Hmmm: 07/01/2005 - 08/01/2005

Saturday, July 30, 2005

New Toy

I got lots of toys to experiment and play with.

First, my Abue brought me a bag full of semi-precious and other pretty stones from Mex. These have been polished naturally and have all sort of different forms. They range from half-an-inch to an inch and are of all sorts. I noticed Tiger Eye, Amethyst, Hemathite, and diverse Quartz colors among others (whose names I don’t know). So many that they look like yummy candy.

Pretty Colors!

Well, They haven’t been drilled so I asked for advice at Jewely Crafters on how to proceed with them (tension setting, drilling, or wire wrapping) and based on my expertise and budget, the majority told me to go for wire-wrapping. I do not know how to do any of the techniques :p but I said, what the heck, let’s play around with some wire and see what happens.

I bought a 20 gauge wire in golden and very nice wire cutter plyers ‘cause I am bored of using my heavy-duty scissors to cut eye-pins, etc. So I started with a bit of wire and I made a mess with the twirling here and there and wrapped one stone. It came out awkard but it was my first test. I undid it and then images began to run in my head on how to warp these stones. I need something to go around them and below but not just at all erratic angles. I want it pretty. So I came up with a design that would be like having the stone n the center an ‘petals’ around it. Haven’t done it yet, but it looks good in my head. ^_^

But for loops I need something more, a wig-jig. I told my Hubby that I was going to make mine since I have a bunch of wood pieces on back. So we went to Home Depot and I got a small drill bit and a long thin wooded rod (both 1/8” in diameter). So the plan was to draw a grid on a piece of wood and then drill the holes into the different corners of each drawn square. Then I would cut the rod into 2 inch segment and placed them in each hole. Ta-da! A wig-jig that only cost me $3.39 as opposed to the plastic ones in the craft store at $19.98.

Then Hubby wanted to look at a small TV for one of the rooms so we went to Wal-Mart. We also needed a new hammer (I think I lent mine to my Dad and we haven’t seen it for a while) so while in that area Husband noticed a rotary tool. He kept looking and told me I should get one so that I could add to my toy collection.

And it's cordless too!

^_^

Now I have a small hand-held rotary tool, a round saw, and a drill. Woo-hoo! Another thing that I’ll eventually get is a stump finder and one of those cool laser levers. Yaahhh, then I’ll finally get straight frames.

Okay, well the rotary tool (cordless and a lot lighter than my drill) is pretty much for precision work. I made my wig-jig in about an hour (it’s not polished on all sides or painted yet but it is functional). I suppose using my regular drill it would have taken me about 2 and a half because I would have had to rest after every 5th drill or something.

Oh and I also made this,

Halfway Done

That one I made free-hand so I haven’t tested the wig-jig yet. Why free-hand? Because after I cut another piece of wire I began twirling it around and I said ‘oh! This is nice!’ and just kept going. It is not finished since it dangles around too much and I guess that would be uncomfortable when doing other things, so I will also tie it at the other end and make like a cuff-bracelet of it. I think it’s coming out very nice… but it’s a killer on the fingers.

Maybe I need gloves.

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Lazy Day

Today has been a very lazy day. I guess it’s alright. I deserve it, sort of.

Sunday my parents called us because they needed us to go purchase some concrete for them. Dad has started a brick grill project that he had told me about a couple of weeks ago. I got him several books and my Mom decided on a design. So Sunday they began. We went over to their house and they had already begun with the mixing. They wanted me to go and buy some more bags of Quickrete (already mixed with the gravel, sand, and cement. Just add water!) but I don’t like to drive their van. It is a business van that has no windows and I feel iffy driving it. So instead I stayed with Mom while Dad and Hubby went to Home Depot to get the 2nd load of the bags.

No wonder people who build houses get paid 40 bucks an hour…

IT’S TOUGH WORK!

We mixed about 20 bags of 40lbs each with only a shovel. The fun part was pouring the mixture little-by-little and leveling it and making it pretty with trowel.

On Monday I did yard work. Bought a weed cutter and did all the edges around the front yard then mowed the grass and finally swept the grass from the sidewalk and drive way. Gaaaahhhh it killed my back. The back yard got mowed too but I didn’t do the edges. I was too tired.

Tuesday I went with Hubby to get some work done on his vehicle. We decided to wait at the dealer’s otherwise they would probably keep the SUV for like 2 days. So we stayed there and did some walking to get breakfast and such. Not bad… except I was wearing a little heel. ~_~ Anyway. He dropped me off at Mom’s and then Mom took me and Grandma to the bowling place. It was fun. We practiced enough. Some shopping for Abue followed. Hubby picked me up and then told me he too wanted to go bowling so after eating we got a call from Dad and we all met a the bowling place again.

Today I woke up late. Pffft. Did very basic cleaning around the house and have been watching TV. ^_^ I am not as sore as I thought I would be. I guess the bowling stretched my arm muscles a bit. My back does hurt though but not too bad.

Friday, July 22, 2005

Emily Is Totally Gone

Emily arrived later than expected. Weather people had predicted Emily to hit the coast at around 1 am but 1 came and went and we still didn’t have Emily anywhere near land. Husband and I went to bed and woke up at 6:30am after his alarm went on.

Hubby shook my shoulder and told me, “There’s no light.” I got up right away and noticed that my sheets were on the floor and that I was covered in a light sweaty mist. The lights probably went out an hour or so earlier. The phone line was still functional and I checked the water. We still had that so we hurried to shower and get ready in case that would be cut off later too. I pulled out my tiny 3-inch battery-based tv and searched for the local channel. Emily had arrived south of us in Tamaulipas Mexico at category 3. It was raining pretty hard outside and the wind speeds were those of a category 2. Not too bad, those are winds that are fairly withstand-able.

Since Emily hit at 6 something in the morning as opposed to 1 am, it could be somewhat dangerous to leave the home at that moment. Hubby and his workmates were calling one another trying to figure out what the course of action would be. Mexican news were saying that all 1st shifts for the day would be off. Mexico would not be working, obviously if the Mexican side was off then the warehouse would not have anything to do either so it was settled that they would not go to work as well.

We took our breakfast under the flashlights and decided to go back to bed. There was nothing to do but wait until the rains and winds stopped. I used my wet towel and slept over it because it was so hot. Husband went to another room so that we wouldn’t get any one room too hot.

It was reported that 2300 PUB clients (Public Utilities Board) had no electricity and that another 1800 from Magic Valley Electric were without it as well. My parents’ area was not affected, however. We had Internet, however. I have a backup battery that lasts about 5-6 hours in case of power failure, and all our PC electronics and router are hooked to that, so husband was keeping track of hurricane news via net. Several of the counties also had tornado warnings. We have a lot of flat desert-like areas and we’ve had tornadoes form before, so it was expected.

Power returned to our area at around 1:30 pm, just when I was about to just serve fruit. ^_^ So we had a decently warmed meal added to the fruit.

At around 3 we left to look around. The gate to my fence tilted over from the rough winds so we will have to replace several boards there; at worst we will have to replace the entire gate, but I don’t think so.

All along the streets the damages were no more than fallen fences and torn trees. I believe in the lower areas of town there were slight flooding, but nothing catastrophic. The Mexican side wasn’t as lucky. Their sewage systems aren’t as good as ours and I learned that many ‘Colonias’ (like subdivisions) had a lot of water damage. Further south there were 2500 families that were left without homes and many more whose homes were at most 2 meters under water. O_o

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Preparing for Emily 4

Didn’t do all that much today. Basic stuff in the morning and then went over to Wal-Mart ‘cause I ran out of fruit. I cleaned the fruit and veggies, peeled and packed them - all stuff that doesn’t require cooking in case of electricity going out. I made sandwiches and egg soup with rice and then checked the yard to make sure I hadn’t missed anything that could be sent out as projectiles in case the winds got strong enough.

Last night we put all yard furniture inside the house and I tried to weight down Tushi’s house a little more. The house is pretty heavy and sturdy, I guess it is around 40 lbs or something, but I still filled it with all the smaller wood pieces (from my yard projects) and bricks to weight it down more to the ground.

It began to rain at 2pm; it was hard and heavy but only lasted for about 3 minutes. Husband came home at 4:30 and brought 4 pizzas! Pizza is good cold or hot so he figured it was good to have around in case I couldn’t cook. :p

Luckily we live in a very nice area. The lot is on a non-flooding area and since the house is new it should handle stuff alright. Oh the town finally opened up shelters, 3 of the high schools, and this is good because we have a lot of trailer and RV communities.

For most places, business will be as usual, for example, Husband has to work tomorrow and so does my Dad. ~_~

Hmmm I'll go do some laundry now. :p

Monday, July 18, 2005

Preparing for Emily 3

Husband went to work a little earlier than usual. He wanted to stop by Home Depot to see if he could find some more of those clips that our neighbor gave us. They are neat! That way we wouldn’t have to use the 2x4s. He called in and he was told that a shipment came at night and that the bag of 20 sells for 29.97.

I did house cleaning and then my Mom came over because I had an appt with one of my docs and she wanted to go with me. She also brought along my Abuelita (grandma) who came to visit from Mexico. Heheh. Perfect timing right? She’ll get the beautiful showers of the season.

She arrived from Mexico City yesterday, Sunday. Abuelita is my Mom’s mom. While my Grandma is my Dad’s mom and she lives in the same city as ours. By the way, I kept calling my grandma asking her if she needed anything but she said no. I did buy her water and Flashlights on Friday and she had mentioned she wanted other things but said she wanted to go herself. Okay then.

Got out of the doctor’s at 3 something…. Gaaaahhhh. So long. I got there at 1 O’clock and waited forever. Bunch of pregnant ladies and although I had an appt for 1:35, many of the ladies that got there after I did went in first. Plus Dr. Mancillas had to leave at around 1:30 to the hospital (probably checking up on a patient). Anyway. All is fine except that my body’s weird and so I need to get on some pills. Bleh.

We went to Mom’s right after the doc so that I could help them put up their boards. My Dad seemed a little stressed because my Grandma called him telling him she needed help moving furniture and she needed milk and wanted to go to WalMart and to the doctor to get a new prescriptions, yadda yadda. Grandma ALWAYS waits to the last minute to get all her stuff ready. I told her since Friday if she needed anything. Called her again on Saturday and yet once more Sunday but she told me she didn’t need anything. Ayayay.

So I stayed with Mom and Abue putting up the boards while Dad went to help Grandma. Hubby got there to pick me up at close to six because he said the office was busy. They are the warehouse of a Mexican Maquiladora (Manufacturing plant). They make anywhere from boxes to car air bags to assembly of small planes and the warehouse houses clients’ materials to be crossed to Mexico for the use at the Maquila. Husband is the only system analyst and basically is in charge of all technology at the warehouse. The warehouse worked for clients until noon and then they were securing materials and all that stuff. Tomorrow Husband is taking all machinery off power and putting away the servers in case of flooding.

When we got home we put up the last boards with the clips Husband purchased. It took us only 15 minutes to put them all up. ^_^

Emily seems to be coming back up towards our area. We checked locations of shelters and such but.. Wow… there were none for Brownsville. Every neighboring city has their shelters except us. Heh.

Sunday, July 17, 2005

Preparing for Emily 2

Saturday we took it easy. I mostly did laundry and arranged a bag with important documents in case we needed to leave the house. Emily’s trajectory changed and it seemed to be going further south into Tampico Tamps, Mexico. It gets ugly down there with torrential showers. I lived there during hurricane Gilbert back in 80-something. We had a river a few yards from our backyard, a little bridge a canoe and a boat. We found those on land after the storm but the house sustained no damage. In Mexico houses are made 100% of brick and cement, no wooden structures as it is done here. Poor people, however, make their homes out of whatever they can find, some even seeming to be made out of carton. Those people lost all they had. It was sad. After we moved out of Tampico, my parents donated the house and it now serves as hospital and food bank throughout the year and of course shelter when times get rough in the area. That was a very good house for us and we’re glad that it continues to be for others.

Well, I convinced Husband that we still should go to Home Depot to check out the wood… just in case. We got there at around 2:30-ish and there was quite a bit of people. We headed over to the wood and we got kicked out. The people, the employees, everyone was stressed and upset. We were asking for prices on the 4’x8’s and one of the employees kept telling us to go to the back. She’d be shaking her head and waving her arms out telling us to go to like 3 aisles down where the end of the line was. We didn’t even have a cart, so obviously we weren’t there for wood, but I guess she was just too tired.

We were going to check for other stuff but Hubby just told me we should go and return early Sunday morning. That seemed fine with me!

Sunday we got there at 6:45am and waited in line until the doors opened. There were about 15 people in front of us, all with their flatbed carts. We got one too ‘cause I convinced Husband that we should buy the plywood even if we were only going to get showers. If we didn’t use it we could always return it, but better safe and sorry. We spent 104 bucks in plywood (the one with several layers, not the single layer one generally used for roofing), some 2x4s, and a circular saw (yey!!! brrrroooooommmmm).
We got home at around 9 and started cutting wood. ^_^

We were going to cut the 2x4s larger than the width of the window and then force it in so that it would press the large plywood and hold it tightly in place. A good plan. But then our neighbor from across came over to offer assistance (Did we look that pathetic using the saw? And here I thought I looked all cool with my shaded goggles and measuring tape at my belt). He introduced us to board clips. These little clips that you put on the wood and then simply press the wood into the window and it will hold it securely in place. He gave us some he had left over and told us where to buy more. How nice!

I gotta bake him and his wife some cake.

^_^

Friday, July 15, 2005

Preparing for Emily

Well, I woke up rather late today at around 8:45. Did my basic cleaning got cleaned up myself and then checked Star Trek: Deep Space 9 at around eleven-ish when Hubby gave me a call. He was updating me on Hurricane Emily, said that it was going to fall on us. I knew it was going towards Yucatan but was sort of hoping it would slow back down to like category 1 when the showers would reach us. I checked the weather channel and the projected trajectory is as I figured. Right now it is heading to Jamaica and the Caiman Islands, then will move over Yucatan, Mex and then enter the Gulf. It will more than likely go into the Veracruz and Tamaulipas coasts (the neighboring Mexican states) and South Texas. The dot on the trajectory was rrriiiiiggght at the border, so for sure Matamoros Mexico and Brownsville Texas. The Rio Grande will overflow! :p

Anyway. Husband was asking if we should go buy wood for the windows and then travel to a city further up north (Laredo or San Antonio) but I said it shouldn’t be necessary. He’s never been in a hurricane before so he’s kinda nervous, I’ve been through like 5 and many different Tropical storms so I’m more used to the dance.

After the call I grabbed my keys and made a trip to Wal-Mart. I remember a couple of years ago when there was warning of a hurricane hitting us, everything on the stores was completely gone. So I wanted to get ready early and not be hours upon hours in line waiting to pay for overly priced stuff. I got there at noon and went straight for the water. One whole aisle was empty. I usually buy the Nestle 24 pack which sells 2 for about 5.30, but now they are at 3.98 each pack. I bought 3 of those and I found some Ozarka 2.5 gals so I got 2 of those too, as well as some for my grandma. Made my way to the Sporting Goods area to look for flashlights. Got 3 big 6V flashlights, 2 of those medium sized ones that use D batteries, and 1 of the smaller ones that uses AA. Then I got some batteries. I gotta say that the water aisle was almost empty and that the flashlights palette was like down to the last 8 boxes. The store started to get packed when I was paying for my items. I got exactly 20 items (also got some powder milk and food for the babies) so that I could use the fast lines.

I spent 73 bucks and change.

I put everything in my car then went back in to buy fruits and other non-cooking food in case of power outages next week. People were already starting to flood the store and it was sooooooo hot in there. Too many people.

Friday, July 08, 2005

^_~

Husband had a tough day at work, so when he got home I received him with a nice little rub and hot stress-reducing lovin'

He took me out to eat and then bought me these. *GRIN*

Nice!

Sweet!

Cute!

Comfy!

Chic!

Sporty!

Definitely the babies' favorites. Must be the shoe laces.

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Tushi In Diapers

The day was much more relaxed today. Spent part of the morning doing household chores and then finally making that diaper for Tushi. After fumbling around with her because she wouldn't let me measure her correctly, I managed to draw a sketch of how I wanted the pamper to be and then finally sat down to scale it to her size over felt.

I thought felt would be the easiest thing to work with at the moment, since I don't really have to sew anything hehehe, that way I wouldn't get frustrated when my first attempt came out looking so-so.

It looks quite cute on her. It still fits her a little weird because I needed the tail hole a little higher, but other than that it is great. I lined the inside with a piece of her training mats so that it could absorb the 'stuff'.

Here she is.

Modeling her green pamper

A closeup

Old To New

My Grandma asked me to fix a necklace for her. It is old and was falling apart. I also changed the clasp style to a magnetic one so that it may be easier for her to put it on - she has had a little trouble controlling her hands after a stroke. I also added a few new wooden beads to give the necklace a little contrast. The older beads seem to be polished stone of some sort.

The old version

The new version

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Drove All Day

So busy.

5:30 - 7:00, woke up, showered, got ready, got husband ready, fed babies.
7:00 - 8:45, drove to the doctor's office to get lab work done. Excellent pressure, not pregnant, got acid reflux and my sugar level is a little over the border line.... heh.
9:00 - 9:30, breakfast
9:30 - 11:30, errands around town, bill payments, got car checked (it’s making some noise when the AC is at level 1 and 2, but no noise when it is on higher levels). SO much traffic!
11:30 - 12:30, got home, cleaned house, snack for babies, cleaned Tushi's carriage and Chico's futon
12:30 - 1:30, took lunch to Hubby, ate with him - took Tushi with me because she had a vet’s appt.
1:30 - 3:00, drove to the vet’s. Tushi has a skin condition and just began her period!!! I gotta wash her every other day with Head and Shoulders and give her a pill daily. I also need to find patterns for pampers since I will have her inside the house completely for the next 3 weeks or so.
3:00 - 5:00, went to pick up Grandma, we dropped off Tushi at home and then took Grandma shopping, to the bank, to buy some fabric, etc, etc... owww my feet.
5:00 - 6:30, drove Grandma back to her house, helped her unpack the food, etc, etc., went to pick up Hubby from work and passed by Walgreen’s to pick up prescriptions.
6:30 - 7:30, ate at Chili’s with Husband.
7:30 - 9:00, Got home, discovered that Tushi and Chico tore apart her pee pampers so I had to clean the house again. Fed babies. Took shower... got call from Dad asking us to go play Tennis. Husband said yes. X_x
9:00 - 10:00, Tennis... well, they played Tennis I was simply walking around picking up all stray balls.
10:00 - 11:00, Dinner at Denny’s.
11:30 - 1:00 got home and let Tushi out to play on the yard for a bit. She started barking so I got nervous and put her back inside the house afteraround 10 minutes. Chico and her are doing bad stuff again. Meanwhile I’ve been browsing the web looking for a good Pet Insurance and writing this entry.

X_X tired now. Me go sleepy.

Friday, July 01, 2005

3D, Amused

Amused

A lady so beautiful that to look upon her is a sentence to never again be satisfied by any beauty but hers.

... or so she wishes to think so. This is my idea of what my evil lady Kay looks like. Kay is one of my main characters for the DBZ - The New Level 2 RPG (see link at side). She rocks.

Model: Daz V3 SAE
Mats: Idun by Vanadisa;
Props: Armchair by Sue88
Software: Daz|Studio; Adobe Photoshop 7.0.1; PaintShop Pro 5.0

Who's Your Daddy

Your Daddy Is Darth Vader

What You Call Him: Papi
Why You Love Him: He's the Mack Daddy

Who's Your Daddy?

Hey, that's what I call my papi!

Hmmm