Odds and Ends

This post should have been written a few weeks ago telling everyone that I would be participating in Tristi's July challenge. Let's just say that hasn't worked out. I should know that taking on something like that in July is just asking for trouble.

I really was gearing up to start a new book and have it mostly finished by the end of the month, then the laptop died. Can I just say I've really discovered just how addicted I am to that little machine? I use it for everything. I let the battery run down and when I plugged it in to recharge, there was nothing. No power coming from the cord. Nothing. Thinking it was a faulty cord, since I'd already had trouble with it, we ordered a new one. That didn't work. My husband removed the hard drive and I was able to take all my writing files and transfer them to the family computer. (Yes, I do back things up, but this was the easiest way to get all of them quickly.) So here I am going on three weeks without my most valuable tool. It's driving me crazy. Meanwhile, I'm typing away on the sluggish family computer and wondering how Charles Dickens and Jane Austen managed to write as much as they did with just a paper, pen and poor lighting. Guess I don't have it so rough.

Right around the time of my laptop's illness, I took a in wedding dress to do some alterations. Gorgeous dress, nightmare alterations. The skirt is a cloud of vertical flounces. Not your standard hemming job and then she wanted it taken in about four sizes. This is one time I was glad a girl had picked a dress with no sleeves. Tomorrow I'll finish rebeading some spots on the bodice and hem the lining. Then I can happily send it on its way.

It took me long time to get to the dress because my sewing room was invaded by teenagers. My daughter and her friends were frantically sewing to get their costumes ready for Zion's Camp (pioneer trek). They each made bonnets, bloomers and dresses for the four day experience. I was amazed at my daughter's sewing ability. She still has a lot to learn, but I thought she could do little more than the occasional pair of pajama pants. With very little help, she made a dress, and helped her friends with their sewing projects. I was glad they needed so little guidance from me. She and my son had a wonderful time at Zion's camp and are still talking about it. I almost wish I could have gone.

It feels like summer has just gotten going and I keep trying to get in the swing of things. But just yesterday I realized that my 20 year class reunion is next weekend and then summer will be half over. I still can't figure out how I ended up in charge of that event, but I have a ton to do in the next eight days. There are several people I've managed to pull in and they are a great help, but I keep feeling like I have to hold everything together and make it a memorable weekend. Should be fun. We've been reliving the '80's at my house. I'm loving some of the great music. My kids can't wait to have 'normal' music back in the cd player. I just laugh. Someday they will be old too.

So with all that, I'm bowing out of Tristi's challenge this month. But don't give up on me Tristi. I'm looking forward to the next one.