Because real men wear cod pieces!

So I was going through some pictures on line and found a few good pictures of men wearing Renaissance clothing. I thought to myself, "Now that is a cod piece!" So in honor of the cod piece I thought I would post a few pics of my men's outfit that had a cod piece.

No thrills airline

Ah yes. With the airlines now getting rid of free nuts and charging you to bring luggage with you on a trip, this clip has even more meaning then when it was first aired on the Carol Burnett show.

My baby is 1 today

I can't believe it! My baby is a year old today. It is a bitter sweet day for me. On one hand my baby girl is starting to walk, play, and be a big girl. She can hold her on bottle, feed herself puffs, and sit up to play with toys in the bath tub. On the other hand she is no longer my little tiny baby. To hold as she falls asleep on my chest, to fall sleep when she was in her swing, and wear her cute little footie onesies.

It was one year today that this angel came into Eric and I's life and I haven't regretted a single moment of it. I thank god that there was a way for me to become pregnant with her. I thank god that she came out ok with no complications or health problems, and I thank god that I was able to keep another human being alive for this long. LOL On a serious note, I thank god for her being in my life. I feel complete.

Happy birthday my pookie poo.

My father-in-law

All week long I have been looking for the right words to say to my husband, and how I feel about the passing of my father-in-law. It has been hard for me to express the sadness I feel. The pain, anger, and the overall hurt. Dave was a good guy. Even though I only knew him for the past 15 years I felt that he truly liked me and thought I was good for his son. I don't feel like he ever held back around me when he needed to get something off his chest or had a bad word to say about me. Even if he did I don't think he would say it. Some of the things I will remember about him is his tractor rides with the kids, playing games with all of us, working on the pool in the summer, and how he always wanted a belt and wallet for his birthday. After he got his belt and wallet he had to come up with something new. Not to mention his penchant for being a smart ass when he could. Perhaps maybe that's why I liked him. We share that. He was also so excited over the fact that I started my own business. He kept telling me I would need to get employees some day.

I guess what I am angry about is the fact that he won't get to know Sara and vice-versa. I got to know my grandparents and spend time with them. I have fond memories of playing golf with my grandfathers, going camping with them, and going for bike rides. I even remember eating the best hamburger I ever ate from my grandmother. It is hard for me to think that Sara won't have those type of memories about her Grandpa Williams. He won't get to share in her first birthday and take her for a tractor ride.

I guess I am also angry at the fact that he smoked for such a long time. Even though the doctor told him he needed to stop he didn't. He smoked cigs for most of his life and I know it is hard to give the habit up. I guess I was just angry at the fact that I knew what was going to happen and there wasn't a damn thing I could say or do to make him see that. Doctors talk about lung cancer but that isn't what kills people; it is emphysema that kills people. It is what killed Dave.

Over all I just have a sense of loss. Knowing that he isn't around anymore. That if Eric needed help his dad won't be there. Knowing that none of our parents are immortal here on Earth and that some day I will need to do the same with my parents. I can't even bear the thought of losing my Buster puppy let alone a parent.

I am also sad at the fact that Eric couldn't be there when he passed. I know that things happen for a reason and he didn't want Eric to see him that way. It is still just hard. I have been seeing Eric beat himself up over the fact that he didn't take enough pictures of him with Sara or videos of them together. It breaks my heart.

I have been crying off and on over the past few days and little things have set me off. I cried when Eric told me about his passing but what really made me cry was when Eric brought a small part of his air hose home. Sara would play with it when she was on his lap. As Sara played with the hose I couldn't hold back my tears. Suddenly Eric was consoling me instead of the other way around.

I know that you are going to read this Eric and I am sorry he is gone. I am sorry you will not see your dad again. I am sorry if you think I was harsh about his smoking. I knew he wasn't going to make it out of the hospital but I didn't want to say anything. I wanted you to have hope. Most of all I am sorry we couldn't spend more time with him at the end.

Wherever you are sir, what ever you might be doing, I hope you are happy. I hope there isn't anymore pain. I hope that there is plenty of air to breath and lots of people to talk with. I hope you know what you meant to us still left behind. Over all a loving man.

We all will miss you.

All I want is some good looking plus size clothing!

I have been a plus size gal for many years of my life and it has been a bummer. I know I am fat and I have grown to accept it. I am never going to be a size 10 or less and I know that. I came close once when I was in college but I did nothing but exercise my life away. I don't have that kind of time on my hands now. Granted I would love to be a size 14 again but unless I go on a drastic diet and liposuction program I don't see that happening anytime soon.

The main reason I bring this up is I recently saw a lovely blouse I was interested in buying. For this blouse to fit I would have needed a solid 3XL size to give me enough room. Now this is nothing out of the ordinary for me since I have an extremely large chest. I wear a size 40I bra. I have always had a big chest. Even when I was close to a size 10 I wore a 36DD bra. So getting shirts big enough hasn't bothered me. So I go into the store to check out the sizes on this shirt. They only go up to a L-XL. I was bummed. The store lady comes over and asked if she could help me. I told her I was interested in this lovely blouse but it wasn't big enough. So she insisted I try it on. I am thinking, "HELLO LADY HAVE YOU LOOKED AT MY CHEST?" so I thought well I would give it a try. Needless to say I should have gone with my first thought and not even bothered. I came out and said there was no way. She said, "Let me check the catalogue and see if there is a bigger size offered. HOPE! at last nothing. The biggest sized offered is a L-XL.

Feeling rejected I left the store. Now why is it all the nice looking stuff is made for a woman a size 14 and smaller. I looked in a plus size store and everything looks like a sack! I don't want to wear a sack! I want to wear something pretty, airy, and creates a shape other then round! Not only that but there doesn't seem to be a middle ground. It is either all made for older ladies or for overweight Huchie-mamas! I don't want to look like a grandma but I don't want to look like a hooker either! I just want something that is nice, casual, and elegant. Who buys this crap for stores to sell!? I am thinking it is either some skinny bitch or some brain dead man with no style! I mean really, who in the hell thinks multi-colored paisley shirts look good!?!?!?!? Not only that but if I do find something nice to wear and it is big enough it doesn't fit right. Either the shoulders are to big of the bottom half is to tight. I think I am doomed to be naked!

One of my favorite Italian Renassance dresses

This is one of my favorite Italian Renaissance dresses I have made. It isn't traditional fabric but the cut is based off a period pattern. I have the ties on the side of the dress so it will fit a wide array of sizes. I have made a few of these dress ensembles over the years and I love the way this one turned out. I also like this one:



On this dress I have the ties sewn into the pieces instead of through grommet holes. Also the front panel comes out if you want to create a different look.

Best surprise party ever!

Coming up is the anniversary of one of the best surprise parties ever! Let me set the the scene for you. In the below post I talk about the Wooster Rotary Auction. I go every year and stay till the bitter end. I like to see how much things go for. Last year I was 8 months pregnant with my first and only child little Sara Marie. My plan was to get a dry sink and turn it into a changing table for the baby. On the first day a lovely dry sink came up. I bid on it and it went for over $200.00. I couldn't justify paying that much for it so I let it go. Besides I had a different one to bid on the next day and I was hoping to get that one.

The next day arrives and I feel like crap. I got up and told Eric I wasn't feeling all that well and thought about just staying home but our fiends were coming down for the auction so I thought I better go. Plus I really wanted that dry sink. So off I went and I waited for my loving husband to arrive later after he was done at work. Showing up late, very late I might add, he finally made it there before my auction for the dry sink came up. What he didn't know was I had planned a surprise of my own. To buy him something he always wanted to replace from his childhood. A Pinchinco game. I won it and was so excited to show him. He arrived sweating, and out of breath. I asked him if he was alright and he said, "Yes. I just had a bunch of running around to do." I showed him the game and I became the coolest person in the world that day.

Little did I know the reason why he was late and sweaty. He was helping to plan a big surprise Baby Shower for me. At some point I had expected a baby shower to be thrown for me by the coolest BFF around Ms. Trixie Ray. However, I had expected to be told about it ahead of time. This is when my Husband, BFF, Andy, Shannon deuce, and Kevin decide to through a surprise baby shower. Throw me off my guard.

My husband had been asked strange questions when he arrived at the auction like, "Is the football in play?" or "Is the notebook orange?" I didn't think anything of it mainly because my friends are just plan strange to begin with. At one point my husband said he needed to call his Dad on the cell phone which I thought, "Why? It is almost over."Then my dry sink came my in the cue. Eric said he would bid because of my loss of the other the night before and he knew I was upset about it. Pregnant remember!? Anyway, we got up there and I told him, "If it goes to high stop bidding. I will stop hitting your leg when it gets to high." The dry sink went up to $200.00, I stop hitting but he kept going. AHHHHH! I later found out that he got it because there were people in our house and they were all waiting on us to get there. My plan was to bid on something different down the list if I didn't get the dry sink and Eric couldn't take that chance. After we won and paid for the item Eric said to me, "I need to eat. Also i don't want someone to steal my Pinchinco game." I thought to myself, "No one is going to steal your damn Pinchinco game." I wanted to stay but I relented and we went home. I followed Eric home and noticed a bunch of cars parked on the road. I thought, "Wow, someone must be having a party." Eric parked and was running up the sidewalk with his game in hand and I thought, "What the hell dude! And you were worried about someone stealing it and here you are running with it!?" I pulled into the garage and this is when the fun starts.

I went up to the door, put the key in, and the door opened. My first thought was "Oh my God Eric didn't lock the door!" Then it went to,"I hear voices, Who is in my house and Oh God don't take my TiVo!" The lights were on and I walled in to confront the people in my house! That's when "Surprise!" The pictures below are the first pics of me walking into the house.


I can truly say for the first time in my life I was speechless. I am never speechless, ever! I couldn't talk for a good full 15 minutes. This whole time Eric was calling the house and letting them know we were late, then we had left, and finally, "To the people in my house, we are here. Hide!" Andy and Kevin almost didn't make it for the big reveal because they went to the store for beer and went through red lights to make it back in time. What a cleaver deception.

All I can say is, I have wonderful friends, a loving husband, the coolest BFF, and a $225.00 changing table. I am truly blessed.