Luther

everyone together now: "Naaaaaaaw"

Be Afraid.

She won't actually get her license until the middle of next summer - by Illinois law drivers under 18 have to have a learner's permit for 9 months before they can get a license. We happened upon a really good deal on this little car. "It's such a girly car." Harry complained. "Dad, I'm a GIRL!" was Hannah's reply. It's my little car for the time being. I'll turn it over in a year or so when she has a reason to need to drive full time.

~M

The Cost of the Stealth Van

Original cost: $17,000.00 give or take a few. (used-26000 miles- summer 2001)

Maintenance: $8000.00 an educated guess – includes three sets of tires, numerous tune-ups, scheduled maintenance, and a couple of Big Fixes.

Gas: $15,500.00 a ballpark figure based on some back calculations from miles driven, gas mileage, and price of gas.

License fees: $675.00

Insurance: $3600.00 approximately.

Total: $44,775.00

Days owned: 3010

Cost per day: $14.87 per day.

Miles driven: 177,000 or .26 cents a mile

The moral of this story is that even normal, boring, frugal vehicles are expensive. Either walk and save a lot of money, or buy an awesome vehicle so you can really enjoy blowing all your money on transportation.

New Project

Project of the day - really project of the winter is a new Fancy-Dance outfit for Hannah. She has been wearing Meredith's for a couple of years new, and since she is fully grown It'd time for one last mom made outfit. I made her a couple of fancy dance dresses when she was a little girl, but the last two have been hand-me-downs. Above is my table of craft stuff and the one rosette I finished today at the upper left. Along the bottom of the canvas you can see what will be a head band. (Paper pattern just below the tracing on the canvas.)


Here's a closer pix of the sort-of finished rosette. I'm changing around the colors on the other ones. These beads are different than any I have used before. These are 11o tri-cuts. They are very sparkly, but a pain to work with since they are a little inconsistent in shape. Lots of beadwork and satin applique on this outfit - but not as much as a competition outfit.

It took all of my free time for a week to make this one piece. It's going to be a long winter.

~Marci

Bayou Renaissance Man: Unique music

Bayou Renaissance Man: Unique music

Peter is one of my favorite 'general' blog writers. After you're done watching this lovely video have a look around at his other offerings.

~M.E.

Dumping Google.

I've decided to dump google as a search engine. I have a hard time believing that on 9/11/09 they did nothing with their home page to commemorate the terrorist attach that changed America forever. They change their graphics for things like M.C. Escher's birthday and the anniversary of the Civil Rights march in Selma Alabama - but say squat about 9/11. I'm checking out www.bing.com and www.ask.com as replacements. I also know about www.dogpile.com (all of which had memorials on their pages on 9/11)

do any of you have any other suggestions?

~M.E.

P.S. Yes, I realize that Blogger is Google. I've been pondering a move.

Contemplating a new week from 3am

The week woke me up. It's Monday Morning at 3, and the week came knocking at my unconscious brain - so here I am. I seem to have a lot jammed into the schedule this week. Some things are merely errands like going to the bank, filling the 'fridge, getting cat food, having the oil changed in the van - or chores like laundry, vacuuming and mowing. There is the mind-numbing route of taxi-driving that eats up the hours but seems only to fill the time with boredom and lack of accomplishment. Then there are the dozen or so tasks that I feel qualified to complete - but that take focus or talent, or some special know-how. I have to finish a small piece of an outfit on a sewing machine, I have to clean, repair and lubricate the lawn sweeper, I have to write a test that will assess a basic knowledge of critical reading skills and vocabulary, I have to pack for a weekend away at a Pow wow. But on top of that are the seemingly small, things that must be in place by a certain time or place that I must do that I have little idea how to accomplish. Those are the juggling balls that are most likely to bounce along the floor and make me give chase. The ones that make me feel stupid, incompetent in advance. Completely daunted. These little jokers might fall into place in 5 minutes, or might be major hurtles - you just never know. If I were a wage slave, I'd have a boss and a routine or some such 'job' with the paycheck to let me know that what I did was worthwhile and how well. But I don't. I am both COO and scullery slave, and sometimes it keeps me awake. I'm going to make a grocery list now. Sweet dreams to all you sleepers. ~M.E.