Crafty Undertaking

(That title may need to be edited, else someone thinks this is some sort of entry on scrapbooking-meets-embalming techniques!)

So, in the rush out the door to school/work one morning this week, I noticed a piece of fuzz on the seat of the sofa. Upon further inspection, the fuzz turned out to be a snag/rip/hole in the seat cushion. Drat. Well, actually, this could be a "good news/bad news" situation. The bad news is there's a rip in the seat cushion. The good news is I have 10+ yards of fabric in the basement, meant to recover another couch, but could certainly be used for this project.

Pat walked through and flipped the cushion. "Problem solved!" he says. ;-)

But, I've got an extra day off work on Monday, so I figure this is as good a time as any to try and make slipcovers for those couches.

So far, I've

• Dug the fabric and supplies out of the basement, and taken inventory. Well, I have a list of all the supplies; I haven't measured the fabric out. (Because I don't want to find out that I don't have enough!!)


• Guesstimated at some of the required supplies - how much cording I'll need to edge the couch cushions, how much velcro I'll need to keep the covers together, etc.


• Washed the fabric


• Called Mom for a little "you can do it!" message. :-)


• Made the trip to the fabric store to buy contrasting trim fabric, accent material for the toss pillows, and more thread and new needles for the sewing machine.

I figure the place to start is to make the piping, which will be a challenge to my math/geometry skills. The trim fabric is in the wash, and I'm Googling sewing tips to try and get this straight in my head.

Updates to follow!!

Monday or Tuesday...

DH's interview two weeks ago went well, and they called him back for a second interview, which happened last Monday. Great way to start the week, but they ended the interview with something about "expecting to make a decision next week Monday or Tuesday," which made for a long wait over the holiday weekend.

And how'd we spend that Holiday Weekend?

• Tuesday night - cousins came for a sleepover. Sleepover is such a funny term, because there's usually no bedtime enforced... The girls got worn out and managed to get some sleep. We played games, did projects, and all had a good time.


• Wednesday - Movie day - some recovery from the sleepover, and a lot of hanging out around the house.


• Thursday - Cleaning and Thanksgiving. Our family Thanksgiving was late in the day, so DH got started on a cleaning binge in the morning, and the rest of us got sucked in. Funny enough, I helped the girls out, and was later admonished by them (the Minions) and DH (their Minion Master) for not having cleaned up any of my own mess. Sigh. There's my project for Friday.


• Friday - Cleaning and Playing. One of our friends called, pleading that his kids were in need of some entertainment over this extended weekend. I was happy to oblige, sending DH and the DD's off to their house, so I could stay home and clean in peace and quiet. I made some progress....


• Saturday - Another day of Eating - traveled to the other side of town to visit another set of friends. Such fun!


• Sunday - Recovery! Time to clean up and get ready for school and work on Monday.

And all of a sudden, here it is, almost Monday or Tuesday! As I've told several people, this decision will have much bearing on how our Christmas goes - not so much in how much we spend, but if the money comes out of the savings/crisis account, or out of someone's first paycheck. Notice, in this list of weekend activities, there was no mention of Shopping. Online browsing, yes, and plenty of it, but no actual Christmas shopping. and I actually did go out today and fetch paper towels and cat food.

Not that you should think I've totally neglected the Christmas shopping - I've been buying things here and there since the end of September. "Christmas shopping, already?" said the cashier. "Where are you going to hide this?" Heehee. You all will have to wait until my kids are in high school before I give up my good hiding place. I did discover some new spots when cleaning stuff out this weekend, though. ;-)

Anyway, I didn't do any Christmas shopping over this weekend, no matter how the ads may have tried. However, my home email has had Cyber Monday coupons trickling in all day. I have a feeling if we get positive news tomorrow, there will be some big time shopping coming from my PC. ;-)

Why Am I Not Hosting Thanksgiving?

Because my dining room table is currently being used as Legotopia. ;-)

This project started in July, evidently, as a result of my husband's discovery of Lego's Buy A Brick section. His idea was to go through the big bin of inter-mingled Legos and re-assemble all the kits (airplane, pirate ship, town square, etc.). He'd keep track of any missing pieces, and be able to go online and replace them. So, we got the big bin of Legos dumped out on the dining room table, managed to do some sorting over a weekend or two, and then he got laid off.

That put an end to the replacement project, but Legotopia lives on. The girls are in there a couple times a week, making buildings, stores, houses and vehicles. Today, my husband was in there with them, making a creation of his own.

If I'm lucky, we'll have a chance to clean the table off before Christmas. But if not, I'm not going to freak out over it. Who knows, Santa might leave some new Lego sets!

Unemployment Update

So, if my last unemployment-related post was 1.5, we're probably at month 2.5 now. Calendar? Oh, I don't know that I need to be so specific. Dear Husband, however, can probably rattle off the time he's been on unemployment to the minute. Sigh.

Good news: he did go on an inteview this week, and seems to feel that it went well. And when he was first laid off, many people relayed stories of finding new jobs that paid more and were closer to home. There's not much chance of finding a closer work location for DH, but I was kind of hoping for something on our side of the river. However, A Job Across The River is better than The Red Tape of Unemployment, so we'll see.

That's the update from his side. I'm off to research passport applications, as my next customer account may take me across the northern border. Take off, 'eh!

The Trophy on My Table

The grade school cross-country season is winding down. We've managed through it pretty well, all things considered. Missed some races because of weather (and an attempt not to get the munchkins sick), and some because of schedule (traveling Mom, too much homework, etc.), but overall, the experience has been pretty positive.

The season began with half-mile races, and our team has some pretty strong runners. The races this month have been 1.1 miles, which is a big jump. But, the girls are sticking with it and doing well.

We actually earned enough team points to place first in a couple of the early races, which means the team gets a trophy. Coach says, when the team wins a trophy, each member of the team gets to take the trophy home for a night. Our turn came around today. And, since both girls are on the team, we have the trophy for two nights!

So, the trophy is on our table. We'll take some pictures with it (depending on how long it takes to get homework and showers done), and let the girls keep it in their room for a night each, and then take it to school on Wednesday to pass along to the next girl. A small share in a large victory!

Unemployment, Month 1.5ish

Well, today is Interview Day. The job is with the government office of a neighboring county, and I'm not sure that it will pay very well - it may be something part-time. However, DH is bound and determined to get off unemployment (more for the hassle of the program than any financial or other reason). We do have a lead on some online training that he seems to be interested in, and says if this government job comes through, he'll dedicate some serious time to the online classes and the certifications he'd need for another job.

Meanwhile, I'm falling off the spending freeze wagon. We are in the second quarter of the school year, which means the kids can wear uniform pants to school. I got the box of uniform clothes out of the closet, and didn't have any pants for my oldest daughter! Not sure how that happened! She made it through the prior two weeks with last year's pants (a little short...), and since I didn't find any pants on the clearance racks in the local stores, I went ahead and ordered a few pair online. ooh, that online shopping...sooooo easy....must stay away!!

Unemployment, month 1

Well, there's good news and bad news. The good news is that the financial belt tightening is going well. Pat's picking the kids up right after school, which means we don't have to pay for aftercare, and we have a little more time for homework and projects. Or cross country practice! I've also stayed away from Target (not getting the Sunday paper and all its ads helps, too!), and no one's short on clothes or shampoo. We did have a TP crisis last week while I was out of town, but we got through it.

Other good news: Pat did some research on the mortgage, and talked to the bank - we qualify for an emergency refinance program that doesn't require requalifying or reappraisal of the house. We'll have to pay a penalty on the amount in our home equity loan, which put me in freak out mode, until we got the dollar amount from the bank. Ended up not being to terrible - and certainly easier to manage than paying off the HEL in a lump sum. Sigh.

The bad news: Pat is having to attend meetings at the state unemployment office. Ooh, he's not a happy guy. The busy work and time sink is frustrating for him. In addition, the advice they're handing out is garbage - the counselor last week advised the group to apply at some of the areas larger employers, including the company that just laid Pat off! Clue-less!

So, Pat's even more motivated to get off the unemployment and back to a real job. My suspicion is that the 4th quarter hiring freeze has come early - businesses are not yet ready to "buy into the hype" that the recession is over. It may be lessening, but no one wants to risk it just yet.

So, we'll be continuing to buckle down for the long haul. I'd better stock up on TP. ;-)