Instead

30 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller in Family

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Life is full of obligations. People do a lot of interesting things to avoid those obligations. For example:

Instead of working on Parker’s book report video on Saturday,

Heath and I reorganized the garage so his new Chevy Equinox would fit. We’re the exception to the rule in our neighborhood because we actually park our cars in the garage. Heath decided to trade his Mini Cooper for a more useful car (think Scout carpooling and any time Velma is in the shop).

Believe it or not, we’re actually saving money with this deal. While we talked about trading his cute little car, it still surprised me when he went to do it. At 7:40 pm three days after I came home from SLC, Heath announced he was going to the dealership. I was left to handle kid bedtime alone and wonder why at this moment in time Heath suddenly took off for a new car. Personally, I think it was what he decided to do instead of thinking about where I was three days earlier.

Instead of getting my new insulin pump on Friday like I hoped, I got my order of pump supplies instead. Never before have I gotten my pump supplies the same week I called and ordered them without having to ask for a rush on the order. Weird.

That meant my new pump would show up today. Instead of staying home and waiting for the delivery man to ask for my signature,

Gwen and I took advantage of a gorgeous day. Highs in the low 80’s.

Gwen played in the water for a little while. Instead of playing longer and letting me work on my tan,

she insisted I play with her. I pushed her on the swing and teeter tottered with her and followed her around asking if she could at least play at the other playground so I could still sit in the grass by the water. She didn’t want to.

Instead of playing at the park until it was time to pick up “her boys,” she wanted to go back home. I had enough time to realize I missed my package and to look up my mom’s instructions on how to sew a zipper in.

Instead of cleaning bathrooms today, which desperately need it, I worked on my dress. So far so good!

Instead of doing dishes, which were all over the counter, I worked on my dress. Luckily Heath promised me dinner out and Diet Coke. I had just tried my dress on before we left. The zipper is perfect and the dress fits like a glove. Which would be nice if I was proud of my body but I have gained all my weight back and I feel lumpy. Instead of eating something healthy, I ate a greasy burger and fries! I can’t imagine where all the extra weight has come from.

Instead of playing The Farming Game when we got home, I did the dishes. Heath could only recruit Parker to play. Parker fizzled out halfway through.

Instead of coming up with witty posts every day, I walk around in a fog. Mentally I’m still not over my near death experience. Some days I think I am. I want to post my thoughts but then again I don’t. This whole blogging thing is bigger than entertaining the world, bloggy friends, and bloggy personalities. This is my life story, published publicly to keep it balanced.

I haven’t decided what to do yet. I did write one very personal post last night that I won’t publish. Maybe I’ll save all those posts to a folder so that one day when I get around to publishing another blog book, these personal posts will be there for my family. In the meantime, I may post a lot of fluff or nothing at all. I hope to be back to my regular piquant self soon. Right now I’m doing anything I can instead of thinking about it all.

Unbelievable Luck

20 Friday Apr 2012

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller in Uncategorized

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Heath, me

As if the events from Sunday weren’t enough to label me lucky, I got a phone call this morning. The woman asked if I remembered filling out a survey at the What a Woman Wants Convention. I said yes and she told me I won a trip for two. I never win.

There are three different vacation packages I can choose from. Cruises, weekend getaway to Orlando or Las Vegas, or a trip to Mexico or The Dominican Republic. Amazing.

The only problem is Heath and I are supposed to go into the Salt Lake City office to claim our prize. We don’t live in Salt Lake City. I asked if my family could claim it for me and she said only if they’re eligible. I don’t know what that means. I guess when Heath comes home today we have some vacations to think about! My friends are skeptical, which I can understand. But if it’s real, that’s so cool. I never win! A trip for two. Who knew?

Only Happy When it Rains

18 Wednesday Apr 2012

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller in Family, I'm a Mormon

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Gwen, me

Driving home from the doctor this afternoon, I kept skipping songs. Not in the mood for that artist. Not that sound either. Nope. Uh-uh. I finally landed on Only Happy When it Rains by Garbage.

I like Garbage. I like the song too. It definitely describes me. Nothing is ever good enough for me unless it’s complicated. Truth be told, I’m feeling totally blah today. I don’t know if it’s the cold my mom breathed into my lungs trying to breathe life back into me or if I’m overwhelmed or just simply don’t care anymore. Unfortunately life goes on. The boys still have a month or so left of school so they should do their homework. There is still housework and yard work to be done. Children to feed and bathe, etc.

Since I’m only happy when it rains I thought it would be fun to post more rainy pictures from my trip. That should be more cheery than any thoughts I have today.

My mom is the cutest hostess! She put this basket of snacks, water, and extra towels in the room Gwen and I shared. Gwen was always begging for snacks from this basket. When my own snacks were getting a little depleted I started grabbing from the basket. When Candi and Ed were helping me pack on Monday, Candi was shoving all the snacks in my bags just in case. I was definitely grateful for my mom’s forethought with the snacks.

I’m so glad I bought these Mickey Mouse Playhouse toys for Gwen. She loves them. I love how she lined them up against the wall before going to sleep.

On Saturday we went to Heritage Park in Salt Lake City. The morning was pretty nice with more sunshine than clouds. Of course the clouds thickened as we got closer to leaving. It rained off and on as we drove, with the rain getting heavier the closer we got to Salt Lake. By the time we turned into the parking lot the rain had turned to hail. Gwen was very mad at me for telling her she had to wear this jacket. We hadn’t planned on cold Utah weather so we only had light jackets that would do little to protect us from cold rain. My mom let us borrow her jackets. The hail/rain let up so we got out of the car. Gwen was ready for an adventure.

The first place Gwen went after I paid the entrance fee was to the train table. This girl loves trains.

Gwen was excited to ride the train through the park. The excitement died very quickly. “Why we not on the train tracks? Why is the train on the street?” I didn’t have a good answer. I thought the train ride was pretty cool. First of all, we rode in the only covered car so we got a break from the rain. I was impressed with all the pioneer history. Did you know it wasn’t just the Mormons who went to Utah seeking religious freedom? True story. There were plaques for many of the different religious pioneers. Catholics, Baptists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and Jewish people. I had no idea!

This is a map of the United States in 1865.

Because of the number of immigrants speaking other languages, The Deseret Alphabet was taught. It’s a phonetic alphabet that made learning English much easier. It’s pretty confusing to me but I learned English with the traditional alphabet.

Mom forgot her homework and had to wear a Dunce cap.

We practiced milking a pretend cow.

There was a really cool petting zoo with tons of baby animals. Izzy and Gwen liked the bunnies the best.

Gwen fed a cow. She’ll tell you that was one of her favorite parts even though she was standing as far back as she possibly could and jerked her arm back as soon as his tongue touched the pellet.

Gwen wanted to go into the petting zoo area with the pigs and goats. As soon as we got in there she took off for the bridge. She didn’t care about the animals. She just thought their little yard was cool. Silly girl.

There was too much rain for the pony rides so I bought Gwen a unicorn. She was sure she would get to ride a unicorn! It’s one of those things that grows in water. I also bought her some really expensive rocks. She asked if she could fill a bag of rocks and I said yes. She put six rocks in the bag that cost $6 no matter how many rocks you stuffed in there! I also got her a “spyer” (magnifying glass).

This girl is so spoiled. For all the stuff I bought her on our trip she came home to new stuff from her other grandma – wedding dress for her doll, Little Red Riding Hood cape for her doll, and a veil for Gwen.

So much fun.

Dying for Adventure

17 Tuesday Apr 2012

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller in Diabetes, Family, I'm a Mormon

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Diabetes, faith, me, testimony

I was doing really well reporting on each day of my trip until Sunday when I sort of fell off the face of the earth. The not so funny thing is that’s about what I tried to do. After all my brushes with death, this one was by far the closest.

My mom, Gwen, and I went to Sacrament Meeting then home for lunch. We wanted to go to Temple Square before my grandparents came to dinner. Temple Square was beautiful as usual and I enjoyed being there. We walked around a long time and then watched a movie about the Prophet Joseph Smith before going home.

On the ride home I was very quiet. My mom and I passed it off in our minds as me being spiritually overwhelmed by the film. As my mom pulled into her driveway we could see her next door neighbor playing basketball outside with his kids. We went inside and changed our clothes.

That is the last thing I remember before the big gaping hole in my memory.

I remember unbuttoning Gwen’s dress and then she changed her clothes. I remember taking my dress off and changing into a comfortable pair of jeans and a button up shirt that would match the bracelet I was wearing. I swear I put on my shoes. My mom says I did not have shoes on so maybe I just remember thinking about wearing those particular shoes.

The next thing I remember was lying on the floor in an unknown location staring up into a handful of unfamiliar faces. The people were all trying to get me to calm down. Somewhere in there I was put on a stretcher. They picked me up and carried me outside where I saw two fire trucks in front of my mom’s house. I was put into one and thankfully my mom was able to ride in the back with me. As I was being carried out of the house and feeling the most intense panic I have ever felt, I looked up and saw my grandpa. Nothing made sense. He looked very somber.

The actual details had to be provided by my mom. I guess what happened was I came out to test my blood sugar. My mom asked what the reading was and I told her she didn’t want to know. Then I admitted it was 35. I ate fruit snacks and drank juice. Then I passed out and my mom lowered me to the floor so I wouldn’t hurt myself. I had a seizure and my mom was freaking out. She said she was trying to move my jaw but it wasn’t working. At some point she ran outside and screamed for her neighbor to come help her.

She told him to call 911 and she gave me mouth to mouth because at that point I was blue and she thought she was losing me forever. The craziest part of the story is that for all the years my mom has been a registered nurse she has never once had to give anyone mouth to mouth resuscitation. She’s always had access to equipment to do that for her. We rode to the hospital while the EMT’s asked me a bunch of questions I should have known the answers to but my mind was not working. It was the most terrifying experience in the world.

Later Ed told me my grandpa’s side of the story. He showed up either right before or right after the EMT’s did. When I had come to enough to panic over the unfamiliar faces looking down on me and then recognized my grandpa, my grandpa said I recoiled from him like he had come to murder me. Two days later the whole thing feels like a bad dream. My sore muscles remind me that yes, I did have a seizure and spent several hours in the ER.

While in the ER I was pumped full of just about anything you can put in an IV. They tried several different anti-anxiety meds. I think they finally landed on Valium before I could calm down. They tried several different anti-nausea meds too. I still puked my guts up. When my headache wouldn’t go away they ordered a CT scan just to be sure everything was ok. Everything was fine so then they could do something to relieve my headache. Once my headache subsided the nausea also went away and the plethora of drugs made me sleepy. So I slept for several hours on a very uncomfortable stretcher type cot.

Ed and my grandpa came to give me a priesthood blessing about the time I was starting to feel really sleepy. They also gave my mom a blessing. I really don’t remember much of what was said in my blessing and very little of my mom’s. I do remember something about the Lord was pleased with my mom and how she saved me. I remember feeling like it was very important for my mom to not worry about anything but just know she did the right thing.

My poor mom is convinced Heath will never let any of us visit her again. Parker spent the day in Insta-Care on breathing treatments, I went to the ER, Gwen ate too much and puked everywhere, Gavin had the flu one Thanksgiving. I told Heath and he just rolled his eyes and laughed. Of course we can visit again!

The blessings have not escaped any of us. Bruce being outside when my mom needed his help. My mom knowing what to do and staying with me the whole time helping the other nurses. My grandparents coming over when they did. I think my grandma kept Gwen occupied until Candi and Ed got there for dinner. Gwen was just having a party! She loved spending the night at Izzy’s house. I am so grateful that Candi and Ed could take Gwen like that. I am also grateful the doctor gave me the choice of spending the night or leaving in a few hours. I was released at 1:00 am which meant I was able to make my flight yesterday.

It’s sad I didn’t get a chance to see my grandparents really. I saw my grandpa and listened to him talk to Mom and Ed while I was in and out of sleep. Both my grandparents came and watched me sleep for a little bit. I’ll tell you, when Heath was helping me pack for this trip I almost asked if I should take a microphone and try to get more recordings from my grandpa, but I didn’t. There were a few times on the trip that I wondered if I had made a mistake. I wouldn’t trick my grandpa again. I would tell him I wanted to record more of his stories. I was only going to see them on Sunday afternoon. Given the events of that afternoon I wasn’t able to really even see them! Maybe that trip two years ago really was my only shot at getting my grandpa’s stories.

All I know is I am so blessed. Blessed to have taken this wonderful trip with Gwen and bond with her even more. Blessed to be alive to tell about it. Blessed to be surrounded by people who love me wherever I go. I am blessed. I have a wonderful life, I’m not sure why I felt it was necessary to spice it up in this way!

Reader’s Digest Version

14 Saturday Apr 2012

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller in Family

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family fun, Gwen, me

Today was a very full day and I have so many pictures. I think I took 50 today. I’ll whet your appetite with a couple pictures and give the world’s most non piquant report of my day.

I woke up early. Not sure why but I decided I better go with it since the fam was coming over for brunch. We had breakfast around 10 am local time. I’m just going with the flow so it felt like 9 am to me.

Gwen had a blast playing with her cousins. Daphne was very accommodating with Gwen’s wishes. Calvin and Daphne are best friends as siblings rather than mortal enemies like my kids think they are with their siblings. Anyway, since Gwen convinced Daphne to play outside with her, Calvin followed and Isabel didn’t want to be left out.

They played so happily together while Gwen had a million accidents. Who wants to stop to pee when there are so many fun people to play with?

I washed Gwen’s every pair of pants while she played in her pajama pants and I prayed she wouldn’t have another accident. The unexpected laundry kept us from leaving for Heritage Park as soon as we had planned. No worries. Candi and I became mad scientists coming up with the perfect hairstyle for Daphne.

Once Daphne’s hair was complete we headed out for Heritage Park. The rain got heavier as we drove until it was full on hail as we pulled into the parking lot. No joke. We sat in the car and waited for the storm to pass. There were off and on sprinkly showers during our little adventure to Heritage Park. It was a lot of fun. We stayed much longer than any of us anticipated.

We dropped off Daphne and Calvin to their relieved parents who probably thought we had kidnapped them and hauled off for the border. Then we went back to Mom’s house for dinner. Ed bought the drinks – Diet Coke, Dr. Pepper, and berry 7-Up. Candi just laughed. “So this is for Tristan, this one’s for you, and the rest of us get this?” That was his plan! Thanks Ed. You’re awesome!

Ed napped while we girls played with beads and made bracelets. Gwen and Izzy played together. Like really played together, not just polite sharing of toys but were playing together. It was so cute. Gwen was getting ornery so I got her in her pj’s. She pulled it together for a little while longer. Then Ed decided they better go home and let their dog out. I got an irrationally tired Gwen ready for bed.

Mom oohed and ahhed over my dress and showed me how she does her zippers. We were having a grand old time just chatting. Gwen started crying. I thought she had woken up and would soon go back to sleep. But she kept crying. I went in to check on her and she sobbed that she was so sorry for having an accident.

No, not what you think. She had puked her guts up all over herself and the bed. Aw cwap. Mom took care of the bed while I bathed bratwurst chunks off of Gwen. Another load of laundry was started. Luckily Gwen had another pair of pajamas. I wrapped her in a blanket since she was still shivering and combed her hair. Then I held her for a minute until she asked to go to bed.

She took a while to fall asleep but I think she’s ok. No fever or anything. I made another bracelet and we finally decided to head to bed shortly before midnight.

Yes, it’s a long post but trust me, this is the Reader’s Digest version of the day!

What do women want?

13 Friday Apr 2012

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller in Family

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Gwen, me

In a word – purses.

How many purses do women want?
As many as they can have.

How many purses does one woman need?
At least two, more like three though.

I now have two functional purses. Both are very chic and totally awesome. Gwen has a coin purse that we still need to stud (think bedazzler) and a tiny little girl clutch. When she started melting down at the What A Woman Wants Convention I bought her a mini rolling backpack with a huge pink and purple butterfly on it. Best $16 I’ve ever spent on her! She was still gravitating to the exit though. There’s only so much shopping a 4 year old can take in a day.

Women also want sunglasses. We’re assuming they’re knockoff Dolce and Gabbana since everything at that stand was 6 for $20. Sunglasses and jewelry for the four of us!

The convention was very fun. Gwen was amazing. I am so proud of that little one. She stayed right with me and touched as much as we did, which was a lot. She listened really well and only had to be carried twice. It was so dull in there for her she quite literally could not stay on her feet. That was when the backpack came in pretty handy. She rolled that thing the rest of the time asking so insistently if we could please be done yet.

Gwen was also the talk of the show in her big fluffy tutu I made her. A woman walking into the restroom commented on how cute Gwen was as I finished taking her picture. The compliments kept coming from there. I also had compliments on my talent for making her skirt. Many vendors were very impressed to know I made it for a fraction of the price that those skirts go for. I also had a compliment on my earrings from Dress Barn. Love those earrings. Love that store. It was a no brainer when the lady asked me if I wanted to enter to win a shopping spree to Dress Barn. Yes please!

We did Costa Vida for dinner and watched Flawless on Netflix while Candi painted our toenails. Gwen and Izzy played pretty well together. Gwen may be a little too dominant and bossy for Izzy’s comfort level, especially considering they are her toys!

I think Gwen is in there somewhere.

Women also want sleep. As it is midnight here in SLC I should try to sleep. Tyson and Deanna and gang are coming in the morning for breakfast and then we’re off to discover Heritage Park aka This is the Place Monument. Should be fun.

3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . . Blast Off!

12 Thursday Apr 2012

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family fun, Gwen, me

The day has come. After much anticipation, a day to puke my guts up, and a non shower day – although I did change my pj’s for my visiting teacher to come! Blast off day has arrived.

For nervous travelers who may be taking note – taking a mental health pharmacy of pills in the morning works. Gwen and I enjoyed our flight from Oakland to SLC today. She was a little annoyed that at the beginning and end of the flight she couldn’t watch any movies on my laptop and I wouldn’t let her play with the tray. But other than that, she loved every minute of it.

Candi, Ed, and Izzy picked us up at the airport and we went straight to City Creek. It’s a new shopping center in SLC that’s really something. There is a real creek running through the middle of everything. The landscaping is beautiful. The ambiance is posh. It’s basically an outdoor strip mall that to me seemed like a cross between The Gateway (another SLC shopping center) and Downtown Disney. The cool part is there is a removable roof cover thingy. Since it was raining buckets today the cover was up. When Heath went last month, the weather was warm and lovely so the cover was down.

We went to the Disney store and I had a little too much fun in there. It was like a smaller version of The World of Disney in Downtown Disney. I saw Lightning McQueen flip flops for less than I paid for Gwen’s flip flops at Payless recently. Oh I had to get those. I wasn’t necessarily planning on getting anything for the boys. Heath is spoiling them enough without me, but the flip flops were a must buy for Parker.

There were so many things that if my money tree was actually growing in my yard I would have impulse bought for Gwen. I have to pace myself though. Tomorrow is the What Women Want Convention. I did get her some Mickey Mouse Playhouse figurines. She had fun sharing and playing with Izzy. Of course they stopped playing together when I finally had my camera ready. Sigh.

Dinner was at Crown Burger. I have to say that’s the place I have been craving the most. When Heath told me he ate at Crown Burger I was so jealous. It definitely satisfied.

Then we hung out with Tyson and Deanna. That was fun to see them. I can’t believe how big Daphne and Calvin are. Holy cow. Then we took Mom home so she could snore in her own bed and get to work early tomorrow. I wasn’t tired so I said I wanted to hang out with Candi and Ed some more. I think we successfully riled Isabel all up until she was probably a bear to get to bed. Especially since she didn’t get her nap today. Sorry Candi.

Hopefully Gwen has played herself to sleep. I gave her all her toys and told her she could play as long as she stayed in bed. She’s not used to sharing a room and she’s used to falling asleep with her light on. Silly girl.

I miss Heath. He’s watching TV alone in our big new comfy bed while I sit on my mom’s couch wondering if there is anything on this late at night to watch alone. She doesn’t have cable either so my choices are really limited. Eventually I will feel tired enough to go to bed. More playing tomorrow!

Hello and Goodbye

23 Friday Mar 2012

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller in Family, Funny

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faith, family fun, Gavin, Heath, me, Say What

Goodbye Bogeyman. It’s been fun having you around again. Sorry our relationship is fading. I blame Zoloft for that. Just know you will always have a space in the back of my mind anytime Heath is out of town!

It’s been a long week. Five days without Heath makes one weak.

I’m always extra patient when I do the single parent thing. I have to be knowing nobody is there to relieve me or take a turn. We’ve had a lot of fun together.

I only drank two Diet Cokes from the six-pack Heath bought me. He told me I could have four but I only had two. Not bad. The only obligation I skipped out on was a Relief Society Board dinner. My friend forgot we were going to go together and I was not going to remind her! My Tuesday was too full as it was.

I did take the kids to the church last night for the Strengthening Marriage class. They love playing with Owen, who is a fabulous babysitter. It was weird going stag to the class but I’m glad I did it. I did a lot this week. I’m so proud of me.

Now he’s on his way and I’m so excited. I feel like I’m back in high school waiting to go on a date. Maybe that’s a bad comparison though. Back then I would practically puke with nerves before a date. I feel as giddy as I did when Heath and I were dating. Eleven years is not long. We’re still newlyweds but I love that we are still this much in love. I just want to be smothered in his hug right now.

The kids can’t wait to see their dad. A friend offered to babysit tonight so Heath and I could go out. She didn’t know he had been gone all week. As much as I wanted to take her up on the offer I knew I couldn’t keep my babies from their daddy. He wants to see them too.

Funny story: Gavin was crying Monday night he was missing his dad so much. We talked and I counted the days until he would come home. This is something I did with Gavin when we were living in San Francisco and we were both ready to lose our minds. I would count how many days until we would move. It was calming to both of us. Anyway, I told Gavin there were only three and a half days until “Dad” would come home. Gavin cried harder and said, “Three days is a long time! The apostles had to wait three days for Jesus to be resurrected after he died!” That’s what the connection he made? Funny!

My stud muffin is home now! Wahoo!

Success Among Failure

21 Wednesday Mar 2012

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller in Diabetes, Piquant

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anxiety, Diabetes, Gwen, me, piquant

They say that man’s conquest of himself dwarfs the ascent of Everest. I’m still working on conquering myself. On the bright side, I did a lot today that I would rather not have ever had to do on my own. That’s good. On the other hand, I was so self-conscious and anxious the whole time I made a ton of stupid mistakes. I decided not to let it ruin my day. Instead I laughed it off and told myself I would never see any of those people ever again! That’s a huge plus to living in a city vs. a small town.

Velma is home safe and sound. Gwen and I lived through the experience of returning the Jetta and picking Velma up. I learned that all you have to do to open the gas tank door thingy is to push it with your finger. That option never occurred to me and when I couldn’t find a button to open the door from inside the car I decided not to fill up the last 1/4 tank. The girl at the dealership never charged me for not returning the car full.

I’m not sure why the rest of the experience of returning the Jetta was so anxiety ridden but it was. And I lived. I also lived through changing my own infusion set for my insulin pump this morning. Yay me!

Those two events alone were enough to do me in for the day. Gwen pushed me to keep going. I love that girl. It’s hard to say if I would have ever climbed out of my agoraphobic rut as well as I have, or at all for that matter, if she wasn’t born. I don’t know what about her inspires motivation in me but she does. We ordered sandwiches for lunch from Mr. Pickles. Gwen’s idea. Then we went to the mall so I could make good on my promise to her to buy her some flip flops.

After the mall we picked up my test strips since the pharmacy is right there. Hopefully nobody else needs test strips since I picked up 600 of them. Major props to my doctor for updating my prescription. The last time I ordered test strips only 200 were delivered to me. I thought that was strange but figured I would just have to order more often. No biggie. However, I had a CGM (continuous glucose monitor) sensor in for 6 days and I tend to test between 10-15 times a day on the sensor. When I tried to order more strips online and have them mailed to me they said it was too early. With another sensor in and only about 50 strips left I started conserving on tests and emailed my doctor who put in an order for 600 strips.

The best part is that the girl gave me my mile long stretch of boxes and told me there was no charge. No charge! How could I not have a copay on the prescription? I decided to tell her thank you and not ask questions. I know that durable medical supplies are supposed to be free to me. Maybe strips are part of that. I don’t know. I thought I was charged the last time I had them mailed to me.

Whatever. I’ve spent enough money today, been in public long enough, driven enough, and have had enough of being a soccer mom today. I have nicely asked my energetic and talkative children to please let me have my break. I have explained to them that blogging is my break and to please let me have my break for the day. They’re outside playing. Their idea not mine, which is even better!

I’d finish sewing my dress but I’m so afraid of making a mistake with the zipper and I wasn’t sure if I even stitched the one side correctly. My plan is to call a friend and have her sit next to me while I do it. Everyone says they can talk me through it over the phone but they also say it’s weird to do over the phone. They all say that they can’t imagine doing a zipper for the first time without their mother next to them. I’ll call a friend. Other than that I’m pretty proud of how much of that dress I figured out on my own. Of course now that I’ve said out loud my plan with the zipper I may try to work on it again tonight. After the kids are in bed. Who knows?

Conquering oneself doesn’t happen overnight. I’ve decided that it’s important to recognize the successes among the failures while resting along the uphill climb. Which was my goal in this post.

Jumping In

15 Thursday Mar 2012

Posted by The Piquant Storyteller in Funny

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craft, me

Holy cow! It is time to sew my dress. I have wasted enough time and come up with enough excuses. It is the scariest thing I have ever done! Why didn’t I do all this when I had a willing teacher with me? Oh yeah, I wanted to play instead thinking I could handle it.

When I finished the boys’ shorts I looked at my ugly grey fabric for my shorts and decided I was bored of shorts for now. So I pulled out my dress. The thought of not doing it crossed my mind again but come on! I told myself that if I screwed up I screwed up. I don’t remember how much the fabric cost and it doesn’t matter. The four pinned pieces were taken off and I refolded the fabric. With as much focus as I could maintain given all the phone calls I kept getting, I pinned every single piece.

Things I’ve learned:

Pinning on the floor is not nearly as easy as I thought it would be. How in the world did my mother do that with every pattern?
I positioned each pin at least twice because I kept pinning carpet.
Even then the fabric was hard to pull up from the floor!
Cutting on the floor may have worked for my mom but I wasn’t going to try it.
I cut sections of about three pieces at a time off the large piece of fabric before cutting at the table. That was much easier to deal with.
Cutting rayon is difficult. The pieces like to move a lot. Remember in grade school when you learned how to cut? The teacher told you to turn the paper instead of your cutting hand? Same principle with cutting stubborn fabric.
My friend told me I may need to get a presser foot since rayon is so slippery. The foot would help pull the fabric from the top. I don’t find my pieces that slippery but maybe because I have no idea if I have the right foot or not. And even if I did I have no idea how to put it on.
Dress patterns have a lot more steps than anything I’ve made so far! I didn’t understand most of the words. And it wasn’t because I was reading the Spanish instructions.
Stay stitching is a regular stitch set at the longest stitch length and no backstitching.
Machine-basting is hand stitching. My friend told me that I could use the machine much like the stay stitching for this step. I’m still trying to wrap my head around these ideas. Especially since I’ve skimmed the directions and am wondering when I actually stitch the dang pieces together permanently.
Visions of the crazy shirt Denise Huxtable sewed for Theo haunt my thoughts.
Severe perfectionism cannot be resolved through Xanax alone.
Nor can a pile of pattern pieces pinned to fabric.
Blogging is a good way to waste time! So is making a piquant music video to go with a piquant post. But the video may have been too piquant because the pictures won’t play anymore and I don’t feel like searching for them on the web all over again.
Maybe I should change the title and the closing statement. That’s the most important thing right now.

Wait, what were we talking about? Oh yeah. Jumping into sewing. The water is too cold. I’m jumping back out!

Based on a True Story

Tag Archives: me

Instead

Unbelievable Luck

Only Happy When it Rains

Dying for Adventure

Reader’s Digest Version

What do women want?

3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . . Blast Off!

Hello and Goodbye

Success Among Failure

Jumping In

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