Up and down and up and down...

Holidays are hard for me. Retail has a way of sucking it right out of you. Crabby people, hours all over the place, not enough cookies. But as I told my crew yesterday, we are in the home stretch. By the end of January, the huge trucks will be done for a while, and spring will have taken over the store, visually booting Old Man Winter and that hussy, Christmas, right out of every retail shoppers life.
Unfortunately, that goes hand in had with hour cuts and having to let people go. I failed to mention that part to my peeps, since they really need to concentrate on the next few weeks.

I am hoping Eli and I will wander into the woods Sunday and fetch a little tree. I want to be done with Xmas cards by then. My list is long, so I am going to have to prune it from 'want to send' to 'Most important' send. Life. I has it.

So far, the best part of the season has been my Christmas/joy lights. A new string of LED c7s that look somewhat like pinecones, except unnaturally colored for my viewing pleasure. Those puppies will stay up until the sun makes it pointless. So I should have several months of joy from them yet.

My DSL bill is going to get jacked up soon, so I will be canceling Netflix and my little monthly donation to greenpeace in the next month. Things are getting really tight money-wise for everyone. I know I am no different here. I need to seriously look into finding new and creative ways to save a little so I can continue to pay off my debts. I guess I will finally have to learn to cook. Le sigh!

My kingdom for a chain saw. Stuck at home because of a fallen tree. I'll try and head to work again soon. Daylight is a-wasting!

Winter has wintered.

Our first snow of the year *que awwwwwwing* fell and we recieved 3 inches. If this is an indication of the winter ahead, I see days spent in town at my friend Susie's house. At least with Eli here, I won't have to worry about the kitties!

Also, I was able to find a home for one of Ruth's kitties! Yeah! One down, 5 to go.

The unveiling.

Well, I think it is time to let ya'all know I have a new boyfriend. His name is Eli, and he is wonderful (of course)! He has fit quite seamlessly into my life, and so I thought I'd come out of the closet about him.

PS: I am a bit tipsy

I made an art journal for a swap on swap-bot. check it ooooooout!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1853197988316.76552.1791798792&type=1&l=3d8b69650a

It feels like Sunday.

I had a friend come down Friday for a visit, but I broke her this morning and had to send her home. She got dizzy and fell down and really hurt her shoulder. I think she got dizzy because of all the excitement from hanging out with me. I'm really THAT cool! Anyways, she just called and is on her way to emergency so she can get it checked out. She thinks she broke something. THAT would make me feel bad. Maybe I should post a warning on my door about my causing excessive fun and being a hazard to your health.
In other news, they had a huge rummage sale up the street today, so I had to go. $2 a bag! I came home with 2 bags, and in them was this gem of a napkin holder! OMG!!!! Love! Had to share. Done torturing you all now.

All I can say is I am glad Dad and I decided to leave the Bend area. Freezing warnings? Seriously???!!! Wow. The coast was MUCH warmer, and today we flew our kits and walked the beach in the sun! I believe I have mentioned I like the sun? And heat, too.
I am home, with a cat on my lap, and dad in the comfy chair doing a sudoku. Bed time draws near, as we must be well rested for Vernonia's City Wide garage Sale tomorrow. Big day!

Day 5

Man,we were tired last night! We slept 11 hours, rolling out of bed about 8am. We had a delicious egg scramble with bacon,cheese,onion and zuchini. I whipped up some pancakes, and we ate like kings! A good thing, too, because we burned it all off hiking along the Crooked River in Smith Rock State park. It was beautiful as I remembered, but I am getting ahead of myself. On the way to Smith Rock, we stopped to check out the Peter Ogden Memorial. The old bridge spanning the Crooked River couldn't handle the amount of traffic going over it, so they built a bigger bridge next to it. It was fun to walk out onto the old bridge and look down about a bazillionty feet to the water. It was also interesting to see the sign in the parking lot telling people to leave their dogs in the car because they have several deata a year due to doggies jumping off the cliff. Go figure.
After spending a while putzing on the bridge, we continued to our destination, stopping at the post office to mail a few postcards. We passed a sign for deer crossing on the way that had been defaced in a manner that made you understand why the dear was jumping (apparently for joy, and we will leave it at that). We passed another that had 'y' strategically placed so you would know that the specific part of the road you were on was patrolled for litter by The Mountainer Orgy. These things are good to know. It alerts you to the dangers of small town living. If we were to stay, we would know to avoid happy deer and mountainers. Just sayin'.
By the time we pulled into Smith Rock and determined that no parking spot would end up in the shade later, we hauled our cooler to a picnic area and downed some lunch. Luck for us, I had spied the a lady using one of the tables as a dirty diaper change station, with no sanitation barrier between Poopers but and the eating surface. I was able to direct us to the non-poop table for safe eatings. Food and water downed, we broke out the cameras and headed down the trail to the river. Our hike lasted about 3.25 hours, and was...fantabulously spectacerifous!!! Trust me, it's in the dictionary that all the cool people use! We saw butterflies, Canadian geese, fresh water clams, a falcon who entertained us by catching himself a fresh fish lunch, deer, wrens, magpies, and a few other birds we couldn't identify. We hiked down to the horse crossing, where you have to cross the river by wading through it. That was so nice and cool on the feet! We climbed up on rocks, hiked the smaller side trails, found a huge eagles nest on the face of one of the cliffs, and only saw 3 other hikers. It was like breathing in fragrent, warm serenity, and breathing out stale, cold stress. So relaxing.
We eventually wandered back to the car, and stopped in at the Terrebonne train depot for some pie. Except they didn't have pie. They had warm brownie sundays, though, so we suffered and split one. Washed it down iced tea, watched a train go by, and just enjoyed sitting on our tired little butts. Back at camp we made the dinner of champions; baked beans and wieners! Tonight, we stay away from open flame and leave the tent flap open. On the way to the dumpster, I was telling dad how I was going to slather myself with hand lotion after my shower, and pretend I was a big hand. That made me think of the Hamburger Helper hand, and so I told dad I could be hamburger helper! Apparently, only I think that would be a cool thing. Le sigh! Of course, I also told him that a good punch in the face makes you forget how cold your feet are. I know I am right, but he didn't want to find out the scientific way. I guess it is still a small dialog victory.
Now I am sitting here, smelling like soap, feeling like a big white hand, and getting ready to hit the sack. Last night was a vitual nightime zoo. Deer, quail, owls, a wild cat, and bats. Tonight I will sleep with a flashlight so I can investigate the awesome sounds of the wild on my way to the restroom. Might just save myself from a happy deer attack.

I have been watching the lady camper across the way, looking at all the full pockets on her cargo shorts. They remind me of my mom's jean jacket. She took it when we went camping, and it doubled as a back pack. However, it seemed to have all the things a backpack didn't. Gum, wet wipes, tissue, paper and pen, the kitchen sink, trail mix, nail clippers, etc. I am pretty sure my brother and I counted about 50 pockets on that thing, and that was just the ones on the outside. I was always impressed with how she knew exaclty what was in each pocket. It was amazing!
Dad and I have just finishesd a nutritional dinner of bacon, pasta, and beer. Burp! Dessert was a fruit cup, where everything tasted like pineapple. We made a postcard from the top of the pasta box, which we are sending to one luck person. See, you CAN craft anywhere! We are exhausted from our previous night of so-so sleep and our day of glorious back road exploring and caving. Originally, we were going to revisit the Lava Bed visitor center, but apparently it is closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. Figures. We laughed, and consulted the oracle (which looks strangely like a Dechutes Forest map) and headed for the Lava caves. They were closed. We laughed again. We headed farther down the road to the Boyd caves. It was open. The entrance called to the bat in me, and I was down the ladder like a shot, looking for my fine flying friends and saying "Kewl!" about every three seconds. Unfortunately, it very quickly became a crawl space cave, and I don't do those without better equipment and at least 3 people. That way, when I am pinned under the cave in, or have snapped my ankle in 5 places and am unable to move, some one can go for help while someone else stays with me and tells me how great it has been knowing me.
After our short but awesome trek in caveland, we headed for the Skeleton caves. Not only were they closed, but they had been barred shut with bars that looked as if they could hold in King Kong. Feeling a bit glum because my caving desires were not being fullfilled, we got back in the car and kept going, keeping a keen traveler's eye out for the ice caves. Apparently, that is where Bend got all it's ice in the days before ice trays and freezers. It had been closed for the last 10 years because ice had blocked the entrance, but was once again open to the curious passer-by such as my Dad and I. After what seemed like to long a drive through dry, sunny, hot, beautiful high desert, we found a shadey little pull off, and had some lunch. This is when the two cute guys in the Forest Service truck came toodling down the road. They stopped to see if we were alright, and we took the opportunity to ask them if we had passed the ice caves. Actually, Dad asked, I made flirty eyes with the tastey one behind the wheel. Sure enough, we had past, back we went, this time armed with the knowledge to find the unmarked road needed. The caves were closed due to 10 years of ice blocking the entrance, thus causing a massive cave-in that crushed the stairs leading down. I think I might send the God of Spelunking a scathing letter about his slacking off on his godly caving duties. Why follow the leader if he's simply going to lead you to a bunch of unaccessable points of interest? Seriously!
So, after 5 hours of back road discoveries (including free range cows, chipmunks, and non accessable tourist stops) we headed back into Bend for gas, cool drinks and a snack. A quick consulting of our trusty oracle pointed up north toward Redmond and the Palasides. It was as beautiful as I remember, and we found a lovely spot with no little rain cloud, and no side kick wind. We have paid for two glorious nights, and tomorrow we will go to Smith Rock and hike the creek trail. This is one of my favorite spots in central Oregon. My last visit was disapointing because the company was bad. This time it will be great because the company is good, and the weather is amazing, and we have trail mix bars for snacks!
Oh, by the way, breakfast was pretty good. Fruitloops and waffles and orange juice! Yum!

End of the day update.

Those of you who know my Dad and I know we love sun and heat. Today, there was no heat. We waited, and waited. We drove into La Pine for gas and a frying pan, and still no sun or heat. We hiked to Pauline falls. We took pictures of the little bitty froggies at the resort. All with no sun or heat. Then, the thunder started. So, being smart campers, we grabbed our cameras and hiked up little crater trail. As we went up, it became colder, and started raining. Determined to tough it out, we kept going. The veiw was amazing, the thunder close, the rain and wind- persistant. We were wet by the time we finished the mile and a half loop. And cold. And there was no sun. We drove back to camp to watch our tent. Again, it was trying to fly, so I looked at Dad and suggested that maybe we should hit a hotel, get some weather information, and find the sun and the heat. So, we packed up, and are now settled in at a Budget 8, watching tv, and looking at our maps. Apparently, we were camping under the only little tiny rain cloud in all of Oregon. Go figure! We think we will be staying close to Bend, since there is a ton of stuff we want to see that isn't under that mini cloud-with-an-attitude. But for now, we will shower and have dessert, and read/look at maps/watch crappy tv/and internet it up. I am looking forward to the free breakfast. They will have waffles and fruitloops!!!

Day two

Today started at 6am, which is actually quite late for me. It's was a beautiful sunny morning. It promised candy and rainbows and unicorns. It delivered coffee and shopping and wind. Oh, and a whole lotta smoke from a 7000 acre wildfire nearby. And where there is smoke, there are cute firefighters. Yum!
We headed towards Sisters, and stopped for a couple of hours to play tourist, pick up some gifts, and by a cup of coffee. Then we headed into Bend, picking up a cooler, ice, and a bottle of wine. Now that our supplies were complete, we continued down toward our goal; Newberry Volcanic National Park. I had been here once before with 'the man who's name we shall not speak' and it had been a disaster(of course). It was nice to drive in with Dad, who doesn't mind seeing where the road goes, and doesn't freak out if there is no plan beyond seeing where the road goes.
The nice Ranger told us which campgrounds we were still allowed to have a campfire in, and then we hit the visitor center for a quick peek. That nice ranger told us it would be worth our while to walk the Trail of the Molten Land. She was right. The view was spectacular, the trail was easy, and the informational markers were informative. Plus, there was a crap-ton load of adorable little chipmunks everywhere, making my squee meter read off the charts! After our little jaunt through the now not molten lava beds, we headed up the road to find a place to camp. Found a lovely spot right on Lake Pauline. Set up the tent, took a few pictures, and finished following the road up to the end, which was about another 5 miles. Chatted up the girls at the resort to find that everything was closing down for the season. This waa fine with us, since it meant no crowds. We drove through the last campground on the road, which had over 100 sites. They were all very lovey, and I think I would feel safe enough coming up here on my own. Might have to do me some camping next year.
We headed back to camp and started getting supper ready. That was when the wind decided to pick up. It was warm and felt nice after a day in the sun. However, it was on a mission, and that mission was to see if it could launch our tent into outer space like a kite. We spent a lot of time holding onto the tent for dear life (and this is with our stuff IN the tent, mind you) and laughing our asses off. We finally used a break in the wind to empty the tent and move it behind some trees. That made absolutely no difference. Dad pulled the car in front off it to use as a wind break. The wind simply laughed. We dragged the tent across the road to another site away from the lake. The wind said, "Ha!" We finally figured out that if we took the rainfly off, the tent became a tent again. We positioned it in the best place we could find, staked it down, and lined the inside with rocks. The wind got pissed off and invited the rain to join in the game. It started raining. We put the rain fly up. The rain would stop and let the wind have at it. We'd take the rain fly off. The wind would hoot and holler as the rain would get us. We finally decided that those two hoolagins were NOT going to vote US off the island, and we took the rain fly down for good and went back to making supper. Apparently, this decision annoyed them both, and they wandered off to torment some other souls. We had a good laugh and decided that we would tie the tent to the trees in the morning in case they both snuck back when we were out. Dinner commenced, followed by a few games of dominos, and then we took ourselves to bed and away from the hungery mosquitos. But not before I found and held a cuuute little froggy! Squeeeeeee!!!

Day one

Fabulous first day on the road. Beautiful drive down highway 47, through Forest Grove, Gaston, and all the beautiful country side between , until we hit Hwy 99 west. As we approached Salems' River Front Park, we saw a feild of flags. Curious, we stopped to find a memorial honoring the fallen from 9/11, and the local military persons who had served in the war after that day. It was quite well done, really making it easy to comprehend the loss we suffered. We wandered around for a while, remembering, like so many others. We also peeked at the river boat and indoor carousel, and I was able to get a few postcards for my Postcrossing habit. Driving through Salem, we picked up Hwy 22, continuing southeast toward Bend and Sisters. The farther we went, the smokier it became. It made us a little nervous to see all the cars heading the other way, so we wisely stopped at the Detroit Ranger Station to chat up the employees about the fires, where they were and if we need worry. Of course, I added to my map collection, and have been amusing myself ever since by finding little treasures on them. For instance, did you know the Devils Garden is right next to Christmas Lake? neither did I! There are cool back roads, campgrounds and trail heads everywhere we looked on the maps. We kinda wanted to get to Crater Lake, but I seriously don't think we are going to make it. There is so much to see!

Shorty after Detroit, we pulled into Whispering falls to set up camp. Truthfully, I see no falls, and there is no whispering, so I am not sure what is up with that name, but whatever.
However, the cars are quite loud, and if our site was any closer to the road, we'd be road kill. But we have a beautiful fire, over which we roasted the worlds largest marsh mallows and I have thuroughly killed Dad in several games of dominos, and teased him mecilessly about making such brilliant comments like "When I put my head in a bag of vinegar chips and breathe in deeply, it about gags me" and "I'll poop tomorrow." Those last statement make me excited as to see what tomorrow will bring in words of wisdom. For now, I am amusing myself with the typing noise my little Android is making. Dads thinks he is hearing squirrels. Hehehe!

PS: Dad was able to get me to stick my head into the bag of vinegar chips and inhale deeply. I have no idea how he came up with the idea to do this in the first place, but he was right. Man, does it make you nose close and your eyes burn! My doing this proves we are related, and share the "mentally challenged" Hoffmann gene. I want to point out, however, that I am a good daughter; I obey my parent even when I don' t understand my parent. So, I am thinking that kinda balances the ' weird' factor out. Shut up.

As soon as I got off of work, my vacation started. I flew home to find dad was waiting there already. I still had a ton of stuff to do to get ready, so I settled him in front of the computer and introduced him to The Bloggess and Telling Dad. While hey giggled and laughed, I got my house in order, and packed for the trip. We took a nice evening walk before bed, then crashed early so we could rise with the morning and and get the hell out of dodge.

What I did today; the long but funny version.

So, I woke up this morning and had some tent snuggle time with my 1000 year old cat. She has taken to wanting under the covers. I don’t mind, except she won’t lie down. She sits there, far away from me, purrs and falls asleep sitting up. My arms tend to get tired during these ‘don’t touch me’ snuggle moments. Today, I grabbed her and pulled her up close, petting her and forcing purrs from her. Once I was tired of torturing her with love, I got up and made coffee. I logged on, visited my usual sites, drank my 3 cups, ate my vitamins, had toast, and started sweeping up all the cat-fur dust bunnies in my house. I did dishes, which I attempt to only do once a week. I have discovered that if you rinse the dishes AND stack them, you can fit more in the sink, thus allowing yourself to put the whole dish washing activity off longer. After dishes I lint-rollered a bunch of surfaces in my house, moved the cat box outside to clean it, emptied my recycle bins and garbage, and moved the rest of my messes to my crafting table. I have discovered if I contain my messes in this manner, I can put off dealing with them a lot longer. Kinda like the dishes, but less smelly. I occasionally peeked in online, putzing around various sites, sending emails and making sarcastic and witty comments to various unsuspecting early risers such as myself.

I finally went out and watered the garden, and tied up my tomato plant, because plant bondage is really hot. Then I did a little harvesting, ate some strawberries and a nectarine, chatted with my neighbors, pet the kitties, including one stray that is finally letting me give her scratches. Pug (another stray) came in and amused me by playing with his catnip mouse. I sat in the sun a bit, and finally decided I should get out of my pajamas. Not like you could tell I was IN pajamas. My jammies are t-shirts and sweat pants, and are perfectly acceptable to go to various public places in. However, my morning hair is a whole other story, and I felt it about time to stop scaring the neighbors. I showered and decided to wander down to the local market for that brownie mix. Even though it would cost 3 times the amount there because I live in the middle of nowhere, I decided to splurge. I also wanted to buy the winning lottery ticket. But first I brought the cat box back in for Her 1000 Year Old Highness. Don’t want any kitty accidents in my house. I passed the park on my way home from the store and thought about stopping to watch the birds, but some butt head had just smoked a big bowl, and the smell was awful, so I opted to go home. On the way there I started thinkning about how wonderful it is to be single. I can go when and where I want, do what I want, without having to worry about forgetting to tell someone exactly where I will be and for how long and then being late and having to explain I wasn’t trying to hurt them and that I wasn’t cheating on them with the neighbor or some rot like that.
Then I started thinking about how much it kinda sucks to be single because there is no one to say, “You were gone? Oh. I didn’t notice.” And then grin when I smack then on th back of the head and stick out my tongue.

Once home, I proceeded to start refilling my sink with dirty dishes by making 3-bean salad and starting a big pitcher of ice tea. More poking about the Internet, making sarcastic comments, etc. I was getting pretty tired, so I took a nap. 2 hours later I arose refreshed and ready to do absolutely nothing. Instead I cleared my pile of crap off my table, watched a Farscape episode, ate dinner and desert, talked to my mom and dad, amused the mail lady (who is also my friend), trimmed up my peas after picking them, and sat in the sun some more. I started another craft project, cracked open a beer to wash my two microwave smores down with, and am now thinking about trundling off to bed. It’s rather late for me, and I still want to read a bit before I crash from my Very Exciting Day.

I was dreaming I was choking to death and awoke to find my cat trying to strangle me. Except she fell asleep because she's about 1000 years old and sleeps 23.5 hours a day. Her little, pointy paws were still jammed into my wind pipe, put she had tipped over onto my chest in the fetal position. I think she was dreaming about finishing the job, though, because she was purring.

another facebook album

Mom and Dad came for a visit this July, and I have finally edited the pictures for your viewing pleasure (and my stress levels and to do list lenght).
Enjoy!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1736511391224.72576.1791798792&l=d71d473dc3&type=1

Jamboree Parade 2011

We had our yearly Jamboree parade last weekend, so I wandered to town to snap some shots. It's a big thing here, and is the only parade i have ever like. Proabably because it's small town, and it's my town!

Enjoy!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1723829154176.72017.1791798792&l=7632b23083&type=1

Art from under my bed.

This is the last of the stuff I have been hauling around since high school.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1722475480335.71955.1791798792&l=7a04437b42&type=1

Enjoy!

Vacation pictures from Henderson, New York.

I had a fabulous time, as always. I miss my friend already. Here is a link to my facebook album, if you'd like a peek.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1711147437141.71459.1791798792&l=65c5742a59&type=1


Here is a link to my friends Etsy store. She makes great jewlery. Check it out!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/LadyMockingbird

So many pictures, so far behind in getting them posted!

I spent a small portion of today editing my pictures from a revent visit to Seattle. It happened to fall on Gay Pride weekend. If you are interested in the pictures I took, clicky the link below to see them in my facebook. Don't worry, clicking the link wont sign you into facebook. It's simply like buying a ticket to the zoo. You get to go in once, but that doesn't make you a member.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1701428674178.70967.1791798792&l=3a28fbde3b&type=1

Well, winding down for the day. We drove into Adams and checked it out. It's about the size of Vernonia, but split into 2 sections. Nice little town. We hit the local super market, and now we are home and grilling some dinner. I'm taking a break from round one of dish washing to sip on my gin and tonix and type, while Diana finishes up the food prep and gets out of my washin' way! The breeze is stirring all the drapes, and the evening sunlight is spilling through the trees, making dappled patterns on the walls and floor. Tomorrow I Geocache, and check out a big cemetery near here. Tonight I rest, make one more postcard to mail, and then surfing the net while watching- you guessed it! West Wing!

updatey goodness from New York State.

All my days are blurring together, as all good vacation days should. Today we have spent most of our time working on logging jewelery inventory, and I will sort it all tonight. Yesterday we hit Fort Drum, and I got a patch for the Mist-Birkenfeld Fire station. I hope to get one tomorrow in Syracuse. Lots of good food has been eaten, and much West Wing has been watched. I have also done a huge amount of sleeping, which surprises me. Really didn't think I was that tired out from life. Tomorrow morning I will do some local Geocaching on my own, and then we will drive into town to look at Hobby Lobby, Michaels, Salvation Army and a few other things. Matter of fact, I need to see If there are any Geocaches in town.

The weather has been cooler and raining at night. It rained almost all day yesterday. Today is sunny and windy, but cool. Very pretty. The furnace guy showed up to do some maintenance, and he was cute! I couldn't get a flirt in sideways 'cuz Diana was hogging it all. I did get to stare, though, which is good, too.

Now we need to decide whether we are going to start painting the living room, or o something else.

I am in New York with Diana, and happy as can be! It was a long night trip with 2 layovers, but I managed to sleep some, so was able to hit the ground and be awake and functioning. It was hotter and more humid that I think I have ever experienced in my life, and I was sweating from places on me I didn't even know I could sweat from. Life; it's a constant learning experience. Today is cooler. We spent the day doing an art fair. Lots of jewelry was sold, and celebrating was had by all. Dinner out at a small restaurant on the harbor was a nice way to end a long, hot day of working. Tomorrow will be resting and then a picnic on the water. We will eat and swim and rest. I am looking forward to meeting more of the local folk and slipping into pure vacation mode.

But for tonight, I will slip into 'looking at the back of my eyelids' mode. Night all!

Yeah, I get it from my Dad...

I was walking through town early this morning and came upon a gentleman gingerly nailing a sign to a signpost. It said, "SDA picninc". I had no idea what a SDA was, so I asked him. He said it stood for Seventh Day Adventist, and that his church was celebrating it's 75th year in Vernonia. He was excited, and I was caught up a little in his enthusiasm. I responded with a loud "Holy crap!!! That's awesome!", then wished him a great event and resumed my walk. Only after several seconds did I realize that maybe responding with "Holy crap!!!" wasn't quite the best choice of words.Sure was funny, though!

Mom's Day fun!

I made a banner to greet mom with at the train station on Mothers Day weekend. My friend Julie hepled hold up the 8 feet of glorious fun, and when Mom came into the station, half the people clapped and cheered. It was hilarious and wonderful! I couldn't have planned it to work out better. Mom saved the banner, and it is enjoying at home. Heehee!

My first veggies of yum!

My snap peas have been busy while I wasn't looking! I went to tuck some growth up so it would grow up the pole, and noticed that had green snacks growing. Squeeeee!

I started to be productive...

...but then it simply became too pretty and warm and wonderful out. The next thing I know, I am in my car, cruising down 47 to Fish Hawk Lake, and then Birks for a burger....Then I absolutely had to take a nap. I talked a bit with the wonderful Lady Mockingbird, who I am always happy to hear from, then I forced myself to do a little more 'work'. Now I shall retire with a book. Probably a cat, too. I want to get my seeds planted tomorrow morning, then go exploring up a road I found that has a sign posted saying I can actually play there. Yeah! Then it's into the big city for some crafting, that stupid meeting, and an overnight shift. Wee. I am charging up my Zune now so I have tunes for Sunday night.

My latest glitter creation!

These glitter glues I just purchased ROCK!!!

We sell these glitter glues by Tim Holtz that come out to $2 or more a piece. You have to buy them in a 3 packs. Michaels makes their own version and has them in the dollar scrap booking bins, and I have been a-eyeballin' them for a while. I bought some with an uber discount, and tried them on one of my 'Glitter some Boxes' projects.

O!

M!

G!

I bought a bunch of colors, at $.60 a piece, and let me a-tell ya, they are THE BOMB!!!! I am in love! Sorry Tim, but you are to expensive for this girl.

Sucess!

The weekend went fabulously! We had a great time watching 'Numb3rs', reading, getting our 'craft' on, socializing, and walking around town. Mom spent Saturday with me and the ladies crafting,. I taught her how to make Inchies. She and I both got to see the new tender the Mist/Birkenfeld fire station had been able to aquire. Ruth even came with us! We ate at the Blue House (Meditarainian food), the Grand Lodge( where Peter and Ursi stayed on their visit), and the weather was even nice! I have a new toaster, compliments of the house guest and Dad, which I have used a TON in a few days. I missed having a toaster!
Pug slept with Mom every night, and hung out with us while we played a game of dice.

Really, it was a great Mother's Day weekend, and I hope to get another one in before the year gets busy.

My child is such a dork!

BEcause my mom taught me to share.

Nothing like posing in a fire engine with a handsome hunk!

So, two firemen arrived at my house the other day...

Sounds like the begining of a joke, but it isn't! They did, and all ready to handle the heat, too! We became instant friends, and I took them to the firestation today to introduce them around. They were quite the hit, and everyone was thrilled that I had TWO new boy toys! How cool is that!!??!! I had my mom take a picture of us posing on one of the fire trucks.

So, I joined a swap called "I love toast". You get one partner and make them three different things having to do with toast. Since I love toast, I had a blast with this one! I felted a toaster, and made an ATC card of a place setting. Then I made toast from wood, with yummy melting butter pats on them. A picture of the end result;

Prezzies!

My fabulous friend in New York sent me little felted owls! Oh, the squeeeee!

$3 of Squeeeeee!

Went with Ruth and Ginger to a barn sale at the Farm Woman's Nursery. I spent $3 and came home with tons of happy!

The felted lamb table runner is folded in half here, but it is in great shape and I didn't even think twice about buying it. The candle holder is small in circumference, which is great. I have plans for it that involve shells and sand. The edelweiss pitcher is happily holding my pens on my computer desk.

I love barn/garage/rummage sale season!

Apartment stuff.

Been having issues with not having enough outlets or space around my computer for my stuff. Part of that is simple laziness on my part. I used to be fine, but got tired of always having to plug/unplug my various USB cords for my camera, Zune and other little electronic trinkets. I also have a cat who hangs out on the top of my computer desk, and uses my printer as a sounding board on the way up and down. not good for the printer. So, this morning I did a little measuring and swapped out two shelving units. Although this does nothing for the outlet shortage, it protects my printer quite nicely and give me a little more storage space. Now I simply want to find some nice lidded containers to place some of my junkier things in so I can visually tidy things up. This is the before picture.

This is the after picture.

Also, I was inspired by Lady Mockingbird and a lamp shade she is making from copper wire and beads. So, I sat down and pulled out my beads and some floral wire, and spruced up the bottom of my reading lamp. Now it is all shiny and sparkly!

My manager called me into the office yesterday as I was leaving work. She gave me a card with a $100 visa gift card in it. She had gotten a bonus for the year, and every time she gets one, she shares it with the managers. *blink* This is the first boss I have had that has recognized that she couldn't do it without others in a TANGIBLE way. Not just words, but a little sumthin' sumthin'. All I can say is wow! She asked me to please spend it on something that was fun and would make me happy, so I promised her I would. I have made my first purchase; two ginormous bags of really good dirt for my garden. The first I dumped into my compost bin and mixed with a half bag of fish fertilizer that had been sitting in a bin for years. I will give that three weeks to percolate, then dig it into my garden and plant. Not sure where I will put the second one. Might save it for the front beds, where I plan on mixing edible flowers with garden yummies. Oh, the gardening possibilities!

House cleaning and such.

I haven't been posting much because I haven't been doing much of interest. Yeah, I've been doing things like paying bills, working, and some swaps, but I ALWAYS do that, and figure you guys are tired of hearing about it.

Three super things have happened in the last few weeks, though. The first is that My dear friends- Bill and Liz- came down for a visit. They brought me a full sized mattress and box spring from the lake cabin that was waaaaay to hard for them, but that I fell in love with last August. So, I now have a bed that doesn't hurt my back, and I fit on it much better when there are kitties dotting the bed covers.

The next thing that has happened (actually a handful of times now) is we have had warm enough and sunny enough weather to allow me to open up the apartment and get the stink of winter out. There has been much spring cleaning and whatnot, and I even finally moved the new bed over to where the old bed was, thus freeing up my living/dining/studio room. It is quite nice to have that space free again, and to have a house that smells all nice and clean.

Smudge enjoyed my cleaning because it meant chairs in the sun with rugs on them. Those are nice places to snooze.

The other really awesome thing is, I attended my first foraging class! Watch out wild edible plants, here I come! It was most fun, and I have a stack of books I am browsing through every night.My teacher has been doing this for 30 years, and has degrees in biology, botany, and other plant and food related things. He's funny and easy to understand, and gets classroom participation very easily. I am hoping to teach others in Vernonia what I have learned, since money is tight and if you can pick it for free, why not then?

So, that has been my life lately. There has been a lot of early mornings at work and lots of reading of books. Other than that, I am simply gearing up for the end of spring, when I can plant and hike without getting soaked, and enjoy sun on my skin.

Spring

This is my least favorite season. I know that sounds strange to a lot of people, but to me this is simply an in-between time. Warm weather is not yet here, but it's no longer quiet, peaceful wintertime. This is when Nature's alarm clock is going off, and all I want is to hit the snooze button until I HAVE to get up.

I appreciate Mother Nature trying to disguise all the mud and rain and grey in-between-ness by dotting the place with flowers and such, but mostly she is simply trying to distract you from the fact that she has been able to let herself go for a few months. Now her legs are hairy, she needs a visit to the hair salon, a shower, and her old flannel pajamas and ratty house robe need to go back into the closet. The sun is rising earlier and earlier, and people are actually looking for her. She is in demand again, and there is no more hitting the snooze button for her, either.

Me, I have a little more time.

Her distrattions are rather adorable, though.

Spring is starting to flaunt it!

Note to self: Do not remove coffee grinder lid until grinder has stopped. Completely.

Vacation snap shots!

I have about half my photos up, so if you wnat to peak, here is a link to my facebook album.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=54775&id=1791798792&l=ec8498559a

There will be more in the next day or so.

I adore my attorney!

We have been exchanging emails and phonecalls the last week. We finally wrapped up this round last night. I ended my email with;

"It's Friday, and I have been home a whole hour and still don't have a glass of wine and plate of nachos in front of me yet. It's a cryin' shame!"

I had a response from him this morning, which started my day off just right!

"Remember: pair Cool Ranch w/ a good Chardonay and Chipotle Doritos w/ Merlot (or Cuervo). Don’t be gauche and make any faux pas. Your cat might resent it."

Hehehe!

Proud of myself!

January is my month to get things in my home life tidy and ready for the New Year. I was just looking over my 2 page list of projects I wanted to accomplish last year, and only transferred 4 items to this years list. The rest I accomplished, with perhaps the exception of about 6 that no longer held interest for me.
Wow!
This years list was just finished, and there are only 14 items on it. I know I will be adding a few more, but compared to coming up with 2 pages in on sitting last year, that is a phenominal accomplishment for me! Of course a handful of items are time intensive, all year projects. Like learning to forage, finding good places to do so, and getting some mad gardening skills. However, I can take those skills with me wherever I go, and it's more like play to me that work, so I won't feel the 'have to' like I do with other things. The choice to consolidate my email accounts, journals, etc and my little bitty spending here and there has felt 'right' as well. I am actually looking forward to freezing my Netflix for a month and seeing how I do. Betting the reading and resting time will increase, along with crafting. Internet is one thing I will not give up. I will keep my high speed connection. I pondered going back to dial up when my 1 year deal with Frontier expires, but with everything I have to do online for work and life, it is worth the money.

Not bad for a mornings work. Off to sort piles and pet kitties and such.

What?!! two thousand-elebanty already??!!

I brought in the new year (or as close to it as I could) making a cool puzzle with Mary Lou and others at the fire station. It was nice to be surrounded by friends, all chattering away about this that and what-not; friends that had nothing to do with my job. I needed that.

I have been cleaning and getting things straightened up from the holiday season. This includes getting my pictures of the burn up on Facebook. here is a link for you.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=49387&id=1791798792&l=3e6833a235

There will be another house going down, and I will try and find out when so I can attend. I want to see this one light up the sky!

All is still snowy and well in my neck of the woods. I have my pile of books by the bed, and have added a small note pad so I can jot down other books recommend by those books. I will be freezing my Netflix account next month to see if I can live without. I feel I am starting to spend to much time watching. Might be time to call it quits for a while.

Slowly putting away my Christmas gifts. I am a lucky girl. I can now see how unbelievably cold it is outside without opening the door. Thanks Dave and Beth! Right now it is a balmy 24F. I think I'll leave a bit early for work so I can avoid the slip and slide.

These are pictures I took in my front yard yesterday morning about 6:30am. Enjoy!