This Doll is a Looker!

A couple of nights ago Jessica had the opportunity to participate in a Vintage Fashion Show for our stake Relief Society. They found her a pink knitted dress and a hat from the 1930's; all we had to do was fix her makeup and hair.

My girls' friend, Amanda, came over to help in that department; she loves to play hair and makeup—which was kind of a relief for me and my silly elbow. I imagined her trying out a classic 30's hairstyle like one of these:

And makeup kind of like this:

In fact, this hairstyle is pretty great too.

Amanda thought that Jessica's hat would hide her hair anyway, so she didn't try anything fancy. I was a little disappointed when I saw what she'd done, but resolved to change the hairstyle after she left. (Yeah, I'm rude like that.)

There you see the  finished hairdo Amanda gave Jessica, and Amanda talking to her about makeup. In the upper right-hand corner you can see a picture of 30's makeup that my bossy self pulled up on the laptop so Amanda could copy it.

I wasn't too happy with the makeup job either (which, to me, seemed very heavy for Jessica, and very 80's), but I didn't really have the colors I needed to start over. In the end, we just wiped a lot of it off and then added a little white-ish eyeshadow.

There I am, fabulous arm-brace and all, putting the last touches on Jessica's hair.

Here she is, post-hairdo, but still with the original makeup:

And, finally, here are some pics of the finished look:

the hairdo with the hat on

all dolled up

sweet patootie

 

 I love this pic in black and white.

After the show we pulled all the bobby-pins out of her hair and ended up with this look:

Cute!

So it was a fun time. I think Jessica liked all the attention she got, I liked playing with her, and she looked really great.

What a doll!
Jessica is one pretty, young lady!

It's (Almost) My Birthday! Ta-Da!

Well, there's still a little time before my birthday (it's on April 10). My 50th birthday! And to celebrate such a momentous occasion I'm doing something I've never done before and will probably never do again: I am making a birthday wishlist. Yay!

(Now you can all look like this:)

First of all, I want to go to Salt Lake. In fact, I am planning to go to Salt Lake because I have another appointment with Dr. Widmer. And I am really and truly looking forward to it because I feel like I am constantly biding my time between physical therapy appointments and dr. visits, just hoping to hear some good thing about this elbow of mine, or get the go-ahead to do something more with it. (Although I don't know what more I can do—it is super stiff and stubborn.)

But, aside from visiting with my doctor, there are other fun things I want to do in Salt Lake. Bruce has the week of my b-day off (spring break for Duchesne School District), so he is going to keep me entertained all week! ;-)

On my birthday morning I am going to drag Bruce to my PT appointment. (I think I will take cupcakes to the office.)
Then I think he should take me to lunch...or just let me cry on him for a while since PT makes me do that.
Later, I want to pick the kids up from school and have a picnic dinner with my family at the park. :-)
And sometime during the day we will have to judge the Loralee's Fancy Poetry Contest and post the results. (More on that another time.)
That evening Bruce will be doing the sound for Seussical at Vernal Theater LIVE! Maybe I'll go see the show.

On Tuesday morning, the 11th, we will be driving to Salt Lake—just Bruce and me. What good things are there to do in Salt Lake?
Maybe a movie? 
Maybe go shopping for a birthday present...like some new tops for me to wear!
Surely we will have lunch or dinner at someplace nice—at least on one of the days we are in town.
I will want to go to WinCo and get things from the bulk bins—spices, mostly. (I know, exciting, right?)
Naturally we will want to visit family.
But mostly I want to spend some fun, non-working, relaxed, happy time with my husband while we are there in Salt Lake.
We will get to do any or all of these things from the time we arrive Tuesday and through all of Wednesday; probably we will play it by ear.
On Thursday morning we will go see Dr. Widmer. Jerry (my physical therapist) is hoping that he will give us the go-ahead to get rid of my beautiful brace in exchange for a dynamic splint.

Ooooh! Doesn't that look fun and attractive!
Happy Birthday to Me!

Well, I do want the new splint if it will get my elbow unstuck. Just this morning Jerry told me that mine is "the most stubborn elbow [he's] ever seen." Yay, me.

After my exciting visit with the doctor in Salt Lake Bruce and I will grab some lunch and then head back to Vernal and normal life.

As for actual gifts, I want to relive my childhood. You should not be surprised by this, as you are reading my childish post listing the things that I want for my birthday. But, yes, I want toys and books that I loved when I was a child. (This could be a whole new post which I would title "Songs from my childhood." In fact, that's almost what I called this post.)

Well...maybe I don't want to relive my childhood, because I'd much rather be a grown-up. But I do want children's toys and books. (You can see where to get these things by clicking on the BLUE links.)

I want a Sketchy doll; she was one of my favorites. Of course I want all of her stencils, desk, and crayon-holder too...and you can get it all on ebay. I would be hesitant to spend $69 plus shipping on a doll for myself (which is why I don't already own her), but if each of my kids pitches in $11 we'll have her. ;-) Of course, it is questionable whether each of my kids has $11.

I also want a Giggles doll. (Also on ebay.)You can't get Giggles in perfect condition—not without paying an arm and a leg (yours, not hers)—but I've been reading up on refurbishing her, and I am very, very interested in seeing if I can do it. So she could be a gift and a project for me—bonus! And she is so darn cute!


I want a Sunshine Family; I loved them! I at least want a set with a Steffie, a Steve, and a Baby Sweets, but a lot with more than that would be cool too. Yep, on ebay.

I'm also interested in a Tippy-Toes doll, and a Chrissy doll (but only if Tippy-Toes works, and only if Chrissy's hair will still grow and ...shrink). (ebay)

And I still want hair for my poor George! Three medium hanks of nylon hair in "Nectarine," two medium hanks of "Marmalade," and one or two medium hanks of "Mango-Tango." Another gift that is also a project for me to work on! (available at Dollyhair)

As for books, you can see that list on Amazon. My first two choices would be the Richard Scarry Look & Learn Library (a four book set—mine is terribly beat up), and 177 Favorite Poems for Children. I would (obviously) prefer them to be in the best condition possible, but without paying zillions of dollars for them.

I also want some shirts. But I think I mentioned that earlier.
Oh! And I want people to enter my poetry contest!!—but I'll tell you more about that later.

So, there it is...my birthday wish list. This probably proves that I am a naughty little girl—in fact there is something very Baron Bomburst-ish about it. And if Santa is paying attention I'm sure he is rolling his eyes.

Little Projects

My latest sewing project:

What is it? What is it?

They are sleeves to wear under my fabulous arm-brace! At first I was shooting for inconspicuous pinks and flesh colors, but as I was looking at fabrics and seeing what my arm actually looks like I thought, "There is nothing inconspicuous about this." So I picked a couple of the brightest colors I saw; I used a fabulous print that was left over from another project; I did some reverse-dyeing. I even hand-painted a sleeve for St. Patrick's Day (I think I will have to paint one for my upcoming birthday too.)  :-)

And this is Kaylie's project:

denim with a suede bottom,  pink-paisley accents, and a silver and pearl button

She designed and sewed this little tote bag all by herself! (The pocket isn't attached yet, and it needs straps, obviously. She'll probably finish it this afternoon.) Isn't it cute? She's doing a great job on it!  :-)

Kaylie's making the bag to sell at an auction/fundraiser. And I have a couple of little projects in mind to work on for this same fundraiser—my hand needs something to do to keep it limber.

Physical Therapy

So, last week I started in physical therapy. It's good. I mean, it hurts, but it's not much worse than a big stretch-day in ballet classes. Kind of like straddling the wall, and at first your crotch is a good twelve to fifteen inches away from the wall, so you have to keep pushing with your hands, and working until you think the rubber-bands that are your muscles will finally snap and break, or maybe your legs will pop off altogether. But you keep working on it, and after five years you are finally only one inch away from the wall.

It's kind of like that. Except that after every physical therapy session I feel like I need to cry, and I feel exhausted, and like I just want to sit quietly or take a nap for an hour or two. That never happened in ballet...but maybe that was because I was twelve years old, not (almost) fifty.

My physical therapist, Jerry, is a nice guy and I trust him. We are working on bending and straightening my elbow, and twisting my wrist, palm up; it's a lot of hard work. Sometimes we bend my wrist forward and backward too, which is kind of awful. He will help me to move my arm one way or the other, and I tell him when it's gone as far as I can stand. What he doesn't know about me is that I won't say anything until I feel like it's a little more than is uncomfortable. Then he pushes me a little further and we hold that nasty position for ten seconds. Repeat; repeat; repeat. My whole body tenses up, resisting it, while my brain is focusing hard on making that arm work again. My homework is to do the same set of exercises four times each day until my next appointment.

Here's the thing: I hate doing my exercises at home. It's not because they are really hard, or because they hurt, or because they wipe me out—which they do. It's because I feel like I'm not really accomplishing anything. I don't feel like I'm bending or extending any further than the last time I tried; I don't know if I'm making any progress at all; sometimes I wonder if I'm even doing the exercises the right way. It's just darn frustrating—and sometimes it makes me really sad and discouraged.

I don't understand people who have told me that they had this-and-such injury (and a lot of people—strangers, even—who see my fabulous arm-brace talk to me about this now), but they say that they couldn't stand the physical therapy, and after one or two sessions they quit. Why??! Even though it's difficult and painful, I like to go; I want to go! It is the only time I feel like maybe I am—or could be—accomplishing anything at all.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Tonight and tomorrow night are the last two showings of Uintah High's musical, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. As usual, they have done an outstanding job; they really put on a great production!

Yes, that car really is "flying" about six feet above the stage floor!

I spent the three weeks after I got home from having my elbow surgery sewing costumes for the play. Now, compared to the 225 costumes that were all sewn and fitted by Pat and Linda, my eight might not seem like much. In fact, Pat sewed two more of my designs, and designed and made another one for me (bringing their number up to 228). But do consider that, in the end, they only needed me to make eleven, and I had only finished one shirt before I broke my elbow! Everything else I made for the show was done after my fall, with my right arm in a splint or a brace. ;-)

The very first piece I made for the show—before I broke my elbow.

I got to design and sew the Fun Fair costumes, which were seen on the stage for maybe six minutes each night of the production. And I don't have the most fabulous pictures of them, but  here are some photos, anyway:

I made this one during the week before I went in for surgery.
(I had some help with the pom-pons.)

Working, working. Making a hat without my brace (naughty!), sewing with my brace on, and making a tutu with my naked arm (it must have been hot that day). And the mess that goes with any of my big projects.

This is one of the last things I made, and one of my favorite.
I draped and built these shoes on a pair of flip-flops.

Kaylie took these next pictures for me, between acts:

He must be telling someone's fortune, there on the left.
And on the right you can see his marvelous shoes.
(Actually, I really like the turban, too.)

one of my clowns—and some photo-bombers

another one of my clowns

and another clown

the stilt-walker

And there he is on the stage. At first I was going to make his
striped pants go all the way to the floor, but then I thought, "Wouldn't it be fun to put boots on the stilts and tuck the pants into the boot-tops?" Jeni Taylor made the boots for me.
(The cotton-candy vendor is wearing one of Pat and Linda's creations. Pretty fantastic, huh?)

Ooh! There's a pretty girl!
Kaylie, a baton-twirler. I think I would have liked her costume
better if I'd left the bottom ruffle off.

the pointe-shoe "tightrope walker"
Sara is always fun to work with.

the acrobat
She did front-handsprings across the stage.

Aren't all these kids cute? They were fun to work with, too; there's a lot of excitement and an amazing, positive energy buzzing around the school during rehearsals and performances.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, here are a few pictures of the play, each one featuring Kaylie doing her acting thing:

the children hiding in the sewers under the castle of Vulgaria

spectators watching their car at the Grand Prix
(opening act)

in the Fun Fair
The unicyclist, next to Kaylie, is wearing
one of my designs, sewn by Pat.

at the Grand Prix
Kaylie held that pose—and that smile—for several minutes while other things were happening on the stage.

Uintah High School really puts on a fantastic production each year! If you can, you should go see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang tonight or tomorrow night. You can get tickets at Uintah.net.

Can; Can't

On Thursday, March 2nd (my 27th wedding anniversary, by the way) I had another follow-up appointment with Dr. Widmer. I'm healing up pretty well, but my arm is stiffer than it should be. That's because I was confused about the physical therapy order, and so I didn't get started as soon as I should have. But I will be going regularly starting this Monday, the 6th.

Anyway, they removed the last of my bandaging—the Steri-Strips that had been holding me all together. So I went from looking like this:

 

To this:

To this...

...and this:

To this:

(although I am not supposed to leave my arm naked, so the bionic arm picture is also what I look like still.)

Christine, who removed the Steri-Strips, said that Dr. Widmer made some nice-looking scars for me. By which I think she meant that they were really, actually nice-looking—for scars. Hmm.

Anyway, I have been discovering the things my right hand/arm can and can't do. For example:

I can drive the car (if I turn the key and put it in gear with my left hand),
but I can't push a shopping cart.

I can clean the bathtub,
but I can't play the piano. (Not fair!)

I can put a load of laundry into the washer and then the dryer,
but I can't fold it.

I can sew with a hand-needle and thread,
but I can't put a fork in my mouth (also not fair).

Well, it could be a really long list. I did discover yesterday though that I can put the very end of my right thumb into my mouth. That's kind of a big deal!

You are probably sick of hearing about my arm anyway. If I get some good pictures I will show you in my next post what I have been doing for the last two-and-a-half weeks. That should be more fun!