How to achieve Awesomeness at age 30

How to achieve Awesomeness at age 30
or
Why I Will Never be a Grownup
or
Birth Control

*This post is being written at 12:56am. While bleaching my teeth. This story is an entirely True Story (okay, I might've guessed at some of the time spans, lol), and an honest representation of an average day in my life right now.*

• Two important notes before I begin this step-by-step method I use to achieve Awesomeness: first, never get your hair cut or coloured more than 4 times a year. Second, you are only allowed up to FIVE (5) non-Walmart or Target Awesomeness Implements (mine are Mac eye liner and shadows, and Sephora makeup brushes & brush cleaner).
  
• Awesomeness is not easy. It takes hard work, and a lot of sacrifice (only a little blood & tears, fortunately!). This is gonna take a while. You may wanna go grab a Redbull (with or without vodka is up to you).

Ready? Awesome.

1. Carefully pin/clip/rubberband all your hair back. Wet & soap up your face.
2. Unclog random toy/mud/paper mache from sink drain with your soapy eyes closed, because you didn't notice it until the water started spilling out onto your feet.
3. Rinse face.
4. Wander around the house looking for the clean towel you were sure you put in the cabinet the night before. Don't forget to drip icy water down your neck and into your bra. Change into dry socks, but not before considering drying your face and boobs with them.
5. Pat your face dry. The habits of 15min a day tanning beds, forgetting your sunglasses, and smoking are one thing, but don't you dare damage your skin by RUBBING it!
6. On second thought, air dry. You could probably use a cigarette at this point.
7. Smear some Awesome fountain-of-youth-promise on your face in the form of an overly neon muddy face mask.
8. Go feed the minions. They will never agree to eat the same thing, so make oatmeal (or macaroni), then wash the pot again, and make grits (or ramen). Spend at least 5mins stirring ice cubes one by one into food until it is deemed "cool enough to eat" (why the hell did I even cook it?!).
9. Remember to feed 4-legged tail-wagging minions. Get knocked into the dirt. Go ahead and do that again, for good measure.
10. Feed 4-legged purring minions. Step in a puddle on the kitchen floor (melted ice cube, no doubt). Remove one sock.
11. Upon hearing the doorbell, promptly forget that you are wearing one sock and a wet tanktop. Remember just as you open the door and are greeted by super-cute UPS guy. Let it slide, you're Awesomeness cannot be twarted by a sock (and what guy is really gonna hate being greeted by a wet tanktop, right?). Chit chat. The weather has been Awesome lately. Sign for HUGE brown box (OMG SOMEONE SENT ME A VOLKSWAGEN - YAYSQUEAL!).
12. Awkwardly try to wrestle Big Brown Box into the front door. Chase after Big Brown Truck (don't forget to repeatedly yell, "HELP! WAIT! PLEASE HELP!") when you realize Obnoxiously Oversized Brown Box is addressed to the person that lived in your house over a year ago.
13. DO NOT catch Big Brown Truck.
14. Walk home (in one sock). Suck up your pride, and politely greet all of your neighbors that have come out to the cries for help. It really is a nice neighborhood.
15. Dig around for a bandaid to put on a scratch Minion #2 received whilst capturing a 4-legged purring minion that had bolted out the door after you. Kiss it better, and give a dramatic "YAY, YOU'RE NOT GONNA DIE!" smile.
16. Feel the bastard neon green mask on your face crack.
17. Wash off the mask (do you know where your towel is?). Burn 175 calories concentrating really hard on forgetting the gorgeous bronzed blue-eyed hottie in brown shorts that you chased down the block. Screw the neighbors; they probably weren't even surprised at this point (and none of them actually ASKED if you needed help *hrmph*).
18. Find astringent. Do not find cotton balls (aside - victory fistpump for figuring out what was clogging the drain). Settle for toilet paper. Reset pH balance of your face with astringent. Spend at least 3min picking TP lint off your face.
19. Slather on tinted moisturizer. Your kind of Awesomeness is a Two-Birds kind of Awesomeness.
20. Fluff bronzer all over your face. Realize that your face is now much darker than the rest of you (WTF - TANNING BED NOOB).
21. Fluff bronzer over neck, shoulders, and cleavage.
22. Very carefully try not to be too careful applying blush. Yay, victory!
23. Do a little victory dance, but stop immediately upon seeing a faint jiggle in your anti-bicep area. Shit. (say it, don't do it. Unless you really have to.)
24. Notice that all your powdered bronzer and blush has settled into your pores and wrinkles. Wash it off. Start over at tinted moisturizer step. Be more conservative with the powder.
25. Don't give a crap that your neck, shoulders, and boobs are darker than your face now.
26. Answer ringing phone. Try to explain to Minion #1's principal that poking Other Kid in the leg with the eraser-end of his pencil to get Other Kid's attention is NOT the same as "stabbing a peer with a dangerous pointed object". Hang up. Inform Minion #1 that he is suspended for 2 days. Mourn the future of our nation.
27. Apply eye makeup. Look like one of those 50-something women in skin-tight leopard print that you have always thought looked insecure, and are trying too hard to look younger than they are.
28. Wash it off. Start over again at tinted moisturizer (the Walmart/Target tip should be making sense now). Reapply all makeup. Still a little dark, but it's already gotten pretty late in the day, so you most likely won't make it out of the house anyway.
29. Straighten hair. Be sure to burn yourself at least twice.
30. Spend a minimum of 10 minutes plucking grey hairs from your head with tweezers. Think about all the pictures you've seen of "Old Wives", and how they always had grey hair in them. Spend 5 more minutes plucking (maybe you're just a late-blooming blond?).
31. Go make dinner for minions. You forgot to defrost anything, so make macaroni and grits again. Drink a Redbull, and have a couple bites of cold leftover macaroni straight from the fridge.
32. Check Facebook while the minions eat. Remember than you once again forget to call Good Friend back. Tend your farm/island/bingo/poker.
33. Browse Photoshop brushes, knitting patterns, Sims 3 downloads, and check the Blue Book value of the Korean p.o.s. you drive (it's worth almost as much as I owe on it).
34. Spend about an hour looking at ticket prices to the Caribbean, Spain, Australia, etc. Spend another 30-60 minutes Windows shopping for the perfect bikini. Remember arm-jiggle.
35. Go do Pilates.
36. Get bored after 5 minutes. Go play Dance Central on Xbox for 2 hours, instead.
37. Rush the minions to their rooms. It's way past their bedtime. Don't forget to apologize for freaking out and acting like it was their fault (they're not stupid, and you don't want them to think you are crazy).
38. Open a delicious ice-cold imported beer. Facebook-message Good Friend that you are totally swamped, and will call her back tomorrow.
39. Actually intend to call her back tomorrow (Awesomeness is caring).
40. Take 4-legged tail-wagging minions for a walk at Almost-the-Middle-of-the-Night:thirty. It's dark, and every functional human is in bed, but you did your hair and makeup, so leave the house.
41. Open another expensive imported beer when you get home. Find first beer almost completely full, warm, and flat 10 minutes later.
42. Go to bed. Attempt to wake up at an Acceptable Time tomorrow.
43. Watch Law & Order.
44. Remember that you forgot to bleach your teeth. Go do that now.
45. Stomp around the house like a monster for the 5-15minutes the exceptionally foamy dental bleach is working it's magic. Thoroughly terrify the 4-legged purring minions (you'll be sleeping alone tonight).
46. Rinse bleach from mouth. Finish expensive imported beer on principle. It tastes like yak urine now.
47. Go back to bed.
48. Watch Law & Order.
49. Get up because you feel really bad about not calling Good Friend back, and can't stop thinking about all the other Good Friends you have not called in a while. Check Facebook for a reply to the message you sent earlier. Tend farm/island/bingo/poker. Rearrange desktop icons (I swear they move on their own just to piss me off).
50. Turn off alarm clock. It's time to get the kids up for school.
51. Have a champion breakfast of Redbull, a slice of lunchmeat, and half a dozen cigarettes.
52. Go to Minion #1's school to convince authorities there that you are a perfectly capable and functional parent. They are being overly dramatic about The Pencil Poking Incident. This should be easy, since your hair and makeup are already done.
53. Go home. Pass out on sofa while watching Law & Order. <3 Netflix.

• *It is now 2:17am, and I have just remembered that I have a leftover Burrito Supreme in the fridge. YAYSQUEAL!*
• In case my mom and/or husband are reading this, it was DARK coloured wet tank top =P
  

Lucky Number 7!

Every birthday my kids have is so special to me. I lost so many babies before they came along, and I hope that one day they will realize how special they are to me, and how encouraging they are to me. Every day that I see them running and jumping, singing, doing their homework, complaining about a bully at school, or quivering that lower lip because they are SO SAD because they wouldn't stop jumping on the sofa and got grounded, or tying 13 ribbons around the cat's tail and beg to re-name it "Pretty Princess"...every day I see these things, and I am reminded that I created the best that the world has to offer, and that I can do it again!

My Ashley is 7 years old today. At 10:20am March 18, 2002, my awesome dr yanked that little girl from my abdomen while her father and I - and the entire staff in the operating room - were singing along to the radio: "Hotel California". Funny, I had never liked that song before. She had a platinum cord, with a TRUE knot in it, and it was also wrapped around her neck. She was in a breech position, with one foot presenting (my cervix dealt with that for 2 months!), her other foot up next to her ear, squished between my ribs. Through all of this, she came out perfect, 7lbs, 13oz, with cheeks so chubby, the drs actually measured her jaw to find out why her chin looked so "pushed in" lol!

Ashley's favorite things to do now are singing (she is very good at making up songs), any kind of art, and playing "school teacher" to her [literally] hundreds of stuffed animals. And, of course, every one of those hundreds of animals sleep with her on her bed (E.T. style ;). Every night, she whispers a prayer over my belly that this baby will come out to meet her. I think she must be the sweetest thing ever ^_^

So, happy birthday Ashley! Thank you for all that you have done for me <3

Baby, it's cold, I mean hot, I mean cold, I mean....

Wow. I'm like, pregnant. FOR REAL. Puking, peeing, craving, sleeping, demanding, pregnant. Quitting smoking has been surprisingly easy - the smell makes me barf. Unfortunately...wait, I mean UNFORTUNATELY, coffee makes me barf, too! as do eggs, asparagus, and most dairy =[ I'm craving chicken like WOAH - not just any chicken, but Shake -n-Bake chicken. I bought a giant box of it, and have been eating probably 2-3lbs of Shake-n-Bake chicken a day. The last time I had Shank-n-Bake, my mother made it for me. And my mother had stopped cooking by the time I was in jr. high, so it was a looooong time ago!

Oh, for the record, my due date is November 1, but since I will be having a scheduled c-section, this baby will most like be born on Oct 26. I think that is great! I'll be fat when it's warm out- (my mom has always warned be that this is NOT a good thing, but...)-that means that I can get away with shorts and capris, instead of the $70 extra tall maternity pants! Seriously, with my two kids, I spent more on two pairs of maternity pants than I did on their carseats & layettes!

Okay, I'm done being pregnant for now. On to the crafty stuff!

I finished the doodle scarf I had been working on - it only took me a couple days =] Using a heavy worsted wool, I chained until it was ~about~ 6ft long ("Charlie, can you stand up, please?" *measuring chain vs. his height* "Okay,thanks".), and then made loops of chains, fastening each back into it's beginning with a slip stitch. I worked single crochet up the chain, between the loops. I had originally planned to go up one side, then back down the other but I got about halfway back down the 2nd side, and I didn't like it. So I stuck with the one side =] I have already gotten several complements on it and it is surprisingly warm, for how small it is!


Next up, these sweet little mushrooms that I spent WEEKS perfecting the pattern for! (that will be available soon, right here - I just need the weather to cooperate for some pics!). These were made for some swaps: 5 went to KnitSonya, for her Handmade Mushroom Swap; the red one went to Sonya, herself; there are two more, with green sequin spots instead of the white felt spots, and those are going to two different Swapbot swaps.



And, finally, I whipped out this little baby cap yesterday. The cap went really quickly, took less than an hour, but the cuff seemed like it took forever, heh. I just worked on it a bit here and there; while drinking chai, and eating the most perfect raspberry chocolate mousse at Kelly's Bakery (seriously, it was the size of a votive candle, but it was perfect!); worked on it a lot while Charles was taking a cigarette break-he's really sweet, and sits pretty far away from me when he smokes now, but I like to sit out there with him, and chit chat =] I also worked on the brim a lot while Charles was cleaning and sterilising the kitchen to bottle our most recent batch of mead (his brewing blog will be updated this evening). Oh,a nd yes, I did taste a sip of the mead! We bottled the cranberry apple, and it was a lot more dry than we expected, and also a lot more apple than cranberry. Has a weird flavor to it, I think it needs to age for a few months, but Charles drank half a bottle of it last night!

Oh yeah, the hat! The pattern is the Noodle Baby Hat on Ravelry, by Deirdre Fabery.


Oh, and here is an "in progress" picture of the Swirls Cap that I am working on for me! I totally <3 fpdc =]


So...yeah, a lot of yarning going on! I actually have several ATCs that I've yet to post, too, but I need to go work on getting the rest of my Lottsa ATCs for Swapbot!

Crap, see how braindead I am?? I keep forgetting that I have more to say ;) My husband is giving me my progesterone injections every night (100mg), and doing a very good job of it =] Progesterone is the same hormone that is responsible for PMS symptoms, so I'm just not even trying to be "normal" anymore, lol. Anyway, I wanted to publicly dote on my amazing husband, who although pretty apathetic about having a child of his own, has been incredibly supportive, and just all around sweet. I have been getting breakfast in bed, flowers, and VIP treatment since I broke the news to him =] I'm not sure if he is just hiding excitement/joy, or if he is trying extra careful to make sure that the baby and I am okay, because he was so torn up seeing ME so torn up last year.

Either way, I'm enjoying it =]

How could I forget?!

HOw could I have forgotten about this picture?! This is by far one of my favorite pictures EVER. In EXISTENCE. It's AWESOME!

I'm only missing the yellow slicker and umbrella

Ever wake up and think, "How the heck do I do it?" Not in the "I'm so cool, I rock my socks off," kinda way, either.

I'm at the kids' school every single day of the week now, volunteering, teaching art, etc. I love to do it, but lately, I am feeling overwhelmed. Perhaps by the 3270785298475 other things I have going on. But, I have made a commitment, so I need to be there; it's not like there are many people that are waiting in line to work for free nowadays, yanno?

My brother is having a rough time in his life right now, and for his privacy,, I wont go into any of that here. I'll just say that it is a life-changing, incredibly tragic, and difficult situation. I have been trying to be supportive, and helpful in every way I can, but I really wish I could BE there, like up there where he lives. Sometimes, i just wanna give him a hug; sometimes, I want to help him with everyday-gotta-be-done things that are really tough to get done when you are as stressed out as he is. I just wish I could do MORE, I guess.

My father's health is deteriorating quickly, and he really needs someone to live in, and take care of him. I don't have the room for it here, and I'm not sure that I have the time, with all the volunteering that I've got going on. But I don't know anyone else that will step up, and I feel like I am in a position where I need to choose between my dad and my kids? SO frustrating!

Next, my friend is being screwed over by another friend since they broke up and now Friend 1(the girl) is threatening to (or has already, I haven't heard from her today) take all of Friend 2's(the guy) indiscretions up to his chain of command. Possible consequences range from considerable demotion, to military prison time. I am torn, though. Everything she is saying to the boss-guys is TRUE. So, should I keep my mouth shut, and let them deal with their own issues? Should I warn him? I see this guy several times a week, I'm not even sure I can look at him anymore, knowing what is coming to him...but on the other hand, he made his own decisions, knowing the consequences. And then, should I tell my husband, who is friends and has to WORK with this guy every day? That would put him in a rough position, but I feel TERRIBLE keeping things from my husband, and I fear he may be upset when all this shit hits the fan, and he finds out that I knew it was coming, and didn't talk to him about it...UGH!

My children are getting injured on an almost-daily basis by a bully at school now. This kid has been bothering them for a while, and tells Isaac every day that he is going to kill him...but I don't see anything being done about it. No, but they want ISAAC to go to a special counsellor, and they want to have these meetings about how he doesn't seem to be able to interact well with the other children. Isaac gets angry and yells. This other kid gets angry, and HITS...or throws things, or kicks, etc. The kids KICKS ME. I said something to the boy recently, when he would not leave my kids alone, was pushing them down, and saying very hurtful things to them. I told him that he needed to leave my kids alone, and that it was unacceptable behavior. The next week, got a message (through my son's teacher) that his mother was upset that I spoke to her child, and that I am not allowed to do that anymore, that I am only to bring my problems to HER. That would have been fine, but I did not see ANY parents with this kid. I have met his mom ONCE, and probably wouldn't recognize her! I'm just sick of this kid picking on mine, especially since he HURLED my 1st grade daughter so hard that when she hit the ground, her shoe flew off, 15ft away, on the other side of an 8ft fence! Oh, she's okay, she has a lumpy bruise, and barely-there scratches on her leg, but WTF?? He got a "talking to", and then proceeded to kick me after school (because I got him in trouble @@), and chase my daughter around telling her "I'm glad I hurt you! I will do it again as soon as they aren't looking!" OMG, it makes me SO angry!

So, yes, when it rains it pours. I'm hanging in there, I suppose, but I think to myself every morning, "How do I do it?"

It is never-ending, I fear:
Found out this morning that I am pregnant. Again. My annual positive pregnancy test has me in knots, and because of my history (I miscarry every year), I am having a hard time even considering this a viable pregnancy. I start getting my injections today, and will likely be getting all sorts of bi-weekly blood tests, etc. It's taking all my willpower not to smoke, but to be perfectly honest, the majority of me is screaming

SCREW THIS, I'M TAKING MY BALL, AND GOING HOME!

6th Picture

1. Go to your pictures on your computer
2. Open the 6th folder
3. Choose the 6th picture
4. Show the picture on your blog and write something about it.
5. Invite 6 new people to this challenge.
6. Link to them and let them know they are challenged.

This is the 6th picture of my 6th folder on my computer. It is my dad, brother, and nephew at the family reunion last July. Definitely one of my favorite pictures ever =]

I'm not dead, yet!

Seriously, I haven't posted anything because Murphy has been unleashing his wretched law upon me! I lost the cord to my camera back in OCTOBER, so my pictures have been held hostage. On the 1st of Jan, I went on a mad rampage through the house, determined to find my camera cord. Of course, I found it the next day...under two photo boxes, a stack of magazines, and a book =X YAY! Oh, wait, not yay...my camera is gone! My usually-so-helpful husband was less than helpful when he assured me that I had my camera in my hand when I went on my cord-hunt =/ I've cleaned, and cleaned, and I can't find it anywhere *cries*

So, I have no new pictures to show you, although I have made TONS of stuff. I made Christmas cards, and stamps, lots of crocheted items (I don't even think I have a crochet post here yet!), pincushions...we (as a family) even made a large handprint turkey for our front door at Thanksgiving.

I suppose for now, I can tell y'all that I am currently working on two bottlecap pincushions (great tutorial here!), and a braided rag rug for under my husband's carboy and fermenter bucket. On Jan 1, we started a batch of cranberry apple mead, and we will be starting a batch of ginger peach mead this weekend. Of course, no pictures on his blog...because I lost my camera. *grumble*

Back to this rag rug. These things are not as easy as they look! I spent a good 3-4 hours sewing the braid together, ending up with a very cute braided BOWL, and tearing it all back apart. I've finally figured it out, and am currently stitching away on it =] I've been home with sick kids since Thursday (respiratory virus; I expect they will both be back in school by tomorrow), so I have had a lot of quiet calm time to work on it =] The reason for the rug is that the bucket and carboy are quite heavy, and I'm always afraid they'll scratch the hardwood if they get slid across the floor. Also, the fermenter bucket sometimes leaks *just a tiny bit*, and so we have been keeping a towel under it. But the towel looks tacky. Especially after we spend 4 hours cleaning, and there is still a bucket sitting on a grubby towel in our front room.

I am working on developing a crochet version* of this wrapped criss-cross shrug. But a little more fitted. And not as thick. And without that horrid fringe. It's not really difficult (it's basically a giant rectangle), but it's a big project for me, and I am having a hard time deciding what kind of yard I want to use, and what stitch pattern I want to use. I was thinking a front-loop back-loop rib, but idk. The only yarns I have a decent amount of are Homespun, and Patons Divine. I've found both will probably be too frustrating for me to make a very large project with. Vanna's is going on sale at Beverly's on the 1st, and I really like that yarn. Plus, I would rather the shrug not be quite so thick as the Homespun and Divine.

I really *LOVE* shrugs. I'm over 6ft tall, and a size 4, so have a hard time finding long-sleeved shirts that fit me well. I also have a pretty rockin' collection of funny (or offensive, depending on who you are, I guess, lol) tshirts, that I like to be able to wear all year long. So, my love of the shrug. They basically turn normal t-shirts into long-sleeved sweater-type things that work very well for me. Also *shhh* I sweat a lot more than I think most people do. Especially at work. Shrugs help keep my little secret hidden, while still letting me look cute (as a bartender should, doncha think?).
List of Crocheted Shrug & Bolero Patterns
List of Knitted Shrug Patterns
I really should practice knitting more. In all honesty, I like the way crochet LOOKS better, but I like the stretch of knit. Oh, who am I kidding? I like that knitting requires less yarn, lol! *cheap!* Although, I did notice that the Lion Brand patterns for that criss-cross shrug require the same amount of yarn for both knitted and crocheted versions.

*While looking up the link for the shrug, I found that they actually have a crochet version. It is much much better, and closer to what I wanted to do with it =]

In other news, we got a really great deal on Sunday. We wanted to go to the flea market, as it was really nice that day. So, we paid the $4 admission fee, only to get in, and find that there were only about 20-30 vendors there! There is usually a couple hundred, at least! Apparently, the vendors were freaked out because it had rained all day Saturday =[ Anyway, we wandered around for a while. I found some books for the kids, and a HUUUUGE bag of rubber stamps (wood mounter, Hero Arts, SU!, etc, all for $1 ea!, and some un-labeled soft pink yarn. But nothing really worth paying the $4 admission. I only bought 2 stamps, as there were almost all giant flowers, ccountry-ish images, and a ton of angels. I got a neat background stamp, and a cool little doodle-y border.

ANYWAY, just as we were started to piss and moan about how much the flea was suckin;, we came across two used, but still usable, Razor scooters. My son had BEGGED for a Razor for Christmas, and his dad got him one. Great. Except that his dad's house is an hour and a half away, and he barely gets to ride the thing. So, we ended up getting BOTH Razors for $10! My daughter wasn't too keep on it. She says she doesn't know how to ride it, blah blah blah. I told her should would have to learn, lol.

Well, I am off to try to figure out why my printer/scanner has stopped finding my computer. I had the bright idea of just scanning in my stamps, cards, etc...and then found out that for some unknown reason, it isn't working.

I shake my fist at you, Murphy!

We're all mad here

What do you do when your 8 year old son steals from you, gets caught red-handed, and then persists in denying the whole thing? Really, I wish I had more visitors to my blog right now, because I am just at a loss!

He took a Ring Pop off of my nightstand, crawled into his closet, and ate it. I don't really eat candy (except for gummy grapefruit slices - YUM!), but this particular piece of candy was a gift from my husband. He gave it to me after a long schpiel about how he was looking to buy me some jewelry, but couldn't afford anything else, yadda yadda. It was cute, and funny, and sweet, and my boy took it, and ate it =[

The kids knew that it was mine; I had carried it around for several weeks in my purse, and they always asked for it, and I explained that it was too special to eat (and why, tho I don't expect first and third graders to understand sentimental value).

My daughter came to me, saying that she had seen Isaac in the closet next to my Ring Pop wrapper. I called him out, his face was BRIGHT BLUE (Blue Raspberry, my least favorite candy flavor). And he stood there in a tiny sad voice repeating over and over, "I swear I didn't do it. I didn't eat it. I swear I didn't do anything." Riiiight. I asked him to explain why his face was blue. "I swear I didn't do it."

I sent him to his room for the rest of the night. Now, I'm not anti-spanking when it comes to major things, and I think that stealing, and continually LYING about it, is pretty major. But, at the same time, I don't think it is effective for teaching my son anything. Grounding him has never worked, either, though. I'm just at a complete loss as to what I should do here. It's rare that when my kids screw up, it actually hurts my feelings. I wish I knew how to communicate that to him in a way that he would really understand.

Chicken soup, please

I haven't fallen off the Earth just yet. I'm very ill =[ I've been in bed since Friday morning; wretched painful cough, sore throat, fever, headache, body aches, & minor sinus goop. You know, all the FUN back-to-school stuff *blech*. I'm pretty miserable, but the worst part is that I feel so guilty! I feel terrible that I'm sick in bed, and my kids are bored, stuck in the house. Poor things. I've managed not to pass this plague onto the little ones, but my dear husband, who had been taking such great care of me last week, ended up sick in bed with me all weekend. His immune system tends to be a lot tougher than mine, though, and he is back at work today.

I'm going to try to sit in teh living room this afternoon, so that I can at least be near the kids. Double-edged sword, imo. I can be closer to them, so that they don't feel so alone, and maybe I won't feel so guilty, but then...being closer to them increases the chance that they catch whatever I have.

*sigh*

In happier news, my good friend, Lyndsay, had her baby, Tristan Hawk, this weekend =] I had planned to go down to SoCal to be with her for a little while while she was recovering, but I don't think it's a good idea now. Gold, frankincense, myrr, & a respiratory infection? Nah, probably not a great idea.

Over the river, and through the woods

Okay, so, after sitting here for a WEEK, trying to decide whether or not to post pictures from my family reunion/vacation, I have determined that my mother would kill me. She has no pics of herself popsted on her blog, so I won't post pictures of her on mine either.



They are really neat pictures, though!



So, here are some pics that don't feature my lovely mommy:







And, some artsy fartsy things...because, I mean, really, it's just what I do ;)


A tattoo I am designing with my kids' names, to go on my upper left arm. That largest blossom will sit at the top of mr arm/shoulder. I've left room for another child's name >_>;;



New rubber stamps, carved last night. A Walther p22 (my gun), and a flamingo. I am going to carve another of the flamingo, only keep it a solid image, instead of the outline.



ATCs






I need to go clean up some before the kids get home. I'm not cleaning EVERYTHING up, tho, because they left a HUGE mess in the living room, and they need to clean it up (damnit)!

You remind me of the babe

I've been inexplicably tired, and as such, irritable, lately. It's really pissing me off, tbh. I don't like having a short fuse *sigh*

Today, I took the kids to McD's for lunch, after they did all of their daytime chores. We came home, and they did their workbooks (I keep schoolwork around in the summers, so they don't get all dumbified between school years). We made melt & pour soap. Ash choose a heart shaped mold, with purple lemon-scented soap. Isaac picked a rocking fleur de lis mold, with green pear-scented soap. [Pics coming in next post] after making soap, I set them up on the easel with some poster paints.

By the time they were done painting, I was done with the arguing, whining, and constant tattling. I sent them to play in their (newly cleaned) bedroom. They played for about half an hour. And then it happened. The funniest thing I have heard in a loooong time.

Out of the mouths of children:
Isaac: "Oh no! Oh, oh! Help! Omigosh, heeeeeelp!"
Ash: Oh no! What's happening to you?!"
Isaac: "All my parts are falling off! I'm breaking!"
Ash: "Oh no you aren't! I'm the robot repair girl, and no robot has ever lost all it's parts in MY office!"
Isaac: "There goes another one! I'm done for!"
Ash: "Hold on, I think I have an idea!"
Isaac: "But my warranty just expired! I'm falling apart! I'm a goner!"
Ash: "Oh, well, you might as well kiss your own butt."

Made my day, and all the bickering worthwhile ;)

Class of 2020

My baby girl graduated Kindergarten today. A bittersweet moment, for sure.

And a Happy New Year

I'm exhausted, and ready to hibernate for a week. BUt first! Here are some pictures of the things I have been working on (and completing!). Click the pics for descriptions, and whatnot:
Jewelry Pouch

Hand-painted, Hand-stamped Christmas Cards & Gift Tags

Robot Stamps in Altered Box

Crochet Baby Cap & Patchwork Cube Frame

Softie Cupcakes

The beautiful, gigantic quilt my mother made for us!

Feed me, Seymour!

I'm STARVING. I made pork shoulder, mashed taters, and green & wax beans for dinner. That's almost balanced; unfortunately, I used the last of the milk in the potatoes, so I'll have to make up the dairy group with peach yogurt for dessert.

Anyway, dinner has been ready for almost 40 minutes, all desperately trying to stay warm in the oven. My husband is not home, yet. I'm not gonna wait much longer for him!

Stuff to look at:

Arrrrghhh! The sweetness! it's killing me!


Gift tags my mother made. This isn't the best picture of them, but I tried! I'll have to make up one of those awesome lightbox thingys she linked me to in my last post X]


My stamps now have a happy little home in a re-purposed cigar box ^_^



Okay, I'm going to go eat my dinner now. Alone. I hate this stupid recruiting job *pout* -_-

Carebear Stare!

My daughter wanted to be a purple Carebear this year. Great. They don't make purple Carebear costumes, they only make pink Carebear costumes....and she was a pink Carebear for the last 2 years! lol

This is made out of 300wt Malden Mills fleece. It's got a velour finish on the inside, and a sherpa finish on the out. The tummy is lightly stuffed (you shoulda heard her at the Halloween party at school: "Go ahead, punch my stomach!" ;)

Anyway, she loved it, she was warm, all is good =]





It's been a week, and the costume is no longer purple. It is some sort of greenish brown color now. Of course, she's only taken it off to go to school...I suppose it does look like comfy pjs O_o