Waiting for Tomorrow

I really intended to get my InTHETrenches set cut out yesterday...but I ended up spending most of the day ironing (it was really behind). Then, last night when I stopped by Pattern Review, I found that a new contest, Pattern Stash Reduction starts tomorrow. If I wait till tomorrow to cut it out, I can count it towards that contest.

Not that I have any chance of winning; there are ladies who that have given Scrooge-costuming-like dedication to the current Fabric Stash Reduction Contest. Last time I checked the contest report for that, the person in first place had sewn something like 73 items since Jan 1. I've sewn, um, six. I'm only doing Scrooge-type sewing production when absolutely unavoidable, so I do not expect to be at the top of this one, either. But it is fun to participate and log my progress into the Contest Report.

So I'll cut out ITT tomorrow; I'll still have a week to get it put together... ;)
Maybe I'll work on those muslins today.

SWAP Musings

Someone on Sewing World commented that my SWAP group for this year is very different from last year's SWAP group and asked which one I liked better.

There's no question which one 17 YO DS prefers; there's been no eye-rolling or negative comments about this year's combo!

They really are pretty different; last year's was funky, quirky and bold in color; this year's is subdued and classic. They'll fill different niches in the wardrobe...I mean, sometimes you feel like a nut and sometimes you don't. There are a few things from last year that I love and wear whenever I get the chance...the green Retro jacket, the embroidered linen pieces...but I haven't worn the print pieces very much, partly because the skirt has gotten too snug (and that ain't the skirt's fault), but also because, after doing two SWAP sets according to the recommendations from Stitches magazine, I decided that I don't care for wearing a top and skirt made from the same print. On me, anyway, it tends to look sort of frumpy. Julie Culshaw (Timmel Fabrics) has allowed SWAP participants to vary from the recommendations a bit; we're only required to use one print item...and the 'print' can be anything that uses multiple colors, such as a stripe, a plaid or a tweed. So the tweed jacket counts as the 'print' for this year and works beautifully to tie all the solid top and bottom pieces together.

Also, this year's SWAP is a little more real-world for me; I love the slinky pieces from last year but really haven't had much opportunity to wear them. I don't think I've even worn the pants yet; they're great and comfy, but there's just not that many occasions in my life to which I feel comfortable wearing slinky pants. Entertaining at home, perhaps, but since we moved last year (and there are still boxes and clutter about), we haven't done much of that. Hopefully that will change soon!

But, I can wear the black and the blue stuff from last year with this this year's pieces, and I can wear the black pieces from this year with last year's SWAP, so it's still all good!

Home Today

Sometimes life happens.

I was all dressed in my nice new jacket and rayon coordinates, anticipating a great worship service today, and came down to discover that 9 YO DD was not feeling well. At all. Since DH has to teach a men's class, I was the most expendable member of the family. So I'm home with a puny young 'un after all.

But I went ahead and had DH take photos for the SWAP before I changed so I've got some new photos up in the SWAP link.

DD slept for an hour and a half and woke up asking for toast, so I think she's feeling a little better now.

Moving on

I found my missing thread yesterday, and I sat down last night and whipped up the lining for the SWAP jacket. It only needs buttonholes/buttons and a wee bit of handsewing. I'll wear it to church tomorrow.

Next,I've got to take a break from SWAP (I'll only have 3 tops left to make with about a month to go) and do some sewing for the Atlanta Expo. I've got to make at least two muslins; a top and a pair of pants that exhibit some fitting issues that I've not been able to quite figure out. I'd also like to make Cutting Lines InTHETrenches set for the Expo also; Louise Cutting had a contest a while back for sewing a coordinating mini wardrobe, and part of the prize was that the winner's name would be in the little storyline that she was writing for her new pattern, which at that time was ITT. So that explains the 'Lisa' that you see in the text on the pattern front cover ;). The patterns were just released in time for last year's expo, and I received mine also as part of the prize pack (the last bit of the goodies was a free one-year subscription to Shannon Gifford's Sensible Sewing Newsletter, which I found so helpful that I renewed when it expired!). I got some great teal rayon/linen blend fabric from Louise from which to make the outfit...truth be told, I'll be a little embarrassed if I don't wear that on Thursday at the Expo. So that's next in the queue.

I think I'll add this for Saturday's postings, too; some Saturdays it may be all I'll manage:
Saturday snapshot:
Current reading: Can Man Live Without God? by Ravi Zacharias
Currently in the CD player: 6.1, by Out of the Gray
Currently watching the Olympics, just a little. Ordinarily the TV is off.

Exercising Willpower

Two weeks from today I'll be at the Atlanta Sewing Expo. I've only got a day and a half, and I've got 9 classes in that time, but I expect to do a little shopping there...I have a short list of notions, patterns and fabrics that I'd like to pick up. But, in interest of maintaining some semblance of a balanced budget, that means that I have to save every sewing related penny for that event.

Which means that I'm looking at my favorite fabric sites, just to see what the new stuff is, finding things I like and forcing myself to navigate away before I hit the 'add to cart' button. It's nice to know that there's pretty stuff there, right? And I know that if I don't find what I need at Atlanta, there's a chance it might still be available at Emma One Sock or Fabric Mart or Fashion Fabrics Club....

But I gotta keep that credit card idle for two more weeks!

Delivered!

Well, they wouldn't win any prizes for construction, but they will server their purpose! This is actually a Simplicity African Caftan pattern that I'm pretty sure is OOP; we modified it a bit to have a front zipper. They're made of a lightweight poly crepe; kind of icky feeling and prone to poly-ripples but it works for this purpose. When the supplies were ordered ages ago, the person who ordered decided to get the longest zippers available, thinking it would be easier to get in and out. So these robes have large-teeth separating zippers sewn into the front. I whipstitched the bottoms together before I put the zippers in, but it's still not very, um, polished looking. Ah, well, ya do what ya gotta do.

The left one is a size XL; the right one has been eyeball graded up to a XXL; occasionally there is some big dude coming for baptism ;)

Lining blues

Why is it so tough to sit down and sew that lining? My jacket is all but finished except for the lining and the (small prayer for grace for a bulky, ravel prone fabric) buttonholes/buttons. But finding time to put the lining together...haven't managed it. Maybe this afternoon, while I'm doing laundry... an hour and a half or so should about do it.

I've got to get it done this week while the 'choir colors' are still black and blue (I know; that sounds like a bruise but it really looks pretty good on the platform). We'll be in black and lavendar for March. I think.

ETA...I checked the email; it's (moss, sage, olive)green and black next month. Maybe I need to change my upcoming sewing plan again...

Stash Management

I don't *think* I've posted on this before... ;)

So, if you're someone who buys for the future (as in 'This would make a great top!) instead of someone who buys for the next project (as in 'I need 2 7/8 yards of pink linen for this dress'), you and I are comrades...although I do admit to trying hard to move a little closer to the 'buying for the project' side.

In truth, if you sew a lot, it makes sense to purchase quality basic fabric when it's available and/or on sale, since that will get used. The stuff that could be trendy...well, maybe not so much. But sooner or later almost every sewing enthusiast will acquire a little more fabric than can be sewn in the immediate future...and the stash is born. I think my stash began back in the mid 80's, when I discovered Fashion Fabrics Club. I could get DEALS for $1.99/yd...and I sometimes bought on spec. In fact, what I truly think is the oldest piece of fabric in my stash was an early FFC purchase...a brown/black/cream tweed that I WILL make a jacket from one of these days. To my best guess, it dates from 1983. Old.

Anyway, keeping track of it has always been an issue. Fabric will get used if it's remembered. Over the years, I've kind of developed a system that sounds complicated, but it works. Helps on the accounting side, too, since when I purchase the fabric I don't always know if I'll use it for me, the kids, or a gift. Or, sometimes I change my mind. So there's a 'fabrics and notions' budget line that purchases come out of if I'm not *sure* what it will be; after it's made up then I'll transfer the expense from,say, kids' clothes to fabrics/notions in the budget. But that means keeping track of it.

I've actually got two levels of tracking now...one for recent purchases, and every six months or so I'll move the recent purchases that haven't yet been sewn into the stash. That's all just on paper...or rather, in the computer.

So, let's track a recent purchase; in June of last year, I bought some rayon knits from Emma One Sock, including a grey rib knit. The knits all got entered into the '2005 purchases' Excel spread sheet...information includes date purchased, where purchased, fabric description, width, yardage, cost/yard, a notation of what budget account I charged it too and any comments, such as 'dry clean only' or planned patterns. I also put a small swatch on a 3x5 card w/the same info. I didn't use the knit, so at the end of December I entered the information into my Access Data base, which assigns a number to that fabric. The number is written on the card and filed numerically in a card file box with all the rest of the stash cards. The data is alphabetized by fabric type (jersey knit, poplin, suiting, etc) and copied into an excel file, which totals everything for me (Yikes!). I print out the excel worksheet and keep it with the stash card file.

When I was looking for coordinates for my SWAP, I pulled the jacket card and started pulling other cards to coordinate. Lo and behold, the grey rib looked great with it, so I pulled that fabric and made another Vogue 7799 cross-neck T from it. I had already charged the fabric to 'Lisa's Clothes', so I didn't have to do any other transfers (although if I had used some notions, like lining or buttons, I probably would've transferred those). Note on the card what I made and when, and just add it to the 'completed projects' card file. When I next updated the Access data base, the line is cleared (not deleted) so the number can be used for another fabric.

That all sounds really complicated, but it really does keep me on top of what I've got and how well I'm doing on reducing the stash. I will never be without stash; there are some things that are advantageous to have stashed. But I do want to get it down to a reasonable number; surely 4 large rubbermade hinged totes should hold enough to keep me occupied for a while, don't you think? If I can get to the point where that's what I have, I think I'll consider the stashing under control.

Pinch Me

Ok, this has nothing whatsoever to do with sewing, but I'm still amazed and it's the only thing that's presenting itself for sharing today.

DH has been attending Promise Keepers events since the organization had their first stadium events outside of Boulder...I think it was 1994, when he and a handful of other guys went up to the conference at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis (it may even still have been called the Hoosier Dome then...I can't remember). He's brought back books and tapes, which I've read and listened to, which have fed me almost as much as him. For a few years...maybe 96 - 98 or thereabouts, several of the PK conferences were broacast live on Christian radio (actually, they may still be doing that; the local station that carried those conferences has changed formats so we wouldn't be able to get them anyway). One of our favorite speakers, whom we wouldn't miss and whose tapes we listened to multiple times during that time was Wellington Boone, whether he was speaking on marriage, racial reconciliation, or just 'walking the talk,' that brother flat put the truth out there.

Now, fast forward to February, 2006, and Bishop Wellington Boone is the guest speaker ...for the third time...at The Rock Family Worship Center in Huntsville, Al. Serving that body as deacons, DH and I were escorts...for the second time... for Bishop Boone and his lovely and gracious wife, Katheryn, while they were here (it ain't always just sewing costumes and such!). Wow.

Who would've thought that eight or nine years ago, when we were listening and learning, that we'd've been in that position. Certainly not me. So I am still amazed...

Maybe I'll have some sewing to report tomorrow. ;)

Smoothing the bumps

I finished hemming the Oxfords last night while watching ice dancing, snowboarding and slalom. They're still snug, but I think I can wear them. I was afraid the wool flannel would be itchy; it really isn't as bad as I thought. I have some Ambiance pantsliners that I made from Nancy Erikson's FSG pants pattern that have been hiding in my lingerie drawer, waiting on me to make the plum wool that I got from her at the same time into pants (another Future Project). I decided to try the Oxfords on with the liners; more of a laundry consideration than anything else at this point, since they weren't as irritiating as I expected. But...the lining sort of smoothed over places where the flannel was getting hung up and, to my surprise, they didn't look *quite* as snug, even with the extra layer underneath!

However, the elastic in the liners was completely shot, which really surprised me as they couldn't be more than 3 years old and I'd never worn them. It must've been old elastic to begin with. Anyway, I unpicked the elastic last night and will put some more on first chance I get. With good elastic and a good pressing, I think the liners will let me wear the pants just a little quicker than I would've otherwise... ;)

Olympic Sewing

Well, I meant to post a picture of my completed baptismal robes, but at the moment they're not photogenic...they're in a pile waiting to be washed to remove the basting tape in the zippers. But I did get them finished! One item off the 'to do' list.

The jacket needs the hand sewing...welts, hems...and the lining, which still needs to be assembled. The Oxfords are done to the hemming.

Fortunately, hand sewing is a wonderful thing to do while watching the Olympics. ;)

Taking Aim

At those baptismal robes. I'm making an appointment with myself for 10 AM to change the thread in the sewing machine and finish those babies up. It'll be good to have them over and done with so I can let that little back corner of my brain that's been fretting over them tend to something else...

When the fat pants are too tight...

...it's time to Do Something. I had to face it when I tried on the new gray flannel Oxfords...which feel pretty good but look like a 2nd skin in the hips and fanny. Not that there's a new problem with the pants...it's the weight I gained back since Christmas. I lost about 7 pounds leading into the holiday...just stressed and didn't have time to eat. Well, I'm eating again; hello poundage. So I started walking this week; I'm hoping to build back up enough to do a real Exercise and Eat Right program to seriously get rid of it. It's not fun, but it's not really hard...just requires consistent self-discipline (which is not my long suit, I'm afraid).

Sigh.

However, on the plus side, it looks like I have finally got the back curve of the Oxford Pants tweeked...just gotta lose 4 or 5 pounds so I can tell...

Pants, too

I'm ready to set the sleeves in the SWAP jacket, and while I was letting some fray block dry (it's quite ravelly) I decided to get a start on the grey flannel Oxford pants that were also cut and ready to go....

I actually washed the flannel (worsted wool) before cutting, kind of along the lines of 'If it's going to be ruined by the washer, I'd rather know now.' I don't intend to wash the finished product, but sometimes laundry boo-boos happen. It kind of fuzzed up and got a little spongy. I wasn't really thrilled with the result but decided I could live with it.

But I discovered that by vigorous ironing, the fuzziness got smoothed out and its nice drape returned.

I'm pleased!

SWAP Discipline

I knew making two jackets over the couse of the SWAP...the test and then the SWAP coordinate...would be challenging, but I was thinking about the time involved.

I didn't consider the fact that my attention span apparently doesn't like making the same pattern back-to-back, although I have plenty of evidence (namely, the baptismal robes that are still not even pulled out of the ziplok bags)around as a warning. I'm making fairly good progress on the jacket; I have the welt pockets completed to the hand stitching, but...my brain is continually trying to get me to run and start some new quick thing.

One project is the KS twist top. I really liked the Twist Top that Simplicity published a couple of years ago, but didn't manage to get one before it went out of print. The Burda WOF twist wasn't too bad, but I don't get WOF and, to be truthful, it looked like there was quite a bit of bunched fabric under the bust in that style. I did get the KS pattern, but it looked different. When Deepika posted the Top Ten Patterns of 2005 article, I saw the KS top and the Burda top on the same page and realized what the difference is: The Burda twist is vertical, while the KS twist is more horizontal. Consequently, the KS top is kind of flat on the bottom of the V, and the wider neckline looks a lot more, um, revealing. So I've been mentaly rotating the seam from the CF of the KS top to the side, so that I can make a vertical twist. I'm dying to try it and see if I can make it work...

But No!! That's not part of the SWAP! Must...finish...jacket.... Must...finish...SWAP....

Saturday Cheesy Poetry

I woke up with this running through my brain:

A little sewing here
A little sewing there,
Slow and steady will pay off:
A lovely thing to wear!

The SWAP jacket has the welt pockets done to the turning; I slit the openings last night and left the Fray Block drying overnight. But our church is doing a dinner for the homeless today, and I'm working in the kitchen...and the laundry is all behind (again! Arg!)...so who knows how much I'll get done today. But a little is all I need and I'll eventually get there!

Beat the Game

Had our teacher conference with DD this morning; in the course of our discussion I came up with an analogy for schoolwork for the kids...beating the game. Whether it's Game Boy or Game Cube or whatever, the object is to 'beat the game'...complete all the assignments and get to the finish. Some of the challenges are not so fun, and there are some that you just have to keep repeating in different places. They grumble, but they work through it so they can 'beat the game.'

So we've told the kids (younger DS, who also has faltered a bit in his schoolwork, is home sick today and got the revelation as well) to 'beat the game' in their schoolwork...complete the assignments; even the ones that aren't so much fun, or are a repeat of what they've done before. Sounds good to me...but only time will tell if the kids will rise to that challenge or not.

But it occurred to me that I have several areas of my life in which I need to 'beat the game' as well. 7 months after moving, we still have chaos and boxes in more places than I'd care to admit. I need to get focused and beat that game...

The Baptismal robes are still in the tote bag I brought them home in, two weeks ago. I need to beat that game...

And the healthy eating/exercising game...well, I need to get that one plugged into the system ;)

I don't get it

I have, through the sewing boards, discovered Project Runway. The whole design it- make it-show it process is very interesting. Now, we don't have cable at our house, so I've sort of been following the progress of the season via blogs and websites, which has introduced me to another world on the net...fashion blogs. I've become a Manolo the Shoeblogger reader, mostly because the Manolo, he can be unbelievably witty in his commentaries on the fashions and the peoples of the fashions. Not to mention the way of his communication, it is extremely contagious. But the Lisa of the Laree, she does not understand why anyone would pay such of the exhorbitant sums of the monies for the shoes...especially the 'superfantastic' shoes that require the real women with actual bones and tendons to have the feets of the Barbie dolls. :D

But mostly what has amazed me in reading about Fashion Week is the almost religious zeal that is associated with haute couture. It's just clothes. I can make clothes. Ok, so the fabrics are wonderful and the fit is terrific (well, by some standard) and the designs are unique (some of them so unique I can't for the life of me imagine real people wearing them)...but it's still just clothes. Clothes are to provide cover for the body, so that the world at large does not see that which should be reserved for only the most intimate companion (and I do believe some designers deliberately overlook that important function of clothing), provide warmth against the cold and protection from the sun, and, if clothing enhances the appearance of the one inside it, so much the better. But, in the end, a $3,000 blouse is still...a blouse.

Apparently, there are people who have $3,000 to spend on a blouse and they will buy the $3,000 blouse, just because it was designed by the Big Name and is what the Big Names more or less agree a blouse should be...for this season.

And that mystifies this daughter of frugal Midwest farmers....

The SRP (Stash Reduction Plan)

Monday afternoon I sat down and updated the stash data base. Here's the state of the stash union: 530.64 yards of fashion fabric. Gasp. Time to get to sewing on that.

So here's the plan: I will sew only from stash, EXCEPT for thing like choir attire, where I may need a specific color that is, believe it or not, not in the stash, such as khaki (which is to be worn from May - September). I will allow myself to purchase up to 1/2 the amount of fabric I have sewn. My goal is to get rid of two rubbermaid bins...I need to go check and see what's in a couple of them, so I have a rough idea of the yardage in two of those bins.

But, oh, is it hard to resist those Emma One Sock sales on lovely knits that would work for choir but aren't necessarily 'must haves'!

I'm trying hard to save my 'yardage purchase allotment' for the Atlanta Expo, but I'll go with a list of fabric that I need (black and khaki; maybe some olive green) and I will do my best not to make any impulse purchases...a necessary thing, seeing as I've only sewn up one piece of fabric from either of the last two Expo purchases in the past two years. :rolleyes:

But that'll change pretty soon, too. ;)

Blindsided

Gee, just when you think everything is settling down...I intended to write about the SWAP jacket, but right now my brain is full of parenting angst...

Youngest DD handed me her weekly-take-home-information folder on her way out the door this morning. "I did something bad and I'm sorry". I flipped open the folder and saw only a field trip permission form, not due for a few more days, and thought she was apologizing for not giving it to me last night (actually, I should've seen it Friday). She was running late and I just took it and said I'd sign it while she was at school.

Well, buried in the general info was a report that she had 1) not done her homework 2) not gotten a bad grade signed and 3) signed my name on her midterm report showing her bad grades. She has 1/2 hour detention this afternoon.


!!!!!

Somehow, the bottom has fallen out of her schoolwork this semester. I don't know what's going on; we need to find out.

!!!! again....

Plugged in

Here's the 'WHAT' in use..I apologize for the poor photo quality; I was not comfortable using the flash so the shutter speed was too slow for a sharp picture. But you get the idea...it worked!



Now I wait to see what, um, unusual garments might be required for the next Uplink service, which is in a little less than four weeks. Meantime, I need to get those baptismal robes done, and get back to the SWAP... ;)

Cut the Lining First

Got XYZ pretty much done yesterday; my reward was to cut out the grey wool flannel Oxford pants for my SWAP and, since I used the grey lining for the pockets, I went ahead and cut out the lining for the jacket. Haven't got the fashion fabric cut yet, but it's nice to know part of the unexciting cutting is done. I don't mind cutting out the actual garment...it's kind of exciting to be starting a new project...but cutting the pattern again for the lining and again for the interfacing does get a little tedious.

Last March, a number of Sewing World members had a bit of a gab session Friday night at the Atlanta Sewing Expo, and Peggy Sagers dropped in and hung out with us. At some point we were talking about what causes UFOs (UnFinished Objects); one of the things mentioned was that it was easy to get a jacket (or skirt or any other lined thing, for that matter) done to the lining, only to have it languish, waiting for the lining to be cut out and made. I heard myself say 'Cut the lining first.' Peggy looked at me and said, 'That's a good idea!' It makes sense to put the cart before the horse here, so to speak, because once that fashion fabric is cut, every one of us wants to get at sewing it...but if we'd cut out the, um, boring parts (lining and interfacing) first, once the fashion fabric itself is cut and marked, we can be off to the races and there won't be any thing to throw a 'stop' switch. All that 'project starting' energy is still there until the fabric itself is cut.

I don't always do it that way, but when I suspect I'll be impatient to get sewing, that's what I do ;)

Finding Time

There's a thread over on Pattern Review that asks the question "When do you find time to sew and post?" (Or something like that...I'm too lazy at the moment to open a new window and get the exact question). I had to laugh; my answer would be "The question's wrong...it should be 'When do you find time to clean house and do laundry and necessary account keeping?'"

Sigh. I need to find time to do all the above. The trouble is, there's no time to find. There's only time to allot, budget, parcel out. And I really need to hit some important household tasks, but I've got grey thread in the serger and three SWAP projects that require grey thread queued up ready to cut out...

Now we have the test of discipline: can I put my attention on the household tasks that need doing, or am I going to cave in and cut out? Or shall I do the reward thing...if/when I get XYZ done, then I can cut out the pants?

Yeah, that'll probably be the plan: Over breakfast, pick the three things that will be X, Y, and Z. Nothing will get done all the way, but something will get done on more things.

I think I need to start letting Flylady boss me around... ;)

Ready for Hook-Up

My fingers got sore sewing the connectors to the vest...or rather, sewing the neoprene around the connectors, so I took a break and snapped a photo:


I did get it finished and delivered last night; I put some gaffe tape over the logo, which persisted in being shiny even though it was covered with several applications of both black marker and spray paint...

But Dear Pastor was pleased with it! If I can get a photo of it on the platform, I'll post it... ;)

On A Serious Note: Remembering

Suddenly, I am ticked off at myself, so I'm doing a bonus post today. Earlier in the week, I decided that in today's I would make note of what day it is and remember....

But I got caught up in the here-and-now and forgot today was Feb 1.

Three years ago today, the sky over Tyler, Texas lit up with the disintegrating Columbia; it was especially personal as DH had worked much on that mission, being part of the Spacehab team at Boeing that integrated the payloads into the Spacehab Module. It was the first mission for the newly designed scientific double module, and DH had even gone to Houston for the mission, working overnights as an interface between the experiment designers and the CapCom, helping answer questions and such and listening in on all the communication between the astronauts and the CapCom. For someone who had worked in the space industry since graduating from college, it was a terrific experience. He finished up on Jan 30 and came home on the 31st, exhausted and exhilirated. Feb. 1st was devastating.

The Spacehab team is no more, divided and parceled out to other tasks. Lots of things to remember...but especially the seven folks who spent their last two weeks among the heavens: Rick Husband, Michael Anderson, Ilan Ramon, William McCool, David Brown, Laurel Clark and Kalpana (KP) Chawla. Remember their families, who I'm sure did not forget for even a moment that today is Feb. 1.

Losing my...connections?

Sunday, Worship Leader/Tech Guru person Pastor B gave me one of the connectors for the vest, so I could see what I was working with; the rest were in his office on the other end of the building, so I stopped by the church Monday and picked them up...more than I expected, in a zip lok bag. Came home and put the bag on the table,with the vest, went upstairs and got the one he gave me earlier (which was labled 'BAD') and added it to the bag; a quick count told me I had eight. That's cool; 4 on each side will look nice and balanced. I did some other things and came back to the vest a couple of times to look at the connectors and ruminate about how they should be hooked up, and discovered at one of those times that I had seven connectors, not eight. Weird...did I mismiscount them the first time or did I carry one off unbeknownst to my concious self? An email to Pastor B inquired of him how many he gave me, and I looked around some more yesterday for the possibly missing connector. I also spray painted the blue parts of the vest black...or at least, sort of black. (At least that was something I could do with my face and mouth shot full of Novacaine...talking was out of the question, I couldn't even talk to myself...)

Had a meeting last night at church and I saw Pastor B who said, yes, he had given me 8 connectors. He said he's got several more and if I need another I could just stop by and get one, which I may do today...but that really bugs me now. What did I do with the missing connector? And why don't I remember it? Must be one of those hormonal mental glitches... ;)

I'll probably get another, then turn the missing one back in when/if I find it.

And it was surprisingly difficult to make myself paint the vest...I suspect it's also going to be difficult to slice into the neoprene cover to insert the connectors.