Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

dragging my feet



This mobile is now in the Etsy Shop. It had been hanging in the kitchen for the past month or so while I finished it up - I kept running into it because it was hanging low enough for me to finish stringing it up. About time that it's done and out of the kitchen. I'm still dragging my feet on drawing "I"nsects for my ABCs. Maybe tonight.


Friday, July 25, 2008

zippered pouches


Since I was having such a hard time coming up with subject matter for "I" in my ABCs (I think I've finally decided to go with "insect"), I decided to take a little break and work on getting some things in the Etsy shop. Over the weekend I'll be uploading my inventory of zippered pouches. Took advantage of the sunlight today and got everything photographed...


Maybe I'll also get around to drawing those insects. Have a great weekend!

Saturday, July 19, 2008

avoid the Walmart

Took a little break from the ABCs.

I'll get back on board, but some baking was in order (this packaged-up-bit goes off to the father-in-law... I really need to bake for him more. Whenever I do, he tells me I've missed my calling in life and should be running a bakery downtown. And, I'm always inspired by the way Alexis Stewart packages up her yummies. Also impressed by how much baking she does and still manages to be rail thin - she packages up all the goodies and gives them away! Oh, I get it, more baking, less eating. Yeah, I'll have to give that a try)...


And some gardening - this glorious stem broke off from my Dill plant while watering yesterday (it looks like a fireworks explosion!)...


And then a little sewing. Was tired of fishing around for sunglasses in the bottom of my bag only to find them smudged, scratched and bent. So, voila, sunglass case...



And now, it being a Saturday and the husband out with the kids, I need to catch up and get stuff done. A schlew of toys to pick up and a trip to the Walmart. Yeah, I don't like it either. Believe me, I avoid the Walmart as much as I can. (Target rules!) The only time I'll go is when I can justify the time, energy and gas it would take to go to more than 2 other stores to get my shopping done. Unfortunately, with koi food, kitty litter, window screen parts and tortillas on my list, it will save me time, energy and gas to just hit the Walmart. So forgive me, hard working family owned shop keepers of America, but the Walmart wins today. It won't happen again, I promise.

2 hours later...
Another lovely visit to the local Walmart. It's always such a pleasant experience! First of all, I always go in and out through the garden department - it's just less depressing that way. So there's this young, punk Walmart employee yelling at the 65+ year old greeter woman because she has a shopping cart parked adjacent to the garden center gate where she trims plants while doing her "Hello! Welcome to Walmart!!!" bit. I'm always so uncomfortable with those greeters, but I'll admit that it is pretty decent of Walmart to have such positions for these retirees who probably need the money but can't really handle much more. So, this punkass is telling her it's a tripping hazard to have her cart there, and she rattles off something in Spanish to the cashier which just sends the punk employee off. "Don't talk behind my back!" Give me a break. He makes a big old stink of it, yelling, "Don't talk behind my back," the entire walk back into the store. First of all, this woman has been doing this for at least the past 4 years that I've had the pleasure of shopping at this particular Walmart and I don't think that there's been a tripping incident in that time or she wouldn't still be doing it. Secondly, she's actually doing something with the time she's working rather than walking around picking fights with co-workers. Third, she's trimming off the dead flowers/leaves and probably making these plants desirable, whereas they wouldn't sell if she didn't. Fourth, every friggin' time I go to Walmart there are ladders or carts or what-have-you sitting in the middle of the aisle from employees who have decided to take a break in the middle of stocking the shelves. Talk about a tripping hazard! So, Mr. Punk This-Is-My-Summer-Job Walmart Man, leave my Walmart greeter alone! To top all this off, while I'm unloading my cart in the parking lot (listening to a man a few cars down scream at the top of his lungs at his kids), Mr. Diesel-Truck fires up his engine right next to me while unloading his cart - presumably so the cab would be nice and cool when he got in. Thanks, I haven't had my shot of carbon monoxide yet today. Give me a break! Have you heard about a little thing called the ozone layer?!?!? As God as my witness, I will never shop at Walmart again!!! These people come out of the woodworks and they all end up at Walmart.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

goldfish


*
I know I missed a day - don't think I'm trying to let that one sneak by. Some days are harder than others to squeeze in a little creative hour or two. I've finally given into something I've been tempted by for a long time... getting groceries delivered. Albertsons just dropped off all my bags of groceries and I feel like it's Christmas. TOTALLY worth the $10 delivery fee. Figure in the time it takes to get the kids motivated and ready to go shopping (making sure they both have shoes -- how many times have I ended up at the store and realized I forgot to grab shoes?), the time to strap them in and drive to the store (not to mention the gas), the time to thoroughly wipe down the grocery cart with antibacterial wipes, the time I spend putting things back on the shelves after being swiped down by little hands, the fussing and whining and screaming (the 1-year old loves to hear his echo when he screams at the grocery store), the hassle of loading up the car and strapping the kids back in before driving home... yeah, totally worth $10. That's not even mentioning the impulse buys and the snacks that inevitably end up in the cart because I always find myself shopping while hungry. I'll bet I save $10 simply by ordering only what I need and not what I get suckered into buying. Our delivery guy even played a little tune on his harmonica for the 4-year old. (it just occurred to me, I probably should have tipped the guy - how tacky of me not to tip him!)
*
Waaaaay back during the HomeGrocer.com days, I loved ordering all my groceries online. I LOVED HomeGrocer.com. I miss seeing those cute vans running around town and I wish I'd kept all my paper bags with their cute logo...



Now if only Albertsons would come pick up my re-usable grocery bags first and use those instead of plastic. That would make the whole thing perfect.



Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Monday, July 14, 2008

maybe


*
I guess I should have been a little more realistic in setting my goals and said straight out that weekends would not be included in "the next 26 days". Somehow, in my crazy head, I actually thought I might be able to include weekends. But, no. Too busy, too crazy, too kid-focussed. That's just where we are right now. The husband and I often reminisce on times where we'd eat when we're hungry (as opposed to, "Oh shoot! It's almost 8 o'clock and the kids haven't eaten - I guess they should have dinner... right?"), where we'd go where the wind takes us (not hindered by, "I have to go stinky poop RIGHT NOW!") and where weekends consisted of just sitting in the sun and slurping a mai tai. Sea World was a barrel of laughs yesterday, but, I think the husband and I would have had just as much fun with a pitcher of margaritas, chips + queso and a couple lounge chairs out in the backyard. Can't believe I sacrificed myself to prove to the kid that Shamu really and truly would splash everyone in the first few bleachers. That's just one demonstration of how much that little guy and I are way too much alike and often butting heads-

Him: "No, mommy, no one gets wet down there!"

Me: "Yes, sweetie, you'll get wet down there. Why don't we sit up there???"

Him: "I just want to SEEEEE if we get wet."

Me: "Ok, fine, we'll sit down there and we'll get soaked!"

Him: "Well, I just want to seeeeee if we get soaked."

Me: "Ok, you'll see..."

Instead of just giving in and saying, "Yeah, maybe you don't really get wet... how 'bout we sit up here so we can see if those guys down there get wet?" - I said, "Okay, I'll show you!" So the kid and I sit in row one, we get hit with the first wave, his little face turns to mine and it just about breaks my heart because I can see he's horrified. I swoop him up and start heading for the aisle when the second wave comes and hits me in the back. By the time we're in the safe zone, I'm drenched in killer-whale-salt-water. Nice. So maybe I'll stop being so stubborn. Maybe I'll let the kid have the last word. Maybe I'll stop feeling like I have to prove something to him. Maybe. You'd think I would have learned by now.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

note to self

Woke up a little bit ago smelling popcorn and hearing what sounded like the puff-puff of a train. When I jumped up off the couch, I ran to the kitchen half-asleep exclaiming to the husband, "That sounded like a popcorn...I mean...It smelled like a choo choo...I mean...I thought that was a train!" He smiled and suggested that I go to bed. "Okay, I'll close up the house." Even though I practically tripped over the dog while rushing to the kitchen, the husband had to inform me that the dog was in and he'd lock up. "You'll probably have to wake up early anyway (the 1-year old)... why don't you just go to bed?" So, reluctantly (but not so much), because that popcorn smelled SO GOOD, I'm off to sleep. Note to self: get a big bucket of popcorn at Sea World tomorrow.

Friday, July 11, 2008

binding

My mom and dad gave me a paper cutter and binding tool for my birthday. I've always wanted to be able to make my own spiral-bound notebooks and journals. I put this one together tonight and added it to the Etsy shop. It's nice to find a home for some of the sketching I've been doing the past few days as part of my Mission:ABCs. Now that I've finished this notebook and gotten it loaded up on Etsy, though, I'm beat. It's a quarter to 11:00 and my eyelids feel like I've been forcing them open all night long. Time for me to join the husband on the couch and pretend to watch TV for 5 minutes before I crash. Night night.


dandy dandelions



Aloha
Friday!

Thursday, July 10, 2008

C



*
What with my recent uncharacteristic fascination with Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch you'd think I would have drawn up King or Ophelia Crab for "C". I don't know what it is about that show - I just can't stop watching it! It's so completely fascinating, even though it's pretty much the same thing morning, noon and night. Throw the pots in, let them soak, pull 'em up and sort the crab. Those waves! That ice! Salty fishermen with cigs hanging out of their mouths... I dig it. There's something about the thought of being on a boat in the middle of the Bering Sea that seems like possibly the most adventurous thing you could possibly do. My favorites are Sig and Edgar Hansen, most likely because they were on Martha. I liked the way they didn't tone down their salty tones simply because they were talking to the Queen of refinement - we are talking about a woman who pronounces 'herb' the same as the name 'Herb' afterall. When she asked what they liked to take on the boat for a long fishing trip I suspected she expected to hear things like 'photos of my family' or 'my fluffiest feather pillow' and not 'a case of cigs'.

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

next 26 days

Something I've been wanting to do for a very, very long time now is to draw up some ABCs. I thought that if I drew up all the squares (one for each letter of the alphabet) in my sketchbook that I would eventually come up with all the sketches - but that brilliant idea struck almost a year ago and I still have empty squares. So now it's time to try something else. Let's see if I can get one letter of the alphabet done each day over the course of the next 26 days. (that's how many letters there are, right?)

Monday, July 07, 2008

homemade rings

The onion rings did not make it on the Fourth of July menu afterall - ran out of time. Since I had the buttermilk and vidalia onions, I made them last night instead - which was good because the friend who would appreciate homemade rings the most (Big Bry) didn't make it on the Fourth but was over for dinner last night. They were SO GOOD! This photo also gives me a chance to show off the bamboo plate I painted months ago. Looking at these rings makes me want them again, but the diet is SO back on today.

Sunday, July 06, 2008

partial to felt

These are some booties I created for the Michael Miller Baby Bootie contest. I really liked incorporating this Michael Miller print fabric. These took quite a bit of time - definitely not something I would make to sell! (I don't think anyone would pay that kind of money for booties!) Taking the time to do an extra special pair was fun, though. It's important to do a few projects just-because. Check out the link to the contest. So many cute booties. The pair of goldfishy booties are my favorite. (I'm partial to felt + I love those fins)

Thursday, July 03, 2008

well loved

It's been a tough week. I'm still having a hard time coming to terms with my cousin's passing. He was just too young. I was up until 3am last night putting together the slide show for his memorial this evening. That's hard - feel like I've been crying all night. Took me longer than it should have to get the music fade in and out just as I wanted for certain photos, so I must have watched it 50 times - every time getting all choked up. I'm sure this show is going to bring tears to everyone's eyes.

On a lighter note...
I have never had a Martha Stewart Living magazine that has been as well loved as this July issue. We're having a barbecue here tomorrow (like the rest of America) and I've chosen several recipes from this one magazine. Long gone are the days where I would methodically cut out Martha articles with an exacto blade and organize them in binders with plastic sleeves according to topics like "Good Things", "Kitchen", "Organizing" and "Holiday". With the Martha website, who needs to catalog this stuff anymore?



Had planned to bake these sandwich star cookies last night... they look so good! The dough is in the fridge, so they'll bake tonight. (check out that spilled God-knows-what... I used to take such good car of my Martha mags!)


I hope I have time to make these onion rings. Maybe it'll be another late night again tonight. We MUST have these onion rings with our juicy beef, turkey and veggie burgers. (I've always wanted to make veggie burgers and the recipe in the July mag. sounds good - although, I'm substituting Kasha for Quinoa. Why is it I've seen Quinoa on the shelf a hundred times before and now that I need it I can't find it anywhere???)



Have a wonderful Holiday Weekend!
Hug your loved ones a little tighter than normal
and
cherish each and every moment.


Tuesday, July 01, 2008

35


Never fails. I always get some of my first plumeria blooms by my birthday... today. Although, this year some of them started as early as last week. I finally transplanted the plumeria I've had in a ceramic pot for years into the ground - as well as quite a few my mom gave me that were in pots as well. I think they like it in the ground better. I guess after 4 years of living here I finally decided that this was where I wanted to start growing some roots. I'll celebrate today the way I often do, with a plumeria tucked behind my ear.

Today I turn 35.

Wow.

That's big.

I'm typing outside on my brand new ruby red laptop. (wonder if the husband had that planned - my birthstone is Ruby!) Oh the joy to not be tethered to the desktop any longer! I am going to take very good care of you, my little Ruby. No AutoCAD that makes your hard drive all wonkers. No massive photo storage - we have another big hard drive now for all that jazz. You will be my little pampered princess. You WILL NOT crash!

I think I've finally given up on New Year's Resolutions, but on this day, my birthday, I do still find myself making Birthday Resolutions. Silly things pop to mind, like, now that I am 35 I shall always have ruby red toes. And then other thoughts, like how much I love the lady at our Home Depot garden center and how she calls me "honey" or "sweetie" at least 10 times in the span of one check out. I've always wanted to be the one who calls everyone "honey". Shoot, now that I'm 35, I'm in a place where I can be saying, "honey." I want to spend more time in the garden, I want to spend more time at the beach. My hair color shall be "cinnamon stick", it's been good to me the past couple months, and I'll make more time for bubble baths. I think I'm getting more selfish with age. What am I saying? How is it possible to be selfish with a 1 and 4-year old? Just need to squeeze in more time for those girly things that make me happy. Say hello to the new, 35-year old me!