I upped and quit...

national blogger month.. Just wasn't that into it.. its not you, its me.. blah blah blah.. anyway I'm off to PA for turkey time, i have a forcast of pms so I'm sure it will be delightful. I am excited about the Muppet exhibit at the Mitchner and my mom's pumpkin pie...
check ya later..

A Hat for an Orange.

Coworker asked me to make a hat for her upcoming arrival, made especially for newborn photos. No pressure at all :P I busted this out with ease this evening. Added to the flower to make it bigger. Crochet seems to let me change as I got a bit better than knitting but we know I'm a knitter at heart. I used scraps from Kara and from the grandma shawl.

Total drama island

We dropped the ball waiting on brother to decide his plans for thanksgiving. He does not want us to use his room where the bunk beds are next to each other and we still can't really share a bed. We are on the shit end of the stick for wanting to hotel it instead of air mattress it.. Meanwhile every time i go home brother stays and sleeps in the basement so its him just wanting no one in his room, hell Mr. 28 grow the f up, I'm not going to play with your star wars figures. There has been no offer of using parents car either so I guess thats our problem (even though they always borrow mine when they visit and usually leave me stranded somewhere.) Grrr. Thanks husband for volunteering us to go to PA for thanksgiving. He's a good guy but I'd lie to my family's face over and over and say Thanksgiving is for VT, Passover is for PA. I'm evil that way but i think we all knew that. I also enjoy the xmas staycation. Stupid word but so useful.

Shit into shoepolish

I decided I wanted to revisit some old hobbies. Amongst them was polymer clay, when I was young I played with it. When I was in school I sculpted but not with polymer clay. Frankly I prefer all the air drying clays and layers of pains. I don't know if they are easier or just easier for me. I'm going to persevere but what I've made thus far isn't so hot. A nice layer of gloss paint seems to improve it greatly. In some ways I find it hard to do simple crafts involving sculpting because I'm too nit picky from school. My first project was a clay apple. The instructions did not mention a layer of gloss paint, it did not mention using a stiff brush to give texture but I can see from the photos and a diserning eye that the image they show uses both. I'm bad at following instructions but tried my darndest and so my apple does not look like the picture. I don't follow instructions well and perhaps thats my problem. And the stuff I've tried making all have stems and are on pins to make charms, why would these be beginning projects. The stem on wire is not so easy. Also because they are selling a book then act like you can start out making charms, realistically you should start just trying to make objects before you get findings or wire involved. Perhaps I should go that route and find a child with barbies to hook up with foods etc.
I also bought a toaster for the hobby and a tile that doesn't fit in the damn toaster and a toaster with no temperatures so I bought an oven thermometer. Frankly its probably not the best toaster for this although with the door partially ajar I got the right temperature, and why was the door ajar, cause the tile was too big. I can get a smaller tile but this is what i have now. Remind me never to get into wood working. I'd measure once and cut 15 times, buy a new piece of wood and end up hot glueing it all together.

Usually don't break 100 or 80 for that matter...

but now I'll be doing it in style. In fact, I may be bowling worse and DH, yeah dear husband, ordered the shoe with two slide grips instead of one. Frankly I suck so badly it really doesn't matter but at least it ill be in my own shoes. I had hoped Boo would get me shoes at some point, I waited for a while and last week flat out asked him for some. If he knit something I wouldn't expect him to buy yarn... so he has to buy me shoes :) There is total logic to that right?
Anyway new kicks, yay!

Crafty Project of the Week.

A new state of stupid

Earlier this week I had a super realistic dream in which I forgot I was flying to Italy on Friday morning and would need to reschedule my Friday afternoon doctor appointment and would miss my friend, Shannon's b-day. Apparently it was so realistic that my mind neglected to realize my dr appt is next week which I discovered once I was at said doctor. Shannon's b-day is still tomorrow. Earlier today I even went to my calendar and wondered why my appointment wasn't on the calendar. I skipped out of work early with a case of the Fridays, hit Target by my home and then travelled back through crazy traffic to hit up the doctor. I certainly felt like I hit a new level of stupidity going to an appointment that is next week and that my mind got messed up on the date because of a dream. Maybe I should blame my overtime this week and the lack of people in my office today, made me want to leave too. So next Friday it will be same deal another week. Plus another week of the psyching up for the "annual" exam.

if a woman falls over wearing heels, that’s embarrassing. But if a bloke falls over wearing heels, you have to kill yourself

There is only one musical act I've seen more than once, granted their tickets are 12 bucks so its never very hard on the wallet. They'd be the asylum street spankers. I'd say I've seen them 3-4 times. There are not many concerts I want to see a first time nor a second or third. I would love to see Scissors Sisters a second time, perhaps Bowie cause dude, its Bowie but otherwise I can barely remember who I have seen on stage.
This January I will not only see someone on stage again, I'll see the same stand up routine I saw in Chicago, Eddie Izzard. I'm sure nothing is ever the same twice but when we found out he was coming to the Fox it was time to buck up the dough for some tickets to see him. I even asked a coworker who in the end decided to be a responsible dad and not spend his money friviously, bah, I am without children and the amount of water that has flown through my house this week has been crazy but damn it, its time for a running, jumping, tree climbing, make up wearing transevestite. So woo! we have tickets to see Eddie. This time will be even better because it won't involve a 6 hour car ride each way, a shitty smoke smelling hotel room, and an ikea that steals my soul like walmart but with way trendier, cuter items and way more yuppies with baby bjorns. I was a little out of my element in the city...I'm a st. Louis city gal, totally different than places like chicago or new york so I hope to be more relaxed on the 9th. I don't know if it was the content or the trip but I wasn't that stoked about the show last time I saw it but hell if i won't give it another try, did it with coffee, did it with sex, I can do it with Eddie.

Pretend this was yesterday

Two words, home ownership..
The "easy" installation of a dishwasher is not going well at all... Stay tuned for further detail. At some point the odds will point to success but thus far, not so much.

The taste of gross

I am attempting to take some vitamin B and vitamin A for my dry scalp dry skin sexiness. Last night I took nature's made balanced b50 complex. I nearly puked and was still nauseous this morning. By balanced they must mean you need to balance yourself during puking. I find my one-a-day sorta stomach upsetting but this B took the cake. Blech!! Don't we have enough technology we could coat that nasty stuff in something good. I would be completely okay taking a sugar coated vitamin versus one that makes me want to heave from the smell and taste.

In case you haven't noticed I'm attempting national blogging month.. frankly i'm way further than I ever expected to get. Heaving, dandruff, poop, I'm covering all the important stuff.

Edit for more info: B complete whatever isn't working out. Sure its been two days but its gross and makes me nauseous as does my one a day. I think I should take the suggestion of chewables but not flinestones, its better than nothing but not meant for an adult. I also should probably get a baseline blood panel sometime to see what my weaknesses are. A chewable one a day will be a start. Now to find biotin to take I doubt it would taste different than the B concoction but we shall see...I'll have to scout around looking at bottles at the store.. totally not weird like at all..and while i'm at it i should think about a calcium chewable versus the horse pill.

my knowledge of plumbing or lack thereof.

5 good things

So often its easy to bitch and moan and forget the good things. I tell people to list good things from their day. It makes you appreciate the small things more. This weekend was full of good and just reminded me even in the good to take time to appreciate it.
My five things of the weekend:

1. Awesome weather
2. Boo helping in garden and at home depot.
3. Crafting ADD. I've done so much this weekend! Although the weekend is still not long enough I like being able to list what I've done.
4. The evil genius series. I've been in a book stall for a bit but Catherine Jinks seems to have brought me back. Its nice to be able to read and not fall asleep in 2.5 seconds with or without lunesta.
5. The breeze. All weekend I have been and keep enjoying the warm nice breeze. We spent a few hours at the dog park with the wind in our hair and it was great. Soon it with be gusty cold wind but right now its making fall so nice.
   

Almost perfect day.

The dog park was active with young couples today and we pretty much spent 2 hours there. I sat on a picnic table with a mixed marriage couple and my little dog ran around on top of the table pretending to be big which was actually better than when he is on the ground getting snappy and trampled on. I usually look a bit down on the dogs walking on the picnic table but today I joined them. There is a little dog section of the dog park but no one uses it except for time outs.
My dogs pick and choose when they want to run or want to be petted. Today was a combo. Boo and I came home and went to indian buffet and then we finished up this season's gardening and planted bulbs. I think i still need more and I broke a shovel but it was really nice doing yard work with Boo even though i know he doesn't like gardening.
My coworker and his wife decided to take their dogs for a walk and stopped by. Amazingly they all played. Too often our play dates with other dogs consist of the humans trying to get them to play and the dogs looking at us like we are bat shit crazy. They played for a while and we chatted and then went our separate ways. Boo and I continued to garden and then came in to wind down. I showered and got comfy to read and play on the internet but the smart dog decided it was love time and he sat on my laptop. While not helpful it was cute and I put the laptop down and cuddled him until I fell asleep. I shouldn't have been surprised considered buffet and gardening are great at making me want a nap.
After my nap we went to dinner with B&S at Onesto Pizza. It was fantastic and with 70 degree weather we didn't mind waiting outside with a drink for a seat. They had a fire pit going and there were lots of folks enjoying this crazy nice weather. Dinner was fan freaking tastic. The day was to be completed with the perfect ending of bowling but the place was booked til midnight so we closed our night down. Aside from my stomach feeling like its bursting it was an all in all great day. This unseasonable weather is the weather i live for but alas its a quick phenomenon in St. Louis. I'm appreciating it while i have it because we all know, wait ten minutes and it will change.

I LOLed

I'm a big fan of my U-Verse. In the free section there is a ton of stand up comedy as well as a bunch of other high brow/low brow comedies. Last night I watched Christian Finnegan, Au Contraire and laughed so hard. Boo will be required to watch it when it comes on again (after you watch you can't watch it again for a few days.)
With topics such as masculinity and lack of it, the french, and video games it pretty much is a sure shot for Boo. Boo is masculine enough, don't get me wrong, but he likes to dress nice and picks out his clothes with care. He also can cook the pants off of most people I know so that just adds to his pro wrestler like personality, oh wait, no. Also PS3 versus Xbox comedy really hits home for us...So if you have U-Verse, I recommend checking him out*.

*He's also not too hard on the eyes if that makes a difference.

Its begininng to feel a lot like chan-u-kah....

Okay it totally isn't but I am officially in full crafting for the holidays mode. Unfortunately, I plan to gift many of the folks here so I can't say much. My mediums, however, I can share...knitting...polymer clay.....crocheting....resin.....jewelery.....My crafty friends still like crafted presented, my families, not so much. Mom has given me her list which she seems to do often. She's not 8, she can't tell me what she wants unless I ask. (just a crazy idea in my head)...too often she requests after I've made/purchased gifts. This year she got out ahead so she'll get her requests and a few extras to go along with. I may try to bake and send her cookies since I know she doesn't get around to it herself anymore.
I suppose I ought to suggest to Boo thinking about gifts for his family but I forsee borders gift cards for teenagers so thats pretty easy, damn those kids growing up. Its way more fun giving them legos and nerf guns but they are, like, totally too old for that. (I however bought myself a nerf gun this past weekend) The adults are a bit harder to plan for but I find they don't need or want much so I don't put too much stress into it. We're thinking a dog collar camera for the farm family. If anything its a good day of fun and then stashed til trashed. We'll probably find a bunch of other think geek gifts and call it a day. I'm getting excited, the weather has cooled and my crafty juices are ready to flow. Dead is the garden but my crafts they're alive...alive....ALIVE!!!

Recent Knits

Crabby Patty, aisle 1....

November in St. Louis, its not warm, its not cold, what better time to do some repairs to an office... Currently during the day we pretty much have an open wall in the office. While I'm technically not in that room all that separates me is a hall. Today to bat off the breezy blues with a side of construction workers smoke I bought myself some flowers and a smelly candle. Note to self: buy lighting instrument too... Sure I could have asked the construction guys for a light but i figured they were up a good 20 feet and it might be hard to pass off to me.
For some reason I still am amazed how many people came by my office and commented on how cold it seemed. Me being me pretty much responded with "really? Thank you for bringing that to my attention?" or "Really? I've been sweating my ass off." Makes me want to bring some spoiled milk to work and ask them to try and see if its bad... At least I invested in some fleeces this year and of course have many hand knit socks.

The mystery gift has arrived.

While Mom said she hadn't done it in 20 years she meant ever... She made us an origami bouquet. She actually made a flower that I couldn't get to work for shit when I made my flowers for my wedding. Pretty impressive that she did it, a bit odd since our wedding had all handmade paper flowers but she wanted to give us a paper gift to fit with traditions. She and my dad always celebrated anniversaries with the other couples in our family including both sets of parents. I see it as odd but she finds it normal.
So here is the flowers and the note she attached to the gift. Also appreciate the wallpaper behind the flowers, yep, thats our living room and dining room.

Things I have learned from this present:

1. Plan a year in advance if you want to be creative.
2. When trying to understand origami instructions, my IQ drops to about 50.
3. It takes 5 hours to do what the guy in the video does in 5 minutes.
4. I live Murphy’s law so why did I think I could print your names and anniversary date on the right part of the paper?
5. expensive orgami paper is wrapping paper. I should have figured that out before opening the packages. LOL
6. Next year a card will be sufficient.

After she found out I tried to make those flowers she wrote...."I am so glad I didn't know you were trying to make those flowers. You might have thought I was mocking you. It is not easy making a hand made gift for Mrs. Creative." The art of mockery must be unknown to me... I don't believe I've learned the laws of origami mockery... woosa... I will make fun of you with a paper monkey, one up you with a paper giraffe and put the smack down with a paper turtle.

Skanktastic!

Today I went to the mall and got a makeover.. Contrary to Kara's belief I love people doing my make up, ditto on hair. She doing mine for the wedding was just a bit weird cause neither of us are touchers. Its sorta a negative-positive magnetic reaction. We are two negatives so we repell but get a positive in there and either of us is okay with the touchy crap.
My mother never taught me to do anything girly so its been a struggle to girldom. First time I shaved I did it dry and then took a shower. Yowza! Mom wanted me to stay young forever, didn't work, especially since she treated me otherwise like an adult from a young age. I used to sneak off to buy hair bleach with my allowance and try to sneak doing it in the bathroom. I later upgraded to bike rides to the local store at the shore to buy make up. Heck my middle school offered a make up class once for an elective. Nothing like 1950's make up tips. I came out looking like gogo trash meets 7th grade. More blue than one would know what to do with.
Having an actual girly girlfriend has been fun. Kara has taught me all sorts of makeup stuff...and I keep learning. Today I learned people hate my good complexion and lack of need for foundation. Suck it bitches, I got a dry scalp like a mother fucker so its a give or take world. Mindy's world of snow is as sexy as your acne. :P
Anyway back to the makeover. Good lord, how did I agree to this? I wanted it deep down, I know this but I was worried about some perky ass girl talking my ear off, trying to sell me a Miata's amount of makeup. Guess what, I got her. I hate idle chit chat. Let me enjoy the process and let me be. Heck when I get my hair cut I just want to zen in the quiet world....getting make up done, not quiet at all...Asking me every few minutes how something feels drives me nuts. It feels like f-ing make up lady, what do you want me to say? My face is climaxing from the light nothing feeling of the powdery sparkles showering on my face.
Anyway I came out with some new eyeshadows and such that I'm excited about. Give me a week to decide if it was worth being all mature and shit and letting some chick tart me up and drain my wallet. I definately won't be doing the look she gave me but I did get some decent ideas.

**Note to make up ladies, don't make us look like a cougar going out for a stroll. Realistically, I think we'd all prefer a nice look for the day time. Besides if we get a nice daytime look we'll do it more often than the weekend tart up and we'll go through your wares quicker.