Things happen in threes!

Three posts in a day for me! I decided to break up what would be a really long post into three parts. Be sure to check out the previous two!

It's been a busy week. I'm finding school to be a little difficult in some ways this year. I dislike my schedule in that I have lunch at 10:45 a.m. There is one advantage to that however. I've been losing weight. I eat a filling breakfast of a high fiber, high protein cereal with soy milk and juice right before I leave the house in the morning around 7:30. I'm just not that hungry at lunch time when it is so early. I end up eating just a small salad or a low calorie frozen entree which is typically less than I would eat. I have a little break an hour later so then I have a little bit of veggies--usually a snack size bag of cherry tomatoes or pepper strips. That tides me over until my last class. If I'm still hungry, then I'll have a lowfat string cheese that I always have on hand in my little fridge. Everyday on my ride home I have my cup of fresh berries. Berries to me are like candy. I just can't get enough of them. I always have blueberries and sometimes I mix them with raspberries or blackberries. I will also admit to having a small square of dark chocolate sometime in the afternoon. I guess my whacky schedule is making me eat healthier so all is not lost.

We had back to school night this week which kept me out late on Tuesday. I've been pretty much glued to the news this week. This financial mess has me rather worried. I fear that my rather meager retirement account may be in some jeopardy. I also worry about the ability to get credit--not for me, but mainly for Bird. He has a large amount of private student loans and we are hoping that he can consolidate them. The only way that he can get a halfway decent interest rate is if DH cosigns for it. That is a little scary in that if Bird can't get a decent job, then we will be responsible. I just don't want Bird to have to pay 18% on a large loan. We'll see how it all plays out. It's funny how one views money when they are, as my mother used to say, nearer the grave than the cradle. I look around and see that I've wasted a lot of money over the years on stuff--stuff that I don't need and stuff that I will never use. I've gotten much better about not buying things impulsively. I have bought some yarn for winter projects (more on that later) and some dvd's and that's about it. I've decided that I need to make a dent in my rather huge fabric stash so my future sewing projects will be stash projects. It's fun to go through my containers of fabric. I always come across stuff that I had totally forgotten about. My taste hasn't changed so I always love the fabric I have. I just often end up changing the pattern that I will use.

I was going through my container of fine silks and came across this:

This is a lace print silk charmeuse that I got on clearance at, of all places, Joann's. They must have gotten it from another store because I had never seen silk charmeuse there. I bought this a couple of years ago and got the beige china silk lining at G-Street. I also bought some of this fabric in a purple on lavender color for Ems. I'm going to bag up the fabrics I have for her and give them to her since she wants to start sewing more. Anyway I had this fabric with the zipper and pattern stored in a ziploc bag which is what I've done with all my sewing projects. Here is the pattern which is now out of print:

I am making view A which is in the bottom left hand corner. I think it will look smashing with my black jeans. It will also be nice with a black dressy skirt. It was like going fabric shopping as I had totally forgotten about it!

I've been watching dvd's while I've been sewing. We haven't run the cable line to my little dvd/tv. I watched the entire series of Sex and the City and now I am on this:

I already watched season 1 which I got for Christmas a few years ago. I had actually seen season 1 when it aired on HBO. I missed some seasons in the middle. I was able to pick up seasons 2,3 and 4 on Ebay for cheap. I still need to get season 5. After this series will come Allie McBeal. I got into that rather late when it aired--only seeing the last season or two. The series dvd's are not produced in the US as there are some copyright issues with the music. They can be obtained in a region free format from Asia--go figure! That show just wouldn't be the same without the music.

I am still plugging away at Surplice Camisole and I finished one side of the bodice front. There was an error in the pattern but it still looks okay. Here is the yarn that I mentioned above:

This is Malabrigo silk which will be used for Silken Scabbard. I have one more yarn purchase then I will be set for the winter. I am getting some Malabrigo worsted off of Ebay for the Dirndl Raglan.

Our latest home improvement project is this:

New front steps! Our porch has been a wreck this past week. We had to tear off the railing and some of the planking in front. The old concrete steps, which were cracked in the middle and a bit sunken, were torn up. Also the stone support on the right of the photo was completely taken apart. We had new foundation poured for the support and it was put back together then we got new steps. We still have to put up the wood part of the support as part of it was rotten and has to be made. DH hopes to tear out the wood floor and railing and rebuild it. We had done this some years ago using decking which is not what the original was. We need to use tongue and groove flooring which will be painted. We will also get white railing. It will look nice when it's finished. After this is done, I think we should wait on any other major home projects.

It's been raining today so I haven't even gotten dressed! I have no desire to run errands in the rain. I have plenty of espresso and soy milk, so with the ability to make an endless amount of lattes, I will stay in today. I love days like this!

I will leave you with a picture of the lovely roses I found at Trader Joes:


Bushism of the day:
"And there is distrust in Washington. I am surprised, frankly, at the amount of distrust that exists in this town. And I'm sorry it's the case, and I'll work hard to try to elevate it." --George W. Bush, interview on National Public Radio, Jan. 29, 2007

WoW! I wonder why there's distrust! If the revelations of the last two weeks don't explain that, nothing can!

Kitty Cam: Another one from Ems. Chelsea found a new toy--Cosmo's tail!