ear buds

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Is it just me, or are all ear buds uncomfortable? I spend a lot of time with my ear buds in my ear. Illegally driving with them in, drowning out Bob the Builder and Thomas the Train - but not my son, of course. I always have an audio book or a podcast going. Or sometimes it’s just the Indigo Girls. The point here is that I hate my ear buds.

I think there are options out there for me, but I’m afraid to find them. First of all, go to any electronics store, and you’ll see a million options. Well, at least ten. Anyway, they range from $30 to $200! For earphones, people! Crazy.

I actually don’t want the expensive ones - not because they’re overpriced, but because I don’t want all noise blocked out. Like I said, I keep my ear buds in, but I need to know everything that’s happening around me, so the cheap ones are fine for my purposes.

The real problem is that I have really small ears! The standard nano earbuds are way too big and don’t stay in my ears. I’ve bought three different sets that have various sizes of bud covers, but even the small ones are too big. I can wear them, but they’re so uncomfortable!

Any other small-ear people out there with solutions to my problem?

rosacea

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I hate having a red face. No matter what I try, natural acne treatment, unnatural acne treatment, I still have a red face. From everything I’ve read, you’re supposed to treat rosacea like super sensitive skin. Not use any harsh chemicals or exfoliants on it. The problem is that acne is a byproduct of the rosacea. Redness I could probably handle - cover with makeup if I was motivated. But adult-onset acne. Gross.

Let me tell you, I drink a crap load of water. That doesn’t help. I had VERY expensive laser treatments. They didn’t work. The only thing that ever worked was big doses of dioxycyclene…serious antibiotics. Am I just supposed to ruin my immune system by taking antibiotics I don’t really need? No. Of course not. Which is why I have a red face.

vive la France

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My mother-in-law will be leaving Paris this summer. She’s taking an early retirement, and will be moving back to the states. She’ll be renting out her apartment through a rental agency. This got me thinking…how does one find treasures like these? Reasonable places to stay in the middle of the city?

Is it better to stay in a hotel? I don’t think so. I think it sounds so nice to travel to a distant land, but live like you’re a native while you’re there. I found all kinds of treasure on the internet. Tuscany villa rentals, apartments in Paris, Rome, New York City…you name it.

What am I doing here? Oh yeah, I need reliable luggage!

baggage

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Ugh. Baggage. More specifically, luggage. Remember a few months ago I spent a bunch of money on some fancy new Samsonite luggage? I had a cashback reward from a credit card, and if I traded it in for a voucher from a selection of companies - the amount was doubled. This is how I ended up with $160 in Samsonite money that could only be redeemed in an outlet store. Luckily, there’s a Samsonite outlet store about 10 minutes from my house.

I picked out the most lovely suitcases. A big one, a medium one and I got a free carry-on. It’s a nice Martha Stewart-green, and I love it. But guess what? The airlines don’t. Apparently the big one weighs a good 15 pounds empty, and always seems to be overweight - even when it’s only half-filled. This is a pain in my booty.

Next, on the first trip the big suitcase took to Oklahoma, the cool little Samsonite emblem fell off. I know the ramp guys are brutal, but only one trip? That stinks.

Anyway, I don’t know what you’re supposed to do these days. Cheap luggage falls apart. Expensive luggage falls apart. My next purchase will be a Rimowa.

That’s if any airlines are open by the next time I travel!

The joy of work

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For my part-time job, I make calls. I call about 75 companies a week with different purposes. Sometimes offering market research, sometimes scheduling appointments. But all the time, I have to wade through ridiculous voice mail systems.

The worst are the companies that put the prompts for “personnel directory” at the very end. Say it first, people! I don’t have all day. Needless to say, I spend a lot of time on the phone, listening to all the prompts I don’t want, waiting for the one I need. This is hard for me. I hate my hands being idle.

When I watch TV, I crochet or hand-piece or surf the net on my laptop. But until recently, I haven’t done any of these things when I’m calling because if I don’t pay very close attention, I miss my prompt and have to wait through the whole message again.

Good news! I found a new activity that I can do while I’m making my calls. Embroidery! I’ve already completed two stichettes (from WeeWonderfuls.com)! I’ll include some pictures soon!

Embroidery really is perfect. I don’t have to count or follow a pattern or concentrate. The image is already on my fabric, my colors are already selected (because I’ve done these things in advance), and I just stitch. When I need to type or dial the phone, I stab my needle into the fabric, set the hoop in my lap, take my notes or whatever, and then pick it back up.

I’m very excited about this. Not only am I burning through this embroidery, my calling list seems to go by faster! A true accomplishment!

goose bumps

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I get both the Hillary campaign emails and the Barack campaign emails…I usually delete them both after reading the first few lines. They’re almost always a solicitation for donations. But for whatever reason, I read this one to the end, and then donated. I thought I’d share it here…there’s something inspiring about “the largest grassroots campaign in the history of our nation.”

From Barack’s campaign:

Dear Friend,

In the last 24 hours we saw renewed attacks from Senator McCain and Senator Clinton.

The same John McCain who voted to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest few said I was “out of touch” when I spoke about the frustrations that working people in this country are feeling.

Maybe that’s to be expected from John McCain. But I was disappointed to hear the exact same talking points from my Democratic colleague, Hillary Clinton. When a candidate who believes lobbyists represent “real people” says that I’m out of touch, that’s when you know politics is being played.

But in the last 24 hours we’ve also heard from people like you.

We asked some of the 1.3 million people who have already donated to this movement for change to share their story and promise to match your first donation to the campaign.

Here are some of the people waiting to match your donation:

Rick from Florida matched a donation of $25, writing:

I am a typical American just like you. I’ve served in the military, I work hard for a living and I want what’s best for my country, not just me. I’ve seen what’s happened over the last years and I am deeply saddened, worried and, yes, even bitter. But I see something in Barack Obama I have never seen in a presidential candidate in my own 45 years and the hope and inspiration I feel right now brings tears even as I write this to you. We don’t get many chances like this. I don’t have much to give but I give what I can because it’s important and I ask that you please consider joining me with a few dollars that, added to the small contributions from millions of people like you and I, can be what it takes to really change things. Thanks in advance!

Eve from Oregon matched a donation of $50, writing:

I’m thrilled that Barack recognizes how frustrated so many of us are by the politics of fear and cynicism we’ve seen these past seven years! But what really sets him apart is that he’s not afraid to speak the truth and say what’s not supposed to be spoken - that yes, we can love our country but also be frustrated with it’s direction and leadership.

Thank you for making a donation to this amazing…campaign! Yes, we can!

See for yourself what kind of movement this is. Make a matching donation now:

https://donate.barackobama.com/match

When we started this campaign, we said we were going to do something different.

We said we weren’t going to take money from Washington lobbyists and PACs. And the cynics said we would never be able to compete against the status quo.

But what the cynics didn’t anticipate was you.

They didn’t understand that people like Rick, Eve, and you were tired of a politics that was about tearing each other down instead of lifting this country up.

And they didn’t understand that you were going to finance this campaign with contributions of $5, $25 and $50 at a time.

There’s nothing elitist about the largest grassroots campaign in the history of our country — and you can prove that right now.

Make a matching donation of $25:

https://donate.barackobama.com/match

Thank you for all that you’re doing to change our country.

Barack

more hex progress

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I’ve been plugging away on my hexagons. I started out using the English paper-piecing method, and quickly went to just sewing the hexes together. My process is placing two hexagons right-sides together, and placing a straight pin through the points at one end of a side of the hexagon. Then I start sewing a running stitch at the other end of the line or segment, towards my pin. As I get close, I remove the pin. This has been working great. Here are some photos of my finished hexes. I like the big flower the best, but I’m making a small (24″x 24″) challenge quilt, so I couldn’t use all big flowers.

hex garden

The next photo is one that hasn’t been pressed, and one that was painstakingly pressed with a clover mini-iron. This is the definite downside to not using the paper pieces when sewing hexagons. The seams are a killer.

pressed and not pressed

Here’s the one I did use the paper-piecing method on. It came together pretty easy. Once you get the first round of petals on, take the middle paper out to sew their side seams together. I figured this out half-way through. Duh.

The front of the paper-pieced flower. Much neater than the others, but the stitches are a little too obvious for my taste. And it was TWICE the work - sewing the hexes around the paper, then sewing the hexes to each other. That alone is enough for me not to do it. But I wanted to use up the ones I already sewed the paper into.

freshcut is awesome!

All the fabrics except the white with the skinny yellow stripes in the big flower are from Heather Bailey’s Freshcut line from Free Spirit. I LOVE this fabric!

My big plan for this quilt is to appliqué the flowers onto a solid background and add embroidery to one corner. Pictures coming just as soon as I can make it happen :)

Water for Elephants

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I just finished this audiobook and LOVED it! I’ve been seeing this paperback in Target and Costco for months, and for whatever reason, I looked it up on Audible. Because everyone loves a circus (actually, everyone except me - I find them terrifying), I used my monthly credit on it. And boy was I glad I did!

It’s the story of a man - told alternately at age 90 (or 93 - he’s not sure) from a nursing home, and at age 23, from a train-traveling circus. Excellent narrators, wonderful storytelling. I found myself immersed in the mind of Jacob, living the drama of the depression-era big top, and equally immersed in his nursing home world, surrounded by people of varying degrees of age and healthfulness, trying to make sense of it all.

I have to say, the nursing home scenes were very sad. My own grandfather is in a nursing home, and I can’t help but know he must have many of the same feelings. I don’t think he knows who I am anymore, much as Jacob doesn’t know his own grandchildren.

And Rosie! I loved her. She’s the elephant, by the way, and for me, the star of the book.

Sara Gruen, the author, does a wonderful job of keeping the reader guessing. There are twists and turns and scenes from the beginning keep you guessing until the final chapters. I loved the ending - I couldn’t have imagined a more fitting end to Jacob’s story.

10 stars from me on this one![rating:5][rating:5]

Idol gives back

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Did you see that ad where all the people go get their water in the jugs? And the mom gives her kids the dirty water? Gut-wrenching. How about Chase from House playing the violin? Awesome! I loved that whole number, with Teri singing and Mike (his TV name) playing the guitar. And I was super excited to see all my favs from So You Think You Can Dance!

So far, so good! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I don’t want to miss Billy Crystal. Um, Milly Cirrus? Hilarious.

Linshaolin

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I can’t believe I didn’t see this super nice post from Linshaolin earlier, but I’ve been so caught up in quilting guild stuff, that I’ve been missing my favorite blogs. I’m not sure what occasioned it, but Lin wrote a lovely post about me and my little spot in the blogosphere, and I’m absolutely touched.

Lin and I have celebrated a mutual admiration society for a long time, and it’s produced a cool little friendship. We leave comments on eachother’s blogs, and every once in a while, send an email. We catch up on each other’s lives by reading blog posts - of which hers are immensely witty and funny. Sometimes they’re sad - because Lin doesn’t pull any punches - she shares her whole life with us. That’s what makes it such good reading.

Our worlds are pretty different, but books and fabric addiction bring us close. I just love the internet! Thanks, Lin! You’re awesome!

For excellent reading any time of the day, check out Breakdown in the Fastlane, Lin’s very wonderful blog.

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