Parking In The Snow

We have just survived our first major snow dump of the winter.  Eight inches fell over the course of rush hour here in DC.  This pretty much resulted in catastrophic events for those who were on the road anytime after 3pm.  When people finally did arrive home, hopefully they were greeted with a plowed driveway or parking spot.  For the many however, that was probably not the case.

I spent the better part of two hours clearing what started as one spot and grew to 3.5 when I did not hear from Rob.  Turns out he was stuck in the horrific traffic as was thousands of other people.  I had figured I would continue to shovel just to be nice and let's face it, the plow guy had a bigger task of cleaning the through traffic spots.  Around 7pm, a giant extended cab pick up rolls into the lot as I am about to give up on my shoveling excursion (I am soaking wet, tired, and have about run out of things to shovel.  A guy yells from the back of the truck, "Hey, can we park here?"  The immediate reaction that I had was, umm no jackass you have a huge pick up and can get over the snow banks left by the plow.  But social norms inflict some sort of sensor on me and while I struggle with a polite reason to say no, I can't find one.  "Yeah, but try and get in a spot"  I went over and pointed to the line where the last spot was being cleared from.  They pulled in ignoring that - confirmation you care less about others.  Then the dude says, "I hope you are at least getting paid for this."  When I said no, I think he thought I was high.  Umm, jerkface, not everything needs to be rewarded and some people in fact so things just to be a good neighbor.  Now I have official confirmation that he is just an asshole as he continues to rant on about how silly this is.  I really wanted to lecture him, but I thought better of it and decided to see where my husband was.  Hey, in 3 hours he had made it almost 2.5 miles.  I called it quits and went inside to get warm.

Over the next few days the snow started to melt and people really did make it home (Rob made it at 11:30pm for a total of 7.5 hours).  I was cringing at what people were going to do with their parking spots.  Option 1 - Don't bother cleaning off the car or shoveling out the spot because you either aren't home OR have alternative transportation.  That's ok fine by me.  Option 2 - Grab a shovel and clean out your spot.  This is a great option provided you are not shoveling the snow back into the street and blocking the main thorough fare.  Then you are just an inconsiderate ass.  Option 3 - Wait until someone has shoveled out a spot and left and take theirs because you don't want to lift a finger.  Hmm, probably the worst option you can make, and yet some do.  I believe in karma and that somewhere someday these people will be "rewarded" for being absolute tardbots.  It's not much, but all I can hope for unless I personally slash their tires which has crossed my mind once of twice.

Of course the real trick is getting people to understand where to park.  The nice white parking lines that outline spaces have been buried.  Generally speaking however, there are defined divots where cars have been and the mounds of snow around them.  And yet, there are people who park like this:

An F+ parking job

Not only are you blocking another car from parking next to you, you are sending a clear message to the public that you are a moron.  I am pretty sure they do this because they don't want to get their feet wet.  They park perfectly normal in dry pavement situations and I have seen them park since this photo was snapped Friday.  Same deal.  Get over it!  It's snow!  You won't melt. 

In summary, clean out your spot and parking normal.  Really, the two things are not hard.  They may require some manual labor, but in our couch potato nation, it would be good for you.  Thankfully, winter here is only a couple of months and the number of times you actually deal with this is a few.  Still, don't be an ass.

The Creative Process

I mentioned before how I was considering placing items on Etsy to sell.  In order to do this I need to actually MAKE something to put up for sale.  First things first, figure out WHAT to make and then HOW to make it.  Really these things seem easy, but generally speaking, I hate patterns, so I make my own.  This is good and bad.  It’s good because I don’t have to “conform” to some cookie cutter instructions and thus end up with a unique finished product.  However, it usually involves some brain power I don’t always have in one go to figure out the details of what I am making.  I thought I would take you through my process of creating my own pattern.  Perhaps it will inspire, maybe you’ll wonder why I don’t just buy a freaken pattern, but hopefully will just be enjoyable to read.

I want to make placemats.  Hmmm… How big are the ones we currently have?  *Goes to find a measuring tape*  Ok, let’s see here, it’s about 12.5”x17”.  Looks about like the size I would like to finish with.  *Makes a box and mark 12.5 x 17* I know I want to use some of the techniques of quilting, so how would I do this?  Ok, we’ll make horizontal stripes.  How wide?  Ok, most standard quilt stripes end up being 2” finished product, would that work?  Hmm, 6 of those gives me 12”… close enough.  Ok, now I want it to be different on each row to add some character.  *Starts to play with the layout dividing rows into halves and 1/3 and 2/3 sections.*  I kind of like the looks of this.

Ok, if I make 6 of these, I can shuffle the colors so that each fabric is in a different location on each placemat. *Verifies this by making 6 dummy blocks and shuffling the color by one in each*

 

Ok, so how much fabric will I need?  Let’s see, all combined, each fabric will be in each spot at least once, so I need as much fabric to cover one 12” x 17” placemat, including seams.  Given I want to have two rows cut in half and the other 4 cut in 1/3 & 2/3 pattern, I need 4 – 8.5” cuts, 4 – 5.5” cuts, and 4 – 11.5” cuts.  All of them 2.5” wide (using ¼ seam allowances).  At this point you might notice I didn’t factor those into the cuts.  You’d be right.  I forgot that until the end.  I’ll say it was still fine.  I added 0.5” to all of them to allow for the joining seam and the edge seam.  Thankfully the math worked out.  From here out I will use the corrected lengths, even though I had to run through it twice.  See note about how sometimes the brain power doesn’t all come in one go.  :P

 So, if normal fabric runs 44” or 45” long, how much do I need cut?  Here’s where the “higher mathematics” comes in.  I played around with a few combinations of 18” lengths.  I can get at least two equivalent rows cut in one strip (18X2 = 36 and 36<44).  So if I can do 2 rows per 2.5” inch wide strip, then I will need 3 strips.  2.5x3 = 7.5” wide.  Hmm, that’s a little weird to ask for at the cutting counter and I might want a little wiggle room, what’s ¼ yard?  36/4 = 9”, that would make me feel better.

So now I know I need ¼ for each 6 fabrics I find.  What about the back?  It needs to be 12.5 x 17.5” (seam allowances factored in).  What’s the best way to configure that on 44” fabric… I could do 2 each at 12.5” wide (2 tall), for 3X12.5” = 37.5”, a little over a yard.  Or I could do 17.5” wide (3 tall), for 2x17.5 = 35”, slightly less than a yard.  Guess I am going to get one yard of fabric and figure out which fits best.  The cutters at the counter usually allow a little wiggle room.  

How to finish these off?  Instead of making binding, I will buy bias tape and make my life easier.  So how much of that will I need?  Measure the perimeter of each mat now, (12.5x2)+(17.5x2) = 60”.  Bias tape is sold by the yard, so that is roughly, 1-2/3 yard per placemat.  So, multiply that by 6 and you get 10 yards on the nose.   

So now my shopping list in complete.  To make 6 quilt inspired placemats I need:

¼ of 6 “coordinating” fabrics

1 yard of fabric for the backs

10 yards of bias tape

Notions – I have thread and what not.

I’ll post pictures once I get them complete.  Hopefully they will be as nice as I think they will be in my head.

Making the Most of a Long Commute

Since being back in the DC Metro area, my commute has gotten noticeably longer.  And not only longer, but certainly more aggravating some days.  The first few months weren't too bad.  I found some radio personalities that kept me entertained and played good music.  After Thanksgiving, I was able to submerse myself in holiday tunes and general holiday cheer.  Now that the novelty of "getting back into the groove" has worn off and the holidays are over, I have decided to try another avenue of amusement for my commute.

More than one person recommended books on tape (really it's a CD, but everyone still calls them books on tape - weird huh?) to me as a way to occupy my time.  I thought it was a good idea too, but never got around to implementing it.  Well, New Year, New Things.  I decided to start with a "safe" book with an author I know and generally like, Catherine Coulter with one of her FBI Thrillers - Hemlock Bay.  The reader for this book was quite talented and impressed me with what a book on tape could be.  She did different voices for all the characters and had a good pace.  I think I was expecting them to be dry reads, but reading a book aloud apparently requires some talent.  Who would have thought? 

The sad thing about the containers for books on CD, they are kind of hard to read/browse in the library.  It's a MUCH smaller collection and no glamorous spines to look at.

So did it have the desired effect to take my mind off traffic?  I definitely zoned out on the drive and was listening to the book more than I was concentrating on what turd was going to cut me off on my way home.  It's kind of nice actually.  As an added bonus, it only took a week to listen to the whole thing.  Considering I am in the car for 7.5 - 9 hours a week and most books are around 10-15 hours, it's a good pace.  The weird thing is when I get home and I think, I wonder what happens next.  I know I won't find out until I get in my car the next day or go run an errand.  This is both an interesting and frustrating way to go through a book.  It seems to hold my attention, but I can only get further in it if I listen more, not read at night before bed.  Sure I could bring up the CDs from the car, but then I would have to find the track I was on and listen with head phones or whatever.  That's a little too much effort for me.

The only thing I haven't quite gotten the hang of is changing the CDs at the end of each disc.  It's always a surprise and I don't want to waste precious car time listening to plain old radio.  I want to get back to the book as soon as I can.  I am sure I will get a method down as I listen to more. 

So now I am avidly reading AND listening to books.  I started a new author this week; James Patterson with Beach Road.  So far I am enjoying it. I think I could easily double the amount of books I go through this year.  Thank you Fairfax County Public Library for having such wonderful gifts for free!!

Stick Tights

Over the holidays we were gone for a week.  Maybe a week and a day depending on how you count when we left Friday and got back a week later on Friday.  To my cats, I am pretty sure this felt like a year.  We can get really precise and say it was more like 7 weeks for them (1 year = 7 cat years).  Either way, we were greeted as if we hadn't been seen in a long time.

The first couple of days were kind of cute with how much they wanted to be near us.  They had to smell everything we brought back, investigate our packages and sleep on our heads that night.  By the third night it was a little bit much and we went back to putting them in the bathroom at night because they aren't letting us sleep.  Sparky even cried Monday night when I went to yoga.  It made me think we totally traumatized them in some way. 

Thankfully, they are relatively back to normal now, however they are still trying to hang out in the most inconvenient places and desperately want to help me with anything I have going on. 

This is how I frequently use my computer at home and could explain why I never spend large amounts of time on it.  However annoying it is, it's hard for me to stay annoyed with them for long.

Dabbling in the Creative Arts

This past month, my sewing machine has seen more action than it has in a long time.  I think I got fairly creative with some of the gifts this year, plus I made what we wanted for decorations around the house.  I had a great time making everything and it made me realize two things.  One - I really need a craft room in our future house and two - I wonder if I could sell anything I make.

My friend sent my this link a while ago about creative craft room inspirations.  I nearly passed out looking at them.  How I would love to have space where I could spread all this stuff out. My favorite of these spaces is the first one on the page where everything is white and bright and roomy!  I think a lot of these craft rooms look more like craft closets and while best to make use of spaces otherwise not utilized, you still need room to work.

eclectic home office design by vancouver media and blogs The Locker

Granted, the first place we buy probably won't have big sunny windows for me to work under, but if I keep it in the back of my mind, it can't hurt.  :)  So without a fancy dedicated room, I take over the dining room table on a frequent basis.  It works, but is far from ideal.  Even so it's better than nothing.

The second part of this post is supposed to be about if I can sell anything in a place like Etsy or not.  I haven't looked into many details on how much it would cost to set up a site and if I am responsible for all the taxes I would owe on the millions of dollars in sales I will generate.  Details, details.  I have a couple of ideas for things to post for sale on there, but I have to work out how much time it will take and a tentative cost on materials.  Mostly I would be revolving around kitchen/dinning room items like napkin holders, table runners, place mats, and oven pads to start.  Granted I know how to make about half of those, but the idea is still being worked out.  If anything comes of it, I will be sure to let you know.

Holiday Travels - NY

The second half of our trip was spent in NY with my family.  There was a long list of people to visit, but we managed to see everyone.

Our first visit was with two ladies I worked with while I was on rotation in Syracuse.  They both have 4 month old babies now.  So we had lunch with them and their babies which was a lot of fun.  They are cute as buttons and have very different personalities.  As the mom's tell us, they are already bff's, they just aren't aware of it yet.

The next stop was up to see my Aunt.  We picked up my dad and headed north for a short visit.  We played our wedding slide show DVD for her since she was unable to attend the wedding.  She thought it was lovely.  A few random cousins came in and said hi since they were working out in the barn.  I always consider those bonus visits since you never know who's going to be at the house.

We had a big fancy polish dinner with my parents and Joyce's dad that night before opening presents.  I finally got to deliver the quilt I had been working on since November of last year.  To be fair, there was about a 10 month break in there after Christmas last year.  Something about getting married and moving that put things on hold for a little while.

Joyce and the complete quilt

As always dad's wrapping jobs are never missed.

3 different kinds of paper to wrap a sweater

And we completed the evening with a family photo.  This tripod thing is really coming in handy!

Chet, Joyce, Sarah, Rob, Larry

Afterward we headed back to my sisters house where we were allowed a lazy day on Thursday.  We spent the whole day at the house with my sister and Wayne and my brother Dave and Audrey came over in the afternoon for a bread lesson.  My older brother always makes grandma's bread for Christmas.  It's become somewhat of a tradition that I show up after they have had real dinner and then I eat a turkey sandwich on grandma's bread.  Something about it is just phenomenal.  So on that day, we made bread and used it for turkey sandwiches.  Delicious!!

The process of learning how to make grandma's bread was quite interesting.  Measuring was not an exact science and there were a lot of Gramisms to learn along the way.  For instance, use your hands to clean your work surface to prevent your sponges from getting really gross.  Neat trick. 

Stirring ingredients together

Until there's too much in the bowl and my brother takes over

Me kneading bread

"Spanking" the bread to get the air pockets out

Finished product

My loaf, a little lumpy on the top, but still yummy on the inside

No complaints from this peanut gallery

 After dinner we played our slide show for this crowd and got another group photo.  I think this will be the year of the group photos.  Thanks free tripod!

John, Audrey, Wayne, Sam, Rob, and myself

Holiday Travels - CT

I am always surprised by how fast the holiday season comes and goes.  It's hard to believe I am here typing up how the holidays went and what happened.  But here we go!

This year we started our holidays in CT to begin the every other year with each others parents.  It was my first year spending Christmas Eve/Christmas Morning with his family.  I am always eager to see how people celebrate the holidays and what traditions they have.  I just think it's great how everyone has their own special and unique way to spend time with each other.  We arrived in the afternoon and we were greeted with a fully decorated house that smelled of the holidays.  Rob's mother does an excellent job of decorating throughout the house and so there's no mistaking what time of year it is.  Before dinner Rob, myself, Bill, and Ellie went on a short car ride to Woodbury to see the town's luminaries.  They line the streets with them on Christmas Eve.  Kind of impressive when you stop and think of how many bags were set out.  We came back, ate a fabulous homemade lasagna and gathered around the tree for the famous tree lighting ceremony which Bill does every year.  It's kind of a fun family thing that is always different and up to the discretion of Bill as to what exactly happens.  Christmas morning we came down the stairs, grabbed some hot toddy and breakfast items in Christmas dishes and went to open presents.  Afterward, we took our time getting ready and headed over to Grandma's house.

Rob on Christmas morning

The Smith family

We piled into Grandma's house in time to unwind for a few minutes before dinner was ready and generally hung out with the family getting caught up.  By the following day the rest of the cousins had arrived and so did the snow.  We were getting hit with a blizzard for the next two days which really wasn't awful, but then again, I had no where to be and the company was nice.  Everyone had gone out for a walk after breakfast and when they came back, there were quite a few frozen bunnies.  We did the Christmas gifts there, followed by the fantastic grab bag.  I am pleased to say this year there was a nice mix of crap and good items.  The most fought over was probably the imported bottle of vodka from Poland.

Mary Jo modeling a fabulous pair of beer glasses with a wig, nice scarf and a pair of flannel Be Mine boxers from the grab bag.

Lauren taking vodka from Grandma

After we finished up with the gifts, I was in charge of getting a cookie decorating party going for everyone to participate in.  I brought all the cookies, frosting, and fixings and ran the show.  Grandma suggested we make it into a contest and provided prizes.  It was fun and kept everyone entertained and quiet for about an hour.  :) 

Everyone hard at work

Some of the lovely creations

After I had gotten everything cleaned up I decided to go out for a walk and take pictures of the snow.  I think I was somewhat successful.  

Later than evening after dinner, I suggested doing some family photos.  With the aid of a tripod, almost anything is possible.   

Grandma and her Grandchildren

We finished the evening watching Despicable Me before all piling in for the night. 

We spent the next few days visiting and playing games.  The last day we were there, they decided to go see the movie True Grit.  I am not all the interested in Westerns and haven't seen many of the movies I have wanted to this year so I felt funny going to see a movie I didn't really care about.  I went to the Outlet Mall instead and bought a couple of cute things which kept my plenty entertained and occupied while they were at the movies.

It was a really good visit with family and the roads were kind to us, both on traffic and weather.  Before we knew it, it was time to go and continue our journey on to NY.