My Blog

Don't mind me...I'm just being a mom...

risaaaaa — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:51:43 GMT

Today was Tessa's first day of going to all of her classes. I was so glad to get an excited phone call from her when she got out of school today. She was little down yesterday because so many of the girls knew each other from jr. high school and she knew no one. She is the only student from her school that's going to St. Lucy's. As a result everyone who knew each other hung out together leaving Tessa all on her own. Tessa is not a social butterfly and takes her time getting to know people and establish relationships. So, I was especially glad to hear that today went really well. She has a senior that's her "big sister" and was given a big basket of goodies from her to welcome her to the school which was very very sweet. I could tell that it meant alot to Tessa. Her big sister then went with her to her classes and introduced her to her teachers. Tessa's spanish teacher is Chilean and now thinks Tessa is da bomb because of her Chilean heritage! Woo hoo! teacher's pet! Tessa met a fellow student who's goal is go into the Air Force Academy so I guess they bonded over the similarity of their goals. (Tessa wants to go to Annapolis when she graduates) The only down side (although she kind of laughed it off) was that her locker is at the top of the campus. Let me paint a little picture for you. St. Lucy's is in Glendora nestled right on the hillside. The entire campus goes UP! There are stairs and terraces for miles (or so it seemed to my rather fat out of shape ass) Tessa's locker is at the most north terrace of the campus and on the second floor of the building at the most north terrace of the campus. The principal even told us that they only have the students take 2 years of P.E. because they get so much exercise from just going from class to class. I feel so happy knowing that she seems to be settling in so well so far.

because some of you have asked...

risaaaaa — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:54:57 GMT

Some people have been asking when our baby shower is going to be. I'm not quite sure but I am pretty sure it's one of these 2 weekends....Oct 11th or Oct 18th. I do know it's a coed shower. It's really more of our usual fun drinking kind of parties with a fat chick at the center of the action (that would be me) I promise there will be no baby shower games...not so much a fan of those! More likely to have margarita games though.... If it's at Myra's house then Casey will be taking the boys up to Lucky Baldwin's for an expedition...translation = beer. Lucky Baldwin's is stumbling distance from Myra's house (our old house for those of you who have been to some of our parties) Also, some people have asked where we are registered for little miss Piper. We decided to register 2 places. Both of which are accessible via the internet. Babys R Us you can check it out over the interwebz or go into a store and Amazon which is all interwebz.

Posted a couple days late because tribe was down...

risaaaaa — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:18:01 GMT

No bed rest for Risaaaaa....at least not for another 4 weeks! Talk about feeling relieved! My dr. also said that I was only 3 pts(?) away from being in the normal range for my glucose tolerance test which is very different from what the nurse said to me when she called. She indicated that my glucose levels were "very high" and they weren't that bad. My dr. did say that the diet you have to follow when you have gestational diabetes is absolutely no fun at all! So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all will go well next week. I'm not anemic which is wonderful!...no iron supplements for me! My shortness of breath is just because my uterus is growing and waging a real estate war with my lungs. We did talk a bit about my back and it's problems and how that's going to affect giving birth and it looks as if that I'm going to be having a natural childbirth whether I like it or not! Unless of course, something horribly unforseen happens and I have to have an emergency caesarian and they have to put me under completely. But, it seems that very few anesthesiologists will administer an epidural to someone who has had back surgery especially in the location where I had it. So, I guess I'm going to have to bite the bullet and sign Casey and I up for a Bradley class on childbirth. This is so much better news than I was expecting that I am absolutely giddy! I'm officially in my 3rd trimester! According to my dr...only 12 more weeks to do (It sounds better than saying 3 months)

Tessa's first day of high school

risaaaaa — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:16:42 GMT

Tessa started high school today...I was weepy. I didn't think I would and then I gave her a hug (translation....made her give me a hug) and when she walked away I got really weepy. Luckily no one saw... They're kind of easing them into this. Today was just the freshman. Tomorrow is freshman and sophomores. Wednesday is everyone. I can't believe my baby girl is in high school. I also can't believe that I will be doing this again in 15 years. Casey and I are nuckin futs! Life was just starting to get easy and now we're starting over again. We must be insane!

sigh

risaaaaa — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:20:26 GMT

I failed my glucose tolerance test...I have to go in next week for the 3 hr test. I thought the fasting all night would do the trick but I guess not. At least I'll have 3 hrs to work on my crosstitch.

Test is done!

risaaaaa — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 18:47:38 GMT

My glucose tolerance test was this morning and I have to say compared to the last time I had to take it...it is much better than it was then. Still not the most pleasant of experiences but they have improved the process. When I was pregnant with Tessa you had to drink a thick syrupy concoction which kind of tasted like thick, flat Coke. It was really quite gross. This one was like super sweet flat Sprite and was the consistency of water. So, all in all not too bad. I had not eaten since last night so I was doing great on the fasting part. By the time it was over though I was feeling a bit dizzy and lightheaded but that passed soon enough. I brought my crosstitch with me so I wasn't monumentally bored waiting the hour for the blood test. Hopefully...*fingers crossed* I will pass this and won't have to go back for the 3 hour test.

Eek! Glucose tolerance test tomorrow

risaaaaa — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:02:54 GMT

This is something that I am not terribly looking forward to but am very happy to know that by tomorrow afternoon I will be done with it. I have a slight suspicion that I will not pass the test but I am keeping my fingers crossed. Since nothing else about this pregnancy has been easy I am just assuming that I will probably be adding gestational diabetes to my list o fun. I finally made my appt with the physical therapist but after talking to them today it sounds as if bed rest is just around the corner. The PT was surprised that I wasn't on bedrest already...fuckity fuck fuck! I still have lots to do...I may do it slowly...very slowly but I still am trying to get some things done. Tessa and I went to Michael's last week and got some unfinished wood letters, mirror, chalkboard etc and painted them in the colors of Piper's room is going to be. They really turned out great! Her room is going to be filled with beautiful bright colors. I think Tessa is really loving to help with all the preparations. She is so excited about Piper's arrival! I want to make sure that she never considers Piper as a half sister but simply as her sister. Tessa made a comment to me one day that it's going to be kind of weird because it was just Tessa and I for such a long time and Piper is going to have both parents together and how "weird" that will be. So, I told Casey that we have to make sure that we try never to refer to the 3 of us but always the 4 of us so that she never never feels left out. We already think that way but we are both being very focused on making sure it is verbalized.

Oregon was wonderful...just a little wetter than we had expected.

risaaaaa — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:05:57 GMT

We're back from Oregon and it was beautiful and alot of fun! Unfortunately, we weren't able to stay the whole week as we had planned thanks to the rain. We had to come home on Thursday instead of Sunday. The thunderstorm we had was fabulous until it was raining harder in my tent than it was outside of the tent. Tessa's tent started to leak too by the time morning arrived. When I discovered that there was 3 more days of rain forecasted I decided it was time to come home. If it had just been a quick little storm like it usually is then I would've taken the soaked clothes and bedding into the nearest laundromat and let the tent dry out but that wasn't meant to be. The time we were there was wondersful and made completely possibly by my in laws. My fil set up both tents and my mil cooked for us...I made Tessa and her friend do the dishes and take the trash to the big bin. So, it was pretty easy for me. We went to Crater Lake as we always do which was amazingly gorgeous...as it always is. We took a really long (too long for this fat pregnant lady) drive to the Oregon Caves. I hung out in the lodge while they went in the Caves. Though it was beautiful up there...that was a bit difficult...the combo of the smoke from the California fires and the higher altitude really made catching my breath very difficult. It took me about an hour and a half to catch my breath and get my heart to calm down after a very, very short walk to the lodge. I did get to see a couple of waterfalls that were just feet from the parking lot but that was pretty much all the exertion that I could muster. Tessa, her friend and my in laws were supposed the go river rafting but we missed that because that was the day we had to leave...bummer! Tessa would have loved it. The mosquitos loved us and were very sad to see us go...especially Tessa who they seem to think is awfully tasty! I have big plans for next year! But these involve renting a camper and going up the coast of Oregon. We'll see!

I may be spending Halloween in the hospital!

risaaaaa — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 05:17:35 GMT

I think my due date is wrong! I received a bill yesterday from Cedars for my CVS. I guess this one was a billing for the lab work. On it,it said a CVS for a 14 week old fetus. I looked at it hoping the bill wasn't mine because clearly the information was incorrect. I was just starting my 11th week when the CVS was done. So, I called them up to ask what it was all about. I guess according to the ultrasound and the the cvs testing they placed the age of the baby at 14 weeks. Now, if that's true then the fact that I am measuring at 24 weeks and not 22 weeks would now make perfect sense! If this is the case then my due date is more like November 1st and not the 16th. Now, that's only a matter of a few weeks but still...it's nice to be prepared. Who knows...I may actually have a Halloween baby after all. what would be weirder still is if this little peanut was born on October 20th which was my due date last year for the baby that didn't make it.

mini preggo update

risaaaaa — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:11:49 GMT

I went in for my 22 week checkup today. It seems my dr. is in agreement...I am quite huge. In fact, I am measuring at 24 weeks and not 22 weeks. She was very noncommital if that meant I was due 2 weeks earlier. I guess we'll wait and see. My weight gain was in the normal range so my "largeness" wasn't due to my eating all of the frosted circus cookies last week. She, unfortunately, has no clue why standing or walking for more than 5 or 10 minutes is so amazingly painful. She is sending me to a physical therapist to see if that can provide some relief but she was very doubtful. I don't know why it took me so long to connect these symptoms but I finally did. About 8 or 9 years ago I had back surgery on my lower back and I have realized that the symptoms...numb leg and pain in leg and lower back are pretty identical to the symptoms I had before the surgery. Also, a tiny little memory at the back of my mind seems to recall the dr. saying a pregnancy might cause some more problems with my back and may not be advisable. Since at the time I had no plans on getting pregnant again...I ignored that. Unfortunately, because of this I can't work so my dr. was kind enough to fill out the disability paperwork. I have been given the okay to swim...finally! My dr. wants me to get as much exercise as I can without putting any pressure on my back and so I was told I can swim so tomorrow morning I'm going to squeeze my large belly into my bathing suit and go swimming! yippee! I can't wait! I have my glucose tolerance test in a few weeks and then we'll see if I'm large and in charge because of gestational diabetes or I'm just a lucky gal! Piper is moving around more and more and even if other aspects of my pregnancy are less than ideal...this part makes it all worth while! When the dr. put the doppler on my belly today to hear the heartbeat, Piper promptly kicked right where it was...twice!...Go Piper! Maybe she's practicing for junk target practice when the boys get fresh!

My magnetic personality

risaaaaa — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:00:36 GMT

I have been frustrated with this for quite some time. Casey has joked about this for quite some time but it's not a joke anymore. We are starting to think that there really is something to this and it seems to be getting worse. Casey calls me techno-bane. I can't wear watches because the battery runs down 10x faster than anyone else. Casey and I both had the same phone, we both charged it at the same time...Casey talked on his phone far more than I did and yet my battery always died faster than his did. I replaced my laptop last year with a Mac laptop because though my laptop was only a year old...neither Casey nor I could ever get it to connect to the interwebz consistently or worse yet...he could get it to connect and when I used it it wouldn't. He'd be sitting right next to me with his Mac and his would be fine. So, we got a Mac for me and I gave Tessa my old laptop...which btw is working great now and always connects to the interwebz. My 1 year old Mac now has a completely dead battery...and it's not the batch of batteries that we were recalled. We are now on our 4th set of phones. We assumed the first time we had problems with our phone that it was a crappy phone, then it was because we had Vonage, and then because of where we lived...it's me!...not the phones! If I am in close proximity to one of our phones...it won't ring. Every other phone in the house will ring but the one close to me won't ring. I could go on and on about all the things that won't work for me but will work for Casey and Tessa who DO THE EXACT SAME THING THAT I JUST DID. I am incredibly frustrated with my suppposed "magnetic personality". Has anyone experienced this too or am I the only techno bane out there?

21' 5th wheel trailer for sale

risaaaaa — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:54:57 GMT

My mom is looking to sell my parent's 5th wheel trailer. I don't have a price on it yet because I'm still trying to figure out about how much it should go for. I really want to help my mom get it sold because she just can't handle this kind of stuff anymore. I thought I would see if there was any interest on my LJ, tribe, and myspace first before I post it publicly. Here are the details: It's a 1986 21' Santa Rosa 5th wheel trailer (this means you need to have a truck or something with a bed). My parents purchased it used but it was in pristine condition when they bought it and they kept it in really great condition. It's very dusty right now but that's easy to clean. It sleeps 4 very comfortably and can probably sleep more if you're really friendly. It has a dining area,(this converts for sleeping 2 or more) a kitchen with microwave, stove, oven, fridge, and sink. It has a bathroom with toilet and shower. My mom will probably even leave all of the silverware, dishes, pots etc that are stocked in the kitchen. If you get lucky/unlucky she'll leave the motion activated barking dog. It's nothing fancy but it was a great trailer for my parents as they got older and wanted more comforts when they camped. If anyone is interested or knows someone that is please let me know. I'm working on getting a price that's fair to my mom but will also help sell this fairly soon. We also have the trailer hitch and runners that will probably be included in the price.( I think that's what they're called)

Can you tell I'm nesting?

risaaaaa — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:51:01 GMT

Here's the colors and bedding for Piper's room! I love bright colors and this was perfect. It wasn't ridiculously expensive and I got a great deal on ebay with free shipping and no tax! What could be better?!...and...I will always be singing Beatles songs to her! http://www.bananafishinc.com/prodpg.php?product_id=987

This makes it all worth it...

risaaaaa — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:50:11 GMT

To begin this I have to say how happy I am that Casey and I got pregnant. However, this time around, the being pregnant part has been challenging to say the very least. I am 20 weeks and though I am not as sick as I was in the beginning I am still nauseous a good part of the day. I have chronic headaches about 5 days a week, if I stand more than 15 minutes I lose all feeling in my leg, a trip to the grocery store becomes excruciating if I'm there longer than 15-20 minutes, and I am lightheaded and short of breath all the time. I took a shower the other day and I had to lie down for 30 minutes to recuperate from "all" that exertion....and I'm only half way there...yikes! Needless to say, this has been very challenging physically and I've had to adapt my life, schedule etc because of this pregnancy. This morning though none of it seemed to matter...I was laying in bed feeling my little girl bump and move for about 30 minutes and it was the most wonderful feeling. I loved feeling Tessa move inside me when I was pregnant with her and this is no different. It is just the most amazing feeling that I will never get tired of and I know I will miss it after Piper is born just as I did after Tessa was born. So every time I get so discouraged and down by how limited I am physically right now I feel her moving around and know that it is all worth it! oh...and anyone who says being pregnant in your forties is just as easy as in your twenties and thirties....is high as a freakin kite!...I'm just is all...

Help! I'm a victim of technology!!

risaaaaa — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:03:56 GMT

I just discovered that I have lost every single name, address, phone #, and email address that I had painstakingly and lovingly inputted into my old palm pilot. It's gone, all gone. What a pain in my ass! So, I was wondering if all of you could send me your info so I can update my contact list. For some of you...it's new addresses and new phone #'s and this way I can get updated n' shit...You can send your info to my email at risaaaaa at gmail dot com. Thanks so much!!

on a much happier note...

risaaaaa — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 21:30:48 GMT

I'm done with feeling down...my happier news is that she has been bumping me since last week. The bumping is getting stronger and she just did it again!! Pretty soon she'll graduate to kicks! Now, to go lie down...I'm exhausted!

suckity, suck suck!

risaaaaa — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 20:35:08 GMT

I just got back from my 19 week prenatal visit. All in all it went pretty well except for...My doctor says I'm not allowed to do any exercising right now....which sucks! Because I am finally starting to feel like doing some exercising. I've been having a problem for the past 2 months which has been bugging me and Casey has been after me to tell my dr. about so I finally did today. If I stand for more than 10 or 15 minutes my left leg goes numb...completely numb. If I sit down for a few minutes I can feel it starting to wake up a bit. The other day I took a little walk with Casey, not too strenuous and we took it really easy since we're both pretty out of shape right now. By the time we got home...I felt horrible. My belly hurt so much and I had this urge to bear down. Now, I knew that this wasn't a good thing but...I thought I would wait till I saw the doctor. Which is why she just told me...no more exercising of any kind for now. I guess what I was feeling was probably contractions which at 19 weeks is not a good thing to be feeling. I can't even go swimming unless all I do is float on my back and do nothing strenuous at all. Not the news I was hoping to hear...I feel very depressed now.

Happy Birthday to a most wonderful husband!!!

risaaaaa — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 18:08:28 GMT

I can't wait to celebrate tonite!!!!!!!!!!!!

ping Steve

risaaaaa — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:19:27 GMT

Steve! I actually have a valid excuse for not posting my pics! I just tried to update my smugmug and I can't get it to take any of my pics. I've tried some other uploading but nothing is working...I'm hoping it's smugmug and not me....:(

Finally!!...the good news that we've been waiting for!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

risaaaaa — Tue, 13 May 2008 01:00:43 GMT

Casey and I are expecting a healthy beautiful baby girl in November!!! I am 13 weeks along right now and finally starting to see a possible end to the morning (what a crock!) sickness and constant fatigue. It has been quite a challenge to do everything that I needed to do to get all of my Wayward Ware responsibilities done before faire started and to just get thru faire, the heat, the nausea, the fatigue, and still try to not let it all show until we knew that everything was going to be okay with our baby. Trying to put in the hours that I needed to to get everything done was trying indeed with all the nausea and the need for frequent naps. I fell asleep several times in my chair sewing....eek! My big challenge was to try to look perky and happy to sell chidlren's clothes while trying to hide my dry heaving...oh! the joy of pregnancy! A couple of weeks ago we had to share our news with a handful of people because it was starting to get a bit obvious that something was up...sick ALL the time, tired all the time...and a growing belly that has been harder and harder to hide. OH...and did I mention the heartburn...oy! We've been on pins and needles for weeks because of mysterious high hormone levels that I had from the start that my dr was very worried about. I had a cvs test about 2 weeks ago to determine if everything was okay. It was a little nerve wracking because there is a chance of miscarriage with having the test done but it was very necessary and it gave us the good news we were waiting for! This so far has been a very different pregnancy than I had with Tessa. My pregnancy with Tessa up till this point was much easier. This time around, my nausea and fatigue started at 4 weeks and has been much more intense than it ever was with Tessa. I also started to have a belly pretty quickly....at 13 weeks I am the size I was at 7 months with Tessa. oh....to have those tight pre child ligaments again! I am frightened to see what I look like come November! I wish we hadn't had to keep this a secret so long but after our loss last year I understood why people wait to share their news. I think this baby is going to take after her daddy...while they took this picture when doing the ultrasound... she really looked like she was doing Casey's tard dance with her arms and legs moving all over the place!...oh dear!

Pre-Faire News for Wayward Ware

risaaaaa — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:30:46 GMT

Pre-faire News for Wayward Ware Workshops will be starting this Saturday March 8. Wayward Ware will not be there every day for workshops this year because we have a booth to build and we’re busily creating wonderful new things to have ready for opening weekend. We will be there one day every weekend until faire starts. We will also be offering a participant discount for the whole run of faire for any faire participant who misses us during workshops. Just bring your faire i.d. to get the discount during the run of faire. The following is our tentative schedule for pre-faire sales for this year: March 9th (Sunday) March 16th (Sunday) March 22 (Saturday) March 29 (Saturday) We wish we could be out there for both days every weekend and we hope that by splitting up and offering some Sundays and some Saturdays that we will be able to catch everyone who wants to buy Wayward Ware. Please email us if you want something in particular to be brought out. We can do a phone order and have it delivered to you when we’re next out at the site. We will know by this Friday where our location is and we’ll let everyone know.

Yippee! They are being removed!

risaaaaa — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 03:03:32 GMT

I guess all of our phone calls worked! I want to thank everyone for all the moral support and all of your outrage! We still have to be careful until we know they're gone and just in general you should always be vigilant but this is a huge relief to know that these guys are going away. I knew that this community could push enough to make these guys leave but I had no idea that it could be accomplished this quickly! I am so impressed and proud to have the neighbors that I do! Here's an email from one of the most active members of our community. WE DID IT!!!! To all - First, thanks for attending our Town Hall meeting on Tuesday to discuss the existence of an offender home in The Meadows of Altadena. Here's the Great News: It has just been confirmed by Supervisor Antonovich's office, and a press release has just been issued from Assemblyman Anthony Portantino: the six registered sex offenders will be vacated from the house by Monday, March 3. The Parole Department has determined this has been an inappropriate placement for these individuals. We ask that all continue to be careful until the individuals are removed. The Supervisor's office is working on legislation that will help prevent similar inappropriate placement of these types of homes from happening in the future. We wish to thank everyone for their support and outstanding showing at the meeting. We're going to stay committed to following up on the progress of the removal of these individuals and determine what next steps need to happen. We will be reaching out to all of you for your continued support and action. On behalf of The Meadows, we are truly grateful, The Concerned Neighbors of The Meadows Greg Stanton, Realtor Dilbeck Realtors, GMAC 132 E. Colorado Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91105 Direct Line: 626-431-2205 Fax: 626-584-3889

a horrible reality in my blissfully wonderful neighborhood

risaaaaa — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:33:33 GMT

I have to preface all of this by describing our little neighborhood up here in The Meadows. It is an amazing little neighborhood and when I say neighborhood I mean it in ever sense of the word. It is such an amazing little community. As much as I loved Sierra Madre, I never experienced the sense of community that I do here. Many people who have lived in this 250ish home area have lived here for 25-40 years. Some have been raised here and are now raising their families here. The Neighborhood Watch is vigilant about keeping this community safe. Now with that said... On Sunday, some of the Neighborhood Watch came to our door passing out fliers. It seems that the Department of Corrections decided to place a couple of weeks ago 6!...yes I said 6! violent sexual offenders that were out on parole in the same house. 4 of them have been convicted of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14 and 2 have been convicted of "rape/fear/etc" (I'm quoting what their megan's law info from the internet says. These are offenses that they have "plead DOWN to"....not what they were originally charged with but what they PLEAD DOWN to to get a lighter sentance. Needless to say, I was outraged, horrified, terrified, on and on and on with the emotions that go along with this. I have a 14 year old daughter...I am a woman who works from home. Though these men supposedly have working GPS units on they can still wander around our neighborhood and still hurt people just fine even with the GPS units on. I've had to start changing the way I do things...I can't just walk out my back door to my workshop anymore. I have to lock the door behind me...go to my workroom...lock the door when I get in...no more fresh air coming thru the door...I am going to take down Tessa's pretty curtains in the her windows and put up blinds like the rest of the house so they can't target my daughter as one of their next victims. The community is in an uproar about all this. We went to a huge community meeting about this that was covered by news crews and hopefully something will be done. We found out some details about this whole placement of these men that was so disturbing. The Dept. of Corrections never notified ANYONE of the placement of these men and used loopholes in vague laws to place 6 men in one house. They were counting on the fact that our neighborhood is isolated and that the neighbors wouldn't do anything about this. These men are career criminals. It's not IF they will commit crimes again...it's WHEN! They placed these men up here in a house surrounded by families of small children...wtf? The man who owns the house...gets $6,000 a person per month to let them live there. The owner gets $36,000 a month to house these monsters. The Dept. of Corrections put these men up here in a community that only has one way in...one way out, has no public transportation or bus stop within a mile, and the closest store to them is a liquor store. The logic behind this makes no sense. Last night's meeting was empowering and frustrating. It was empowering hearing how the neighbors are rallying to get these men out of here but it was frustrating listening to the representatives of the politicians saying that their hands were tied and they understand our fear and blah, blah,blah. We're starting a phone campaign where we bombard the people responsible for making this happen. One of the plans is locate the owner and harass him to the point that it's just not worth it having the men there. I've seen this sort of thing happen to other neighborhoods on t.v. and I've always been very understanding and sympathetic. I feel that men who commit those acts shouldn't even be allowed to live or at the very least...castrated! But, when it's within a 1/4 mile of your home and your family and your child and because of this you are entertaining the thought for the first time in your life to have your daughter go live with her father...it makes you want to cry which I'm doing right now. I feel so helpless at the moment because of evil men, unthinking men, callous men, and greedy men and it really makes me angry.

Wanted: single fold bias tape...anyone?

risaaaaa — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:59:09 GMT

Hey all of you sewers out there...I'm looking for some discontinued colors in bias tape from Wright's. The colors are old rose, cameo, and petal peach and the type of bias tape is single fold (not wide single fold). If anyone wants to clean out their sewing boxes and sell these to me I would love it! Please let me know!

Goodbye and good riddance 2007

risaaaaa — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 17:16:13 GMT

So, I realized today that there are only 21 more days till 2007 is over. Oddly enough this fills me with joy. Joy has been a bit lacking in my life this year but the thought of this horrendous year ending fills me with joy. I'm hoping that this coming year I will be able to make it through a day without crying and I will be able to go for days without thinking of my baby or my father. I don't live my life through horoscopes, astrology or any of that but every once in a while I get a kick out of reading them. I remember this year right after the Chinese new year, I read my forecast for the Year of the Fire Pig...it was horrible. It predicted this horrible year for me saying that 9 months out of the year would be "unfortunate", 2 months would be neither fortunate or unfortunate and 1 month would be fortunate. I remember reading that and laughing...I was just pregnant and we were all so happy. I couldn't imagine anything making my year "unfortunate". Then I had the miscarriage and my dad died and my aunt died...and looking back now I see that at least 9 months of the year were indeed "unfortunate". I had one wonderful month...February and for this year...that was it. So, I am hoping and feel really confident that this will happen...that this coming year will be wonderful. I was thinking to myself the other day...why are you putting so much stock in the new year? It's all in your head....But, I think I have to have the hope that there are better things ahead for our family. If I don't have that hope...I don't know that I could make it through every day. I don't often put up really personal posts...I usually post those in a private journal. But, I felt like I needed to put this out into the universe...I want 2008 to be as wonderful a year as this one was horrible. I want my days to be filled with laughter and happiness and not sadness and tears. I want to have my mind filled with all the joy of what's to come and not all the sadness of what I've lost...I just want a better year....and considering how bad this year was...the bar is really pretty low.