Girls' Romantic Era Dress

I made the most adorable dress today, from the Romantic Era. I made it in a size 2, which I know my daughter won't be able to wear, but it was the size I had fabric for. I used a beautiful vintage fabric in browns, creams and greens (and I found a little blue while I was working with it too). It'a cute little twirly dress. It's from the Sense And Sensibility Girls' Romantic Dress pattern.


A close up of the cute little green buttons on the back.



So far, I think this is one of my favorites. It's small, it's cute, it was relatively easy, and it's just flat out adorable! I intend to make some cute little pantaloons to go under, and then hopefully I will be able to sell it for a good amount. I'd love to make one of those pettiskirts to go under it too, since it has such a great flare to it, but I can't seem to find any decent patterns yet. I'll have to figure something out.

Caption This

Taking a little bit from Fred, I thought this would be a fun little thing to do. A little Caption This every so often, just to spice things up a bit. So for our very first Caption This:




Picture courtesy Stuff On My Cat.

It's Like The Potter Puppets On Crack!

That Creepy Spinning Baby....

Okay, so I know the creepy spinning baby to the right says 55 days until my due date. Technically, that's correct. Sort of. My delivery date, however, is different. A whole 9 days earlier (yay!). Hey, 9 days to a pregnant woman means a LOT at this point. So, we're looking at 46 days. I can make it.

So yes, we will be delivering on..... February 29th! A leap day baby. I can hardly wait to hold this squirmy little baby in my arms (and not my belly). We have decided that, what with finding out we are having yet ANOTHER boy (I was so looking forward to making some cute little dresses), that this little man will be named Zachary William. William was my great grandfather's name, though he usually went by the name Glenn. I never did think to ask why, I should do that one of these days. Anyway, he was always an important part of most of my summers, and many holidays as well. We were both tall and gangly, with the same double joints, and I was the one who usually got to share his recliner so that I could cuddle up with him. I've been wanting to use the name for a while, but could never seem to come up with something to go along with it. I'm a firm believer in the power of names, not only in their definitions, but in the meaning they hold for us as well. Zachary means "God has remembered". William means "Strong-willed warrior". Oh boy, this is going to be fun. I'm wondering if I should rethink the "strong-willed" part ;) But, Granddad was always so sweet and even tempered, I'm hoping for that part of his personality to come through.

New Patriarch

The ICCEC has a new Patriarch! After the retirement of ++Adler, the Patriarch's Council has announced that +Craig Bates will now head the ICCEC.

From CEC Home:

The Most Reverend Craig Bates Elected Patriarch


Orlando, FL - January 9, 2008

The Most Reverend Loren T. Hines, Senior Archbishop of the ICCEC, announced that the Patriarch’s Council, in accordance with the Canons, has elected The Most Reverend Craig W. Bates as the new Patriarch of the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church. Press release and full statement to follow.

Craig W. Bates, 58, is the Bishop of the Northeast Diocese and the Diocese of Canada and Senior Pastor of the Cathedral Church of the Intercessor in Malverne, New York.

He is a graduate of Franconia College, Franconia, New Hampshire with a BA in Psychology.
He has a Masters in Counseling Psychology from Anna Maria College in Paxton, Massachusetts and a Masters of Divinity from the General Theological Seminary in New York City. He was ordained a priest in 1980.

He served as Senior Pastor of the Church of the Good Shepherd, Fitchburg, Massachusetts from 1980 to 1985 and has served at the Church of the Intercessor since 1985. He was consecrated a bishop on November 14, 1997. Prior to ordained ministry, he worked in Drug and Alcohol Counseling as a Psychologist and Administrator both in treatment programs and for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Bridges of Greater New York and the Board of Directors of Concerts of Prayer of Greater New York. He is considered one of the key pastors in the New York City area.

He and his wife, Cathy, have three grown children and three grandchildren.

Dumb Criminals

Gotta love 'em. They just make for great stories.

Man Accused Of Stealing From 2-Year-Old's Piggy Bank

My favorite line from the story,

"He needs to stop bleeding at crime scenes if he thinks he's going to get away with it," Sheboygan County District Attorney Joe DeCecco said.

Lake Superior State University 2007 List of Banished Words

A fun little list of overused words.

***This year, in a gesture of humanitarian relief, the committee restores "truthiness," banned on last year's list, to formal use. This comes after comedians and late-night hosts were thrown under the bus and rendered speechless by a nationwide professional writers' strike. The silence is deafening.***

PERFECT STORM – "Overused by the pundits on evening TV shows to mean just about any coincidence." – Lynn Allen, Warren, Michigan.

"I read that 'Ontario is a perfect storm,' in reference to a report on pollution levels in the Great Lakes. Ontario is the name of one of the lakes and a Canadian province. This guy would have me believe it's a hurricane. It's time for 'perfect storm' to get rained out." – Bob Smith, DeWitt, Michigan.

"Hands off book titles as cheap descriptors!" – David Hollis, Hamilton, New York.

WEBINAR – A seminar on the web about any number of topics.
"Ouch! It hurts my brain. It should be crushed immediately before it spreads." – Carol, Lams, Michigan.

"Yet another non-word trying to worm its way into the English language due to the Internet. It belongs in the same school of non-thought that brought us e-anything and i-anything." – Scott Lassiter, Houston, Texas.

WATERBOARDING – "Let's banish 'waterboarding' to the beach, where it belongs with boogie boards and surfboards." – Patrick K. Egan, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

ORGANIC – Overused and misused to describe not only food, but computer products or human behavior, and often used when describing something as "natural," says Crystal Giordano of Brooklyn, New York. Another advertising gimmick to make things sound better than they really are, according to Rick DeVan of Willoughby, Ohio, who said he has heard claims such as "My business is organic," and computers having "organic software."

"Things have gone too far when they begin marketing T-shirts as organic." – Michelle Fitzpatrick, St. Petersburg, Florida.

"'Organic' is used to describe everything, from shampoo to meat. Banishment! Improperly used!" – Susan Clark, Bristol, Maine.

"The possibility of a food item being inorganic, i.e., not being composed of carbon atoms, is nil." – John Gomila, New Orleans, Louisiana.

"You see the word 'organic' written on everything from cereal to dog food." – Michael, Sacramento, California.

"I'm tired of health food stores selling products that they say are organic. All the food we eat is organic!" – Chad Jacobson, Park Falls, Wisconsin.

WORDSMITH/WORDSMITHING – "I've never read anything created by a wordsmith - or via wordsmithing - that was pleasant to read." – Emily Kissane, St. Paul, Minnesota.

AUTHOR/AUTHORED – "In one of former TV commentator Edwin Newman's books, he wonders if it would be correct to say that someone 'paintered' a picture?" – Dorothy Betzweiser, Cincinnati, Ohio.

POST 9/11 – "'Our post-9/11 world,' is used now, and probably used more, than AD, BC, or Y2K, time references. You'd think the United States didn't have jet fighters, nuclear bombs, and secret agents, let alone electricity, 'pre-9/11.'" – Chazz Miner, Midland, Michigan.

SURGE – "'Surge' has become a reference to a military build-up. Give me the old days, when it referenced storms and electrical power." – Michael F. Raczko, Swanton, Ohio.

"Do I even have to say it? I can't be the first one to nominate it…put me in line. From Iraq to Wall Street to the weather forecast – 'surge' really ought to recede." – Mike Lara, Colorado.

"This word came out in the context of increasing the number of troops in Iraq. Can be used to explain the expansion of many things (I have a surge in my waist) and it's use will grow out of control…The new Chevy Surge, just experience the roominess!" – Eric McMillan, Mentor, Ohio.

GIVE BACK – "This oleaginous phrase is an emergency submission to the 2008 list. The notion has arisen that as one's life progresses, one accumulates a sort of deficit balance with society which must be neutralized by charitable works or financial outlays. Are one's daily transactions throughout life a form of theft?" – Richard Ong, Carthage, Missouri.

"Various media have been featuring a large number of people who 'just want to give back.' Give back to whom? For what?" – Curtis Cooper, Hazel Park, Michigan.

'BLANK' is the new 'BLANK' or 'X' is the new 'Y' – In spite of statements to the contrary, 'Cold is (NOT) the new hot,' nor is '70 the new 50.' The idea behind such comparisons was originally good, but we've all watched them spiral out of reasonable uses into ludicrous ones and it's now time to banish them from use. Or, to phrase it another way, 'Originally clever advertising is now the new absurdity!'" – Lawrence Mickel, Coventry, Connecticut.

"Believed to have come into use in the 1960s, but it is getting tired. The comparisons have become absurd." – Geoff Steinhart, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

"'Orange is the new black.' '50 is the new 30.' 'Chocolate is the new sex.' 'Sex is the new chocolate.' 'Fallacy is the new truth.' – Patrick Dillon, East Lansing, Michigan.

BLACK FRIDAY – "The day after Thanksgiving that retailers use to keep themselves out of the 'red' for the year. (And then followed by "Cyber-Monday.") This is counter to the start of the Great Depression's use of the term 'Black Tuesday,' which signaled the crash of the stock market that sent the economy into a tailspin. – Carl Marschner, Melvindale, Michigan.

BACK IN THE DAY – "Back in the day, we used 'back-in-the-day' to mean something really historical. Now you hear ridiculous statements such as 'Back in the day, people used Blackberries without Blue Tooth.'" – Liz Jameson, Tallahassee, Florida.

"This one might've already made the list back in the day, which was a Wednesday, I think." – Tim Bradley, Los Angeles, California.

RANDOM – Popular with teenagers in many places.
"Over-used and usually out of context, i.e. 'You are so random!' Really? Random is supposed to mean 'by chance.' So what I said was by chance, and not by choice?" – Gabriel Brandel, Farmington Hills, Michigan.

"Outrageous mis- and overuse, mostly by teenagers, i.e. 'This random guy, singing this random song…It was so random.' Grrrrr." – Leigh, Duncan, Galway, Ireland.

"Overuse on a massive scale by my fellow youth. Every event, activity and person can be 'sooo random' as of late. Banish it before I go vigilante." – Ben Martin, Adelaide, South Australia.

"How can a person be random?" – Emma Halpin, Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom.

SWEET – "Too many sweets will make you sick. It became popular with the advent of the television show 'South Park' and by rights should have died of natural causes, but the term continues to cling to life. It is annoying when young children use it and have no idea why, but it really sounds stupid coming from the mouths of adults. Please kill this particular use of an otherwise fine word." – Wayne Braver, Manistique, Michigan

"Youth lingo overuse, similar to 'awesome.' I became sick of this one immediately." – Gordon Johnson, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

DECIMATE – Word-watchers have been calling for the annihilation of this one for several years.

"Used today in reference to widespread destruction or devastation. If you will not banish this word, I ask that its use be 'decimated' (reduced by one-tenth)." – Allan Dregseth, Fargo, North Dakota.

"I nominate 'decimate' as it applies to Man's and Nature's destructive fury and the outcome of sporting contests. Decimate simply means a 10% reduction – no more, no less. It may have derived notoriety because the ancient Romans used decimation as a technique for prisoner of war population reduction or an incentive for under-performing battle units. A group of 10 would be assembled and lots drawn. The nine losers would win and the winner would die at the hands of the losers – a variation on the instant lottery game. Perhaps 'creamed' or 'emulsified' should be substituted. – Mark Dobias, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

"The word is so overused and misused, people use it when they should be saying 'annihilate.' It's so bad that now there are two definitions, the real one and the one that has taken over like a weed. – Dane, Flowery Branch, Georgia.

"'Decimate' has been turned upside down. It means 'to destroy one tenth,' but people are using it to mean 'to destroy nine tenths.' – David Welch, Venice, Florida.

EMOTIONAL – "Reporters, short on vocabulary, often describe a scene as 'emotional.' Well sure, but which emotion? For a radio reporter to gravely announce, 'There was an emotional send off to Joe Blow' tells me nothing, other than the reporter perceived that the participants acted in an emotional way. For instance: I had an emotional day today. I started out feeling tired and a bit grumpy until I had my coffee. I was distraught over a cat killing a bird on the other side of the street. I was bemused by my reaction to the way nature works. I was intrigued this evening to add a word or two to your suggestions. I was happy to see the words that others had posted. Gosh, this has been an emotional day for me." – Brendan Kennedy, Quesnel, British Columbia, Canada.

POP – "On every single one of the 45,000 decorating shows on cable TV (of which I watch many) there is at LEAST one obligatory use of a phrase such as ... 'the addition of the red really makes it POP.' You know when it's coming ... you mouth it along with the decorator. There must be some other way of describing the addition of an interesting detail." – Barbara, Arlington, Texas.

IT IS WHAT IT IS – "This pointless phrase, uttered initially by athletes on the losing side of a contest, is making its way into general use. It accomplishes the dual feat of adding nothing to the conversation while also being phonetically and thematically redundant." – Jeffrey Skrenes, St. Paul, Minnesota.

"It means absolutely nothing and is mostly a cop out or a way to avoid answering a question in a way that might require genuine thought or insight. Listen to an interview with some coach or athlete in big-time sports and you'll inevitably hear it." – Doug Compo, Brimley, Michigan.

"It seems to be everywhere and pervade every section of any newspaper I read. It reminds me of 'Who is John Galt?' from 'Atlas Shrugged.' It implies an acceptance of the status quo regardless of the circumstances. But it is what it is." – Erik Pauna, Mondovi, Wisconsin.

"Only Yogi Berra should be allowed to utter such a circumlocution." – Jerry Holloway, Belcamp, Maryland.

"This is migrating from primetime 'reality television' and embedding itself into otherwise articulate persons' vocabularies. Of course it is what it is...Otherwise, it wouldn't be what it would have been!" – Steve Olsen, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada.

UNDER THE BUS – "For overuse. I frequently hear this in the cliché-filled sports world, where it's used to describe misplaced blame – i.e. 'After Sunday's loss, the fans threw T.O. under the bus." – Mark R. Hinkston, Racine, Wisconsin.

"Please, just 'blame' them." – Mike Lekan, Kettering, Ohio.

"Just wondering when someone saying something negative became the same as a mob hit. Since every sportscaster in the US uses it, is a call for the media to start issuing a thesaurus to everyone in front of a camera." – Mark Bockhaus, Appleton, Wisconsin.