I need a manual

I went to bellydance class last night. In hindsight this was a dumb thing to do as I'm still sick and it was raining cats and dogs. OTOH the teacher praised me personally as being "excellent", so my ego is well taken care of, if not the rest of me.

( Details of the class, for those who have asked me to give updates )

The rain chased most of the students away, so cute girl with guy's name was not there. I don't know if that's due to the weather or her not coming back for the rest of the class, though. Oh well.

As for today, I woke up feeling like I'd been very stupid to go out the night before. If I hadn't already taken two sick days last week I would have definitely called in sick this morning. I probably should have anyway, but here we are.

I resolve to spend the rest of the week doing nothing more strenuous than going to work. Which is admittedly frustrating as I miss fresh food!! But cooking takes too much energy and brainpower, so I'm going for the lesser of two evils. For now. I may try to compromise on this by throwing together a pizza using herbs and veggies from my garden. Not too much effort, but maybe just enough for my body to enjoy what real food tastes like.

In happier news, the leaves are starting to turn. I live right on the cusp of New England, so I get some really good foliage in the fall. It makes me want to take walks in the woods, and then bake things. I'd love to try my hand at making apple pie this weekend, but we'll see if I'm feeling up to it. [fingers crossed]

Hmm. I need a fall icon. Or a bellydance icon. Or I need two icons of one each.

GIP!

New fall icon, thanks to wesleysgirl =)

GIP 2

New bellydance icon, thanks to wesleysgirl.

I hasten to add that that is not a picture of my actual abdomen. ;)

Starter sewing machine?

I've decided that next year I'm going to learn how to sew. Specifically I'm hoping to learn how to make clothing, though I wouldn't say no to some curtains as a warm-up.

Since both my birthday and Xmas are coming up, I've decided to bat my eyes at family members and ask them to buy me a cheap but usable starter sewing machine. (I'd do it myself, but years of never getting around to it have proven that I won't ;) )

I've gotten some positive nibbles back regarding the idea, but as nobody in my family knows anything about sewing either, I need details to give them about what to look for.

So - what would be a good machine to start with? What kinds of features should a basic sewing machine have, given my desire to make clothing with it? (Also to possibly take classes on how to make clothes, so I'd imagine I would need to bring the machine with.) Are there any specific models you can recommend? (I'm fine for either new or refurbished, fwiw.)

Basically my goal here is to have something that's not too expensive, as there's always the outside chance that I'll try this and not like it, so I'd hate for people to have spent a lot of money on something I barely touch again. OTOH I'd still like something that works, since I'd hate to end up not liking it simply because the machine kept giving me grief.

Any help is appreciated. =)

(x-posted to craftyslashers and my own LJ)