Washing Machines, Giant Boot, Broken Toe and Theater, and that's just 1 week!

I thought when I quit my job and decided to take a semester off from school that I would have more time...Silly me!  I feel busier than ever.  I feel like I usually do when final projects are due but that feeling seems to stay with me all the time now!   I'm busy but the house is still a mess and laundry just never seems done.  Speaking of laundry my washing machine gave up the ghost.  After 10 years and countless loads of laundry it decided it had had enough. The spin cycle stopped working, during a load of towels.  Yeah, try wringing those out by hand.    My sweet hubby, who is way too good for me, purchased a new one for me.  The drum is a bit deeper than the old one so I have to be careful I don't fall in when I'm emptying. 

This is the new model, we considered one of those front loading machines but John and I are opposed to anything that forces you to use specially formulated products to use them.  John hates Apple for this reason.  I like top loading machines, when I was a kid we had an old fashioned front loader that was a washer and dryer in one machine.  Yeah that sounds cool until you consider that you have to wait for the load to wash and dry before you can start another load.  We also lived in an apartment for about 2 years with an even older machine that had an open drum and a wringer.  I saw one just like it at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. it was circa 1950's.  At the same time my washer died child #4, Cameron, broke his big toe.  He was at the park with friends playing football and kicked a cone, the kind used in soccer for marking the goal.  What he didn't realize was this cone marked the metal base of the soccer goal, so thinking he was kicking plastic he kicked metal.  There goes the track season. 

Here is a picture of his toe, he realized I was taking his picture and hid behind a pillow.  This isn't the first time Cameron has been broken.  He broke his arm running through the house a few years ago, he broke an arm skateboarding at a Cub Scout Meeting and broke it again doing something else that escapes me at the moment.  When he was 3 he tried to cut the grass in our backyard, he was barefoot and tried to use hedge trimmers.  He cut his toe instead, 3 stitches.  Recently, he got into a fight with a kid who wouldn't leave him alone, finally he decided enough was enough.  Cameron won but I still needed to pay to replace 3 broken brackets on his braces.  A word about our family stance on fighting:  With 4 boys fights are hard to avoid, especially when 3 out of 4 wrestle or plan on wrestling.  At least with wrestling it's a sanctioned sport and the coach teaches them to control their anger and use it on the mat.  Which of my boys doesn't wrestle? You got it, Cameron.  So back to fighting, our policy is don't start it but if you must fight finish it.  I call it the Top Gun Method, "do not fire unless fired upon"  or if you want to get more street, the Men in Black Method, "don't start nothin won't be nothin."  The one thing my wolf pack does understand is this, while it is perfectly acceptable to beat the snot out of each other at home, in the world at large you always have each others backs. 

So the same day I went to the urgent care with Cameron, I stopped at Lowe's to compare prices on new washing machines.  While in the store I came across this giant boot. (36"high)  Why does anyone need a giant boot?  Do you use it as a planter?  A decoration? Have it handy in case Paul Bunyon stops by and needs a right boot?  Where was the left boot? Did someone buy it?  So many questions.  Why a cowboy boot? Why not Converse high tops or a construction boot?  Okay I'll stop.  After Lowe's it was back to the high school to pick up #2 son then the junior high to pick up #4 son.  Finally back home to fix my hair and get ready for a fun girl's night out.  I usually don't do too many of these since my favorite playmate is John.  He's my best friend and the person I would rather spend time with. But the occasional girl night is fun. 

So here I am with my friend Helle, (pronounced Hella) in Pasadena.  We went to dinner at this hole in the wall Mexican restaurant called La Fiesta Grande on Colorado Blvd then we walked over to the Pasadena Playhouse.  We purchased our tickets an hour before curtain because they drop the prices to $15.00 per ticket.  It's a gamble to drive all that way but we figured we were good since it was Wednesday.  We had seats in the 6th row, not too shabby.  At the left is us sitting in the courtyard waiting for the doors to open.  This was Helles first trip to the Playhouse and my second.  John took me there a month ago for a romantic evening out.  Loved it and the play so much I decided to go back and take Helle since she loves costumes as much as I do.  Oh the play was Dangerous Beauty.  We had some rather tall men sit right in front of us, luckily the one in front of me fell asleep during the first act and they left during intermission. Yay!!!

My view of the stage during the first act.

Other stuff going on:  Todo Sushi in San Diego, one of the best places I have ever gone to they had a roll called the Jojo Roll, we got a kick out of that since that's what we call Jordan.

He said that is not his roll since it has shrimp on it.  His roll would have salmon on it. 

Here is the beginnings of a fun project Cheryl and I worked on last Tuesday for her daughter Lacey,  This is a brooch bouquet in the larval stage.  It's pretty much done but I don't want to post any photos until after the wedding.  Less than a month to go.

And finally the beginnings of Lacey's wedding dress.  I am doing the final touches on it and I will hopefully be done with it today.  It looks gorgeous and I'm pretty sure it is what Lacey and her mom envisioned.  I seriously had my doubts when I first cut into the lace.  The photo at the left doesn't do the material justice.  Bad lighting. 




So that's the week in Couture, I pray that the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan will get the emergency assistance they need quickly and that our Father in Heaven will comfort them during this time of loss and devastation.  I hope that we take a lesson from this and have or get all that we need to survive a disaster. 
Take care,
Terri