Wow, 5 weeks with nary a post.

I suck. I make things and do things all the time and think afterwards, "I should blog this!" but then I never get around to it. Why do today what you can put off for 5 weeks, right? Eh.

What's been going on...Big Brother had his 14th birthday, which blows me away. Where did all of the time go? I feel like I sleep-walked through the last 14 years. It seems like just yesterday he looked like this:



So you can imagine my shock when I realized, time and again, that he looks like this now:



In other news, I got a picture of all of my munchkins together recently. Yeah, it's redneck - I'd taken the back seat out of the van in order to haul some cardboard and stuff to the recycling center. The kids insisted on sitting in the disembodied van seat (does that word work there? I dunno) for the picture.



And one last picture of Thing Two, just because - he was wearing his daddy's batting helmet, only backwards 'cause he's got it like that.



Work stuff...I've been swamped with a bunch of custom orders and things lately and haven't gotten to do as much regular stocking as I'd like to. Hopefully I'll be caught up soon because there's a cashmerino baby girl set that I'm dying to finish! I did the longies for it, but I've yet to have time to start the sweater (gradient dyed seamless kimono, 20% cashmere). When it's all done, there will be longies, a sweater, a lap tee, a fitted diaper, a hat and maybe booties. And possibly a receiving blanket to wrap it all up in, lol. But not knitted - I don't do afghans. I hate afghans, they put me to sleep.

I've had some random bumps in the road with work over the last couple of weeks. One bump was for a custom BFL yarn order. I took the order with my customer informed that I would need to order the yarn. I had no idea that my usual supplier (and it seems every other supplier under the sun!) was back ordered on it. Gah! I ended up asking the customer to pick something else, and feeling like a moron.

Well, wouldn't you know that I found it through an online acquaintance after all? But when I went to pay her for it, Paypal decided to pick that very moment to have a conniption. I waited a couple of days to pay after that because I wanted to make sure that Paypal wouldn't charge me twice - I can't afford to pay for BFL twice at this point, lol. So, I finally paid for it and am waiting for it to come and feeling like an idiot because my custom yarn orders never take this long to fulfill. Sigh.

The next bump in the road is that the custom Apple Fest set that I sold nearly 3 weeks ago included the customer's choice of long or short sleeves and size for the shirt. Which meant, once again, ordering the shirt after the set was purchased. It took nearly two weeks for the shirt to arrive! The longies have been done for days, just waiting on the shirt to get here so that I could embellish it. Thankfully, embellishing the shirt shouldn't take very long. I can't afford to get behind on these customs!

It seems that things are finally settling down now, though. I just need to work, work, work for the next few weeks and get caught completely up. This is why my general policy is not to take more than 2-3 custom orders at a time. I get so overwhelmed so quickly!

Children's Museum

This was a nice distraction from the heavy drama of the past week - I took Thing One, Thing Two and Big Brother to the Children's Museum here today. Fair warning, tons of pics ahead! (The tall one is Big Brother, the medium-ish one is Thing One and the nearly-hairless one is Thing Two)

More crazy personal stuff than biz stuff lately

I've been so busy lately with what's going on in my life that I haven't had time to do any good stocking at the OTM. For example, I finally have health coverage again so I decided to catch up on all of those nagging little issues that have needed attention for some time. Wow, who'd have thunk that I was falling apart at 34??

In the last week it has been discovered that my diabetes is uncontrolled (big surprise there, doc). My A1C test was 10 - and should not be above 7 (non-diabetics will be even lower). What this means is that my blood glucose levels have been rampantly out of control for a prolonged period of time. Add to that the high blood pressure that developed during my last pregnancy and never went away, and suddenly I have the magic formula for diabetic-induced kidney disease. Yes, the test for that came back with bad news as well. I have evidence of early kidney disease. So I'm now taking medication my diabetes and my blood pressure, and have been instructed to eat a low protein diet and very carefully control my blood glucose levels in order to help my kidneys not work so hard (which will help slow the progression of the kidney disease).

To top all of that, I also found out this week that I've got the crazy. In huge, heaping helpings. Last monday I had a mental health assessment with a clinical psychologist, and the verdict is Bipolar II, Borderline Personality Disorder and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Now, the first diagnosis is likely a product of genetics - my biological mother has Bipolar. However, the second two diagnoses can be traced back to my biological father abusing me.

This is a bit of a hard pill to swallow, because now he not only took away my innocence before I could fight back, but he has now had his hands on my entire life up to this point. His sickness caused my own sickness, and therefore impacted my own life long after he was sent to prison, as well as my children's lives through me. I know that I have to forgive him at some point, for my own sake, but right this minute I am so damned angry with him that I don't know what to do with it.

So, anyway, I'll be starting medications for the mental health issues as soon as I can be seen by a psychiatrist (they are backed up, it will be about 8 weeks). In the meantime, I will be starting a special type of group therapy designed specifically for those with BPD - dialectic behavioral therapy. It starts Monday and is a weekly thing. I'm so freaking anxious about it, but I'm sure it will be fine once I get in and meet the others in the group.

I'm a bad, bad blogger.

Or just a busy mom. Or both, lol. I've barely slept for days, gearing up for the big stocking day today for the "Down by the Sea" themed stocking at OTM. It was actually a little anti-climactic. Lately, every time I put something up for auction it gets it's first bid within an hour of going live, and is bid through the roof in no time (to my very humble appreciation).

Not today, though. Things sat there for quite some time before anyone bid, and even now (9 hours after going live) nothing has more than one bid, and one thing still has no bids. Go figure. I think it's partly because it's mostly boy stuff. People just don't seem to part with as much money or as easily with boys as they do with girls.

Anyway, the listings of the day -



In other news, I've joined the next True Colors Dyers' Charity Challenge. I'm very excited about this. The colorway I have to work with is yet to be announced, suggestions and voting are going on now. I am torn, though. There are two charities that have become close to my heart and I have to pick one and only one for the proceeds of my challenge to go. For several months now I've been engrossed and deeply touched by the blog of a man whose wife and daughter have been (and still are) facing huge obstacles due to his wife's Cystic Fibrosis. So on one hand I'd love to donate what I raise to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in his wife's honor.

However, on the other hand my very best friend on the planet has a little girl who is very sick with a chronic kidney disease called FSGS (Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis). It is chronic, there is no cure, and it will require a kidney transplant at some point in the future. Like with a lot of chronic diseases, there is no way of projecting when that day will come. It could happen next week, it could happen in 5 years. The only certainty is that it will happen. The poor kid is 6 years old and already takes 15 pills a day, including immuno-suppressants and steroids to help her kidneys continue to function to some degree for as long as possible. So, on this other hand I really want to donate the money to the Nephcure Foundation. I wish I could donate to both causes.

Wait! I CAN! It just occurred to me to match whatever my auction goes for. My customer's payment will go to one charity, and my matching payment will go to the other. Woot! I feel like dancing around singing, "We just figured out Blue's Clues..." (yes, I watch entirely too much children's programming).

I hate slugs.

Really and truly. They're just so gross - they leave slime trails for goodness' sakes! *shiver*

My home seems to be slug central. Seriously, I think that there must be an entire slug city living under my deck or something because every time it gets the least bit damp, they are all over my deck. They also congregate on my front door, storm door and the exterior wall around the doors. Last summer I took pictures of a pair who were about 6" long. Yes, slugs that were SIX INCHES LONG. ON MY HOUSE. I've sprinkled salt on the floor near the door to keep them from coming in, but they still sometimes ride the door into the house when it gets opened. Squick.

So anyway, I am an insomniac. More often than not I end up crashing on the couch so as not to disturb the Hubz and Things One and Two (who won't sleep without their dad). My couch is leather, so a lovely smooth surface. Tonight I came in late, after going to my weekly knitting group and stopping by Target afterwards. There were slugs all over the door when I came home, and apparently one hitched a ride inside without my noticing. That was hours ago.

Just now I was about to go to sleep. Normally I'd get up from whatever I'm doing, grab a blanket and pillow, turn off the lights and flop down on the couch. All without looking at the couch. Thank goodness I didn't do that tonight, or else I'd have been in for a rude, squishy surprise. I just happened to look at the couch as I was about to turn out the light and saw the slug crawling down the back of it towards the seat - where my blanket and pillow were lying. GAH!

I carefully scooped him off the couch with a piece of paper and put him outside with his peeps. As I shut the door, I noticed ANOTHER ONE crawling across the floor, where he'd apparently fallen off the door when I opened it. I scooped him and put him out, too, then spent the next twenty minutes frantically searching for more slugs. *shiver, shiver, shiver*

I hate slugs. I need to find a natural way to keep the little suckers out of my house, and away from my deck/front door. Ew.

I'm such a bad, bad, bad blogger.

But, here I am again!

Let's see... stuff I've been working on... Oh! For the upcoming big "Down by the Sea" stocking at OTM I am working on another set with a Marisol top, matching capris and a diaper. The fabric that the set is revolving around is a Laura Ashley print with mermaids on it. The mermaids are huge and not generally well suited for making clothing for small children, but I'm rockin' it anyway. The diaper is going to just have one of the mermaids centered squarely on the bum. I'm thinking I might also make a tote bag for the little one to carry her toys and snacks in while she goes on playdates or to Grandma's house. Just a little simple open-top bag wouldn't take much time at all in front of the machine.

Anyway, the crowning piece in the set, and the one thing that I think is going to sell this set for me, is the coordinating doll that I'm making to go with it. I'm making a mermaid, similar to the Waldorf tradition but not Waldorf. Her skin is cotton knit and her tail is cotton velour, but she is stuffed with Bamboo rather than wool, and her hair is a synthetic blend - so she's hypoallergenic. Granted, she does not have the flame retardant properties of wool, but I guess that's the trade off for having a doll that won't cause allergy problems and can be thrown into the washing machine when she gets dirty.

I'm not making her to look exactly like the mermaids on the fabric print for copyright reasons, but she does coordinate. Her tail is the same color as the fabric background, and her hair repeats a lot of the colors in the print. She's so cute that I don't know if I want to give her up, LOL! I'm debating about making her a necklace and/or bracelet with some teeny sea shell beads that I have, but she's being sold with a size 2/3 top - which means she needs to be safe for a 2 or 3 year old to play with. I'm thinking that means no shells or beads. Ah, well.

This is me, banging my head against the wall.

I redesigned OTM. It's the first time in more than 6 months probably that I've gotten the itch to do it. Usually I can have a redesign done in no time flat, I don't usually run into much trouble with these run-of-the-mill pages. The only php coding I do is my contact form, the rest is straight, vanilla html. Even the hyena cart is easily integrated - it's usually a pie job.

Not today.

I had the table that would not be tamed. It would NOT contain it's content without stretching, no matter what size I made it. And it was really ticking me off because it HAD to not stretch since the entire head of the design is a sliced image.

It took me most of the day, but I tamed it. I am loathe to admit that I'm not exactly sure which desperate change that I made did the trick, but who cares since it's fixed? Not I. So anyway, drumroll please -

Over the Moon's New Clothes. Please overlook the lack of content on the index page - I'm too tired and irritable at this point to even consider adding *more* content to the evil pages tonight.

Totally wiped.

It's 11:30, I'm completely empty. Wiped. Nuthin' left. I just spent the last 16 hours taking care of 2 very rambunctious little boys with almost no help. Big Brother was here, but he's not a parent and therefore not much help with keeping Thing One and Thing Two reined in. He's pretty good at wrangling them when all else fails, but after all he's just a kid himself. A mouthy and hormonal teen, but even they count as "kids"...for a little while longer anyway. The Hubz is out riding his gixxer, who knows when he'll be in. I'm thinking he has issues with the headlight, if I remember correctly, so he needs to bring his juvenile butt home before he gets hurt.

So, Thing One is in bed, watching Noggin (or Baby No-Doz). It's a rare treat to watch TV at sleep time, but I can't get him to stay back there tonight and I'm about to lose my mind if he marches out here one more time and unsettles Thing Two after I've finally gotten him to lie down peacefully. I need for them to go to sleep because I feel like I've been steamrolled and I need just 30 minutes of peace before I pass out sitting upright in the easy chair, knitting in my lap.

Just in case I didn't mention it before, I'm tired.

Latest Buzz

*Looking around*

Ooooo, pretty! I like my new digs. I was going to ask what you think, but it really doesn't matter what you think, now does it? We all know people who must ask the internets about everything before they can make a decision. I will not be that chick. So, I like it and that's all that matters.

In other news, I made my first attempt at gradient dyeing yesterday. Without a warp board or anything of that nature, just the slow and tedious way. It took me no less than 5 hours to dye 4 oz of yarn. I don't think I'll be doing that again any time soon. And what's worse? It's ugly. I took gorgeous organic merino and made it ugly. I hide my face in shame.

Well, look who got a blog!

I was sitting here tonight after having just spent $22 on a yard of fabric and thinking "Man, I hope it was worth it!" Then I realized that I wanted to say that to someone - but you just don't call people up in the middle of the night to say stuff like that. It's uncivilized. So, I decided I needed to start a blog so I'd have a place for such randomness. I'm not looking to build readership, or become the Blog Queen™ or anything like that. Just looking to spill my boring randomness and ramble about my projects, my family, and life in general. If you're peaking into my new fishbowl, Hiya! I don't do any tricks, but every once in awhile I like to make a splash!