Merry Grinchmas

I don't know if I ever posted a picture of the four strips, all edged..

I sewed them together (backwards, I see) and edged all around the blanket.  It is probably ugly as sin, but I kind of love it. :)  And it is soft and warm, and will keep one more baby warm on Pine Ridge Reservation.  I used Sings4Joy's Scrap Strip "pattern".  :)    

We almost weren't going to buy a tree this year...  In this apartment.  I don't want to start complaining.. but...   We didn't think it would even be worth it.  But...  We ended up buying a small one anyway.  (We sold ours at our Moving Sale, in Tennessee).  We mostly did it for the kids.  (The dogs like it too.)  I don't have anywhere to put the stockings; so they are hanging on that door knob.    I don't want to put any holes in the walls..

We looked at one house for rent (we had seen it available a couple months ago, then it was not online again).  Well I called on it this time and we went and looked at it and told them we were interested. They said they were showing it to "one more person, just to be fair"..  ?  Long story, but I got her number for a realtor and called her when it wasn't even online. Then I made an appointment on Sunday, to go look at it. Sunday morning I got up and was looking to see if there are any other houses available-which I do every day, and there never is any- and this house was on one of the sites. For $2,000.  She quoted me $1,600. $1,750 if we went through a realtor. (Which we weren't...)   Grrrr.   And when we looked at the house, the guy (her nephew-another long story, she lives in Connecticut but her nephew lives here) said it was $1750 a month.    After seeing she posted it for $2000 I felt like $1750 was better (even though that wasn't what she quoted me on the phone and makes me so mad!).  We said we wanted it (we need to get the hell out of these nightmare apartments!!). He said to call his Aunt, as soon as we leave. So I did. She acted like it was a done deal, but she was showing it to these other people, just to be fair.   She said she would email me the application and if I didn't get it by tomorrow morning, to call her.     Well, I didn't get any emails....  waited. waited...   Texted her my email, said I hadn't received an email from her yet.  "I woke up sick, blah blah blah... Do not fear I have not forgotten you."   WTF?????   Days went by, no email, no text, no call...   Are there no honest, decent people in this whole state?  Our current landlords sure the hell aren't. I don't want to move in to a house with the same situation. But we are so desperate to leave these apartments.   (I guess I am complaining now..)   They are SO Loud, no one has any respect for anyone else living in this building. I have been complaining since the first week we moved in. Nothing has been done.  "That's apartment living." "It states right in our lease we are entitled to a 'quiet enjoyment of our home', you are not providing that."  (We have had other problems, too- with the people right below us. Even the police will do NOTHING.)  I tried calling lawyers, to get a free legal consultation over the phone. No one gives a free legal consultation over the phone here. You have to pay to even ask a question.  "But I can give you the number of a renter's rights line" "Okay"...  I call them (between 1 and 5, only) finally.  "Our hotline is available to all but if you are a member you will get priority."  WTF?  So I can't get any help from anyone, unless I pay a fee, or become a "member"..       Oregon is so backwards, and stupid.  Everything is so PC, but also SO behind in everything. And everyone is so rude here. The only nice people I have seen are older people. Or people who work in stores. Because it's their job. But even then they're not always nice..

  I wish we never moved here.  Finding a house to rent is impossible- there never is one. We were so hopeful when we went to look at this house, now we are even more disappointed.     They say there is a silver lining in ever dark cloud. The ONLY good thing that came out of all our problems with the people below us, is our apartment manager said they would let us out of our lease with no penalties or fees.  (I guess it is easier to just let us-the good renters- out of our lease, than to evict the bullies/assholes below us????)   If only we could find somewhere else to go...      We might have to move to another town.  I didn't want to. Because I didn't want to make Eon switch schools again.  He seems to be doing better, finally. Although he said he doesn't have very many friends. But he doesn't want to ruin what he has..   I, on the other hand, HATE his school.   That, is too long of a story.  But is another (BIG, huge) reason I wish we never moved here.  I would love to have him switch schools, so he can go to a better school. (If there are any, here..) But I also don't want to disrupt his life again. :(

I am trying (really hard), to be in the "Christmas Spirit"...    (I'm doing it, but I'm not feeling it..)   I thought I would try to make some Christmas cookies the other day.  I wanted to make some Candy Cane cookies. But there were a couple things I didn't have to make those, red (or any other color) food coloring, and almond extract.  So I kept looking...  I found a Peppermint :Cookies recipe in one of my cookbooks. So I made that.  The first batch turned out looking terrible. (Of course, what would ever go right..)   I tried rolling the scoops into little balls after that, and rolling them in colored sugar, and some in the leftover crushed candy canes.  They still didn't come out super great.  Then I remembered a trick I just saw on Facebook: to use a cheese grater to scrape off the burned bottoms of your cookies, to save them.   So I did that on the sides of mine.   They came out looking a little (a lot) better.  

I had also planned on sewing the boys' pillowcases, for an extra Christmas present each (Christmas is super tight this year..)  I made them some a few Christmases ago: Eli's , and the Spongebob one for Eon  .  I got the fabric all cut out, ironed (that was a job, since I don't have my ironing board anymore, either..) rolled and pinned.   Then yesterday I got my sewing machine out and finally started sewing one..   The thread kept bunching up in the back.  (UGH, this is why I hate sewing!!!!)  I went online to see why it would bunch up. (So irritated..)  Tried adjusting the tension.  Then, it totally jams up, needle in the fabric. I can't move the needle up or down. GRRRRRRR!!!!!   I guess they aren't getting pillowcases.   I don't even know of a place to take my sewing machine to get it fixed. And we don't have the money to do it, anyway.  Maybe my husband can fix it one day, if he isn't too tired..    Meanwhile, maybe I will crochet myself a Grinch hat.  :(

Paula left me a comment asking about my rotary blade cutter. This is it.   I wish I could find my other one, I liked it better. But this one I can use my skip stitch blade on, too. So, it works..  

"What are you doing, Mama?..."