More...

The responses to my last post needed more attention than a quick reply on the comment page.

First, thanks to Karen, Marji, and Duchesse for the birthday wishes. I had a lovely time even if the day was lower key than last year. The crew at work brought in a Key Lime pie for me, and my BFF at work took me to Pei-Wei for lunch--yum!

The iPod interface is a great addition to the car. Not as practical as the snow tires I got for Christmas, but a heck of a lot more enjoyable. The interface DF bought for me was a BMW one, so it's not strictly an aftermarket accessory. I'm sure they exist though. What's especially nice is that it can use the existing playlists from the iPod; some of these gizmos require the user to set up a limited number of special "car" playlists. Mine also allows podcasts and audio books to be played, a nice plus if you like the spoken word as I do. Negotiating the menus is a little confusing so I've been sitting in the garage and fooling around with it when I arrive at home. That way I'm less of a danger to other drivers!! Depending on the make and model year, there may be ones specifically manufactured for your car. That seems to be the easiest way to go since it's designed to work with the other audio that's already in place.

Duchesse, a pattern! Good for you! If you're willing to eventually pull out the sewing machine, here's what you might want to do. Get the seamstress to make a muslin of the dress first, before she sews your garment from the good fabric. Let her know you want to have the muslin as well as the actual dress. Then use that muslin as a fit guide should you later decide to make another version yourself. Depending on the style, it could even be your sloper for other projects. I agree that sewing something special after a long hiatus is not for the faint-hearted, and it can be worth hiring a professional. Even though I sew, I'm thinking about doing this for the wedding dress (no, still no firm date yet).

The Sterilite I wanted is pretty simple--they're boxes with a separate lid, no fasteners. They used to be available in all kinds of sizes, but recently disappeared from WalMart and Target. I ended up getting a similar product from Rubbermaid that has the locking mechanism. They might be better, but the size is slightly different, of course. And no, I don't want to re-buy everything so it matches. Even I am not that obsessive. Someday I'll have that serene magazine storage look, alas, not now. It should be enough that I've made a simple bedroom closet hold more than it was ever designed to, but no! it has to look "perfect" as well. Like I said, I need to let it go and just enjoy having the storage.