My Intro to Cloth Dipes!

I find this story quite amusing so I thought I'd share.

I knew when I got pregnant that I wanted to at least give cloth diapers a try. I knew it would save a lot of money. Plus, the environmental impact of the estimated number of diapers one kid goes through makes me cringe. I knew I probably wouldn't be a full time cloth diaperin' mama, but I wanted to at least use cloth the majority of the time at home.

I soon became dizzy with all of the options available. A few people gave us some good old fashioned Gerber Birdseye pre-folds. I figured I could figure this out! So, being well versed in the ways of the web, I proceeded to search out videos on how to put a cloth diaper on a baby. I figured I could practice on my Cabbage Patch Kids til the real thing got here.

I found a video on YouTube. The gal had a pre-school teacher look about her. I opened her website in a separate tab. I then got interrupted or side tracked and left it for the night. The next morning, I sat down at my computer, anxious to learn all I needed to know about putting on old fashioned (and wayyy cheaper) cloth diapers. I was surpised that the preschool teacher's website had an "Adult Content" warning! Upon closer inspection, this fact was due to the content related to...are you ready for this? Adult Diaper Fettish!

I had no idea such a thing really existed. I mean I think I saw it on CSI once...

I had to laugh! I ended up seeing what the gal's video was all about and it turned out to be quite informative and beneficial. The benefit to her demo of ADULT diapers is that they were large so they showed up good on the video and I could see what she was doing. No, there wasn't an actual "adult baby" in the video. She just showed varios ways of folding and pinning the dipes.

Anyway, it was a real eye opener!

As it has turned out, we have had pretty good luck with the basic, dozen dipes for like $10 at Wal-Mart Gerbers and plastic covers. I am venturing into some other options and will share those in upcoming posts.

I had alluded to this experience to someone on Twitter and wanted to get the full story down.

Quilting is Theraputic

I used to have an adorable, spunky, long haired, Calico cat named Jazzy. My brother had her but she was getting beat up on by his other cats. My cat was depressed and lonely and needed a friend, so I brought her home with me.

A few years ago when I lived with Michelle and Julie (so 4-5 years ago), Julie mentioned she hadn't seen Jazzy all day (Julie was student and had been home that day). I went looking for Jazzy and found her under the bed. She didn't stir at all when I lifted up the bed skirt. I was horrified. I didn't want to poke at her for fear of what I would discover.

Thankfully I have some amazing friends. Michelle confirmed the worst. I was devastated for one thing and didn't know what to do with her. So, I think we called my guy friend, Gus and he helped with that part.

Michelle called our pastor, who came over to comfort me. I thought that was really sweet.

What I would learn years later is that my then future husband was having his studio painted that night. Our pastor was going to help. That's just the kind of guy he is. Note: he also doesn't even LIKE cats! Anyway, my husband tells the story "Pastor is such a nice guy. Did you know that before he came over to help me paint my studio, he was consoling some little old lady whose cat had just died?"

I blinked a few times and then laughed HYSTERICALLY. Those of you who know me, know it doesn't take much to get me going. I was LOSING it. I knew who the "little old lady" was and I just busted a gut!

Anyway, this blog entry is really about the therapuetic part of quilting. I had to share that funny part with you too though!

I was too upset to go to work the next day. I had to take Jazzy to a friend's house for proper burial. Since they own their home, it was the best option for me. After dropping her remains off at my friends' house, I had another errand to run. Well, I had to wait for some reason and it just so happened that one of our local quilt shops was right across the street.

I stepped inside and found the PERFECT fabric for a Jazzy Memorial quilt! One print had balls of yarn on it. It was very bright and colorful, like my spunky calico! I started picking out coordinating fabrics and was starting to feel better already! I even already had a pattern picked out in my mind (the missing Rusty's block pattern! I'll have to make a copy when I go back to Mom & Dad's next week!).

I spent the rest of the day, rotary cutting, and stitching these bright fabrics together. I think I got the whole top done in a DAY. One of Mom's long-arm quilting buddies (referring to the skill of long arm quilting, not the length of her appendages!) quilted it perfectly for me.

It's still a reminder of my snuggly, playful kitty, Jazzy to this day!

The Conclusion of : The Case of the Missing Foot Pedal

Have you ever embarrassed yourself to yourself? For example, one time I couldn't figure out why I couldn't get into my white mini-van, parked outside of Trader Joe's. I happened to glance inside the vehicle and noticed that the seats were not torn as mine are. Hmm...that's odd...and a particular hand out I had placed on the passenger seat to look at later was missing...OMG! It hit me! I look around to make sure the actual owner of the car didn't see me trying to get in! It turns out my key won't let me into just any ol' Chrysler mini-van! Hmph!

I was so embarassed to myself, that I just HAD to call SOMEONE to let them know. Yes, I'd rather be embarassed with someone else knowing about it. It somehow takes a little sting out for me. So, I called my sister and shared my humiliation with her.

Well, today, faithful reader, I come to you to share another embarassing story so I don't just keep it inside where it will torment me for hours...

Remember The Case of the Missing Foot Pedal? Well, while I'm about a week behind in posting both stories, here's what happened:

Last weekend, I was all fired up to go back to the sewing machine store who was holding my foot pedal hostage. I wanted to get Jen's machine back to her and needed to resolve this before any more time passed, anyway. Plus, I think my husband was actually in town, in case I needed any "muscle." Yes, I was going to sick him on them if they tried to charge me for a replacement foot pedal.

Something was nagging at me though. Keep in mind that since I got pregnant and subsequently became a mother, my memory and overall brain power just aren't what they used to be. But I had a funny faint memory like the sewing machine store employee who I used to work with had told me way back when I was getting it repaird that the pedal wasn't in there to begin with, but the repair guy didn't need it to do what he needed to do. But the memory of this situation was so faint, it felt more like my brain was just making things up, trying to fit the pieces together. ((("Pieces" pun totally unintentional, I SWEAR)))).

So, with this faint, nagging feeling, I decided to give one more look around for my pedal. OMG. Would you believe...could it possibly be....it was UNDER MY SEWING TABLE!!! OK, now while that SOUNDS like the most obvious place to look first. It really isn't. I don't have the best sewing room set up yet, so I always wind up sewing on my huge, family heirloom, kitchen table, where I can spread all my stuff out. So, looking under the sewing table is actually the LAST place I would ever look. As it turns out it WAS the last place! I mean, aren't things you lose ALWAYS in the "last place you look"? hahah I love that saying! Cuz yeahhhh, why keep looking?!?!? But seriously, that really was the last place to look and THERE it was!

So I guess the sewing machine repair people only pretended to lose it! Hmph!