We used to ski a lot as a family but now we basically ski one week a year and depending on the weather here it might even be only a day or two. Good weather is predicted this year so we might ski the whole week. This is the time when God surrounds me with his angels because I cry for help several times a day. I am surrounded by angels so as I don't kill my husband when he takes me down areas I don't want to be at. But enough of that you might hear more about that as the week goes on.
This year part of my preparation for Snowbird was having to hem a pair of jeans. Now you know I quilt and have sewing machines so you think this is probably an easy small insignificant chore.
Let me explain. I don't do alterations. There is a reason. They are boring. The problem is that my favorite pair of pants to wear this time of year are flannel lined jeans. They are warm and I am always cold. They are not easy to find and the only two stores that carry them that I am aware of are Eddie Bauer and their competitors. Because of my age I can't think of their names. It doesn't really matter because they are just catalogue and I rarely order from them anyway.
Normally, I order petites from Eddie Bauer but I happen to be in their store. They happen to carry the right size, they happen to fit and they were on sale what more can a woman want right? Problem was they were to long in the legs. Well, I couldn't resist the other advantages so I bought them anyway. Normally, I would take them to a friend who is a seamstress to have them shortened but I did not have enough time. Snowbird was less than a week away so I decided that if Stephanie can hem her pants, a creative person with great machinery can hem hers too. Short cut was all I could think about. So first to cut them to size. I was smart enough to realize my fallibility so instead of three inches I only cut off two. Then I attempted to serge the edges. Ouch, I couldn't even remember how to thread the damn thing. Ok after a half an hour relearning how to thread the serger and got the stitch right I attempted to serge the seams. It did not work well because the serger cut in places that were not right. Then I tried to do it on the sewing machine. I realized that with a lining the usual hemming way would not work since the hem would become so thick. So I finally ripped everything out and did it the right way. The right way is too hard to explain only that the inside and outside get sewn together right sides and mesh happily together. What took me two hours plus to do could have taken me less than an hour had I not tried to take the short cuts. Ladies remember this lesson. Do it right the first time and it is easier.
Ok this next paragraph has nothing to do with Snowbird preparations. This has to do with observations about men and woman. It had to do with the TV show NCIS. I will spare you the story line. All I will tell you that the murderer and reason for murder were definitely thought of differently by Stephanie and I and Mike. Mike had a black and white view of the murderer and Stephanie and I saw shades of gray. Mike would have convicted the murderer and Stephanie and I would have said not guilty or leniency if on the jury. The more I have observed and listened to men speak and observed and listened to woman, I have truly come to the conclusion that most men are black and white and most women see shades of gray. I always thought that it was just my husband who was black and white. I am very gray and have been criticized for this for years. Now I respect that this is an estrogen trait that God has blessed me with for it fills me with the gift of tears, intuition, passion and other traits that compliment my progesterone counterpart. Now, I do want to tell you that I am grateful for Mike's black and white attitude for it compliments and completes me and helps me in my emotional states for he is my rock and I am his waves.
Back to the lighter side of life. Snowbird is one of those vacations that being close to home can make it a disadvantage. We do not always concentrate as hard in what we need to pack. Every year we tend to forget something important. I have been known to forget my socks, my ice skates, my hairbrush and hair clips. This year Mike forgot his underwear lol. He is finally getting old enough to forget so I no longer feel so bad. I am usually the flakey one in the family.
Luckily there are enough of us going up and down the mountain that someone will with permission (if it is not a family member) enter the house and grab what is missing and bring it up. This year Sandra (Stephanie's best friend is the chosen one).
No comments:
Post a Comment