Which glasses do you like the best?

We have been spending way too much time at the eye doctor lately. This is what we do for fun:

"Harry Potter"
"Child Molestor"

That guy from "So You Think You Can Dance"

??

I think he's cute in all of them!

I'm not dead,

but my laptop almost is.

Any recommendations?

(I've got lots of fun post ideas; hopefully you'll see them soon.)

A Lizard Called Roger

I went to Arizona for a week and a half and stayed at my parents' house. I left Noah and the cats in J-ville, but I still had to share my room with Roger. More about that later.

After I met Roger, I started reading a book. Have you read That Quail, Robert? You really should; it's the sweetest story. We had tons of quail at our last house so I felt like I had a personal connection with the, um, protagonist.

Roger made his first appearance in the bathroom as I was getting out of the shower. Florida lizards can be pretty cute because they're so tiny, but apparently they're strapping in the desert. I called for backup, but was met with, "Just throw your towel on him." That might have worked in my house, but not in my parents'. So Roger made his way to his quarters, which happen to be mine. I yelled for a flashlight and got down to look under the bed: cases of diet dr. pepper, socks, Skor wrapper, licorice, See's wrappers... jeez... I don't have a chance against my genetic sweet tooth, do I? Anyway, after searching, Roger apparently had hung the "Do not disturb" sign wherever he was and I resigned to staying with a lizard.

He made another appearance in the office, and this time I thought, "Camera, then lizard-catching contraption." I actually think he was sleeping here because he was reluctant to move. When I tried to scoop him up, he woke up and scuttled to safety/blue couch.

Meanwhile various questions about if Roger is okay and what he could be eating (is he the one eating all that chocolate in my room?) speckle our days.

A couple of days later Monty was making breakfast and saw little Roge-y. He said he was inspired to drop the dishtowel he was holding. The frightened little visitor had run for his life between dad's legs-- right at the moment the towel fell on him for some reason. Dad scooped him up and out he went. Everyone felt much better after that.

Ha! But that's not the whole story... the paradisaical backyard pool was calling one evening, so I opened the door and instinctively jumped. After making sure that no one had seen me, I laughed. "Crazy, Julie... wait... that was Roger!" He'd been waiting and complaining about the service around here and pounced on my leg as soon as soon as I slid open the door.

Oh, Roge-y. Why do we try to keep you out?

Garden Perfection

... no, not my garden. Funny.

But have you ever wanted to know what it would take to get your garden as perfect as this?


Here's the answer:

As in use them to edge,

prune, trim,

anything.

Now that's attention to detail.

Good job, Monty!

Pigs Can Now Fly

The red car is registered and got a tune up.

Good Taste

Alicia and I have a pact that if we find a screamin' deal on something really special, we need to buy two. This rule has been in place for some time and has produced a few 97 cent dresses and this shirt (it has pockets!) among other treasures. But why the long, skinny picture if I just need to show you a shirt? Keep reading.

On Saturday Noah took me shopping and we found my yearly two pairs of comfy, no, sneaker comfy sandals. (See one of the last pairs at left.) They were a fair price, so I, being the thoughtful sister I am, called and asked if she wanted some. "What do they look like?" Jammy, take it away...

So as I'm describing these sandals, Alicia is entertaining the baby and cat. She's quietly giggling. Me: "Are you listening to me?" Her: "I got the same two pairs in Vegas!" Now considering all the shoes at our outlet mall and all the shoes in Vegas, I'd say that makes for an interesting blog post.

She went on to explain the "Ivory Coast" paint story. When we finally got our own rooms growing up, we got to pick paint colors, Dad went to the store with my choice and said, "I need a gallon of Ivory Coast and a gallon of whatever she chooses."

I know what you're thinking, "I can see where this is going, but it's impossible. Surely... no..."

Alicia thoughtfully peruses the thousands of paint chips, chooses just the right one, and tells the guy. The dude checks with dad, "You want two gallons of Ivory Coast." "No, I want one and then one of what she chose." Confusion continues. Guy clarifies, "They chose the same color."

I think that upon finding out that she stole my color, I changed mine to Dover White. Totally different.

This is one example of many, but Dad loves that story because Alicia and I tried our whole lives to get rid of the pink twin/blue twin labels. Now we realize it's too much work.

Baby Sling

"Make a sling-- it's the easiest project you'll ever sew!!" If you said that to me, and a few of you did, I probably wanted to give you a cachetada while I was making my latest project. But I really did it to myself. First of all, I'm cheap. I bought 1 2/3 yards of the print fabric instead of the 2 yards needed. I'm not sure about my reasoning, but I'm sure it's rooted in me trying to save a dime. Second, I'm not good with looking at black-and-gray diagram instructions. They really don't show me one side of fabric from another. And finally, I have limited experience with baby slings. I didn't have one to look, so I was even more skeptical as I made the cuts.

Do you like my big baby? This is Yina-- the hippo that my level three class gave me for my birthday. I thought the mommy waiting for the sling and both of my cats would appreciate it if Yina was my fake baby rather than the other, more obvious choices.

The sling is the "Juicy" print from Jo-ann and lined with orange broadcloth (the mommy's choice). It's got my first flat felted seam (very pleased) and a wrinkle (sad).

So after I finished, I realized how easy it was. If you're looking for an easy project... make a sling. It's the easiest project you'll ever sew!