Idk if it’s just me, but Senator Duckworth seems to have responded to the angry email I sent to Dick Durban after he folded. Thats… a choice.

The most important thing to ask when adopting a new cat is “is this an up cat or an under cat?” The answer will have a significant impact on your life going forward.

Once again, I am preparing to log off of all social media for the entire month of December to avoid hearing Christmas music.

Extremely pleased with myself for getting my grading done today. Lately, I’ve been putting it off until Sunday, which is less than ideal.

Everything about this so-called deal is infuriating, but I’m particularly mad about how they’ve promised to get a vote on ACA extensions by the second week of December. To have healthcare in January, we have to pick a plan by December 15th.

Emailed @durbin.senate.gov to tell him that reopening the government without securing extending ACA subsidies is some cowardly bullshit (apparently his phone is not accepting messages) and now I’m logging off so that I can be calm enough tonight actually sleep tonight at a reasonable hour.

This is a perfectly normal amount of sprinkles to have on hand, right?

The other day my nephew described me as “sort of having a job. I adjunct and blog, so accurate. But wow kid, you don’t have to come at me so hard.

Woke up to the first snow of the year! And I’m enjoying it immensely because I have absolutely no reason to leave the house today.

Hours and hours later, we have made it out of the American Girls store and are headed home. We ate at the restaurant. We got my nieces dolls hair done. My sister bought her an unreasonable number of toys. I really hope my niece remembers this as a good day.

Shout out to whoever decided to just play the entire K-Pop Demon Hunters soundtrack straight through at the Schaumburg Joong Boo today.

Wondering how bad the flight cancellation thing has to get before people start talking about using Amtrak instead.

Please sign this petition! c.org/BC4Vtwxw7P

We’re taking my niece to the American Girl store for her birthday and she is insisting that everyone bring a doll. So, I dug my 1991 Samantha out from her box in the basement.

I can have a little bourbon barrel aged red tea, as a treat ☕️

Saw a listing for a 1M$ ~7.5k sqft house on a main road nearish to me and it just makes a great case for why single family zoning is stupid.

Upgraded my union from a janky spreadsheet of emails to an actual email list today!

Signing up for health insurance and they're all "estimate your income for next year and we'll tell you how much of a tax credit you can get!" I could, realistically make anything from 20k to 65k. Those have very, very different refund rates!

Orchid update: she is nearing full bloom!

Between the elections last night and the Illinois legislature passing transit funding last week, I am roughly 5% less stressed about the state of things. It may seem small, but it’s a nice change!

This semester, I teach late on Tuesdays, so Wednesdays have become “work on whatever project you have the energy for and do the laundry” day. Today, I’ve spent most of the day hanging out in my cozy chair, drinking tea, hand sewing quilt pieces together. It has been excellent.

Important sock update: it took 16 wears for the pair of socks I knit using a 4-ply superwash finger weight yarn held double with a strand of lace weight silk-mohair to get a hole.

Idk what I did, but last night my cat Clara woke me up in the middle of the night by sitting on my chest and pawing at the blankets. When I reached out to pet her she bit me, glared, and jumped off the bed. Calicos are special creatures.

A lesson I apparently need to learn over and over again is that yes, supplementing magnesium does in fact make a significant positive impact on my quality of life.

Cackling in (literal) spinster about that Vogue article about how boyfriends are now cringe. Like I haven’t been out here for decades giving most (not all, but most) of my friends relationships a strong side eye.

The one part of grading that isn't terrible is seeing students who had a rough start move their grades into the passing range. Like, you didn't give up! You learned from your mistakes! You can do this! I'm so proud of you!

Seriously considering turning google adds off on my blog. They make up less than 10% of my income and I'm pretty sure that google is penalizing me for page shifting caused by how their own adds load 🤦‍♀️ I've turned the add density down as much as I can for now, but honestly, adds may not be worth it

Chicago quilty and crafty folks: if you have time in the next week, it’s worth treaking out to the National Museum of Mexican Art for the quilt exhibit they currently have going on. It’s small (only one gallery) but the pieces and curation are both excellent!

I have bought an unreasonable quantity of baked goods today, but in my defense, the Mexican bakeries in Pilsen and the Little Villages are both extremely good and extremely cheap.

Due to being slightly disorganized this morning, I have discovered that for 3.50$ I can buy a giant savory pastry filled with potatoes called an Acma in the French Market on the lower level of Oglvie station.

Taking a Metra train into the city this morning! And it’s so nice not to have to worry that weekend service is going to get cut since they passed transit funding!

Trick or treating is well underway here, and once again my father is keeping track of how many kids visit by marking them down on an index card.

This food stamp thing is reminding me of the time the republican then-governor of Michigan kicked ~30k college and graduate students (including me) off food stamps a month before the end of the school year. And then he had the audacity to be our graduation speaker.

Rejecting the suburban car-brain that is endemic to my area and walking the 1/2 mile to my local drug store to buy floss.

Ordered some tea because Volition is having a good sale. Five minutes later, my mom walks in the door with the mail, which included my monthly tea club box. It is an excellent tea day!

Today in good news, the Illinois legislature finally passed a transit bill! And it like, actually funding transit, not just a stop gap measure 🥳

My DPNs have arrived, and now finishing the sleeves of this sweater seems possible again. (I was trying to be thrifty and use the long circulars I already had for the body with the magic loop, but it turns out that yes, I really hate doing the magic loop quite a bit)

Bold of you, school I have a graduate degree from, to ask for donations when my student loan balance is still over six-figures.

There are many legitimate issues with the TV show Community, but wow does it capture the absolute weirdness of Community Colleges. And I say this as someone who’s both been a student and an instructor.

Took a quick look at the healthcare marketplace. It looks like, for me (non-smoker, 40s, only covering myself), premiums are up about 30% before subsidies for the absolute cheapest bronze level plans 😭

Periodic reminder that eating bread and butter* as a little snack is always an option. *or an equivalent tasty treat that fits within your dietary restrictions

I’ve got some fantastically tenacious students this semester and it is really bringing me joy. I can tell that sewing is not coming naturally to them, but they keep trying and asking questions. We’re a bit over half way through the semester and they’ve improved so much!

Oh no. My nephew has learned how to climb stairs.

If anyone wants to hang out with me next semester, it looks like I’m teaching one section each of intro to industrial sewing, machine knitting, and costume history. I teach at a community college, so the classes are college level work loads but pretty much anyone can register!

Extremely rude of an album that I’m sure just came out to have a “20th anniversary edition”

New post is up! My November crafting challenge is a hand pieced quilt top. thecraftblogger.com/how-to-make-...

Farmers market appreciation post: The market I go to ended its season today and I’m going to miss all the good people and good food!

Are. You. Fucking. Kidding. Me.

Having a blog with affiliate links is such a weird way to make money. Every so often I take a look at my analytics so I can see what people have bought, so I get an idea of what sort of products covert. Like, I wrote a post on blocking mats and I want to see if they're buying the ones I recommend./1

Spotted frost on my neighbors roof this morning for the first time this season! Summer weather lingered on a bit too long this year, so while it feels abrupt, it’s actually just the weather catching up to the season.