For a Dollar Tree box of candy, that heart sure was gooood !

Aw, man. I should not be allowed out of the house with access to money ! Actually, while I bought silly stuff, at least it was cheep silly stuff, and as usual, I got no regrets. And I still have a few dollars to play with ! Normally by now, I’ve spent all my first-of-the-month bucks.

Had a few errands to run today, and wanted to prowl a bit, even though we’re going to OldTown tomorrow and Hancock Fabrics Thursday. Ended up at Dollar General, since I wanted a cheap trash can to store Junior’s kitty-kibble in. He keeps digging at the bottom of the bag, tearing it open, even when his dish is full, and I’m getting tired of cleaning up Meow Mix leaks. While the smaller can for $5. would work – we tried it with a bag of chow from the Pet Foods section – I liked the bigger $6. can better. With that, a roll of starry duct tape, a Frozen sticker / mini coloring book, and the Little Golden Book for reference, we headed to the register. The nice cashier told me they had two trash cans just like that, in the back, each with some slight damage to the rim from shipping. They were gonna put ‘em out at half off due to the chipping – would I want one of those instead ? Oh, yeah ! I put the intact one back, picked the choicest of the slightly damaged two, and merrily left, having spent less than $11. on my little splurge. No more chewed-up cat food bags at Chez Insanity !

As if to show I don’t have to leave the house to spend my money, don’t forget I spent $7. on instant downloadable embroidery designs on line Friday, and then today spent $2. on a doll blouse pattern on Craftsy – but downloaded twelve more for free. Everything from patterns for me clothes to stuffed animals. There’s an adorable machine embroidery stuffed animal pattern / design on Etsy I want, but it’s ten bucks. If I were to make more than one, it’d be sooo worth it, but I don’t know that I’d ever make more than possibly three. I figure, I’ll see how I like making this freebie stuffie, decide from there if I wanna get the Etsy one. I’m not really a huge stuffed-animal enthusiast, but I like having quick gift options, and I love cats.

But for now, I had the makings of a doll shirt I wanted. So I knocked it together, learned that, if I wanna use the pointed-waist pattern with an embroidery design, the design’s gotta be three inches tall, or smaller. Elsa and Olaf’s height are a bare twitch under the limits of my hoop, four inches. I also didn’t center it on the fabric piece very well when I hooped it, so the sleeves on this now-familiar Hospital Gown shirt are very short. Kinda like ‘em like that, though.

Thinking of working on doll shoes this week, then working on another design this weekend. If I use a new design and a new pattern, and keep on doing so, I’ll soon be ready for more of both ! In maybe even less than two years…

I think it's this design's fault I'm back into machine embroidery...

Happy February ! Say ‘white rabbit’ for good luck, and don’t forget to change all the calendars. You survived the first month of 2015 !

I am having a serious case of drag-butt, to the point where Beloved Hubby made dinner tonight. I took my sweet ole time with today's embroidery project – even though I had all the colors picked out, with several second-guessed and replaced at the last minute, I still meandered and delayed and put it off ‘til almost 3pm. Didn’t start Brody up ‘til a bit after 4pm, it took me that long to get the fabric selected and hooped. I didn’t wanna go with white, since a good chunk of the design was white, and that was also why I didn’t wanna go with blue. I wasn’t particularly thrilled with using a dark fabric, in case the design stitched sparse, it would show through. That happens a lot. But I finally decided this was a test stitch-out anyway, it’d be a bonus if I could actually use it. So I used the dark green cotton currently draped over Odyssey in lieu of an actual cover.

What it's supposed to look like. 

Since the last design puckered a bit, I researched why. Yeah, I do tug at the fabric a bit after it’s hooped, it’s nearly impossible to hold the material taut and hoop it and the stabilizer together at the same time. But evidently, I need to work on that, because I should be able to. Hmpft. I kind of cheated and tugged at the stabilizer instead, and once free of the hoop, the fabric didn’t pucker much at all. Okay then.

Had a few problems – broken thread, broken bobbin thread, jump threads that were nearly impossible to get scissors under to cut, and I had to take the hoop out to fix the bobbin thread issue. That may be why Elsa’s hairline doesn’t quite meet Elsa’s head. I also accidentally used black bobbin thread instead of black embroidery thread – the difference in weight may also have contributed to the ‘off’ quality of Olaf’s face. And, again, it’s hard to tell, but the dress and sleeves are two different colors, and her face is done in two different skin tones. I’ll try it again – I love this design ! – but I’m more-or-less happy with this one. Sixteen colors and 21 thread changes. Between that and the issues and jump thread cuts, it took about an hour and fifteen minutes to stitch out. Worth it, though, in my book !

At least I'm helping the embroidery design economy recover !

Beloved Hubby surprised us all with Croissanwiches for breakfast, and as I was in a sort of reflective mood anyway,  I started playing classic Motown and Philadelphia sounds good ‘n loud on YouTube. We had a nice morning together singing and eating, and just sharing some memories. While Dearest Son’s too young to have heard those songs on an old 9v-battery powered transistor radio, he has very clear memories of Stand By Me. He favored Poison Ivy especially.

As I mentioned yesterday, I bought a bunch of new embroidery designs, ones I certainly didn’t need…but look at ‘em ! So sophisticated, but sweet, too. Could you have resisted, when they’re 40% off, sale ends Friday at midnight ? Fifteen really cool designs, for less than 50¢ each ? Plus, I got another Elsa… what ? Needed to spend $10. to get the discount, it comes in two parts I can use separately, and I really liked that one. Well worth the $7. total, in my opinion.

That said, today I hope to embroider a design I snagged back on the 10^th. It’s a big, complicated one, but I just fell in love with it. Sixteen colors, 21 thread changes, original art I’ve never seen anywhere else. Same problem – colors given are not what I got. And the program I used to use that animated the stitching (quite helpful for selecting colors) doesn’t work, and the one I downloaded last year doesn’t do the stitch-out thing. So I found a new one, Bernina ArtLink 7, and it’s amazing ! It not only does the animation, it also shows a thumbnail of the actual design file, something I’ve never had before. I’m sure I’ve barely scratched the top of what it can do, but even if that’s all there was, it’s awesome – especially for a freebie !

Got to go to Dollar Tree today, and the display right after the solar-powered dancing cupids and li’l devils was of various ‘As Seen On TV’ products. Bacon Bowls, Hot Buns (hair styling), tiny Stone Wave microwave stoneware pots, and some sort of egg cooker were all there. I hope not many folks paid $20. for each of those !

And on Friday, I sat on my great round rump !

I’m doing pretty well with electronics this week. It helps that it’s easy ! Beloved Hubby borrowed my printer cable to establish Dearest Son’s temporarily wired internet connection – we’re still trying to figure out where to find the drivers to his wireless modem that’ll work with Vista – and I forgot and went to print something, to save m’self from buying more new patterns. What can I say, I get a few bucks in my hot little hands, and I can think of 50 ways to spend each dollar ! Anyway, no cable = no printing. Sure, I could just print at the Library a couple miles away, or run up to OfficeDepotMax and snag another cable for a few bucks… but what about this cable over here, where Beloved’s desk (and computer) used to be, before we moved it upstairs ?

Yup, that’s an internet connection. Runs through the walls between the living room and Salon, still connected to the modem in the living room. We ran a different cable for Beloved upstairs. The old one has the same connection plugs my printer and laptop use. If I pull this one through and plug it into Dearest’s computer, also in the living room, that should give him an online connection and give me back my printer cable without spending a dime. I had to move nearly all my stuff out of the Salon closet to get to the tangle of cord, but about ten minutes later, I’d accessed the cord and Dearest didn’t lose so much as a single web ad. Fifteen minutes after that, I’d taken advantage of the shuffle to sweep the closet then rearrange and tighten up the stash like I’d been meaning to, restored everything and printed out the page I’d started to. Go, me !

Working on the embroidery design I hope to stitch out tomorrow. It’s funny, but even now, when I no longer have to share my computer for hours and hours, I like to have everything all laid out ahead of time. And I still want to keep to my plan to stitching out a design at least once a week. It keeps me from getting too stressed about the whole machine embroidery thing, and keeps me from feeling too guilty when I buy a bunch more designs on a fantastic sale today ! Not to mention, it keeps me too busy sewing new one-of-a-kind goodies to eat out of boredom or other non-hungry emotions. 

What a day !

Had to drive back to the VA when I realized I was completely out of a very important can't-do-without-it-for-a-day prescription. (sigh) I thought I had another whole bottle. At least the VA's pharmacy's only an hour away, and we missed rush hour traffic. I have learned, however, that my personal vision of Hades is being forced to wait for something called in hours previous, with nothing to do but watch for my name (then get into another line) on the one screen that isn't showing endless reruns of How I Met Your Mother. And it's Service Dog / PTSD Dog Day, too ! Just glad Dearest Son was able to go with the flow. It was even more boring for him, I'm sure. 

At least we got to go out to lunch today, just me and him ! Once at the chicken place, I had a decision – get two nice lunch plates, or spend $3. more, and bring home enough fried chicken for lunch and dinner, plus a gallon of tea and an individual order of the fries he loves so. Yup. I made baked potatoes to go with our supper chicken, and we all ate well. Beloved Hubby was impressed with my economy. Hope he remains so when I start to whine I want something…

The chicken was also a good idea – the new hard drive we ordered for Dearest’s computer arrived, right on time, and that pretty much took all of Beloved’s evening. It was great to have a quick meal we all like that could be reheated according to the diner’s schedule and appetite. Dearest already had a brand-new copy of Vista (what can I say, he loathes Win8) to install, and it worked well except for a hundred or so vital updates (grin). Only problem we really had was that we couldn’t find the drivers for his wireless modem that’d work with the older OS. After trying for over an hour, Beloved borrowed my printer cable and gave Dearest a temporary wired online connection and installed his choice of browser. We’ll figure something out this weekend.

For his part, Dearest is most appreciative, and said he can deal with a wired online connection indefinitely. And tomorrow (it’s still updating), he can customize his ‘new’ computer with the programs he wants. I’m thrilled – I get to keep my computer all day and all night tomorrow ! Wheeee !

After all the planned and sudden travelling all week, I just wanna stay home tomorrow ! 

The cat's with the CRT in the other room...

The real reason I wanted a TV so much.
Cat entertainment. 

My MUGA test went very well – in fact, not only did R. hit my notoriously bad veins on the first try, he had me so relaxed, I think I fell asleep while the cameras and technicians did their work. I was even outta there nearly about an hour earlier than expected. My doctors will have the results today, and I guess from there, my pacemaker surgery will get added back to the calendar soon. At least, I hope !

Visited with DM&FIL a bit when I picked Dearest Son up, and we were off to the thrift ! He didn’t find anything this time, but as expected, I found a TV, an old-style 20” CRT, just a buck more than my budget. Bulky, but even I could lift it. And I found two pair of Levi’s in Beloved Hubby’s size, so, yeah, I over-spent, but a TV and two pair of jeans for $15. is still pretty cheap !

I then spent two hours trying to get either cable or the Wii to work with it. The manual our tech left was for the cable box attached to the TV, the one he left for us awaiting the second TV had no manual at all, and was markedly different. It completely lacked coaxial ports ! We had new co-ax outlets, and a second brand-new modem, but no way to get them to connect, literally. Tried to swap out the wireless, no co-ax cable box for the one working in the living room that had co-ax ports (completely unused), but that crashed our internet, so I put everything back. Dug through our wire boxes and found an RCA plug set and a co-ax, which the AT&T tech didn’t leave for us, and still nothin’. I think that, when I said we were getting a second TV, the tech thought we were getting a brand-new flat-screen, instead of a near-vintage CRT ! Can’t really blame him for that.

I thought I was just plain stupid – although I was following the signal path correctly – when I couldn’t get the Wii operational either. I was just idly punching the ‘channel’ buttons (no remote), when I heard the familiar musical notes. For whatever reason, on my ‘new’ TV, the AV channel is 2, instead of the usual 3 or 4. Yep. Guess what I’d been checking ? Still couldn’t get the Wii online, but I figured I could work on that later – I wanted to try the cable box again !

Booyah, baybee ! Worked perfectly. I hit ‘reset’ and it picked up the wireless like a bloodhound, and the RCA plugs connected the cable box and TV just like I’d hoped.  I have cable now ! Next, I start savin’ up for DVD player… I’ll get to sew to my favorite movies soon.

Even better, we got to order a new hard drive for Dearest’s laptop, and it should be here tomorrow. I can’t wait. While it hasn’t been a problem sharing this one, I’ll be glad when he has his own again ! 

I wore shorts today. It wasn’t pretty.

They're supposed to be snowflakes, but since I hand-stitched 'em,
they look more like stars. Oh, well. 

Jo-Ann Fabrics issued an Invitation To Shop to me today – so I did ! I also returned library books, donated the junk in the trunk, toured three thrifts, and got what I needed so we’ll be ready for tomorrow’s MUGA. Since Dearest Son will be hangin’ with his grandparents, I got them the cat chow they asked for, and I’m also sending him with a bag of his favorite popcorn and a fresh 79c cauliflower. MIL, like Dearest and me, loves raw cauliflower, and it’s been expensive since Thanksgiving. She can keep it all, I have two !

You may be surprised to learn that, while I hit three thrifts today – and found that ‘new’ hospital one, finally ! – I didn’t spend a dime at any of ‘em. Was tempted, but I’m really keeping my eyes open for a $5. or less TV I can lift. While I saw TVs from $5. to $25., they were all either huge or too expensive, so I’m hoping OldTown thrift will have something tomorrow.

And, the only thing I bought at Jo-Ann’s was the single silver sequin tiara they had left in stock. They had some pretty turquoise ones, several gold ones, and an overstock of red, but that one silver was evidently waiting for me. The fabric I saw on the website that I wanted to see in person wasn’t what I really wanted, so I didn’t buy any – even if it’d been perfectly what I did want, it’d have to wait ‘til Friday. Plus, I really want to make more of an effort to use what I got. I’ve pulled most of my white fabric together, and yes, it’s more than the drawer can hold, in every thickness from transparent to canvas, so you know I have plenty of everything else, too. While digging for a particular piece, I found a gorgeous ‘galactic’ print that’s too big for most of my dolls, but would probably make an awesome cover for Odyssey. Oh, and the Christmas gingerbread houses are still only 50% off. It was funny to see two of the three markdown fabrics I bought at the first of the month stacked next to each other on the sale rack !

I was about to throw away the hang-tag that was on the toy Furby I bought at Dollar Tree yesterday, but I remembered I have several out-of-date magnetic calendars waiting for a crafting. A few minutes with scissors, some glue and heavy books, and we have a new Furby fridge magnet ! And I’ve halved 2013. 

Well, tomorrow starts early. Wish me luck !