Good the bad and the ugly

Customers today at work made it ugly - expecting Jetsons-like materialization of things from different places all around the state so they could have not two but THREE matching sets of something huge that no store had three matching sets of. I doubt they could find a furniture store that had three matching sets of any whole room set they were looking for and have it all delivered within a week, much less bathtubs. And they couldn't understand why you cannot pay for it at one store in one state and just have it 'magically' arrange itself from all of the other stores and arrive at their doorstep this Friday. And some of the things were closeouts. And some were available at larger stores but not at OUR smaller store. So I had to explain not all stores of the same name carry the exact same merchandise, it depends on the size of the town etc.. This was not something they knew about, and it was confusing. They still wanted the other things that I couldn't get. Finally I told them I work at THIS store, and I would get a manager to try to work it out... and they did, with things we did carry. They're happy, sort of. It was just very frustrating for everyone involved. Maybe the Jetsons technology will come to our industry some day - but I guess for now we'll all have to work with what we have.

And yes, that was the ugly. The bad was the rain this morning and the generally bad mood of most people involved with retail today. I had lots of squeakiness and 'but I can't tell you what brand it is, no I didn't bring any part of it with me, but it isn't working so fix it' and 'can you believe they only have one of these when I want two' attitudes today.

The good? I came home, and hugged a little girl, and gave her a bath, and while she was taking her extra long bath with a 'beautiful' purple nail brush talking to toy pigs and dogs and kitties and other things - I made an open-faced pastrami sandwich, drank some coffee and watched her swim around. We are about to watch Cinderella and go to bed. I have two days off now (one with a sewing lesson) and hope to do something fun with her tomorrow, maybe library, maybe Grandma's house... we'll see.

plastic toy dogs

Hi! Hi! woof woof! Save me Mac! Throw a rope! Jump! I WILL catch you!

Look! A butterfly! woof woof!

Esme playing with her plastic toy dogs. One of them is new and it is meeting the other one and saying 'I will catch you' to the other dog, just like in the movie Despicable Me from last night. They were playing up and down the 'stairs' of my wooden sewing box that Mark gave to me, pretending it was a precarious surface. Then one dog saw a butterfly out the window, and pointed it out to us. Later she was stretching her old telephone's cord across the room to a bucket and playing almost the same game with other toys. All in very poor light - but it was worth a try to get a picture ;) I did finish her other navy-skirted dress with the long sleeves and pockets on the skirt. I'll see if she will put it on tomorrow. By some odd luck of the draw the pattern that they were made with is still visible in the background of these photos. The scrap remnants of the fabric are there too, on top of my mom's old sewing box.

Sunday bits

I have to go to work today, and it this week is dragging a bit because the next day off is Tuesday. We watched 'Despicable Me' last night and it was very very good. I had to thank Daddy for getting it. It wasn't at all like what I thought it was. Esme really liked it too, sitting there entranced for most of it at the end of our bed.

I should finish Esme's other blue dress that is just needing a hem, a pocket and a zipper. It got put up at midnight one night and I haven't touched it since because I keep forgetting it is there. Her last blue dress with the navy skirt is working out so nicely compared to the set just before it - hardly any arm problems and it looks and moves so nicely with her. The jacket pattern still has not come in the mail. I guess it might come Monday. I've got in mind a pink bitty floral pattern for a spring/summer type jacket for Esme. I haven't seen the fabric in real life yet - it is just there in my head, so once I get the pattern and see how much fabric I'll know what to look for. I've got my eye on the pattern below, as well... but am waiting to see if this one that is coming is in good enough shape to use. I have another sewing student meetup on Wednesday in Paris, which is nice - and during lunch hour at work I am hand-sewing the baby kangaroos for a set to put in the shop.


McCalls 6554

Otherwise this morning I am wandering around in the kitchen in my homemade pajamas and slipper socks, drinking coffee - wishing I didn't have to leave the house today as it is thundering outside and everyone else is still asleep etc etc.... listening to Nova dog grumble and whine because she got wet out there and Pogo cat tried to rub on her. Tansy dog is sniffing around where she hears kittens under the couch. Mitzi mama cat is sitting in front of the couch looking proud and telling Tansy 'so there' about hiding her kittens too far under there for Tansy to get a good look.

PT update

Esme has really been taking this at her own pace - and I decided to try to move things along a little faster by taking the obstacle of the stairs away. I should have done it a long time ago. Now the trainer is upstairs right next to her changing table - and she has been using it. Several days in a row I've had her without diapers but never for more than a few hours at a time - something else comes up like she falls asleep, or wants a bath, or we go to town etc. But - last time I tried this she would pee on the floor every five minutes.. and now she can hold it most of the time and the only accident we had the other day was when I knew it was time for her to go but she did not want to agree and I didn't push it as hard as usual. And then she came to me asking for new pants and was very sad about not having anything to put in the potty. She has also been using the 'big potty' a few times now with mama holding her because the trainer is upstairs.

And - a larger leap this morning! I've been asking her every morning before I change her diaper and at night before she gets the last one to use the potty before the diaper. And this morning I came up from making my coffee and found her sitting pants-down with her diaper on trying to use the potty and had made a grand effort at getting the diaper off but with no luck. Big progress!

She also likes peanut-butter M&M's ;)

Kangaroos and other things

Bunny, our 'AmStaff' American Staffordshire pit bull, being mugged by our cat Pogo. She will sit there and rub against Bunny's side over and over until Bunny cleans her ears. Finally, Bun dog obliges.




The grooming begins, until one feels too undignified to continue.
Esme deciding between an apple and a lollipop.






The apple won, and was chewed nearly to the core.
The new kangaroo and baby joey pattern, made and tested.
The sewing pattern for this kangaroo toy is now available at my shop http://mariemeyer.etsy.com




Esme really likes them - they go hop. When I was making the baby she came over and saw the pieces and said 'What happened? Where the baby? What have you done?' And the kangaroo mama cried and hopped all over the desk and fell down.

We are trying more PT today. It is not too successful, and I doubt it will get 'easier' as she gets older. She tells me to be quiet and shut up when she doesn't want to hear 'do you need to go pee?' again and again. LATER She went two hours with just one accident. I moved the trainer upstairs so she didn't have going downstairs to complain about. She used it several times and emptied it outside. I put a diaper on her before she napped, had dinner and went to see Grandma and Grandpa. She used the big potty again - which she is not completely petrified of anymore but still not happy about. Then after her bath (major meltdown at the end of it followed immediately by 'who, me? I wasn't crying at all' behavior) she used it one more time before getting ready for bed. We are making a little bit of progress.

Advancing along

bit of a pun there - as it is the Singer Advance machine I just used to give the sewing lesson on. It went pretty well - it has been not quite ten years since I tried to show someone other than Mark how to use a sewing machine - and I hope to get even more practice with that in the future here. The client and I made a small pincushion out of patchwork, stuffed and finished it. She gets to keep it to start her sewing projects with. She would like another appointment and is thinking about getting her own machine. Very good :)

I have another customer from my Etsy site who would like the pattern to make this kangaroo. I have to find it, test it again, scan it in and PDF it. I haven't done that with this one yet because it is quite difficult compared to the other patterns I put up in my shop. And - the baby is sewn entirely by hand. I am going to make the pattern available on a 'no instructions' basis. It will probably be the same cost as my basic pattern that has instructions - because it is a more advanced pattern.




In other news I am almost finished with Esme's second navy-skirted dress. I also found a 1943 sewing book at the library book sale today. It has beautiful two-color plates in it and a lot of 'save the garment' pages that just aren't seen in books from today. It suggests on one page that when a little girl's dress becomes too small in the shoulders or too short in the skirt cutting it apart and putting in a contrasting panel to the chest or cutting the skirt halfway around and putting a contrasting stripe in it to lengthen it. Very common-sense, but also wonderful to see down in text!