. I told him that I understood that every bit of money they had needed to go to keeping the family afloat, but that I was still pissed that he hadn't let anyone know. He accepts that, and is sincerely sorry. I'm sad that they live so far away now, but glad they're ok.

Dude, are you mad at ME?!?

Remember this? When I said, "eventually, we got to an ER," what I didn't say is that we went to an urgent care facility first, waited for half an hour, and then when we finally got up to fill out the paperwork, someone came out and said that the X-ray machine was broken, and that since it was a head injury, she'd probably need a CAT scan, anyway (which they don't have), so we should head down to the ER a couple miles away. I was pissed, especially at having to wait for nothing, but left. Happily, the ER was great, and everything was fine.

Today, when I checked voicemail this afternoon, I had a call from the doc in charge at the Urgent Care facility first, wanting to know why I'd left without getting Sarah checked out. I called him back and explained what had happened. He talked about how she should have been checked out there first, and then done an official transfer. If something had happened to her on the way to the ER, the UC facility would have been liable. He said that he wanted to make sure his staff knew that what happened shouldn't have happened, and wanted to know if I remembered who had told me about the X-ray, what that person looked like, etc. Well, I didn't remember; I barely remembered what time we'd been in.

So then he got this tone in his voice, and said that they rarely do CAT scans on children anymore unless a concussion is indicated, and got all snotty. You know, I appreciate that your staff screwed up, and you want to make sure it doesn't happen again. But don't take it out on me.

Doing a little better

I've been really crabby all week. No suprise there, I know. But I talked to my mom last night, and at least now I know the plan. She's going to take some meds, then start chemo probably on Monday, and have three or four courses of that. Then the double mastectomy probably in January, then more chemo. Sounds horrible, but she's in good spirits. I asked her if she'd get medical marijuana, and get to be a big ol' pothead, but she laughed and said no. I'll probably go down there sometime in January to help out. I really want to thank everyone for all the good wishes--it really does make a difference.

I think I'm going to crawl into a hole

Or maybe crawl into bed. My grandfather died this morning. I am totally at a loss.

Edited to add: Apparently, the pictures I took back in June are the last ones of him.

Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween! We had a good time - the rain held off, except for a drop or two, and it wasn't too cold. I can't believe how nice it's been the past three years on Halloween--we've really lucked out.

We went to our neighbor's house first, and since the three girls play together often, we all went around the neighborhood together. We only stayed out for about an hour, but they still got plenty of candy, of course.

The most memorable part of the night was when we went to a house with a person sitting outside. The person was dressed up as a witch or scarecrow or something, and sitting very still. Sarah & Sammy hung back--they could tell something was up. Lauren didn't even seem to notice and walked right past him/her. When the person moved, she kind of did a double take ("Wow, that's a real person!") but then asked for candy right away. It never even occurred to her to be scared. We went to another house that was intentionally scary, that the two big girls wouldn't go near--that person was walking around, and wearing a very scary mask, but again, nothing was going to keep Lauren from the candy.