Let's Get Ready to Rumble!

It was my birfday recently (happy day!) and I received my usual money from family this year. Instead of just sticking it in the bank like I normally do I decided to blow all of it. And then some, the "then some" being part of our tax return.

I bought a dress form. And it looks like it's going to be a good one. Do you wanna see?

Okay, here's a sneak peek.

What, no real picture? Well, she hasn't arrived yet. I'm supposed to get her on the 12th, and let's hope she's not broken or anything because then I'll cry. But look at the shape on her!

source

She has a shapely bust! And real hips! And a belly! And a terrific tush! I think she reflects a real person rather well. The only thing I'm a bit sad about is her armhole shape is not what I would like it to be. It's supposed to be more triangular, like the form on the left:

Source. Actually, a great source, I love this website.

See, however, that my dress form has the body shape of the Lefty Lady. Fabulous. I think I'll survive. Or succeed! Because, guys, listen. I'm getting ready to design my pattern line. Remember me talking about that? Yeah, I think it's time to actually work on it, for realz. And buying my Lady is the first step in that.

I had to make a hard choice between this form and the plus-sized form. I bought a size 10. From what I've read I can fit to my size 10 Lady and then grade the pattern up two sizes and down two sizes, so that will cover 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14. However, I really want to buy that plus-size form because I want to provide a large range of sizes. But that can wait a bit. Unless all of you, dear readers, want to chip in and buy me the plus-size form in a size 20. And then a size 4 would be nice, since I'm taking orders.

So, here we go. And I'm really anxious about it, which has been manifesting itself it weird dreams involving Project Runway and Tim Gunn hating me and never making it on time for judging and everything I made looks like bad 90's fashion. This makes me hope that real life is more forgiving than my Dreamworld Project Runway.

Are you all ready for this ride? Good. Because it'll probably be crazy bumpy and we might see some wildlife. Hopefully it will be fun.

Gratitude

I talked earlier about our evolution away from vegetarianism, but then I started thinking and I didn't want to leave you guys thinking that I totally despise the vegetarian way of life.

To start my ode to vegetarianism I must start back to my wedding. The Hubby and I started our married life together an decided that waiting a year before trying for a baby was the best course of action. So I'm sure you can imagine our dismay when we discovered that, oops! I was pregnant four months after nuptials.

At first we were very mad with God. We were being careful and this is what he saddled with us! The nerve. So we prayed. And prayed. And then we were excited. We were going to have a baby! Our little family was wrapped in happiness.

I lost the baby at just a few weeks. And then we were mad at God again. Why give us a baby, force us to accept it, and then take it? It made no sense! But we agreed that since we were ready to have that baby with joy then we were ready to start earnestly trying for our children.

So we tried. And tried. And lost another sweet child. And still we kept at it. For nearly two years. It was a crazy time. Now I don't feel the anxiety about it, because, hello, I have kids now. But I remember feeling like I was never going to have biological children. We made plans to save money for adoption. We discussed the option of invitro fertilization. And so much spontaneity was sucked out of our marriage because we were trying for just the right time to make everything work. It was exhausting.

Totally unrelated to the babymaking The Hubby and I went on a quick herbal cleanse. We also went nearly vegan to help The Hubby with his cholesterol.

Within two months I was pregnant, and that was BuggaBoo. I really feel that my body was so junked up with stuff that I needed to do the cleanse and then eat a clean diet to prepare myself to carry a baby. My family has a history of hormonal disturbances, the most prominent is my mother has polycystic ovarian syndrome, or PCOS. I have many of the same symptoms. I feel that getting off CAFO meats and diary helped to control the amount of hormones in my body leading to successful ovulation and implantation. Fabulous!

So to the best of my knowledge and feelings, if I had not gone vegetarian I would not have my children.

I have other, less important reasons to be grateful. So let's touch on them rapidly.

I can now bake without eggs or milk or butter. This is great when I want to whip something up and only have pantry supplies.

My cooking experience increased. I can now think beyond meat/potato/vegetable or casseroles. Yum!

I was introduced to a deeper realm of natural living which led to my research on midwifery. This in turn led to my wonderful experiences with the prenatal care and birth of my children.

Vegetarianism is still a large part of my life and I don't think that will ever change. I'm not really the carnivorous type, although I do enjoy some meat binges. And eating plants is very satisfying. I am thankful for the experience I've had with being vegetarian and vegan, I've learned a lot and grew some more.

Well, That's One Way of Putting It...

(The scene unfolds with BuggaBoo watching me change Doozer's diaper...)

BuggaBoo: Mommy, why are you changer her diaper?

Me: Well, why do you think?

BuggaBoo: Because her is wet?

Me: Yep!

BuggaBoo: Why are you putting on a new diaper?

Me: Well, because I want to catch more pee, and whenever I don't put on a diaper I suffer the consequences.

BuggaBoo: Or the poopequences.