Wednesday, January 30, 2008

A little bit of base humor

Brent and I saw "the musical" episode of Scrubs and laughed till we cried. This particular snippet is the one I had to share with everyone. Yeah, it's kinda gross, but with lots of doctors and nurses in the family, it was just funny.

I really hope you enjoy it as much as I do. do.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Tooth time

Tonight on the way up to Salt Lake to pick up a blood sugar tester from a friend, I sat in the back with Felix. I tried to keep him entertained by turning on the little side light. I also tried to get him to say "off", and he got as far as "iiiithhhh", which is pretty good considering.

On the way home, I sat in the front and let him chew on my finger. That always seems to calm him down. This time, however, it didn't seem to help. He was all sorts of fussy. But amidst that time of trying to get him to chew on my finger, I felt a rough patch on his lower gums. Sure enough, a tooth has finally come through. It looks like another one is on its way right next to it. So... 11 months and 2 days. That's decent, right?

I honestly think that babies are adorable with the bottom two teeth in. I just hope Felix lets me get some good pictures.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

January is creeping and flying by!

Work has been extremely slow for me lately. I wouldn't mind in the slightest if I didn't need the money. It has been kind of nice to take some time off and work around the house or hang out.

This weekend I made my first pair of Leg Lovers with very generic measurements. I still don't know if they'll fit, so I'm crossing my fingers. I made them out of that purple multi material and they look fabulous. I also made a pair for my niece Genevieve. They looked so cute I had to take a picture. She's 4. I kept trying to talk her into the purple material because I had a tiny bit left over, but she wanted the green.

Last night I went in to work for a bit and on my way into the parking lot I drove past a deer. It was belly deep in snow and chomping on the shrubs around a tree. I thought it was cool. Reminded me that this earth is still wild, even in so-called tame areas.

My friend Paige gave me a great idea for the Leg Lovers. She's having a baby in a couple weeks and she said she'd love to have a pair while in the hospital. I would have loved something like that in the hospital. Now I'm wondering how hard it would be to get something like that in hospital gift shops. Any thoughts?

Yesterday we had a short-notice family breakfast because of the holiday. But then the brother and sis-in-law who orchestrated the shindig weren't able to come because they spent the day in the hospital. As of yesterday, they didn't know what it was, but I can certainly relate. I hate nebulous health issues...Don't I have a beautiful niece and kidlet? They really like each other too, which is a huge bonus for me.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Saturday is a special day

It's the day to get ready for Sun-Day!

This week work was very slow so I got few hours. Also, Brent has Diabetes officially and we have no insurance. For now that's okay, but we're both a little bit anxious about it. Not getting much work (neither Brent nor I had much to do this week) is really keeping us from feeling calm about it all.

I finally talked someone into ordering some Leg Lovers. She ordered them for her daughter in that cool purple material. I made them today while Felix crawled around the floor at my sister's house. Since Brent finally got some work yesterday and his deadline is tomorrow night, I figured the kidlet and I should give him some space.

Besides the LLs I made for Val's daughter (I'm really hoping they fit - I only had very generic measurements), I also sewed a pillow. It's also in purple, but a different kind of material. It looks stripey, but it's not.

I finally came home and brought a niece and nephew with me. We decided that while we were waiting for dinner to cook we would watch an episode of Joan of Arcadia. My mom and dad fell in love with the show a few years ago when it was still running and my mom got me hooked when she bought the first season. For Christmas I bought her season 2 so we ended up watching 2 of those. You know, it's really quite sad that people wouldn't be interested enough in this show to keep it on the air. It was cancelled after the 2nd season. It's really interesting and affirms faith without being preachy at all.

I'm tired, but I feel like I've been productive today at least. I'm hoping Felix will let us sleep so we can stay awake during church tomorrow. Since I have to concentrate more to understand all the Spanish, being tired is a very uncomfortable thing. Not like I ever enjoy being tired, just that sometimes it's worse than others.

Also this week I've started remembering my dreams again. I think it has something to do with waking up without a crying child doing the waking. I have really funky dreams. For example, one of my most vivid was this week when I dreamed I lived in a boarding-house type of place that was also a school. It was run by three witches, and the house was totally bewitched. But mixed in with that was some prank the girls and I wanted to play on a guy who lived in another wing (Hogwarts type of place, maybe?) by getting him drunk. Apparently we knew how to make our own alcohol by just mixing the right ingredients. I have a vague recollection of it tasting like egg nog...

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Leg Lovers, part 2

These are some of the cuter printed fabrics that are perfect for Leg Lovers. I've also seen the plain in a bunch of different shades.

Turns out that JoAnn's has quite the selection. It was fun to wander around taking pictures.

I'm showing you the fabrics because these are the fabrics I can use (special requests!). I did actually find a couple of cute quilted fabrics I could use too but the pictures didn't turn out. One is lime on one side and yellow on the other, and the other is pink on one side with purple on the other. Both quilted fabrics are shiny and way cute. I'm going to have to get some for myself... I'll call them The Quilted Calf. hah!

The reason I'm telling you all of this is that I haven't received a single request. :(

I'm not going to wonder if people want them. I know how much I love mine and I'm pretty sure other people might be interested. But I think it might be too complicated to ask for all the measurements to make them completely fitted.

I think I can solve that. I'm going to accept general sizes instead of specific measurements. In other words, I'll accept "tall" or "medium" for height, "small", "medium", or "large" for calf size, etc. I think that might help, especially if you're interested in getting them to give away. It's kind of hard to stealth measure someone's leg. You can also tell me anything that might help - for yourself or for others. I know it might be difficult to get your hands on a measuring thinghy.

I'm really hoping you might help me out with this. I would like to get this started, but I need other people to make it happen. I can't make them all fitted to myself!

Tell you what. If you're interested, send me an email (heatherweb@gmail.com). The first 3 people to respond that they want a pair will get them for free in light green. It's material I already have. I just want to get started!

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Leg Lovers

Yep, they've been named.

I have to admit that the baby ones don't stay on very well, but I blame that on Lis. Last night when I made some that ended up being too small for Felix she was telling a story about how one of her kids almost got his foot cut off by elastic that was too tight.

As you can imagine, I'm spooked. The adult ones work way better, but at least you get a sense of what they look like finished and how they might work for a naked baby. :)

If you want a pair for relatively cheap (cost of materials plus a dollar or two for labor - this is really still in the working-out-the-kinks stage), email me. That means you Paige. And anyone else who is interested.

Here are the measurements I need to make them fitted:
1. foot size (if you live close or have access to a scanner, trace your feet instead because size isn't really a good indication of shape)
2. instep (just measure from the floor over the top of the highest part of your foot and back to the floor)
3. ankle
4. biggest part of the calf
5. top of the calf and below the knee (where the elastic will go)
6. from the back of your knee to the floor while standing

I'm serious about this. Next time I make it out to do errands I'll try to find some stretchy fluffy fabric, but for now it's just the really comfy warm fleecy stuff I made for myself. You can also request color. I'm thinking they'll be less than $8 total for a pair for now, but once I get in the groove and stuff I'll start charging more.

So get your orders in! :)

Sunday, January 13, 2008

"ah-ee-t"


That's Felix's first word. Sort of. Any guesses?

So I was playing around with the sitemeter thing and it said that there is someone in Romania that has checked my blog. Also someone in France. I feel so special!

I have no idea how they would find me, but, more importantly, I have no idea why. Not that I mind. I think it's kind of cool to be connected to all parts of the globe.

Today we went to the Spanish ward in our stake. Felix was totally getting his flirt on. I think the whole ward might be in love with him now. They're all worried that we don't speak Spanish because we look quite American, but it's really cute how they don't even try to speak English to Felix. I would love it if he picked up some good Spanish while we're attending that ward.

As I went into Relief Society I got a pretty good wiff of natural gas. I didn't think much of it, but if it had stayed strong I would have cracked a window. But half-way through the opening hymn, someone came in and said there was a big gas leak and we should probably leave the room. The windows were opened and everyone filed out. They also said that if we had small children we might want to collect them.

Felix and I left the room and I didn't smell any more gas, but that might have been because people were moving around a lot and the windows had been opened. I decided I didn't want to keep Felix there, especially since he was starting to fall asleep. We told Brent we were leaving (they apparently decided to have priesthood meeting anyway) and we came home. As we were driving away from the stake center a fire engine pulled up and I saw a couple of police cars drive by. It was interesting. I wonder how it will all play out.

Felix slept for about 5 minutes after we got home and then he decided he wanted to get up and play with grandma and grandpa. Grandpa fed Felix half a hot dog and some crackers and then they came to hang out in the living room. Felix kept pointing up and saying "aheet". He was very cute about it, of course. Grandma then gave Felix some bells to chew on. He loves those things.

Getting crafty. Or not.

When my friends and I get together to be crafty, we often just waste a lot of time chatting and drooling over hot movie-type guys. Tonight (well, last night really) was no exception. We watched Dear Frankie (still getting our fill of Gerard!) and then the Kiera Knightly version of Pride & Prejudice.

But I actually got something done. Not as much as I would like, but I did do something. See, when I posted the picture of my slocks, they weren't quite finished. They were a bit big around my feet and I hadn't finished the tops. Tonight I sewed in closer around the toes so they are a perfect fit, and I sewed in elastic at the tops.

I've decided I want to make them for other people too, but I'm a little unsure how to size them. You see, I'd love to be able to mass market them, but since they're such fitted things, I may have to make them out of stretchy material. Maybe I could take generic measurements. Not really a bad idea, but I may have to practice by having some select friends/relatives send me some numbers and seeing if I can get them at all close to the right size. What do you think? Are you interested in your very own pair of slocks? :)

Lis generously let me leave everything over at her house (lugging around my sewing machine is the one thing I don't like about our crafty parties - that thing is heavy!) and we're going to regroup on Monday. I have a few pillows to sew (that I don't know what I'll do with once they're done) and more slocks to make. I need to figure out if I can make them for Felix. That kid gets the iciest cold feet! I'll post pics Monday if we actually accomplish anything. I'm going to experiment by taking Felix with me. Not sure how that'll work, but Brent has been so patient and understanding, I'd love to give him the evening to play video games or whatever. Wish me luck!

Thursday, January 10, 2008

sleeping in

I don't know what it is really, but given the opportunity I can sleep in like a champion sleeper-inner. Maybe it's the fact that Felix wakes up a couple of times a night and I can't sleep to the sounds of crying baby. Or maybe it's that years after being diagnosed, the drugs I take for my restless legs don't work all that well. I don't know.

What I do know is that every morning I wake up usually around 6, feeling like I've been run over by a truck. I go to the bathroom and stumble back to bed to fall back into a sleep plagued with the strangest of dreams. I can't tell you about all of those dreams (freaky!), but this morning's doozy was about some vacation I was on. It must have been San Francisco because I was in a car going down a hill that really reminded me of that unique city. There was other stuff that was really strange, but it has faded.

I'm actually a fan of recording dreams, and amazingly, I've never had what I would consider to be a nightmare. My mom suggested that maybe the reason Felix wakes up in the middle of the night screaming bloody murder is because of night terrors. She thought I should look it up on the internet to see how young they might start. That would surprise me quite a bit, and I'm not sure if knowing would comfort me or not. I mean, I don't know how to react really since I've never had anything similar.

But when Felix wakes up, you can tell that there are different reasons. Sometimes he wakes up because he's hungry and he gets mad if we don't get the bottle in his mouth soon enough. But sometimes he just screams and there's nothing we can do to comfort him. It's really unpleasant when it's at 4 in the morning (otherwise known as "the buttcrack of dawn") and it lasts for an hour.

So, because I have the best husband in the world, by about 8 am, Brent gets up and takes Felix with him to the libroffice and I go back to sleep again. I can typically get in another 2 hours or so before needing to get up for real, but if it was an especially bad night, I can sleep in till noon easily.

I feel guilty about this sometimes, but not usually. I get really ineffective sleep. I just thank my lucky stars (and the big guy upstairs... He's awesome! ... winks in Michelle's direction) that I have an understanding husband and a really flexible work.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

New Year (everything else is the same)

Shannon - I hereby officially "tag" you. I want to see your list!

After caring for a sick baby for a week and trying to care for a new puppy at the same time, we decided it was more than we wanted to handle at the moment and we sold the puppy. I guess we could have kept Dusty and sold Felix, but Felix is cuter. :)

I've been going in to work now for a while and I really enjoy it. Most of what I enjoy is the social aspect of it all. I like being around people and Brent and Felix apparently don't count. Maybe that's because although Brent can say words, he's normally a very quiet person (unless you're talking politics, which I hate, or comic books, which don't really interest me). Felix, while being far from quiet, doesn't say anything coherent. He tries though.

Last Saturday I got together with some friends (I don't think it's possible to praise my friends enough - seriously, I'm constantly in awe of them, whether I get to spend lots of time with them or not) for a girls' outting. We decided we needed a shopping trip (and while I thought it would just be funny to tag along to Victoria's Secret - like they would ever carry my size! - I actually found some fun new eye shadow there), a chick flick, and some dinner. There were 6 of us (yes, Lis, there were 6). We met in the afternoon and went to see P.S. I Love You. I think we settled on that one because of Gerard Butler, but I'm pretty sure we all loved the movie for more than just him. It was moving and inspiring and was a good portrayal of love and loss and recovery. I was happy that the obvious couple didn't end up together because they didn't really fit in my mind. And the movie ended with hope. I cried throughout the whole thing. Darn those puffy eyes of mine!

After the movie we walked through The Riverwoods and stopped in William Sonoma (one of my favorite window shopping stores ever!), Gymboree (cute but very expensive kids clothes), and Vic's Secret. Then we went to dinner at Macaroni Grill. Yummy food!!!!

While I was sitting at dinner a girl came up and asked if I had gone to the Vermont 3rd Ward. Turns out we not only attended at the same time, but we were friends and even went on a road trip together to her grandma's house in San Francisco. I love love love catching up with old friends! (check her out at the Tran & Jeff blog - she's such a cutie!)

After dinner we made our way back to my house where we were thinking we would watch some more Gerard, but I couldn't find my copy of Dear Frankie. Sad. We ended up watching Music & Lyrics, and while that's a fun 80's flashback chick flick, it's just not the same.

Anyway, today at work there wasn't much to do so I got to come home early. I figure catching up on the blog is a good cause, but it's also helping me avoid cleaning my house (desperately needed!). Hooray for avoidance!

Brent and I took some time a couple days ago and actually made up a sort of budget. We made it just tight enough to pay all our bills every month, but left ourselves some good breathing room. I stink at things like this, but hopefully the breathing room will keep me from feeling constricted, which usually makes me want to go shopping. I gotta get this under control. We also figured out how much Brent would need to make at another job if I wasn't going to work, and how much he would need to make if we had to move out of my parents' house. Man, it's going to be tough growing up! I wish grown-up-ness didn't carry such a heavy financial responsibility with it...

So, the new year. I wonder how long it's going to take me to write 2008 on things. I guess it's a good thing that I don't have to write the date much. There's really nothing super interesting going on lately. Felix is finally starting to get over the rota junk. We still don't have insurance, and if we're correct that Brent does have diabetes, we'll only ever get coverage through group insurance. Stupid insurance racket! We're more or less healthy. We're more (not less) happy. We're more or less stable. I guess that's all I need to be a grown up, right?