Stinky Sweat

Has anyone noticed how much sweat can stink?
Why is it that sweat stinks?
Is there are reason some sweat stinks more than other sweat?
I am sure there is a scientific reason for stinky sweat...
So here is my understanding of sweat,
(I actually looked it up) specifically stinky sweat.
Your entire body has "sweat" glands. Where hair isn't prominent sweat is just "salty water"...however, where hair is...your body makes oily sweat. And (just in case you didn't know) bacteria like oily sweat. Now then, bacteria eat oily sweat. But, bacteria itself doesn't smell,
however...
the waste from bacteria does.
So stinky sweat is "poop" from bacteria on our bodies.
Lovely isn't it?

It is time...

School has now begun (not that school affects much with me anymore) and of course, I jump into Christmas mode.
Do you realize how far away Christmas isn't? I begin thinking of Christmas literally the day after. But, I really kick into "holiday mode" after school starts. I find myself thinking of projects, ideas, time.
Time is a great big "hello" to me. Do I have time for this? Can I make time for that? How much do I really, really want to do this?
I encourage my "girls" to come up with their neighbor ideas early so we can work on them in the summer...but to no avail. It seems we are working on projects in the fall. Last year (as in probably the day after Christmas) I decided what I want to do for my friend/neighbor gifts. I actually do have to wait to do mine this year. I can not do them early. I have what I need, but they will have to wait.
So, to my girls...
I very much enjoy helping them with their projects. I enjoy the time spent around the table laughing and gabbing and enjoying each other as we serve one another. So heads up--new babies, pregnant, school and work...Start thinking! Start planning! Start gathering. And let's get a girl day (as in a few hours) together so we can accomplish a few goals. Take stress off of one another and enjoy each other.

early mornings...

I have come to the conclusion Midge really likes to play soccer.
This dedication has been demonstrated to me for the past 3 weeks as she has been getting up, dressed, and ready to go earlier than is needed. Before 5 a.m..I experience a tap on my door and a "hey Mom, I need a ride".
"ride to where" is what I think, but actually she wants a ride to soccer practice. With the field schedule and her coach's schedule 5:15 to 7:30 in the morning is when she is practicing. She comes home, does a quick rinse in the shower, and manages to look rather "cute" for the day at school and we tend to get her to school on time as well. Yahoo!!!
But really, early, early in the a.m. for practice? Is wonderful because it is cooler, it is dark, no one else is on the field, all are bleary eyed, and it is over for the day. I haven't quite adjusted to her being home after school yet; but I am sure that adjustment will come. She says afternoons will happen when their coach is unhappy with them.
Way to go Midge, I am proud of you and your dedication.

School has begun...

Funny how your life changes every year as school begins. For several years it was go here, go there, talk to this one, find a parking spot, find your desk, find your name, find your teacher times 5 or 6... The first day of school was hectic, chaotic, and traumatic. Ready for school or not, we went.
We have been through the heartbreaking kindergartens, and the very difficult first grade beginnings; where they are really now in school, whole day and everything. We have watched as they have shifted from one school to the next, have observed as they have changed and adapted to the different challenges "school" has delivered to them, and we have heard them say, "thanks Mom, this is cool", so we can drop them off close to school but no longer with a kiss on the cheek. And we have learned to re-adjust our lives after school has once again, begun.
Used to be the first day of school meant an extremely crazy couple of hours while I made sure my high schoolers through kindergartners got to school, found their classmates and discovered where the desks were. Then, whomever was left went with me and my friend to "lunch". This was tradition.
We would be back early enough to pick up, locate, and await the buses which delivered our children. But lunch was our celebration.
It was the beginning of a quieter time of life, the marker of time to start working on Christmas projects, and provided the opportunity to relax a bit after the summer crazies.
Now, the first day of school is a three minute event, a question of this door or that? And a (I love this one) "I'll call you when I'm done" comment with a thanks Mom, I love you quickly said as the car door closes.
No longer do I do back to school lunch with my friend. We don't even get together to celebrate school beginning and in another year back to school will no longer be a part of my life...
My comment to those of you who have kindergartners...soon they will be seniors and you won't be having any back to school celebration lunches. Treasure and cherish the smiles, giggles, tears and joys....

Let's hear it for feathers

So speaking of feathers....
What to do about Midge's feathers. The dress she is copying (understand this actually means me) has a huge tail of feathers. And they are plush and thick and amazing. And even though the dress sparkles like a disco ball under thousands of spot lights it just isn't right if it doesn't have feathers.
I then began the feather search...Google once again. I found feathers, but what color did I want? I couldn't quite tell. And price...was okay I guess it would be alright to spend more on the feathers than everything else put together.
Save the day, thank you my friend, Marilyn!
She says to me how about pieces of tulle and net stitched in a long rope and then gathered and stitched again onto a base which happens to be the correct shape?
I truly had my doubts substituting tulle/net for feathers, but out of desperation and cost effectiveness I went ahead and gave it a whirl. Amazing, step back and take a look, feathers. Then, when I actually added a few feathers here and there, it truly was feathers. I wonder how many shows I have been to thinking it was all feathers and it wasn't...wonderful....amazing....fantastic....
So tell me, what do you think of my "feathers"?

Feathers...

Recently I have been working on a formal/costume for Midge. She needed a 70ish dress for the fair float. Looking at formals from the 70's we discovered mostly Gunne Sax type dresses, perhaps you may remember...gauzy, cream, ruffles and tiny lace. I looked at Midge and she looked at me...I said, "not much wha bammm". She said,
"I can't wear that, that is awful". Essentially, yuck.
I actually remember Gunne Sax days, they were the "bomb". Oh you were so very lucky to have one for your dance. Not very many could afford them. There were even patterns so you could make your own...again nothing wha bammm about it. Always in very soft, very muted prints. After a chat with her director Midge informs me, "No. Like Diana Ross and the Supremes".
Google search and here she found "wha bammm".
Scoop rounded square neckline front and back, fitted essentially to the floor, thank goodness for slits or we would have to push her on a hand truck everywhere, lots and lots of sparkle, and.....feathers.
Thank goodness for Google, and Diana Ross, and the Supremes, and for feathers. With a smile, Midge says, "I can wear that".

Ducks...

So here I was driving home on our street,
the sun was setting,
I had just dropped Midge off at practice and
was thinking about things I needed to yet accomplish.
The glare on the windshield is to blame.
I truly did NOT see the family of ducks
which decided to cross the road at that moment in time.
But, it was too late. One of those ducks just did not look both ways,
didn't even slow down, just waddled out into the road
and right under my license plate.
He made a little thump and I felt real bad, I looked around to see if I could figure out who the family belonged to, but to no avail.
As I looked in my rear view mirror I saw a few feathers, but not many
and the duck was flapping his wings quite a bit.
My thoughts, "Maybe he will just have a head ache and is really all right?"
I don't know for sure. When I arrived home I looked at my license plate (that duck saw it up close and everything).
One, lone feather.
So, do you think I am a duck killer? I never saw the duck again.
And I have been truly pondering this duck, and my guilty conscience.

Late night chats

I received a late night phone call last night. The house phone rings after ten and everyone looks at one another with a "what's happened?" look. Now, with the age of cell phones and texting this is truly not unusual. Facebook even contributes to late night calling. If someone is chatting/texting with you after ten, you know they are up or sleep texting...which I guess does happen occasionally.
However, back to my late night call.
I answered the phone with "emergency" on my mind to hear a small voice ask me
"who are you?"
Really a very variable question as there can be so many different answers...
mom, wife, grandmother, daughter, friend, granddaughter needless to say I responded with
"Who are you?"
My answer was quick, "Madison".
And once our "relationship to each other was established" she told me all about her day at Sea World and the fun things she saw and did. We discussed who was smarter and who didn't know quite as much, what cool new things she and her family got at Sea World, playing at the beach and chasing waves, and having a fun car trip experience. A trip is always so much more memorable when the car breaks down, children remember it forever. And never, ever let you forget it.
She informed me she was on her way back to the hotel where she was going to put on her pajamas and get her dolphin and go to bed. She seemed very excited about this prospect and told me she was sleeping on a sofa bed. I asked her which it really was and after some discussion it was decided the sofa really preferred being a sofa most and would be a bed only now and then.
I was rather tickled she wanted to share her day with me and then realized
this phone chat was fill in for the car ride home. Wonderful to hear how her "surprise" trip is unfolding and can't wait for another "fill in" phone call.

Procrastination...

Yes, that is what I have been doing...more like chilling, doing absolutely nothing, and thinking about lots of things...but accomplishing nothing.
Actually not, you must accomplish something if you "think" about it. Topic for this week, Midge's dress for Saturday. Did some measurements yesterday. So today,
I will cut out sparkly sequins and get to work. Midge, chose something not too complicated. The hardest part is the sequins and knowing if I make a mistake I have to start completely over from the beginning. And thinking about how to make "feathers" from tulle and net.
So, this week, Fair, formals and cheesecakes.

Beautiful?

It started out to be a beautiful day. Now it is 105 degrees outside with a bit of a dry breeze and all of a sudden it feels humid. Humid is wonderful in the wintertime, but horrible in the middle of the summer. I don't want to cook, I don't want to eat (not necessarily a bad thing), I definitely don't want to do the laundry.
About the only thing I want to do is take a cool shower and lay around somewhere with a good book and a very cool drink or lounge in the shade in a very wonderful pool.
So, the big question is...will I accomplish anything today?
Most likely, not.

Buttonholes...

For the past while my buttonholer on my machine has been a bit of a pain to use. Not really a problem, just not very convenient.
Consequently, I have been sewing dresses and waiting for someone to "love" them before I put the buttonholes in.
Lesson learned.
Big mistake. Someone "loved" a couple of dresses. In the process of putting in the buttonholes my little gizmo broke, it didn't fall apart, some little, funky metal part sheared off and went kha-thump onto my machine deck.
I had already committed myself (in my mind) to doing all of those buttonholes at the same time...I'm still not finished, but I am getting closer.
So I have spent the last day recovering from our trip and putting in buttonholes. Perhaps later this morning I will be finished. And on the positive side, Little Emma's blessing dress and strawberry dress are now finished!

Snuggles

After being away for several days
I returned home to some wonderful "snuggle" time with my grand kids.
A new baby to "snuggle" with, it was actually like saying "Hello".
Fun to make that connection.
The boys with their big, tight hugs...
and the girls with their "hi" hugs and "where's Papa?".
I know how much I was missed. Good thing I have a treat jar filled with smarties and suckers and such!
We enjoyed ourselves while we were gone...
pretty much we did mostly what we do at home...
chill out, visit, watch movies, and play games.
What we don't do at home,
stay up till the a.m., visit some amazing "real" factory outlet stores (how come we don't have those here?), and attend a wedding.
I also was so very fortunate to experience my daughters' driving,
and of course the stop at the cheese plant for ice cream,
as well as a time to reconnect with distant family.
The best part of being away... coming home.