Two in a Row!!!

I know, I'm bad at blogging lately.  I will try to be a little better. Can't have Froggy mad, now can I?

What's new.  Well, I'll have to think about that.

I don't think I mentioned it, but Otter was promoted to full time at her job a few months back.  She's not quite a supervisor, but she is the senior associate in her department and has basically been told that she's in line for moving up at some point in the future.  Moving up basically means that she is being groomed, prepared, watched, etc., because she is managerial material in training.  Hopefully, that sentence makes sense!  She had an excellent review last week and got another raise.  She's a hard worker, and although she hates to admit it - she is very much a Borg Queen in training!

Maggie Moo has been to the vet twice for her ears this summer, she's on the end of a steroid round this week and I'm hopeful that her ears are cleared up this time.  Frasier always groomed her ears and the vet always commented on how sparkling clean they were.  But since he went to the Rainbow Bridge, her ears aren't happy.  She's a happy beagle, just with unhappy ears.  She has not had many walks lately, but that's because a) it's summer and hot and b) it's summer and hot and that means humid.  The heat isn't so much of a problem for me, but the humidity is.  My asthmatic lungs don't deal well with humidity.

Otter went to TNT last month, the cosplay convention in Tulsa.  I'm not posting pictures because her face was visible in all her costumes but she and J had a great time and enjoyed the weekend.

Bill's been busy with pachinko machines.  He sold one out of the booth last month, and has had quite a few restoration jobs.  It's doing very well.  It's not going to be a living wage out of it, but it's a very good supplement.  He has done some job hunting, but there is not much out there at the moment.  He's either extremely overqualified or underqualified.  I think it's time to start thinking of jobs other than in his field of electronics engineering.  When he got his degree, electronics was expected to be a growing field with a bright future.  However, that prediction is not exactly what happened and we have been seeing evidence of that for a few years.  But we aren't worried, God has brought us this far and He's not going to abandon us.

It has just been a somewhat boring summer, and that is actually good.  So, Froggy - two this week!  No complaints will be accepted from you.  :)

I Know...

Been a while since I've blogged!  As Froggy reminded me.  (I already knew, Froggy.)

Anyway.

It's just been normal life lately, which is not what it looked like for the last 2 plus years.  We've basically rearranged a lot of things in the wake of Bill's job, the contract buy-out, his position being officially eliminated after he'd taken the buy-out and all the associated stuff.

One thing we are doing differently:  Bill's not looking for a job very hard at the moment.  Beyond me reading the Sunday paper with the employment ads, that is.  His original plan was to take April as the catch-up time since he had several restoration jobs waiting (pachinko machines all over the living room again!), but since then he's been getting very regular calls for restoration bids and quite a few of those calls have resulted in jobs.  More machines all over the living room!  Business on the parts for sale and dvds for the do-it-yourself restoration has picked up considerably.  The booth was not doing too much but then since about April 1st, we've had several dvds and pachinko ball sets sold.  In fact, pretty much everything has picked up since April 1st.

Which was his official last day of unemployment.  Can we say God's blessings?  I think we can.  And we do.  Often.

At some point, he will need to find a job.  But not yet.  In fact, we can go for several months and quite probably for the rest of the year before we need that to happen.  And possibly even later, depending on how well the pachinko business does.  We are NOT taking anything for granted.  But we do have several plans in place.

We went to a local art fair in downtown Tulsa last Saturday.  Actually, we went to two.  They run concurrently and are in the same area so that people can walk from one to the other easily.  It was a lot of fun.  We didn't buy anything, we usually don't, but we always enjoy it.

Otter went to the Renaissance Fair in Muskogee last weekend.  Muskogee is not really next door but it's not too far.  Well, the locals might think it's far.  But we measure distance by TEXAS standards, so it's not that far to us.  Anyway, J was dressed up as a pirate and Otter had a long red skirt with a black net overlay, and she had a black corset with a white short-sleeved blouse underneath it.  Their faces are in the pictures so I'm not posting them, but they had a good time.

Otter is finished up with her dental work.  The original estimate at the not-good dentist was about $7,200.00.  Our "old/new" dentist gave her an estimate of $3,200.00.  The final cost was actually just over $2,500.00.  And that included a few things that the not-good dentist simply missed.  Otter has also been officially put on full-time at her job.  Which means she now qualifies for their insurance plan.  She's on ours still for this month but that is fixin to change, she has been self-sufficient since October 1, 2013 but we still carried her on our health insurance because it is expensive and she was part-time.  She still managed to support herself on a part-time salary, but she did not really have a lot of extras.  We didn't mind covering her insurance, but now we won't have to.  She had considered moving to a different apartment complex way back when she knew that she was going to tell Roomie they needed not to be roommates any longer which would have been this coming July or August - based on the lease when they moved into the 2-bedroom unit.  Then Roomie pulled her stunt and moved out in October, Otter stayed in the 2-bedroom unit until the end of November and then transferred to her own 1-bedroom unit with a lease ending November 30 of this year.  She likes her apartment and the complex, it's pretty close to work for her and not too far from us.  But she was thinking that she might need a cheaper rent, since she was still part-time.  But now that she's full-time, she is most likely not going to move.  Which is fine with us, it was hard enough to recover from helping her move the last time!  :)

Memorial Day is this coming weekend.  IF it's not raining, we may grill some steaks or burgers.

OK, Froggy.  I blogged!  By the way, I also went to Braums for lunch today.  In case you are interested.

2015 Review

2015 is just about over.  And I am glad.  It's been a hard year, although I haven't (and won't) posted about most of the issues we have had to deal with.  Very possibly, 2016 (for reasons not being mentioned) could well be a continuation.

There have been some good things, it hasn't been all bad.  I really don't mean to gripe.  But I guess I am!

Anyway:

January

Very cold month with some winter weather.

It was very stressful for Otter because Roomie lost her job right before Christmas 2014 and January was the first of over 3 months that Roomie was without a job - and not looking very much, either.

Michael's had yarn on sale and I added to the stash!  (Always good.)

Froggy started planning her trip to see us.

The Teenager's health suddenly took a turn for the worse, he was weakened by a bug and while he did recover from the illness, he never got his strength back and although we didn't realize it at the time, it was the beginning of the downhill turn for him.

We celebrated our 30th Wedding Anniversary, this year we had pizza!

February

We switched internet and email providers.

The stupid groundhog saw his shadow!

I had what I first thought might be the flu, but then realized it was "just" a cold.

This month saw the first issues with Frasier; he fell in the kitchen and couldn't get up.  We had to help him up but he was sore and stiff for days.  The vet thought he might have age-related issues, probably arthritis in the mix as well.  But he was always a happy dog when J came over!

Otter was really getting concerned about Roomie and the lack of a job.

The Teenager and his lovely bride celebrated their 78th Wedding Anniversary and were one of the featured couples on the Today Show!

Snowy weather.

22 years since we moved from TEXAS.

On February 27, the world lost one of it's shining lights in the form of Leonard Nimoy.  We're still mourning this one.  LLAP!

March

The month started with having to replace tires on the car that Otter was driving, as well as a front-end alignment.  $1200.00 was Chevy's estimate and it was also the last time we actually used that particular dealership - and they are under NO illusions as to why.  It was a M.A.J.O.R. moment for *RHTW.  We had the work done at a local shop for about $500 less than Chevy's estimater.

The vet suggested we start Frasiser on pain pills, which did seem to help but he didn't need them all the time.

I came down with another cold!  I literally sneezed all the way to work one morning and by about 8:15, I was feeling miserable.

We had more winter weather.

Otter was overjoyed when we discovered Green Apple gatorade!

I started crocheting a poncho for Otter, which took me a while to finish.  I had a lot of interruptions!

The dogs had their "beffday" and we spoiled them with plenty of treats - in hindsight, I'm glad we gave them so many extra treats.

We got several boxes of Girl Scout cookies.

The dry air caused me to have a few nosebleeds.

We decided it was time to talk to the minister at the church we'd been attending, we had to reschedule the appointment we had so we didn't actually talk to them this month.

Otter turned 23!

There was a tornado that struck a very nearby, next-door to Tulsa town.  It was bad.

My glasses broke in 2!  Bill had to glue and tape them back together so I could at least go get them replaced the next day.

We had to replace our insurance, thanks to NObamacare.

April

Our new insurance company took 2 premiums and *RHTW had a few "fun" phone calls with them.

One of the bright spots of this year happened.  Otter had her annual lung recheck and we feel like we have received a miracle - it's gone!  It never really goes away, but hers is as close to not being there as it can possibly be.  It is a true Blessing and we are so beyond thankful for this.

Otter gave Roomie a "no job, move out" date.  Amazing how motivated she got when that happened and she suddenly found a job.

Otter officially became the owner of a 2002 Chevy Impala.

The electric company messed up our yard and also cut the phone lines.

The hummingbirds showed up this month.

My precious dog, Frasier, one of the most special pets I've ever had, left us on the 23rd.  He was one of those rare, once in a lifetime dogs.

May

Otter proved that yes, she is very much her Father's Daughter.  She the cut palm of her left hand and had to get stitches!  I think she got 4.  She was a typical Redhead and bled a lot.

Maggie Moo was sick, the vet thought she had another UTI and the medication helped her pretty quickly.

Stupid electric company kept at it!

Bill was rear-ended in his work van - it was not his fault in any way, he wasn't hurt.

Maggie Moo was scratching herself silly - and driving us nuts!  The vet said she has allergies and put her on zyrtec - which didn't work too well but then we tried it later and it worked fine.

Bill's sister got married!  We went to TEXAS over Memorial Day weekend for the wedding and it was really nice.

Rain, Rain, Rain!

I had my one and only migraine of the year.

It was one of the better months of the year.

June

Otter went to Dallas with J, his mom and some of their friends.  They went to a convention and debuted their "Joker and Harley" gender switched costumes.  Which were very well-received.

We decided to get rid of the landline phone, since it was out more than it was working.

We decided to try an automatic feeder for the Magginator, it works very well.

Maggie met two other beagles when we went to get her annual shots.  Then she met a wolf!  Luna the wolf lives in our neighborhood and she is absolutely gorgeous.

The electric company was still being stupid!  I made a pest of myself, or actually I let *RHTW deal with them - and they finally decided to send out a repair crew, which was a company they contracted with and the repair crew foreman was appalled at how bad the damage to our yard was and how tacky the electric company was being about fixing it.

After they fixed it, we realized that our house was not getting the electric current it was supposed to and I had to place an emergency call to them.  I started the call but *RHTW finished it.

Froggy and her daughter came to see us, which was a bright spot.

Bill's birthday!  For 6 months, he was older than me.  He got bacon for his birthday meal, which made him happy.

My vacation started and the first thing was Maggie the Wonder Beagle getting stuck under the shed.  That should have been our first clue that it was not going to be a good week.

The Teenager was pretty sick in June.  The last time I actually saw him was right before I went on vacation at the end of the month, he was weak but he was very mentally clear and it was actually a fun day with him.  But in hindsight, I think he knew something was coming and from what he said and how he said it - I think he was telling me goodbye.  When I was on vacation, he had to be hospitalized for pneumonia and he was recovering from that when he had what was probably a stroke.  That was actually in July.

July

The frame holding the driver's seat in my car (the 2008 impala) broke and we had to buy a replacement seat at a salvage yard, then put the seat from my car on the frame of the salvage seat.

The next day, the brakes on the El Camino basically failed and Bill had to replace them.

Otter and Roomie decided to move to a 2-bedroom unit.  Otter was cautiously optimistic about it, since Roomie was working again and she hoped that it would work out but she was also pretty sure that when that lease was up she would suggest that Roomie find her own place.  They moved on the 31st.

On July 8, the Teenager had the probable stroke.  It was overnight and he was most likely asleep; he never really woke up from that and that is actually a blessing.  On the 12th, he left this life behind.  He was 98 years, 9 months.  This was one of the worst things that happened this year, at least from our perspective.  But we know exactly where he is and that we will see him again.  Until then, we'll all miss him terribly.

August

This month literally started with Otter's car having issues.  The radiator ruptured and we had to replace it.  It was just the beginning of trouble with that car.  It spent more time at my house than it did at hers!

But she did get a pretty good raise at work so she was happy!

Bill saw the dermatologist for his annual visit, the spot we thought might be a skin cancer on his nose turned out not to be but there were a couple of very small ones on his hand that the doctor froze off.

We finally met with the pastor at the church we'd been visiting.  And we knew almost immediately that it is not the place for us.  That was very disappointing.

We put tires on my car, the 2008 impala.

I was sick, it was a bug that was going around but it took me a few weeks to really recover from it.

We closed our booth at the antique store.

The Bluebell plants reopened!

September

Labor Day.

Bill came down with the mega-bug I'd had.

Otter and I got our flu shots and I spent most of Labor Day weekend dealing with my reaction.  Which wasn't as bad as some years have been.  But the reaction hit me within 2 minutes of getting the shot, I got my shot at 5:30 and at 5:32 I was suddenly freezing cold.

Then I came down with a cold.

I crocheted purple baby caps for a local charity.

There was a lunar eclipse, we could see it from the back yard and it was very pretty.

It was pretty obvious that Otter was under some stress, she was having problems with Roomie and was very upset over the situation.  She wasn't sure what she could do, as Roomie was on the lease but she really regretted moving to the 2-bedroom unit, although at the time it was a good decision.  But she knew that she would not renew the lease (or any lease) with Roomie when it was up.

October

We went to the State Fair in Tulsa, we took J along with us and we had a fun time.  We were tired but it was an enjoyable day.  I discovered that I am a sheep magnet - they are evil!  They know I'm beyond extremely allergic to them.

We had a lot of the typical "persecution" because of the TEXAS/ou game the first weekend of the month.  Then TEXAS won!

Roomie lost her job.  Or at least she admitted to Otter that she'd lost it, the actual time that happened might have been in September.  But it was a major retailer and she was fired, she would not say why but this particular store does not fire employees unless they have very good reason.  She claimed to have gotten another job at a fast-food place and probably did, but we're not totally convinced that she kept it longer than a couple of weeks.  When she told Otter that she'd lost the job and got the new one, Otter told her then that Roomie was going to have to find her own place a) when the lease was up or b) immediately if she lost the fast-food job.

Because Otter was expecting to have to move when the lease was up, she did a little looking for other complexes that might be a little cheaper but nobody expected Roomie to do what she did:  move out and attempt to do it without giving Otter any warning at all - but Otter caught her packing.  It was a very ugly, nasty situation and I'm not going to detail it here because it was already detailed.  But it was bad, however it could have been much worse.  There was very heavy *RHTW involvement.

The Teenager would have been 99.  We had cupcakes at work to celebrate and remember him.

The 32nd anniversary of when we met was on the 14th.

Bill decided to get another booth for the pachinko machines.

We put Maggie Moo back on the zyrtec, she was scratching again and had caused a little bald spot above her tail from it.  She had a slight case of Bald Bobo!  But the zyrtec helped her a lot more this time.

It rained.  A lot.

One morning was really strange:  The sunrise was brilliant in the east, it was dark and cloudy in the middle area and then there was a huge rainbow in the west.  All at the same time!

November

Our "lovely" insurance carrier sent us a letter with a $400+ increase in our monthly premium.  We made a lot of changes that took weeks.

Otter went to a Dias De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) festival with J and his mom in his not quite next door to Tulsa neighboring town.  She left rememberances for the Teenager and my aunt we refer to as AJ (who Otter was named for).

That night on her way home, her car acted like it was overheating and we had to go get her.  About 9:30 at night, in almost the middle of nowhere, dark and very isolated - but J and his mom came to wait with her until we got there.  Bill drove her car home, although he had to stop a couple of times, I brought her home in my car and then she took my car on home with her.

For the next few weeks, we dealt with her car acting up and she had my car quite a bit.

In the midst of all the car issues, Otter moved to a one-bedroom unit in the same complex.

Bill got a bad cold.

Then I got a bad cold.

Thanksgiving was a little different, we wound up at Taco Bell because it was the only place we could find open when the power went out!  That was the first of several times we got a senior discount!

We finally got our Bluebell ice cream!

There was a hard rain storm and then we saw a double rainbow.

The new booth store opened up.

The El Camino developed a problem with what is probably the thermostat but the specific part is pretty much unavailable.  It is a 1976 vehicle, after all!  It's going to spend the next few months in the driveway anyway, like it usually does in the winter.

We started discussing Bill buying a 2nd hand car to drive in the winter, since Otter had the 02 impala he used to drive.

December

We realized that Otter's car was becoming a serious concern and it was not a car we were comfortable with her driving any longer.  We bought a new car for me, a 2015 impala.  Then we traded the 2008 to her and she gave Bill the 2002.  The 2002 is still acting up, it is probably a series of cascading problems that keep causing other things to act up and it may well be that the car is just worn out.  But in the meantime, Bill will drive it and she has a car that she can trust.  New tires and in very good shape, she should be able to drive it for several years.  I am very happy with the new car, but we really did not want a car payment yet.  However, it was a good decision.

Otter and I went to the mall to Christmas shop one evening and had a very interesting encounter - I didn't mentioned details when I blogged about it, but we almost literally ran into her first boyfriend - and his girlfriend - and their two very young children!  He was a real jerk when he and Otter broke up and at one point we had to tell his dad to reign his son in or we would call the police - which explains why the former boyfriend would not even look me in the eye when we saw him.  Otter said that she's extremely glad that she dodged that particular situation, and she hopes that the idiot boy treats his baby mama better than he treated her and also that he's finally learned to be faithful.

We decided to put up a Christmas tree so I went to Hobby Lobby and bought another artificial tree.

We still had to deal with the cold bug we got in late November.  Even up until right before Christmas.

Then Bill came down with another cold which I thought was the flu at first.

We finally got actual winter weather, much later than usual.

There was a lot that happened, it wasn't all bad and most of the really cruddy stuff is not being mentioned.  But this has been a fairly bad year.  We do realize that it could have been worse, and there have been some good things.  But the main thing that defines this year is the loss of a man who was like a father to me and that Otter considered to be another one of her grandfathers.

Here's to 2016 and hopes that it will be a good year for everyone!

Adjusting Monday

It was odd at work today.  Younger Boss got there before I did, and he was attempting to go through all his mail, etc., from last week.  Around 10:45 or so, we both realized that we were waiting for the phone to ring and it be the Teenager on the other end to let us know he was ready to come in.  Younger Boss's son had lunch with him today, which was nice.  When Younger Boss came back from lunch, I found myself waiting for the Teenager to come in after him.

It was that way all day.  I guess it will be for a while.

Younger Boss found a really nice portrait of the Teenager which we put in his office.  We aren't making any changes to his office, at least not for a long while. Maybe not ever, actually.

The phone is still ringing fairly constantly with condolence calls.  Cards are starting to arrive in the mail and most of them have notes about funny stuff the Teenager did.  Such as walking into an acquaintance's office during a meeting - while wearing a turban and pretending to be a sultan.  Which was greeted with lots and lots of laughter.  That's the kind of crazy stuff he did.  He was very charming and truly joy-filled.

I had to take some stuff to Otter after work today.  She showed me some of the pictures they took at TNT over the weekend.  They had a lot of fun.  They were all exhausted, but they are already planning next year's cosplay.  She says that it will probably be something without makeup.  Even though she uses good-quality makeup, her skin reacts to it and she is lucky to be able to wear it for 4 or 5 hours.  She took it off about half way through Saturday, some of their friends had a room in the hotel that hosted TNT and they gave her their room key so she could go take a shower and get all the makeup off, but even with that she has some zits breaking out.  She has very good skin, it's just extremely sensitive to things.  She gets that from me.  But other than that, she really enjoyed herself.  She wore some of her Lolita style dresses on Friday and Sunday.  She wore one of her wigs on Sunday, the white/blonde one and it looked really cute on her.

We had a little rain this afternoon.  When I was on the way to Otter's apartment, it looked really bad with lots of strong lightning.  It was moving fairly quickly and not tornadic, but the clouds were dark and heavy.  It skirted by where she lives, it went between there and our house.  The area it covered got a lot of rain in a short period of time, but we didn't get too much.  We got some rain, which is good.  Just not a lot of it.  It could be rainy the next couple of days.

Maggie is snoozing, she's curled up in her bed and I think she might have hiccups.  She's so silly, but she's such a sweet little fluffbutt.  Beagles are a lot of fun.

There was more, but I'm tired.

Unplanned Day Off

The biggest thing I've done on my unplanned day off is to take Magginator to the vet for her "rear alignment" also known as getting her rear glands cleaned out, and we also got her claws trimmed while we were there.  She weighs 26.6 pounds which is the same as 2 months ago.  She was somewhat impacted but not as bad as when we took her in every 3 months.  At this point, we'll stick with every 2 months.  The vet tech said she's gone one dog that comes in every 3 to 4 weeks and needs it badly, so I won't complain that we have to take her in every 2 months.  She was funny - she was happy to get in the car, but she wilted as soon as we turned into the parking lot.  She got out of the car easily, but she was not too thrilled with me.  She went in the door and immediately turned back around to go back out.  That didn't happen and she was not pleased!  The vet tech took her back as soon as we got there - we didn't need to see the vet for this - and it was a case of "drag the beagle" today.  It didn't take too long and she was overjoyed when she was brought back to me.  She immediately ran to the door and stood in front of it, wagging her tail.  She was very happy when we actually left.  I took her over to visit the grass and when we walked back to the car, there was another doggy arriving.  She almost went back inside with the other dog!  Little goof.

When we got home, I put her tick and flea drops on her and put her out in the garage for a few minutes.  Someone came over to see Bill and they were standing in the front door chatting.  I didn't want to have to worry about the dog getting out so she got to visit her treat can and spend about 10 minutes in the garage.  She came back inside pretty quickly, and promptly resumed the nap I'd had to interrupt to take her to the vet.  Although that nap as underneath the futon, and the 2nd half of the nap is in/on/all over/next to her bed in the living room.

I also went to the post office and to check Bill's UPS box, then I remembered Maggie Moo's feeder is getting low so I stopped at Wallyworld to get another bag.  I grabbed a few other things while I was there, I didn't get too much but they were crowded.  Guess that's normal, it is Friday after all and most people seemed to be buying lots of groceries.  I thought about going to Hobby Lobby, but I might do that tomorrow and I also might go to our favorite used book store then.  Maybe.  Or maye not!  I'll figure that out tomorrow.  Bill mowed the lawn this morning and I think his main plan for tomorrow and probably Sunday is the pachinko machine he's in the middle of restoring.

Otter is at TNT this weekend, along with J, Roomie and BestFriend.  Otter said that they weren't dressing in cosplay today, but that they were still fairly dressed up.  I think Otter probably wore one of her many Lolita dresses (the very fancy, full-skirted dressy outfits like the one she showed you in June, Froggy) and she'll probably wear another one on Sunday.  The cosplay will be worn tomorrow.  They are wearing their Joker and Harley gender switched costumes.  She had to stretch out the wig a bit, she said it was a little tight when she wore it when they went to the con in Dallas.  She's promised me lots of pictures, and yes she will find the Borg!  The Collective will be wandering around the con, but it might be tomorrow before she locates them.  They managed to get a reasonable parking spot and didn't have to walk too far to get to the con.

I'm tired today but not as exhausted as I was yesterday.  I talked to Younger Boss this morning, he said that a few people were over at their house yesterday after the Teenager's services and that they didn't leave until nearly midnight so he was still exhausted.  He hadn't seen Miss Dorothy yet, but he said that his sister spent last night with her so she wasn't alone.  She's very precious to us.

I managed to get a lot of crochet time in today.  I finished the crochet part of Otter's latest scarf,  She wants fringe on this one so I just have to attach it.  The scarf I made several days back is done but she decided she does not want fringe on it, so it just needs tails buried and it's done.  I made a hat to match the first scarf, but she needs to try it on again before I tie it off and bury tails.  I'm going to make a cap to match the 2nd scarf also, I'll make it to the same size as the first one but I won't complete it until she's tried them both on.  Then, it's back to her poncho.  I'm not sure, but I think that's the last UFO I have.  Well, I still have a blanket I'm working on but it's made with little pieces and ends so it's going to be a while anyway.

Think I'll go surf the internet for a while now.

Call Batman! The Joker Has Escaped!

Joker (Otter) and Harley Quinn (J) were sighted in the Dallas area last weekend.

J's mask was originally a little different, but parts of it were apparently thrown out when it was in pieces waiting for paint to dry.  Otter's suit came from a thrift store, I think it was $10.00.  Her shoes were from a shoe store, the props were made from either things they had already or dollar store toys.  Otter bought her wig online, it was a little tight on her but she can probably fix that.  She made the vest, J found the purple tie and they both sewed his costume.  He's pretty tall and has big feet, he couldn't find any shoes in his size in the black and red combination so he finally took some he had and painted them.  There may be some fine-tuning on the costumes, but they looked great.  They will go to TNT, the anime con in Tulsa in the summer, in these costumes.  Otter said that there were a few other female jokers,but no other male Harley Quinns.  As such, they got stopped for pictures often.  They tend to go with less common, unusual costumes or combinations and they get a lot of attention.  Even in an arena where everybody is in costume, they get a lot more attention than most attendees.  They had a lot of fun, obviously.  The first picture has a third person, I think it's one of the people they went with.  Possibly J's mom.

Maggie Moo got her shots today, it was time for the rabies shot and DPT/whatever it's called!  We didn't go to the vet this time.  I called them to ask what she was due for and they reminded me that if I brought her in there I would have to pay for an exam, so they suggested I take her to one of the local agriculture/farm/pet stores that has shot clinics since she's been in there recently twice and had exams.  So, we went to the store in our little town since they have theirs on Wednesday afternoons.  Maggie was happy, she wasn't sure at first about the car ride but once she figured out that we didn't turn where we normally did for the V.E.T., she gave me a big puppy grin and curled up in the seat with her tail wagging on full!  At one point, she stood up and put her paws on the dashboard to see out (we were stopped at a light) and she was quite happy to get out of the car.  She got to visit grass she hasn't visited before and she also got to meet two other beagles that were at the shot clinic.  She was quite happy to wait in line until it was our turn.  Then we went into the exam room and she figured it out!  Cue droopy beagle.  She buried her face in my stomach and was very happy when I lifted her off of the exam table after her shots.  Then she was happy to leave, we visited more grass she hadn't been to before and she got in the car willingly.  She's a little quiet tonight, which is usual after shots.  But she's fine otherwise.

She is not eating herself into a food coma, I filled up the food reservoir with the remaining food in the bin and it was just almost enough to fill it up.  She ate however much she wanted this morning, but she didn't keep eating.  Every so often, if I'm in the kitchen she'll go in there and see what I'm up to.  She sometimes grabs a piece or two of kibble, but mostly she just looks at it - I think she's checking to see if it's still there!  We'll watch her anyway, if she does act like she's going to eat eat eat just because she can then we'll start putting it up on the counter after she's eaten breakfast.  At the moment, she's snoring.

I bought mini blinds to put in the front room today.  The front room is also known as the guest/craft/YARN room.  When it was Ottter's room, she had a darker curtain inside the window sill and then a navy blue curtain on the curtain rod.  It's always gotten a lot of light.  She didn't want a lot of light in her window when she was trying to sleep.  After she moved, I wanted a little more light since it's where I do most of my crafting, so I donated the curtain from the inside of the window sill.  We still have the outer curtain in there, but I think it's a little too sheer to use in the room guests will sleep in.  So, I got a mini blind and Bill will put it up in the next few days.  The navy blue curtain will get put in the donate bag.  Eventually, I will have enough doilies for my curtain project - I got another 3 or 4 last weekend.

Froggy, want to help me piece it together and see where it stands?

Not Enough Chocolate!!!

It's been one of those days all over the place.  There is not enough chocolate in the world today.  Work stuff mostly, nothing serious or to worry about.  Just a lot of it!!!!!

Otter is back from her vacation today.  The one I didn't mention!  She brought her car over to our house last Tuesday and I ran her (and a trunkload of luggage) over to J's house a few towns away.  From Tuesday until Friday, she and J spent most of their time working on their Joker/Harley Quinn costumes.  On Friday morning along with J's mom, some of her friends and some of theirs, they all set out for Dallas.  They arrived at their hotel to discover that parts of it were flooded out so they weren't able to stay there.  The hotel management had arranged rooms for everyone who had reserved rooms, at a hotel down the street and paid for their first night as well as paying for food for them.  That was not necessary, the hotel couldn't help the floods but it was a nice thing for them to do.  They went to Dallas Fan Expo, which is a comic related convention (con is the short word) and the had a blast.  Otter hasn't sent me the pictures yet but she did show them to me - the female Joker/male Harley Quinn costumes were a huge success.  Although Otter did say that her short green wig was too tight.  They spent Sunday doing the tourist thing around Dallas and Denton, (she has now discovered IKEA!) then they got back to J's house last night.  I went out there after work to pick her up - and her trunkload of luggage!  Which was more than she had to start with, because she is her mother's daughter and she shops!  She was pretty tired, but she wanted to go to Wallyworld with me.  Among other things, I bought her some donut holes so she'll have breakfast tomorrow (she goes in to work at 5:00 a.m.), rolls and dinner for tonight.  She was tired, but she really enjoyed herself.  J had a good time as well, they were all tired but it was happy tired.  The cosplay costumes need a bit of tweeking before the wear them to the con in Tulsa in July.

I went to Wallyworld for one of these:

We realized that Maggie is not the food vacuum we thought she was.  Now that she doesn't have to eat all the food in her bowl so Frasier doesn't get it, she's eating until she gets full and then leaving food.  She eventually wanders back and finishes it, but sometimes she still leaves some behind.  Her bowl used to be emptied, and we think that her big brother might have had a lot to do with it.  We've been leaving a little food in her bowl at times and she's not acting like she wants to eat until she pops.  We're going to try one of these and see if it works.  I expect her to be a piggie at first, but I think she'll adjust.  The one I bought has a 10-pound reservoir, it comes in three sizes and Wally had the large or the small but not the medium.  I was looking for the medium, but I didn't want to wait for them to get it in stock again and the small was just too little.  I put it down next to her food bowl and put a small handful of food in it.  She ate it, but she didn't wolf it down.  We had just come back from our walk and she usually gets a treat or two after walking anyway.  We have always used a fairly large rubbermaid-type bin to hold their dry food, but it's become very obvious that it will take her forever to go through the 20-pound bags of dry food we used to use.  Also, I've changed the brand of food.  We tried a few different brands and Pedigree was the one that worked best for Frasier.  It was fine for her, but his nutritional needs were a little stricter than a garden-variety beagle but Pedigree was good for her, too.  Also, Pedigree was the one that made him the least stinky!  I switched Maggie Moo to one of the IAMS brand dry foods, I mixed it in with the remaining Pedigree and switched it slowly.  She wasn't sure of it at first, but she likes it now.  I don't have to buy the big bags anymore, and once the bin is empty (which might be very soon as I'm going to pour as much kibble out of it and into the 10-pound feeder in the morning), the bin is going bye-bye at least as far as dog food storage.  It may become another recycle bin, unless Bill can come up with a use for it.

I'm also thinking about getting rid of the deep freeze.  I don't use it nearly as much as I used to, now that Otter's moved out I don't go through nearly as much bread for one thing.  I do still have stuff in it, but it's probably less than a quarter full.  Some of the contents now include a couple of cans of coffee but since they aren't open they will stay fresh.  I keep opened cans in the freezer.  There are two packages of chicken breast and a few packages of ground turkey meat.  I think I have two dozen tamales, which we probably need to eat soon!  And 6 ice trays.  I can easily get all of that in the kitchen freezer, although maybe not the ice trays.  Bill wants the small amount of room the deep freeze takes up, if I do decide to get rid of it.  I'll probably put it on craigslist, since it still works fine.  We just don't really need it now.

My feet are tired and are telling me I need to stay on the couch, so that's what I'm going to do with my evening!

Neigh

I started trying to lose my voice yesterday.  I have had a little congestion and allergy symptoms for the last couple of days, but yesterday afternoon my voice got kind of wonky.  I also have had a sore throat, not horrible but still painful.  I woke up this morning with hardly any voice at all so I stayed home.  I'm not feeling 100% but my voice is a little better this evening.  Not a lot better, just better.

Otter came over this afternoon, she didn't have a lot of laundry but she wanted to get it done while she could.  Maggie Moo was overjoyed to see her, as usual.  Frasier was very affectionate towards her, he's a sweet-natured dog and loves Otter but he was much more interested in getting her attention today than he usually is.

Frasier was a little clingy this morning and I didn't think he was in pain, but I thought he was a little uncomfortable so I gave him an anti-inflammatory.  I've been giving them to him for the last couple of days again, he seems to need them when it's cold and/or rainy.  Which it's been the last few days.  They don't make him quite as sleepy and stoned as the pain pills seem to, but they do make him a little drowsy.  He spent the next few hours snoozing at my feet, I put a little bit of my afghan over him and he wiggled until he was underneath most of it - I think he likes the warmth over his arthritic hips.

I'll decide in the morning about work tomorrow.  My throat is getting more sore this evening but I did talk more than I intended to today, when Otter was over.  She had several things she needed to talk about and we had a pretty nice visit - when she could actually hear me, that is!  She and J are working on their cosplay and they have some really good ideas.

OK, back to my oj and maybe a snack.

Just a Dusting Today

Both snow and real dust!

The forecast was for a light dusting of snow, dry and no ice really expected.  They seem to have gotten it right, which is somewhat scary in fact! :)  Anyway, it's very cold and that actually started last night.  The flurries were supposed to start overnight but they were a little later than expected.  It might have finally quit now (mid-afternoon) but the snowfall was heavy at times this morning.  It's only sticking a little bit on the ground, it's a fine powder and grainy.

I've also been dusting in the living room.  We cancelled the satellite tv service a couple of weeks back, since we pretty much never watched it.  Even before Otter moved out in October, we didn't watch it very much and we watched it even less after she moved.  We probably should have cancelled it a while back but it didn't really occur to either of us until we decided to switch internet providers.  The equipment was rented, I couldn't remember if we bought it originally or if we were using their.  Since it was theirs, they sent us a box to return it to them in and a list of what they needed back.  Bill had to get on the roof and get something off of the dish itself, which he did Thursday - before I got home, even though he insisted that I had to be here in case he did what he's known for!  When I got home with a carload of groceries as originally scheduled, he'd already been up there and got the piece.  The receiver box, both remotes and some other equipment needed to be unwired from the tv and that's what we did this morning.  We had to get the attic access cleared again because some of the wiring, etc., was in the attic.  Bill didn't realize that until AFTER he'd put all the pachinko machines back in place after the recent clogged drain/leak we had.  So, all the machines had to be moved back out of the way and Bill got to get up in the (very cold!) attic this morning.

While he was up there, he also got another plastic shelf set out for Otter - he couldn't find the last piece so she's getting a 4-shelf unit instead of a 5-shelf set but I don't think she'll care.  She has a complete one now, she's using it as her pantry shelves since her apartment doesn't really have one.  She wants to use one as her craft stash shelf since her dining room is now becoming her craft room.  I think she'll probably use the 5-shelf set as her craft shelf and switch the pantry stuff to the 4-shelf unit.

Also, Bill got a small wooden rocking chair that was stored up in the attic.  It was Otter's when she was a toddler, she used to sit in her little rocking chair in the living room at our old house and play with her toys or watch Sesame Street on tv.  She used it a lot and she still has fond memories of it.  It's hers and will always be, but I'm going to use it as a decor item in the craft room (that's what I'm calling her old room today.)  I'll post pictures later, when I get it situated.  It was pretty dusty, I didn't realize that it was not wrapped or boxed but was just up there.  I wiped all the dust off when I was dusting the rest of the living room and I think I'm going to hit it with pledge or whatever wood cleaner spray I have - I forgot what kind it is.

The main dusting was the entertainment center, which I hadn't done in a while, and the Fenton glass that was on it.  After the satellite receiver was undone and off the tv, Bill also removed the surround sound unit.  It was going out, two of the four speakers quit a while back (the ones by the couch) and Bill took the rest of it down today.  All that's left besides the tv is the vcr/blu-ray and the vhs recorder (we occasionally use it) and that left two shelves empty.  Which means that we now have enough room for all the dvds/blu-ray movies we have and the Bibles which were stored on one shelf are now being moved to my library shelf so I have plenty of room for the Fenton now.  I dusted it as I put it back on the entertainment center and it's only somewhat arranged.

I did quite a bit of rearranging in the craft room yesterday.  This is the current state of the Stash:

The two smaller drawer sets are stacked on top of the 5-drawer units.  The purple one in the corner doesn't have the wheels on because one of them kept falling off so it looks shorter than the rest but they are all the same size.  I took the wheels off the two smaller units.  On the flatter set, the top drawer is holding the doilies for my eventual curtain and the white 3-drawer set has netting in the middle drawer instead of actual yarn.  The netting will be used for dish scrubbies, eventually maybe if I ever get around to it and my skin cooperates!  Netting is pretty hard on the skin when crocheting with it.  I did get a little more yarn at Michael's last week, but the Stash hasn't really grown much.  I just spread it out a bit.  I have labels in front of each drawer showing what kind is in the drawers.  The two with TEXAS stickers has the Really Good Yarn.

I would love to actually get to use it, however the tendinitis is really bad at the moment.  It was getting better, treatment is mostly just resting my arm and I've been doing that.  But I did aggravate it a bit when I was rearranging my craft room yesterday but I was still able to put two rows on KN#3's blanket yesterday.  But then we had to move stuff around today and all the stuff I've mentioned already, and the end result is that my left elbow really hurts right now.  I'll rest it again a few day and let it recover.

This is the doily project I have in mind.  This is the window at a specific vintage/antique store that Otter and I go to whenever we get a chance.  When we were in there a couple of weeks ago, I asked it I could take some pictures since I got my idea here originally.  The lady that owns the store was quite happy to let me and very interested in what I'm going to do.  She wants to see a picture when I get it finished, but that may be a while.  It will take a huge number of doilies.

She used a pink fabric on the curtain rod to give her curtain a little color but I'm using different colored doilies in mine and it's going to be on a window that will have a minblind so I probably won't use the fabric underneath it.  Also, she has a shaped pattern and mine probably won't.  She said that her doilies are pinned together but I'll probably sew mine to attach them to each other.  It's really pretty in person and she did a great job.  I've bought a lot of my doilies there, she realizes that they are not worth a whole lot of money and sells most of her for anywhere from 50 cents each to a buck or two for the bigger or fancier ones.  Which is a fair price, but I still see them in antique stores/booths for several dollars each - for the little, plain ones!  They aren't that hard to make, I just don't like thread crochet and I don't mind paying a little more for the old ones or intricate ones.  But plain doilies in one color with basic stitches?  No.

Otter come over yesterday after she got off work.  She brought the car back for Bill for this coming week, brought her laundry (of course!) and brought fixins* for the salsa she planned to take to J's Oscar watch party today.  She used my Ninja blender to make it.  I suggested she make more than she intended to, salsa has a tendency to disappear fast and hers is pretty good.  She used Bill has her taste-tester and then she make sure to leave him a bowl full.  He ate his already!  Anyway, she had asked me to take her to J's mom's house for the party and since we were concerned about the weather for today I actually took her over there yesterday.  J's mom was glad to see her and she'll be there for a couple of days.  On the way, they live in a small town that's not exactly neighboring to our small town but is still pretty close, we went to a thrift store.  We went to Goodwill and they were more crowded than I have ever seen them.

Turned out, all their clothing was 50% off and they were selling a lot of it.  Otter and J are going to TNT this summer, they have already decided on their cosplay and Otter's basically consists of a purple suit (pants and jacket) and a bright green shirt, with a bright orange necktie.  She found a pair of pants that are slightly too big but we can take them in easily.  She found a blazer style jacket that is not even the same brand and the pants but it's almost the exact same color, it might be a little big but that will actually work for what she's going for.  She found a long sleeve not quite acid green shirt and the entire outfit costs her less than $10.00.  She is probably going to buy some bright orange fabric, possibly felt, and make the necktie.  She's going to use on of Bill's ties as a pattern template.  The pants and blouse were fine to be washed in the machine so I tossed them in with my laundry today.  The jacket has to be dry cleaned, I was going to take it this morning when I got out before the snow got too heavy (it never did actually get heavy) but they were closed  I'll drop it off tomorrow and pick it up Thursday.  She's still working on the shoes she'll need, but she does know she'll need a short green wig - bright green.

This is the costume idea, the Joker and Harley Quinn from Batman, specifically from The Animated Series:

(Ignore the small kid in the middle of the picture, this just was the best picture I could find that would show the costume characters).  The Joker has a darker tie in this picture but her idea is orange and a regular necktie, as he's shown in a couple of different ways and the orange tie will still be Joker appropriate - it does matter in the cosplay world!  Same thing for the shoes.  The makeup will be easy, basically just white with bright red lipstick for the Joker's mouth and probably Harley's as well but I'm not sure about that.

However, there is a twist to their idea.  Figure it out yet?  Go back and reread the paragraph before the picture if you haven't quite got it yet.  I think they have a wonderful idea and it will probably set them apart from just about anyone else who decides to go as the Joker and Harley.

Which is what they are going for, actually.

*Fixins is one of our favorite words!

Fiddling Around

Just had one of these nasty little beasties run across the kitchen floor:

It was about the size of a dime and it was running fast, like they do.  I noticed it out of the corner of my eye and what actually caught my attention is the way it was running, they have a particular way they move.  I had to move Maggie Moo's food bowl to get to it, which brought her running immediately.  She listened to me, for once, and didn't try to eat it (she seems to like to eat spiders).  I put the bug jar down and it immediately ran into it.  I was pretty sure what it was but I could look at it better in the bug jar and it was very clearly a fiddleback.  Brown Recluse is their actual name, but we've always just called them fiddlebacks.  It's gone for a very long swim now!  Most of the time, we leave spiders alone or relocate them, but not those.  They either get squashed (if we have shoes on) or flushed.

 

We got the carpet cleaning finished up Friday night.  I eventually got to run the vacuum.  It looks a lot cleaner and smells better.  Although we still get a whiff of the smell every so often, but now we think it's the dogs themselves so a bath is on order soon.  But not tonight, and not tomorrow because it's going to be very cold tomorrow.

 

We might get ice tonight.  It has been in the 70's the last couple of days and was really nice today, so it's going to feel even colder.  The ice chances are not high, but the chance is still there.

 

I found something today:

Except that mine is olive green, not blue.  But my camera is charging so I can't take a picture of it.  I think it's the 8" bowl, I haven't measured it but it is big.  And heavy.  And did I mention that it was only $6.50?  Talk about a steal!  It was at an antique-ish mall that we haven't been into in a while.  It was next to Goldie's, where we had lunch, and we've been talking about moving our booth so we wanted to look at the two close by stores.  We went to the first of two next-door stores and I just happened to see the edges of it peeking out from underneath the stuffed bunny that was sitting in top of it. I "may" have also said something to Otter about hoping the seller didn't know what they have!  The obviously didn't.  It's perfect and it's now holding court on the side top shelf of the entertainment center.  We watched Dirty Jobs reruns this morning and one of the episodes was the one where he went to the Fenton company, deja vu!  The pattern name is Thumbprint and it was made in the l960's.

 

Anyway.  Otter brought her laundry over, and we all went to lunch at Goldie's.  They have the best burgers!  We stopped at Wallyworld on the way home for baby oil, which we then used on the tulip bed.  We planted 56 bulbs today, and we've got pretty good timing because they need the cold ground.  They are fixin to get plenty of cold!  This is probably the last year for the tulip bed, at least in that spot.  We have been talking about extending the back side fence and it will block the sun from the tulip bed if we do.  They will be back, probably not for a couple of years and in a different spot, but I think we'll have them again.

 

Otter was going to have the car all next week, but with the weather chances we decided to keep it for the next two days.  Bill does not really want to drive the El Camino if the weather forecasters do manage to get it right.  Her hours for Monday and Tuesday work for me to get her to and from work, although Tuesday I'll bring her back home with me and she'll take the car then.  Her Wednesday shift is a possible all-nighter, this is the first late shift she's had in a couple of months.

 

I'm also going to change Otter's dentist appointment.  I really can not get off in the morning to take her, she doesn't want to drive if there is a) ice or b) the slightest chance of needing the anesthesia gas and c) her boss forgot what day she needed off so he scheduled her to start her shift tomorrow at 10:00 - the time of the appointment.  He told her that she could just come in afterwards, but I'm going to reschedule it for her.  I'll call them the second they open and they'd better not give me any grief about short notice because I originally started calling them on Friday which was before we knew what her schedule is.  Thursday, I called them and thought that they might have an answering service but they actually had a message on their voice mail saying that they were closed.  On Friday, the message stated that they were busy with other clients and told me to leave a message - and I left two.  I think that they were probably closed, but they didn't have anything like that on the voice mail message on Friday - but they did on Thursday.

 

When she was over here today, we finished going through the stuff in her room.  It was mostly the stuff from her bathroom, and most of it went in the trash.  Which is what I thought was going to happen.  Some has been added to the donate pile, but the majority of it was make up, cosplay make up and thinks like broken earrings, etc.  She took some stuff with her also.  As of this afternoon, she is officially and 100% completely moved out of her parent's home!  There are still a few boxes of her stuff but it's destined for the attic for us to store for her.  But for all intents and purposes, she's out of our house.

Bill moved the sofa table to My Room when we were getting ready to clean the carpets.  It's still there.  It's going to be moved to Bill's Room, also known as the Pachinko workroom/hoard.  I moved the dogs blankets to the spot where the sofa table was originally and also have two plants on stands there.  They're right in front of the window and will get a good amount of light.  I also tossed a cactus that was dead and rearranged my plants in the dining room.  Maggie seems to like the blankets, she more or less flew onto them and sprawled out on top of them.  When she's not actually awake, she's on her blankets.  Frasier hasn't really gone back to them, I think because he liked the spot he always snoozed in and didn't care one way or the other about the blankets.  He would frequently move them, we thought he was playing with them but now I realized that he was moving them out of his way.  Maggie Moo is quite happy, and she'll be even happier when she realizes that she'll be getting more warmth because of the fireplace.  The blankets are not in an area where there is a fire danger, but they are in a spot that will be very warm.  She spends quite a bit of her time in the winter snoozing in front of the fireplace anyway!

The Things You See in Tulsa on a Random Weekend...

Introducing:

Paige the Sketchbook and Tony the Talking Clock, from the slightly odd and off-kilter story Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared. 

(Also known as Otter and J.)

 

(Keep in mind that Otter is very much her mother's daughter and not everyone will like the story!  OK, it's actually a creepy story, so consider yourself warned.)

Otter made her own costume, there is a red skirt underneath the white skirt but it's not visible in this picture.  The clouds, orange, pencil, etc., on the skirt and blouse are felt that she painted and appliqued on.  She's wearing long satin gloves and tights, and obviously a multi-colored wig - I think nearly everyone that was there in cosplay had on either a hat, headpiece or wig depending on the character they were portraying.  Plus she is also wearing white face makeup with black accents (the glasses are hers and are real, she's nearsighted) and she's carrying a magnifying glass.  J's costume is a suit jacket and black slacks, and he's wearing white gloves.  He made the sash and the clock applique, he's carrying an apple which Otter was originally going to paint on one side as if it was rotted but the apple is plastic and the paint probably wouldn't have stayed on very well without scratching off.  J's eyebrows are also yellow, which Otter colored with chalk dust, basically.

 

They were very popular and quite a few people wanted their picture.  Otter said that she will probably re-work the underskirt idea, she might use red tulle and attach it to the bottom of the white skirt instead of actually wearing the 2nd skirt.  The idea is that she pulls up the edges of the white skirt in a curtsey and the red skirt (which was supposed to look like raw meat) shows but the red skirt kept sticking to the white one.  She's wearing several fluffy petticoats underneath and they stuck to the red skirt which stuck to the white skirt, and the point is NOT to show her undies!

 

(Yes, J really is that tall.  And Otter is on the petite side.)

(Not) Blind(ed) By The Light

We are now nearly curtainless.  Bill put the miniblind in the living room window on Friday, then he got the office/pachinko room and bedroom taken care of today.  Otter's room will wait, possibly until she's moved out and it's my "craft/guest/yarn" room!  She's got quite a bit of stuff in her room, nobody wants to have to unload everything from there anytime soon.  Not having curtains makes the rooms look bigger, and there is certainly more light coming in the windows.  Also, the miniblinds make it harder to see inside from the outside when they are closed.  The office/pachinko room will be open when Bill's working in there because there is not enough light in that room, but closed all other times.

 

Otter had a good time at TNT this weekend.  They thought they would be staying all day today, but as she said they'd seen it all and done it all by this morning so they went for a couple of hours and then all three girls decided that they were tired and it was time to come home.  J was able to go for a couple of hours this morning as well, so he hung around with them and he was with them all day yesterday.  Otter texted me a picture of her and J in costume, but I haven't transferred it to the computer yet - not for lack of trying, the computer wouldn't read the files from my phone.  But they were very popular, there were a couple of other girls dressed as the same character she was but only one other guy as the male character that goes with hers and she thinks the fact that they were there as a pair is why they got photographed so much - including by some of the press that attended.  She had a great time and she spent nearly every cent she had saved for it, so she says it was a success.  She's more or less collapsed on her bed at the moment, although she might drag herself to the shower at some point.  She has to be in at 5:30 tomorrow morning, she would probably go to bed early anyway since she's exhausted but she definitely will tonight.

 

Yes, she did see the Borg.  She was already out of her cosplay costume, they changed back into t-shirts and jeans about halfway through the day yesterday and they found the Borg after that so I won't be posting a picture of the BorgPrincess (yes, Otter I do mean you.  Yes, you are!) with my drones on here.

 

Maggie Moo was so overjoyed when Otter got home.  Otter texted me when they were nearly here, I opened the front door and Maggie Moo zoomed right to it.  Where she immediately started wiggling and making noises.  LOUDLY.  When Otter's friend pulled the car into the driveway, the dog just about wiggled out of her skin!  I opened the door and Maggie Moo immediately slinkywalked to Otter, greeted her with lots and lots of puppy kisses and then turned around and walked right back to the door for me to put her in - took her a looooooooooooooooooooooooong time but she finally learned that she has to go back to the door and go back inside after she gets to go out on the front porch.  Frasier is not allowed out there unless he's leashed or I'm holding on to his collar.  He knows the rules, he just chooses not to follow them - dog is too smart for his own good!

 

Bill and I went to the Hog Trough (Golden Corral) for breakfast this morning.  It wasn't very good, we were disappointed in it.  It used to be so good, but it wasn't all that spectacular today.  But we made up for it - he met someone at Dairy Queen to deliver a pachinko machine he restored and I rode along with him.  Since we were there already, we had to get Blizzards!  And they were very good, too.  Sorry, Froggy - no Braums today!

 

But I might eat lunch there one day this week.  Just in case you wanted to know, Froggy.

What a Week and it's Still Not Friday1!!

It's been a crazy week.  Mostly, my time has been taken up with Otter and helping her get her cosplay ready for TNT this weekend.  She tried very hard not to be stuck at the last minute putting things together, but she was sick with allergies yesterday and has also had a lot more hours at work the last couple of weeks.  She finished up the sewing on both skirts a few days ago, but the white outer skirt had a lot of felt pieces that needed to be made and then glued on.

 

The blouse was another story altogether.  The pattern was for a peasant-style blouse that had a band around the front which tied in the back.  Otter didn't want the tie and she wanted the front piece to be one piece, not three different pieces sewed together.  So, we took the back pattern piece and altered it slightly.  Then we held our breath and crossed our fingers that it worked!  It did, but she still had a few alterations to make to the neckline and the sleeves.  The sleeves are short and have elastic at the ends.  She got the blouse front and back sewn together, got the neckline adjusted and hemmed and then all she had was the two sleeves to be sewn on and the bottom hem to be done.  That's when the sewing machine broke.  We thought maybe the needle was chipped or bent, but replacing the needle didn't help.  Bill looked at it, it's his machine, and he things it needs to be serviced and a good cleaning would help.  Since all she had left to actually sew on was the sleeves, I got out needle and thread and put them on by hand.  She's already done the casing for the elastic and inserted it into the casing on both sleeves.  But it was nearly 10:00 last night by the time we realized the sewing machine was not going to work.  I got finished sewing the sleeves on at 11:30 last night.  Can we say tired?

 

Otter had one felt piece which had to be glued to the front neckline of the blouse, she got that done this morning and then it sat on the table all day drying.  It was fine when we got home, and she got it packed with the rest of her luggage.  Looked like she was going away for weeks!  She'll be back on Sunday, the pile of luggage/suitcase/boxes/ice chest/tote bags was immense.

 

It rained today.  Of course it did, the rain barrel level was about 1/4 down, every time we think we might get to level it and stabilize it, it rains!  Lots.  Like nearly 2" in just a few hours.  Well, we do need it.

 

But I can do without the humidity that will happen!

I Guess it's Just Tuesday

Can't think of a title today! :)

 

Day 2 of being back at work.  I was caught up about 30 minutes after I got there, yesterday.  I didn't particularly want to get up at 5:00 yesterday morning, which is maybe why I woke up at 4:30!!

 

Otter's been working feverishly to get her cosplay ready for TNT.  She's just about through, she still has to actually sew the blouse together but that won't take too long.  She's been working on the felt items that will be attached to the skirt, she's been painting and gluing them and that means drying time so the sewing isn't quite as critical.  But she's going to get that done tomorrow when she gets home from work.

 

The most exciting part of my week so far is buying a new kitchen trash can, the old one dates to 1994 (when we moved into our old house).  Bill needed a bigger trash can for the pachinko workroom, so I gave him the old one from the kitchen about bought a new one that is slightly larger.  Really exciting, huh!?!

 

There was another wasp nest starting in the front.  Actually, I think it was smaller hornets but I didn't get close enough to find out for sure.  Bill wanted me to hose out the old trash can, but the nest was in the window right over the faucet so I told him he had to kill it if he wanted his trash can cleaned.  There were two on it yesterday when we first noticed it, today it was actually quite a bit bigger and there were 3 of the little demons.  He sprayed them, one died immediately (I squashed the body into about a billion flat pieces with my shoe) and the other two flew off but not were not flying very well, since they were sprayed pretty good.  Otter found two freshly dead demon bugs when she was outside while ago, so I think he got all 3.  Hopefully, there won't be any more!

 

We bought miniblinds to put in the living room window, pachinko room window and our bed room window.  The living room and bed room are in back of the house, but we've seen our neighbors behind us peeking over the fence but pretending not to.  So, miniblinds it is.  The pachinko room is in the front of the house so it's just a good idea to put one there as well.  I think Bill's going to put them in the windows in the next couple of days.

 

Yes, Froggy.  S.A.B.L.E. is the only way to go!

Last Day

We have to go back to work tomorrow.  Don't Want To!!!!!!!

 

We had several chores to accomplish this last week and I think we managed to get them done.  The living room is back to not-being-ashamed-to-have-anyone-see-it, Bill has a room with plenty of space to work on his pachinko machines (and I don't care how messy it gets in there!), Otter's just about finished with her cosplay clothing for TNT, we got to the zoo and we shopped/thrifted a lot.  It was nice to sleep in a bit.

 

The only drawback to Bill getting all his pachinko stuff out of the living room is that I now have access to my Fenton collection.  I can see it now.  I can also see how dusty it is!

 

Otter needed a few more felt pieces for her cosplay costume, so we went to Michael's this afternoon.  I found yarn.  Big surprise!  It is very pretty, a nice shade of blue with silver thread through it.  It was $5.99 per skein and was marked down to $1.99 each.  They are smaller skeins so I grabbed 5 of them.  Clearance generally means that I'd better get plenty when I see it, because it will probably not be available later.  When I got up to pay for it, they rang up at .99 cents each.  I thought that was a pretty good deal.  It's in one of the drawers, the one with the Really Good Yarn I got in TEXAS.

 

I went through the yarn drawers yesterday, I reorganized them all and cleaned out a few odds & ends to donate.  The drawers were actually in pretty good shape, I'm generally organized (OK, I'm obsessively organized...) but I wanted to look through my stash and see just what exactly I have on hand.  A lot more red and yellow than I thought!  I did find a few small balls and small amounts that I put in the project bag for the scrap blanket and a few small but not so small amounts which are now in the donate pile.  The yarn I'm donating is not anything I think I will ever need or want to use.

 

But I'm sure I'm still at S.A.B.L.E.* stage!

 

Since today is the last day of vacation, we went to lunch at a local Chinese buffet.  It was pretty good.  We ate too much, but I think you kind of have to at that type of place.  It was good.  They had cheesecake on the dessert buffet!

 

*Stash Amassed Beyond Life Expectancy.  The only way to be!

Humid Sunday

So I'm spending most of the day inside.

With my yarn, mostly.

Not ever!

 

Anyway.  It did rain a little bit this afternoon.  Just enough to make the already humid day unbearable.  Bill needed to readjust the block of wood holding the window glass in place in the driver's side window on the White Lightning.  It was sunny, but when we went outside it was raining.  But it was SUNNY at the time.

 

Otter's off with J today.  Bill's been working on a pachinko machine for someone who wanted a full restoration.  I've been doing laundry, in between crochet!  Froggy, I've gotten quite a bit done on Uncle Crazy's blanket.

 

Otter spent yesterday afternoon working on her cosplay for TNT.  She was going to make a circle skirt, she saw a tutorial online that we were going to use but it had some problems.  She put in her measurements and it came up with a pattern, but it was not written very clear so we gave up and she went to Wallyworld to see about an actual pattern.  Which is what we/she should have done in the first place!  She got the first layer cut out (it's a double skirt) and we figured out what length it will need to be.  But we got a late start on it, so we didn't get as much done as we wanted.  I say "we" but mostly my participation has been cutting out pattern pieces and helping her hold it on to see how it's going to fit.  She will be getting it done this week.  She's also going to make a blouse to go with it, she bought enough white fabric to make a full length ballgown style dress which was the original plan - same character, just a different style dress.  However, even though the skirt is smaller, it took up most of the fabric so we went to Joann's today and she got some more white fabric.

 

Frasier was a talky boy last night.  I should say this morning, to be accurate.  As in 2:15!  I hollered at him to be quiet and he did - for about 5 minutes.  Then he barked.  I went up the hallway and told him to go lay down.  Loudly!  He did, and didn't make noise again until about 4:45.  At that point, I let him out and he just about flew out the dog door.  I went back to bed at that point, I didn't wake up until around 6:15 and they were waiting patiently to be fed.  I fed them, got the coffee ready and then took it back to bed (the coffee, not the dogs!) to have with Bill.

 

Movie review:  The LEGO movie.  Otter loved it, she saw it in the theater and since she was off yesterday she got to pick the movie we watched.  It came out Friday, and that's the one she rented.  I'd been hearing a lot about how good it was.  So we were looking forward to it.  Frankly, it was probably the worst movie we've seen in years!  And that is saying something, because we have seen some absolutely awful movies.  Otter still enjoyed it, I'm glad for that.  But we didn't.  Bill's turn next Saturday, I'm not sure if there's anything out he wants to rent or not.

 

I went to the Salvation Army store in the "expensive" part of Tulsa on Friday.  This store is strange, the people who are in charge of pricing and display very seldom seem to know what they are doing.  The will usually have something that is actually worthless or worth very little displayed in the locked case with very high prices on it.  While the real "good" stuff is out on the shelves and priced at almost nothing.  I've found more than one expensive piece of Fenton for next to nothing that way.  Friday was no exception.

 

This is not the one I found, but it is one of what I found.  Mine doesn't have the sticker.  But it's in perfect condition, and it was $3.99.  While a coach purse that was so obviously fake a blind mouse could spot it from a mile off was in the locked cabinet with a price close to $200.00!  This is the same store where I found the cactus Vaseline footed compote a few years back for $2.00.  This one:

I already had one of the nappy (candy dish) pieces but I was wanting another.  However, I'd have bought it at that price even if I had a dozen.

 

I am taking the car to Chevy in the morning.  I hope that it's a 2-day job and not a 3-day repair.

 

So does Otter, otherwise I might have to drive the car she shares with Bill!