A few more blogs?

It was suggested to me that I should consider starting a couple of separate blogs that are more topic specific. For instance, someone told me that she enjoys the home improvement stuff, but isn't that interested in sifting through concert & family info to get to it. Someone else said she really looks forward to reading about concerts I've gone to and wishes I'd spend more time reviewing them.

So I think I'll be doing that over the next couple of weeks, and will have links to those blogs here.

Stay tuned!

My daughter, the skater

She likes to build up speed and glide!
















Skating with the class.

Saw Eric Clapton last night

What a wonderful, wonderful concert. It was just a wall of great music, basically. Clapton didn't talk to the audience at all, except to shout "Thank you!" after every 5 or 6 songs. He didn't need to talk to the audience - he & his musicians said it all through their music. It was just an amazing show, with amazing musicians: Eric Clapton (guitar / vocals), Doyle Bramhall II (guitar), Derek Trucks* (guitar), Willie Weeks (bass), Steve Jordan (drums), Chris Stainton (keyboards), Tim Carmon (keyboards), Michelle John (backing vocals), Sharon White (backing vocals).

For some reason, the pic doesn't include the two backup singers. But they were beautiful and did a splendid job as well, as one might expect, with Clapton.

And the icing on the cake: Robert Cray opened, and on the last song, he came out & performed with Eric & the band. It was fantastic!

Sewing, weight loss, and funny thing my daughter said

So I ordered some of those patterns from Ebay, and I also went to the fabric store & bought a few patterns.

Garielle asked me to make her a St. Patrick's Day shirt. I thought that might be a good project to start with, so I threw one together. I'll post a pic of it if I get a chance.

Tomorrow I'm going to the fabric store to start on one of the patterns I bought for myself.

In other news . . .

Several months ago, I bought a pair of jeans to wear to an after-work thing. Because I had lost some weight, I was able to wedge myself into this pair of straight-legged jeans that was a size smaller than my usual. The only way I could wear it was with a girdle that extended well above the waist, to prevent that ugly flesh spillover that we all find so attractive.

I'm happy to report that I'm wearing the jeans today, with no girdle. So, apparently, I've lost even more weight.

Garielle said the funniest thing in the car today. She asked me to name everything that should be recycled. I began naming things: aluminum cans, newspapers, bottles . . . then she jumped in and added batteries, plastic, cars . . . so I jumped in and began naming silly things, like hair, rainbows, and people.

She laughed and said "You don't recycle PEOPLE! When you're done with them, you throw them underground, in boxes!"

If I can't be stylish, I can be way OUT of style!

So Eric & I are going to a big band dance this Saturday. I figured I probably should get something to wear. So the other night, I went to a few clothing stores. I came back with one top.

I'm telling you, the pickin's were SLIM. Everything is thin polyester, gauzy, clingy, and low cut. It's like someone went back to the 70's, got really drunk, and began designing shit intended for Wal-Mart.

I went to three stores, and could find nothing! I was hoping to find something suitable for work, but none of the stores had career wear in plus sizes. I said to a salewoman "Where's your career wear?" She said "Well, career wear really isn't IN this season."

I stomped into work the next day and bitched to a coworker. I've been bitching to her for quite some time about how I hate everything in my closet and how I really need those "What Not To Wear" people to come into my life.

This coworker tends to wear a lot of vintage clothing. She also sews. She mentioned that she likes to go on Ebay and bid on vintage sewing patterns.

Inspired, I went on Ebay and surfed vintage clothing patterns. So now I'm all obsessed with the idea of sewing some vintage clothing for myself.

Take a look at these. They're close to some of the things I see in the stores today, but with more of that groovy, 70s thing going.

Aren't these great???

Reset button on life

So today I'm hitting the reset button on everything in my life. I'm probably 90% recovered - still a little tired and a little "off," but much better.

For the past couple of weeks, everything has fallen apart. I've run out of clean clothes, the goldfish have been swimming in their own waste, everything in the refrigerator turned nasty, and the house is in shambles.

I have laundry going, I tidied up the kitchen, I changed the water in the goldfish tank, I cleaned out the fridge, and after I hit "post," I'm going to tidy the house.

The rug for Garielle's room arrived. Eric went to pick it up. It should look cute. Now I just need to finish painting the trim, and then I can move the furniture back into her room.

But now I'm thinking . . . . hmmmmm . . . . I'm not sure I'm liking the yellow walls. Garielle's favorite colours these days are pink & purple. I'm thinking to repaint the walls some nice lilac colour. Besides, she wants a sunset on one wall, and a sunset on a yellow wall just won't show up as well.

But that's a way off into the future. Maybe this fall. We'll see.