Friday Night Photos #138

Even though I don't have a ton of photos, I'm going to post what I have (aside from "project" photos, which I do have full intentions of posting separately). I'll start with one project photo, however, because I *love* how it turned out. Remember my corduroy coat, the one I loved so much that I wound up with three different sizes? When I had gained quite a bit of weight, the coat wouldn't fit me anymore (it was a medium that fit on the small side). Thanks to Poshmark, I found it in a large and extra-large.

I wore them for a season or two until I lost the weight and they'd been in a bag in the garage ever since. I love to make things out of old or unworn clothing, so I decided to turn the coat into a bag. I used the faux fur to make cat beds, and then used the corduroy for the bag. I also used a men's dress shirt for the lining (and outer pocket). I had never sewn piping before, so I decided to give it a try as well.

This is what the coat looked like before

And this is the bag I made from it!

Isn't it cute? Jerry totally fell in love with this one and I think it could be pulled off as a "man bag" to use as a carry-on. (Jerry got the position at work he was really wanting, and it will likely involve international travel).

Speaking of sewing, I now have a brand new sewing machine! To take full advantage of credit card cash back, we put literally *everything* on a credit card and then I pay it off a couple of times a month. We never carry a balance, but we get 1.5-5% cash back on everything (including the bills that I pay with the credit card). I've always thought of this as my "bonus" money for taking care of the finances and paying bills on time, etc. I let the cash back build up and then "buy" something that I really want, without feeling guilty. (I know I shouldn't feel guilty for buying myself something, but I think it's ingrained with being a mom.)

Anyway, I had a little over $1,000 in cash back waiting, and I decided to get a sewing machine. I did a lot with my old machine and it worked well; but because I've been sewing so much lately, I wanted a machine that would make it easier to go through multiple layers of denim and interfacing. I was torn between two opposite ends of the spectrum in regards to the machine I wanted--either a super basic "workhorse" straight-stitch machine, or a digital machine with embroidery and all the bells and whistles.

As you know, I like simplicity, especially with electronics. I decided to go for the basic workhorse machine. One of the things I *really* wanted was a large space between the needle and the machine; I hated always trying to squeeze projects in that space while sewing. It was really overwhelming, trying to choose a model.

After reading a million reviews, I ended up buying a Juki TL-2000qi. (I bought it from Ken's Sewing Center online and I would absolutely buy from them again--great customer service, some bonus accessories, *and* the lowest price.) The machine was "only" $700 (I put that in quotes because my budget was $1000, not because $700 is cheap! ha), so I bought some accessories to go with it (presser feet, throat plate).

Isn't it beautiful?! ;)  I almost cried the first time I used it because I could not believe the difference! It's like sharpening your kitchen knives--you know how you don't realize how dull they've gotten until you  sharpen them and you realize life is just better with sharp knives? Yeah, like that. It's like the difference between cutting an apple with a butter knife versus a sharp paring knife.

The table/cart that I have it on is nothing pretty, but I put that together one morning because I was worried that I was going to drop my sewing machine if I kept carrying it around. Several months ago, I'd bought a couple of table leaves from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore; they were were solid oak and I got the two of them for $5. So I ran them through the planer and glued them together to make the table top. Then I just made a frame with some 2x4's and castors for movability. It's not pretty, but it's perfect for my sewing machine!

Anyway, enough about that. I've been using it all the time and I love it. 

The craziest thing happened a few houses down from us, and our neighbors caught it on video. The dike on the street separates the marsh from the road, and it's pretty tall (and very steep, although it doesn't look like it in photos). Well, an intoxicated woman flew down the road in a truck, straight at the dike, and basically took out half the dike while she crashed into the marsh. (Did I mention she had three kids in the car? They were not seriously injured, thankfully.)

There are kids that play on the street there ALL THE TIME. Not to mention people walking dogs and riding bikes, etc. This happened at around 3:00 in the afternoon, so she's very lucky that she didn't hurt anyone else.

Noah and his girlfriend went to IKEA one day and she sent me this picture saying, "They have plant-based meatballs at IKEA!" I was so excited that they'd actually ordered them (Noah and Rose aren't vegan). They said they were "amazing"; I always feel happy when people enjoy vegan food. And especially when they are open enough to trying new things like that :)

Eli gave me the most beautiful flowers for Mother's Day. I've always said that I'm not a "flowers person"--I don't want anyone spending money on something that isn't going to last--but the fact that Eli even acknowledged Mother's Day all on his own made me feel good. And the flowers *are* very pretty!

Eli went "urban exploring" with his friends at an abandoned factory and said it was really cool, so he went back with Jerry and Noah. I'm too much of a "rule follower" and I chose not to go, but their pictures were really interesting. There were tons of personal items that were just left there when the place closed.

This is a tote that Ken's Sewing Center sent me for free with my machine--I didn't even know that they were sending it! It's a really nice tote on wheels. Chick and Duck like to be pushed around in it, hahaha.

Every time I finish a bag of some sort, the kittens like to get inside of it. It happens immediately. (This patchy bag was actually a sort of practice for the *real* patchy bag I wanted to make.)

These are a couple of photos I took before Eli's prom. I love this one! He and his friends were standing in between poses when Jerry said something about looking like a proposal was about to happen, and it was like they were totally on cue--one of his friends pretended to pull out a ring and propose to Eli while his other friend looked shocked and excited. They didn't even know I was taking this picture. So funny!

Kids these days have no idea what this is. Jerry and I had to explain!

With this one, I thought it would be fun to go for a Beatles cover-look, but when they said, "What's the Beatles?" I gave up immediately. HAHAHA

And this was taken by an *actual* photographer for Ava's prom ;) 

I will end with this stunning photo of Phoebe looking like a cat goddess. Noah's girlfriend sent this to me to show me Phoebe's new collar. (Phoebe is so quiet that it's easy to trip over her, so they got her a collar with a bell.) She's still doing great and I know she is happy there. I went over to cut her nails last week and I actually saw her eat a whole container of wet food!

And that's all I've got for now. Have a great weekend! xo

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Three Things Thursday: Deep Thoughts

I used to enjoy writing the Three Things Thursday posts, so I don't know why I stopped doing them. When I was a kid, my older brother had a book called "Deep Thoughts" (as well as the sequels "Deeper Thoughts" and "Deepest Thoughts") by Jack Handy. They were kind of like coffee table books--a random (often very funny) thought on each page. Just a few sentences and nothing profound; just a tidbit of something that is usually relatable.

When Twitter became a thing, I started seeing screenshots of tweets pop up everywhere, and many of them looked like something from a Deep Thoughts book! Here are a few that made me laugh. And then I'll include a few random ones of my own as...

This guy, @simoncholland, is HILARIOUS. I follow on Instagram (his posts are just screenshots of his tweets, like this one).

Does anybody?! I'm genuinely curious.

When I was deleting everything from Facebook recently, I saved a lot of my old "status updates". I mostly wrote funny things that my kids said or did and I stopped writing them years ago, but there were some fun ones that I found. Here are three that made me smile...

Listen, if you ignore the hairstyles, the 1990's was the greatest decade ever.

Noah was 11 years old at the time.

(Eli is right-handed)

And a fourth, because it was hard to narrow it down to just three! ...

Back then, friends used to tell me that I should write a book about the funny things my kids say/do; while I don't think they are book-worthy, I'm so glad I wrote these sorts of things down. I wish I'd have continued these posts through the years--they are so fun to look back on. Kids are so funny when you take the time to really listen to them! I wish I'd written down more of their teenage things, because I most certainly wasn't ready for *that* ;)

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Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 186

You know how when you haven't done something in a really long time, it just gets either more difficult or more awkward the longer you wait? Yeah, that's how I feel about writing today. It's been so long that it feels both difficult AND awkward.

I'm not sure what to say, really! Everything has been pretty much the same around here, more or less. A year ago, I was still going through one of the worst times of my life, so I am very glad that life has been uneventful, for the most part. I thought I'd moved past it, but that year and a half of my life changed me a LOT inside and I've been struggling with that. (Also looking for the right therapist)

Anyway, the current uneventfulness doesn't leave much to write. I chose to write a weigh-in post today mainly because of the writing prompt! I think it's been three weeks or so since my last weigh-in, and unfortunately (or, perhaps, fortunately), nothing has changed. Without looking back, I think my weight was at around 145 last time and that's about what it was today:

I still haven't made any significant changes to my diet/exercise, so I wasn't expecting to have lost anything. I haven't been actively working on creating new habits or breaking bad ones. It's hard to admit to myself when I know that I have what it takes and I know what I need to do in order to reach my goals; I just don't have the drive to do it. I tell myself that if I want something badly enough, I'll do what it takes. Even though I very badly want to get back down to a comfortable weight, it's clearly not enough to make me do the work.

I feel like I'm approaching one of those defining moments I get occasionally. I get to the point where I'm finally ready to make a change and then I go ahead, full throttle, definitely a bit overzealous. That's kind of how I've always done things, haha. Ideally, I'd find a comfortable middle ground.

I haven't really set goals in a long time and I miss that drive I used to get when I was focused on meeting a goal. I'm torn between wanting to strive for some goals and wanting to just go with the flow. Yesterday, when putting on some of my "warmer weather" clothes, I realized that I either need to set some goals or buy a new (larger) wardrobe, hahaha. My weight is up about 10 pounds from last year and that means a whole clothing size. I don't have "back up" clothes anymore. So, I need to make a choice. And I'm going to set some goals--defined and measurable ones, like the days when I felt almost unstoppable.

The two things that are most important to me (physically) right now are losing 10-15 pounds and exercising regularly. Since those are very broad, I have to break them down. And to be honest, I haven't done that yet. I already know *what* I need to do; I mainly need to figure out a motivator or some sort of drive that makes my goals feel like a priority.

I didn't intend for this post to sound negative. I really need to write more frequently so that my thoughts are more organized. I never realized that the daily (or even near-daily) blogging helped in that way. I keep telling myself that I need to do a "catch-up" post, so I'll do that no later than Sunday (if I don't give myself a deadline, I may not do it).

For now, I'm going to sit down and write out some goals, as well as plans/habits for reaching them. Maybe that will be the motivation I need to get started. Let's hope so! ;)

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