Health | BulgingButtons

March 15, 2020
by BulgingButtons Leave a comment

So What Exactly Do You Do About a Pandemic?

I keep waiting to wake up and find that I’ve been having some sort of ongoing 3-D full color hallucination, but so far it hasn’t happened. I’m concerned about this virus. Maybe that’s an understatement. I’ve been following the news, and reading articles and reports from sources that I think are credible ( CDC, New York Times, Time Magazine ) and it seems to me that we all just need to get very zen and stay home. Okay, maybe not all of us, but most of us.

I’m trying to limit my social contact, but it’s hard, especially since some people in my life don’t seem as concerned about this virus as I am. My concern isn’t really about getting sick (although that would suck, I’m not gonna lie), but it’s about people nonchalantly spreading this nasty thing around all over the place and a bunch of people getting sick all at once. If we can avoid that, why wouldn’t we? Again, I’m not talking about everyone. Someone has to deliver babies and answer 911 calls and care for sick people and feed and water shelter animals and on and on. I’m talking about the rest of us.

If we could keep our communities safe and our at-risk populations well, wouldn’t it make sense to close schools and stores and restaurants and libraries and on and on? I know, I’m not thinking this all the way through. There are ramifications to these drastic measures, both financial and otherwise, but my gawd, look at what happened in Italy. Now the country is on “lockdown” but so many people have lost their lives, and their healthcare system has been completely overwhelmed. That can happen here, I have no doubt about that.

Here’s the thing… maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’ve been reading and listening to the wrong things, but what if I’m not? We’re this far into this thing, so why don’t we take this social distancing thing seriously? Is it imperative that you go to the movies this weekend? Isn’t there enough entertainment available to you at home? And brunch can wait a few weeks, can’t it? Stay home, friends. Your pedicure isn’t that critical, and you can do yoga in your living room instead of the gym. And yes, you can skip religious services too. There’s no deity I’m aware of that won’t listen to you from the privacy of your home. Slow down, stay calm, take care of your loved ones, and for goodness sake, wash your hands. Oh, and if you see my mother out and about, please give her some space

May 18, 2019
by BulgingButtons 4 Comments

Time for Some New Feet

Feet? What feet? Well the ones at the ends of my legs, of course. Particularly the one at the end of my left leg. That sucker has been causing quite a bit of annoyance lately. A little thing called plantar fasciitis has decided to take up residency there and let me tell you, it’s no fun. Long story short, it causes pain in the foot, but it’s not constant (thank goodness), at least not for me. It does mean that my fashion options, when it comes to shoes, have become quite limited. Either that, or suffer the consequences. Black Nikes it is, then! all black nike shoes womens-450bhl.jpg

These aren’t the only feet that have been on my mind lately. I’ve also been messing around with my sewing machine feet. I’ve dusted off the old gal (what a weird phrase, even if my machine is approaching its 25th birthday in a few days) and pulled out a few sample quilt sandwiches (if you don’t quilt, it’s just a few layers of quilty stuff put together) to do some practicing.

I have to thank Angela Walters for my renewed enthusiasm. I found her YouTube series The Midnight Quilt Show and became sort of hooked. Then, when bopping around on YouTube I found a tutorial from a quilt shop that showed a machine binding using an edge joining foot. It was beautiful. It was simple. It was fast. I wanted one. I needed one. Stat!

So, off to the quilt shop and sewing machine dealer I went. And lo and behold, there’s an edge joining foot for my machine, but it looks nothing like the one in the tutorial, and I’m pretty sure it won’t work. This left me feeling a little sad, but not totally discouraged. Maybe the other shop will have something that works.

Off I went to the other shop, the one that actually sells my brand of sewing machines, and I explain what I’m looking for. Cristy is on the case. She is bound and determined to find the correct foot for me. She brings one out and we pop it on a machine and give it a whirl. Nope, not quite. I need to get the needle over to the left position and this one only allows a straight stitch down the middle.

She’s not giving up, though. Out comes another foot. This one looks promising. Pop it on the machine, and… yes! This is going to work! Maybe not as cleanly as the one in the tutorial, but it will work. SOLD!

Of course I have to allow Mr. Google to have a crack at this quest, too. He comes up with three other options, the cost of all three, plus shipping, is less than the one I just bought. Well, what the hell, why not? SOLD! 21wXYHysBIL._SX90_.jpg

One of them is gold. Not literally, but it works great. Just not for the purpose I intended, but no worries, I will use it plenty. It’s a quarter inch foot with an edge guide on it so no matter how sloppy I get I won’t stray from that sacred quarter inch.

The other foot has been sitting in my UPS box for the past couple of days. I’m looking forward to picking it up later and seeing what it can do.

This renewed interest in quilting is fun! I managed to get the center section of a spider web quilt put together (finally, I’m calling this one “Decades”), and I finished up the binding on a little quilt that’s been hanging around for a long time. It feels good to sew, and it feels good to see myself improving my machine quilting skills.

If only human feet were as easy to replace as sewing machine feet, I would pop this one off and put on one that works a little more easily. A girl can dream, but in the meantime I think I’ll sew instead.

March 12, 2019
by BulgingButtons Leave a comment

Time to Take Back Spring Break

I’m on spring break. School is closed for the week, and I’m free to do whatever I please. These weeks always go so quickly. Here we are, Tuesday already, and I feel as though I haven’t accomplished much. That’s not entirely my fault, though. Between fighting off some bug and having a medical procedure yesterday, I feel like I’ve been a little out of commission.

The procedure went well, I’m feeling better, and now it’s my time. Time to use as I see fit. My gut reaction? Time to read books and take naps. My realistic reaction? Time to clean up and get some schoolwork done. So, here I sit, at the computer, about to do my schoolwork. I’m taking a course to finish my gifted teaching endorsement, and I have homework. It’s a fascinating topic, and I’m enjoying learning more about these types of individuals. Still, I’ve put off my work, because I’m a terrible procrastinator. Why else would I be blogging instead of doing homework?

I’m also unhappy with the state of the room around me. I’m in my studio, and it’s a mess. There’s way too much stuff in here, and it’s housed in a variety of shelves, bins, bags, and boxes. At some point it all became too much, and I don’t even like to come in here. I need to get this sorted out.

It’s like the old joke. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Of course I would never actually eat an elephant, but you get the idea.

So, here’s my goal: each day for the rest of the week I will work on my homework, and I will work on this room. I won’t let either one overpower me. I will take breaks when needed, but I won’t quit. This is my pledge. I think I can do it. Wish me luck.