Virtual Crop Week #32-Drop on in!!

• leebla Said:

Ah ok!! Thanks! LOL

• DarkSideAnna Said:

How long have I been a member here? hahaha...once the sun goes down, the minute he stops moving, he's out!!!

• Texas Suzie Said:

Could you do it with lots of tulle under the dress? Tulle is cheap and fluffy.

I still don't know whether or not we are taking the kiddos trick or treating. I think it would be totally cute if they were Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia...maybe I will save that for another year.

I am gonna go.. wanna see if I can manage finding any more scrap paper I like ( I am addicted to scrap paper LOL) Have a good night all

I made my kids Halloween costumes for years!
This year my 14 & 16 year olds say they're too old to go trick or treating....and my almost 20 year old Aspie came home tonight with a mask!!!!

A very, very ugly mask!!

• DarkSideAnna Said:

Sewing the dress is the easy part. She's so little bitty, it generally costs less than $20 even for the expennsive Casa collection fabrics (bridalwear type stuff). Deciding which one...now that takes way too much discussion. Right now it is narrowed down to about 50. Her fave is Belle's, but blondes don't look good in yellow. If I make the costume out of "normal" dressy fabrics, she can wear it to church as a Sunday dress like the blue Cinderella one from last year.

• Texas Suzie Said:

Narrowed down to 50?

• foltzy Said:

Nite Liz!

Okay, have a letter cut out....
only I did SUCH a good job matching the papers for the letter and the backing, that you almost can't see the darn letter!!

Awww! Her favorite book is Snuggle Puppy. She wants us to wear matching puppy costumes so that I can be the Mama dog and she can be the baby puppy.

• Texas Suzie Said:

Hi Suzie!

Tutoring is still a mess. I told them I could only tutor one night this week. I'm slowly backing out. Not as quickly as I wanted to...the money is still good...when I get it!

• leebla Said:

Pop dots to remedy the matching?

• Texas Suzie Said:

That would be so cute!

• DarkSideAnna Said:

Give or take a few. I told her to look through her books to find a character. She now has a huge stack on my desk of "possibles".

• daezee Said:

I understand that.

• Texas Suzie Said:

Oooo...I have the coolest book to make animal costumes...You use felt. And you either sew a felt costume base, or you buy the right color sweats and accent it with the felt.
My kids have been vampire bats, a lady bug, a kitty, a bunny, a skunk, a penguin....hmmm....seems like I'm missing one. I'm sure there is a puppy in it!

• DarkSideAnna Said:

Oooo....good thinking. I have a some ribbon too.

I am trying to figure out which needles to buy for my older singer sewing machine. I am confused.

I think singer needles are pretty much universal...
but for some of their stuff you need to know if hte shank is straight or slanted

• DarkSideAnna Said:

If the old needle is still in it, take it out carefully. On the flat side of the base should be etched the style number/letter.

Well, it's 11:00...time to take dh to bed....

if you want me to look for the name of that costume book tomorrow, let me know!

I think she's already jumped from puppy back to princess again. She's still in the very early deciding stage.

• Texas Suzie Said:

No old needle in there. This is a 1960s Singer that I got at a thrift store for super cheap.

• leebla Said:

Good to know, Thanks.

I want to make a sock monkey patterned quilt for my friend for her birthday and also a quilt for another friend.

• DarkSideAnna Said:

Have you looked on their website?

The needle packages list model numbers, not sure if they'd list such an older model though.

• Texas Suzie Said:

Yes, that is why I was confused. I think that I can just buy pretty much any needle from them for regular sewing machines and it will work.

• Texas Suzie Said:

I think I will just go to J's and use my 40% coupon on a $3 pack of needles. Ha ha! There isn't anything else I need from there at the moment.

I've used one on a spool of thread before.

• Texas Suzie Said:

My kind of girl!

Here is what I am thinking of for dinner tomorrow:
Chicken parmesan
manicotti stuffed with ricotta + a couple other cheeses
caesar salad
sugar snap peas or steamed carrots.

?

Before I forget my manners, hello everyone. I was busy on the weekend and haven't visited since Friday I think.

Anna,

I think needles are universal. I have a 1959 Singer and it takes a "standard" needle. What you need to look at are the types - for denim, ballpoint which allows you to go through fabric more smoothly and such. I used to work in a fabric store but not in the notions part so I did not learn all of this. But at the time I could calculate how much fabric one needed for curtains!

Whew! My sleeping pills just kicked in. My eyes dropped shut and my head snapped forward. Guess I better get in bed before I drool on the keyboard. Goodnight!

Good night Suzie.

• corrie fan Said:

Thanks

Good night, Suzie!

How are you tonight, Jane?

I am fine Anna, and yourself?

I finished packing as I am headed to Montreal in the morning then Wednesday morning headed west to Winnipeg. I am sure that I packed too much but that is me.

I also had to bite the bullet and buy some "professional" clothes for meetings. Can't deny that I have gotten bigger any longer and the clothes that I have don't make me feel good so I'll never get out of the rut. I have to look professional 4 days in a row!

I am doing alright. Kinda tired after toting my two little ones who were in obnoxious moods to 3 grocery stores today.

I always pack too much when I go places too.

Yes, we always have a few extra outfits just in case and end up recycling something and not touching other pieces.

Yes, that would be tiring going to 3 stores!

I am going to call it a night. I have a few things to finish before going to bed, not least of which is setting the VCR to tape a max of 6 hrs. I need to figure out which shows will make it

Have a good rest of the week ladies .

Toodles! Have a good night and a good trip

Dang people! Now this is more like it! 19 pages of posts in 24 hours. Woo-hoo!!!!!

Looks like it's time for a Rainbow Recap:

Suzie: Yes, thank you. I did get a good sleep. DGS decided to sleep through the night for the first time in several weeks and didn't wake up until nearly 7:00 this morning. After that, he went back to sleep until 9:00-ish. Happy Grandma here!

Kim: TOTALLY understand about the "unseen illness" thing. I have bad arthritis in my knees. Getting up and down from a sitting position is very painful for me. But people don't get it because they can't see it. (Well, maybe they get a hint when I occasionally let out a gasp because it hurts so badly.)

OTOH...we've been wrangling with an insurance company for a year and a half now concerning an accident that DD was in. She had whiplash, concussion, migraines for six months. Had to finish her junior year of school at home, not really getting it ALL done until last Christmas. I can't remember how many nights I slept sitting up on the couch with her, rubbing her head to help equalize the pressure enough that she could get some sleep. Because of the headaches, she was unable to try out for her cheerleading squad, so she didn't make it for her senior year. She endured a spinal tap as they tried to figure out why her headaches weren't subsiding, and she had her arms turned into pincushions when they tried an IV medicine to break the pain cycle but couldn't keep the IV going and had to do multiple sites. Because of the headaches and all the medication she was on for them, it masked the typical pregnancy symptoms and we didn't find out she was pregnant until she was 5 1/2 months along. By then, there was a real concern that all the meds might've harmed the baby. (Thankfully, that seems to not be the case.)

And the insurance company? They say she's "exaggerating her injuries" based on their assertion that the accident only caused $500 of property damage to the car she was riding in, so there's no way she could've been hurt that badly. The offer they're making for settlement is ludicrously lower than what we have paid. But as our attorney said, the simple fact is (and this is the point I was trying to get to) that if it goes to court, unless an accident victim loses a limb or is paralyzed or loses their sight or something else permanent and visible, the jury will tend to side with the insurance company and say that the lawsuit is frivolous.

So to you and your struggles. Know that you'll find loving support here, and understanding (even better than mine).

Kim: LOVE LOVE the Crop-a-Dile kid!!!!

Elizabeth: Funny Barry Story - when I was in junior high and high school, he was IT. I had all his albums. Posters of him on my bedroom wall. Went to a couple of his concerts. Then, as we do with most fannish things, I lost interest and moved on.

Fast-forward 25 years...and my little sister now thinks he's the neatest thing! She's been to see him in Las Vegas a couple of times. (Even called me so I could hear the concert over her cell phone once.)

Go by yourself. You can act all crazy and fan-girly and no one will ever have to know.

ShirleyJB: Thanks for sharing the dream! Sounds to me like it was heavily influenced by Pat's (?) trip to the restaurant with the rowdy pre-teens and the staff who didn't do anything about them.

I jsut want to know...in your dream, did I at least look like I was 25 and still slender?

Cath: Hang in there and I hope the cold gets better.

Sarah: Remind me...how old is your Ethan? You tell Ethan stories that sound a lot like what we're living with here, and it's still a bit surreal for me since ours was the only Ethan around these parts until you showed up.

Okay, I just got to YOUR post about comparing our Ethans' ages. Our little guy will turn 1 next week, so we're just a few months ahead of you.

As for court and visitation and such...we're trying very hard to stay OUT of courts. ED was not put on the birth certificate because, frankly, we didn't know what he was going to do (or how much) after the baby got here, and we wanted DD to have the legal capacity to tell him to take a hike. That is still the situation. There's no court-ordered child support (which is fine because he hasn't held a job in nearly two years except for his time at Basic Training this summer) (and during that time we had a private arrangement where a little bit of money was being transferred from his account to one in my name each month). No child support, but that also means no court-ordered visits. In the past year we have made sure he knows there is an open door and he's welcome to come spend time with the baby any time he wants to. Back in the spring, he was here quite a bit during the days with me & the baby while DD was at school. And when I had surgery in March, he stayed with us for three weeks so he could get up at night to help me with the baby and DH and DD could sleep since they were the ones who had to get up and out early in the mornings.

As for anything formal and written (even though not done through courts), that was supposed to be worked out once he got home from BT this summer. We were going to officially set out the expectations we had of him as a dad and set up visit times/days on a regular schedule so everyone would know what to expect. But as you've probably figured out, we haven't even been able to get him over here to talk about something like that.

Lands! This recap has gotten MORE than long enough already. I'm going to send it and start another one.

Hi Jenni!

• moxiegirl23 Said:

Woo hoo!

• yardstick76 Said:

I don't think you're being mean at all. Probably the one thing you didn't know, though, is that he currently has NO legal claim to this child. There is no father listed on the birth certificate. If he ever wants to fight for his rights as father, he can go and file for paternity with the...I want to say the county prosecutor's office. They'll do a DNA test to establish paternity. But then they'll also have him on the hook for child support. And Indiana does prosecute deadbeat dads.

Now, first of all, ED has very little gumption. In all the time I've known him (about two years now), fighting for his kid might be the ONLY thing I could see him caring about enough to fight for. But even that is one of those "if he does, it won't surprise me, and if he doesn't, it won't surprise me" deals.

Throw in the fact that he would then be obligated to pay child support. Well, he's got himself in some serious financial debt situations that it would take even the most diligent person several years to climb out of. So I can't see him willingly putting himself in a position of owing more money...and having the courts breathing down his neck if he doesn't pay it.

THEN you throw in the wife factor. She's not crazy about him having much to do with the kid. And right now, she's running the show.

So at this point, I'm not too worried.

Suzie: at the image of you "proudly marching your wet self" back to the car. You're such a good mom!

And it sounds like you're on MY kind of diet!

Is that what it was? Today was Official Bad Day of the Month Day? MANNNNNNNN..... I wish I'd known that, and I would've waited until tomorrow to take kitty to the vet for a follow-up check on her bladder infection. Get this: 5 weeks of antibiotics, and we've gone from "red and white cells in the urine" to "crystals in the urine" - a precursor to stones in her bladder! So she's on all this medicine, and she's getting worse instead of better! Sheesh! So now she's on a special diet to acidify her urine to dissolve the crystals, while we wait for the results of the urine sample that was sent off to some lab somewhere to see exactly what kind of nasty bug we're dealing with. Criminey!

Anna: Dare I postulate that NSBR has been a snore because all the fun people are migrating over here?

About being the "resident non sequitur for the day" -- LOVE that you used such a fancy phrase in normal conversation!

RANDOM COMMENT: As of 12:30, everyone else in the family except me was in bed. Ahhhhhh. Peace and quiet. (And so help me, if the baby decides to try to wake up now, I think I'll cry.)

Suzie: Weather Time Machine says it barely got above freezing on my birthdate, and the low was *9*!!!!! Yeesh!

Suzie: Okay, MIL leaving the kids crying in the playpen is bad enough. But the DOG'S pen???? No wonder she only watched them once!

The ONLY time I'll let DGS cry a bit is if we have to put him to bed at night before he's gone to sleep (i.e. gone to sleep taking a bottle or rocking). Even then, he has a musical toy in his crib that plays for 13 minutes, and if he's still fussing or crying when the music stops, I'll go in, get him, rock him, talk to him a bit, get him settled, then put him in bed and start the music again. I'll do this however many times I have to, but he knows that if he's still fussing when the music stops, someone will come check on him.

Vivian: You said it took a year for DD to start seeing the truth about her bio-dad. How old was she at the time?

Dawn: at all your little picture messages!

Foltzy: LOVE the idea about dirt soap for boys!!!! That would definitely sell well.

Suzie: You could freeze the dumplings and pack them in dry ice to mail them.

Suzie: Super power? Hmmm...we had this as an icebreaker at one of our drama rehearsals recently. I said the ability to go without sleep so I could get done all the things I want/need to do.

Woo-hoo, Noah!!! Way to go on the writing!! (And on freaking out Dad!)

End of page 59. I'm going to send this one out....

• DarkSideAnna Said:

Hi Anna!

Suzie: at the image of you "proudly marching your wet self" back to the car. You're such a good mom!

And it sounds like you're on MY kind of diet!

Is that what it was? Today was Official Bad Day of the Month Day? MANNNNNNNN..... I wish I'd known that, and I would've waited until tomorrow to take kitty to the vet for a follow-up check on her bladder infection. Get this: 5 weeks of antibiotics, and we've gone from "red and white cells in the urine" to "crystals in the urine" - a precursor to stones in her bladder! So she's on all this medicine, and she's getting worse instead of better! Sheesh! So now she's on a special diet to acidify her urine to dissolve the crystals, while we wait for the results of the urine sample that was sent off to some lab somewhere to see exactly what kind of nasty bug we're dealing with. Criminey!

Poor kitty

Anna: Dare I postulate that NSBR has been a snore because all the fun people are migrating over here?

About being the "resident non sequitur for the day" -- LOVE that you used such a fancy phrase in normal conversation!
I didn't realize that non sequitur was fancy. It is one of my favorite phrases(with the silly people we hang out with, I get to use it frequently :p).

RANDOM COMMENT: As of 12:30, everyone else in the family except me was in bed. Ahhhhhh. Peace and quiet. (And so help me, if the baby decides to try to wake up now, I think I'll cry.)

Yay for peace and quiet! I sort of have that, except for the reverberation of World of Warcraft on DH's computer