This Is The House That Suck Built

I have this thing about vacuum cleaners.  Specifically shop vacs.  They are so useful!  So when the water heater elements ate shit, I panicked that I couldn't find my one gallon shop vac (my first!) that I only use for wet pickup.  Enter Number Three, my new 2.5 gallon wet shop vac.  I gave it a good shower after the hell that I put it through on wednesday.

This is Number Two.  16 gallons, used for dry pick up, and I've put it through so much hell over the last many years.  Especially with the room demo.

And then I find this whiny little bitch hiding in a cabinet in the laundry room >:[

And because I need something that isn't industrial powered, I found this little beauty at Good Will for $5.

Yep, vacuum cleansers.  Second only to sewing machines >.>

Adulting

I bought a house exactly a month ago.  As I understand, it is a Queen Anne Vernacular style of Victorian house built in 1890.  It has fantastic spaces and enormous potential, and it is going to take me forever to fix it in true Victorian form -_-; And, as a wonderful coincidence, my friend Yana lived in it growing up, as it belonged to her grand mother and then her aunt. I really hope to get all of the information about it from her soon, including old pictures.

The attic window look out over Talleyrand Park directly at the Bellefonte court house.

The first main project we are tackling is the floor.  Paraphrasing Les Luthiers: Por que la gallinita dijo parquet?  POR QUE?!?  The parquet has been around longer than Yana's family can remember, and was stuck down with way too much tar. While yes, I have more experience that one person could ever need in removing bituminous materials, this is way too much to dissolve.  Luckily, it is so old and vitrified that I've been able to chisel some of it off where needed.  Dave and I plan on leveling it out as much as possible before laying a floating laminate to get us through the first several years until I can recover from the purchase and install a substantial hard wood floor.

Unfortunately, there may be a bit of a Pandora's Box in the walls.  A) the electricity is overlaid and may or may not be grounded.  This isn't a total problem since it is easy to rip it out and wire it correctly.  And I'm ok with it being superficial since that will allow me to put in as many outlets as my little black heart desires.  B) There are a couple of dodgy spots in the plaster.  There is this one specific patch behind a kickboard that is a good 1/4" thicker than the surrounding wall and is starting to crumble.  On the wall opposite of this patch was a radiator that missed a significant number of paint layers over the decades and also looks questionable.  The closet they installed in the corner is built around the previously existing kickboard, and half a sheet of the same bead board is installed opposite of it next to the front door of the room. We are considering continuing the bead board in a chair rail around the rest of the room in order to hold the walls in for a few years until we have enough money to go whole hog on each individual room.  Yes, I know this is a dangerous proposition and that most people forget and never come back to do it right, but I really need to get this floor serviceable so we can finish moving in.

There are things that must be done, things that need to be done, things that can be done, and things I want to do.  Budgeting for all of these is going to be a bitch, especially when all of these can be done for right now so we can use the space, well and can last a long time, and mega super upgraded for ever.   nnnnng

Helmet!

Pretty pretty pretty please let me get a helmet that actually fits this time and doesn't suck.


1A. Head circumference around the forehead:  23 5/8"

1B. Head circumference around the nose:  24 1/2 

1C. Head depth at forehead:  7 3/8 

1D. Head depth at nose:  8 1/4 w/hair 

1E. Head height - crown to chin:  8 3/4 

1F. Head height - crown to neck base:  10 3/8 (NO armor) 

1G. Center of eye to chin:  4 5/8 

1H. Center of eye to crown:  3 7/8 

1I. Head width between temples:  5 1/4 

1J. Head width between ears:  6 1/2 

2A. Neck circumference at collar:  14 1/2 neck, 17 3/4 WITH braid 

2B. Shoulder length:  5 1/4 

2C. Length of neck:  3 1/4

Orange eyes, take two

After that last failed attempt at getting color on my eyes, I hit the internuts and ordered a bunch of crap from china. And I love it!  The seller was named hittime_hk, but charged under the name Buyincoins, which runs a bunch of chinese ebay sellers.  I got a 168 color eye pallet, 12 nail brushes (which did a fabulous job at lining my eyes), and a 12 piece glitter mineral eyeshadow pot set.

So first I tried out the pots for the play, and they were really nice.  I put a cobalt blue on my lids and purple above the crease, with some ivory highlight.  It was really nice and bright and showed up well for the play.

Today I went all out for work and pulled out the pallet and the brushes.   I used column 7, row 9 wet to line the top of my eyes, 5:1 for the bottom, 6:8 the inner corners, 7:1 dry lids, and 6:9 dry above crease.  The colors pop really nice!

I took the first pictures with my camera and the last with my phone.  You can kind of get the gist.  The best thing, other than them being visible, is that they don't irritate my eyes, so I barely notice I have anything on.

A++, would buy again.

Docs

I figured I'd start making a catalogue of all the Docs I own...

1999: Brown 8 holes, with a more square toebox. I outgrew them before I ever wore them down.


~2000: the only pair I ever got rid of. Got them small because they were the only size in stock, before everything had a zipper. I took them to many concerts, but didn't love them as much because the leather was always too stiff and bent into my achilles.


2007: I got these for fighting in beige with a grass and butterfly lazer print. They are the softest leather and very nice, but the zipper is a bitch to all my socks.


2008: Christina. Damn, I love these shoes! I have worn through half the heel in the last three years because I wear them so much!


2008 (same purchase) or 2009: Thema. Gorgeous. I love these boots, but they are annoying to put on because of my heel getting stuck in the straps.


2010: 1914 Triumph. They are the first I ever saw that are lined and fold over. Very comfy!


2010: Same purchase. Darcie, cherry red rub off. I like them, they are comfortable, they aren't my favorite. I don't know why...



This week I plan on purchasing another pair of 1914 Triumphs; brown with flowered lining. I also want a pair of 8 holes in black flowered canvas, and a pair of plain green 8 holes, but I should probably draw the line somewhere...

ETA: Yeah, I drew the line. One pair farther than that.

I'm a mother to be...

is most definitely not "I'm joining the Roller Derby" (which is what I actually said). My sister almost had a heart attack. But yes, I am excited! I drove to Harrisburg on saturday, and Rowan and I bought skates ^_^ My laces say I (less than three) nerds (which would have been even awesomer if the heart was actually a less than three) and I skated around campus a bit that afternoon, getting ready for LARP. (hey, I swear I tried to do my homework in the car, until I got carsick...)

This weekend was full of other fun things, too, like the Grange Fair. If you live in Rural PA, you MUST go to a fair. This involves looking at a bunch of animals the 4H kids raised, seeing a souped up tractor pull, and eating everything you can imagine that can fit in a deep fryer. I've been on a diet for the past month and lost five pounds specifically so I could eat a fluffer nutter and strawberry crepe, deep fried cookie dough, pierogies, cheese sticks, beef jerky, fried chicken on a stick and the most amazing potato chips. Yeah, I regret nothing (but my intestines beg to differ) except for not getting the Oreos, which were my original plan.

Things that were fun, but for all the wrong reasons, involved watching Last Airbender (and watching Craig almost cry), and heckling Eclipse (which was surprisingly better than the other two, combined). I'm really taking advantage of the dollar theater.

Other good things: The original TRON. For some reason, I'd never watched it before. I love how people used to view computers thirty years ago. Before this, we went for a brisk hike through Millbrook Marsh, and I saw this really cool yellow ladybug!

Also, my boobs can finally be crammed into a 36DD! It is so nice to fit into commercial bras (that I can try on in the store in this town). I've bought eight in different colors and shapes ^_^

Even better: tomorrow I get to go to skating practice again!!!

ETA: Skating from the parking lot to my office (about a mile of hills and students) is a lot more of a work out than I was expecting it to be. I am beyond soaked XP

Crafter's guilt

As is stated in the title of my blog, there is so much crap I want to make, and have purchased materials for, and I'm never going to get around to it! I'm currently angeling a swap at Odd Ducks, and am finally only a couple of rows away from finishing my handknit. And it's only taken me two weeks! I am quite proud of myself. Especially because I'll finally be able to increase my knit total! I mean, I swear I've been knitting, but I don't feel I have anything to show for it. Especially because I love knitting for other people :/ So hopefully, I'll finish this shawl and I'll finally be able to finish those damned socks. Ha.

As far as purchases go, I'm still waiting for my Woolgirl Sock Club delivery which I was supposed to get before going to MDSW. Communication has been near impossible with her, so when she sent out the announcement a few weeks ago for this month's package, I responded, and she said all my previous emails had been sent to the trash. Now, the problem is, I really want the kits! They are really high quality! And the very, very rare times she has managed to respond, she's been very sweet about it, and promised to send out replacements for the AiW and Mad Hatter kits that I never got. So now I am waiting. Again. People have been receiving their Queen kits for a week now, and I don't know when to expect it. And I don't want to be that annoying person that keeps on writing and complaining.

So yeah, still waiting on that one. I also have all the stuff I bought at MDSW that I haven't gotten around to even touching, plus the stuff that I have bought locally. And now I want to join a RHPS SAL that EverimprovingMe is holding and a Zombie/Apocalypse Odd Duck swap. Decisions, decisions! And guilt :/

So if I do join the RHPS SAL, what character(s) should I chose?

Oh! Also! I got a cool email from Blogger this morning. Apparently, now you can see how much traffic, and from where, your blog is getting. My Alice doll seems to have been linked several times on free ami sites ^_^

ETA: So of course, the moment I decide to complain to the world, a box is left on my doorstep. I'll post about its awesome, awesome contents in the near future. I hope.

Any ideas?

I am a horrible, horrible human being, I just realized I haven't given thanks for my Dr. Horrible swap formally, since this is the only place that I have that can host pictures. That will be my next post. For now, I will continue to be selfish and brag about my new toy.

I got a new iPhone 4 ^_^ I've had a first gen for two and a half years, and many, many, many falls, and since the button wasn't working on it too well (or at all, when the mood sat it) I was already looking for an upgrade. A few times during that period, I would just completely freak out at my bill and swear that I was going to throw it in the crick and go back to my PEBL, but then I lost my iPhone a couple of weeks ago and had to do just that. It was torture! I have become so addicted to checking my email when I'm in bed, right before turning off the lights and going to sleep, that I started to panic now that I couldn't.

Enter my mad dash, after only four days, to order an iPhone 4. Of course, the next day, my roommate found my old one in the couch >.< But still, I need an upgrade, and I got it yesterday!!!!!1!11!!one!!!squeeeeee!!!!! I am so happy. I've tried many, many ways to hold it and drop signal/calls, and I think people are just full of crap. Haters be hatin'!

So now I'm looking for a scratchproof skin, since the cases always get in my way. I'd love to get this H. R. Giger picture, but I have no clue what it is called, nor how I would go about getting the rights to get it printed on a skin. But it is so cool! I mean, I love how the alien is all curious. I identify with it ^_^ Does anybody know what it is called?

ETA: Tammy was cool to tell me that it is called The Reedemer, or Der Auslöser. It is acrylic on paper on wood, 70x50 cm, 1983-1987! Now to find a way to make this legally :/

Damnit, Molly!

So, Knitter's Underground has a sale on their sock yarns, so I bought 10 Sedrun, 15 Wildfoote and 9 cotton skeins, all 50 grams and $2.50. So yeah. 34 skeins of neutral yarn. So if you are in a swap with me, guess what you will be receiving! Well, except for the cotton, which I hope to make a hoodie out of.

I'm glad I was only going for a very quick run to pick up #2 circs and a $12 lace spindle...

Damn you Erika!

I just spent $25 thanks to you (not counting the other $40 in books that I had to get at the same time). I'd already given up cross stitching fifteen years ago, but no, I just had to pick up yet another hobby. The list of projects I currently have going:

- New cross stitch Black Eyed Susans
- Skew socks 50%
- Vampire BF socks 25%
- Wedding shawl (for wedding this saturday) 25%
- Sweater, 2" to be frogged
- purple spinning 75%
- new green spinning
- Swap #2 project, purchased
- Swap #3 project, purchased

not to mention the lotions I have to research.

Baaaa, motherfucker, do you speak it?

This weekend was MDSW, and it was awesome! I am roasted, toasted and burnt to a crisp (not that anybody can tell the difference between pasty #1 and pasty #2) and exhausted. I think I spent a good $300 this weekend, that I really couldn't afford. But everything was so beautiful! My stash over on Rav is updated with pictures and everything.

I got two tops by Fiber Optic Yarns in Cayenne and Cranberry that I absolutely adore! I can't wait to spin them up. The colors are so rich (and red), immediately attracting my attention. There was another booth covered in rainbows called Bullen's Wullens, where I got three 4 oz bags of merino/silk/bamboo in red, purple and blue, and they plan on sending me orange, yellow and green in the next two weeks, so that I can spin rainbows to my heart's desire. The last set of fiber I got was from Spinners Hill: assorted wool #3 in a VIOLENT green which I intend to spin alternately with black, and then ply with a black single. This will hopefully be a present to my friend Erika, who turned 21 last week (and I'll get it to her before she turns 22...).

The last bulk of my purchases was yarn from Tess Designer Yarns. The colors were very nice and rich, but someone should really punch whoever wrote up their site in the crotch. There was one impulse buy that I saw knitted up into very pink socks, so I'm going to see if I can do some color correcting and make it more red. I bought three gradient "sets" for different shawls that I hope transition nicely. Everything was so picked over that I'm dubious of the purple set... And, of course, the website sucks, so I can't verify the colors and ask for whatever I'm missing. I'm kind of pissed off that I saw their gradient stand and thought it was the Unique Sheep gradients I'd fallen in love with on line, but it wasn't :/

The non-fiber highlight of my trip was running into Jennie Breeden of The Devil's Panties. It was very geeky and cool and odd. It felt so weird being almost 30 and squeeing at someone my own age. But she was cool, and so were her friends. I had to remind myself that I don't actually know them, I've only read about them in the comics! But they were still very nice, and they put up with me. Squee!!! Another cool thing was that sunday, the chick at Spinners Hill confused me with her (apparently because I was wearing boots, too) and I got to talking to her about Jennie's Men In Kilts, With Leafblower project (a third of the way down). She was more than grateful!