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Friday, August 28, 2015

20% Done

One fifth of the 250 Workday Outfits Challenge is done.  I've updated the Challenge page with pics.  So, can we talk about something else?  You know how it is, your life is ok, nothing fantastic but ok and you're fine with that, then it seems like the wheels start falling off.  This week, that is literally what happened!  No, not on the car...on the dishwasher's top tray.  So all week we've only had half  a dishwasher, and that condition will continue until the new part arrives.  And it is such a trial!!  I couldn't get the roomies to load, run and unload the thing daily as it was,  To think we used to live completely without one for years & years; I'm so aggravated at the moaning & groaning over using the dishwasher!!
Now, I had car trouble too, but didn't lose any wheels.  I was actually leaving the house early, got in the Red Menace (aka the Dodge Neon) and took off for work.  I didn't even get to the end our street before the check engine light came on.  There's no way I'm going to try to "tough it out" and maybe break down somewhere on the way to work.  So I turn right around & head back to the house -- we've got another car.  When I got home, I realized I didn't have a key to the other car; that's on a separate key chain with the keys to the other house.  So I've got to go inside & get that key chain; only it wasn't where I swear I left it.  Now I'm digging around on the dresser & the nightstand and turning on lights and just generally getting frantic.  The Plaidman is not happy to be wakened by all this tizzy, so he pulls his key off his key chain and sends me away.  But not before informing me that his car has just about enough fuel to get to the closest gas pumps a half mile away.  Aaauuggghh!  I must fly away to the Kroger pumps, fuel up, and get out into much heavier rush hour traffic than I'm used to (now it's about 30 minutes later than I usually leave).  I got about 8 miles down the road and had about 2 minutes before I'd be late to work, with about 2.10 miles to go...and I had to call my boss & let her know I was running late.  Now, this is not normally a problem, but as I was going to leave work early for a dental appointment, I had really wanted to get in early -- you know, be the team player and hold up my end and all that motivational blather.  So I felt bad about coming in late and leaving early.  So bad, in fact, that after my crown was molded, crunched up and removed, and another mold was made, and the temporary crown placed, I went back to work.  For two hours.
Ugh.  
Oh, Plaidman's in heaven, the Titans are on the TV.  
Last weekend he & I went to Waly World, and bought two chromed industrial shelving units for the craft room, and a storage cabinet for the red room.  I'd had all I could take of the mishmash of recyclables storage, so now it's all under cover -- actually, behind cabinet doors.  We'll work on the shelving units this weekend.  I plan to put all the yarn and other crafty goods on these shelves, so I can use the closet for the rest of the tops I got in Texas (Thanks, SIS!).   

Saturday, August 22, 2015

At long last

We are back up & running, for the most part.  I've posted the last three weeks of the Challenge over on another page, after much ranting about Picasa 3.9 (where'd my pictures go?!?!?), which I made the mistake of downloading.  I will just keep adding to that page for the fashion show.  But other stuff has been happening too!  Exciting stuff, like me catching my pinky toe on a doorstop, and almost ripping it off.  Look away if you're squeamish.
I think the cats learned some new words that day.  I just wish the Plaidman knew how to take a picture; I kept saying "the toe, sweetie", but had to crop out about half the dining table from the second pic.  Oops, did I just...nevermind.  That table gets washed all the time anyway.

The Jadeite Color Affection has been coming along nicely; I've got about 1" of the border done.  Cannot wait to wear it!  But it has been on the back burner for a few days, because I've been working 9 hr days for weeks and my eyes and hands are just too tired to do much in the evenings.  

I've been wearing bling by DiscoDame Designs, check it out:
Aqua & teal bracelet      Royal blue & silver illusion necklace    Malachite earrings   Royal blue earrings (match the necklace) and a "magical" necklace with charms.  Most of these are "one-offs", but as she's got a huge selection of beads & charms & findings she can probably whip up whatever one might like to have.  


Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Not yet

But soon, kittens!  What happened: we were "invited" to download a free upgrade to Windows 10.  So the Plaidman jumps right in on it.  Then it got  "stuck" -- for about 12 hours!  Neither our tech gal, DiscoDame, nor the Plaidman could get it to proceed.  And they couldn't get out of it either!  Much gnashing of teeth and turning the air blue!  We finally contracted with a service to come out & hopefully get it up & running.  The service tech came out, first thing he did was to back up everything on the hard drive.  This turned out to be absolutely vital.  After two hours of toting that barge, and a few phone calls to the office, he discovers it's a Windows 10 issue, and one that's pretty well been kept out of the news.  A lot of users are having problems with the W-10 download, because of their firewalls or other security systems.  So, we had to completely close down our security, and start from scratch to get Windows 10 to download.  Then, it wouldn't access the materials on our hard drive!  Nor would it read the back-up disk that the tech had made!  So, we had to go through several more procedures, and have the poor tech dude out to the house several days in a row, but it  looks like we're back up.  Yes, he did get the backed-up data loaded into our hard drive.  I don't even want to think about how much this cost.  I'm hoping to get in some serious computer time this weekend, to update the Challenge and move it to it's own page on the blog.  Not looking forward to it; editing my photos takes a while, loading them the way I want takes a while, and I'll have the spreadsheet to update and descriptive language to add for each picture....it's another freakin' job!

Monday, August 10, 2015

Not a blogger fail

Sorry, this has to be short but not sweet.  Plaidman tried to download Windows 10 on the home computer, and borked it.  So I don't know when I'll be able to post week 7 (or week 8, for that matter), but I will continue to get pictures.  We may have a two-week entry next. 
Did a fun bit of crafty stuff yesterday:  I turned a feather boa and some pipe-cleaners into a kitty tail, for a coworker's costume (she'll be the Cheshire cat at an Alice-In-Wonderland event).  Very cute, but lordy was I covered in bits of feather after!

Sunday, August 2, 2015

Week 6 (omg, of 50!) Challenge

This week's Challenge entries will take us through day 30, not quite one-eighth of the 250 I'm shooting for.  Later, I'll move the earlier Challenge posts over to another page.
Monday I wore my favorite Westbound Woman tan stretch slacks (with added cuffs -- I have to hem every blessed thing, why not add cuffs while I'm at it?).  The blouse is by Millenium, and has small square and round studs on the front (bib area).  It's a booger to iron, but a fabulous color.  I added an 18" silver chain with a silver & turquoise cross, plus another longer silver chain.  There's a silver bracelet too.  The sandals are my studded Trendsetters, and the purse is another fave: the aqua croc!

Tuesday it rained on my parade, and everyone else in middle Tennessee, but I had on something lovely: this Silkland Woman 100% silk multi-color print blouse!  Paired up with my ancient Investments black poly pullons, with added cuffs, and the Modern Metals tri-color multi-chain necklace, gold and onyx hand made earrings (from the big craft fair), and my black BORN shooties.

Oops, looks like I forgot to change purses!  But the aqua croc actually works with this blouse.  We had the photo shoot indoors, because of the wind & rain.
Wednesday is full of woe (or so the rhyme would have it), and woe = blues, so that's what I wore.  My very old royal blue East Fifth trousers, with a blue & white checked Lauren by Ralph Lauren shirt, the bright blue Alfani sandals, the navy purse, the heavy golden & rhinestone chain, and some cute articulated fish "fishhook" earrings.  Disco found them at a flea market and bought them for me, she's so sweet!


 Incidentally, she's blogging again.  Check her out at http://discodamespursuitoflife.blogspot.com/
Tell her you want some stitchmarkers, if you want to make her day.
Thursday I could smell Friday on the wind, which is why I wore the tan stretch cuffed trousers again--hey, Plaidman did laundry during the week, so they were clean!--with a Croft & Barrow Woman coral & blue paisley print blouse, the Trendsetters, some coral & goldtone beads in a long loop ($2.50 @ WalMart!), matching earrings ($5 @ WalMart), and a light caramel colored purse.


And at last!  Friday!!  I got seriously casual for Casual Day, but it's still designer goods.  The jeans are Gloria Vanderbilt Signature, the polo shirt is also Gloria Vanderbilt; I put on my beloved old SAS sandals and a single heavy gold chain; the navy purse reappeared.

These jeans are some that Sis gave me, rather long for me but I see "everyone else" wearing them rolled up so I followed suit.  I'm not hemming jeans if I don't have to do so.
See those sunglasses?  My mother gave me those frames.  She passed away twelve years ago.  I adore big sunglasses, so that's how I've used these -- with prescription lenses, of course.  Thanks, Mom.