Bedbound Sunday

This was the first thing ChatGPT came up with when I asked it to make a caricature of me. The main problem with it is that I’m wearing the inventory calculator around my waist, and I do not work at the inventory service anymore. Also, my hair is growing rapidly, and it’s longer than that now. So I told ChatGPT that I no longer work at the inventory company and that I’m working with children with autism. My hair is longer, and don’t forget my sewing and my cats. 

Speaking of inventory, Kevin went Corpus Christi this morning for work and will be there until Friday. They hired a young man to replace me who worked most of last week, but this young man didn’t show up to go to Corpus. 

I stayed in bed most of the day. I had my first appointment with the new therapist, and it went ok. I just gave her a brief rundown of my past. 

I did one errand, for toilet paper and a prescription. It was a lazy day. I watched a couple of shows. I’m watching Versailles, which is a drama about King Louis XIV. There’s not much to report here. New job is going well. I just have to get out of the headspace of working in a daycare, because it’s not daycare. 
 

Caricature Trend

“Ask ChatGPT to make a caricature of you with everything it knows about you.”

 

Driver’s License Drama

 Kevin’s license is expiring, so he went to the DMV. I know that Texas recently started requiring birth certificates for license renewals, but Kevin didn’t believe me. It’s new, I explained. Still, he didn’t believe it until he actually went. He doesn’t know where his is, and has to order it from the state of Massachusetts where he was born. But, he doesn’t know the name of his biological father, nor does he know what his last name was at birth. His mother married his first stepfather when he was about two, and that’s who’s last name he and I have. His current stepfather is his mother’s third husband. I actually wasn’t even sure if his mother and biological father were married, so I asked what the name was on his birth certificate. Was it his mom’s maiden name?  The only thing he told me he ever knew about his biological father was that he was Italian. 

With needing to order his birth certificate, he had to ask his mom. He just never cared before, even though she’s always offered the information to him. She told him the first, middle, and last name of his biological father and asked if he wanted to know why they got divorced. He didn’t, but he told me the name and I burst out laughing, because it’s the most ridiculously Italian name you’ve ever heard. Then I googled him, only to find an obituary from 2003. I clicked on it, and him and Kevin were frickin twins!  It was kind of hilarious how much they looked alike, actually. I showed Kevin, and Kevin laughed at the resemblance. Kevin then started sharing a lot of memories of his first stepfather, whose last name he ended up with. It’s clear that that’s the one who earned the title of dad. 

Then he told me, thank goodness his mom is still alive because he would have needed to know this information in order to renew his driver’s license. 

Frozen Saturday Tidbits 🧊 🥶

 

These are the four yards of fabric I got from the sewing vac city store in Cypress. I do have a lot of pink denim, white denim, brown denim and black denim. I also have solids in these colors, so I got one yard of something that will alternate well in each color scheme. 

This was a 25 cent day find. I’d never be caught dead in it, but I thought the fabric was way nicer than it is. It’s not satin or silk, it’s all some nasty thin polyester lining type fabric. Not even good for lining, not even good for scrunchies. I did cut the dress apart to see how it was made. It’s basically just made with a ton of gathering stitches. I can see how this ended up in the pile. 

Speaking of gathering stitches, I did this prototype skirt with the waist of some jeans I cut up for denim quilt squares and a skirt I got from 25 cent day. I used this Tutorial first, then graduated to This one because I don’t have a gathering foot. Be forewarned, though, most of the comments in that second video were very triggered that she cut the pockets. I don’t cut the pockets, but to each their own. There’s a whole big thing nowadays about little girl’s clothing “not having pockets”, but it must be a Mandela effect. I always had pockets growing up. 

I was not super picky about how even my gathering was, I just wanted to get the hang of how to do this. It was easier than I thought. My cousin said it needed darts, but, it’s a gathered skirt. When I made a second prototype of maroon denim with lavender satin, I could see where maybe there could have been one dart?  But it was probably just an issue of uneven gathering. That went in the trash. 

Last but not least, here’s the button stash I have amassed from 25 cent day finds. 

 

Hot Flashes in an Arctic Blast

 It’s about to dip into the 20’s here in Texas, and everyone is freaking out. I don’t understand the hype, but I’m from Chicago. 

Here are some things going on around here:  I’m listening to a new podcast I recently discovered called Stolen Lives. It’s a true crime channel dedicated to children. Normally, true crime channels dedicated to children like STLC will get into a lot of very gory details and be quite triggering. Stolen Lives cuts to the chase in order to avoid triggering people while still giving facts, but still issues a content warning. Stolen Lives is still upsetting, don’t get me wrong!  STLC is just way more upsetting! 

I have two space heaters to prepare for the upcoming freeze, but the moment I turn them on, I get hot flashes from hell within 30 minutes and need to turn them off. At night, my comforter alone keeps me warm. The heaters make it too hot, even if I set them to 76. Any lower than that, it’s not worth turning them on. 

I want yall to know that I am reading my little handful of blogs, I just can’t comment or reply to comments. Google still shows me a QR code on the screen. Not sure what to do with that. I feel old. I could call my kid to help, but then I’d be just like my mom. 

Today I visited a sewing and quilting mega store in cypress, and was not as impressed as I thought. I did spend $56 on only 4 yards of fabric.  That was hard to do, since I’m used to paying only 25 cents. The prints I got were extremely pretty though, and when I finally bring them in from the car, I’ll post pics. 

Crafts

I attempted to make a couple of scrunchies for the first time in about 25 years. This fabric is from the ties on the yellow formal dress I got on 25 cent day. It needs to be longer for more “scrunch”, but my slip stitch looks pretty good. 

Red wreath for Christmas time. Those flowers are so “pointy” that it’s hard to tell if the wreath is even on both sides. 

And I’m not sending one to my North Carolina friend after all. She sucks for not taking her cat and not understanding my situation with Jordan. Speaking of Jordan, he is just so much fun and all baby energy. We love having him around. But my best friend/cousin the psychiatrist picked this one when I sent her all three pics. She also got my rainbow quilt when I needed practice shipping quilts. Now I need practice shipping wreaths. 

And in a shocking turn of events, I will start Friday, January 30th working full time with children with autism. I interviewed for this last week, and was shocked when they sent me an offer. Kevin is proud of me. It’s nice to have a partner who believes in me. I’m trying to increase my step count daily so I can RUN  after these kids. It’s one on one, though. I’ll explain more later. 

 

White Wreath

 I made this wreath out of white flowers. This time of year is good for all plain white decor. It doesn’t show well up against a white wall, of course. If I list it for sale, I’d photograph it against a different background. 

My friend who was going to move to North Carolina finally made it there. I want to send her a wreath for a housewarming gift. She was oohing and ahhing over wreaths I made before. It would also give me practice shipping wreaths. However, I get the feeling she’s mad at me, and here’s why:

Before moving, she was trying to rehome a cat. Then on December 21, our black baby cat Jordan adopted us by barging into our home saying, “MEOWWWW YOU'RE MY HUMANS NOW!!!”

She annoyingly asked me why I didn’t adopt her cat if I “wanted another one”. I explained that I didn’t “want” another one. This baby was unplanned. It just happened!  I don’t know how!

She has not talked to me since, so I am not sure if sending her a gift would be ok. Maybe it would be a peace offering? I didn’t do anything wrong, though.