Diary of a Mad Fabri-Holic

Pardon this brief interruption...

But I'm going to digress for a moment.  And use the awesome power of my blog audience (irony much?) to spread the love about a new TV show.

You see, my BFF from high school- which was so long ago for me we didn't even have the term BFF yet- and another former classmate have an animated TV show VERY loosely based on their own lives.  And it's on a real network, with famous actors doing the voices and everything.  (In fact, thanks to the guest star in the dentist episode

It's called Dan VS- every week Dan dreams up crazy revenge schemes on things that he thinks have wronged him.  Aided by his friend Chris (my bff) and his wife, the secret ninja Elise (Hi, Elise- are you out there today?), they take part in some cray shenanigans. 

I'm sure it's totally not kid-appropriate, and some of you may judge me for letting the kids watch it.  But Annie has been madly in love with her Uncle Chris since their first meeting, years and years ago...  And since both kids do watch other shows on The Hub, they saw the commercials for this all the time.  And so, it has become a family-all-together show.  In fact, we even use it as blackmail, as in, you have to do all your homework and brush your teeth before we can watch the new Dan Vs.

So please, if you are so inclined, go check out the show.  You can watch clips on the website, and then set your DVRs to record the real deal...  I think you'll be glad you did, and I know I will.

 

Row, Row, Row your quilt, gently to the bed

One New Row, Ready to Sew:

(I'm a poet and I didn't even know it!)  As always, click for a bigger view. The blog-sized photo is pretty hard to see in this case!  I started the row last night, but quickly made a cutting error, and stopped...  That's always a sign I'm too tired to sew.  And since, I'm down low on some of the fabrics- the batik solids from stash, not the newly purchased prints- I had to be careful!  Instead, The Hubby and I watched some new fall TV. 

I love new TV time!  We chose Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip.  I was a total West Wing junkie.  I really wanted one of those bumper stickers...  Not only did the show let me live in a wonderful liberal fantasy land, it was also smart, well written and wonderfully acted.  So we gave its younger sib by the same creator a chance, and, were quite pleased.  This new show seems to have the same smart, fast pace.  The only thing I didn't like was Amanda Peet, but, hey, I'll be back next week for more.

Tonight, The Hubby is at work, so after getting the kids to bed and having Princess Girl mostly read me her own bedtime story (!!), I turned on the TV in the background and finished the cutting- and even fused down the circles.  Now all I have to do is sew the row!  At the height of my working tonight, here's what the sewing/computer room looked like- I like to call this shot "The Heart of Darkness."  Can you see why?

There's fabric on almost every surface, a nearly king-sized quilt top on the floor, and basically, just a huge mess.  It's a little bit better now, which is good, because I need to collapse and watch some Project Runway. I miss Kayne :-( 

Nuts and Bolts for a nutty gal...

Chaos continues to reign at my office.  We have one printer back online, but somehow it ended up shoved on the floor in the corner of someone else's workstation.  That poses a challenge!  And, my desk is SO slanted on the uneven 100 year old floor that I am getting a neckache from turning my head at such weird angles.  Complaining aside, today I am finally feeling slightly more in control of the piles that built up during my vacation/sick kid days...  If only I could catch up with my backlog of personal email, I'd be all set.

I think once, many months ago, I mentioned the Buddy program we have at work.  For the past several months, I have been blessed with an awesome buddy.  Look at the lovely little treat she had to welcome me back from vacation!

My own Captain Jack Sparrow!  He makes a great companion when The Hubby is working nights ;-)  Actually, I have decided he needs to live at work to keep me perky, but, he did come home for a quick visit... 

Speaking of The Hubby working nights, we are officially into his new and improved schedule.  Now, he works Su/M/Tu days, W/Th nights, and is off both Fri and Sat.  When I am able to be out of the office Fridays, that means we have 2 whole days off together, like a normal couple.  Until this change, we had ZERO days off together, though we did overlap for a few hours on Fri and Sat.  Of course, this and next week I need to work Fridays to compensate for Princess Girl care issues on Mondays, but...  Soon, soon, we'll be together.  I have to admit, though, the single mom thing at night after working all Weds and Thurs days realllly wiped me out, but I'm sure I'll get used to it quickly, and it will be easier when I go back to having Fridays free.  And somehow, it didn't keep me from working on a quilt (see below) or keeping up with Last Comic Standing.  SPOILER ALERT if you tivo'd it, skip to the quilt.  I admit, I love Josh Blue, my hometown boy who I've actually seen live, but really, wasn't Ty simply a better, funnier comedian?  His delivery and timing rocked.  He made me laugh out loud, even alone in front of the TV, which is a big deal for me...  Ah, well, I am thrilled for Josh, but I'm hoping Ty makes out well as well...

I have a beginning to show you all. 

It's not terribly exciting yet, but I have finished cutting out all but 14 circles for my Nuts and Bolts quilt! I would have done those last night, but, I ran out of fusible web.  I varied from the original pattern and am not using freezer paper.  I am doing 72 circles instead of the original 42 (as I upped the size) and I am going to machine applique them my favorite easy way, with satin stitch all around.  Right now, my plan is to play with layout and the piece blocks and applique circles as I go.  That way, I won't go batty doing all the circles at once!  This is going to be one heck of a lively quilt, but, I am already falling in love with it.

The Real World

Considering the way I feel, I decided I needed a visual reminder that a vacation is right around the corner...

But who's counting?  Our power is back and still on, phew.  I'm still crabby because I had a stupid falling out with basically my best friend, and it seems we can't get past it.  I debated airing all our dirty laundry here on the blog for my own therapy, but, she used to read posts and I don't want to make anything any worse.  Suffice to say, it sucks.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...  I have finally gotten sucked into something that I have ranted and raved and moaned and whined about for literally years.

Reality TV .

I have no patience for the contrived set ups, the dumb people, the melodramatic music, and the repetition of the same footage over and over again to "build suspense"- or is that- kill an extra 15 minutes of TV and save money on shooting new material?  Anyway!  What happened to not only change my mind, but to entice me to set my TiVo for not one but 2 different reality shows?

Josh Blue.  He's a local comedian who, the 2 times I actually have been to a comedy club, I have seen.  Not on purpose, he just happened to be on the list both times...  He is hysterical.  He also has cerebral palsy.  And he jokes about it.  And you feel like you might go to hell if you laugh, but he's so funny, you laugh.  And then, he tells you that you will go to hell for laughing at him.  and you laugh more...  And, he's a finalist on Last Comic Standing...  I started watching when I heard he was on.  Also, I was home in bed sick, and Bravo had a marathon of episodes, and once I started, I was laughing too hard to change the channel.  I've even sucked The Hubby into my sick world.  Thank god, with TiVo, I can fast forward through the repetitive game bits...

The other show now on my TiVo is Project Runway Season 3.  I've always had a soft spot for Heidi Klum.  She's just adorable, and has great taste in little boy names.  Which is so unfair, cause I'd like to hate her on principle, but, that's not happening.  I had heard lots of buzz about Project Runway from crafty folk, and I admit, I finally got curious. I'd like to say I'm not in it for the drama, and rather, am just watching it to see what nifty garments they can create out of strange items, but, by next week I'll probably have a favorite and be talking back to my TV screen.

Tonight, instead of watching reality TV I'm venturing out into the real world (not the MTV one, although, it is currently shooting in Denver...)  I'm going to check out a Stitch N Bitch group at an LYS that I haven't been to before!  I'd hyperlink, but, the store doesn't have a site I can find.  Hopefully I'll have lots of fun things to report by tomorrow, including an improved mood for me.

Fall TV, hooray!

It's labor day!  It's almost time for the fall TV season to start- such a wonderful time of year.  Yes, it's true, I am a TV junky.  TIVO has revolutionized my life.  Not only can I save up episodes of Blue's clues and Thomas and Friends, so that at any moment in time I can plunk Car Boy and Princess Girl in front of the screen and wait for my favorite babysitter to kick in, but I can also become the goddess of my own TV.  Yup, I can watch anything, at any time.  Last night, the hubby and I watched an old  "No Reservations" .  The only downside is that whenever we watch one of those late at night, I get so hungry.  And, I want to hop on a plane (pills in hand) to fly off somewhere more exciting.  In honor of the approach of fall TV season, I am adding a "stuff to watch" list to my blog.  Now, you can all watch everything I watch.  C'mon, you know you wanna be just like me!