site of the day: Want to do a good deed for only a few seconds of time (depending on how fast your internet connection is)? Download a text file. Read the information given about why, it will explain better than I can.


Weekend trip: Drove the 3 hours to see my Mom, Aunt & Uncle. It should have been just over two hours but I didn't have the new & improved directions. And I took the wrong highway. Luckily, I saw a road that I recognized & it was pretty much one way at that point (the other way involved a security checkpoint & I knew I didn't need to go that way) so I took it. Of course, my aunt & uncle live at the other end of that road.

We worked on some mending for me and I altered a nightgown for mom (the sleeves were too wide & too long). I finally completed the credit card bag that I've had cut out for months (you cut up a credit card to make the bag closure). I used a scrap of the floral denim that I used for that jumper years ago and a scrap of quilted fabric from a panel Christmas tree skirt, also from years ago. Even though the bag was barely wide enough for the closure, it turned out very well. Mom & Aunt Shirley were very impressed with the idea. If you need to make a larger opening, you can cut the plastic from a bottle instead. The bag I made is almost long enough to hold my glasses which means that it's plenty long enough to hold a shuttle.

I made a haversack for Chris, his Christmas present. I just need to clean up some threads & to work on a closure for it. It's a very easy bag to make but I need to make adjustment if I ever make one again. I sewed the strap into place the length of the bag. Stress will not tear that strap off. There's an "x" at the bottom of the strap plus 3 lines of seam to hold the strap in place. Thanks to the length of the fabric, there's even an interior pocket, I doubled the fabric for the bottom, with a single width for the flap. Imagine: 60" X 18" fabric rectangle. Fold it lengthwise but double, about 2/3 or 4/5. Now fold the doubled fabric in half; that's the body of the bag. The single layer is the flap. Leaving the flap open, sew up the sides of the doubled fabric to make the bag.

After supper (frozen lasagna), I was wiped out so I took a 2 hour plus nap. I woke up in time to go to bed. Mom & I talked for a little while & then went to sleep.
On the way home on Sunday, I managed to miss a turn & went out of my way again. Luckily, as soon as I crossed into the wrong county I recognized that, stopped, pulled out a map & figured out how to get back on track. With all the detours, I had to put more gas in the car. The lowest that I saw was $3.089 a gallon. That's just ridiculous.

Chris ran a zero round on Saturday. He told me a little about it after I got home. He had received one of his belated birthday presents this weekend, too (it had been on back order).

I took a nap & then we watched one of his other birthday presents; Transformers DVD. That really is a good movie. It looks like they had planned to make the army guy the lead but then changed to the young guy. It's something you may not notice the first time that you see it. Friday night we watched another of his birthday presents; Ghost Rider DVD.

books: I finished Light in Shadow (not Light & Shadow) but I've started writing letters & have not had time for more reading (shocking, I know).

sight of the day: young man with the right half of his hair in an afro & the other half in small braids or twists, a la Coolio, but shorter. Either hairstyle is fine, together? Um, not so fine.

clothes: I started Saturday wearing a turtleneck but it was too warm in Aunt Shirley's basement, so I changed to a t-shirt. T-shirt & then turtleneck on Sunday, blue jeans both days. I wore tennis shoes when I went out but slippers the rest of the time. Butterfly earrings, flower fairy pendant, flower ring, ~rope ring, & a ponytail. Too bad the ponytail caused horrendous rats nests in my hair, right where the ponytail hit my shirt collar.

I really wished my mom would stop smoking. My hair reeks.

Today I'm wearing black shoes, jeans & belt, same watch & hematite ring, sage green rayon shirt (Mom fixed the cuff), triskele posts, triskele in triangle pendant, Celtic knot ring, black stone ring & loose hair (after I got the tangles out, I just didn't feel like doing anything else to it).

July 4th: I slept late, had Chick-fil-a for lunch, went to the movies with 7 friends (David C, David R, Diana, Colt, Chris, Rosemary & Joe), then back to Rosemary's for grilled bison burgers followed by sugar free ice cream & a game of Monkey Arena. I was the baboon & the first one out, followed by Joe. Rosemary won. We should have the read the FAQ, though.

Tonight I'm meeting Dad & Kathy for supper at the Cracker Barrel. I do need to call & confirm which one. They have a bunch of old cookbooks (belonged to Kathy's mom) for me to look through. See if I want any of them.

books: I read Master of Dragons Tuesday night while I had insomnia. I finally got to sleep around 3 am. I woke up at about 9 am because Chris cooked muffins. Between everything else I managed to read Archer's Goon.

tatting: finished up the green butterflies & had enough for two 1-ring flowers. I need to reload the shuttle with ecru to continue my edging.

movie: Transformers - excellent movie. It had enough plot to be interesting but not so much that it bogged down the action. The special effects were incredible and action scenes were great. There were a number of small in-jokes (like the logo on Barricade) The theater handed out small bags of popcorns & small US flags, too.

letters: I finally got the sealing wax on them this morning, before work. They are off to my aunts in the morning mail.

clothes: dappled navy tee with eagle & flag on it; blue jeans, navy loafers, quartz point with feather carved on it, lapis earrings, flower band ring, ~rope band, hematite ring, ponytail with a twist (pulled the ponytail through the hair above the elastic to cause the hair to twist above the elastic). Added the flag into my hair.

Today: navy & white print blouse, navy slacks & loafers, flower band, hematite ring, Celtic knot ring & pendant, knotted earrings, & loose hair (just washed).