This and that

I'm sitting in my office waiting for the rain to stop before driving home. Normally, rain wouldn't stop me from heading out, but the ac on the crapvan has been out this summer (technically, the fan that blows the cool air in my face is not functioning, but it's the same result), so, I hesitate to drive home in the rain. Houston is hot an humid and I know from past experience that my car will fog up and I'll just end up waiting out the storm in a parking lot. So, I'll take advantage of this delay to update here.

I have a week before I move my youngest into her dorm and officially become an 'empty-nester.' I've barely seen Emily in the last couple of weeks due to our widely varying schedules, but we are hoping to work in a partial 'girls day' on Saturday. She has plans for the afternoon, but if we can get going early enough, we can fit in some dorm shopping and lunch before she takes off w/ her friends.

Sometime in the next couple of days, I need to figure out what we can do for Larry's birthday next week. It's coming up fast. I need to email the commune/choir group and see if we can do something one night next week.

I also desperately need to work on the house. It's a shambles. That's what happens when you work 10 to 16 hour days all summer long. I need to wash slipcovers and put stuff away. Cleaning out the fridge would be a good thing too. I keep hoping that once there's just the two of us, this will be better, but I'm not holding my breath.

And choir practice for the year starts tonight. We have had a couple of rehearsals for a concert we are doing in November, but this is the official start of our year. From now on, most Thursday nights will be taken up w/ rehearsals. It will be a later one for me as I have to cantor at the 8:00 am Mass this Sunday.

The sun is shining in, so I will be on my way.

Clunk

On the “What! You’ve got to be kidding me!” list this week is the discovery that the loathsome crapvan I drive does not qualify as a “clunker” under the new clunker law. It’s not that I’m seriously shopping for a replacement vehicle. I’m only dreaming of a replacement. But that little bit of biting reality has me reeling in disbelief. I just naturally assumed that my 1996 Dodge Voyager, which wheezes its way through Houston, doggedly spewing out greenhouse gases, would be a natural fit under the new clunker law. But it’s not. We checked and according to the EPA, the crapvan actually gets (or got once upon a time in a land far, far away) 18 mpg combined city and freeway driving. I don’t know what they are smoking in the EPA offices, but they need to come and watch the crapvan smoke and then tell me it’s not a clunker.

Seriously, this has been a shock to my system. For several years now I’ve thought of the crapvan as the quintessential clunker. Only it turns out it’s not. It’s going to take me a while to get used to the idea that I’m actually driving what is considered to be an earth-friendly car. I mean, I’m right up there with all the people who drive a Prius; or at least on the same planet.

So when you see me toddling down Chimney Rock trailing exhaust fumes, don’t be giving me any dirty looks while you say disdainfully, “That woman needs to do the environmentally responsible thing and trade in that clunker for a more fuel efficient new car!” Because, I’ve got proof that officially the EPA has no problem with the crapvan.

Which is more than I can say for myself.

Emily's Dress Again

I found better photos of Emily's dress. This shows the bodice detail:

And these two show it in full length:

The fabric I used was a lovely silk georgette for the overskirt and bodice ruching. The underskirt was a satin (not silk) with the dull side out. Both had to be 'xerox paper white.'

And yes, the lace crowns are traditional at her school's graduation. Though they seem a little much to begin with, it's really much prettier than your average graduation.

Emily's Graduation

Due to a lot of reasons, I never got around to posting the promised pictures of Emily's graduation dress. Making this dress was really a journey for Emily and me. We truly designed it together. And once I got it to the point where she could try it on (something that took longer than I expected due to issues with figuring out how to ruch the bodice), then there were adjustments to be made to the dress to make it fit/look the way Emily was envisioning. I owe a big thank you to a lovely lady named Marilyn, who I met at Angela House in Houston. Angela House is a halfway house for women who are trying to get back on their feet after being in prison. I was there to take photos of students from the school where I work, who go over on Sunday evenings w/ dinner for the residents and spend time with them as part of the social awareness program at school. Marilyn is a master seamstress and we spent some time going over my sketch of the dress talking about how I could make it work.

Here is Emily in the dress. (She's the one in front,)

Not the best view of the dress, but the best I have access to at the moment. The day was made even more special because Emily received the school's highest honor for a graduating senior: True Child of the Sacred Heart. The senior class nominates three girls and the entire Upper School students and faculty vote for who will receive this honor. It's announced on the morning of graduation at the end of the Prize Day awards ceremony. I was there because I take photos for the school and I just burst into tears. And yes, we are incredibly proud of Emily.