Have yourself a merry little (Rainbow Looming) Christmas...

When the Rainbow Loom craze started, I admit I was skeptical. I admit I didn't quite get the craze, didn't get the hype, didn't understand it.

I've been like this with nearly every trend since the 90's, so that's nothing new.

I admit I didn't start reading the Harry Potter series until two weeks before Book 7 came out. My bad. I then literally was up all night reading Book 1. And then HAD TO HAVE the rest of the series. It's a good thing I was working and could buy the books!

Last spring, I FINALLY decided to buy a loom kit. I initially bought the knock off, cheap-o version of the Rainbow Loom, the D-I-Y Loom Band Kit. It was flimsy but got the job done. Before long, I was hooked (pun intended). After much begging on my part to my (not-so-long-suffering) husband, I bought my first Rainbow Loom, at the Michaels store in Long Beach Towne Center. And then, because I'd acquired a few knock-off looms and had one on the way (slow boat from China, natch!), I decided to try something which I now call "loom band diplomacy".

I knew the phenomenon was BIG with children, and knowing of several families in our "Palais des Cafards" apartment complex (a nice name for the sad reality... this is about the worst place I've seen or lived in) with pre-teen or teenagers, I decided to "pay it forward" with my now less-than-desirable DIY loom kits. Believe me there when I say there is NO comparison between the original Rainbow Loom and any knock-offs. Our former neighbors who moved into a one-story apartment in the complex following a car accident where one of the teen daughters was seriously injured and couldn't readily climb stairs like those in our townhouse (and theirs, we shared a wall) got one (and the three teens of the family promptly began to fight over it, natch, so I ended up giving them my spare Monster Tail loom, which, naturally, they fought over); our neighbor on the end got one (and she was sooooooo happy and by the next day her whole family had new bracelets!); and her BFF got one. Needless to say, I have a rep now in the apartment complex. When the kids run out of loom bands, they usually come to me.

Which is why I have a "stash" now... partly for my own use, because I too partake of the looming fad, and yes, partly for the inevitable. They say for every dollar spent on education or on children, it results in yields of over $8. I've also heard that for every dollar spent on education, $100,000 of taxpayer money is saved (which would've been used on incarceration of criminals). And considering the negativity girls here in Azusa COULD fall into (teen pregnancy, drug/alcohol use, street gangs, etc), if I can give them something else to do, I WILL CERTAINLY TRY IT. Besides, when they have something to do, they're less apt to be out running amuck and screaming (which my migraines will thank me for!).

It did about break my heart-- our closest neighbor's (on the end) daughter was soooooooooo pleased when I gave her a new supply yesterday. She'd had to stop making bracelets because she ran out of bands. She ran right in to her apartment and "stashed" them, presumably in a safe place. The ones I bought cost $1, and I ended up getting others for an average price of 67 cents due to a sale Joann Fabrics was having. Something that I enjoy doing, and something which literally costs very little to do, was something this girl's family couldn't afford. And since her two friends were there, I couldn't NOT give them something. I went down to Joann's in Covina, and pretty much bought them out (just kidding, they still have PLENTY). The girls now have glittery bands, glow in the dark bands, shimmery bands, etc., and they're all happily making bracelets again.

Which brings me warm fuzzies... even more so than making my own "jewelry" out of rubber bands. To see a child smile, or take joy in something, well, it makes my day.   

DIY Doll Clothes Fabric Pack like Pixie Faire's Pixie Pack(s)

I like the Pixie Faire patterns, and think their "Pixie Packs" are a good idea, albeit somewhat overpriced, kitschy ones that tend to sell out pretty quickly.

Case in point-- the O'Brien Pixie Pack. http://www.pixiefaire.com/collections/pixie-packs/products/pixie-packs-obrian-bay-outfit-collection -- unfortunately, it, like many, sold out within hours of being listed on the site. If you like the fabrics in the pack, you're out of luck.

SOURCE: http://www.pixiefaire.com/collections/pixie-packs/products/pixie-packs-obrian-bay-outfit-collection (Screenshot)

Or are you? The answer is NO. Fabrics VERY CLOSE to what are available in that pack are available other places... for more reasonable prices. While the pack offers small pieces of fabric, if you buy from other sources, you'll have a yard or more, and will be able to make the outfit(s) many more times. The Pixie Packs are, on average, $25, plus shipping, and contain less than a yard of fabric total. When you DIY a similar pack, you'll have several yards of fabric.

TOP (Seafoam knit)-- http://www.fabric.com

BOTTOM (Lace dot)-- http://www.lowpricefabric.com

TOP & BOTTOM-- http://www.fabric.com

Notions, including zippers and buttons, can be found here-- Doll Zippers and Etsy Zipit Shop for zippers; Buttons for Doll Clothes and More; general notions, Nancy's Notions,

Needless to say, "doing it yourself" will result in a more customized pack, and one that you can pretty easily duplicate. 

Hiatus Explained...

I haven't blogged in awhile... nearly two months. Not that an explanation is ever necessary, because those who matter to me already know why I wasn't blogging, but this is for those who find following my every move online is an "amusing sport." That my life, as I live it, is too "unreal to be true, therefore, I MUST BE lying". And that "Melinda harassment is constitutionally protected free speech" (that coming from one studying to be a lawyer, which scares the crap out of me). I have been afraid to blog, not knowing what or who might be lurking around the corner. Because of people I do not know, have never met, and hopefully will never meet, and what they do, I can't live my life as I choose. It sucks. I'm not doing anything in violation of the law, I'm not doing anything to "bother" any of them (aside from belonging to the same forum, and I've kept my membership open there for a reason). Yet they follow me around the Internet, they post personal identifying information about me ON their site (which is in violation of their own clauses), and that's okay in their minds. They don't see what they're doing as wrong, but they see me being alarmed by it as abnormal. What's worse is that one of them on the site initially "invited" me to there... just so they could continue the snarking.

UPDATE: Petrie is a FALLOW cockatiel, not a cinnamon. Possibly also a pied. See below pic.

These memes are for them:

ANYWHO: My grandfather died late in the evening on September 11th. It wasn't unexpected, as he was 98 years old and had been in declining health due to a series of strokes for awhile (since November of 2012). The POS caregiver(s) he had at the end certainly didn't contribute to his staying with us for longer, but on my previous visit when I saw the diagnosis of "vascular dementia, as a result of cerebrovascular accident" on his hospital discharge papers from July, I thought it would be a minor miracle if he made it to his birthday.

His 98th birthday was September 6th. He left this Earth to his eternal heavenly home five days later. I didn't find out about his death until late September 13th when I got home from working at the LA County Fair, in the same way my sister Melissa did: a posting on our Mom's Facebook page. YES, she neglected to call BOTH of us. And NO, neither of us will let her forget that for awhile, LOL. We missed the burial, since it was a "natural burial" shortly following his passing, on the Monday following his death. The memorial service was scheduled for October 6th, and I flew up to PDX on September 30th.

While I had my laptop with me, I didn't have Internet access except on my phone. Needless to say, blogging on a phone-- even an iPhone 6 (which is pretty freaking sweet, by the way)-- is next to impossible. Because my husband and I aren't at our house full-time yet, getting Internet access (likely with Verizon FiOS, which we have now) is unnecessary. Ordinarily, there's a signal strong enough to "leech" off of, but there wasn't in my neighborhood, though my laptop did detect multiple "unprotected" networks... and attempted to connect to them.

I stayed up in Washington for several more weeks-- a month and four days, to be exact-- following the service.

My husband and I are now "pet parents" to two bound-to-be incredibly spoiled male kittens-- Tigger (an orange tabby) and Eeyore (very fluffy gray and white with impressive "ear furnishings"-- he no doubt has some Maine Coon in him somewhere)(see below pics), in addition to our cinnamon pied (possibly split to lutino), possibly pearl cockatiel Petrie. Once we're in Washington, our extremely spoiled cockatiel Petrie won't be able to free fly anymore... so she may need a bigger cage. Husbandito has said he wants to get a dog, "something big", but I'm not really much of a dog person... especially big dogs. After what my parents' neighbor's dog did to two of their cats, I think anyone would hate big dogs. Maybe someday we'll get an Alaskan Klee Kai, which looks like a Husky, but is only about a third of the size of "regular" husky dogs.

But until then, we have Tigger and Eeyore. And they're precious...

And no, I didn't pose Tigger like this-- he and Eeyore often lay close to each other and often put a paw around the other. They groom each other, play together, and genuinely seem to like one another. They're brothers of different mothers. 

Just waking up from a nap... 

Eeyore was trying to nap, and when my Mom came in the door, he woke up. Which, obviously, he resented. 

Note the "red" iris. That's a FALLOW characteristic in response to a camera flash (this being from my iPhone 5S, has been replicated with other iPhone models as well as a Samsung Galaxy S5).

Apparently my shoulder is a comfy sleeping place!

My photos are my own. As the owner of these pictures, I am allowed to post them wherever I desire, and others are not allowed to leech them, link to them, etc. I am publishing them here, but that does not mean I'm giving permission for them to be posted anywhere else, unless of course I choose to post them elsewhere. I REPEAT-- I DO NOT grant permission for these images to be published anywhere else. If in fact, these images DO turn up elsewhere, and it was not myself who posted them, I will take it as a violation of  CPC 422, 653.2 (what has been done to me and any theft of images is most closely within these parameters), and 653m and take appropriate measures. The same applies to any "abnormal" web traffic from certain sites or sources; that too is a violation of those legal provisions, most specifically, again, 653.2. It isn't "rubbernecking" or being a "rubbernecker", it's being creepy and alarming. Get a new hobby; I could suggest a few. But since certain people cannot seem to do this, that's why I have to post a warning here. And as a fellow Californian, I would think a certain "blog owner" would WANT to be with her newborn during certain critical months. Remember: I have evidence dating back four fucking years. Enough already.