More Free Time

The roads are still dangerous around town, so this is my third day at home. Apparently the city of Atlanta only owns 8 snowplows to serve its population of 5 million people. Watching the news has been entertaining, to say the least (especially since I grew up in the Pacific Northwest). Clips that have been shown that I found especially entertaining: a guy in a BMW spinning his wheels trying to gain traction, overheating his engine, and eventually catching his car on fire; a man easily ice skating with real skates down the middle of Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta; a DOT truck coming to rescue several jack-knifed semis on the freeway and crashing into a guard rail itself. Each day on the nightly news they mention the overnight freezing temperatures and say something like "All that slush and melted ice will re-freeze over night, making tomorrow's commute the worst yet!" To which I reply, "Well, duh!" Needless to say, we haven't left the house since Sunday evening.

So what have I been doing with my time?

1. Sleeping (since I can).

2. Reading. I think I read the entire book How Starbucks Saved My Life in 1.5 days or so. My thoughts -- decent book, a bit jumpy, seems too polished for real life (maybe the guy has a very vivid imagination, or a publisher who likes to "spice things up"). There were too many flashbacks that went on for much too long. I get that the author was trying to tell us about his early life in the midst of his new life, but I found it distracting. Some of the flashbacks went on for so many pages I forgot what was going on in the "present". But it's a quick and simple read. I didn't really like where it ended. I would have liked for the author to tell a bit about the events that were just about to happen when the book ended.

3. Sewing (well, mostly sewing preparation, anyway). I finished re-drafting the facings for my Crepe dress with Gertie's sewalong and cut out all my pattern pieces. I made lots of strips of cotton organdy and stabilized the neckline on the front and back pieces. I might read a few tutorials this afternoon and just jump ahead to attaching the fusible interfacing to the facing pieces since I have the time and I'm likely to fall behind on the sewalong in the next few weeks.

4. Shopping online. I ordered several pairs of shoes from Zappos.com since they offer free shipping and free returns. I can try them all on and send them back if I don't like them. After all, spring is on its way and I have all these cute dress and skirt patterns to sew! Here's what I ordered (although, not necessarily what I will keep since I'm so picky!):

Kensie Girl Lisa	Kensie Girl Chandra2
Sofft Ramona II	Softspots Neima

I've also decided to get two new knitting books. I'll pick up New England Knits at Borders when the weather clears since I have a $20 gift certificate (thanks, Brandy!). The other, Vintage Modern Knits, is due out in February, so I'll pre-order it on Amazon.



5. Checking this blog obsessively for comments. :P Thanks Tasia for being my first official blog commenter!

I'm not actually sure what else I've been doing. Maybe that's the best part, I don't really feel like I have to do anything at all! Something that's been really rare for me, and probably something I really needed.