I love that no one knows what to call this decade.

Since losing a hard drive this summer (and my sister losing hers last month), I’m pretty obsessed with online backup services.

I also love funny or conversation-inspiring t-shirts, so when I heard about Mozy’s hilarious Back The F:\ Up t-shirt promotion, I put the brain to work on getting me one of those shirts.

As it turns out, the Mozy folks liked my preggo belly-painting idea, and fortunately I have the nicest sister in the world (though she insists that I’ll need to share the t-shirt with her), so behold: the branded belly.

We used the projector to make it easier to outline the logo (though it did result in some skewing, which actually looks pretty cool) and then Leanna painted it all in with face paint (more typically used for sporting events, but whatever).

I think she did a great job (and truly, I should probably just give her the shirt since all I really contributed was the painting surface)!

A few weeks ago, I came across the Stocking Advent Calendar instructions on BurdaStyle.com and decided to make some of my own.

If you know me, you can probably guess at the difficulty I had in actually creating 24 little stockings (24!) and finishing the project, but shockingly, I did finish it. (Knitters talk about the “2nd sock syndrome”… try the 23rd sock!)

I pretty much followed the instructions from BurdaStyle.com, with a few exceptions:

• I used a different pattern for the stockings [download the pattern (but ignore the instructions on it!)]—it’s rough but I liked the shape better. If you use it, know that I added a ½” seam allowance. If you’re better at sewing than me, you could reduce this and eliminate the seam allowance trimming step.
• I cut out the numbers and applied them applique-style (new to me, and I really like the effect, though I might recommend starting out with a smaller project for the first attempt!). If you’re interested, here’s the pattern for two styles of numbers, ready to print backwards for tracing.
• I used different ribbon for the bows than for the top edge.

I’ve uploaded photos of the whole process to Flickr, so if you’re interested in seeing it pretty much step-by-step, start there. If you have questions, ask them in the photo comments or leave a comment on this post and I’ll do my best to clarify.

As a side-note, this was my first project on my new sewing machine and I love it.

photo credit: orangeacid

I’ve slowly been building up more and more resistence to my daily update post (as evidenced by its recently-spotty appearance), so I’m going to try something else for a while.

You’ll notice that there’s a couple of new sections on the sidebar: one is my list (now maintained at my favorite online list site, Remember The Milk), and the other details my reward and progress. The idea is that it will be even easier to update these things (I can even update my RTM list from my iPhone) so maybe I won’t put them off.

We’ll see, but it’s worth a shot.

Most Important Tasks

• Tweaks for one client
• Write back to theme-creation inquiry
• Tweaks for another client

The reward

Subscription to All You magazine, which I’ve been tempting myself with for several months.

photo credit: moonhouse

It’s the dreaded first business day of the month, which means… invoicing day. Oh, well. As much as I hate the paperwork, invoicing (sometimes) means getting payments, so there you have it.

Had a fun weekend, am feeling much better (and hopefully will be sounding good enough to sing this weekend—it’s our band’s “on” week). Just did one of my new yoga DVDs and am happy I purchased it—I think it will help with labor and delivery (assuming I keep doing it! ).

Never heard back about the pumpkin contest, so that’s an assumed “no.” Was hoping it would pay off, but in the end it was really just a $7 gamble (well, you know, plus the hours and hours of carving but those were fun).

Most Important Tasks

• Invoicing
• Style my small WordPress-based gallery plugin
• Make a couple of small client-requested tweaks

The reward

Play time with colors, themes, and Twitter backgrounds. Or sewing.

photo credit: t.e.m|photography|

Every day feeling a little better. Still napping like a… um… cat. Aren’t you glad I just have a cold and not something actually serious? I could be moaning about that for months!

No word yet on the pumpkin contest but they were expecting some entries to come in late last evening and to do the judging this morning. Sounds to be some other entries that are very good, so we’re definitely not a shoo-in.

No big plans for Halloween. I’d thought about wearing basketball clothes and painting my belly as a ball, but after something like 13 consecutive days of having something to do every night, I’m ready to just lay low and do nothing. We have candy to hand out and I’ll just concentrate on not eating that.

Most Important Tasks

• Respond to a particular client email
• Start to create a small WordPress-based gallery plugin

The reward

Play time with colors, themes, and Twitter backgrounds.

Marginally better today, but still feeling exhausted.

The one potentially exciting thing about today: Leanna and I carved a pumpkin for her apartment’s contest, and it’s being judged today. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place each get a month’s free rent, so we’re really hoping. We went the “kiss-up” route, which is kind of a gamble, but might pay off.

Most Important Tasks

• Finish front page for client theme (a different one than yesterday)
• Read an email from a client that I’ve been resisting

The reward

More napping.

photo credit: sunshinecity

Meh. Still feeling distinctly like I’ve been hit by a bus. Didn’t sleep well at all, so I’ll probably be working between naps.

Most Important Tasks

• Finish first draft of front page for client theme
• Clarify color expectations with another client

The reward

Can’t bring myself to care at this point.

photo credit: Sappymoosetree

Had a good weekend, but feel like death warmed over this morning. I’m coming down with either a sinus infection or a head cold, and I’m just glad to be working from home. Too bad self-employment doesn’t provide benefits like sick time.

Going to keep it light today and see if the brain fog dissipates after a while…

Most Important Tasks

• Call the City of L.A. and try to figure out why they’re demanding thousands of dollars in taxes from me (despite the fact that I’m, you know, in Idaho)
• Finish and launch the new theme for TweetStyle
• Pay my outstanding bill to one of my designers and get him started on/prepared for the next project (depending on whether or not the client got me their materials over the weekend)

The reward

A nap.