The DDA Trouble Free Zone Part 4

[Tammi67]

Amy - did you print your autograph pages and then take them to a printer place and have the book spiraled?

 

[ellenbenny]

could you modify the tail on this

butterick 3238

That's what I was thinking.

ETA: Maybe take a look at the instructions for the toddler beaver costume to see how the tail is made and attached, and then use the body pattern from this to get the right size.

 

[julia & nicks mom]

No I told her we were glad to find out that she okay. Then she will get pounced on. Kinda like what I do with my dh or kids....

Good plan!! Did she complain about the psycho woman who called her house?!?!

 

[KMH1]

They are all darling! Love the ones of you and hubby by yourself, too. I think some of my favorites of Alyssa are the ones of her kissing Stitch.

Alyssa was actually napping then...she was in her stroller just a few feet away.

Amy

 

[Tammi67]

No but I told her how we couldn't figure out whether we should call or not and then if we did what would we say. She was flattered to know that she was missed. And she said she missed us too.

 

[Tammi67]

I love how Alyssa is mesmerized by all the characters noses.

 

[KMH1]

Amy - did you print your autograph pages and then take them to a printer place and have the book spiraled?

No, I bought a spiral sketchbook. Then Kevin and I found lots of pictures of characters from our previous trips. we cropped ourselves out, and we printed them on sticker paper. We also printed "Happy 2nd Birthday Alyssa" 70 times on sticker paper.

If I ever get caught up on scrapbooking, I will probably tear up the book and incorporate the autograph book pages with the pictures we took, but for now, it's a nice book to flip through.

Amy

 

[KMH1]

I was going to ask you where that was. That was really cute.

You don't even look pregnant in that reddish color top you wore one day. I see the "bump" in some of the other pictures.

I think I look small in some pictures and HUGE in others! It's amazing how different shirts/poses can change the perspective!

Amy

 

[marcij]

I would think that maybe you could use a pattern to make some other animal costume and then modify the tail and head to look more like a beaver. I will try searching on line more. What size did you say you need? And when do you need it by?

Ellen

I think they said I need it by April 24th, and Andrew is probably an 8 or 10. If anyone sees a good patern I can adapt, please let me know where to find it. Thank you very much for trying!

Just saw the pattern Kate posted -- I think one of those will work!

 

[KMH1]

Oh, your kiddos are so little in this pic!

Amy

 

[tmfranlk]

Can I just tell you that there is nothing I hate more than having to make major life changing decisions! However, it seems like I am going to have to suck it up and work this out. It's just crazy how everything can change do fast.

Two weeks ago today I went to an intro meeting for a cohousing community that some old roommates of mine were helping to plan and build. It was wonderful and we were starting to figure out how to make it work so that we could afford to buy in there.

A few days later, I find out that my job is changing. I had been working for two departments 50/50. As part of my agreement when going back to work for the company that laid me off two months after letting me transfer to CA and two months before Terra was born, my work arrangement was 50% in the office (8-12) and 50% at home. Well, now I am being moved 100% in the pricing department (handling invoices, etc). Thanks to the folks at Enron and the ensuing changes in the financial world, our auditors want all pricing work done in the office...no home work. So, I was given two choices 40 hours a week, all in the office, plus pick up two new sales reps...or...30 hours a week, all in the office, keeping my current reps. Either way, I don't get home until at least 4pm daily.

This is all not good for several reasons. The most obvious, I DO NOT like the idea of missing ALL of Terra's day. Then there is the whole part where Phil is pretty much continuously on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I don't know what taking care of her for 10 hours a day (with commute) is going to do.

Soooo....Now for the decisions. Half of the reason we came back to Boston was because of the work arrangement. Now that is gone. Plus, we've been here a year and a half now and I have NO friends. I just can't seem to meet people. The moms the neighborhood are completely non-social. They just let their kids go out and play and are never out too. Terra's "friends" are all at least 7yo and mostly 10-11yo.

I THINK that our best bet is going to be to move to St. Louis to be near my family. I definitely like the idea of being able to see them more often. My niece is 4yo and my nephew is 20mo so Terra would have built in playmates. Plus, my sister just told me yesterday that she is almost certainly pregnant....YEAH!!! The downsides are that Phil won't be all that thrilled with the area as it is so conservative and that we will need a car again.

The problem is that I hate to move us AGAIN (we moved to CA in 02 thinking it would be best to live near my IL's for awhile, then back to MA in 04 when that turned out not to have done any good) only to find out we've made a mistake again. Plus, once we get there, it will be harder to leave again as we'll have to leave my family behind.

Okay, so I'm sorry for such a long rambling post, but I just don't know what will be best in the long run. Plus, I hate looking for jobs so that makes it harder. I guess I just wish that the "perfect job" (if I even knew what that was) would pop up making the answer clear. I guess I should just get to my original thought, which was that I could really use prayers and pixie dust for the wisdom to make the right decision. I guess I shoul throw "and quickly" in there too. If we're going to go, I would really love if we could be there before the baby was born in Dec. Plus, (to being it on topic a little bit ) I've got plane tickets for Disney to buy! I can't very well buy plane tickets until I know where I'll be flying out of.

Thanks to anyone who actually made it this far through the post! (I get a little rambly when I'm stressed or tired and I'm pretty much both right now so I guess you're all out of luck tonight.

 

[Tammi67]

Oh, your kiddos are so little in this pic!

Amy

That was in 2002.

Where did you find Sorcerer Mickey? I didn't even know they had that.

 

[Brendita]

Marci - I made this skunk costume for Nicholas a few years ago. I took a black hooded sweatshirt and sewed a round piece of fur to the belly and a strip of it on his head going down the back. Then I took black and white fur, cut out a long strip of each, sewed them together and stuffed it with crumpled newspaper for the tail. I took a piece of fishing line and ran it from the top of the tail to the back of the shirt to hold the tail upright. I made round ears and sewed them on the hood. I did this all freehand, without any pattern, just by measuring the lenght I would need. You could even hot glue it instead of sewing. Black sweatpants took care of the legs.

That's the cutiest Flower I have ever seen.

 

[marcij]

Marci - I made this skunk costume for Nicholas a few years ago. I took a black hooded sweatshirt and sewed a round piece of fur to the belly and a strip of it on his head going down the back. Then I took black and white fur, cut out a long strip of each, sewed them together and stuffed it with crumpled newspaper for the tail. I took a piece of fishing line and ran it from the top of the tail to the back of the shirt to hold the tail upright. I made round ears and sewed them on the hood. I did this all freehand, without any pattern, just by measuring the lenght I would need. You could even hot glue it instead of sewing. Black sweatpants took care of the legs.

Wow -- that is incredible! You did an excellent job! I might have to dye a pair of warmups -- there aren't a lot of warmups in kids sizes in brown. That might be cooler than using fur. Whatever I use, I will get him a personal handheld fan so that he can use it until he goes out on stage -- don't need Mr. Beaver fainting from the heat!

 

[bengalbelle]

I am pleading the 5th on this!!!

C'mon someone on here has to live close enough to get this on film

 

[julia & nicks mom]

Tia -

I think you should look for a job anywhere you would like to live and hopefully that will lead you to the perfect job and place to live!

 

[KMH1]

That was in 2002.

Where did you find Sorcerer Mickey? I didn't even know they had that.

Sorceror Mickey appears daily (usually 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.) in a location on Mickey Avenue at the Studios!

Alyssa was playing with his tassels, just like she does with her stuffed Sorcerer Mickey at home.

Amy

 

[Tammi67]

Can I just tell you that there is nothing I hate more than having to make major life changing decisions! However, it seems like I am going to have to suck it up and work this out. It's just crazy how everything can change do fast.

Two weeks ago today I went to an intro meeting for a cohousing community that some old roommates of mine were helping to plan and build. It was wonderful and we were starting to figure out how to make it work so that we could afford to buy in there.

A few days later, I find out that my job is changing. I had been working for two departments 50/50. As part of my agreement when going back to work for the company that laid me off two months after letting me transfer to CA and two months before Terra was born, my work arrangement was 50% in the office (8-12) and 50% at home. Well, now I am being moved 100% in the pricing department (handling invoices, etc). Thanks to the folks at Enron and the ensuing changes in the financial world, our auditors want all pricing work done in the office...no home work. So, I was given two choices 40 hours a week, all in the office, plus pick up two new sales reps...or...30 hours a week, all in the office, keeping my current reps. Either way, I don't get home until at least 4pm daily.

This is all not good for several reasons. The most obvious, I DO NOT like the idea of missing ALL of Terra's day. Then there is the whole part where Phil is pretty much continuously on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I don't know what taking care of her for 10 hours a day (with commute) is going to do.

Soooo....Now for the decisions. Half of the reason we came back to Boston was because of the work arrangement. Now that is gone. Plus, we've been here a year and a half now and I have NO friends. I just can't seem to meet people. The moms the neighborhood are completely non-social. They just let their kids go out and play and are never out too. Terra's "friends" are all at least 7yo and mostly 10-11yo.

I THINK that our best bet is going to be to move to St. Louis to be near my family. I definitely like the idea of being able to see them more often. My niece is 4yo and my nephew is 20mo so Terra would have built in playmates. Plus, my sister just told me yesterday that she is almost certainly pregnant....YEAH!!! The downsides are that Phil won't be all that thrilled with the area as it is so conservative and that we will need a car again.

The problem is that I hate to move us AGAIN (we moved to CA in 02 thinking it would be best to live near my IL's for awhile, then back to MA in 04 when that turned out not to have done any good) only to find out we've made a mistake again. Plus, once we get there, it will be harder to leave again as we'll have to leave my family behind.

Okay, so I'm sorry for such a long rambling post, but I just don't know what will be best in the long run. Plus, I hate looking for jobs so that makes it harder. I guess I just wish that the "perfect job" (if I even knew what that was) would pop up making the answer clear. I guess I should just get to my original thought, which was that I could really use prayers and pixie dust for the wisdom to make the right decision. I guess I shoul throw "and quickly" in there too. If we're going to go, I would really love if we could be there before the baby was born in Dec. Plus, (to being it on topic a little bit ) I've got plane tickets for Disney to buy! I can't very well buy plane tickets until I know where I'll be flying out of.

Thanks to anyone who actually made it this far through the post! (I get a little rambly when I'm stressed or tired and I'm pretty much both right now so I guess you're all out of luck tonight.

Prayers and lots of coming your way.

I so wish that we lived near my family, and I never realized it until I had children. Terra is young and if you are going to move, now is the time, before she gets older and socialized. Go or stay where you will be happy. It will be a bit hectic for awhile, but look at the big picture.

 

[Tammi67]

That's the cutiest Flower I have ever seen.

...thanks!

 

[Tammi67]

Wow -- that is incredible! You did an excellent job! I might have to dye a pair of warmups -- there aren't a lot of warmups in kids sizes in brown. That might be cooler than using fur. Whatever I use, I will get hin a personal handheld fan so that he can use it until he goes out on stage -- don't need Mr. Beaver fainting from the heat!

Thank you! Good luck.