Bad bad fin

i'm too on vacation.
i haven't done anything (including my daring bakers challenge - - but I think i'm going to apologize for that one beg clemency and move on).

the house is only barely livable.

i think we're on the verge of eating the pets - - or resorting to cannibalism. I'm worried for my husband, since there is more of him, with less fat, and well, there are two girls in the house... majority rule and all that. besides the only alternative for me would be to eat the baby, and she was too much work to make.

ok - - i'm starting to sound like a Palahniuk book. Time to be serious.

I've been having a delightful time with my husband, daughter, and pets. We've plenty of food, and I'm already struggling with the thought of returning to work.

sigh....

Fa La La Flllt...

Long days at work prevent me from enjoying the long evenings of the approaching winter.
(i'm a die hard - - regardless of the freezing and whatnot, it is Autumn until the 21st, dammit)

I have a long list, as well, of things to do and make and wrap. I'm fortunate that this year it doesn't (yet) include a long list of "things to attend" as well. I'm about out of attend-tion right now. I'm looking forward to tea and wrapping and holiday music. I'm not sure I'll get it, but I really like the thought of it. More likely, it will be another year of Christmas Eve marathon "wrapping" in bags. I really wanted to avoid that this year - - saving the bags for those odd (read - jacked up) shaped gifts that don't lend themselves to wrapping.

The worst part is that I still have shopping to do. My husband and I have to brave the toy store (or the equivalent) to collect the pieces left for our daughter. There are quite a few, too. I determined myself, this year, that I wouldn't run out and do it all myself - - allowing my DH to participate, with me, in the joy that is shopping for children. We have a few gifts for friends that hover on the horizon as well... these vex me most of all, because at least for the Foo we have a list. For them .... not so much.

End of humbug...

should be...

- wrapping the presents i do have.
- making presents still on my list.
- making a list of the other stuff I still need to get.
- deciding what to put on the list of stuff that I still need to get.

- having some breakfast before my brain melts.

New Daring Baker

I'm a newbie to the Daring Bakers - - this month, my first month - - and a great experiment with Tender Potato Bread.

I've been baking since I was knee-high, and love it. I grew up on home baked bread (didn't know from WonderBread until my friend introduced me - - i'm still not a fan). This summer I decided that our "main loaf" of bread in the house - at all times - would be home made. And yet, this was my first foray into Potato Bread.

The photos below should tell you why:

The recipe and the spud - who knew ONE potato could weigh enough to feed an entire loaf of bread?

Sponge - nice and yeasty and full of bubbley goodness. So far, things are looking great, and I'm wondering why those braver than I were complaining about this recipe.

The source of all complaining. This was the gummiest, stickest, meanest "ball" of bread dough that I've ever laid hands on. The "ewww" factor here was palpable. For the better part of an hour I was NOT AT ALL friendly to anyone even coming near the kitchen.

FINALLY rising - and looking (and feeling) something like I've come to expect bread to feel. I have to admit that *I* feel, here, like I've conquered the beast, and am finally in control of my kitchen again.

Finally done...

the rolls, and the bread bowls - filled with a really nice homemade chili and served warm. This was the best.

oh - and an update

i got my bulbs in the ground. we had a decent day last saturday. the special added bonus was that the ones that i thought were bound to be mostly wrecked, actually turned out to be mostly ok. so i planted them too.

if only i would have had just a leeeetle more gumption - - i would have taken down the purple halloween lights.

that has to happen this week. while it's not frigid outside. so the red and white ones can go up.

i'm not turning them on though (like so many of my neighbors) - -at least not until the first of the month.

for pete's sake.

swingin' with monkeys

my friend belle sent me an inter-office mailer this week.

inside is a card with a photo of a girl on a swing with a chimp and a quote from HDT -
"There is no remedy for love but to love."

it's nice.

it makes me think of "Love is love's reward."

simple.

reminders about what my heart is about... and has been, all along.

she's good that way.

where did my autumn go?

ok - so one day it's halloween, and i turn around and the next thing i know i'm in the living room with a blanket on my lap and debating what to bake to help keep the house warm.

it's not even 40 degrees outside. WHAT is up with this?

i don't have my bulbs in the ground.
which means freezing my fingers in wretched cold dirt to get them all nestled in for their long winter's nap. pleh.

and Christmas shopping?
Don't even make me laugh.

bah

by the bye

my Wii age = 75

of course, i believe this is 75 in "gamer years" which puts me at probably about 25.
and i'm good with that

no - really - - they 'figure' your age based on your ability to return virtual tennis balls, hit a virtual baseball, and bowling. it's all about timing and aim - -with the Wii-stick

if boxing were included in their fitness test, i'd probably be 90.

boxing

i have been beaten up by our Wii.

we've had it for a while - - maybe almost a month now. but mostly i've been doing things like bowling, and Zelda, and a whole lot of watching (my favorite video game activity). on Sunday, though, miss foo asked me to play the boxing game. and i did - and had a blast - for three rounds. after that i was (out of shape) panting and tired. it felt like a good workout, and i was glad to be done... but i wasn't sore.

saturday we went to the terrorfied forest and had a blast. it was just as spooky (if not more so) as i remembered. i was giddy. i loved it (and was SO mad at myself for having missed the HauntCon walk through this summer) and only suffered a little pain in my shoulders from the grabbing and pulling and holding.

sunday was the boxing incident.

last night, while grocery shopping, my muscles quit working and i felt like i wasn't able to breathe or reach or really, move so much. and, of course, as one so disconnected from regular exercise, for my life i couldn't figure out why. later, it dawned on me.

i told my husband that i'm never playing that game again.
being the sage that he is, he recommended i play it three times a week.

sha...

Heat and Haunt

Dang but it was hot this past weekend.

Our local community held their apple/harvest festival, and basically it was a slew of sweaty, (mostly) smoking folk crowding the streets, looking at "crafts" and eating absolute JUNK. Apart from the smoking part, that included me, too. I'm quite certain my arteries still haven't forgiven me for the elephant ear.

Oh, and we went through the spook house too - - i don't think i've laughed that hard at something that was supposed to be scary in I don't know how long. It was a ride (with tin "doom-buggies") that circled three times past the same (mostly unlit) scenes of skully heads and LOTS of clanging of doors and gears and who-knows-what. Our three year old wasn't even really scared - - granted, she's a brave one.

The rest of the weekend was really just watching, with some astonishment, the traffic (mostly on foot) up and down our street from wherever they were parking to an entry point into the fray.

This weekend - - HalloWeekends at Cedar Point. I have the adult tickets (thanks to discount at work) and we'll be getting the little one when we get there. This is HER trip... and I'm geeked. I know she wants to go on rides. I know she wants to play games (and win a big guitar!). For me? It's watching her learn to love this kind of fun. The weather looks like it's going to be friendly. All that's left is making a warm "costume" for her (a sweatsuit pony maybe?) so she can feel double plus special.

Ok - so that's all the good news for the morning...

in training...

from a short conversation with my 3 year old daughter

me: FooFoo - what is Hallowe'en for?

FF: Scarin' kids.

ah yes, my friends, it's going to be a great lifetime...

isn't it romantic

dunno what it is but there is something about autumn that gets my romance all up and alert. i spend the time fantasizing about hayrides and cool nighttime hand in hand walks, and things that go bump in the night bumping me into the protective arms of my beloved.

funny bit is that it wasn't until i was married that i had an actual grown-up like boyfriend during this time of year (no, i never went to a homecoming dance - or Sadie Hawkins either for that matter) - - which, truth be told, is probably why the whole thing seems/feels so romancey for me. because it's all that fairy-tale without any of the reality mixed in. i suspect when you add up fact that i first met my husband on a haunted house excursion (he was with another girl at the time) and the bonus that he goes out of his way to spoil me for Halloween it all makes sense that all my life Halloween (and autumn) have roused my romantic me. i was just waiting for the right time.

i'm not really a romantic person. i'm practical. i've an overdose of common sense. i'm pragmatic. romance doesn't really fit in with who i am. apart from the autumn there are only two really romantic (and probably these are more Romantic than romantic) moments i clearly recall - one was the day my husband proposed (and no, it wasn't some crazy grand gesture) and the other was the day (night) i first met my daughter. everything else hazes under those...

still - there's a little voice inside my head (or possibly my heart) telling me to grab up my man and steal him away to a corn(field) maze...

too much to ask

i want to spend my days at home with my daughter.
i am to the point of totally prepared to embrace the June Cleaver lifestyle.

i don't like the commute
i don't like the office
i don't even overly like the work
the salary - i can't complain about.

i wonder all the time how i could force the company to have me on a purely telecommute basis.

i don't need to be here. people don't really notice whether i am or not. i'm fine with it.

sigh...

4 Hours...

my husband has me reading "the 4 hour work week", actually listening to it on CD. it's an alternative to my morning NPR... i'm good with it.

the most valuable lesson so far has been a reminder of a rule that i used to practice avidly:

Focus on improving what you do well, instead of trying to fix what you do not do well.

When i was young - - actually until i became a drone of corporate america, i lived this principle. Not only did i not focus on fixing what I could not do well, i removed it from my repertoire all together.

If someone asked me if i did "x" and I was not good at it, i said "no, i'm no good at it."

AND NO ONE EVER QUESTIONED ME.

Now, i'm spending time trying to figure out how to "develop relationships" with people who really don't care about much except when they can expect their numbers. Why do i need to be developing a relationship with any of these folks? I'm an ANALYST for pete's sake.
No one expects analysts to be good at relationships.
No one expects analysts to have relationships.

Next time someone asks, i think i'm going to say "i'm no good at it."
and see what happens.

eternal

i am attending a wedding and a christening this weekend.
it is very exciting to be sharing in the joyous events of friends and family. celebrating their milestones with them.
pausing to think, my synthetic realization is that neither of the women thought their respective events would happen. certainly, neither of them seemed to have lost hope... but it's fair to say these happinesses took each by surprise.

i have to tell you how vicariously giddy this makes me.
one of my favorite phrases is "hope springs eternal".
i am a ridiculously optimistic person, when it all boils down.

the bummer?
*I* was hoping to get a good 3 or so coats of black nail polish on over the weekend.
still, it's a small price to pay, really...

not so levititious

=======================================
:::UPDATE:::
i owe all of your a collective quarter. i had to call my husband and ask him when he was coming home to have dinner with us. no, it wasn't some obscene hour of 'too-late-to-eat' - i just really wanted to have what we had for dinner, i started it earlier than i usually do, and it was done and making the house smell gorgeous and MT (my husband) still wasn't home yet and - well, you get the picture.
AND - further evidence that the whole effort is worth it? when the baby decided that dessert should be ice cream (we have a delightful ice cream shoppe (yes with an e) about 5 blocks away) my MT duly headed out to garner it. on learning that the shoppe is now closed for the season, he packed up the baby (allowing me some precious/coveted relaxation time) and headed off the the 'local DQ' (about 15 miles away) to STILL bring home the ice cream for dessert.
ah....

=======================================

this is probably the only time you will hear me grouse about my domestic life... at least like this.

my afternoon
drive 1 hour home
collect the child
go to credit union
forgo personal trip to drug store for nail polish remover, as baby is napping
come home
carry in all of my bags, baby's bags, and mail
empty trash can
clean dag-nasty trash can lid (ew)
load slimy gross standing water* dishes into dishwasher
hand wash dishes that CANNOT go into dishwasher
hand wash dirty dishes that can't be forced into already overfull dishwasher
get bulk of dinner into oven
wash hair
start dishwasher
relax briefly until parts two and three of dinner need cooking

i will bet you ALL a collective quarter that within 5 minutes of waking through the door my husband will ask me some variation of "when's dinner?"

oh but he's generous with the flowers and the sparklies and the skull-things!

* i despise the "fill it with water and let it soak: method of pre-cleaning all but the most heinous of dishes. what I hate worse? when folks throw OTHER dishes (namely silverware) into said mank-swamp of precleaning.

Levity

a snippit from last night's conversation:

baby: be very careful, it's very delicated
mama: delicated?
daddy: that's what she said. she's been listening to the president.

Piratically practical

went to Space Pirate to fathom me name...

henceforth i be:

Admiral fin the Boldly Rebellious

the scurvy ratses here in office-worrld (here there indeed be dragons) aren't savvy to the pirate day festivities an' i'm jawwin all on me lonesome.

i reckon that does make me boldly rebellious - - for least sake on this here ship...

hainted holler...

while using television as background noise this weekend, i happened upon this commentary:

"... a place called 'hainted holler' which translated would be 'haunted holler'..."

no.
it's not nice for me to be amused, but i can't always be nice, now, can i?

black-nail the pirate

my fingernails have grown long enough to wear black nail polish without looking more like rotten stumps than elegant fingernails.
i'm not a pirate.
that's my tea mug up there.

so yeah, i have the black polish on - - mostly.
i put on the cheap stuff, in bed, last night
because i couldn't be bothered to go downstairs and get the good stuff
apparently i sleep too hard on my nails
when i woke up this morning they were chipped.
if only i had remover, huh?

i'm ready for the weekend.
you know, mentally.
the house is not at all prepared for the weekend.
i don't think my fridge is either.
i have to go shopping tonight.
and i want to clean and decorate too.

Fair Warning

You have one week to prepare for International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

If you find that you can dress yourself (convincingly) like this - bully! If you find that you DO dress like this - please send me the photo (or a link to it).

Happy pirate day.

O! Bliss...

WHAT a gorgeous day. there is autumn in the air. and as Moose A Moose says... I feel like I'm falling for fall.
when belle and i went for our walk today, i felt like i could have just kept going.

in the meantime, i'm just working on swaps.

home sweet home...

we're back from the Sans Souci Euro Inn in New Buffalo MI.
it was ok... nicer than ok, but i feel somewhat robbed.

the website mentions fisherman's cottages. plural. what they offer is two halves of a duplex.
the website shows photos of a very pretty little lake - - it's mucky/murky.
the nice lady on the phone who set up my reservation said pets were welcome - we found out they only mean dogs (cats, apparently, are not pets - - i shudder to think of what they'd say about the bunny)
and we asked to have dinner reservations made for us - none were. fortunately this wasn't an inconvenience for us... but still.
i'd rate the place a 2 to 3 star joint... and have to add that i don't think it merits it's per night price. sigh.

still - we went to the beach - - the sunny shores of lake Michigan - first for a couple of hours on Saturday - when daddy and daughter waded in up to their shoulders! I collected rocks - and still managed to get my rolled up pants too wet and sandy for comfort. Yesterday we went back, with the cat in a bag (he actually loved it - the bag lain on its side a breeze blowing in and through his fur - - though he didn't like the sand much at all)... we got wet and had a BLAST.

back again and we watched Marie Antoinette. I love this movie. seriously.

well, that's it - - another day at work... four more till the weekend.

Oh the Gratification of it all...

my anniversary gift from my husband. we have matching ones. i cannot wait to register him, train him, and get love-nudges through the days....

and i've reinstated my ball at the office. a while back i decided that a yoga ball (instead of a desk chair) would be beneficial for my posture and a ward against neck/shoulder/back/wrist pain. it worked a charm, i'll have you know (not to mention how wonderfully fun it is to be able to bounce whilst concentrating on a particularly perplexing proposition). shortly thereafter the wicked witch of the west became our new boss, and the ball was banned (for my own protection - they certainly didn't want me taking a fall and cracking my noggin - - on THEIR time). I even offered to sign a waiver stating that i knew the health risks involved in sitting on a surface as unstable as a yoga ball and that i would in no way hold them responsible for any harm that might come to me as a result of such. i explained that the ball had improved my attitude and corrected issues with back pain. they advised me that the company offers on-line counseling for stress and other emotional issues, and that if my back were a serious medical concern, that I could have my doctor prescribe a special chair that they would purchase for me. thing is, fun and self-expression are serious contraband under the purview of the wwotw, and nothing short of a lawsuit would allow me to have a yoga ball as a seat.
anywho - it's been almost 3 years since i moved to my new position - same company. i have an office here, with walls and a door. it's crossed my mind to bring the ball back but, truth be told, i've been afraid of facing the same profound sadness if i were to bring it back and lose it again. seriously folks, this thing rocks my world.
what changed my mind? my husband's recent trip to New York. while there he got a peek into the offices of Google where he noted that several of the folks there were sitting on - yep, you guessed it, yoga balls. that was it. i couldn't stand it any more. last weekend my mom and i went out shopping and, oh the joy of serendipity, they had one on sale for about half the usual price. i bought it, i brought it in, i blew it up (with a hand pump - no lung power like that here), and now it delivers the buoyancy and liberation i had so desperately missed.

not sure what it is about the folks at Google that made me feel like *I* should be equally empowered, and yeah, i still worry about all the kings men coming up here and giving me the "we thought we already told you about this" speech... but for now, my office seating situation is a total ball!

and finally - to end on an up note - - in another hour i'll be out of the office on my way home, to pack our bags for the weekend away. woo hoo!

Fruit, Flowers, and Appliances

my current lolcat fave.

anywho - -

Today is our fourth anniversary. Hallmark says that traditionally I should be expecting fruit and flowers, and that the modern me can look forward to appliances. Traditionally romantic - but i'm a practical girl. Bring on the electro-mechanical goodness!

For my part, I'm "hosting" the get-away weekend. I'd love to tell y'all where we're going, but the thing is, it's a surprise location for my darling husband, who reads me, and I don't want to give it away. Maybe I'll post a review and some photos when we get back.

GAME SHOW

h: can you set aside some clothes for the baby tomorrow
w: sure, do you forget?
h: well, that and there's so much in there, it's like a gameshow
w: giggle, snort, cackle, laugh, giggle, snort, guffaw

so here's the thing...

i can go to lolcats and ichc online, at work.
i cannot access NPR streaming online at work.
what does this say about my company's access nazis?

in ur firewall
jackin' ur access

meh

UPDATE::: see below to see what really happened

temp at last check
99.7

headache
from throbbing to splitting within the past half hour

left to do today
work (or at least leave the impression that i do)
1 hour commute (to be interrupted by refueling break)
post office to drop the recently viewed netflix
mow the lawn (hopefully NOT to be interrupted by refueling break)
collect the child
make dinner (no, i didn't prep for this today - sigh)
unload clean dishes and reload with dirties
(just the thought of having time and energy to do laundry is laughable)
use the last of energy cleaning teeth and face
sleep
sleep
mmmmmmmmm

what i will probably do
pretend to work
::: done - excellent pretending
drive home (fuel stop)
::: done - in spite of idiots on road
::: got to USPS just as they were bringing mail in from box
mow lawn
::: two and a half hours later 5 bags of meadow were bagged for collection
this is the LAST time i will do this myself
henceforth, i shall employ a goat - or several
collect child
::: nope - her dad, home from work before i was done w/above did this
order in
::: nope - husband collected my favorite subs for dinner
leave dishes for tomorrow
::: yep - box full of clean dishes awaiting away-putting
clean teeth and face
::: yep - barely
sleep
wake up
sleep
wake up
sleep
wake up
groan
::: it happened EXACTLY this way, with the addition of the fleeting thought of calling in sick this morning.

better early than...

my husband gave me the Make: Halloween issue last night. as an early anniversary gift
there's some really fun stuff in here -- for each of us.
it's JUST what I needed to get my creativity directed in that direction.
woo
hoo
!!!

antarctica

for pete's sake - it gets hot outside and my office goes arctic.
i'm FREEZING - - and OH so glad i thought to wear a long sleeved shirt... if only i had a jacket to go over it.
and yeah, it's going to suck THAT BAD when i have to go outside into 90+ degree weather to go home. thank heaven it's friday and i don't have to face this again tomorrow.

too cold to write more - fingers are frozen

weenie

so i finished the scarf last night
and i am in a very halloweeney frame of mind.

i KNOW that i should be teaching myself how to crochet so that i can make the matching hat.

i am also working, however, on the premise that she will not be needing hat and scarf until well after the 29th of September - - which is when i intend to start installing halloween at earthburg

between then and now i have to find stuff (i have a lot of cool stuff and heaven only knows where its got to) and paint stuff, and build stuff... there's a lot of stuff going on. mostly good stuff though.

on days when i'm too lazy for that kind of activity, i think i'm going to start working on knitting some skull (and possibly pumpkin) dish cloths for the kitchen. nothing says halloween like hand crafted halloween kitchen items. te he.

and maybe i'll learn how to crochet too - - because, you know, the kid could use a pumpkin head hat...

bizzy bee

getting a lot done
none of it for halloween
swimming in a sea of crafts
swapping like a madwoman

my current project is another for my little girl
a scarf first
then i teach myself to crochet so i can make her a hat

in between i'll be making some halloween stuff for swapping
and some for home too -
i'm trying to promise myself that i'll spend NO more time swapping
than I spend on things for family and friends... and maybe me too - since i'm doing it.

in the meantime i try to work in work
and maybe some cleaning on the homefront
the laundry is still a monstrosity in three bins - no crap.

i guess there's only room for one breed of domesticity in my life at a time.
for now it's the crafty martha kind - that keeps my hands busy and my house a wreck.

bzzzzzzz...

oooh...

further evidence

of my resurging craftiness

lest you think the apple falls far from the tree, this is the baby's work

(i'm trying to figure out how to immortalize it in fabric)

and as a final aside. my space bar squeaks when I tap it. i really enjoy the somewhat soft clickiness of typing quickly and hearing my keystrokes as i move along the page, but there's something eerie and unnerving about a slight squeak between every word...

that said...

hubby-free day three

corrections -

the mess on the living room floor is not entirely sponsored by my dear and darling. he probably doesn't even support it (as i Do Not support it) and something something must be done about the child's slovenly habits

husband is NOT the source of all delivery orders. last night's dinner (of baked mosta and cinnamon sticks was entirely my decision)

laundry still does not do itself, even after the removal of all household testosterone. WHO fed me these lies?

in my own defense -

both pets and the baby are still alive and healthy

the bed has been made every morning

in spite of the spate of not cleaning the house, i'm getting a lot done... look!

sure, it's not exactly Betty Crocker or anything, but I think it's SOMETHING to say for my busy-ness.

absolutely must

::: Updates :::

start taking photos ::: see above
i have two skullies kicking around my dining room table that have to be snapped before i can gift them. also made a fairly adorable little pink stuffed thing (that my daughter calls a bunny - which has inspired her demand for a yellow bunny of her own)

purchase more envelopes ::: done!
i love the sleek bubble mailers - - particularly in orange. i have only one bbl mailer left in my possession and quite a few items to be posting out sooner than later. i have to get some more or else, shudder, rely on express mail envelopes from the post office.

mow the lawn
it looks like an effin meadow out back... soon the grass will tower over the pumpkin patch (of four bonsaied plants - - i think i stunted their growth by keeping them in the pots too long). if only the ground would dry some. i am still holding out hope that i will be able to complete this task this week, before my husband comes back from NY.

empty the dishwasher
full of clean dishes with dirty piling up in the sink.
wrong wrong wrong

wash more and more laundry ::: did one more load
also must be done before the husband returns to increase the always growing pile. what's that process called where one cell splits and becomes two? with the pointed exception of socks, my dirty laundry does this

make truncated trip to fabric and craft store ::: ok - not so much - bought a lot. a. lot.
i need stuffing stuff. and buttons for noses. and white thread.
i do not NEED anything else.
still, there's no telling what i'll walk out with.

get back to work... sigh.

the last 30

i always hate the last 30 minutes of my work day.
it's even worse on a friday.

i mean, sure, it's ok if i'm working my fingers down on a project and look up and realise that i only have 30 minutes left, but in general, by the time the last 30 of a friday roll around, i'm just waiting for the clock to run down.

one of the guys my husband works with used to work at a place where the last 4 hours of the week were yours to do with as you would provided your work was done.

tell me that's not the cleverest way to increase productivity? tell me that you wouldn't find yourself done at noon on friday if it meant you could go home and start your weekend earlier?

i'm tellin' you, it would go a long way to alleviating my "what to do with this last 30 minutes" thing i often find myself stumbling through and grousing about.

drag a comb across my head...

<<>>

hee hee hee

i have little tiny short hairs.

i can't even FEEL them unless

I reach up

i can see them though

and while they're not long enough to get into my mouth when i eat

it feels like they will

and freaks me out

kind of.

no one at work has noticed yet.

granted, i haven't left my cell and walked the hall

at least not since the rest of the drones have arrived

i like it - - my secret - - no one knowing, seeing, noticing

makes me feel like a super-secret-spy

as an aside

the next time someone asks me what superpower I would have

i'm going to say that i'd like to have lipo-suction fingers.

that i could turn on and off at will, of course

wouldn't that be cool?

back to you...

Judy Blume at the Post Office

isn't it something how a phrase like "the forever stamp" resonates in one's mind? i know i'm not the only 30 something woman who has read the book.

anywho...

teetering

i must be insane.
i just signed up for SwapBot (thanks to Tron) and while i only applied to 3 swaps, i'm already wishing i were more creative. still... it's a way to force myself to be motivated against some of the inspirated i have inside me.
this, i say, knowing full well that I have a SLEW of halloween stuff to be working on.
and some skulls
and a princess dress for my daughter
and a pony costume
and...

still, it's better to be busy than bored, especially if your're me (which YOU are not, but I most definitely am)

i got to bed early last night
woke up this morning feeling rested and happy
the mood lingers

thanksgiving morning

not the national holiday
but a morning of giving thanks, is all

- thanks to francey pants for my tag. mmm.
- thanks to pinkey pants (te he) for the reminder of what's really important in this world - with magnets!
- thanks to my man for accepting me broken
- thanks to my baby for telling me that I can't be a bonehead because I'm her mama
- thanks to the weak but persevering layer of concrete separating my basement laundry room from the invading mudpit that every day attempts another surge through to the world above
- thanks to the cleaning crew for not taking home the expensive bracelet (christmas-gift-from-my-aforementioned-accepting-husband) that fell from my wrist and landed on the floor of my office, where it lay in wait for some loving (and until that moment insanely panicked) paws to reach down and reclaim it
- thanks to my friends who love me
- thanks to my family for the same (and the occasional bag of green-groceries)
- thanks to the Lord above for the life I live, the life I love, and the life through which I learn

my new passion...

::: Update :::

I completed two - one for my daughter one for my daughter's godfather's girl. they are cute, but were difficult to sew with the fabric I found. Since then, I've come across the appropriate material (at target, of all places, disguised as dollar bin dish-towels). There are more in the works, now that I have the proper materials.

=======================================

...is collecting projects that I want to do.

i would like to tell you that it's completeing projects, but that would be a lie. ok, so maybe i want to complete them, but here's the thing. you have to start them to complete them.

tonight, though, i'm starting on this:

i found it at the skull-a-day blog. this place makes me smile in crazy ways.

happy crazy.

and creative crazy too.

it's just what I needed to jumpstart my passion.

now i just have to get through the day so i can go home and sew.

oh - and for those of you with babies

don't make one of these.

unless you want two.

if you can't say something nice...

i'm quiet today.

that's all

dream husband

ok - let's face it - i've been having a crap couple of weeks. a lot of my time - especially work time - has been clouded over by a general malaise that makes me weepy at best. i can't even describe my worst, lately.

so - what's a husband to do?

have a front porch full of saturday morning surprise brown mary-jane crocs to replace the worn-to-broken brown leather mary-janes that went EVERYWHERE with me.

i wore them all weekend. i'm wearing them right now. and i suspect they will be a key element of most of my wardrobe for the next several months (except when it's too wet and cold to wear them without suffering for it). i'm still hoping for a pair of black ones to go with them... so i can live 90% of my wardrobe in comfortable feet.

Free Lance

it's time for me to figure out how to go it on my own
i want to be a producer
i just mean that I want to be a person who produces deliverables
i mean, i want to make things
useful things
and i want to make a living doing this

because the living i'm making right now is killing me

baby face and balderdash

babies really don't always make the cutest faces

today, though, i realised that even a crying baby is more fun than what i do for a living. i'm pretty sure that's one of the universal indicators that it's time to look for a new job.

the way in this morning was hell. someone sent out a memo to all the

shouldn't-have-ever-been-given-a-license

idiots out there advising them that in front of the spider covered vibe was exactly the place to be today. if it's like that on the way home i'll know for sure, and it may well happen that my new job is the full-time search for the jerk in charge of sending memos to the idiots of the world.

i wonder if upon his death i get to take the job.

heh heh heh