frozenbug | Reading

Heat wave this week which means I have been doing very little besides existing lol. The insomnia wasn't helping. I've been enjoying the handful of sun-warmed raspberries from the canes I discovered near my apartment last week. Re-signed my lease the other day so it's time to get those dang curtains up. I started playing a grocery sorting game and I am literally addicted. The shiny will wear off soon, thankfully.

Got the mesh layer out of the pants, and then took the elastic from the waist too. It is about 3/8" wide and the PERFECT length for a waistband of some kind. I'll def be salvaging the green pair's innards too when it's time to toss those.

Long weekend woooo!! Kicking off the evening with Jurassic World with M. Tomorrow morning I NEED to go grocery shopping + cat litter/food.

I got my sewing project sorted bc this's month's Charm Patreon pattern is the perfect blouse. I won't be able to start it until tomorrow so I should have a little time to decide what fabric I want to use. Oooo I have ideas y'all :D First thought was a white ground with red dots and umbrellas, but then I thought of a black ground with tropical items on it, like macaws and pineapples. I think I'll do that because A: the machines are already threaded with black. B: It'll be a great top to wear with coloured bottoms, like my bright red skirt. Done!

ldybastet

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ldybastet

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totchipanda

I had a lovely evening laying in bed playing my silly little games, got up to eat and then returned, and finally around 10:45 my brain was tired enough to let itself turn off. I was so looking forward to that long 7 hours of unbroken, peaceful slumber.

Unfortunately, someone started making noise that sounded like they were trying to take the building down. I didn't put my glasses on to be nosy about it, but I THINK what happened was my new upstairs neighbour (on the 3rd floor) was having a big mad and stomping up and down the exterior (wooden, newly built last year) stairs and maybe kicking support posts? I'm not really sure. It made a low of noise, and then there was some Loud Angry Man Noises. It was 11:15pm. I'd dropped off just enough for my brain to reset and then I was awake until 2 something again, effectively making me awake for 24 hours.

BUDDY. This is not the vibe. Maybe it could have been someone else, but in almost 2 full years of living here, NO ONE has done what this asshole was doing.

As such I doubt tonight will be any better than last night. I need to do laundry and thankfully that is a low-energy task, mostly waiting around for the machines to be done. I also need to be creative with my dinner bc thankfully I had leftovers still for today, but no such luck tomorrow! (Actually I should just make the effort to prepare a sandwich and be done with it.)

Decided it was time to toss the pair of work pants I've been wearing that are ill fitting and also all the little snapped elastics in the fabric are really visible at the back seam. They have a mesh layer in front for tummy control or something, which I am going to salvage first nyahahaha. Even started that while the kittens were running up and down the front (enclosed) stairs, but black pants + black thread + my general tiredness means I will wait for better light + the general wherewithal to be patient.

Standing at the chair-drobe this am lamenting the lack of work-appropriate shirts to wear. Guess I better bump a few of those up the list too.

ldybastet

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ldybastet

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totchipanda

Was so dang tired yesterday that I dozed for an hour when I got home. Then I had a writing meet-up so I wrote almost 1k of a little fanfic. I was awake quite late and that managed to be OK, in the end, bc an intense thunderstorm rolled through that definitely would have woken me up if I hadn't already been awake lol.

Nothing much planned for this evening/weekend. I am missing machine sewing after watching a bag-making tutorial so I think I'll get something cut out and stitched up. Fart jacket can be (and is) couch sewing.

I had to move my PoF book back to the shelf. Both ends of the spine are chewed on now because Calcifer insists on chewing on anything she can get her teeth around.

totchipanda

M messaged as I was leaving work that they were ready whenever I was, so after I got home, I just changed, scooped the cat box, and off we went to the fair! It seemed less busy than the previous year. We got lemonade, visited the animals, looked at the hot tubs, and then wandered the grounds. Right before the concert, M and I got corn dogs (SO YUMMY) and then took ourselves into the concert area. They changed the set up from last year with a larger for-pay area at front and letting all of us freebie plebes hanging out behind the sound tent. We ended up at literally the back of the area, where there was less people and a large concrete block for Mama M to lean on. I moved off to the side and sat on the ground lol.

Good concert though, and afterwards we got mini donuts! Our walk out of the grounds back to the boonies where we'd left the car took long enough that we got to see the fireworks too. We had perfect weather, it was all of 70F/18C and cloudy, so it was hoodie o'clock. Fun night, A++ would do again!

I am tired (as usual) and sore today, so my plans tonight are minimal. I managed to cobble together a lunch but I'll need to be more proactive tonight and going forward. I have to do laundry soon (how?!) too. Giving myself permission to chill out.

ldybastet

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ldybastet

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ldybastet

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totchipanda

As predicted, I was too tired to do much of anything last night. I updated some projects on Threadloop and that was it. I went to bed at 8:30 where I laid around for a bit and at 10 I was passing the f out. Slept right until 530. Still tired naturally, but at least I had that solid block of blissful unconsciousness.

Did not enjoy the $400 for the privilege of having my car back but y'all, the ride seemed so much smoother. It was definitely needed. Next time I will be checking out discounted places. I have an unusual tire size so finding them was difficult. Most places only had one.

Tonight is the fair and I've just been told that the band will not be playing until 830. I will let M and Mama M decide when we go.

totchipanda

Took my car to the shop to have new tires installed today. I borrowed the bike pump from work and it took 5 mins or so to get the tire up to about 30 PSI. It was still holding air an hour and a bit later so perhaps I didn't need to RUSH on replacements, but I could hear the fwip fwip fwip of the bolt as I drove so it was really only a matter of time. Would have left it if I didn't have plans (and also had access to a pump before. Probably would have been fine for local trips, but I would be very leery of taking it on the highway, and since the airport is 30km out of town, that would have been sooo dangerous). I totally fumbled my key through their slot and dropped it on the floor instead of in the box, dang it. Nothing I could do about it, so I'm just hoping no one busted their door down and stole my car. I'll head there after work and give away my life for the next 3 weeks and be mobile again.

No sewing. I got home and made dinner, then watched YouTube videos for a couple hours. I was really anxious, probably a combo of car and knowing that we have a very busy day at work today. Yesterday was a charity golf tournament that some of the Very High Up dudes from other locations were in town for, so they are doing some meetings and stuff here today. I was awake quite late, basically had a nap, was awake for 3 hours, and then napped again before my alarm was going off and I had to get up. My only plans for this evening are retrieve car, eat dinner, and maybe wash a pan of dishes. Tomorrow is the fair/concert which M offered to pay for me since the tires cost so much, which i am very grateful for. One day at a time is how we get through all this.

ldybastet

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ldybastet

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totchipanda

The absolutely terrible news: I went to go out on Friday to get cat food etc., and heard my rear tire making a flopping sound. Oh shit, that bastard is flat. I thought I'd just hit up a gas station for air and went all of two blocks, but decided to take it back. When I got out and looked at the tire (yep, super flat), I could see the large, hexagonal head of a bolt firmly embedded in it. MOTHERFUCKER. The only upside is that it is in the rear tire, which is 6 years old and needs to be replaced anyway, and not the new 8 month old tires on the front. I even know approximately when I picked it up because it was making a sound on Wednesday evening after I dropped off M and Mama M.

I had been holding back on some funds from my last cheque for things like groceries and going to the local fair, and was this close to committing to a ticket for the show in NYC. Now I have to buy stupid tires. I've emailed the place I got the last set from along with a budget. Tires for my vehicle run $120 and up, alas. I was supposed to be mobile this week, Mama M has to get to the airport for like 6 am on Saturday. Fuck!!

Saturday was raining so I did not go to the birthday party (more because getting there was tricksy on the bus). I worked on the fart jacket for a bit, stopped to eat and then hit a mental wall where I suddenly couldn't think about *anything*. I took a nap. My friend and I had been chatting all day about a fun story for our fandom but it had dropped off in the afternoon. Once they got home from work, they said "i need to do my chores first..." so I did my chores too, ate dinner, took out the garbage (it had been literally POURING when I placed the bags by the door), and then we sat down to be giant nerds together! They are drawing scenes from our story and spent three hours doing so while I got to see the whole process. It was amazing!

Yesterday I slept in a bit and then took the train to the store for the groceries I needed. Got back around noon and sat down with my cup of coffee and the jacket to work on these dang back pleats. My suggestion is: don't use a heavily and unevenly embroidered fabric for this. The lighter areas were fine, but some of the design (I love it so much!!) is dense and it's difficult to fold. And it took me ALL BLOODY DAY to do it. I got one side done, perfect, I love it. The other side wasn't as nice so I unpinned it and it turned into an octopus. I recognized myself getting frustrated, so I set it aside and took a nap. After that and a girl dinner of chips and queso, I finally got them to behave. The second side was pulling funny on the linen but it settled down in the end. My pleats are very soft-feeling, like in the mddle where the embroidery is folded in. It was like 9:30 by then so I opted not to go any further besides cutting and pinning one pocket slit. I put it on Josephine to get a sense of where the pocket slits even were and they seemed so far back, but when I tried it on myself, they were fine. "Oh, I don't need to add the ties just yet" yes, yes I do! They are actually crucial to the fit of the garment!

Tonight I will stitch those slits and then pleat the sides. I will get myself into stays and the pocket hoops to do a fitting even. I need to make dinner so I have lunches for a couple days. I got a plan for that, just need one singular ingredient i neglected to get yesterday hehe.