Now mouse-free !

Current Mood : Happy now !

Current Image Notes : Click to read it, although it isn't much !

Up early today, ‘cause Beloved Hubby went to play AirSoft with the dudes. I was glad – he hasn’t had much time off, and the games actually help him rest and let him enjoy time with friends. And I get the place almost all to m’self, with no expectation of housework ! It’s my time to goof around. So I did.

My soaked beans and hambone experiment ended deliciously ! I didn’t get to it until today, and was worried the beans were fermenting, but they cooked up well. Added too much water, so I tossed in some cooked sausage and raw cut potatoes. Yumm. That and some everyday spices and garlic sea salt, was all it took for a potload of delicious lunch. Maybe next time, I’ll do rice instead of potatoes.

Actually got a little time to play with the MH school playset. Still need to write up a thorough review on it, but for now, I’m fairly pleased. It seems a bit more heavyweight and sturdy than a comparably priced Barbie house, and it has the usual ‘little touches’ that have always set MH apart, at least in my mind. It’s very versatile, and with a few scrapbook papers taped to the windows – for various effects and to hide the stuff in the background ! – it’ll be fantastic for photos. I’m really glad we got it, but in all honestly, the MSRP of around $90. to $99.99 is about at the upper end of what it’s worth. In my opinion, even $120. would be too expensive for this. But for yer real fans – the kind that are waiting at TRU’s doors 15 minutes before they open – it’s a great piece that’s sure to get lots of use.

That said, I’ve decided to put a few bits of it up on eBay soon. This may surprise ya’ll, but I really hate the disco ball that comes with it. It’s basically a hot-pink ‘skullette’, like the logo, but with deep-set eyes and a claw-finger hanger. I know it’s the logo, and I normally just love disco balls, but for whatever reason, I don’t think I’ll ever hang this one up. I have plenty of doll-size traditional ones, and if there’s a size I want but don’t have, I just need to wait for Christmas. Dollar Tree and Hobby Lobby will have dozens of them for ornaments. Sometimes, they put out a few of your larger ones for Halloween.

I also don’t much like the pink pumpkin ‘party’ decorations, and won’t ever use them, so off they go. There’s maybe two stickers on the included sticker sheet I like, but it’s just not enough to keep the whole thing.

The ‘DJ Booth / Trophy display’ thing I keep going back and forth on. I have a booth I prefer already, from either a Bratz or My Scene playset, that fits the dolls better, and will still ‘go’ with the color scheme. I was all set to sell the school one when I discovered the back was the trophy case. But now that I’ve lived with it a few days, I don’t much like it, either. I thought that, maybe if I could remove the cardboard trophy backdrops, and put them in upside down, so the ‘control deck’ doesn’t show, I’d like it better, but they’re in there good. I’d probably be OK with ‘em, if it weren’t for the stupid ‘burrowing mice’ graphics. That’s in the sticker sheet, too. In case you need more mice heads or mice butts sticking out of a tunnel. To give your school that ‘lived in’ and ‘smells like mouse waste’ feeling. Makes me wonder if someone on the design team’s been watching too much ‘Hoarders’…

So now, I’m thinking of just taking the backdrops out completely, and either leaving them out, or scanning ‘em, deleting the mice, printing a fresh version, and doin’ it my way. Seems like a lot of work for a piece I really am indifferent about. I mean, even if I do it ‘right’ (my way), it’s still just a waist-high (to the dolls) display case. Most of the ones I remember were floor-to-ceiling, or at least too high up for most of us grubby kids to reach.

Hmpft. Backdrops are taped in there. If you go from the top or bottom, a knife or seam ripper can pry up one edge, and you can carefully peel them off. I think I’ll follow through on the ‘putting ‘em in upside down’ idea, and just covering over the stupid mice with some of the plastic trophies. Dearest Son asked what I was doing, and I told him. He came up with his own solution – buy another one and stack ‘em for a double display case ! I laughed, but it is an interesting idea. Maybe I should keep my eyes open for Barbie pieces at my usual second-hand haunts. Can always spray-paint ‘em black !

OK, so now I’m gonna have to re-re-re-re-think that trophy case…

Done ! I like it now ! But it still gets no respect...