Crafty and crap

Its not you, its me

2011-06-08T08:57:00.002-05:00

But I've lost interest in you mr. blog. I've got email, google buzz and sharing, twitter, and flickr and seeing people in person to bitch about my middle class woes :) Thanks, you've been good. Peace and humptiness forever.

My puppy is 10...

2011-06-01T22:14:00.003-05:00

I figured it was a b-day to celebrate even though it makes me sad that he's getting older. We went for a walk, had frosty paws and lot of scratches and lovin'.

Is it done yet?

2011-05-11T10:39:00.003-05:00

Nope, not quite but we have been building away. I'm ready for these biatches to be outside. That and picking them up to take outside when they think your fingers are worms is less than fun.
They've all got names but I gotta say, I don't find myself that attached to most of them. I like Matzah sorta but its a chicken. They have no attachment to me so that helps. And the stupid girls can't be on their own, so if I remove one from their home its throws a fit until its returned to the flock. They also chase my beloved Simon so that makes me laugh and feel sad too. I know the dogs is neutered but shit, man, get some balls...Also, sheepdog doesn't mean you need to act like a sheep and eat grass all the damn time, just saying...

Anywho, I've also been crafting at night. Or as I've been calling it, coloring. very calming to just play a 6 year old and color in pictures of fruit and other stamped images I haven't scanned yet.

Candy is dandy but fruit makes you poop

2011-04-24T11:46:00.003-05:00

It's been raining just a bit here in St. Louis. Everyone I know appears to have made out ok from the tornado of this week. Personally aside from the little but of depression that its giving me and the lack of ability to go out and garden I'm loving it because I can see plants popping up like mad. Last fall I planted a pear tree, the spring before, a peach tree. Both are looking like they've lived through the winter and are sprouting new branches versus the sad sticks they were before. I think I might plant trees like that in the fall from now on, that is if I ever add to my two tree orchard. Keeping the peach tree alive through the summer was a bit precarious, the apricot tree croaked. Also I have seen my raspberries coming up. Maybe 5 of the 6 plants that I planted in the fall. I need to go out there and create my wire trellis I want to make for them to grow on and subsequently hide some ugly gravel, house foundation behind them. It also appears my 3 blueberries bushes have lived another year but i don't see how they will ever amount to anything. My strawberry planter is dead.. I'll need to get some more plug or move on with my life. I'm not sure it was such a prolific planter anyway. Inside my house my fig tree that I was considering planting this year is alive with figs. I think I counted 9 last night. That tree is going to stay a bonsai/indoor plant if it is self pollinating like that. Beside, no squirrels will come in my house and steal my figs. I'm impatiently waiting for Lowe/HD to have the mini citrus trees. A nice little lime tree would be the perfect addition to my indoor collection and taking up residiency in my guest bedroom. Maybe I'll leave limes on the guest pillows instead of their requested chocolates ;P
There is a break in the rain so I should go plant my remaining veggies. They are feeling very cramped inside my house and frankly, we've got a nice thing called rain that will water them without spilling water all over the floor. Nope, not a klutz, not me.

Growing Skeksis

2011-04-13T09:13:00.004-05:00

The chicks are growing by leaps and bounds. I enjoy 3/4s of them.. One is a bit crazy/flighty.. Should have named her Stirfry instead of Pork/Katsu...Otherwise we are enjoying them and looking forward to their pest control skills. We had them outside and wow, they had fun. We have also fed them some insects we have killed inside and they just gobble it up.
My parents were in and my mom had a lot of fun with them. She is scared of so many animals so by the time she sees them again they will be too big and scary for her. Yes, the reptile lady is afraid of animals that aren't lizards.

OMG, Squeal and oh yeah, they are livestock

2011-03-30T16:18:00.003-05:00

Our chicks have arrived. While we need to remember they are livestock and not pets, its really hard when they are so flipping tiny and cute... Luckily chickens will go through some ugly teenage weeks just like the rest of us. Right now ever, I squeal like I've never squealed.
We are still working on names and building the coop. We are building it with other couple A&M. They too got chicks the same time and we are building the same coop. We ordered the chickens online and luckily all showed up alive. I'm absolutely pooped and we haven't even broken ground, just lots of brain work.
Below is the folder to pics. We are using Camilla the Chicken figuring to show their growth.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/72065973@N00/sets/72157626256507297/

She's been getting crafty

2011-03-01T21:52:00.003-06:00

Consider this a bullet point post...of projects.
For Rachel's birthday I used her felting fibers to create Mo the monster who is nibbling on a knitter arm. All fiber content is Dyeabolical Yarns and Spinning Fibers

I made a dishcloth for my cousin... however I seem to lack motition to make others so it may just wander into my collection. The picture is pure crap but in person, its pretty cool so use your imagination
I knit my first triangle shawl, Springtime Bandit out of Malabrigo Silky Wool

I started a sweater, Moch Cardi out of Elizabeth Lavold.
I played with embroidery and made a needle book. I see many more to come. Its a good little project to learn on. Embroidery is a lesson on being slow and steady. Not my strong point.

I made a little cape for our flower girl's american doll that she got for her birthday.

Free to a good home

2011-02-26T09:34:00.003-06:00

Two dogs who won't stop barking. Boo has left for a vacation and they are lost wanting to know where he is. This week is my staycation, or as close I get. I talked with MIL last night about vacation time, Boo's sister's impending marriage and what do I get this morning? An email about another family vacation they want to take in 2012. Right after she made is clear that sis will probably get married in 2012 and then i made it clear that will be my vacation for 2012. Perhaps she's being nice, trying to include Boo and I in everything but its just making me look like the ungrateful bitch. I cannot do these trips and having to say no over and over just makes me look bad. We have to hide any vacation time we take for ourselves cause its a day less we can take with them. In all of this my mother really wants to take a trip to Israel together and frankly I'd like to at some point pre children. Barking again.. off to strangle the hounds.

Plant Tags

2011-02-24T20:13:00.004-06:00

Looking for a good time? Well I know how to party.. Its a Thursday night is at bowling. He leaves for Rome tomorrow for his soccer Europe tour. He will be seeing his favorite team Roma. So while it rains and I gorge myself on chinese food I decided to have some silly fun. I stopped by Office Depot and bought Sharpies to go with my plant tags I bought at Home Depot today. They'll fade and wash away over the summer but it was a nice way to spend time in front of the fireplace. I also got slap happy. Who wants to draw 3 kinds of tomatoes or peas. So for Beefsteak I drew a cow, Sugar Daddy Peas a $ sign. It was fun to do drawrings, Simon sat by and enjoyed himself too :) Seedlings all appear to be doing well. While the natural pots are all good for the environment they are getting a bit mushy and moldy on the outside. Not sure my stand on doing them again.

Hi remember me?

2011-02-20T10:25:00.002-06:00

I seem to be falling off the blogging world. I have finished knit objects that I don't share cause my fellow knitters can see it on Ravelry. I have random thoughts, they go on twitter. Oh well, its a hobby this blogging. Never had many readers or a following so it doesn't matter much.
I've started my major plans for spring gardening. That includes 4 chickens, and a lot of planting/creating garden beds. I did a recon mission yesterday at lowes and am rethinking alot of my beds i planned to make. My big bed that was to house potatoes, rhubarb and sunchokes may go back to being the potato bags. The rubarb may just go tossed in my major flower plans. I plan to take a foot for grass out from my back of my yard and fill it with flowers. I currently have a few flowers back there, some shrubs and blueberry bushes. I've started a bunch of flowers inside and will also plant seeds outside. I also am startin a bunch of lavender to transplant there. I figure a rhubarb or two will add some interest. It may look like a big shmorgaborg of crap but if its all pretty wildflowers i bet it won't matter. It will also make lawn mowing way easier. Who knows, the chickens may decimate it all pretty darn quickly. I've been taking pics of my seedling growth but I've missplaces the battery charger so that may be a problem pretty soon.
Off to a day of food, friends and yarn.

Damn you video games

2011-01-21T11:11:00.002-06:00

I've been playing Death Spank 2 Thong of Virtue all week. I don't play video games, I don't play rpg long ass quests of running around.. I don't keep track of inventory and if i have the best armor on.. And if I keep telling myself this it may be true.. This game is all of these and I am playing at the easy level but I'm in love with it and totally addicted.
If you have playstation or xbox live and have a wrong twisted sense of humor I highly recommend this 15 dollars worth of entertainment. If killing evil nuns, retreiving magical unicorn poop, and eating tacos to regain energy isn't your thing... well, you are probably not reading my blog.

Mortality

2011-01-09T08:50:00.002-06:00

As I lay in bed this morning I was thinking about mortality. When i think about it i get nauseous, i can't move, i get chills throughout my body. When I was little I used to pray to my deceased grandfather asking for him to show me, tell me, that there is something else in the world. I'm not just going to fertilize the ground someday. My mother taught me thats all there is. I plan to lie to my kids about there being something else. They will make their own decisions one day but no 6 year old needs to hear that there is nothing after you die. Oh you live on in memories, woopty doo.
I also realize as I think this stuff that I'm a killer. Really, I'm okay with it. As I am going through the process of death my last grandparent, people are not following the living wills or hopes expressed by the individual. It sickens me. It sickens me when people try to extend someone's life not for that person but for their own needs. I am also okay with Dr. K and his actions. Its a big statement. Its not that I'd do it.. but if a family and individual has decided together, that I'm okay.
I could tell you about my other views about pre birth but then I'd get bombed and I'd rather not.
I could also tell you my view on pets. There are some who get new pets before their older ones pass. I'm not that person. I think its a disservice to my faithful companion who i know i value too much because of my lack of human kids. It came up in discussion yesterday, luckily my partner feels the same.
As my parents go through the mortality of their own parents they cannot deal with their own. It would be a blessing if they planned and made choices now but such is not in the stars. I believe I take after my father's side, the one with mental decline for 20 years, not my mother, my brother takes after mom's side and thus gets the curse of rheumatoid arthritis. Half a dozen of one, for half a dozen of another. I am terrified of my dementia, alzeimers future, and I will go through the same as my parents are going through now, I wonder will I do the same to my children?

Cheep cheep....

2010-12-16T11:19:00.003-06:00

Thats the sound of baby chickens. We got approval from the neighbors. Woo! I've been super lame with this here blog as of lately. It will probably continue that way until I'm in chicken, gardening mode since that seems to be what I post. I have finished some knit items, as well as weaving. We've also done some home repairs including a new living room light... and we are still married after doing it together.
The old house as still not sold. There will be an open house this Sunday and then it will come off the market on the first for 60 days and then go back on. When we no longer have house payments I'm ready for a new car... The slamming of gas/breaks to be the same speed as the grown up cars is getting old.
This weekend we are heading back to PA for Buby's gravestone unveiling. We are going to visit my uncle and his family on Saturday before which will be nice. I haven't been there probably since I took Coconut back to MO with me in 99. (Thats where I adopted my now gone iguana) Wow! How can that be.....anyway.. I've been working on presents for my cousins. Mom says no one appreciates what I give them, like the graduation collage gifts i gave them but she can stick with her half glass full route. The gift i made the stoner was quick and easy and cheap. The yarmulke for my other cousin was not but i know he will appreciate it. My other cousin is getting a scarf and i can see her having random issues with stuff around her neck or fringe or what not (bit nutty issues) but I don't know for sure. Even if she doesn't wear it, she will appreciate it.
Mom doesn't know I've made them gifts and I'm certain will make a big deal about them not bringing gifts etc etc but whatev. I'm visiting their house from 900 miles away, gifts can be for the holidays, because we are going over there, or just because. I'm doing it cause I want to.. all other issues/reasons aren't important.

Before Dec 17th

2010-11-30T22:43:00.002-06:00

I need to crochet two kippahs, weave a set of towels already on the loom, weave a scarf, embroider one kippah... Doable? Doubtful.... And i didn't even think about the aunt... she will get some stl coffee i think....
My towels that are on the loom are currently a big fail. We shall see if i can rectify it. I need to not warp my loom to the edges. I think that is where my problem is... Mom's gift is the towels but if i weave them and don't touch them further i'm fine, they can wait til her birthday. I already gave her bulbs, knit two dish clothes, ginger gummy bears and got her the percy jackson series. Am i transfering my spoiling of Buby to mom, totally...although i have taken to spoiling her on some years more than others. Or more so spoiling, and then really spoiling her.
I have started the first kippah and using the right crochet thread is going much better, i need to buy black, a reddish maroon or navy for embroidering, black for the other kippah which may also have some purple stripes in it. I'm sorta winging it but with cotton i can just block it a bit flatter if needed. Working with such a small hook i find myself stabbing my finger a bit.
I have a few other holiday gifts to get done in there for friends... but unlike family, friends understand when gift making gets derailed.

Bullets

2010-11-22T22:55:00.002-06:00

Going to VT next week.
Got mauled by my cat.
Picked 45 lbs of veggies this year and 44 lbs of pumpkin, next years white pumpkins will go to the chickies after i steal the delicious seeds.
Finished shawl i started when buby died. its like hug from her.

Made thorpe 1.0 with reclaimed yarn

Made thorpe 2.0 out of the stash.

Got new couches.

Still waiting on bedroom set which is in Earthcity. who knows when it will show up and rug cleaning before it arrived hasn't happened.
Received most awesome b-day gift

Damn books

2010-10-19T08:51:00.002-05:00

I like teen novels. Not cheeseball twilight shit but more along the lines of cheeseball Harry Potter, Forest of Hands and Teeth, Mockingjay, fablehaven, etc...just random types of teen books.. But i'm fucking tired... tired of everything being a damn trilogy. Can we just have a good story, a good book and it not be a damn series. Apparently I have issues with waiting for books. All three of the books above are series and while i have read all of them it still pisses me off when i read a book and find out there are more. I enjoy series, hey if you find an author you like its nice to know there will be more books but it seems every new teen book that comes out is a 3 course meal. Can I just get a few long lovely books that aren't going to have a to be continued?

Zombie Swap Creations

2010-10-11T19:34:00.004-05:00

Below are my creations for the zombie swap. A cotton scarf that shrunk up to be all apocalypsy, some repainted cheezy dollar store figures, and my first attempted at needle felting. I made an eye, brain, and lungs in that order.

Who me a blogger?

2010-10-08T10:41:00.002-05:00

Not so much these days, flickr, ravelry, twitter, and life just seem to have knocked me off the blogging boat. I think about canceling this but not need to do that I guess. This will be a bulleted post.

Finished a sweater but its a bit too big, need to seam it up.

I have had 25 lbs of edible garden stuff that I have harvested and an additional 31 lbs of pumpkins, actually two pumpkins, one was 10 lbs and the other 21 lbs.
Went apple picking, now to make pie. I'm excited to use my new pin and rolling mat.
Made my sukkah and then it rained most of the time. Next year sukkah will be built at the bottom of the hill. I also need more folding yard chairs so i don't sink into my ground.

Moles are still invading our property. We have found a good trap through our neighbor lending it to us. She has killed 4 moles...
Took part in a yarn swap with the theme of zombies. Future post will show what what i made. It was pretty kick ass. Heart the zombies.

Oh and i turned 32. Again, future post will show awesomeness of goodies received. Boo and I went to Tratoria marcella for dinner. Yum. Great restaurant but hard to hear each other.. very noisy for upscale dining. Kara made me kick ass carrot cup ghost cupcakes. Will need to try that recipe sometime sans raisins...
Went to DC for a nice wedding
Went to PA for a few jewish related trips
chopped the hair off, will be growing it back but it got had a rough time with hard water and really needed to be cleaned up.
Did the hokey pokey

Just kidding about that last one... maybe...

Its the most Rosh Hashanah time of the year...

2010-09-08T14:39:00.002-05:00

Yeah I'm singing Xmas melodies to Rosh Hashanah words. I also want a hippopotamus for hannukah. I current have the below song stuck in my head (also see attached video for melody and the most unhappy leather jacket little girl). I really love the high holidays. They are a great time for reflection and inner peace. I feel the weather change and I get goosebumps all over. I think of going for a walk after services with Buby and it was sorta a day for mom, me and bub. Dad is usually at work and we just spend the day together. Usually outside in the good weather. Its definitely gotten downplayed over the years, going from nice dresses and china to bbq turkey on the porch. I'll be heading to PA for both high holidays this year. I stopped going because my focus had changed from the holiday and the reflection to taking care of my elders and trying not to kill my mother. Its going to be a sad year but hopefully my presence will help mom and I won't kill her too much :P She forgets that others have been affected by losing buby. I think of her every day.. which is more than I think about any other person.

Still wish I had a furry animal with me in PA but oh well.. Its at least when i get the most uninterrupted sleep and pretty much zonk out since i have no responsibilities of home care etc.

Torah torah torah
Torah torah torah
Torah tziva lanu Moshe
Torah torah, Torah torah
Torah tziva lanu Moshe

Morasha k'hilat Yaacov
Morasha k'hilat Yaacov
Morasha k'hilat Yaacov
Torah tziva lanu Moshe

Two finished projects

2010-08-24T14:45:00.002-05:00

One was on the needles for 2 years. Orangina. It ended up being bigger than I wanted (albiet it doesn't appear so in this photo.) I think i'll take it in with my sewing machine, although my mother says "What do you plan on being thin forever?" and thinks I shouldn't do that. She be crazy. Also, aside from pregnancy who plans on adding a tire around their middle. I've entered a new ten pound range that I'm not happy about but I shall still take this sucker in. Obviously its hard to see anything here since its black.

I also finished weaving a scarf. I had a tension issue due to user erros, not yarn, and ended up cutting it short a foot longer than i hoped. It won't be as wrappy as I like but it will still work just fine. I used Dyeabolical cotton slub which is a fab yarn if you are a knitter. I've used this yarn a few times and I just love it.

26 lbs 4 oz

2010-08-16T18:54:00.002-05:00

Thats how much I've harvested and yet I consider this year a pretty big failure. I have had two cucumbers in the beginning and then the plants died. No zuchs, no raspberries, barely any beans, no peas, a few peppers that blew. I have had 3 mini potatos cause those failed too, some eggplants, decorative squash, a pumpkin and tomatos. A success would be having given away more than one tomato to a vegetarian who lives on air. I'm letting my beets still grow but I'm pretty sure these are just little rocks with leaves. Watermelon died, canteloupe died, and yet I found a mini canteloupe where i didn't plant one. I did plant some fancy pumpkins a few weeks back and some of those appear to be coming along well.
Next year I need to level my garden, too much run off. Plant things away from the wall of my house which is reflecting heat. Have patience. That last one may be a life goal. :)

Stalker like

2010-07-25T00:49:00.002-05:00

When I drive around STL city I get glimpsed of veggie gardens..... I really want to be a stalker and take some pics of them to learn what others in the area do. There is a great looking garden on Shrewsbury by the police station. I think that would go over well.
There is another on Arsenal on the way to Ares I think or its on southwest on the way to Chris's pancakes. I know i walked passed it once going to the respective restaurants. I now have a shit load of freetime at lunch now that the house is on the market and I can't go to the new home during lunch.. walking around in the heat of the day taking photos of strangers gardens seems smart right?

The Punisher

2010-07-20T14:17:00.003-05:00

Not starring Thomas Jane.. but me.. the evil dog mom. Simon and Riley have been running off the property. I never leave them unattended but that doesn't mean something doesn't grab their attention. I really need to work on training them now that we have a new home. We have an underground fence but I don't really want to spend the 500 bucks to get the collars to zap them. I also don't want to zap them.
One route I'm doing is more walks. Simon is doing so well since his injury. He's gotten over his unfortunate incarceration in random parts of our house and has full home freedom much to his pleasure. At random points in the house you can hear elephants as they roughhouse, each of them with their 20 lbs of pure manliness. Outside they don't seem to play but instead explore and get in trouble... We'll I'll show them, I'll take that excessive dog energy and show you where to put it. Its walking time bitches. Riley loathes walks, Simon is game and burns much of his energy just getting his leash on. He leads for the beginning of the walk but after the first block, Riley is in the lead even with his random twirls every ten feet. Simon is my 100 meter boy, Riley is my cross country boy. Slow and steady versus fast and finished early. Unfortunately Riley is on a leash like Phoebe is to running. I'm pretty sure he's trying to kill me and trip everyone.
I also am carrying treats with me more so that there is a reward to their listening which they have no been doing so well. My love is not equal to chasing a bunny.. I rank much lower apparently. Somehow, while I think I'm punishing them with walks and recalls that are rewarded with treats, I'm not so sure they are seeing the down side.

15 days

2010-07-20T11:02:00.003-05:00

2 days Thanksgiving, sometimes we do 3 since the travel can be excessive to get out there (there being Vermont).
2 days Rosh Hashanah
1 day Yom Kippur
At least 2-3 for passover
that is 7-8 days of my 15 days for vacation and sickness
5 days for a trip of fun which I haven't done without family in a long time except the honeymoon. In fact the honeymoon is the only extended trip we have done in our 11 years together without family involved on some end of the trip's location and I don't know if you know this but weddings tend to precede honeymoons and then its family family family....
thats 12-13 days of my vacation, this year my vacation time went to being with my family and supporting my mother during our loss of buby. Apparently me using my time for this doesn't click with everyone. Yes it was my choice but to a good child its not a choice, its what you should do.
Anywho 3 days left, 3 that might go towards jewish holidays, 3 days that might go to being sick because OMG I'm not impenetrable. 3 days for doctor appts. 3 days for house items, 3 days to maybe take off for things like news years eve or attached to a holiday so i don't come to the office for one day when new years or xmas is on a thursday or a tuesday.
That five days I mentioned earlier... I'd like to spend it with my Boo. I'd like to spend it with friends. I may not even get a 5 day plus weekends trip. It may be tagged onto a weekend here or there. We did get to take a 3 day weekend this year and visit a lake house which was awesome except for my poison ivy.
I feel like a spoiled bitch but if "you" want to spend time with me. Try coming in for some holidays where we are all already together with other family. Every year, thanksgiving, we'll be in VT, this is common knowledge. Every year I'll spend Passover with my mom.. so if either halves of our families want to see us, thats when it is. If i ever do passover out here in MO I will not see my dad that year... he won't come for that reason. These family trips are not my idea of fun and I'm just coming out as the spoiled bitch here and I know it. Maybe they are trying to squeeze these trips in before we have a midget or two tagging along, i don't know.. but I have the view that before midgets I'd like to explore with my friends. I'd like to go to Seatle, Old Quebec, the jersey shore and soak in the sun. I'd like Boo's friends to visit us from NY in NJ, I'd like my hounds to be with me. I'm very me centered at the moment, got a problem with it?... me don't care :P

6 lbs and counting

2010-07-17T08:57:00.002-05:00

I've harvested 6 lbs of food for people and iguana ingestion so far this year. I have and earthbox ready to be filled with green beans and a crop i'm trying to save from spider mites which i didn't figure til half was dead.
On the vines, bushes etc I currently have ghost eggplants which i need to figure how big they are supposed to be when picked, regular eggplant, blackberries, greenbeans, a watermelon, lots of decorative squash, pumpkins, roma tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, funky looking tomatos, a few sad looking cucs... major fail on their part this year, tons of male zuc flowers but i need some bitches to get my fruit.
I"ve come to the conclusion that one of 3 raspberry twigs is making it... and thats no for sure, the apricot tree kicked it. Zuchs need to not be planted in raised boxes as they take over. Also i need a better garden. not for lack of trying too much stuff is on a slope and the top stuff is losing water and nutrients. I'd love to build a multi level stone stepped garden on the side of the house but thats something to hire out and something Boo would want to talk about. I bet with some better planning and some extra patience i can also make other items thrive better in the spots around the house but alas, i must give myself some slack. I've only been living here since April 23rd.

Killer in the house

2010-07-07T20:07:00.002-05:00

Not only is the cat killing things I've been killing bugs like a mother f-er. I hooked up the bug zapper... I had no idea there was that much to kill. After one night there was a few solid areas of dead bugs caught in the screen. Fascinating and gross at the same time. Sorta how I roll. Ew spider, then proceed to check spiders out before killing them.
Speaking of grossed out, lets talk foodies. I've run into quite a few foodies in my time...I'm now even more fascinated and grossed out all in one. A few local folks are getting all into pig and using way more parts than this kosher girl can handle. I"m totally grossed out but can't stop checking out all their newest projects. I'm very intrigued by the make it yourself world as you have seen from my crafts and gardening but a lot of what they do is beyond my comprehension but then again I've not eaten from others what they are creating themselves. I've suggested that Boo check their stuff out but he says it just makes him sad with our lack of pork in the house. I think many of their creations would remind him of time in Europe and Asia. I've nibbled the chicken heart in Bejing years ago but he down right devoured them along with deep fried sparrows which I passed on. Lots of the food we had in France last year grossed my shit out...sorta wish these gals could have swapped with me for the day, they truely would have appreciated all that I did not, quail with head attached stuffed with foigras and a side of artichoke stuffed with morels, mussel smoothies, and more and more foigras. I'm so done with all things liver. Jewish style, french, chinese... I think i've tried it enough to call it quits.

She's a killer queen

2010-07-05T11:40:00.003-05:00

Yay, my cat kills bugs, in fact I've found some dead spiders and didn't think twice about why. She did not however kill the spider that took roost in my pj pants lying on my bathroom floor yesterday. Its dead know courtesy of orange left flip flop. I'm thinking sticky mouse trap or the likes in some of our vents to try to catch of of this charlottes because they, like wilbur do not belong in my house :P Speaking of death, goodbye apricot tree.. Not sure if i over watered it or it was too hot.. Apricot trees are known for drowning so who knows... The peach tree is still looking dandy and it was the tree I wanted, i just threw in a friend for good measure.
My garden is looking great but I've only harvested 3 lbs of food thus far. I'm keeping track of their weights. Its all a handful of this and that. My greenbean plants are about to kick it but I"ll put in another batch for the year. In fact I'm looking for where else on the property I can put an assload of them. I love my beans. That and I want to make dilly beans this year. Maybe I'll start to grow some dill at the same time ... would be smart..I'm going to be coming into a lot of tomatos soon but we just aren't there yet. Not a zuc in sight but my neighbor has some. She planted two weeks before me so maybe soon... fingers crossed.

Big Plans, Little Accomplishments

2010-06-30T16:39:00.003-05:00

Boo is off to Tuscany for 9 days... What the F you ask? Its all good, family trips hiking their flab off.. Oh wait, he's the only one with any junk in his trunk and thus is crabby all week cause his folks will critique his weight (which is not heavy at all)
I have big plans people, big plans.. they won't happen at all but I'll lay them out here anyway. I'd like to do some organizing stuff but then I realize the furniture is at the old house so I need to just make do.

Organize craft room. I've been bringing lots of stuff over and it is a shithole.
Work at old house and finish it up, that includes patching and painting, cleaning and weeding, oh my.
Garden...which is mainly adding more dirt to some pots, pulling collards, planting more beans (Garden side note, bought a six pack of cherry tomatoes at local store, COS, only two ended up being cherries...and half of the pack came to work meaning I have one sad cherry plant....big sigh, :P, Two ended up being romas and regular toms and two ended up being some weird ass breed that is prone to butt rot :P )
Read
Drink smoothies for dinner if I so choose
Hook up the white trash bug zapper full time.
Buy skirt hangers and organizing my pile of skirts
Organize cedar chest
Clean out living room
Read
Knit
Watch horror movies
Sleep diagonal in my bed

Fancy Cat

2010-06-22T10:05:00.002-05:00

My cat has the fanciest shitter entry, this side of the Mississippi. We took a vent out of the wall into the furnace room so that she could access her litter box but we wouldn't have to worry about dogs. I decided to frame it so it wasn't just rough drywall. Riley then learned to enter and get kitty poop treats. He's not smart enough to understand fabric curtains so thats why the fabric has been added. (notice mr. innocent in the back)

Mildew approves.... which is great since she disapproves most things being that she is a cat and they are never happy.

New Desk

2010-06-16T21:56:00.003-05:00

Isn't this desk awesome!
It would be a great craft desk and its orange.
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one problem
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I'm not two feet tall.

That one time....

2010-06-16T12:52:00.002-05:00

Did I ever tell you about that afternoon I was going to stop eating so I could be skinnier like all the other cross country girls? It was a thursday and dangit I wanted to lose weight in the only way an after school special could teach me, I'd stop eating. Thursdays were Buby day and she made her spaghetti and meatballs. I said I wasn't hungry. I lasted an hour once they were out. Dang, I should have become ani on a Friday.. maybe it would have stuck more than a few hours.
And this is what I tell you after not blogging very much. You're welcome folks, half ass stories about half assed eating disorders that never were.

I love my house

2010-05-27T13:43:00.003-05:00

Can I tell you how much i love the new house? I do. I look forward to going there every day after work. I look forward to walking the grounds as I call it when I water my plants that are freaking everywhere. Work has been batshit crazy but soon as I get home I forget I even have somewhere to be the next day.
Simon really likes it too. He owns the place.
This week I've replaced the workings of a toilet, twice cause why do it right the first time and set up our guest bath. Our AC had issues and unfortunately is only working at 75% of what it should be doing. It was originally not doing anything and sleeping in a 91 degree bedroom was not my idea of fun. Our second unit is working just fine and dandy. I can make my kitchen an ice rink if I choose but that would not be the adult smart thing to do.
Simon's leg has been improving. We've lowered his pain meds and removed the leg brace cause he got a blister. Now the key is him leaving the scab alone. If not, the cone of shame is going on. CONE OF SHAME! Do you hear me Simon? No? Well, leave the damn leg alone.
Garden is doing well. I have photos on flickr from last Saturday but they are so not what the garden looks like any longer. I ate green beans off the bush this week (I grow a bush variety instead of vine) I've seen a few zuch flowers, and my mysterious berry bramble appears to be raspberries which makes me do the dance of joy. This weekend J dawg is in town. Sunday night we are grilling and kara is baking. Besides that its up to the boys. I plan to play in dirt per usual and knit some as well as hit up a few yard sales. We bought a set of nice patio furniture but I need to find something to revamp for the front porch. I was digging this green revamp but maybe with a purple cushion but it all depends on what I find, if anything.

Doggies' New Bling

2010-05-17T20:47:00.003-05:00

Simon wants you to know he's sad...

cause he got a new tag from etsy
riley on the other hand says "hello i has a tag and people keep petting me on the head"
and if you can't read it cause its tiny on his tiny head, it says hello my name is stupid.
I am a horrible, horrible mom.. all their real info is on the back.

Its not a problem..

2010-05-07T10:14:00.009-05:00

I'd do the math but i suck at it. I have a lot of planting done at the new place ignoring blueberry bushes and fruit trees. We have .37 acres with one hell of a hill out back. Lots of items have room to sprawl if they so choose to take including squash, watermelon and cantaloupe. Also I do have a bit of vertical growing including raspberries, strawberries, cucumbers and peas.

My biggest plots are 3'x3' raised boxes and the 10 ft x 1 foot row behind them that will home asparagus. Everything else is random pots and the fabric pots that I loved last year. I have 5 of the potato growbags (18"x18") , 3 tomato growbags and 3 (12"x24") herb bags (which don't look like the picture and I am hesitant of) that i'm trying non salad items in. Approximately 12-15 12"x12" pots and plantings around the property. I also have random plantings of watermelon, zucchini etc. If i ran into extra plants I just shoved them in a hole on the edges of the property. I have little faith in some of my experiments but doesn't hurt to try anyway. I also have some plantings in my flower gardens of edible items or just decorative (at least in the beginning) like rhubarb.

I've seen flowers on my new peppers but usually the first run of flowers just fall off. My beans that I started from seeds are starting to flower too. I hope to have enough to make a few jars of dilly beans this year.
* i can't write for shit in this post

Injured Simon

2010-04-30T23:14:00.003-05:00

So last thursday I went down the stairs in the morning to let the dogs out but forgot that two days earlier we moved our shelving unit that held the key. I went back up the stairs and Simon, excited as usual followed, then whipped back around when i went down the stairs. He miss stepped and fell. His ankle swelled and but he didn't appear to be in pain from the touch, he wasn't stepping on his foot though. We figured it was a sprain and waiting for it to get better. Here we are a week later and he's only starting to put the foot down. His spirits have been high but we decided it was time to see the vet. The young lady who saw us said the way he was moving she thought it was a torn acl. She xrayed to check it wasn't something else and to see if it was the acl which is only viewable a teeny amount. She said the xray didn't show it but three other drs checked him out and concluded it is torn or partially torn. She suggested surgery but didn't push it. We looked like two kids in zombie t-shirts who can't afford mcdonalds. We have a surgery consult on Tuesday. Its so hard to decide what to the do. The internet tells you all sides and who knows which is best. I know one thing, agility has no more decisions to be made. We're done. Our decisions are not financially based for the surgery it is simply what is best for the dog. I had started to think about putting Simon on some gluecosamine a few months back. I wish I had. It would have helped prevent this although probably not a 100% bet. He will be on it now, he has some signs of arthritis, as do we all :) He's turning 9. Yes, he's getting older but I still think we have a good 3 years out of him pending major issues. I can't believe its gone past so quickly.

Agility Event Results

2010-04-18T09:10:00.002-05:00

We rocked the house.... it was a great venue, it wasn't hot and you could hear the spectators which felt great as they all gasped in pleasure as I turned simon off of doing a wrong turn in his last event. He was about to do a wrong jump but with my call his did this great arch towards me and chose the right jump.
Usually by the end of a show its hotter than fuck and I know Simon won't complete his course right because he's just so pooped. It helped that the door right by where we wait to go in was open and we could sneak out for some grass and breeze mojo before we ran.This show went longer cause there was only one ring instead of two but Simon was bright eyed and bushy tailed at 4:30 when he completed his last leg of Novice Jumpers with Weaves... yes I know, I just sound like Charlie Brown's teacher when I talk agility. We got first in the Open Standard run and second in the Novice Jumpers with Weaves and finished our Novice legs for Jumpers with Weaves...another words, we did great and were very pleased.

The Jersey Shore

2010-04-14T22:23:00.002-05:00

Not that crappy one on MTV.....
During spring in STL the fan comes out of the basement for enjoyment in the evenings. Its not quite AC weather yet and frankly we don't want to pay the bill sooner than we need. Every year when the fan comes out I become nostalgic for the Jersey shore. Growing up that was the only place I can recall needing a fan. Whenever I hear the soft whisper of the fan I listen for the sound of the ocean in the background. I always come up short seeing as I'm in the middle of the US. A week ago when I was breaking Passover on my front porch of the new house a breeze came through that threw me back to the shore. It was nice cool evening breeze on the stonework of the porch. I don't miss the east coast and I love STL but there are times when I miss the ocean. Of course I forget about sand in my shorts, stepping on seashells, and the lack of people my age by a good 40 years. Boo and I went back a few years ago, it was, as most things, the not same. I'm sure the hurricane that came through probably didn't help. I still would like to return to my grandparents home there even though they are no longer at it. Its a family place and quite a nice perk seeing as I'm 1000 miles away and don't have to maintain it. Its apparently changed alot in the last few years but there are parts that always stay the same, the lighthouse, the water sound and the cool evening wind.

What about those who I've known Whose memory still lives inside of me.

2010-03-31T00:01:00.003-05:00

Passover Seders have come and gone, really they may have been the most enjoyable in years. My aunt was a nightmare when they finally showed up tonight but we ignored her. If you are worried about leaving so late to go home try showing up earlier. Lots of Buby stories and moments of awkward silence but we all felt a lot closer this year. I think it was a last hurrah. Mom said that a lot about Seder tonight. She wanted it to be perfect and make her mom proud, but its always perfect and every year buby was so proud of mom just as mom is now proud of me that I can make a seder meal with my eyes closed.
While mom napped today (we were both pooped) I put in Boo's cd he created in honor of Buby, Eighteen while setting the table. Perhaps while its a great cd to bring out emotions listening to it during an emotional time wasn't wisest. (BTW this song is great in general). I sat in Buby's spot today. My reading hebrew skills are only a touch above her zero reading skills.
We talk of Seder being at my home next year and we'll see how it goes. Mom started passover at her home when her mother was 57. My mother is 56, kinda crazy. I think mom is hesitant because its the rare times she sees her brother. If she starts coming to me for high holidays and passover she won't see him at all. Sure he says he'll come to be but he can't make it to this house til 7 pm, i don't see him flying to STL. I chose to move to STL. Sometimes I'll have less family around, they are responsible for seeing me who left the good old PA.
As we age there is a time that you become the matriarch of the family and see your kids more and your siblings less. I think my mom will be good at being old, she's been acting it for years. (seriously, I have friends older than my mother that are way more youthful) But with buby gone I know thats whats crossing her mind, she doesn't want to be the older generation. Especially as we were raised that once you pass, its over, getting closer to that is all the more scary. (BTW thatnks mom for raising me that way, i hate it)
I hesitate holding Passover because I think I definitely won't see some family members. There is the other side though that if I held it even without them it would be so much more enjoyable for others. They'd have to dedicate themselves to visiting and not working if they did come. I know thats a big if. But it would calm mom too. She let me do passover this year. Its interesting how much more particular I am than her about stuff. I'm young and new at it I supose. Its like going to services, she did it for us kids forever once we grew up her attendance lessened. I'm sure when I have kids I'll do things with more vigor while they are young and lose all the energy toward it after I've dealt with teenagers. Mom also thinks Dad won't come to STL for Passover. While I don't spend much time with him here that would bug me. Its like if I'm in PA at least we get a half assed attempt but sometimes not seeing the half assed attempt might be better. Dunno. I'm rambling. I know if I had seder it would be great. Even if only one blood relative family member there was my mom I know I have friends who'd come and take part in our traditions even if they aren't their beliefs. I know in STL with no blood relatives my family runs strong and that family takes me as I am, crazy mother included.

She's getting crafty

2010-03-24T13:14:00.003-05:00

Thank you everyone for the kind words, cards and emails, the later two still being words. Right before I flew back to PA if finished this little guy for a coworker who's about to hatch. I think her husband may be more excited than her but she's excited about the baby hat that went with it.

I've also been weaving because I need more hobbies like a hole in the head. I'm pretty darn pleased with my results although the few test projects before had some choice words :)

I'm off to PA for passover. I told mom I'd make Seder considering this years events. Hopefully she can release her stress and let me do it. It what I've been trained to do and frankly I can do it. Heck I did it on my own when I was 14 and did it again a few years back. I don't work well with her but on my own I can do it. Next year apparently we'll celebrate in St. Louis so get your tickets now for the turkey and seder of the century :) When your blood relatives lack hopefully your friend famibly can join in the fun. I will totally have an adult afikomen hunt.

Buby 2-13-27 to 3-4-10

2010-03-04T22:09:00.003-06:00

My mother asked me to speak at Buby's upcoming funeral. I doubt I'll be able but below is what I have written. It will be interesting to see who comes. She has touched so many but she has also outlived the rest of her generation including her brother Aaron and twin brother Honey.

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Once upon a time, shortly after I graduated from college, I gave Buby a memory book filled with hand-drawn illustrations by Zayda, and memories I have of her. I wanted her to know how much I loved her; I wanted to let her know how I would always remember her. I don't recall precisely what is in that book now, as memories change and fade, and new memories have been made, both bitter and sweet.

Who brings their grandmothers to college with them, and takes them traipsing through a large historical park with their professors? Me, thats who. I remember the day she stayed at my apartment while I was in class and made me and my boyfriend, now husband her special recipe of spaghetti and meatball sauce. I remember I later found out that she folded and reorganized all my clothing drawers much to my chagrin — Bubies shouldn’t have to fold their grown grandaughter’s underwear. Buby has been to each of my homes and apartments in my life. Each time she visited I felt that it was my turn to spoil her: she had already spoiled us for so long. It was time to make her the special one, to let her have 8 days of hannukah gifts, to let her have fondue that would probably send her sugar through the roof.

Everyone will have different memories of Buby. But let's talk about the memories everyone no doubt shares — The sweetness, the gushing. Buby made every child she met feel loved and special. Not just her own children and grandchildren, but every one she meets. She was Buby to all. None of my childhood friends called her Shirley or Mrs. Wagner, she was simply Buby, even to my professors.

Some people mourn about the relationships they never had with the departed. Today, we mourn the loss of one of the greatest relationships we’ve had. Buby would do anything within her power for anyone. I can now picture her arthritic hands peeling sweet potatoes for Passover, or placing her rummy tiles carefully on her dining table, or donating her time balancing books for Ort. And who can forget: her most important and cherished annual task — creating the dessert plate for Passover.

The sweetness that was Buby includes the love and the spoils she poured upon us when we visited every Thursday. She would have Tastykakes, Entemann's and Pepperidge Farm cakes, either the vanilla cake with chocolate icing or coconut icing, usually defrosted by the time we finished a hand or two of rummy tile.

During Yom Kippur we would celebrate both my cousin Matt’s birthday and my own at the end of our fast. One year while we fasted, someone decided to eat our birthday cake. When we pulled out the cake for celebration, we discovered ants were crawling all over the cake — they just couldn’t fast for 24 hours or 27 hours depending on the synagogue and the rabbi. Buby was so upset and thought she let us down, but the rest of us just laughed so hard.

This is a somber event but I can’t help but think that there is nothing Buby loved more than to laugh with her family. We’re Jewish after all, and humor is in our blood.

Every Pesach was filled with laughter and was the holiday that brought the Wagner and Tobias family together. I can remember Buby now: with whatever magnifying glasses she could find at mom’s house, reading the English parts with the family. Singing Hadgayah in a single breath was not her strong suit, but she always finished the song laughing. Ultimately, we will certainly not only remember Buby with lots of tears, but, most of all, we will remember Buby with lots of laughter.

When Zayda passed away, a 6 year old girl slept between her mother and her Buby and she complained that she felt like squooshed matzah. Today, that’s how my heart feels. I’ve got a squooshed heart, Buby, you will always be very special to me, and I love you very, very much.

Pepperidge Farm

2010-03-01T21:54:00.002-06:00

Once upon a time when I finished college I made my Buby a memory book filled with illustrations her husband made and memories I have of her. I wanted her to know how much I loved her and would always remember her as. I have no idea what is in that book now as memories change and fade and new memories have been made, both good and bad. Hell, who brings their grandmother to college with them and takes them traipsing through tower grove park with their professors? Me, thats who. And the day I didn't bring her to school she stayed at my home and made me and my boyfriend (now husband) her special spaghetti and meatball sauce and later i found out folded and reorganzing all my clothing drawers. Luckily there was no guilty items in the underwear drawer as there was no guilty activities at the moment.
Buby is currently have issues drinking water and has to have a thickener in it. Gross right? Jello water. This girl hate jello and buby used to try to give it to use for dessert with fruit in it. If she really loved me she'd give me tasty cakes, oh wait she did! Also entemann's and pepperidge farm cakes. That was the real decadent dessert, either the vanilla cake with chocolate icing or the vanilla cake with coconut icing. Thursdays were Buby days and they were the days we got soda, meat, and dessert, all things not often in our diet unless you count hot dogs for meat. Every Thursday we went. My brother later stopped going but mom and I always went. All other plans were on hold for our regular thursdays. We'd play canasta, rummy tile etc. I kick ass in rummy tile if your granma needs a friend.
Right now I'm imagining the taste of those pepperidge farm cakes and how they'd be a tribute to my buby if i ate them after she passes. I'd cry all the way through but they were just one way I knew that she loved us and we were oh so special to her because she's a buby, and spoiling us rotten was her gift. I grew up not being anyone's bestest friend or favorite person but I was hers and I know it and am damn lucky for it and lucky that I know i had all that while she was still sharp as a tack (more so than my mother is now) and pretty good as a rummy tile player. I still kicked her ass though and no, she didn't let me win...

Taters

2010-02-28T10:46:00.002-06:00

Last summer I planted fingerling potatoes. They were great they grew fast and I ever replanted some and got a second round. After the first round my sweet potato tubers were ready for planting so I planted them. Vines and vines and vines grew. I even dug them up at some point to find mini taters. Not enough for my promise of taters for kara who grew my tubers. Well apparently i didn't wait long enough. Today I picked up a pot of them and went through it. Hey apparently it was a success but of course they weren't ready til i was not thinking garden any more. I planted these tubers all over the damn place so I'm sure we'll be finding rotten crop for a while.
Here is the one pot i found. They are all rotten but not a bad crop. I love my fabric pots. I plan to use lots of these next year. Especially for my tomatoes, peppers and taters. I do need to learn how to store them because i recall us on a rush to eat them before they went bad last year.

I've been missing

2010-02-26T21:24:00.002-06:00

Busy with home stuff, work etc. Also dealing with family matters. At this moment I'm so angry I know i shouldn't blog but I am. Buby is not going to be with us long. When my parents visited recently i talked to my dad about shiva and how I thought it was unhealthy for mom and us for it to be at buby's house. Now he's gone back and said it should be done there cause it would make him uncomfortable at his house. Well fuck me and call me sally. Wouldn't want that. What about my mother, what about me? Guess I am also being selfish because I do not want to stay at Buby's house when we do shiva. I think it will make it so much harder and put a ton of pressure on mom to clear it out in 24 hours of medical stuff that is in the dining room currently. Talking to mom she says it won't be there anyway cause insurance gets it returned immediately or it cost an assload more. I've recently learned that her hospital bed is being exchanged for a hospice bed which I did not know was different.
My dad and I have had a strained relationship in life. I've gotten over lots of stuff and moved on but I'm feeling a big ole wall creeping up at alarming rates. I want to hit things, throw things, punch things. Maybe after buby passes and we go through all of this I'll heal and forgive again. I worry about becoming my mom, i never worry about becoming my dad because i find him to be unobtainable. I never feel like he has a conscious. I'm dead to him unless I'm in front of him and its the way its always been. Seeking out his attention, his love etc but getting nothing in response. When i dropped them off at the airport i told him I loved him and he said it back. That makes time 3 in my life and always i must be the first. The first was when I wanted to take my own life years ago. Ridiculousness. I'm so torn also because around me so many lose their family members and I can't be happy with my robot. I look at both side of this situation and my feelings but i can't help it. I'm still angry. Issues, i guess we all have them.

And we're off

2010-01-31T02:31:00.003-06:00

We are officially looking for a new home. I started this blog or a semblance of it when I bought the first home 5 years ago. I loved updating the repairs and woes of course. We haven't visited things in person yet but the few contenders on the top of list all have their things.
#1 Kirkwood home, lots of flair, possible huge slope backyard which wouldn't jive with me gardening, house and children falling all the way down. Perhaps I could get some landscape advice pre purchases I have a bunch of landscape folks available to me.
#2 Webster. Weird access to backyard, from the house you pass the drive and then get to the gate to let your dogs out. I'd rather have 3 sides of fence than that. There are a mighty lot of trees that would be a bitch to get Webster to agree to get them down Fun possibility. They have an addition with a flat roof. Would Boo go for a greenroof? If anything I can try him out on the tray system verus the whole big deal with did at work. I imagine it wouldn't so much work for my gardening but who knows.. we can explore. Also that addition could also always get a second floor if we needed more space for our 1 invisible kid and the questionable follow up. Shoot I wouldn't mind being jewish jospheine baker but other half might not be so pro. My only strong feels is girls need sisters. But that may just me response to not having one. My perfect idea family would have two girls and a boy. My perfect family though would also be rich, have a great mixed set of friend for the kids and they'd really dig my religion ever with its lack of marketing and fun appeal.
Everything else doesn't seem like it needs mentioning, There are a few others in both locations. We shall see how it goes and how long it takes. I have my veggie bags so things may get relocated at some point cause you know me and my veggies. I want to be the farmer wife with the urban edge. Instead I'll just describe myself as handy with all and enough hobbies and craft to fill a life time.

Success!

2010-01-25T13:25:00.001-06:00

How'll they'll taste we'll see... but there are greenbeans growing in my den successfully.

Crazy is...as Crazy says...

2010-01-24T22:20:00.003-06:00

Tonight mom called. I didn't really want to talk but she's lonely and having Buby stress which is standard especially with our elders getting older and things worsening as they tend to do. Apparently Buby has a new helper and she is a good cook so Buby is eating again, her other two helpers were poor cooks.
Mom told me that the ladies keep wanting Mom to go to their strip shows that they have to raise money for this or that. They also keep trying to show her pics of said shows. Yes, please show my mother pics of men and their junk... Mom is going to a baby shower for one lady's 17 year old daughter's baby and is worried there will be a stripper. Good lord. Have you all spewed soda on the screen yet. Sure, I'm not in touch with my inner city Philadephia old lady aides but I'd like to say that there will not be a nekkid black man at a baby shower for a 17 year old girl. If I'm wrong well, I'll eat some bacon and say three hail marys.
She also wanted to talk to me about CSI and people having latex caulk parties where they inject their lips. First off, CSI, not real... if so we'd solve every damn crime, second, if there are idjusts injecting caulk in their body all willy nilly it might be good to thin the herd, three I think she meant botox parties using something that wasn't botox. If anyone sends me an invite for a Latex Caulk Party, I'm going to hope that we're going to refinish their tub or that maybe they party with Buby's helpers and can't spell for shit.

And a Jay Z song was on

2010-01-19T12:01:00.002-06:00

I'm so embarrassed... I decided to buy some music....I threw caution to the wind and bought a few songs I liked...and one is Miley Cyrus. I'm sorry, can't stand the personality but I like the song. Its alright, you can stop talking to me now...the last set of music I bought was Flo Rider and Gaga, no Lady, ladies don't dress like her :P
Purchased music...
Party in the USA- Miley Cyrus
I Wish - Skee Lo
TikTok- Kei$ha
Blah Blah Blah - Kei$ha
Empire State of Mind - Jay Z
Country Girl -DF Dub
If you need me I'll be under my desk with my headphones...

Well its been a year...

2010-01-18T10:37:00.003-06:00

Last year I learned how to crochet on MLK day. The goal was to make cat beds as my part of public service because animals are part of our community and they help those that adopt them. Well some pets do, some are clingy psycopaths. My animals help therapize me although I'd like a snooze button on Riley. So here it is a year later. I have made 4 cat beds, two round disk ones and two flat blankets. Its not an astronomical accomplish by any means but its something, a little something.

The yearly knitting / crochet wrap up.

2010-01-12T20:36:00.005-06:00

Sure seems like I made a lot more this year.. oh wait, no wedding to make 500 flowers for. This year also has some crocheting included. Two cat beds made for charity are not included since I don't have pics of them.

1. P1040055, 2. P1040052, 3. PC110002, 4. Crochet hat in 1 evening, 5. 057, 6. 052, 7. PA150047, 8. Gehaekelte Topflappen, 9. Baby Chucks, 10. Shedir , 11. JDawg's Blanket - EZ Garterstitch Blanket - Jiffy Thick and Quick Yarn, 12. Gehaekelte Topflappen, 13. Clapotis for MaMa, 14. Cat Bed for Donation, 15. Snowboarder hat on me, 16. February Lady Sweater, 17. Photo 7, 18. IMG_2218
Not included in the mosaic cause I forgot Chickadee Cowl not in the round.

The most recent creations were holiday gifts. For Kim i made two Gehaekelte Topflappen which was crocheting project. Last year she gave me a crochet book to learn how. I think i can considered myself learned.

Then there was the secret project for Boo, socks in his favorite soccer team's (Roma) colors.

A new view...

2010-01-08T17:06:00.003-06:00

I recently found that 3 of my coworkers have not read a book since college. I was completely shocked and learned I totally assumed people read after schooling or at least those who have gone to higher learning academies. Sure I may take a break from reading here and there but I assume that most people read at some point in a year. Maybe they've had a book on a night table for 6 months, maybe they have a book waiting to be read on some vacation etc but apparently this isn't true. I don't know why but this totally baffles me. I'm a daughter of a teacher who also used to volunteer at the library. Heck I used to volunteer at the library. Of course I was the good kid there on my own while other kids where there to serve to community service time for crimes unknown, I totally should have been corrupted but I'm too hard headed to be corrupted. I think my hard head is good at times but I probably should have had a more carefree time in my youth. Not much to say but I am just baffled by the zero reading people and am shocked at my own ignorance.

Different Goals

2009-12-30T11:04:00.002-06:00

Become a better person, nah. Clean more, nah... how about some tangible new years goals.

Finish Orangina Sweater
Make a needlebook.
Embroider a cardigan.
Buy a new house.
Get a new knitbag or switch over to bag kara made me that i use as a purse and stick with it.
Get/Make a bowling shoes bag.
Get a Nook cover so I don't abuse it like I abuse all other things with screens.

My VT Xmas 2009

2009-12-29T16:45:00.005-06:00

It started with a 27 lb roast pig in the trunk when we were picked up at the airport. I hear it was fantastic.. I passed on that dining choice.

I got attacked by a rooster 4 times in two days. I have some impressive bruises. I also hear that after the second day he got the crap beaten out of him for attacking his owner and Boo.

We petted furry cows (this one was the one i bottle fed last year)

We got cow kisses. She likes to lick the ones she likes. I guess most people do.

We abused the cow. Kara said too take pics of the hat she made me with the furry cows, I don't think this is what she meant.

We played with the border collie named Bear. He might have less going on upstairs than Riley. I loved him.

We stalked and killed a Christmas tree. I also decorated two, count them 2 trees.

We played with a kitten.

We got awesome gifts. I got a Nook, a few towels, a kosher cookbook and a some other goodies.

And thats xmas 2009, not bad for a jew right?

better late than never

2009-12-28T08:34:00.003-06:00

Crafting

2009-12-14T12:47:00.003-06:00

Been doing alot of blogging in my head. It never seems to make it on here and when I do sit down its usually quick and bland. Today's blandness is the sweater clips I made. Unfortunately I used hot glue which i never ever use and it totally kicked me in the ass. Perhaps finishing at 12:18 am when i needed to gift it the next morning was part of the problem. Also running out of E6000 didn't help. Me running out of that is like Boo running out of rice. The gift was obtained broken. I fixed it but I think it wasn't all that exciting of a gift. Luckily i gifted it with a pretty kick ass book so all is good. I've been doing a few more polymer things that are on my flickr site. I'm just not a huge fan of it. I love good ole messy clay but it breaks so easily that it doesn't work either. I've also got paper clay but that doesn't flow as well as the paper tends to get some clumping tendancies and you can't just slap a little extra on as you can with clay-clay. Anyway I forsee the clay being put away from another 10 years. Might do a few more sea creatures before I do but as far as stitch markers I'm probably done. When I have a barbie loving kid i might make more miniatures but otherwise I feel a bit underwhelmed. I do like this squid octopus thing i made as well as a few other things I can't show yet but as for teenie tiny, not so much.

Torn

2009-12-05T09:45:00.002-06:00

I bitch and moan about my concerns for adoption at knitting a lot. But alas, I haven't felt resolved yet. I understand the long wait, I understand all the work. I have heard through the grapevine my depression will not effect the application to China if I have a dr's note but I want to hear it straight from the agency. I also need to stop worrying about this now. We have to move before we even start the process but this issue weighs on me heavily. We received our packet this week. The application process is not quick so why not start reviewing it. There are so many big steps before send off our application but I can't help but harp on this one detail. I think the pregnancy of a coworker has brought the child issues up. I had hoped it wouldn't but alas it has. Although with a 3-5 year wait after the application and all that goes with it does make it difference. I'm not looking for having a child now but in a few years, yes, it might be time. I am also waiting on Boo to get the motivation for all this. Perhaps I should harp like i do for other things in the past but for this I do not want to take that route. He knows I'm waiting on his motivation for moving and really that is our first step for this process.

Mister Moore I presume...

2009-12-03T09:12:00.003-06:00

I waited forever to read Christopher Moore's newest book Fool. I'm in the midst of reading it now and am at times a tad lost with characters trying to be sly while using old english, or the likes. It might just be the pre sleep reading that is the problem. None-the-less I snort when I read it and show lines to Boo who has already read it. Christopher Moore is pee your pants funny in my humble opinion. Fool is a lot more sexual than his other books but apparently that all the day of King Lear folks did.
Oddly with my love of Moore I have never read his books more than once. Might be time to give it a whirl. My favorites are Lamb (The story of Biff, BFF of Jesus) and A Dirty Job which does not have Mike Rowe in it, sadly. Boo's favorite is Fluke. I'm thinking that might be one to try again seeing as he loved it so and I barely remember it.
If you are looking for light reading Moore is the way to go, its funny and light and although there are characters that float around in other books knowing or not knowing this doesn't seem to matter. Its more of a fun, aha moment when they reappear.

I upped and quit...

2009-11-24T22:32:00.001-06:00

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.

2009-11-18T22:18:00.003-06:00

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

2009-11-17T12:28:00.002-06:00

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

2009-11-16T22:07:00.002-06:00

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...

2009-11-15T22:36:00.002-06:00

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.

2009-11-14T23:02:00.001-06:00

A new state of stupid

2009-11-13T21:20:00.002-06:00

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

2009-11-12T21:52:00.003-06:00

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

2009-11-12T12:46:00.000-06:00

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

2009-11-10T09:32:00.005-06:00

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.

2009-11-09T17:10:00.001-06:00

5 good things

2009-11-08T19:33:00.002-06:00

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:

Awesome weather
Boo helping in garden and at home depot.
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.
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.
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.

2009-11-07T21:54:00.003-06:00

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

2009-11-06T16:14:00.002-06:00

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....

2009-11-05T15:49:00.002-06:00

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

2009-11-04T21:09:00.002-06:00

Crabby Patty, aisle 1....

2009-11-03T20:28:00.002-06:00

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.

2009-11-02T20:03:00.003-06:00

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:

Plan a year in advance if you want to be creative.
When trying to understand origami instructions, my IQ drops to about 50.
It takes 5 hours to do what the guy in the video does in 5 minutes.
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?
expensive orgami paper is wrapping paper. I should have figured that out before opening the packages. LOL
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!

2009-11-01T22:17:00.004-06:00

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.

Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T15:47:00.002-05:00

Keeping up with those Christmas folks....

2009-10-29T15:32:00.002-05:00

No, really, I don't need this. Thanks though...

Winter comes, styles go

2009-10-25T22:35:00.005-05:00

My first attempt at dealing with this was getting rid of crummy sweaters and replacing them with fleece isn't quite a step but they get me to get rid of my old, they pill less and might even keep me warmer. I feel so blah in the winter and its cause I'm trying to stay warm and everything starts to look dowdy.
I also took the step to remove the small shirts i won't wear because a) my breasts pop the buttons and b)I don't want to look like coworker i don't like.
I need to get new button downs and new black and gray pants that fit nicely. I don't want to be pure jean girl. If i had my way there would be some plaid slacks in there but that would be a pain to find and hurt others ;) Frankly my nicer sweaters are not even containing wool so I'm not warm. stardard outfit, t, sweater, scarf, all day long.
I need to lose 5 lbs by the holiday season. jeans and undies are getting tight, is it shrunkeness or new bodonakdonkness.
So heres the deal. I want five lbs to be found around my mid section gone.. I started with the crunches and need to continue into something else. Biking in my basement, working on my basement, walking to and fro to work, workout dvd, etc. I am i woman of some control so I need to aim for a monitary price that will help the winter clothing blues. I'm thinking boots with a heal, my blacks are meh, browns are a bitch to walk in and I'd like a new skirt to go with it. perhaps a cream, brown orange plaid skirt or if the gods are nice, with a built in slip. May have to peruse the world on etsy and i did get mall clothes I really liked before the wedding. I also need a new jean skirt, one to be bought after weight loss.
Case and point, if there gets it together she is getting some ridiculous boots so that when the color in the winter go and we all feel drab, i can still kick ass and feel sexy doing it. Now to stop looking at boots that fit in gogo categories. I'm also going to start a money pot for working out. Not sure the rates but it will me the hopeful weight loss purchase less painful. And if i don't do it by xmas, it becomes charity money instead...

Skeeved out

2009-10-20T19:17:00.001-05:00

So I considered taking a kick boxing class, emphasis on considered..... I went to try it out tonight. First off, its too expensive.... just is.. their cheapest option had me putting out 300 bucks flat out for 3 months and I just don't know if I'm that into it. I like hitting stuff but I lack coordination. I know i have a romanticized view of some exercises thanks to chubby author Charlene Harris. The way she describes her characters when they run or exercise or clean makes me want to do all of them...possibly i should realize she probably hasn't run or kickboxed ever but damn does she make me want to do them. They are all so peaceful and soul cleansing. What they don't mention is that although these are soul cleansing and I was once okay with floor mats the idea of barefoot walking on a mat skeeves my shit out. I came home, left all goods in the car and walked right into the shower.... I'd make my bug fearing friends proud. I'm a tough girl and except for mice, I don't squirm easily.. apparently now we know I do.. floor mats, feet, ick. I knew i didn't like feet but I don't run into them often.. tonight I did... it grossed me out...

email from mom

2009-10-20T09:13:00.004-05:00

Email Title:How was you annivesary dinner.
Email Subject: I purposely didn't call because Boo told me you were going out.

are you f-ing kidding me.. why in all that is holy would my mom call me on my anniversary to ask about said anniversary evening... I didn't marry her. This is also the woman I keep tweeting about that is making some mysterious gift that must be for our anniversary that is of some craft she hasn't done in 20 years and she wanted to know my living room and bedroom colors. Our options are, latch hook rug, crochet, stained glass, cross stitch. I am frightened. I'm hoping she starts doing stained glass again and gives us the owls she uses to make but alas, i don't see why it is only good for anniversary and not other holidays since she said it will be delayed due to technical difficulty but cannot be given for a holiday. If there is a heart involved i might mother fucking die.. like a cross stitch heart or a crochet heart.. People! My mother wearing yellow crocks to work! I can't handle the suspense of her getting crafty.

Post Stealing.

2009-10-13T08:52:00.002-05:00

I have nothing creative to say. I'm so overwhelmed with the awesome that was last week that I'm gonna let kara post and I'll just add my tidbits of commentary.

Last Wednesday was BFFF Mindy’s birthday (Best Fucking Friends Forever...in case you didn't get the reference), so naturally we drew the celebration out until yesterday.

Since Wednesday night was knit night, I baked a peach crisp to bring in. One of the other regulars also brought in some fabulous brownies. Both were fantastic. I'm picky about brownies. Not big into cakey texture more chewy, these were chewing and fab.

We knit and ate and chatted and generally had a good time – just like any other Wednesday. I also got some awesome gifts which if i didn't suck I'd have photos of. The big exciting one was a skeleton nutcracker that then sent me back to remembering how bitter i was seeing my non jewish cousin's new nutcrackers each year. I wanted to crack some nuts too :P

Friday found us headed out to Pappy’s Smokehouse to try it out for the first time. The beef brisket was fabulous, baked beans delicious, and sweet potato fries divine. The bbq sauces I slathered on my food were pretty tasty, too. I however was not a fan because black pepper makes me cry and my beef brisket was covered in it.

I even tried a bit of Mindy’s smoked sausage and will definitely get that next time.
After dinner & bowling (which I did not participate in due to some serious shoulder pain), I however got a 78, 78, and 80. Laugh as you may, i was happy. we headed to Ted Drewes to get J-Dawg his fix. I had the Great Pumpkin concrete for the first time ever, and the addition of peanut butter cups as suggested by Mindy made it fantastic. can't spell awesome without me in it..

Saturday, I headed out to Eckert’s with Mindy & her husband to do a little apple picking. I have lived in the St Louis area my entire life and this is the first time I went out there. We picked apples, ate apples, lunched at the cafe, hit the country store, then picked up some decorative pumpkins.
Other than inadvertently getting separated on the ride back (I did at least get on the same tractor), it was a good time. Now I have about 8 billion apples that I need to do something with.

Saturday night (after a brief nap), the official dinner party started at Chinese Express. It’s an unassuming little place in a small strip mall where you would not expect to get great food.

You would be wrong.

We did have a special weapon in the form of Mindy’s husband that got us the authentic Chinese food, although even the on menu items from here are better than your typical restaurant.

There was so much food. So much. Including the infamous Crack Rice.

I can’t tell you how yummy it all was. We all left stuffed full and I was not hungry until around noon on Sunday. Hell for me it was almost a full day later but i ate a lot......

After dinner, a few of us headed on to the Galleria to catch a showing of Zombieland. While it was an enjoyable movie, I can not really handle the zombie flicks because they are too anxiety inducing. Even in the non-zombie scenes I expected one to pop up and it freaked me out. It was so fucking awesome and funny and had good typography for you graphic designers out there. The intro as with Watchmen and Wolverine was fantastic. Its that slow mo action thing... and who doesn't love a stripper zombie with pasties and boobs to her belly button...Jesse Eisenberg playing not Michael Cera was pretty darn good.

As always, more pictures on flickr here (note that this years party pics are at the bottom of the screen) and here (the St Louis stuff set that includes apple picking pics) Poster Stealer out....

who's the zombie killer of the week

2009-09-30T16:56:00.003-05:00

...me of course.... Okay next week I am..
Ye' ole birthday is next week and I'm celebrating kara style.. and by kara style i mean all week instead of just one day. I'm hoping to get everything from Craftostrophe.com :P Especially the mother earth birthing pendant... its just so beautiful I tear up inside... while she is tearing up too but different pronunciation....
First its sukkot ,so I'll have my sukkah up which makes me happy.
Monday is physical therapy, not so much celebration but I do get a massage out of it and the only ultrasound I'd ever want. I supose I did have one for the Boob Scare of 07 too but that was a tad stressful too, this one is not, just gooey.
Tuesday is massage with friend S.
Wednesday is haircut and knitting, rumors of pie are in the air...
Thursday is my day of rest, its like a presabbath.
Friday JDawg comes in and we bowl and drink at Flamingo. Friday's music isn't as ghetto as I enjoy but I will make do I'm sure. I will not be driving as my car was broken into two weeks ago when we bowled. Nothing stolen, nothing to steal except left over La Pizza which I'd be very sad about.
Saturday we are doing Chinese food and Zombieland with all the friends. We are going to Helen's (actual name is Chinese Express, Helen is the owner and Boo's adopted mother) and will have traditional cantonese food per Boo's request. It will be divine. Our favorite dish we call crack rice, definately not on the menu, definately addictive.
In theory Saturday is the end of the week but really Sunday is and if I know my grand baking friend she will bring treats unless she has to hang out with her inlaws instead which seems to occur on too many sundays... The question is what baked good do I love the best....her rhubarb bars are divine but everything oatmeal cookies rock my socks too.
I'm really dragging this sucker out... very not me but hey, why the fuck not? Hell October is my whole month, sukkot (google it), b-day, anniversary and halloween... its a month long celebration bitches....okay scratch the bitches, I suddenly am feeling very Samual Jackson ala dave chapelle....must be the mentin of JDawg and zombies... Need I remind you of LJ in Resident Evil: Apocalypse aka, Resident Evil 2, now with more freaky monsters and scary children - a little ghettotasticness in a zombie movie is fantastic and he was some great comic relief. Most of yal have no idea what I'm talking about so I'll stop here before I drop the mf bomb and whip out my two golden Dessert Eagles.

With a name like this...

2009-09-21T20:19:00.003-05:00

i should try being crafty...and crap...
Recent finished projects, short but sweet....
Shedir with yarn by Dyeabolical, her cotton slub yarn is awesome. I made this hat with the intent to pay it forward to a charity. Its a great wool option hat, I just need to find charity of my choosing.

People are also fucking like bunnies so I'm working on some baby creations.

And I took advantage of my German coworker and had him translate Gehaekelte Topflappen for me.

Random Mom story

2009-09-12T17:44:00.003-05:00

So i often bitch about my mom and her nutsoness... In fact today at Tower Grove Park I watched some grandparents play soccer and thought how young they acted and how old my parents act and of course got angry at them. Randomly this week I was thinking about sexuality and the difficulty people must experience when they want to come out... something they shouldn't even have to do, we shouldn't all assume people are straight unless they say otherwise or on the other side, assume someone who may be particularly flamboyant as a man or masculine as a woman are thus not heterosexual. I seem to fit in the masculine catagory at times and have many a time had to state my heterosexuality to those on both sides of the fence. Perhaps it doesn't help that I can appreciate and even swoon to some real knock outs like famike jannsen... but thats a whole other concept in my head...I'll admit i do stereotype too... when seeing a profile of someone I know on facebook i a) assumed they were gay from their profile after assuming they were straight b) I assumed they were the person I knew - how often do you have the same name and same location when your name isn't something like bob smith and c) wasn't just being a dumb kid who thinks its funny to pretend to be gay to shock people. I'm sorta on the b&c side of the fence at the moment. I don't know what i want to feel but I get really annoyed with the kids who play the C which happens a lot... its the new way to annoy and shock teachers and parents. Shoot where is a gang to join or drugs to use when you want to upset parents. Point blank they are being jackasses which really bugs me but alas, what teenager isn't a jack ass at one time or another, in one way or another, well except those Duggar kids who are all sunshine and rainbow... ....anyway back to my parents, my mother.
My mother early in high school had me read an article about a pair of lesbians who had been together since World War II in Europe. I had a great interest in WWII and have read and done many reports on it. Me thinking it was just an article on WWII read it and didn't really absorb any big deal on it being lesbians. I don't think i was raised to be open about race or sex but i read too much and came to what I think are good stands on the subjects without too much influence of my parents. I think my studying of WWII since 6th grade (first time i did a research report on it) really influenced these views. Anywho my mother used that article to try to ask if i had any thoughts "like that." I scoffed, being a young teenage girl but now i see she was trying to give me an open area to talk about it - if i wanted, if i needed, if this butch girl had other "non standard" thoughts. In 1995 I feel like this was pretty cutting edge for her to be doing. I felt like my four years in high school were the beginning of homosexuality coming out at a teenage time to the general public. Granted there were still many kids who kept it in until their departure to college etc. but it was a start and just a beginning of their struggles to have the general public accepting those wanted to be in general society, not their own subset group defined by their sexual choices.
Anyway, i just wanted to write about my mom's attempt. That is all, its not elequont but its off my chest.

Ain't no party like my nana's tea party

2009-09-08T21:41:00.005-05:00

I've been waiting a good few years for Fan Boys to come out...ever since I heard of it being made I've been a bit stalky of its release...then I miss it coming to dvd and find out from Kara... I saw it tonight, I rather enjoy the "not wil wheaton" actor from detroit rock city, superman, and not another teenage movie Sam Huntington.... I'm a happy camper... I think I'd fit more into the Star Trek liking crowd (because my former bff was a fan) if either but growing up with my brother and listening to Star War loving jocks (whom luckily have come out much better rounded than my brother) I was a happy camper. And luckily in my house I've only got one guy checking out the hot chick versus my brother's star wars parties and getting hit on by the 3 years younger guys, one of which came in a star trek outfit to annoy the star war guys... He's now a very successful deeply religious jewish doctor but alas, this jew wasn't trained well in the art of finding a nice jewish doctor.
My big work party is tomorrow.. It would be faster and easier to have a baby it feels... I've made a playlist to keep me energetic tomorrow. I'd like to lock myself in the basement and get my shit done while getting my groove on. Tonight I kept myself going by getting a great pumpkin with reeses in it from ted drewes...it was fantastic... I'm unfortunately i'm now wired... guess the music works :)

What up bitches

2009-08-28T09:18:00.003-05:00

I don't know what my problem is but I've been blog negligent. In fact this post has sat dormant for a bit so I"m just going ahead and posting it.

Things that have been going on:

Jdawg moved. I finished my secret project which was the below blanket for him.

My garden is dying slowly, its sad. I'm sad.
We've had mice in our shed. We bought traps last night.
I've started physical therapy.. seems to help..also had a massage that certainly didn't hurt :)
Bowled over a 100 in a game...yeah, i find that exciting.
Ran agility with simon and got 3rd place in both of his events. Might have been my first trial where I qualified for both events. We usually screw up at least one...
I have stuff on the needles but i'm not touching much cause the exercise makes me achy. Haven't touched this luscious project since ooh lala france...

I'm almost done shedir (knitted hat) with yarn that was graciously given to me. For some reason knitting this hat has been full of love and warmth as I decided to find a cancer charity to donate it to. Its cotton and pretty so its a good option for those who may want a hat outside the winter months.
I'm out of random update statements....

Lets hear it for the boy, lets give the boy a hand...

2009-08-13T11:11:00.002-05:00

This week our friend J-Dawg is leaving the lou to go get his edjumication on.. in honor of him and his history of being a Trader Joe's pusher, I give you my top ten favorite things of Trader Joes.
1. Meatless Meatballs - reminds me of veal parmigiana texture. I'm a big fan and I pair them with their egg noodles.. yum!
2. Turkish Apricots - as well as the whole dried fruit area, its good, its easy to eat and its a hellllll of a lot cheaper than the box store's options for dried fruits plus they have some interesting choices like dried hibiscus flowers are good. I used to eat a ton of their cinnamon dried apples... self control didn't come into play much at all.
3. Framboise Lambic, while not a TJ's product I like that I can get it there when its not sold out due to awesomeness
4. Nuts that are reasonably priced...ahem...say what you will
5. Bread both the garlic loaf and the olive loaf make me a happy camper, the garlic nan is pretty sweet too.
6. Their frozen shepherds Pie
7. Frozen breaded eggplant.
8. Frozen green beans.. They are frozen fresh and make the meal so much better.
9. Small plastic square containers of goodness... chocolate cover raspberry jells, espresso beans etc.. all f-ing good.
10.The whole damn snack section. So many delicious snacks with a lot of healthy options as well as interesting twists. Boo loves the wasabi tamarind almonds, I love the kettle corn, I have some pumpernickel pretzels in my desk right now.
So peace out Jasper-Dawg... we will miss you but are excited for your future endeavors... last time you left we all got closer, who knows what this time will bring. When you see zombies, think of me :) Rawr....brainzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Viva la French Toast

2009-08-11T10:40:00.002-05:00

I'm such a douche.. our trip went so damn well I didn't blog about it...seriously, it was great... who knew...None of the important conversations (that we didn't want to have) were held, everyone got along...the only issue i had was the tea ceremony was totally half baked which was a disappointment...and i felt like 20 lbs too big but thats cause I apparently packed pregnancy clothes (dang style thats in fashion) and those europeans are skinny.
so leave you with pictures....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/72065973@N00/sets/72157622010606330/

In my best jewish lady voice

2009-08-07T12:28:00.008-05:00

eh whats a little bursitis..
Okay I'm back and have results (see below pics)... I have tendon stress/inflammation and some fluid build up/bursitis. I also have a hook shoulder bone which could be also effecting it but we are going to treat the other issues with drugs (pretty much 1000 mg of aleve a day) and therapy.. If that doesn't work i have to decide if surgery is something i want where they'll go in there and shave off some bone.. fun! It sounds at the moment like physical therapy may be the answer (fingers crossed!) and that they didn't find any tears etc which would have been bad.. we knew about the bone before the mri. I need to however, stop compensating with my neck and weird shoulder positioning....its killing me...He said he has nothing to do with mom's problems so no worries about that.. I haven't told my mom a peep cause i don't want the award of joining the pain party... yet, there is also the side of me that just wants to tell her cause we tell our parents stuff but alas, she would make a big deal of it and every family member/friend would hear about it as if I flew to the moon and cured cancer...and we can't talk about stuff with real content or conceptual discussion. Its more we can talk at each other about stuff we have done or problems she has.

pop pop, click click

2009-08-04T21:30:00.003-05:00

So tomorrow i get to further explore my fear of needles by getting a contrast mri for my shoulder. I told coworker cause i was going to be late for our meeting and she said she heard they hurt and you feel the dye. Not so at all but thanks for that vote of confidence...anyway xrays were not definitive enough. My options of problems are labrum tear which would account for popping, rotator cuff issues (which could account for need to pop things in place but they don't stay relieved for more than a few seconds on the whole), and weird boneness and irritated tissue.. My shoulder instead of being rounded has a hook in it that may be clicking and irritating tissue between my bones. Sort of a this tissue is hurt, now you bend your arm, now tissue is hurt more, rinse and repeat. No mention been made of anything to hope for or what paths we'd take but MRI is tomorrow and appt is on Friday. Reading up, i'm guessing labrum tear or injury but who knows....maybe there are little trolls in there having a party and beating the place up.
I ignore many aches and pains that are just stuff I've always had and probably also related to crappo scoliosis posture and superb klutziness but now that I'm paying attention to the shoulder I am also noticing the aches but am not sure if they are related to the shoulder injury or not. I'm only concerned with the shoulder...anything else is just active me. I know of at least two other parts of my body that are rotated a little off structurally so that it give me discomfort, no reason the shoulder can't be one too. It would make sense. Anywho...we shall see... it all started with yard clean up in the winter and pulling ivy... home ownership, its dangerous yo.

Old Lady Crap

2009-08-02T10:02:00.002-05:00

So about 4 years ago i was pulling ivy before I attended a work christmas party and hurt my left shoulder. Still hurts. I find myself having pressure building up unless I pop it which then also give it pain. I sorta feel like if i can stop popping it for a long time (which is harder than hell) it feels better. Problem is i can raise my arm a certain way and it might pop on its own. I've recently discovered raising that arm to drive is what really sets it off... Or as I just discovered rolling over and sleeping on that side will wake me up with the feeling of good lord my shoulder has literally been set on fire. Not sure what to do about. Regular people ask their friend and family. My mother asks me regularly if I've any signs of arthritis, like I'll join her group happily. She got it at 30. I honestly don't think she is relieved that i say no. Some families share hobbies, mine wants to share sicknesses. I think I should just stop raising it to drive which I'm sure I probably did last night when I went to derby. I have the G-d Help Us Plan for insurance and no primary doctor which is bad enough as it is. Seems stupid to me to go to a regular dr for shoulder pain to get recommended to go somewhere else but i guess that is what insurance does. As I type this my arm is on fire and I reallly want to pop the shoulder to relieve the pressure but I know that isn't the way..

Life, yeah, thats life in the city

2009-07-29T21:07:00.004-05:00

It was an innocent gardening expedition. I was going to cut a zucchini before it got too big. Maybe kara would want it.. I lift some leaves to free up the zuch and then I saw it. It was huge, it was green, it was an oh shit i missed one moment.. Or as kara said 'oh fuck.' Below is my city gardening, mr. normal zuch and mr big stuff, he's 5 lbs and proud.

Simon sees dead people...

2009-07-26T22:30:00.002-05:00

Okay he doesn't... but he looks at our ceiling like there are creepy souls on it...I blame the audio system in the other room. Tonight I decided to try Operation Kill Ghosts.... I fear my dog ages with stress as he sees dead children on my ceiling... so as Boo is gone i unplugged his sound system... We figure it still emits sound when turned off... Nope, not it.. Simon is still seeing dead people... I have three other options to try which i hope to do cleverly so that the husband doesn't notice... they being turn off the playstation all the way off (as it button in the back), turn off u-verse box (does it still record this way)?, hire ghostbusters... frankly if its the playstation that would be great, turning it off all the way would be a simple solutions. Having thought it was the sound system there was no solution to this problem so I'm in a way relieved.. although poor Simon, he still stares at the ceiling with its creepy ghosts.

You know i love you baby....

2009-07-25T23:48:00.003-05:00

The short of it:
Better than Ezra concert was great. They put on a really fun concert and each time you think you've head all the songs that you know of theres they play another. They also do great/fun covers within parts of their songs. They did alot but some that i can think of off hand include blur, timberland, rolling stones, lady gaga's poker face.
Agility sucked. Such is life, we are in a new level of difficulty, klutzy mom is having a hard time and Simon is getting older.
Cheese making failed so i took a fourth shot, that being I have a job, made money and used that made money to buy cheese :P See, totally made by me.

Little miss muffet said fuck it...

2009-07-24T21:47:00.002-05:00

Alright, since half the internet world of the female persuasion is at blogher and live twitter/blogging I'll keep an update of my cool life here in the STL..
One thing I didn't list but is so what i do when Boo is gone is get Pizza World. The other third as I now will call her lovingly and appreciatively, suggested pizza world and I was game, plus she was dropping off cupcakes from a pilgrimage. She showed up actually with two cupcakes and my favorite type of donut. (sprinkles) I may have to stage an intervention for her to get back to her rockstar life change, that and I was losing a few lbs and I'd prefer them not back. Anyway I digress, she is very giving and awesome, I just feel blech from too much sugar and my below failure.
Boo got three gifts for his birthday. I had to nudge him to use two of them (in the future there is a good chance on little to no giftage as he tends to not like them even though i think i know my husband). As I made attempt #3 this evening at making cheese, I say fuck it, if i want cheese I'll hit the store, its not like you can't get decent mozzerella there anyway, its as trendy as hell. I feel a bit short bus for my failure and now will stroll of to manically cleaning while watching dexter as that will make me feel like i accomplished something in my weekend de me. As for the Boo nonsense, in VT he was very motivated for fun groovy activities like gardening and cheese making type things. It must be something in the air up there because I know its not his thing here but I keep trying cause I'm a chick, we push, its what we do. I should appreciate what he does do, he mows the lawn (or green field of allergy death) which he had never done before this year (not many lawns in hong kong) and he is the master of laundry, its more of a hobby than a chore for him, and he's a redonkulous awesome cook which he didn't do at all when I met him.

When the cat's away...

2009-07-24T10:45:00.004-05:00

I love my husband I truly do but I also savor the house to myself. So while he is being a very nice and upstanding guy in the city of sin I get to do what I want for four days. Not that I can’t do what I want all the time but there is just something different about being alone. Granted there are lots of things I have to do
Agility show in Collinsville tomorrow – probably won’t even show til 3:30 or later which is a total bummer. Last time I showed that late we bombed. I will attempt to not go to the show til late so the dog doesn’t stress himself into exhaustion but I will be stressed until I’m at the show.
Better than Ezra concert which I am attending as my other third and my better half both want to attend. Then the other half booked himself a trip. As for attending I could go either way but they do have a good concert, I’m just tired at the moment and bummed of the lack of Boo going. Anyone wanna go, we have an extra ticket at a debatable price.
Drop off art stuff for the Big Ass Craft Show
Things I’ll do cause he’s gone…(I get more done when I’m alone and get all domestic like)Cook something with my 18 inch zucchini…I have all the making for a fine grilling night (rained on last night’s parade) but I’m a tad scared to do it myself. I think I can handle reading instructions for a gas grill. But I have a lb of hamburger meat I need to use and a lb of asparagus with my name all over it. Boo isn’t that big of a fan of zuchs or eggplants which are two things I’ve hated until I was about 27 and now love.
Watch the Uninvited, the unborn and dexter til I pop… and see what other crap is on tv that I can watch without any judgment of my poor taste. (BTW have you seen the preview for Zombieland, its like a horror wet dream because half of the fun of horror is the ridiculousness of it all.)
Wash and change all linens in the house.
Replace shower curtain
Clean toilet
Possible try cheese making for the 3^rd time before I learn the first rule of cheese making is just go buy some damn cheese. Really a horrid thing to list under clean toilet.
Stay up late which I only do when I’m alone and at home for some reason.
Read my new altered arts book (which I’m in) by my friend, wedding sign in book creator, and just awesome person – Roni. If you ever think about playing with collagy alter artsyness I highly recommend this book to send you on your way. She's the second best out there.. the first would be that guy who pretty much created the whole movement.
Read the new knit scene lent to me.
Possibly make pickles with the latest haul.
Knit, coffee, knit, coffee, knit.
I’m so stoked.. watch me have panic attacks and shit by Sunday morning. My boy keeps me sane sometimes, it makes no sense but sometimes when I’m alone for too long the crazy pops up for no good reason. It really can ruin a much looked forward to day.

Old Concept Revisited

2009-07-22T15:36:00.002-05:00

Who here has personalities? Just me? No, we all do. I have a work me, I have a knitting me, I have a JDawg me (Where the crass me comes out, its awesome but not for the faint of heart), I have a family me, I have an inlaw me (which is way quieter and more domestic), I have a STL me, gardener me and the list goes on. So with the advent of the internet its hard to keep them separate. Some people don't care. I do. On twitter I talk a lot, if I'm fed through your phone I'll annoy you. I also randomly yell on it when I'm annoyed. Here I meld a lot of my personalities but its still somewhere I don't share with all. I don't want my family here, if you have any contact with my family, or my in-law family I'd rather you not see my crazy bitchy self :) I feel the same about twitter... So when the lines intersected a few months ago i freaked the fuck out and blocked the world. I don't have twitter on here anymore and I don't have my blog listed there, although i may say if i posted something interesting and include a link.
I have incredible jewish guilt about this. Had I kept my feed private or require requests I wouldn't have had this problem but now I'm the bitch that blocked you. Sorry, let me say it here if you perchance land here. I'm sorry but can't we just keep some things just on email. If i have something interesting on here that I think my mom would like i send her a copied version of the post with all hyperlinkage removed.
Its just weird. I don't mind my worlds melding when it comes to friend but there is something about family, friend, spouses world colliding without my presence there that is unnerving. Had we not been so tech savey we'd see folks once in a while and bond but now we in each other's constant view and its just not so good. There is something about people who don't have filters, people who aren't in touch with reality, and people who know your dirty secrets, or the people who don't know your dirty secrets blending that isn't good and I worry too much about stuff that probably isn't happening. Really, if people see things, or hear things about me and dislike me I should be okay with it, not everyone likes everyone...its just the way it goes. And if I don't like you, you probably are allowed to dislike me (hopefully for a good reason), but it still stings if either finds out about the other's dislikes.
I know Boo has some issues with the Blarg lately, his friends, who are mine too see the blog.. I think he thinks I'm on here ripping him a new one but I learned long ago that doing that is oh so not smart. That and we don't rip new ones in person, no need to get balsy on the internet. I do wish he'd actually read the blog but alas, I'm not talking about Italian soccer so that just isn't going to happen ("Go Roma!")
Anyway, enough blubbering about this would be a lot more light hearted if the Doogie Howser typing sound was in the background...
queue the blue screen and white type....click click click click...click click click click click click click....

Happy Wednesday!

2009-07-22T10:20:00.001-05:00

Must love dogs

2009-07-21T20:38:00.002-05:00

Must love Simon to be exact. Tonight we went to the vet. He has had a small growth on his back/rear area for a few months, we figured it was a bug bite that he kept irritating.... In the last week or two its grown and when I showed it to an agility person they said they hadn't seen its likes before I decided it was time for the vet and both of us needed to go, just in case. With a heavy heart we went to find out what this growth was. The vet looked at it, pinched it hard, oozed out nastiness and said, "Its a dog zit."
Yep, love Simon. Perfectly healthy, $40 appointment, ass zit Simon.

Tales of the Crazy dog lady

2009-07-19T00:09:00.002-05:00

I'm heading the IL tomorrow for an agility practice. For safety reasons that means breaking out the dog seatbelt. Item a)
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751400&keepsr=0&clickid=prod_cs
I swear I don't use this thing right because if slip the belt through it the dogs are pulled down to the seat with no ability to move. Oh and if you are laughing, stop. How horrid would i feel if I got in a car accident and lost my dog.. Its happened before and Mr. Duane and convinced me to change my ways a few years back.
Looking at Item B
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2755199
It looks like they have on of those carabiner hooks as part of it.. I could totally do this with the dogs, it comes with a metal loop and I'd surely be able to hook it to the seat. That would let use hook the dogs up before they get in the car which would be way helpful. Right now the current set up is a pain for both the dog getting latched in and other visitors to my car.
So I'm asking opinons, buy two carabiners or buy two new seatbelts that come with it.