Unmitigated

Is it Insane to Try to Post in Between Trick-or-Treaters?

There aren't many Halloween-age kids in my neighborhood, BUT...we live in a safe neighborhood that is near to many that aren't so safe. Every year it makes me feel good that we can provide a safe and fun Halloween for 75 -80 kids whose parents don't want to take them to the local crack house.

On the other hand, it means I spent $34 on candy for tonight. Last year, I had just enough for the little ones, and closed up shop once the costumeless teenagers started visiting. I don't object to teenagers, as long as they have gone to the trouble to get dressed up...as something other than a sullen teenager.

What's new? Hmmm. Not too much. I just had the carpet cleaned for the first time in about 4 years, and tooki the opportunity to rearrange the furniture. It looks and feels much more spacious in here...hard to do with a 1,000-square-foot house. 

Last weekend, while the Tigers were stinking it up in the World Series (still love you, boys!), Jim and I went up north with a friend for Potterfest. We arrived Friday at about 3 pm, and left Sunday around 4 pm. In between, we watched ALL EIGHT Harry Potter movies. It was Nerd-vana.Some of them I had only seen once, in the theater, and remembered very little of how they were translated from book to film, so they felt very fresh to me. I ordered a box set of the Bloomsbury UK hardcovers of all seven books from Amazon.co.uk. The Potter-phile and Anglo-phile inside me is just dying to get my hands on the originals, which Jim will wrap and give me for Christmas. Seven hardcover books shipped from London to Metro Detroit for a grand total of about $93. 

I'm not going to say much about the election except...today I got an email from Robert Redford. None of my Republican sisters did, so THERE! One other thing about the election in Michigan...it seems as though every special interest group has decided that their particular ideas should be enshrined in our state constitution. Really? No. Just no. Also, I have to ask...why is it referred to as "inaccuracy" when candidates or parties lie and distort? If you do it on purpose, I think it should be called what it is. Lying. (No, Mittens, Chrysler is NOT moving any Jeep jobs to China.) No more election crap. I will be SO glad when next Tuesday has passed. My son registered to vote just in time to make this his first election...and our ballot this year has several pages!

Mr. and Mrs. Partly Cloudy (daughter and son-in-law) returned recently from their honeymoon. Yes, they got married in November last year, but  Mister PC had just started a new job, and didn't think it prudent to ask for a week off. As a gift, we sent them to Vegas for a week, where they stayed at Mandalay Bay. I understand it's lovely. I have never been, and have no desire to go either. Honolulu, yes. 

As I type this, it is about 7:45, and I haven't had any kids come calling for about 15 minutes. I hope that's not all there are, or I am gone be eating a lot of candy over the next couple of weeks.

 

Roundly Rogered

I finally decided what to do with the third pair of white canvas shoes...

I imagine they will match everything I own.

All I Ever Wanted Was to Be a Seven

September is National Pain Awareness Month. So many people have no clue what it means to live with chonic pain. Good for them. It means they have never had to. Even medical personnel (outside of the pain clinic at which I am treated) ALSO seem to have very little awareness of the needs and protocols of dealing with patients afflicted with chronic pain.

It's time for them to wake up. This is a list I found at the American Chronic Pain Association's website. It does a better job of describing life with chronic pain than any other scale I have seen. Right now, I am a six, bordering on a seven. Not so long ago, I was at level two. It's not a good place to be, and I am glad to be out of it. For now. Probably I will be there again sometime.

If you know someone who lives with chronic pain, maybe you could share the website with them. I learned about it from Twenty Four at Heart, and now I am passing it on to you.

Dear Emily Post...

Dear Emily Post,

Last weekend, my husband encountered a question of etiquette that I am unable to find in any of your published works. Therefore, I am appealing directly to you:

How many rounds of ammunition must one expend before leaving, if one has only accompanied a friend to the shooting range to be polite?

Awaiting your advice,

Mary

 

New Shoes

I just purchased my third pair of Payless Shoe Source twin-gore slip-ons in white canvas for the summer. 

Why so shoey-ous? you ask, in your most Joker-like voice. 

I also happen to have bought a set of 36 Bic Mark-It permanent markers (fine point). Along with all the typical color wheel shades, there are also colors like peach and lavendar and olive and midnight blue and aquamarine and golden yellow. And many more.

I was inspired by this post:

http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2012/05/how-to_marimekko-inspired_snea.html

(The source page is linked from there, but it gets covered with a full-page sized ad, which I found was impossible to click away from. It literally would not let me scroll to where the "Close" button was!)

So, I searched for some more Marimekko patterns, and came up with this one first, Marimekko's Melooni:

Simple and cool, and the best part is that it matches about 50% of my summer wardrobe. So, I came up with these...

"But, Unmitigated You," you find yourself saying to me, "what about the other half of your summer clothes?"

Fear not, intrepid asker of questions. Of course one pair would be insufficient. 

Another Marimekko pattern?

Check. This one called Lumimarja:

I know what you are thinking. You are thinking that if I were to add some coral to this design, I would have shoes that went with the rest of my summer clothes.

How right you are.

Now I have a third pair. A blank canvas of...canvas. Not sure yet of the design. I will need to sit with it a couple days and see what happens. Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments.