Weird Things Found in My Parent’s Basement

We stopped by my parent’s house for a visit. Per usual, I ended up in the ‘annex’ (the basement) looking through the strange treasures that have found their resting place. And for the first time, I began to question why my parents had certain items in their basement.

For example, a giant plywood cactus, decorated with Christmas lights.

Mom-‘Your baby brother needed it for something’.
Me-‘So, why do you still have it?’
Mom-‘He said he might need it again.’

This, of course was coming from a woman who was wearing what appears to be a mouse hat while beating on a drum.

And her weird entourage supported her statement. You can see why I feel incredibly alone sometimes.

I tried to come to grips with the fact that baby brother might still need this dragon mask.

…and this broken hula hoop.

… and this laser tag helmet.

But a snow white costume? This must have some explanation, I say.
Mouse Head-‘Baby brother wore it to school once’.
That was all the information I wanted to know about that subject.

Bagpipes. Yep. Weird.

The same could be said for the sombrero. Although it seems a little more normal.

But the duct tape duck? Definitely not normal, so I had to ask.
Mouse Head-‘That was for baby brother’s Duct Tape Birthday Party’.

Apparently, so were the duct tape chaps.

But this? A string of Rambo bullets? The Mouse Head shrugged.

And this construction barrel? Mouse head laughed and shrugged again. So I gave up wondering they ‘why’ of the situation and just enjoying the weirdness of it all.

I mean, look at what I am dealing with. It’s amazing I haven’t needed more therapy.

How to Make a Sock Giraffe

I tend to bust through my socks quickly. I hate to admit this, but I must have very pointy toes.

And I am a firm believer when life hands you holey socks, you make stuffed giraffes out of them. This is not a fine science, and it’s best if you have two pairs of socks that are alike in size. But, if you don’t-improvise.

To make this sock giraffe, you will need four small socks that are cute in nature, scissors, a tape measure and a sewing machine.
If you have two opposing sock patterns, this makes for one cute giraffe.

You will also need a funnel and jasmine rice. You could also use dried beans or corn kernels…but I like the way the jasmine smells.

Cut the elastic band off of the opening of one of the pairs of the sock.
Then cut both socks from the top to the bottom on the back side (the side where the heel would touch).

Choose one of the two socks to be the giraffe’s head and neck. The other will be the stomach and booty.
The sock you chose for the head/neck, from the toe of the sock, cut two inches up. This will be the mouth.
I chose to take one inch of material out between the toe and the heel from the head/neck sock in order for the giraffe’s head to be proportionate to the body.

Turn all of the material inside out and lay flat.
Pin the ‘mouth’ to the ‘head’ by unfolding it first. Then, sew the ‘mouth’ to the ‘head’ first with a simple straight stitch.
Pin the ‘head’ to the body by unfolding it first. Then, sew the ‘head’ to the body’.

Time to use up your other pair of socks! Cut from just where the heel seam ends towards the toe of the sock, two inches in width. These will be the back legs. The heel of the sock will create a natural hip for the giraffe.

Now, cut the tip of the tow off of the sock to create a straight end for the leg which will be the giraffe’s foot. Turn the leg piece inside out and sew it together, leaving the straight end (giraffe’s foot) open to stuff with rice later. Save the toe piece to attach to the belly later on.

Cut the remaining section off of the sock we’ve been using. This will be the giraffe’s belly.
The square section of the sock will create the giraffe’s two front legs. Cut this square section in half.

Here is a shot of what the giraffe might look like before we are done sewing it.
I changed up the ears and tail, so don’t get too attached.

Remember our belly piece and the toe piece we saved? Sew them together to look like the picture below.

Here is the belly sewn together. Isn’t it cute?

With the belly piece and the body piece inside out, pin it to the body by starting at where the giraffe’s booty would be until you get to the neck.

Sew the belly to the body and straight up into the neck.
When you turn the body/belly right side out, it should look like this, but with the head attached and sewn together as well.
(You will notice that I had forgotten to sew the head to the neck first. Big mistake, please ignore this little oversight.)

Once you have sewn the entire seam up through the neck and into the head, leave an opening at the mouth in order to put rice through.

I used some leftover material from the second pair of socks to make two triangular ears about an 1” tall by 1 1/2” wide and the tail about 3” long and 1/2” wide. Leave an opening for the rice by sewing together only three sides of each appendage. Fill them each with rice using the funnel if necessary (you don’t need to fill the tail with rice. Pin them close and hand sew the ends.

I cut little fringes on the tail for bonus cuteness.

Now, it’s time to fill the body with rice. Using the mouth hole that we left open, fill this cute little body with rice until he’s floppy. Sew a seam where the neck meets the body by separating the rice and running a straight stitch back and forth several times. You do this to keep the neck full of rice. Otherwise, the rice will continue to just fill the body up. Pin the mouth closed and hand sew it together.
Pin on the body where the legs and tail will be. Pin on the head where you would like the ears to be.

Pin the appendages to the body and hand sew them on.

Hand sew the eyes on with a different color of thread by simply going over the same spot several times until it looks like this.

This is our cute little giraffe after he has everything sewn on. How cute and floppy is he? Or she?
I guess it’s up to the creator what the giraffe is….

My giraffe preferred the name, ‘Mr. Cool’, so I guess he’s a boy. Now, all you have to do is find someone who is in desperate need of a floppy giraffe and give this to them.
I gave mine to my nephew. Who in your life would want a floppy giraffe?

Photographing a Live Birth A Weird First for Me.

Having no children myself, I wasn’t sure what to expect when a good friend asked me to photograph her delivery. But, I sucked it up and said, ‘Sure’ and then cried myself to sleep the night before.

This is that good friend.

This is that good friend’s hubby and my hubby being guys just before delivery. Sweet, aren’t they?

There was a lot of this going on. No screaming, thank the Lord. But the woman across the hall seemed to be having a worse go of things and wanted everyone in the hospital to know about it.
I wonder what kind of woman I will be when it’s my turn. The screamer or the quiet one? I’d bank on ‘screamer’.

After a lot of pushing, suddenly, I saw her. My heart stopped beating for a moment. How beautiful is this?

She was perfect. I blacked out anything you shouldn’t be seeing. (This is a PG site, after all).

Daddy was able to catch the baby and hold her before anyone else did.
The doctor let the Daddy have his moment.

So precious!

This little girl was wild. Look at those flailing arms and legs. I predict she will be a gymnast, or a ballerina, or a soccer player, or a drummer for a rock band, or whatever she wants to be.
She has amazing parents that will support her no matter what. Give me a moment and a tissue.

She sees daddy for the first time. Now is the moment it is declared that she has her daddy’s dimples.
Sniff, sniff.

She isn’t thrilled about the separation from her brand new parents. Baby joins the woman across the hall screaming about their situations.

And continues to scream as this stranger turns her brand new little pink feet all black. There was a bit of clawing going on. This girl is feisty.

Finally, the new little girl was returned to her brand new owners. And all was right in the world.
I survived my first live birth. I think I deserve a glass of wine. Don’t you?

What the heck is a CDL?

You see a driver’s license that looks different from yours.
So, you ask “What’s up with your license?”
They reply, “I have a CDL.”
Oh.
So, what is that?

I have a Class B CDL with a Passenger (P) endorsement. There are three different classes a professional driver can have:  Class A, B or C. Without getting too technical, I’ll explain each of the classes with a link to fun elementary-type pictures. Because that’s how I learn best.

Class A: A combo of vehicles that weighs over 26,001 pounds either all at once or with something in tow. AND, what you’re towing has to weigh more than 10,000. Confused? This picture might help.

Class B: A single vehicle that weighs over 26,001 pounds. If you are towing something, it has to weigh less than 10,000. This is what I drive. A rectangle with wheels.

Class C: A vehicle that doesn’t fit into the first two classes, but carries a lot of peeps. Like a limo or a trolley. Below is supposed to be a limo. It’s the best I could do. Sorry.

That’s about it. There are a few other things, like if you’re transporting bombs or toxic stuff, you need to have another endorsement. But, I won’t get into the nitty gritty.   It’s boring, but it’s my life.