Attempts at being domestic

I decided that the easiest way (and cheapest way) for me to get curtains would be to make some myself. Mom had bought me a Hello Kitty sewing machine as a house warming present when I got my last apartment and I figured it was time to use it... Especially since I've had it for over a year and hadn't taken it out of the box yet! I also had been wanting to make Lilly a new dress. Walmart had this material you could buy and all it would take is one seam (straight, if possible) down the back and you have a strapless dress! I took Lilly there so she could pick out her own dress material (and me material for curtains) and hurried home all excited to start creating pretty things! I ran to my closet, grabbed the box, moved my computer (that desk was the most sensible place to set up shop), and tore open the box. I then proceded to fill a bobbin, rather easily, and get it in place. Then came the process of threading the top thread through a series of hoops and turns, all the while trying not to cuss out the 'f'ing machine! I finally managed to (what I thought was) get it all done and cut off a piece of test cloth (thank God for thinking of that!) so I could try it out. I then managed to destroy the test cloth and took a break before throwing the whole 'd' machine across the room! I attempted to call mom a number of times to see if she could help over the phone, but she wouldn't even answer the phone (thanks mom) so I called Grandma. She talked about top and bottom tension and helped me understand the machine a little better, but it was still bunching up at the bottom and not going to well at all. Grandma told me that sometimes it was best to just take a break and come back to it after you've calmed down and maybe you'll be able to figure out the problem. I thanked her for the help, had a little lunch, and looked at it again. I realized that I hadn't threaded the top one correctly (missed one of the little threading things...) and after that it worked like a charm! I was able to sew the test piece back together! I then measured a VERY eager Lilly and cut the material to size... then realized that I had forgotten to purchase pins to hold it together while I sewed to make sure it went in a straight line... At this point, I didn't really care. I held it together as best as possible and Lilly had a new dress in less than one minute! She now won't take it off and is ever so eager to show it off (answer your phone Mom and you can see it!). The dress is a beautiful light blue with butterflies, the bottom looks like green hills with tall flowers and ladybugs playing hopscotch and jump rope... The perfect summer dress!

The seam isn't perfectly straight, but she's happy and I'll learn as I go. I think before I attempt to make my curtains I'll buy some pins to help make the job go a little easier. That's a much bigger job than a simple (and rather tiny) dress! I'll let you all know how that goes!! Wish me luck!!

Long Time, No Speak!

Well, there has been a lot of drama going on since the move! Mostly problems with state run facilities not helping the way the are supposed to and me getting screwed over because of it. But that seems to all be working out now, Thank God!

Summer is finally here! Extreme heat and even more extreme humidity. Us curly hair people really gotta love that! No matter how much time I spend trying to make my hair "none puffy" it's ruined as soon as I step out the door. Haven't been spending that much time at the gym the last week or so because I've been at the pool trying to perfect my sunburn! But on the upside, I have lost almost 10 pounds!

The only real drama going on right now is the 'them'. Not respecting the pre-determined court times for the drop offs and pick ups, also havin difficulty not getting lost getting to the location place. I tried to pick an easy one- RIGHT OFF THE INTERSTATE- and 'she' can't figure that out! 'He' isn't taking any time off work to actually spend it with Lilly, so 'she' tried telling me that their lawyer approved it for 'him' to drop Lilly off late. I explained to 'her' that 'he' has had months notice to take the time off work and that's it's not my problem or resposibility to change my schedule around because 'he' doesn't care enough to take the time off work. I also explained that the only way I would consider approving it (because my lawyer said that unless it's approved by me it's contempt of court) is if the hours he is working is reflected in the child support. Since I have no hope of that ever happening, I won't approve a change in times.

On a lighter side, Lilly starts her new summer dance classes on Thursday! It's the Hoedown Throwdown! I also have an appointment to sign up for outpatient services Thursday, I'm finally getting things settled down here! I'm actually excited about going to House of Mercy. I have heard so many good things about it, and I'm hoping the outpatient people are able to join the art therapy classes, I've always wanted to do that!

On Monday I get to take a test with Promise Jobs, so they can decide if they will 'approve' my going to school. If they don't, I drop them and keep looking for a job. I'm not going to let anything stop me from going to school, it's way to important to me! On the subject of school, I went to orientation at Grand View a couple weeks ago (I think that's when it was, everything is running together). I had a lot of fun, Renee and Caitlyn were there, she is getting so big! I did learn a lot of the orientation. I went to one that told me all about the clubs on campus, including a psychology club!! I am soooo excited and can't wait to attend!

I also looked into getting Lilly and I a kitty. It would cost around $110 to adopt one from ARL, plus around $200 for a pet deposit at the apartment and an additional $25 on rent... Meaning, we're not going to be able to have one of our own any time soon, but while I was on the ARL website, I looked into volunteer options, and if I go to orientation on July 11th, I can become a kitty cuddler! My job would basically be to love on the kittys!! That would be so wonderful!

Anyways, that's all I really have time for with this update. I'll try to update more frequently, but if I don't on here and you're curios how my life is going, just look me up on facebook! And I've recently (a few minutes ago) joined twitter, we'll see how that one goes.