Saturday-5:45am

This is a near sunset picture but--good morning!  I know.  Too early for me to be up, but I've been awake since 4am.  My hours have been a bit out of whack for days.

Our pseudo-summer 70s weather has dropped back to...well, it's 24 degrees right now.  Too cold for Karma to be dozing outside...or even on the floor much...so she was catching some morning sunrays in her chair. 

The camera wanted to focus on my water thermos.  Karma hears the whir of the camera and her eyes pop open--LOL! 

Well, I started working on all the pads for Leah once they got Miss Brother working again.  (The Diva doesn't like stopping and starting to go around curves, either.)  I finished them and brought them over on Tuesday so she'd have time to attach all the snaps before they left yesterday.  :)

****

Leah had this idea to make a zipper pillow for Ian.  He loves zippers right now...so while Leah was running errands she picked up a bunch of zippers at JoAnn's.  When I dropped off the pads Tuesday evening I brought home the zippers.  First I searched YouTube to get some ideas of how to shorten zippers...and adapted what I saw to work for this project. 

First I cut them all down to about 8 inches long total and then hand-sewed around the zippers at six inches.

I decided to add a glob of hot glue to the back sides, though, so that if Ian chewed through the thread or got it so drooly wet that it broke there would still be a stopper on the backside.  (Made for some inadvertent "decorative" sewing later when I sewed the zippers on to the fabric--never thought that far ahead, but still managed to sew them on--LOL!) 

I needed to tuck the bottoms into the seams, so I had to cut along both sides of the end of the zippers... 

...and chop out the teeth.  Good thing they were all plastic zippers and easier to cut. 

Then I sewed down four zippers on each of the brown squares of duck cloth. 

Sewed them together, turned, stuffed... 

...and hand sewed it closed. 

Only one zipper out of eight gives a bit of trouble but the rest work pretty well. 

I made a quick trip over to drop off the zipper pillow on Thursday during the packing chaos.  Got to hold and kiss that little Ian and say goodbye to everybody before I went back home to collapse.

****

Been extra stiff and sore, of course.  Seen too many early mornings...   

...like this gorgeous one yesterday. 

And that is why I was up at 4am this morning.  But am so thrilled that I got the pads made and Ian's zipper pillow to play with on the long flight.  :):)  Happy happy me!

****

Yesterday Caroline went grocery shopping for me.  (Yes, I dealt with my bank--had to repeat the story to four different people--got back on to the Cashwise website, too--hopefully for good now--tada!)  And I made my monthly orders...with extra birthday money thanks to you generous souls who sent me gifts!!  (Thanks--you all know who you are!)  

****

I am excited to finally order myself some Artbin satchels for my sewing supplies.  I'll show you why it is about time--LOL!  I've been keeping them in a banker's box and have to dig and dig to find anything.  

Embarrassing to admit that somebody who loves to organize like I do has been living like this for decades.  I have stuff stuck in tiny boxes (paper and plastic), altoid tins, an itty bitty jelly jar, old craft supply containers, zip lock bags, and some bigger boxes, too.

Anyone from Minnesota would recognize this yellowed 40 year old box from Daytons (parent to Target stores).  Click here for some wiki-history.  

Does anyone else remember (with tremendous embarrassment) being drug to Downtown Daytons in Minneapolis to get measured for their first bra?  Or making the sparkly-evening-annual-family-walk around the Daytons building (which took up a whole city block)--gazing in awe at the animatronic Christmas window displays?  Or either going yourself or taking your kids (I did both) to see Santa up on seventh floor where they had the entire floor (or most of it) made into a different themed piped-music wonderland every year?  (At least I remember it being on 7th floor but wiki said they originally built six floors and never mentioned them adding on to the building?)  

Ahhh--Daytons.  :)

****

And, yes--I have also been using these shoe boxes from Dagan's tiny shoes days. 

Trying to find thread in them is a jumbled mess.  (A few of these spools are 40 years old, too!) 

Anyways, I'll show you the new satchels when I get them--whoohoo!  

****

But...will I be able to part with the old Dayton's box and Dagan's baby shoe boxes?  Does anyone else get attached to odd things like this?

****

I have some really-fun, not-needed birthday things coming, too!  Okay, I know you guessed ink and pens--LOL!  But I also have a couple washi tapes coming (you might have guessed that, too) and a new billfold (never saw that one coming, did you!).  I've been using the same wallet I bought at Concordia college when I started there in 1999 and it has been falling apart in important places...like my change falls out into my bag--LOL!  A few other more boring things and some more PUL and Zorb fabrics.  :) 

****

Now, in family news:

McFamily left for Japan yesterday.  They took a flight to Minneapolis, then boarded for Japan, and 13 hours later (2am our time) Leah texted me that they were doing paperwork in an airport in Japan.  I texted a little with Leah a while ago.  They were going to eat and sleep and would talk to me more tomorrow--but she said Ian was great on the long plane ride!  :)  Leah's brother, Aaron, was there with them and had gone on a food run for them.  They are in Japan!!  :)

****

My Dad (94) has been in the hospital (down in Florida) for a few days.  Fluid on the lungs and swollen legs.  He's doing well, they are getting rid of the fluids, and he might be going home this weekend.  

Love you, Dad!  Be nice to those nurses!  ;)

****

It's 7:30am and the sun has just come up.  Karma is warm in my lap under the laptop table.  I will be going over to visit with Sammy and Annie this weekend...but, other than that, I am on R&R for a while with a microwave heating pad on my lower back--LOL!  Life is good!  Everyone is okay.  And since I am not moving much right now, I am delighted I haven't had time to watch House of Cards yet.  ;)

****

Have a delightful weekend!!  :):)

****

"The little things? 

The little moments? 

They aren't little."

Jon Kabat-Zinn