Life of Riley

A few weeks back, I bought a book called "Cute Stuff" by Aranzi Aronzo because the projects inside seemed really simple and easy enough for someone like me to try and get good results from.  I finished the project below some time ago but just got around to taking photos of it today.  It's called a Long Doll Scarf and I made it for Riley.





It's made of remnant polyester fleece I bought early this year to make curtains for Riley's basement playhouse, but I didn't end up using the material.  The eyes and whiskers are felt (not the real stuff, mind you, but the El Cheapo plastic stuff they sell for 25 cents a square).  I blanket stitched around the eyes and pupils after tacking them down with felt glue to make sure they don't tear off or get lost.



The fabric around the tail got sorta puckery while hand stitching, but since this was my first attempt I give myself a pass.  It was hard to sew - the tail is an actual ball, not a flat piece of fabric.  I fear it may be lost someday, but if so I'll make a better 2.0 version tail.




Does she not look fabulous?  She wanted to wear the scarf to the grocery store today.  Too bad it was about 82 degrees outside.  I keep telling her it'll be cold soon enough, which it will be.  Only three months until Christmas - YIKES.

Anyway, just thought I'd share.  I'm almost done with the counted cross-stitched stocking I've been sporadically working on for three years.  When it's finished, I'll post photos of that, too.  Though I say it myself, it is truly beautiful.

Be prepared - this is a long one.

Yesterday, my mom, Riley, and I went to the local plant nursery to check out their mums and other fall offerings.  Little did we know that their annual Fall Festival was going on.  It was supposed to happen last weekend, but with the deluge of rain it was moved to this weekend.  Bonus!  There was cheap, tasty food, music, and lots of activites for kids, so we settled in for a nice day out.  Just after lunch, we stopped to watch the folk band play.  There were maracas and tamborines and shakers of all kinds for kids to join in with to the music, but she was being sulky and difficult.  My mom and I tried to be playful with her and even brought her a tamborine to shake, but she got mad and kicked me, really kicked me. 

Now, for those of you who know me well, you know that I am a pretty strict parent.  I am fair, but when it comes hitting or kicking, I am swift to discipline - there are no warnings for that kind of behavior because it is well understood in our family that it is completely unacceptable.  So, I hauled Riley off to a low rock wall, sat her down and explained in a stern voice how we do not kick anyone, and told her to sit there until I came to get her.  I then walked about 8 feet away and watched her throughout the timeout, only taking my eyes off of her to check my watch.  Riley knew where I was, saw me, and looked at me to see if she was out of trouble yet, and yes, she was crying.  When the timeout was almost over, I walked back over to Riley to explain why she had been in trouble and to forgive her, like I always do.  However, before I got the chance to talk to her, a woman approached me and said, "Do you feel better as a person for what you just did?"  I stared at her and said, "Excuse me?"  So she repeated herself.  I was flabbergasted, and I told her Riley was in a timeout for bad behavior.  In hindsight, I shouldn't have even responded to her.  She then accused me of abandoning Riley in a public place, to which I replied (again, I shouldn't have even spoken to her) that I was several feet away watching her and that I certainly did not abandon her.  I then came to my senses and told her it wasn't any of her business anyway and that she should walk away now.  She got in my face and said, "You didn't answer my question - do you feel better as a person for what you did?"  I repeated that it wasn't her business, that Riley was my child, not hers, and she needed to keep walking.  She stayed in my face and kept asking that same question, and instead of gathering up my daughter and getting the hell away from her, I looked her in the eye and answered, "Yes, I feel just great as a person, thank you."  She sneered and said, "Well, that's what I wanted to know," and finally walked away. 

Whether you agree with how I discipline my child or not, I didn't do anything to warrant interference by anyone.  I didn't strike Riley, I didn't scream at her, I didn't threaten her or frighten her.  Five minutes after the timeout, Riley was happily decorating a pumpkin with paint markers.  She had completely forgotten about getting in trouble.  She was over it and certainly wasn't scarred by it.  I, however, was shaken for the rest of the day.  I kept replaying it in my mind, wishing I had ignored the woman or chosen my words more carefully, a stupid and futile activity that cost me sleep last night.

Despite what happened, the three of us had a great day, made even better by the fact that we didn't know about the festival in advance.  Riley got to listen to a storyteller, decorate a pumpkin, eat corn on the cob that was grown and roasted on site, go on a hayride, and see beehives where honey is made and sold locally.  She had a wonderful time and in the end so did I, outside judgement of my mothering abilities be damned.  And now that I've written it all down, I don't have to worry about it anymore.

Poor Riley.  She came down with a stomach bug yesterday afternoon and spent the rest of the day being sick.  At least she made it to the bathroom all but one time so I didn't have mounds of laundry or tons of cleanup on carpets and such.  I gave her a bath early as she wasn't going to be eating any dinner and tried to get her to go to sleep, but she wouldn't sleep.  I read to her for over an hour and she calmed down enough to not get sick anymore.  But, she stayed awake for hours complaining of being thirsty.  I was so afraid to give her anything but ended up letting her have little sips of Gatorade and a few oyster crackers.  She finally went to sleep around 10:30 and is much better today.  She managed to eat some Cheerios and Jello and she's kept all of it down.  She drank a lot of Gatorade and seemed pretty active but the lack of sleep finally caught up with her and she crashed on the couch about an hour ago.  I'll give her until about 5:00 as I don't want her to sleep so much she won't get a good night's rest tonight.  I hate when she's sick, but as a consolation I get some free time to relax and do what I want to do.  Sadly, what I want to do most is sleep.  I ran up and down the stairs so many times yesterday my calves are sore, and the stress of her being sick wore me out.
 

I've been silent on this subject but after watching what I just saw, well, it gives me a lot to consider.  I am, for the first time in my life, squarely on the fence for a presidential election.  Well, I suppose the last election found me on that fence but it was because I had to choose between the lesser of two evils - I don't ever want to have to do that again.  This election, I've tried to weigh all the facts and listen well to what each of the candidates has had to say.  Unfairly, I've been tuned out for about a month or so.  It feels like this has been going on for years and years and I guess I just burned out, but I knew that at the very least I needed to listen to the acceptance speech of each candidate before devoting time to each debate.  So I listened.  Did I like what I heard?  Some, yes.  Some I disagreed with, but that's to be expected.  I'm sure I'll disagree with some of what the other candidate has to say, too.  But this speech tonight really made me think about what direction this country needs to take, and made me revisit some of the things I think are the right things to do.  It's been a long time since any presidential candidate made me really think about my position.  I look forward to next week's acceptance speech to see what the other side has to bring to the table.

I'll be brief: Riley is eating more foods these days (soba noodles and bratwurst to name two - awesome); AT&T bites (they dug a big hole on the easement near Riley's playset over a week ago and haven't been back since to finish whatever they started); and a former neighbor I've known since I was five died this weekend (his wake is tomorrow - he was a good guy and he'll be missed).  I haven't felt much like posting lately, obviously, plus the Olympics have captured my attention lately.  The only time I'm really a sports fan is during the Games.   Anyway, just thought I'd let everyone know I'm still around.

I might as well do this, too.

 It's been a while since I've posted, but I've got good reasons.  Two weeks ago we were out of town, and last week I spent unpacking, washing clothes, and getting resettled back into our daily life.  Here are some noteworthy things that happened:

- The washer didn't get fixed as promised, so I ended up doing laundry at my mom's and at my friend Kendra's house (thanks to them both!).  The Monday after we got home, it got fixed and the new dishwasher got installed.  Love that my washer works again, *love* the quiet, new dishwasher.

- While on vacation at Emerald Isle, most of us were signed up to go on a deep-sea fishing trip, me included.  We shoved off at 7:15 am after a very rushed breakfast.  I ate two ginger chews just in case, but was sure I'd be fine as I have a lot of experience on boats, just not on the ocean.  Well, between the breakfast I scarfed down, the constant port-to-starboard rocking of the boat (I'm used to stem-to-stern), the diesel fumes from the engine, and the captain's nasty Swisher Sweet, I got seasick around 9:00 and polluted the ocean 7 times during the trip.  I was stuck on that boat until noon and seriously didn't think I'd live to see dry land again.  After a long nap back at the beach house, I woke up feeling fine.  Needless to say, I will not be going on any more fishing trips.

- One night on vacation when we were waiting for a table at a restaurant, Riley chatted with a little boy near her age for a while.  Our name was called and we sat down to dinner.  After dinner, Riley and I made a bathroom stop and on the way out of the bathroom we ran into that same little boy and his dad.  The dad said, "Well, there she is, your friend that you couldn't stop talking about all through dinner!  Would you like to say hi?"  The little boy looked at Riley and said, "Can I have your phone number?"  The dad and I burst out laughing and he said to his son, "Well, buddy, I don't think she's old enough to have her own phone!"  Now we can say that Riley was only four years old the first time she got hit on.  Bowler is already planning on getting his FOID card. ;)

About two weeks ago, I noticed what looked like a water mark in one of our ceiling tiles in the basement.  After some investigation, we discovered that our dishwasher is leaking.  Because it is almost 20 years old and because the leaky part is certainly something that is difficult or impossible to get anymore, we made the decision to get a new one.  I have wanted a new dishwasher since we moved in, mostly because it is incredibly noisy, but couldn't justify replacement.  So hooray!  I get a swanky new dishwasher!  We'll be set back at least $500, but hey - new appliance!

Today I was washing clothes.  Last week when I washed a heavy load of towels, the following load didn't get spun.  I worried, moved the clothes around, and restarted the whole load cycle.  Problem solved.  Today, I washed a fairly large load of clothes and again, the following load didn't get spun.  Worse, I could smell a faint smell of burnt rubber.  I moved the clothes around, restarted the cycle, and waited.  No spin cycle, just the smell of burning rubber.  Even without a load in it, the washer won't spin.  So, we're three days away from vacation and I have scads of laundry to do and a broken washer.  Yippee!  We get to pay for a washer repair too!  Selfosophists rejoice!

The good news is the Sears repair guy will be out on Thursday.  My two hopes are a) he can fix it that day, and b) it won't cost a fortune.  Other good news: my mom is giving me a key to her place in case the washer doesn't get fixed before our trip.  Good thing we're going on vacation again, because I need one after today.

 For anyone who gets the Chicago Tribune, my brother is on the front page of today's edition.  He's in a feature story about a 32-year-old man with Down Syndrome who skydives.  The man is my brother's neighbor and my brother, Scott, is his tandem jump instructor.  Here's a link to the website if you're interested.  http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-father-son_bdjun15,0,4673959.story  There were photos of my brother in the paper edition, but I'm not sure if they're in the online edition.  He is interviewed for the article and is humorously and accurately described as a "shaggy-haired electrician".

My brother and I have our differences, but I think it's really cool what he's done for Casey.

Oh, and Happy Father's Day to all the dads I know out there.



Edited to add that there's a video, too, just follow the same link.

 Horrible storm last night.  I had trouble falling asleep to begin with, and then I was awakened by all the thunder and hard rain, so I'm really tired today.  My garden loves it, but I have to say I could do without all the grey days we've been having.  I need to go out today to pick up a few things for our trip.  I want to get an inflatable beach ball for Riley - can't go to the ocean and not have a beach ball - and I need some warm-weather pajamas that are extended-family friendly.  Call me crazy, but I like to look presentable when I'm with the in-laws.  It's a legacy I inherited from my grandmother.  She always looked great, no matter what time of day it was or what she was wearing, until her Alzheimer's got really bad.  Then she forgot how important it was to her to look her best all the time.  I miss her today.  Anyway, I need new summer pajamas so it's not like I'm just buying them because I can.  Hopefully we won't get rained on.

From ginamak.


 

Taken from

beckypoc .

 

Can anyone recommend a good book or two to read for my upcoming vacation?  We're going to stay at a beach cottage right on the ocean in North Carolina and I plan to avoid TV completely.  I'm not looking for the typical "beach read" - I don't really want anything mindless, but I'm not looking for Tolstoy either.  Any thoughts?

Spell-check run amok changes names in Pa. yearbook 

MIDDLETOWN, Pa. (AP) — A computer spell-checker run amok christened several Pennsylvania high school students with new — and in some cases unflattering — last names.

Middletown Area High School's yearbook listed Max Zupanovic as "Max Supernova," Kathy Carbaugh as "Kathy Airbag" and Alessandra Ippolito as "Alexandria Impolite," just to name a few.

"It was kind of funny, but kind of rude at the same time," Ippolito said.

The mistakes were found on four of the yearbook's 176 pages, co-editor Amanda Gummo said.

Ed Patrick of Taylor Publishing, which printed the book, said his company is responsible for the errors and will provide free stickers printed with the correct names.

"It happens all the time, every year," Patrick said. "Look at any yearbook in the country." 

Poor Kathy will forever be known as "Airbag".  I pray she isn't overweight and/or prone to excessive talking.

Your Inner European is Irish!

Sprited and boisterous! You drink everyone under the table.

Today started out great.  Allow me to elaborate: Memorial Day weekend when we were at the outlet mall, my sister-in-law and I decided to go to all the posh handbag stores just for fun.  Coach had nothing of interest, Dooney and Burke was just okay, but then there was Kate Spade.  They had the most beautiful handbag and I wanted it so badly.  It was even on sale at an incredibly reasonable price.  But, I talked myself out of it and we went on our merry way.  Each day since then, I have thought about that bag.  So today, Riley and I drove back to the outlet mall to see if it was still there.  It was part of a sidewalk sale so in my heart I knew it would be gone.  We got to Kate Spade and, of course, it was nowhere to be seen.  As we were heading for the door, I spied it in a low glass case.  I felt it couldn't still be on mega sale, but it was.  So I bought it.  Here it is:

I'm paying bills today and I'm racing through them, hoping to get a chance to read the paper and drink some tea before Sesame Street ends.  I get to the Sprint bill and decide that last month's payment via phone didn't get applied properly.  So I call them.  And I wait, and wait.  And wait some more.  The chirpy electronic woman tells me that it would be faster to get my question answered via the internet.  So I log on and register.  But can I just access my balance?  Oh, no, that would be too simple.  I have to chat with an agent.  And that agent, Pablo, must be the slowest typer on the face of the planet.  I logged on to a chat with him at 10:24.  It has taken until now, 10:37, for him to tell me what my current balance is.  Sprint?  Really?  I think it's more like Mosey.  So much for tea and the paper.  UGH, and he just typed "YOUR welcome".  Slow and grammatically incorrect - what a great combo.

Because mine does and it's pissing me off.

 Ugh, I am deep in the doldrums today and wishing I could have taken a day off.  Imagine that - a mom wanting a day off.  Guffaw!  Today was the last gymastics class and I probably won't ever see Sunitha again, sadly.  She and I just hit if off the second week of class and we have been chatty ever since and I will miss that.  I wish I had been brave enough to ask if she wanted to keep in touch, but of course I wasn't.  Oh well, there's always a chance I'll see her around again in the fall, albeit slim.

The goddamned squirrel knocked my birdfeeder down again so there is seed EVERYWHERE under the tree now, and the little bastard knocked over my birdbath, too.  He's lucky he didn't break it or I'd be setting out pumpkin seeds laced with antifreeze as a fatal little treat for him.  I mopped my floor (it really needed it), washed two loads of laundry, and managed to get some fresh flowers for the dining room table when I picked up garbage stickers at the grocery store after gymnastics.  In all, though, I feel like I really didn't get anything accomplished at all today.  Like I said earlier, I'm in a dismal mood.  I hate when this happens.

From beckypoc, greywingnut, and ginamak.

Go here. Keep refreshing until you've collected five quotes that really resonate with you, then post them to your journal.

"Ninety percent of everything is crap."  -- Theodore Sturgeon

"Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes."  -- Confucius

"Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation."  -- George Washington

"Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body."  -- Sir Richard Steele

"Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live."  -- Oscar Wilde