The blizzard(s) of the century

Make that this winter’s second blizzard of the century. It is affectionately (or not) being called Snowmageddon or Snowpocolips. This southern girl is over it. I just call it overkill.

  • 18 = inches of snow in December’s storm of the century
  • 26 = inches of snow in January’s storm of the century
  • 2 = inches per hour of snowfall
  • 48 = hours before we can expect the city to start plowing our roads (That’s the official number. I have seen a plow come through here)
  • 12+= hours without power (we do have power now)
  • 59 = degrees it got down to in our house
  • 76 = the temp I have it set at now to rewarm the house and for just in case
  • 20 = the minutes after I set our refrigerated food out in the snow that our power came back on (thanks Murphy’s Law)
  • 250,000 = the estimated number of people without power
  • 3+= books I’ve read so far*
  • 7 = the number of candles we broke out to eat dinner by
  • 2 = the number of cats who didn’t quite understand why we were eating dinner by candlelight
  • 1 = kid who was upset that the electricity came back on because she wanted to play with flashlights in the dark

*My goal coming into this weekend that I knew we’d be snowbound has been to read and sew. Without power it has been impossible to create beautiful couture wear, therefore I have been reading. Nonstop. Here is what I’ve read:

  1. Shopaholic & Baby by Sophie Kinsella
  2. Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio by Amara Lakhous (translated to English from Italian)
  3. Girl With A Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

I am now reading Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri. This one is a Pulitzer Prize winner. I have yet to read Blonde Roots by Bernardine Evaristo. Thanks to Ronnica for that last book!

What was your favorite part?

We’ve gotten into a habit of asking our girls, after watching a movie or doing an activity, “what was your favorite part?” When asking little girls this question you would expect to get sugar and spice and everything nice answers. We get slightly different answers. We don’t get, “I loved the princesses and I loved when she saved that cute little kitten and I loved when everything happened happily ever after.” We get, “I loved the bad witch and I loved when she destroyed the castle and I loved when everything went up in smoke.”

Latest example. We watched Groundhog Day recently (in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania by the way. That’s another blog post). When asked what her favorite part was Ashlyn quickly replied, “when he crashed in the fire.” Not even kidding. Out of the whole movie my kid’s favorite part was when Bill Murray’s character is trying to end his life.

Another example. We watched Enchanted recently. Ashlyn’s favorite part wasn’t seeing a fairytale princess in a beautiful gown or when they all magically knew the words to the same song and sang together in Central Park. Her favorite part was when the lady turned into the dragon and wreaked havoc on the ball goers.

Yet another example. We watched The Princess and the Frog recently. Ashlyn’s favorite part was when the Shadow Man’s shadows were chasing the frogs throughout NOLA. Not when the two get to be married or when Ray the lightning bug is speaking (anything he said was hilarious and he stole the show). The scariest part of the movie was her favorite. Mmmhmm.

I wish I could remember other examples. I should be writing these down, if anything to use as evidence when we have to seek counseling later in life.

I’m inclined and almost desperate to believe that she just remembers the most striking part of a movie, and that she doesn’t quite get what “favorite” means, and that in America you’re supposed to like the good parts and the happy endings. Lord help us. She’s only three.

Breaking down

It’s not that I felt superior, so to speak. I was just proud of us for being able to forgo the mind-numbing effects it can have on one’s brain. Being able to withstand the draw of the lights and action and fame and desire and idiocy helped us feel more connected to each other. And maybe we did feel a wee bit superior.

All that has come crashing down around us though. We have succumbed and our lofty plans and dreams and ideas about ourselves are breaking down around us.

We bought a tv antenna. So we now can watch more than DVDs on this huge movie screen of a tv. I can tell you are wondering, like Ralphie’s dad in A Christmas Story, “what brought you to this lowwwwwly state?” Truth be told, it was my cheapness frugalness mixed with Du’s desire for watching football. We never even looked into getting an antenna because we liked the idea of not being able to turn on the tv whenever we wanted. It forced us to do other things (like play on the computer) like play games as a family (like read more blogs) like read more books. The shows we did want to watch we could find on the computer. ESPN360 became our #1 bookmarked site with Lifetime (Project Runway) running a close second. We had all we need at our fingertips.

That is until the NFL playoffs this past Sunday and the realization that neither game would be aired on ESPN360. What were we going to do?! It was God-ordained, I tell you. We were sitting at a church lunch with a new couple and they happened to mention that an HD antenna was only a couple bucks at WalMart. And it was also so ordained that there’s a WalMart within a stone’s throw of our church. My penny-pinching mind began to run the numbers. Either go to a sports bar/restaurant where we not only are outside the comforts of our own home for over five hours, but we’re also paying for food, drinks, and having to use someone else’s potty. OR we pay $30 for an antenna, which would be cheaper than the food and drinks and we could use our own potty.

It was also so ordained because it only took Du about five minutes to hook the thing up and get a signal. I mean, he didn’t even have to cuss or anything. We didn’t even have to try out several different spots in the room to see if a grainy signal could be found. We found reception right away, and boy does it look good. My mind was offended at the speed and chaotic nature of the commercials, but it sure did tell me I wanted some Chili’s when my eyes saw that mouth-watering food pop up on the screen. It didn’t help that we hadn’t had dinner.

So yes, we broke down and entered the 20th century. But don’t expect us to get all fancy and get cable or a DVR or anything like that. We still haven’t told the kids that it’ll come on regularly if you just press the little button on the side of the tv.

Lucifer lives in DC

and drives an RX7. I met him today.

Well, I didn’t actually meet him, thank God (and I mean that). I saw him driving on I395.

I was minding my own business, paying close attention to all things in front of, behind, and around me, including my blind spot. As I merged into traffic I came behind this little car. A car that definitely doesn’t have any fear factor all on its own. Upon further inspection I realized the owner of the car overcame his penis envy with his license plate.

We’ve all seen the run of the mill cocky license plates:

2COOL4U
IM2SEXY
LUVRBOY

This dude’s plate read, “LUCIFER”. No, I am not joking. He beat out every other guy in VA (or were they DC plates?) for the honor of owning that one. Is he expecting to pick up chicks with that? If so, he might have to fight Marilyn Manson. Only certain chicks dig someone who likes to refer to themselves as Lucifer. And to be honest, I don’t really know if MM refers to himself as Lucifer, but he might as well. My guess is that this guy is just trying to scare everyone because his commute really sucks. With the way people drive around here it never hurts to have any kind of edge on the next driver. Knowing you’re driving next to Satan might make you think twice about cutting him off or not letting him merge.

As if that wasn’t enough, I pulled up beside him just to see what the creep who uses that for his plates looks like. Please take a guess at what I saw. Got a mental image? Wrong.

Lucifer was wearing a white, plastic Jason-type mask. While driving.

But he had dark hair.

I so wanted to get a picture for my blog reading peeps, you know, do my blogging duty, but could never get close enough again. I had my phone, camera on, propped on the steering wheel, ready to snap. Can you imagine?! The king of the underworld, driving on the inner loop, looks over at this preppy soccer mom in a huge SUV with a pink phone aimed at him motioning for him to slow down a little, maybe strike a pose? Probably a good thing I couldn’t catch up with him because he probably would have chased me down and sacrificed me to the gods of the beltway. This is the best I could do:

I could see his mask in his side mirror, I so wish that would have shown up in this picture. You can’t even see what the license plate says. But you know.

I already knew the devil had a hold on this city. Who knew he flaunted it in an RX7.

It’s so warm

Remember the ugly as sin hedgehog pin cushion that I sewed?

Not everything I sew is bugly (butt ugly). I really can sew cute. Take a look:

Yes, that’s V² doing her duty to make sure the fit is correct!

I talked about making this jacket when I posted that ugly little hedgehog. It didn’t take me long to sew it at all. I started in the late afternoon, and if I would not have messed up the flounce (and had to recut and sew that) I would have finished that night. I can’t believe how simple it was.

Several things made it simple.

  1. The fabric is some kind of fleece/felt hybrid. JoAnn sold it as fleece but the feel and look is more felt. I was just excited to be getting it at about $5 a yard.
  2. It’s not lined. The directions didn’t call for it to be. I am still at the follow the pattern directions phase.
  3. Fleece/felt doesn’t unravel and therefore I didn’t have to finish any of the edges. Saved tons of time.
  4. The hardest thing was sewing the sleeves in. Actually not even that. That hardest thing was gathering the puffiness of the sleeve equally, and I didn’t do that perfectly.

The biggest compliment is that no one has complimented it at all. Sounds odd, I’ll explain. I think if it looked homemade people might comment and asked if I made it. That and if people around here actually knew that I sew. I think people think it’s a store-bought jacket. Or they really think it’s ugly and just aren’t saying anything because it’s ugly to them. I’m proud of it though.

Now I just need a pink turtle neck to wear with it. Oh, and I’m actually not done with it. I still haven’t hemmed the cuffs. If I make this again (I’ve got my eye on a cute green fleece) I’m going to make the sleeves a little bit longer so I’ll have more fabric to play with at the cuffs. As it is now I’m not sure I have a whole lot. And as I’ve said before, if I’m worried about messing something up I tend to put off doing it. So I’ve just been wearing it like this. Good thing the fleece/felt doesn’t unravel.

Next up: a dress made out of this fabric

It’s a coral/pinkish stretchy rib knit-type fabric with gold thread. It’s Juicy Couture fabric, which probably says all I need to say. What was I thinking?! I’ll tell ya, SALE. G Street Fabrics was having a sale on all their Juicy and I fell for this fabric right away. We’ll see what I look like once the dress is made. I promise I’m not making a tube dress.

P.S. I realize I was remiss in giving you the pattern information. If you’re interested in sewing one for yourself the pattern is Simplicity 4032, option D. The package shows the jacket in the green I want to try next.

An emotional response to the “Harm of Homeschooling”

Ms. West,
I am disappointed in your “Harms of Homeschooling” article (found here, scroll down to page 7). From your wording and sources it seems that your main concern is Christian fundamentalism and how these Christians are not walking in lockstep with the state to make sure their children fall in line with secular humanist state beliefs. I did not learn anything new or factual about homeschooling. The article was more of the typical unfounded and undocumented fear mongering against those who have decided to take on the responsibility of their child’s education (of which they take seriously). Did you mean the article to be an opinion piece? Or were you asked by someone to provide “evidence” against homeschooling? People who already have negative ideas about homeschooling will gain no new ammunition from your article, and those who actually know the facts about homeschooling will only be persuaded that there are those in society who fear the homeschooling movement and will do anything, including baseless lying, to attempt to convince others against home education.

As respectfully as possible,

Homeschooler of four years to a well-adjusted, academically advanced and socially capable seven year old who is learning to think for herself.

Others who have refuted this article much more succinctly and thoughtfully with less emotion than myself:
West on the Harms of Homeschooling by Milton Gaither
The Harms of Homeschooling? Where are the Premises? by National Home Education Research Institute
The Harms of Homeschooling: A Retort by Razzed (read the comments on here too)