OK, so I lied. It's the weekend and I'm blogging anyway. :) The christening was lovely, the dresses fit perfectly, the party after was great, and I took about 90 pictures...some of which I'll have to post eventually! The drive down last night was rather uneventful. But it was very strange - maybe it's just because I didn't grow up seeing the WTC towers on a somewhat daily basis, but as we were driving over the Tappanzee bridge, and later over the Whitestone bridge, I couldn't visualize where they belonged. I never realized how out-of-place they were, but they really stood out among very short (relatively speaking) buildings. The Empire State building was the tallest building out there, and it didn't even really seem that tall. I'm a little sad that I can't remember what it looked like without seeing a picture - and that I never thought to take a picture as we crossed those bridges. On the other hand, I guess it might keep me from taking things for granted so much from now on. It must be late, I'm getting melancholy - time for bed!
posted by Sarah Reilly 10:19 PM -

NY, NY
Well, it's going to be a strange journey this weekend. We won't be anywhere where we have a direct view of "Ground Zero", but we also won't see the familiar skyline while we're driving... But, it's for a happy event, and I'm going to try to focus on that. We'll find out tomorrow morning if those dresses fit. Gulp. I have seven rolls of film with me (all Kodak, of course) and my digital camera - those poor babies are going to have about a million pictures taken of them tomorrow. Especially if the other 99 guests take pictures too! This weekend I'll have an even better excuse not to blog - I'll be in the car most of the weekend, and I'm actually not bringing my laptop with me!
posted by Sarah Reilly 3:32 PM -

I think someone was trying to send a message today. Something like "Don't go to work!" My drive in was rather eventful this morning - first I got stuck behind a slow-moving tractor. On a road with a double-yellow line. (I do live in the boonies after all). Then I ended up behind a van-style bus which needed to back into a driveway. When I got to the one-lane tunnel, several cars were coming through from the other direction. And just as I turned a corner, a herd of deer (ok, only three) jumped out barely 50 yards in front of me. And all that was before I got on the expressway and had to deal with rush-hour traffic, construction and an abandoned car in the middle of three lanes right about where the left lane ended. This is what happens when I drive myself to work instead of carpooling with Denis. No fahrvergnügen for me today.
posted by Sarah Reilly 10:39 AM -

All Done!
The christening gowns are done. Completely. Right down to the little tags and all the ribbons (and those darn hems - I hate hemming things!). I even found time to sew buttons on the two little sweaters my mom and I knitted before the girls were even born - good thing we made them big! I checked out my film camera, replaced the batteries, found several rolls of Portra film... Aside from packing clothes, we are ready to go! Now I just have to sit down tonight and watch the new Star Trek pilot that I recorded last night while I was doing all that stuff. Ahhh. Time to relax. And worry. The dresses are supposed to fit infants up to 13 pounds. At last weighing (yesterday) the girls were about 12 pounds apiece. Ack! Can babies gain more than a pound in three days? Nobody thought they'd gain six pounds in six weeks, but they have... I guess we'll find out in a mere 48 hours whether or not they fit. And there's not a whole lot I can do about it either way. Except worry. :)
posted by Sarah Reilly 10:06 AM -

I finished the first christening gown on Saturday. I haven't finished the second one yet because I spent tonight playing in photoshop trying to make my leaf banner. Oh, well - I still have until Saturday! Here are a few pictures of the dress and bonnet - click on any image to see a larger version... It's rather difficult to take pictures of the dresses - they're very sheer and very white. Well, ivory. And white. Whatever. :P

posted by Sarah Reilly 8:54 PM -

Check out my new leaf banner in honor of fall! I made it myself, from a picture I took of a window cling. It only took three hours in photoshop - maybe I should keep my day job! :)
posted by Sarah Reilly 8:02 PM -

Raindrops are falling on my head
...and the shower is over. Sigh. That was a lot of fun - I'd managed to prepare enough of the food ahead of time that I wasn't trapped in the kitchen the whole time. The games turned out great! One of them had teams creating bridal gown fashions out of toilet paper. I just might have to post some pics. :) Denis has dubbed me "Iron Chef" for the quantity and quality of food, although there is no possible way I could have ever cooked all of that in one short hour, even with assistants!

And one of the christening gowns is 100%, completely, utterly done!!! Well, except for sewing in one of the tags I just got today which say "Handmade with love by Aunt Sarah". They're pink on cream with an icon of a little puppy wagging her tail. OK, maybe it's silly, but they're adorable. I just have to hem the other dress and sew the buttons on it. In other not-entirely-unrelated news, we decided not to fly down to NYC for the christening. Not out of fear, but we're worried that the flights might get delayed - on the way down, that would be very bad. Besides, with two hours at the airport and almost two from when the plane boards to when we land, it's only a couple hours more to drive. So, we'll maybe fly down for Christmas (although I truly hate flying during the holidays) or sometime early next year. When we have more time. :)

Not to cram in too much in one blog, but since I'm already blogging anyway... I've been searching for a flag for, well, 10 days now, with no success at all. I have been completely obsessed with flying a flag - something I've never wanted before, not even for 4th of July or flag day. I've briefly toyed with the idea of sewing one (just go ahead and make wisecracks about me being Betsy :P ) until I thought about embroidering or appliqueing 50 stars - that wouldn't ever happen in this lifetime! But this need is something I'm trying to understand, why I suddenly feel compelled to own one. At first I worried that it was just the "hot toy at Christmastime" syndrome. But that can't be it - right now seeing a flag makes me a little weepy. I think this article, written by someone who sounds like she might be around my age, may sum it up best. All of a sudden, it feels important to me to show that I am a United States citizen. And if flying a flag is the best way to do it, I'll continue my quest.

Wow, that's a long blog. Oh, well - if you've read this far, you deserve a gold star! :)
posted by Sarah Reilly 10:09 PM -

Bravo
I just want to say, even though I didn't vote for President Bush (and when forced to choose sides I lean a lot more towards being Democrat than Republican), that was one heck of a speech last night. I know, he didn't write it, but that's not the point. At the very least, he approved it as the message he wanted to send to us and to the rest of the world. It's obvious that he's not going to go and indiscriminately bomb the already devastated Afghani people, which was something I was a bit worried about. And it's also obvious that he's not going to just turn the other cheek. All in all, I'm feeling pretty comfortable about our current leadership. Which is a big surprise even to me!

I listened to the speech while baking pumpkin cookies. Mmmm. Except the recipe yielded a lot less than I remembered, so I can't totally pig out on them before the shower or I won't have enough. Next time, I'll quadruple the recipe instead of just doubling it. It's a good thing I doubled it, or I'd have to make another batch before tomorrow! I also made artichoke dip and pepper-filled peppers. I finished the spinach phyllo triangles the night before. I've just got the last minute things like pasta and punch to make tomorrow. Poor Denis is so disappointed that guys don't come to bridal showers - I'm making all this yummy food, and he'll just have to hope there are leftovers. :)
posted by Sarah Reilly 1:16 PM -

Over the Rainbow
This morning I saw a rainbow on my way to work. It was very distinct, with every color rainbows should have, even green! <tangent> When my brother was about 5, he tried very hard to convince us all that green couldn't be in a rainbow because it was never in the colors of a sunrise or sunset. Pictures in books, my rainbow music box, even prisms couldn't dissuade him from that belief. I'm not sure what finally convinced him, but we've never let him forget it! After all, what are siblings for? </tangent> Anyway, back to the rainbow, some part of me can't help but wonder if it was God's way of telling us that everything would be alright somehow. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
posted by Sarah Reilly 7:37 AM -

Baseball
Last night was strange. We watched baseball. It was hard to watch it - the players weren't all that into it, the fans really weren't enjoying it, and the announcers kept reminding us during the whole game how everyone's hearts weren't really in the game. Then why play? Why go? I, for one, thought that it was marvelous to be able to watch something other than the news for a few hours. We've watched the tragedy unfold countless times on our TV screens, sat there glued to the set waiting for one more scrap of information, one last glimmer of hope that it wasn't as bad as all that. It's been a week. Reality is starting to settle in, that this really happened, it wasn't a nightmare, it can't be undone. We've had to move on, go back to work, take care of our families and our affairs - with precious little time to mourn the loss of lives and of innocence. An escape from that reality, even for just a few hours, is not a bad thing. And to me, baseball has always seemed like time out of time - not unreal, but another reality entirely (think Field of Dreams). So I will unashamedly watch baseball, and weep when they sing the national anthem (and not just because they're singing out-of-tune, I swear!), and wave the flag in my head (I still can't find one anywhere in Rochester). I will give my husband and my puppy extra hugs every day, and thank God constantly for my family and friends. And I will never forget what happened on September 11, 2001. (And I will try very hard to come up with a more light-hearted blog one of these days - this has, though, been great therapy.)
posted by Sarah Reilly 12:18 PM -

Once again, I've failed to blog over the weekend. Part of it was, as usual, being busy and unwilling to look at a computer. Most of it was because I'm still coping with the emotions this attack has caused. I've had to turn off the news for most of the weekend - I can't watch the interviews with the people hoping to find their loved ones. I've always considered myself an optimistic person, but I don't know how anyone could still have hope now.

On the lighter side of the weekend, though, I'm very close to being done with those gowns! Everything's done except hemming both dresses and sewing the buttons on one of them. Both bonnets are done. As soon as I've finished the rest of the sewing, I'll post some more pictures. The only problem I have now is how to get my hands on baby-sized hangers... I couldn't find any in the two stores I looked in - I think I might have to beg some from a department store. My house is decorated for the shower this weekend (note that it's not actually clean yet, but it is decorated. :) I actually have an idea of the menu. We've got some games planned. Now I just have to deep clean and cook. And then clean again, of course, because cooking's a messy process!

Probably the most frivolous thing I did all weekend was buy more yarn. Yes, I'm starting another project. Why? Because I'm obsessed with fall colors right now, and I found this neat pattern for a tote bag and even neater yarn in pumpkin, burgandy, brown, olive and cream colors. Ahhhh. There's something very soothing in the sound of wool sliding over knitting needles. It's good for the soul. And I need that right now.
posted by Sarah Reilly 7:59 AM -

How does anyone return to normal after this sort of event? I can't even think of anything to blog about - the little things I think about don't seem to be very important in the grand scheme of things anymore. I'm almost done with the christening gowns. Somehow, even that isn't so very important - the twins would be baptised with or without little white dresses. I am, quite frankly, terrified about getting on a plane in two weeks to go to NYC for this christening. In my head I can go through all the reasons why it will be ok - it's not a cross-country flight, the security will be heightened, they wouldn't strike again so soon - but in the irrational part of me that's still a little scared of dark basements, I'm completely frightened. I will get on the plane. It would be giving in to the terrorism not to. But it will probably be one of the hardest things I've done in my life.

I meant to write something light-hearted today, to try and move on a little. Maybe tomorrow.
posted by Sarah Reilly 8:12 AM -

I don't know how to put into words my reaction about today's tragedy. A lot of people lost their lives today. Many more than that lost their husbands, wives, children, parents, friends. I struggle between my belief that revenge won't help anything and my need to see someone suffer for what happened in our country today. I am fortunate. Nobody I know died. My prayers go out to everyone who has lost something or someone today. May whatever God you believe in comfort you and heal your hurts.
posted by Sarah Reilly 7:35 PM -

I've noticed that my weekends tend to be blog-free. This is not because I don't have anything to blog about on weekends; rather, it has more to do with the fact that I avoid computers like the plague when I'm not at work or working on my master's project. And lately, I've been avoiding my master's project, too. :) It's just that christening gowns are more fun! And wallpapering. And making chili. And even watching the Bills lose. Ok, maybe not that! But, this weekend was good - we got three-quarters of the family room wallpapered, I got both dresses ready for the collars and finished the collar sections for one of the dresses, and I visited with some friends and family. Casper came over to play with Molly - my house is barely big enough to hold that much doggy energy! Kate and I got tons done on bridal shower planning for our friend Lisa. Whew! Were there that many hours this weekend? And I still wasn't ready for it to be Monday...
posted by Sarah Reilly 12:06 PM -

In a last-ditch attempt at finding one more summer day, we drove down to the local ice cream shop last night. It was weird to go for ice cream when it was so dark out - I didn't realize how early the sun has been setting lately... But they had pumpkin ice cream. Intrigued, I asked to try some before I went and actually committed to having an entire dish of it. It was like ice cold pumpkin pie filling. Mmmm. So, it was a strange mix of goodbye to summer, hello to fall as I enjoyed my pumpkin ice cream last night. Not that it's fall yet, and it's supposed to be warm enough to swim this weekend, but last night it definitely felt like fall. :)

In other news, we had our first "real" dance lesson at Arthur Murray last night (yes, we were suckered into signing up). I actually caught myself really dancing at one point - not thinking about where my feet should go, but just doing it. Amazing! There is some coordination hidden in there somewhere... As for the gowns, well, the ice cream trip sort of interrupted things, but the second lining is almost done - I think I'll have it sewn in at a reasonable hour tonight.
posted by Sarah Reilly 7:47 AM -

I did it!
Last night I managed to sew (correctly, too!) the lining into one of the christening gowns. I feel I can finally publish a picture or two - they're not scary-looking anymore. :) Now, you have to use your imaginations - pretend the bits of green thread aren't there, and that there's a lovely collar attached. Also, pretend that there is a good amount of white ribbon embroidery on the bodice front that's just smocked right now... I'm sort of deviating from the pattern a bit in terms of embellishments, so we'll have to see how it will look. My favorite part of these dresses is the Irish lace trim. Currently, it's only on the sleeves, but it will also be on the collar and (I think) the bonnet (which I haven't even thought about starting yet...) Now I just have to get the lining of the other dress finished and sew it in, then I can start work on the collars. I alternate between worrying that they'll be too small, too big, too ivory...or that they'll rip, get dirty, get creased or get eaten by Molly. But, as I've mentioned in a previous blog, it's in me to worry about things I can't change, so I'll just have to trust that the twins won't have a giant growth spurt and that I won't drop a pair of open scissors on the dresses...
posted by Sarah Reilly 7:44 AM -

stuff nightmares are made of...
What if you wandered into your backyard and found this? Denis and I were out in the yard on Sunday, checking out our jungle-gym playset to see whether we could fix it up for Lizzy to play on next summer. And what did we find? A hornet condo. I swear, they probably have a swimming pool, hot tub and space heater in this thing. Supposedly, they abandon their nests every year, but I don't think they'll ever abandon this one - I'm not even sure they could've built this just this summer - it's huge. I'm not apiphobic like Tina, but I have never had such an urge to run in my life! Fortunately, we have an exterminator coming to take care of it. In the meantime, I don't even want to go outside... Of course, hornet nests are apparently collectors' items - we found one website discussing how to preserve these things. Why?!?
posted by Sarah Reilly 12:26 PM -

Hmmm. Can I get a new cubicle? I just read on the Dilbert website about the Ultimate Cubicle. I want one!!!
posted by Sarah Reilly 9:54 AM -

Time Flies...
...but USAirways doesn't. At least, not to Rochester or Buffalo from Boston last Friday. After spending 7 hours waiting in the airport, I eventually got on a plane to Ithaca, where my grandparents live. Unfortunately, my luggage didn't. Argh. 24 hours after I would've gotten home on my original flight (still about 4 hours before any Rochester flight they could've scheduled me on), I finally made it home and my bags were delivered. What an "adventure". As a result, somehow I'm starting the new work week with tons of laundry, my suitcase still (mostly) packed, and a general feeling that I've been cheated out of my long weekend.

I'm finding it extremely hard to believe that it's September already. Where did the summer go?
posted by Sarah Reilly 7:51 PM -