Patti O'Shea's Blog, page 73
November 6, 2018
Halloween Hiding
On Halloween, I usually hide with the lights out and evade trick-or-treaters. My dad lives with me now, though, so I asked him a couple of weeks ago if he was going to hand out candy or hide. He said hide!
This surprised the hell out of me because my parents always handed out candy no matter what and chastised me for hiding with the lights out.
I reminded him that it meant no lights for the entire evening and asked him if he was sure. He said he was.
The night before Halloween--late--he says, maybe we should have bought candy. Since I had no plans to stop to buy candy on my way home from work the following day, I was like, oh, well. To say he was not equipped to deal with hiding out is understating things.
It started out okay. He was making dinner when I got home from work so we could eat early and wouldn't have lights on. Good. That was the last easy moment he had with Halloween hiding.
The highlight, though, was at 7:30. He said, it's dark now, the kids won't come anymore. We can turn on the lights. Um, no. Seriously. Kids trick-or-treat until 9:30 at night. He should know this after handing candy out for so many years. He argued with me briefly, but the lights stayed off.
Twenty minutes later, he wanted to turn the lights on again. Sigh.
My guess is that next year he'll be passing out candy because hiding in the dark seemed to be stressful for him. I don't get that. Stressful is answering the door, but then I'm very introverted and he's an extrovert.
This surprised the hell out of me because my parents always handed out candy no matter what and chastised me for hiding with the lights out.
I reminded him that it meant no lights for the entire evening and asked him if he was sure. He said he was.
The night before Halloween--late--he says, maybe we should have bought candy. Since I had no plans to stop to buy candy on my way home from work the following day, I was like, oh, well. To say he was not equipped to deal with hiding out is understating things.
It started out okay. He was making dinner when I got home from work so we could eat early and wouldn't have lights on. Good. That was the last easy moment he had with Halloween hiding.
The highlight, though, was at 7:30. He said, it's dark now, the kids won't come anymore. We can turn on the lights. Um, no. Seriously. Kids trick-or-treat until 9:30 at night. He should know this after handing candy out for so many years. He argued with me briefly, but the lights stayed off.
Twenty minutes later, he wanted to turn the lights on again. Sigh.
My guess is that next year he'll be passing out candy because hiding in the dark seemed to be stressful for him. I don't get that. Stressful is answering the door, but then I'm very introverted and he's an extrovert.
November 1, 2018
The Dress Shirt Saga
My dad hasn't attended many dress up occasions since moving to Georgia, but with one looming on the horizon, he discovered he couldn't button the necks on his existing dress shirts. He'd need to buy a new one.
We went to a store's website and I found him exactly what he wanted--a short-sleeved, button-down shirt in white. It was $29.99 and he was all like I've never spent that much money for a shirt. And so he wouldn't buy it. We found another shirt that was on clearance for $17.77 and he decided he wanted that one.
Only when it arrives, they sent a long-sleeve version (which we definitely didn't order. I double checked) and it had no collar at all. In our defense, it was impossible to see that on the website and I only saw that was indeed what we ordered when I blew the picture up to a huge size.
Now we have to make a trip up to the store to return it and my dad has to pick out a shirt he likes in person. While I'm on a tight deadline. Awesome.
I left him in the men's department and went to grab a couple of other things I needed while we were there. When I come back, he's complaining that they have no button-down shirts in his size in either long sleeve or short sleeve and now we have to go to another store. Gah! But as we're headed for the registers, I spot a rack of button-down long sleeve dress shirts and all was right in the world.
And then I washed the shirt for him.
It came out of the dryer wrinkled even though it was immediately taken out and hung up. It's cotton. Cotton wrinkles. Now it needs to be ironed.
The good thing is that my mom stopped ironing my dad's shirts when I was in high school and he had to learn to iron his own then. Thank you, Mom! The bad news is that he hasn't had to iron a shirt since he moved to Atlanta and now he's asking me questions. I'm like, I don't buy clothes that need to be ironed. Don't ask me. For real. I've put shirts back that I love because I will not iron.
He's just lucky I own an iron. And the only reason I do is that I bought curtains for my house and needed to iron them before I could put them up. Otherwise we'd be shopping for an iron now, too. I hope we can find the iron because we've moved since I bought it and I can only guess that it's upstairs. Somewhere.
We went to a store's website and I found him exactly what he wanted--a short-sleeved, button-down shirt in white. It was $29.99 and he was all like I've never spent that much money for a shirt. And so he wouldn't buy it. We found another shirt that was on clearance for $17.77 and he decided he wanted that one.
Only when it arrives, they sent a long-sleeve version (which we definitely didn't order. I double checked) and it had no collar at all. In our defense, it was impossible to see that on the website and I only saw that was indeed what we ordered when I blew the picture up to a huge size.
Now we have to make a trip up to the store to return it and my dad has to pick out a shirt he likes in person. While I'm on a tight deadline. Awesome.
I left him in the men's department and went to grab a couple of other things I needed while we were there. When I come back, he's complaining that they have no button-down shirts in his size in either long sleeve or short sleeve and now we have to go to another store. Gah! But as we're headed for the registers, I spot a rack of button-down long sleeve dress shirts and all was right in the world.
And then I washed the shirt for him.
It came out of the dryer wrinkled even though it was immediately taken out and hung up. It's cotton. Cotton wrinkles. Now it needs to be ironed.
The good thing is that my mom stopped ironing my dad's shirts when I was in high school and he had to learn to iron his own then. Thank you, Mom! The bad news is that he hasn't had to iron a shirt since he moved to Atlanta and now he's asking me questions. I'm like, I don't buy clothes that need to be ironed. Don't ask me. For real. I've put shirts back that I love because I will not iron.
He's just lucky I own an iron. And the only reason I do is that I bought curtains for my house and needed to iron them before I could put them up. Otherwise we'd be shopping for an iron now, too. I hope we can find the iron because we've moved since I bought it and I can only guess that it's upstairs. Somewhere.
October 31, 2018
October 30, 2018
Queue the Happy Dance GIF
This weekend, I finished the final edits on Wicked Obsession, my release scheduled for January 2019! I actually would have been done earlier, but I picked up a bug and couldn't think clearly enough to go through the manuscript until Sunday.
I used to post my dancing Hobbes GIF whenever I finished a book, but sadly, I no longer have it. :-( Instead I'll share the cover of the book.
The quick little blurb I'm using is:
I'll post more once I have cover copy, but for right now, join me in a happy dance, won't you please?
I used to post my dancing Hobbes GIF whenever I finished a book, but sadly, I no longer have it. :-( Instead I'll share the cover of the book.
The quick little blurb I'm using is:
It was supposed to be a wedding: a little fun, some wine, the chance for Langley Canfield to forget a devastating breakup. Until the wedding turns into a kidnapping, and her brand new ex—Sergeant Ryder Pienkowski—races to the rescue.This is my first finished book since my mom died and I'm hugely excited! My mom always read my stories and encouraged me to write. She would have been disappointed that it took me this long to finish something after she passed away, but we all have to heal in our own time.
I'll post more once I have cover copy, but for right now, join me in a happy dance, won't you please?
October 25, 2018
Advent Knitting
One of the designers for knit projects that I really like does an advent knitting shawl. I was going to say every year, but I don't know if that's true. I can say she's done it every year that I've knitted which is basically Christmas 2017 and 2018. :-) I didn't participate last year, but I didn't know things like this existed until it was too late for the coolest part of the entire thing. Mystery yarn!
I have a thing for Mystery Knit-A-Longs (MKAL) and this is a bigger mystery than most. Or it can be depending on whose yarn one purchases.
Most MKALs have a pattern that's revealed clue by clue. The advent MKAL will have 25 clues as we count down to Christmas. This MKAL also has some yarn companies who don't reveal what their yarn will look like either. The company I bought my yarn from showed an inspiration board to give an idea of the shades of yarn the buyer would receive, but didn't show the actual yarn or colors.
Normally, I like to know what the yarn color is going to be, but I find this double mystery intriguing. Each mini skein of yarn is individually wrapped and numbered and I'll unwrap that day's yarn along with the clue. I am intrigued.
The vision board that I liked had rich purples, golds, and oranges in the pictures. It's different from my usual bright, in-your-face colors which are my usual preference and I think it's good to get outside my comfort zone now and then and try something new. These will definitely be new colors for me--very fall-like.
My one concern is that I won't be able to keep up with the other knitters. I have such a small amount of time to actually knit and December is a hectic month anyway, but I plan to put aside any other knitting projects I might be working on and focus solely on this for the month.
I hope it's as fun as it sounds!
I have a thing for Mystery Knit-A-Longs (MKAL) and this is a bigger mystery than most. Or it can be depending on whose yarn one purchases.
Most MKALs have a pattern that's revealed clue by clue. The advent MKAL will have 25 clues as we count down to Christmas. This MKAL also has some yarn companies who don't reveal what their yarn will look like either. The company I bought my yarn from showed an inspiration board to give an idea of the shades of yarn the buyer would receive, but didn't show the actual yarn or colors.
Normally, I like to know what the yarn color is going to be, but I find this double mystery intriguing. Each mini skein of yarn is individually wrapped and numbered and I'll unwrap that day's yarn along with the clue. I am intrigued.
The vision board that I liked had rich purples, golds, and oranges in the pictures. It's different from my usual bright, in-your-face colors which are my usual preference and I think it's good to get outside my comfort zone now and then and try something new. These will definitely be new colors for me--very fall-like.
My one concern is that I won't be able to keep up with the other knitters. I have such a small amount of time to actually knit and December is a hectic month anyway, but I plan to put aside any other knitting projects I might be working on and focus solely on this for the month.
I hope it's as fun as it sounds!
October 23, 2018
Favorite Season
I can't tell you how many people tell me that fall is their favorite season of the year. I'm not sure why they volunteer this information to me because it's not a question I can ever remember asking someone, but they do and it's always autumn.
No offense to the fans of fall out there, but I don't get it. The leaves are falling off the trees, leaving them looking bare and dead. I have to put on a jacket, which I hate and wear long sleeve shirts again. Another apparel item I hate. And it's back to socks. My feeling for socks is beyond hate and deep into loathing territory. Also, winter follows fall and I loathe winter more than socks. :-)
My favorite season is summer and it always has been. It was summer when I lived in Minnesota and it's still summer even after living in Georgia for nearly 7 years. Maybe it's because of all the years I spent in MN, but I don't mind the heat and humidity. That's what air conditioning is for.
I can even name a specific part of summer that I love. June. Why? Because we're around summer solstice and the most available daylight.
If I had to pick a second favorite season, it would be spring because things are greening up and the bare trees are getting buds. It also means that summer is coming and there are no words for how much I love summer weather.
In my hierarchy, fall is a distant third with winter dead last. Even winter in Atlanta is too cold for me. I just don't like cold. I would get crabby in Minnesota by Halloween because of the weather.
It's too bad that southern California is so crowded and expensive because that year-round great weather would be perfect for me!
No offense to the fans of fall out there, but I don't get it. The leaves are falling off the trees, leaving them looking bare and dead. I have to put on a jacket, which I hate and wear long sleeve shirts again. Another apparel item I hate. And it's back to socks. My feeling for socks is beyond hate and deep into loathing territory. Also, winter follows fall and I loathe winter more than socks. :-)
My favorite season is summer and it always has been. It was summer when I lived in Minnesota and it's still summer even after living in Georgia for nearly 7 years. Maybe it's because of all the years I spent in MN, but I don't mind the heat and humidity. That's what air conditioning is for.
I can even name a specific part of summer that I love. June. Why? Because we're around summer solstice and the most available daylight.
If I had to pick a second favorite season, it would be spring because things are greening up and the bare trees are getting buds. It also means that summer is coming and there are no words for how much I love summer weather.
In my hierarchy, fall is a distant third with winter dead last. Even winter in Atlanta is too cold for me. I just don't like cold. I would get crabby in Minnesota by Halloween because of the weather.
It's too bad that southern California is so crowded and expensive because that year-round great weather would be perfect for me!
October 18, 2018
The Ugly Window
The window in my master bathroom is literally the ugliest window I've ever seen. For some reason, it's not trimmed out--it only has a sill--and there are no blinds to hide anything. Since the window is frosted, it doesn't need them. I've been trying to figure out what to do about that eyesore for a while now. I'm not a huge fan of curtains in the bathroom.
My house in Minnesota had a similar window in the master bath, but the builder finished it much more nicely than this current one is finished. Smooth and sleek versus sloppy work. The MN window was also trimmed out on all four sides. I had no one in back of me, so I simply went with a window cling that covered the entire glass. I liked that a lot, but it won't solve the problem here because of the sloppy work.
Although I'm still open to ideas, I've kind of narrowed it down to two options: A curtain valance or a box valance.
A curtain valance would probably be the easiest option. Again, though, cloth in the bathroom. :-(
The box valance sounds better to me, but the ones I like also have cloth, so I can't seem to get away from that.
Option 2 brings up the do I make it myself or buy one problem. I've found all kinds of instructions online on how to make your own and they are lovely. But I'd have to buy the wood, a glue gun, the mounting hardware, the cloth, and other items in order to do this. Or I could buy one for under $200, mounting hardware included. Probably less than I would spend to make my own.
The cloth pattern options are okay for the one I'd buy, but not necessarily what I would pick.
Making my own, though, leads to my perfectionist problem. I'd have to make a number of them to get one that's good enough for me to put up and that makes the DIY option even more expensive.
And so I sit locked, unable to decide what to do. Sigh.
My house in Minnesota had a similar window in the master bath, but the builder finished it much more nicely than this current one is finished. Smooth and sleek versus sloppy work. The MN window was also trimmed out on all four sides. I had no one in back of me, so I simply went with a window cling that covered the entire glass. I liked that a lot, but it won't solve the problem here because of the sloppy work.
Although I'm still open to ideas, I've kind of narrowed it down to two options: A curtain valance or a box valance.
A curtain valance would probably be the easiest option. Again, though, cloth in the bathroom. :-(
The box valance sounds better to me, but the ones I like also have cloth, so I can't seem to get away from that.
Option 2 brings up the do I make it myself or buy one problem. I've found all kinds of instructions online on how to make your own and they are lovely. But I'd have to buy the wood, a glue gun, the mounting hardware, the cloth, and other items in order to do this. Or I could buy one for under $200, mounting hardware included. Probably less than I would spend to make my own.
The cloth pattern options are okay for the one I'd buy, but not necessarily what I would pick.
Making my own, though, leads to my perfectionist problem. I'd have to make a number of them to get one that's good enough for me to put up and that makes the DIY option even more expensive.
And so I sit locked, unable to decide what to do. Sigh.
October 16, 2018
Formal Spaces
I recently read an article about a study showed that Americans (At least the ones in the study) rarely use their formal living rooms and dining rooms. That most people congregate in the family room and the kitchen. From my own life, I would say this is true.
Growing up, my parents had a formal living room that literally no one ever used. We were always in the family room where the television was or yes, at the kitchen table.
When I built my own home in Minnesota, I didn't get a formal dining room or living room. What I had was a great room with kitchen, family room, dining area, and foyer all in one. It could have been a smidge larger because it was slightly tight, but overall it suited me really well. The picture below is one of my farewell pictures when I moved. I loved this house whole-heartedly. This is from the foyer looking into the family room. The dining area and kitchen are on the right.
The house I bought in Georgia did have a formal living room and dining room. I knew from the start that I'd never use the formal living room. Like ever. And I ended up using it as a craft room, which was a bit awkward since it was open to the house and right next to the front door.
I put my table in the formal dining room because it looked more like it belonged there, but that left the eat-in kitchen part empty and I banged my head into the light fixture more than once as I walked through because there was nothing there to make me go around it.
These pictures from the first house I had in Georgia were taken before I removed the fake fireplace and changed out the light fixtures. I call these shots my hello tour. :-)
When I moved into my current house, I actually did want a dining room because after my mom died and my dad moved in with me, we did now have a kitchen table. Since I didn't want to get rid of my table or my parents' table, a dining room would be necessary. The new house doesn't have a formal living room, just a family room.
This picture above is from the new house. I took it before we bought it and the previous owner used it as an office. I realized I don't have a shot of my dining room as it looks now and I can't run and take a picture. I'll explain why in a minute. Just FYI, that light fixture is GONE!
Anyway, the dining room was mostly sitting empty except at a holiday when Dad and I would eat there, but that changed. My dad decided he was going to write his memoirs. At first, he spread out all over the kitchen table and had to pack everything up every night at dinner time. I finally suggested to him to take it all to the dining room. That way he could leave everything out. This is why I can't run and take a picture. My entire dining room table is covered with paper and the chairs are all over the place. It works for him!
So while I do agree with this article that formal spaces are largely wasted space, I do appreciate having a dining room. It'll also be good for me to lay out my knitting projects when I'm blocking them. Not the most efficient use of space, but useful at times.
Growing up, my parents had a formal living room that literally no one ever used. We were always in the family room where the television was or yes, at the kitchen table.
When I built my own home in Minnesota, I didn't get a formal dining room or living room. What I had was a great room with kitchen, family room, dining area, and foyer all in one. It could have been a smidge larger because it was slightly tight, but overall it suited me really well. The picture below is one of my farewell pictures when I moved. I loved this house whole-heartedly. This is from the foyer looking into the family room. The dining area and kitchen are on the right.
The house I bought in Georgia did have a formal living room and dining room. I knew from the start that I'd never use the formal living room. Like ever. And I ended up using it as a craft room, which was a bit awkward since it was open to the house and right next to the front door.
I put my table in the formal dining room because it looked more like it belonged there, but that left the eat-in kitchen part empty and I banged my head into the light fixture more than once as I walked through because there was nothing there to make me go around it.
These pictures from the first house I had in Georgia were taken before I removed the fake fireplace and changed out the light fixtures. I call these shots my hello tour. :-)
When I moved into my current house, I actually did want a dining room because after my mom died and my dad moved in with me, we did now have a kitchen table. Since I didn't want to get rid of my table or my parents' table, a dining room would be necessary. The new house doesn't have a formal living room, just a family room.
This picture above is from the new house. I took it before we bought it and the previous owner used it as an office. I realized I don't have a shot of my dining room as it looks now and I can't run and take a picture. I'll explain why in a minute. Just FYI, that light fixture is GONE!
Anyway, the dining room was mostly sitting empty except at a holiday when Dad and I would eat there, but that changed. My dad decided he was going to write his memoirs. At first, he spread out all over the kitchen table and had to pack everything up every night at dinner time. I finally suggested to him to take it all to the dining room. That way he could leave everything out. This is why I can't run and take a picture. My entire dining room table is covered with paper and the chairs are all over the place. It works for him!
So while I do agree with this article that formal spaces are largely wasted space, I do appreciate having a dining room. It'll also be good for me to lay out my knitting projects when I'm blocking them. Not the most efficient use of space, but useful at times.
October 11, 2018
Music Obsession
When I find a new song I like, I tend to obsess over it and play it on repeat until I get so sick of it, I don't want to listen to it any longer. And let me qualify new song as new to me. One of the podcasts I listen to every week does a yearly broadcast they call Summer Strut and they play clips of music they've discovered. Most of the time, my musical taste doesn't match theirs, but the 2018 Summer Strut did lead me to my current obsessive listen.
I received no compensation from anyone for anything I talk about in this blog post. It's all my own opinion and I bought everything mentioned here myself.
Now that the legalities are out of the way, my current musical obsession is Stela Cole's You FO. The lyrics are clever and even the backup singers add to the overall amazingness of this song. It's such a blend of styles and feels slight discordant in places, but somehow it all works for me.
Although the two songs are really not alike in any substantive way, playing it made me think of Lorde's Glory and Gore. This is one of my previous obsessive songs, but because something about the two works matches (at least in my mind), I have both of them in a playlist on my phone all by themselves. On repeat. Yes, I've been listening to these two songs over and over. :-) What can I say?
I haven't listened to any other music by Stela Cole yet, but at some point I will. Usually, it turns out that I only like the one song and don't buy any others, but who knows? Maybe this time will be the exception.
I received no compensation from anyone for anything I talk about in this blog post. It's all my own opinion and I bought everything mentioned here myself.
Now that the legalities are out of the way, my current musical obsession is Stela Cole's You FO. The lyrics are clever and even the backup singers add to the overall amazingness of this song. It's such a blend of styles and feels slight discordant in places, but somehow it all works for me.
Although the two songs are really not alike in any substantive way, playing it made me think of Lorde's Glory and Gore. This is one of my previous obsessive songs, but because something about the two works matches (at least in my mind), I have both of them in a playlist on my phone all by themselves. On repeat. Yes, I've been listening to these two songs over and over. :-) What can I say?
I haven't listened to any other music by Stela Cole yet, but at some point I will. Usually, it turns out that I only like the one song and don't buy any others, but who knows? Maybe this time will be the exception.
October 9, 2018
Sew What?
For some reason, the algorithms on a number of websites think that because I knit/crochet, that I also want to sew. Specifically, sew quilts. Craftsy, Instagram, Facebook all bombard me regularly with quilting ads. (I am not endorsing any of these services and I have not been compensated by anyone.)
I don't sew. It's not that I wouldn't like to have this particular skill, but I don't have the time to learn it on top of everything else I have to do, like a full-time job, writing, knitting, taking care of my dad, etc. I also would like to learn to draw--I signed up for a few Craftsy classes to do that--and I'm trying to relearn German. (I'd also like to learn Spanish.) Oh, and let's not forget the other online classes I signed up for and haven't started/finished yet that have nothing to do with anything listed above.
But if I had the skill to sew without making a hash of it, I pretty much can guarantee that I wouldn't be quilting. It holds no appeal for me whatsoever.
I never say never because I seriously never believed I'd be knitting and yet here I am, but I'd put the odds of my ever quilting at like 2%. The odds of my learning to sew maybe at 10%. Now it would be nice if the algorithms would figure this out and stop bombarding me.
I don't sew. It's not that I wouldn't like to have this particular skill, but I don't have the time to learn it on top of everything else I have to do, like a full-time job, writing, knitting, taking care of my dad, etc. I also would like to learn to draw--I signed up for a few Craftsy classes to do that--and I'm trying to relearn German. (I'd also like to learn Spanish.) Oh, and let's not forget the other online classes I signed up for and haven't started/finished yet that have nothing to do with anything listed above.
But if I had the skill to sew without making a hash of it, I pretty much can guarantee that I wouldn't be quilting. It holds no appeal for me whatsoever.
I never say never because I seriously never believed I'd be knitting and yet here I am, but I'd put the odds of my ever quilting at like 2%. The odds of my learning to sew maybe at 10%. Now it would be nice if the algorithms would figure this out and stop bombarding me.
