Loves!

Happy Valentine's Day!  I really despise the commercialism of Valentine's Day but it sure is nice to recognize people you care about.  Mr. Lina and I have a tradition of picking a culture/location and making a meal together on the theme.  This year we're leveraging my future SIL and having a Venezuelan meal.  We're relying pretty heavily on this Venezuelan food blog, I'll let you know how it goes.  Right now all I can say is that the black beans are soaking.

Did you happen to see the Star Wars fashions at Falling Through Your Clothes?  I think it's pretty awesome, and if you liked that, I have a Valentine or two for you.

Maybe you liked the Luke dress better.

No?  Maybe you like the dark side better, look at the drape on that cape.

Oh but Funnygrrl said she liked C-3P0 best.

Full credit to www.somethingawful.com for these great Photoshop Phriday images.

Silly & Random

My thoughts are a bit muddled as I puzzle something out at work today.  I think it's time for a list while the other stuff filters through.  This is going to be a truly random list but it's a start...

• Tasha & Friends had it's premiere last weekend at Buffalo Dreams Film Festival
• I couldn't go, I had already committed to helping my mom at a craft show, pout.
• It won Best Short Comedy and Mr. Lina got to meet his idol in independent film, Lloyd Kaufman
• Toronto folks can see Tasha at Blood in the Snow, I'll be at the 2pm showing on December 1st at the Carleton Theatre, the Saturday show sold so fast they booked a second slot for the short films
• Which is a good thing since I'm going to see Great Big Sea on the Saturday night
• Last weekend we went to see The Drive By Truckers at the Phoenix in Toronto
• The day of the show I woke up WAY too early, didn't nap and by 1am my feet were killing me from standing through the show
• You'd think I'd learn that the Phoenix requires comfy shoes even if I look silly
• On the drive home, I fell asleep
• Not remarkable in and of itself, but I started singing to Mr. Lina
• At least, that's what he told me, I don't remember, I was asleep
• I altered the words from "You are my Sunshine" to "You are My Snuggle-Mr. Lina"
• Which does flow better with his first name
• Good to know I'm cute even when I'm sleeping
• Thus bringing the silly part of the blog title
• I have had a bit of a rough week - migraine, a sad day (but just one day) and perhaps a little too much time to myself
• Work has been busy and occasionally contributed to the overwhelmed feeling (notably on my sad day), highlighted by leaving work at 8pm on Friday night
• I needed people to leave so I could get my own work done and Mr. Lina was already in Buffalo so no rush to get home really
• I am gradually working on the house, but it's a pretty slow pace
• I don't have the love of organisation that others do, packing and tossing stuff doesn't come easy for me
• I did tons of laundry this weekend and a lot of clean clothes are not going back in the drawers 
• I don't want to pack anything that doesn't fit and has no sentimental reason to keep
• I had the weekend to myself, looked forward to sewing, but a migraine put the kibosh on that, I stuck to doing laundry.
• Migraines suck, but it's been a long time since my last one so I'm really thankful for that
• Monday I was still kind of struggling with noises, particularly loud voices
• Sounds odd to cover noise with noise, but soft jazz in my headphones was soothing compared to talking, it's reminded me how much I like jazz from the 50's-60's.
• Yesterday was Remembrance Day
• I heard a poem by Dorothy Jamieson on the radio and after the poem, she said a few words to the audience that stuck with me:  Freedom isn't Free
• True in more ways than her military reference
• Next Thursday we're hosting Bill Bourne, winner of both Blues and Folk Juno awards
• That's going to be super cool.
• I get to make dinner for him.  How cool is that?
• I've already got 21 people confirmed for the show, that leaves about 10 seats and some time to go before the show (let me know if you'd like one of those 10 seats)
• The founder of the organisation for our house concerts, Mitch Podolack, was recognised for his contributions to folk music in Canada at the Canadian Folk Music Awards in Calgary, the CBC has this article on him
• We spent a lot of time with Mitch this year at the Folk Music Ontario conference, I am truly lucky to have had the chance to get to know him.
• To end this on a sewing note, I have a strange itch to make pants. 
• I even bought both Sewaholic pants patterns when she had her Thanksgiving sale
• But it's kind of scary.

Here's a little music so it's not without something pretty.  I like the words to this song.  As much as I'm dragging my heels, I am looking forward to building a brand new house full of love.  :)

Happy Tuesday

I have survived Mother's Day remarkably well.  I was too busy to over think it, too tired to care, my favourite radio station did not do a big contest and read sappy letters.  All in all, it was okay.  The house concert made Saturday just a zoo.  The artists showed up around 1 for lunch, guests at 2, most guests left around 5:30, those that travelled farther and close friends stayed later.  My parents and brother were the last to leave around 11. 

HOTCHA! were great.  We ended up with 19 adults and 11 kids.  Kids break down into 3 two year olds, 3 four year olds, 2 five/sixish, and then the 3 seven/eight year olds, 8 girls and 3 boys.  Can you say crazy?  It was wonderful.  The kids paid attention to various degrees, some ended up in the backyard looking through the open window behind HOTCHA!, snapping their fingers, dancing, it was hilarious and put new meaning into the peanut gallery.  There were a few 4 year old tears when it was time for people to leave.  A good time was had by all.

The 4 year old who did not want to leave is a snuggle-monster.  When we are at their house (which isn't all that often as it's nearly 2 hours away) she often curls up in my lap as it gets later into the evening.  Well...  she decided to sit between Mr. Lina and I during the second set.  Then she started leaning on me.  Then she had her head pretty much in my lap, so my arm when around her.  Next thing I know, I've got a little girl all snuggled up in my lap tapping along to the music.  It sure felt good.  And it had me thinking about that lap of mine as Mother's Day was approaching.  It is a damn fine lap for holding little people.  And yeah, a single little tear may have escaped, but it felt pretty happy looking forward to sharing that lap rather than looking back at what didn't work. 

And looking backward is usually what drives me crazy in May.  Something in the media reminds me that it's approaching while I'm driving and my mind can wander.  I start thinking back to a year ago and what was going on, and then further and further back until I'm just a mess of tears.   My first miscarriage, if that was a full term baby would have been about 4-6 months younger than the little girl in my lap.  When I'm already sad, that is what I focus on - the should have and could haves.  It was good to be living in the moment.

It has me realizing that the sadness and numbness I've written about, it's not there.  Oh I know I have a bruised and battered heart, I'm not saying it's gone.  But today, today I'm good. 

And Avengers, well worth the time.  I do recommend seeing the movies leading up to it (Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America) if you care about character development.  Moments like Thor pausing before reaching for his hammer will mean more, the growth of Tony Stark isn't apparent if you don't know where he came from.  That said, it is a superhero movie, if you didn't see the others, you'll catch on to the plot just fine.  And hello Hawkeye.  You can just drop by any ol' time at all. 

Friday Ramblings

It is the end of the week and that's a good thing.  I decided that today is going to be a little warmer than it has been and I have my purple Renfrew on, I could go with a lighter coat.  I didn't think to check the pockets of the coat I have been wearing.  So guess where my cell phone and my change purse (which has all my money and basic ID and bank cards) is?  I never pick up change in the morning, never.  For whatever reason I picked up $3.75 so I thankfully can buy a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch to augment the apple, cupcake (bake sale yesterday, how can I say no to the Kids Help Phone Line?) and cup a soup I have at my desk for emergency late nights.

Time for a Friday list, lets start with the non-sewing life stuff...

• Mr. Lina is heading to London, ON tonight, his movie is being screened at Shock Stock
• It's just too awkward to get me 190 km (two hours without rush hour traffic or stops) with a pit stop near Mr. Lina's work in time for the 8pm start time so I'm staying home.
• He is quite excited that the person who played Jason in a number of the Friday the 13th movies is going to be there.
• Another reason for me to not go.
• Oh these mochaccinos are freaking good.  I'm going to be in trouble when I go caffeine free in May.
• House concert on Sunday afternoon, we're hosting Annie Lou Duo, we saw them as a foursome at OCFF in 2010, I'm really looking forward to getting to know Anne Louise
• I'm going into the clinic on Sunday morning, Day 12 appointment (blood work, ultrasound, nurse, pretty standard stuff).  We will be looking to see what's going on with my ovaries, if follicles are developing, if I might ovulate on my own.  So interesting maybe, but nothing earth shattering, just the first of a few appointments next week.
• Oh and I find out if they are doing a biopsy of my endometrium this cycle too, they weren't sure on Day 3.
• Nothing will come of those eggs even if I do ovulate, but it's about getting the right timing for Lupron-Depot shot and starting the EVIL provera. 
• I hate provera.  Synthetic progesterone and I do not get along.
• Which reminds me, I should give my manager the heads up about that on Monday.
• I should also call the pharmacy and pick up the Lupron-Depot etc just so I can say I have it on Sunday.
• Cold is in the last little stages.  I still blow my nose more than normal, but not excessively. 

And on the sewing front...

• Thank heavens I made my Elan 610 bra so tight, it has stretched considerably and I now wear it on the second hook - tight but comfortable.
• The cups are also improving (part of this is mental), they actually keep their shape after I take it off which kinda cracks me up.
• I wear it unless my outfit dictates otherwise, purple/black do not work with all shirts, but it is now my favourite bra option.
• I can feel an itch for another starting, probably not this pattern, but another me-made bra so I can rotate more.
• I was commenting about stash and the pajama party and clicked about a cotton that may already be in my stash and would work.
• I bought it after making some baby outfits (for kids who are now two) figuring it was on sale and it would be good to stash for the next baby I felt enough strongly enough about to sew for.  It would be perfect for pj's because it was just colourful stripes and 100% wrinkly cotton.
• I bet I only bought a metre because I was planning baby outfits.
• I wish I was home to figure that out right now.
• Even if it is a metre, I could find a solid to match the stripes and make a fun set and still sew from the stash.
• With Mr. Lina gone tonight, not many plans for tomorrow beyond house cleaning, I should have some time for sewing.
• I know I don't sew often midweek, but every night this week has had something going on or someone in my house, I'm looking forward to just being alone with a project.
• PMS/menopause insanity that comes with Lupron and Provera will make for a pretty terrible week leading up to my period starting, it's a good time for sewing.  Focusing on one stitch at a time keeps me from crying.  I have some time yet before we're there, but it's good to plan out some sewing because I likely won't have the interest to start something without making decisions ahead of time.

So what's up in your house?  Any good plans for the weekend?

And here is Annie Lou, the lead singer and fiddle player will be at our house as a duo.  We were in the audience for this performance.

Friday Ramblings

1. Thank you to JillyBeJoyful, I didn't realize that the double word verification was on my blog.  Honestly, I'm not that worried about spam right about now so I'm happy to turn it off until it seems needed.
2. I'm wearing my purple Renfrew, I wore it on Monday too.  Renfrew has me doing one load of laundry more frequently so I can rewear them.  This also works because I often only have enough time in the evening to wash and dry one load prior to going to bed anyhow and is keeping me well stocked in panties and socks (the usual reason to do laundry)
3. Remember the bra I started?  Then got distracted by pants and Renfrew?  I'm back at it and while the band is rather tight (possibly too tight) it's not looking too bad although a little retro in shape.  It still needs hooks at the back, elastic across the top (which I am hoping will solve some upper cup issues) and straps, but getting the channeling and underwire in let me have a sneak peek.  I can't believe I started that in January and still have not finished.  Where did the time go?  Oh right, Renfrew.  Never mind.
4. I don't want to do work today.  Not at all.  Happy to be here, don't really want to do it.
5. They installed new food service coffee machines with my Thurs/Fri client.  I'm not much of a coffee drinker, but man that mochaccino whatever was pretty tasty.  The longer I work here the closer I get to being an actual coffee drinker.
6. CAS still has not sent me information on adoption.  I've sent a follow up email. 
7. Research continues on dress forms, I do love each and every opinion expressed, keep them coming. 
8. We're seeing our fertility doctor tomorrow, seems a bit surreal for some reason.  I am looking forward to it, even when he has bad news (and lets face it, I am never seeing him face to face with good news) I feel better after seeing him.  At least there is a plan at that point.
9. Any tea drinkers out there?  I am a tea whore, I will drink just about any kind of tea - black, green herbal, rooibos, etc.  Present favourite is Loyd wine infused tea I bought at Starsky's after hearing raves from R's mom.  I do not have any with me at the moment and that makes me sad.  I have tried Traditional and Plum.  Both are good, I initially liked Traditional better, but after a few cups, Plum is winning out, there are two other varieties still to try.  Maybe another mocha-whatevery will make me feel less sad.



http://teatropolitan.wordpress.com/tea-collection/tea-collection6/attachment/90/

10. D&D after work tonight, ordering in pizza and then the game will begin.  Incentive (in theory) to do work.  I am guilty of picking away at work and suddenly realizing it's 3pm and I have 8 more things to do before I go home and leaving late.  People are arriving at 6:30, it's generally 45-75 min drive home from this office, I can't do that today.
11. Mr. Lina passes a little hobby farm on his way to work.  He is getting very excited that three of the sheep are getting very fat.  They are often just sitting on the ground rather than walking around.  The llama and donkey seem to stand near them in a protective way.  Perhaps there will be lambies soon and I will get daily updates on what the lambies are doing and how big they are.
12. My inlaws are visiting next week, arriving on Wednesday.  I love them, I have truly won the in law lottery, but I sometimes struggle when they are on my turf and moving my stuff around.  I went a little bat-shit crazy the first time they visited after we were married feeling like everything was criticism and I should have anticipated everything.  Doing things to Mr. Lina's apartment didn't bother me, moving my stuff in my house did.  Serious cleaning of things I don't want them to clean, purchasing of things I do have brand preferences for, and hiding things they don't need to see needs to happen prior to their arrival.  I don't need another bottle of Windex entering my house just because they can't find the two they bought in previous years. 
13. Mr. Lina is now sending me links to pictures of pregnant sheep and lambs.  Sigh.  Welcome to the world of infertility where lambies represent your desire for children.

Signs It's Time to Pause

If you remember, my grey skirt was made because I didn't have matching thread.  I had cut out the slip (?) of a gift, but not sewn it up.  Friday night I tackled sewing now that I had matching thread.  I worked until 6ish, home at 7, went out for dinner with Mr. Lina so I did get a late start on the evening.  One thing I like about that pattern is that the pieces really line up well.  Even with me grading up 5" on the hips, notches lined up, the pieces were the same length, etc.

Lekala 5241 or Modern Pattern Sewing Red Slip

I did forget a few things. 
A.  I sewed the whole seam down forgetting about the cute slits at the front.  I was lazy on this front.  I could have unpicked the 2 seams but meh, it's stretch fabric, I put in a lot of extra fabric for her hips, pretty sure she'll have room to move.

B.  I cut the SA too big.  I use my overlock stitch on past versions as they were sheer and I didn't want to see the seam allowances.  As much as sheer wasn't an issue, I went to sew it the same way but I had cut wider than that.  I will admit to trying it on (over clothing, we have similar bust measurements) and realizing this was WAY too big at the sides and around the bust (although the extra at the bottom fell nicely).  Sadly this was after I had put the bias tape on so it was a true PITA to fix.

C.  My sewing machine is not a mind reader.  More on that shortly.

D.  Pictures.  Yep, ran out of time.  I was suppose to be at the bride's house at 3:00 (20 min drive).  I finished it a bit past 2, then wrapping, out of the shower at 2:30, I managed to leave at 3...  Sigh.

So the sign that it is time to pause in a project and go to bed.  I had it done, bias tape along the top/straps (black satin bias tape that Fabricland sells by the meter), all it needed was a hem.  I was getting tired, it was midnight, but I thought I'd push on so all that all I had to make were panties the next morning.  I bought a double needle a while ago but really haven't had a chance to use it.  In theory, this should be quick and easy.  I practiced with a scrap to see if I wanted to put some interfacing or tissue to stabilize but honestly, the part that looked best was left alone so I went with that.  Then I realized I should overlock the hem.  Switch feet and overlock so it doesn't shed so much.  Then go back to the double needle.  That was my downfall.  I did not change the stitch back to a straight stitch (see item C above) although I did put the width back to 1.  I was so confused why it was going through so much thread, then it struggled with every vertical seam, eventually coming to a standstill.  That's when I noticed the back didn't look the way it did on practice, way too much thread back there.  I rethreaded a whack of times and go figure it looked the same.  I went to bed with the hem half done and completely confused.

Next morning I look at it, use some scraps, see the same thing happening (because it was still doing what it was set to do), rethread again...  I finally looked at the stitch setting and realize my mistake.  I went back to the hem and broke a double needle trying to go through a big lump of thread I was too lazy to pick out.  Sigh. 

So off to Fabricland.  10am on a members 50% off day, it was better than the craziness I expected.  I stayed away from fabric but I did stock up on notions and two double needles.  Sewaholic posted today about the triple stitch with the warning to sew carefully because 3 threads are a PITA to pick out.  Let me tell you, a double needle of overlock stitch was looking pretty painful until I finally saw the pattern of where the bobbin thread was.  After breaking one needle, it all needed to come out no matter what time was involved.

Ah well, it was finished in time, black lace panties were made to go with it.  The bachelorette itself was fun.  I like the bride, but honestly, some of her friends are a tad shallow and I said I'd drive, I wasn't sure how it was going to go.  Fortunately a very good friend was also part of the party, we had a great time.  Dinner was at The Chef Upstairs. 

This isn't us, it's from: http://www.thechefupstairs.com/interactive_dining.html

It's a cool mix of dinner and cooking lesson.  I got to plate the beets.  Dinner was not very Sera-friendly (carrot risotto is hard to adapt to being carrot free) but the chef was a trouper fixing what he could and I ate a lot of beets.  Good thing I like beets.  We were going to head out to a bar in Toronto, but the bride was feeling a little headachey and wanted to go somewhere closer to home.  Ended up at the pub where Mr. Lina and I had our first "let's meet for drinks and see if you look anything like I remember from Oktoberfest" (lots of alcohol at Oktoberfest, neither of us remembered names correctly, although he was closer than I was).

The boys had a longer day than us, beer tour starting at 11am.  They went to 4 microbreweries in Toronto, dinner then went to watch the hockey game at a pub.  They had some pub frustrations and ended up meeting up with us at the same pub.  Mr. Lina was crazy drunk, but oh so very happy drunk.  It can be annoying being the sober driver around drunks, but how do you get upset when he's asking for "hangaburs" as we approach a McDonalds?  In the drive thru he was muttering in frustration at the seat belt because he tried to tickle me and couldn't reach.  Ah, it was fantastic.

Sunday was recovery for Mr. Lina.  We were suppose to play Dungeons & Dragons, but he wasn't mentally up to running it and there was some miscommunication so one player couldn't make it.  There are 3 D&D themed board games that are a great time, highly recommend (and no, you don't need to know anything about D&D).  We played The Legend of Drizzt.  The characters are from a series of books I didn't read but for Mr. Lina bring back fond memories.  It's a great cooperative game for 1-5 players. 

Image from the Amazon site linked above.

If you are interested in board games, I'll add the occasional review.  I grew up playing with my dad and brothers with rules like "we play until 8pm or when Clone cries".  You know that rule was created based on experience.  As a result, I didn't want to play board games and I'm pretty fussy.  If it gets overly competitive, too "screw your neighbour", or boring as hell (why does anyone play Monopoly?) I'm not interested.  We're usually playing games that are a little less traditional than Clue, unless you go looking, you won't hear about them.

Well, off to bowling tonight.  I have the itch to sew after two projects finished in short order.  So rewarding.  The problem is that work is going to dominate my time.  Too much on my plate right now. 

TGIF

I stayed up a little later than I should have last night.  A friend was over to play guitar with Mr. Lina, they lost track of time and I started laundry a little later than I should have.  Net-net, it's been a slow morning.  At least I'm working in an office closest to home so leaving late wasn't a problem.

That said, I've felt like I'm in a cloud today and two pregnancy announcements is not helping me find my work mojo.  Both are having their second kid and I've been trying longer than when they had their first.  One of them didn't even know her husband when I had my first IVF.  I am happy for them, they are both great women and I'm sure they are great moms, but it sucks at the same time.

But I am going to shake that off and do some actual work once I hit post, that's the deal with myself.  Sulk time is on pause until the cider/wine appears at home.

We will be hosting Coco Love Alcorn at the end of the month so we're starting to do some promotion for her.  We saw her at Summerfolk a couple of years ago, her CD Play is great, but I was looking for some video footage to share.  I have to warn you, this song has become a bit addictive, I've listened to it 5 times in 2 days, I have had it stuck in my head for hours.  My first email to Mr. Lina today was "I like boys."  I don't know how geeky the men in your life are, but Coco is going to be a big hit amongst our friends.  As Mr. Lina said in his promotion, "she's one of us".  I bring you the folk-rap (never thought you'd hear that did you?) styling of Coco Love Alcorn...  "Intellectual Boys"

Happy Sunday

Sunday evenings are so good and so sad.  Good because we usually don't have plans and it's quiet.  Sad because well, it's Sunday, the weekend is nearly over.  It has been a good weekend and fairly busy.  Friday night we went to the screening for cast & crew for The Post-Lifers and it went pretty well.  I put on a brave face and had a good time.

Saturday we had some running around to do and with Mr. Lina pushing me along, we got them done.  I managed to buy some prenatal vitamins, not the ones I usually take, but maybe switching to a once a day format would be good since I am not taking the others twice a day.  I did get a little time to sew, Larry the Cat even went hiding for most of today which is very cat like behaviour in a new home.

We did talk a little about how I'm feeling.  Mr. Lina has commented many times over the weekend that I look sad and about ready to cry, which is pretty much how it is when there there aren't people around to fake it for.  The problem is, when I talked about everything, he can't fix it so it felt like it just was another unresolved conversation.  Guys want to fix things.  It's their way.  I said I want to see our therapist again, this is bigger than me and I really didn't feel that much better talking to him.

We spent part of the afternoon digging up old Halloween costumes.  We had a party to go to and neither of us felt the need to find something new.  I had never met the hosts, I knew 3 people at the party, ideal situation to recycle a costume.  Mr. Lina went as a pirate, I decided I wanted to wear a cape I made a few years ago so I was a vampire without the fake teeth.

The cape is Butterick 4030.  This is just far enough off the floor to be safe in heels, sans capelet, with the contrast collar (view B but longer).  I used cheap Halloween satin for it, capes use a metric crapton of fabric.  I remember being a bit surprised by just how much I needed.  It is fully lined in the red satin.  As much as the fabric is cheap, I'm really pleased with how it turned out and I have actually got a lot of use out of it.  Most years I wear it for handing out candy.  It keeps me warm enough while at the front porch and I feel somewhat in costume.  Win-win. 

 

"Modernized"

Original art.

You know your friends are geeky when you dress as a character that existed in a handful of late 60's comics and people peg it.  Now if you picked Captain America, it's pretty easy.  The Black Queen is a shade more obscure.  Jean Grey (aka Phoenix, Marvel Girl, Dark Phoenix) from the X-Men is mind controlled by Mastermind and joins the Hellfire Club.  While mind controlled, she becomes The Black Queen.  I was reading Mr. Lina's books and as soon as I saw her, I thought, THAT is what I want to be for Halloween.  I had a dark denim corset, black bikini bottoms, knee high boots, all I needed was the cape and a red wig.  I was willing to put the time into making a good cape to get the look I wanted.  What kind of cracks me up is in the original art, she's sexy for sure, but not overly naughty.  Her waist is defined and her figure hour glass, but her legs are actually kind of athletic.  Google image The Black Queen at your own risk, it's sadly all about teh cantelope boobies, thongs, whips and impossible anatomy.  Both pictures included here are from http://www.jean-grey.com/tag/black-queen

Lazy Sunday

Yesterday was a pretty busy day so I think today is going to be as low key as it gets.  If I'm dressed by 2pm, I'll be impressed.  Friday night I worked on another Sencha blouse, it just needs snappers/buttons in the back.  I will do that and hopefully have some pictures to share soon.

Mr Lina's birthday is tomorrow, he decided he wanted to celebrate with a "Shitty Movie Night".  We host SMN a few times a year when he gets the itch or I'm going out with friends overnight.  Boys come over, they watch horrible movies, eat snacks, Mr Lina and one friend generally buy the most horrible, cheapest scotch they can find and share the bottle.  It was a good time with old friends and a few new friends from the movie project and rather fitting for his birthday.  Last nights entertainment included Zombies! Zombies! Zombies!, Mystery Science Theatre 3000 version of Space Mutiny and closing with The Crippled Avengers.  All horrible movies, but entertaining in their own way.

I should remember to take pics prior to the event.

I went through a phase of wanting to bake cakes when I was about 23 I think.  This was not overly successful.  First problem being that my stove was no where near level.  My attempts at 7 minute frosting never quite turned out.  Eventually, I decided my appetizers were better, there wasn't a need for me to make cakes anyhow.  But birthdays are special and we weren't doing anything crazy for his birthday, I thought a me-made cake would be a nice touch.  And it was.  Chocolate sour cream cake and mocha chocolate butter cream icing both actually turned out.  Both recipes were from my Better Homes and Gardens  New Cook Book 1982 edition (apparently first printed in 1930).  One single serve of Taster's Choice made for a nice mocha flavour (Mr. Lina loves coffee so mocha seemed appropriate) in the icing.  I had a half jar of sherried raspberry pear jam in the fridge, I used that for the filling in the centre.  It made for a really moist and adult chocolate cake between the sherried jam and coffee flavouring. 

We also went to see my fertility specialist and it was rather anticlimactic.  He wants me to see an immune specialist in Toronto.  Um, why didn't we do this last year when I was sending blood to California?  Ah, well.  With what we have planned through Oct/Nov, the frozen embryo transfer wouldn't happen until January anyhow so I'll go talk to another doctor.  This guy isn't a fertility specialist, but because he is an immune specialist, he has many clients who have repeated miscarriages.  Here's hoping we get in to see him soon-ish, you just never know how far out specialists are booking appointments.

I have mentioned that Mr. Lina had a movie project this summer.  I have a trailer to share.  Keep in mind the film is 18 minutes in total, it's tough to show enough in a trailer without giving away all 18 min of the film.  Although this is a comedy, the special effects are awesome so aspects are kinda gross and the film itself is most definitely adult in sexual content (not actual sex or nudity, but talking about sex).  The trailer is tame.  I bring you.. The Post-Lifers.

Sewing Guide

It's Tuesday and that means bowling night.  Hopefully we'll have the teams set this week and I bowl better than last week.  Oh it was a rough night last Tuesday.  I must really like this sport when I go back year after year and still suck.

I came across a new to me blogger, Living in Red and in my usual fashion, started reading every entry.  She has this little tutorial for a simple pressing guide that I am going to have to make at first opportunity.  Sadly, today is garbage day so my recycling bin is empty, but the next time I have cardboard available I'm making one of these (maybe I'll have cereal for dinner to hurry this along, Mr Lina is curling so it's just me on Tuesdays).  How has this never crossed my mind?

I can't wait to leave work today.  It is a sauna in here.  I'm seriously going to need a shower before leaving the house again.  It is often hot here and last week was brutal, their A/C is broken, again.  Apparently it's so old they don't make parts for it so they are waiting for a refurbished part to arrive.  None of the windows open so they set up 6' fans.  There is a constant humming from the fans like a propeller plane.  I figured I would plan ahead and wear my rayon polka dot dress that I said I thought was too summery a few weeks ago.  Not too summery at all today.  I'll probably need my sweater when I leave.

Okay, 4:35.  Good enough.  I'm done here.

What's in a name?

I thought I might share with where Seraphinalina came from.  It's a bit of a mouthful, and while it has no attachment to my real name, it has attachment to me.  I'm afraid this is going to be a very geeky post, it might not make sense to anyone.  If your eyes glaze over, I promise I'll put up some fabric tomorrow.

When we were first living together, Mr Lina said he wanted to run a Dungeons and Dragons campaign and would I want to join?  I had sat in to watch him play with others once or twice so I had a vague idea of what he was asking.  I figured I like to host, I like to feed people (which seemed key at that event) and we were in a one bedroom apartment, where was I going to go?  The balcony?  He had a long running campaign in mind, this was going to be alternating Sunday afternoons for months or years.  I couldn't just go shopping every Sunday, so I opted to join.

I decided to go with what seemed familiar and fun, generally who I would want to be in a Lord of the Rings type world.  I could relate to a halfling (think Hobbit like Frodo or Pippin) being short myself and I thought magic was more fun than swinging a sword.  I thought the Sorcerer class had less book keeping than Wizards.  It's good to give your character personality, it guides decision making along the way, I gave her a fascination with fire, a high charisma (key skill for Sorcerers), good dexterity and low strength.  Seraphina was one of the names suggested in the book for halflings and I thought it was pretty.  After a couple of sessions, I really came to like playing, hosting, the imagination involved in a game that has no real board or script.  Seraphina took on a real personality in my mind.

Being married to the dungeon master, I didn't miss a session, so she was getting higher in levels than the rest who would miss occasionally.  I pursued a  prestige class that really didn't help her but added character.  Any opportunity I had for her to set things on fire, she did.  Once, she got pissed off with team mates getting in the way during combat and set off a fireball where it was safe so she could see it burn.  Then we took on a red dragon.  I made it a life altering event for her, she found the power of the dragon awe inspiring and started perusing the Dragon Disciple prestige class.  So picture a very pretty, charismatic halfling (not even 4' tall) with brass dragon (known for being chatty, relatively small and fire as a breath weapon) scales for skin and could breathe fire. If the campaign lasted for another level and I would have talked Mr Lina into letting me have non-functional wings.  She was technically too small for wings, but oh I wanted them for her.

Our D&D group was truly too large.  Ideally it's 4-5 players plus the DM, we had 8.  It was big so people could miss a session and we'd still play, but it really made it hard on Mr Lina to scale the opposition appropriately.  Then it was like herding cats to schedule (and strategy in game) and we just didn't get back to it after a summer break.  I still kind of miss her, she was a lot of fun.

Fast forward a few years, I was setting up an etsy account to buy something and every usual name I use seemed to be taken.  I added lina to Seraphina and it was free so I took it.  In setting a name for my blog, it worked as something not attached to real life but I really do have an attachment for it (and again, it was available).  I figure I can call my husband Mr Lina, and when I finally get around to a duct tape dummy or dress form, maybe she can be Phina.

We still play D&D, a different campaign with different friends, usually through Oct-May as schedules allow.  I am playing another sorcerer, but her personality is very different.  I like Nixi, she's again charismatic, she's a team player, she's still pissed at the fighter for killing her a few years ago.  She picks spells oriented on water and weather over fire, cone of ice perhaps being a favourite at the moment.  Nixi has ended up more powerful than Seraphina ever was, but there are times when I miss the glee she would feel charring the bad guys with a fireball spell.