I've been missing you!

Dear Friends,

I've missed you since I've been out to lunch.  And I don't mean in a turkey-sandwich-on-wheat-hold-the-mayo-in-between-phone-calls-because-the-crazy-doesn't-stop kind of way.

No I mean I've been running on auto-pilot for this entire month and I miss picturing your smiling face while you eat a buffalo chicken wrap just before you open up Corey & Stacie.

A typical day for Corey 'n me starts with a nice walk with the dog, some breakfast, a little work in the office, dinner at home, felting for me, a ball game for him and then Matlock for dessert.  Nice.  Easy.

But recently my day looks like this:

• walk dog
• pack bag of running clothes
• pack bag of wool and jewelry supplies
• pack bag of breakfast, lunch and dinner
• run out of house without brushing teeth
• work
• lunch
• work
• think about blogging
• get interrupted by homeless people
• 5pm!
• time to go home!
• no it's not
• run
• (paper) towel off in office bathroom
• sit in office: watch TV on Internet
• sit in office: felt
• sit in office: eat dinner
• 7pm, now it's time to go home
• nope
• rehearsal for murder mystery
• pretend to smoke Virginia Slims
• murder someone (or do I??)
• 10pm
• home
• Matlock
• pie
• 11pm, pass out with glasses on

Insert various meetings in "sit in office" time and that's pretty much what I can expect four days a week.  The other three days are filled with laundry, sleep and sitting without moving.

After so many weeks of this my brain gets tired.  It forgets things or refuses to function altogether.

Ok, so not entirely altogether.  I am technically still alive.  But my brain has missed a few crucial things.  Like blogging.  And zipping up my snow pants before heading out this morning.

14 degree draft = crucial.

So, in closing I hope you will take the following as a most heartfelt apology for my abscess:

"Corey, I hate the smell of your hair gel"

"What does it smell like??"

"Like sweet spit; it grosses me out."

"You do realize there isn't any spit in it, right?"

...

Your BFF,
Stacie

Pinterest? No, thank you.

So, word on the street is there's this fancy new thing to do on the Internets called Pinterest.

The following is what I know about this site:

• It can be found on the World Wide Web.
• People really like it for some reason.
• My friend Alyssa found a bunch of recipes.
• Little buttons are now popping up in other websites that say "Pin It".
• It is a black hole of stuff that sucks you in and turns your entire day into one big long interweb search of everything you didn't know you didn't know.

But I may exaggerate.

After all, I have never been to the site.

This is what I've heard:

"I learned how to do such-and-such on Pinterest."

"You can find lots of cool ideas on Pinterest."

"I spend a lot of time on Pinterest."

"OMGosh Pinterest is so addicting."

"Seriously, I was on Pinterest for hours and hours."

"I just. can't. stop...."

"Hey Stace, you should really try Pinterest."

Here's the deal friends, I am currently neglecting most aspects of my life already.

I don't have time to prepare healthy meals.

I only fold laundry when we are having to dump a full basket of clean clothes onto the bed in order to find a sock match.

I have enough time to make jewelry to stock one store.  Partially.

And I'm not entirely sure what Corey looks like these days.

So if there is just one more thing out there that is going to fill me with all kinds of ideas of fun things I can do or make and cause me to spend a full Saturday crafting or baking or sawing things out of wood with very little experience doing so I'm going to have to politely pass.

Because that Saturday was probably already designated for something else.

Martha Stewart Living is where I draw the line.

...but only because I paid for the entire year.

Gobble Gobble

Where do I begin?

I mean, Thursday was technically the gateway into the holiday season, and that's kind of a big deal so of course I'm going to have a story or five to tell.

But where do I begin?!

...

My BFF came into town Wednesday night with her toddler, Lucy.  It was unplanned, but not unwelcomed.

Just....unplanned.

Have I mentioned Corey and I do not have children?

Or that our "baby proofing" previously consisted of moving items that would be attractive to a Golden Retriever mouth?

A few mistakes:

• left Oliver-dog's food bowls on the floor
• left wool for felting on ottoman

If you put two and two together you get a few necklaces and bracelets smelling like salmon and beef jerky.

We did our usual two meals on Thanksgiving.  First with my family where I swore I would not stuff my face, but stuffed my face anyway, and then with Corey's family where I had no more room to stuff.

So I stuffed my pockets.

Just kidding.  But, seriously, I wish I had.

On Friday I replaced my dad's and my traditional 3am Black Friday outing for an 11am shove match at the outlet mall where I found a pair of red corduroy stretchy pants at Banana Republic for $10.  I'm so glad I like the clothes no one else wants.  I lean toward stretchy now that my Summer of Carbs has turned into a Fall of Cookies and I'm getting all squishy.

By then our house was baby free and in the afternoon while Corey let loose with the vacuum I was able to felt my way to arthritis.  The process I now use involves stabbing small balls of wool with special needles, so I guess it was appropriate that I stabbed away to the 48 Hours Mystery marathon on TLC.

The rest of our holiday weekend was slow and uneventful.

I declared Saturday to be a day of inside projects and that is where I stayed.  Inside.  Washing sheets, felting, eating and not showering.  And on Sunday I accidentally got a spatula stuck in my stand mixer and flung cookie dough across the kitchen.

Corey was mad.  I think he's glad I'm back to work and away from his kitchen where I tend to make messes.

I made quite a few messes.

First with the two pumpkin pies.

Did you know I have this thing about making my pies from scratch?  It takes me three hours and I do actually get flour on everything, including the dog.

Then I made a green bean casserole.

Did you know I have this thing about making my cooking projects more difficult than they need to be?  I may or may not have sent Corey on a mission for bacon Thanksgiving morning.

Then I made dog treats for each of the ten dogs we encounter in our whirlwind, cross county Thanksgiving tour.

Did you know I have this thing about turning myself into Martha Stewart?  Fancy packaging, dog bone labels, wood basket and all?

Lord help me if I were to ever be a full time housewife.

And Lord help my waistline.

But now, finally, I'm back to work.  The daily grind.

...counting down the days until the next round of holiday madness.

Weekend Wrap Up: Happy to see Monday

Sweet mother of pearl am I glad this past weekend is ov-er.

Corey probably is too, but for different reasons.

Allow me to elaborate.

As you might remember, I've done a lot of work with our local soup kitchen to plan two of their major fundraisers that fall within a month and a half of each other.  The first was the festival in the park in August, the second a huge breakfast served to thousands of attendees of a balloon festival held this past weekend.

The planning that went into the two events was exhausting enough, but the actual events themselves were both equally physically exhausting.

Starting at 3:30am my dad and I started the days prepping food and working with the 80+ volunteers; we had an hour to fill 8 chaffing dishes with scrambled eggs, French toast, pancakes and sausage.  Then four tables had to be lined with OJ, coffee, hot water, milk and every kind of condiment you would ever need.

Minus mini Tabasco bottles.  But we have to have something to shoot for.

The weather was terrible and none of the balloons lifted off.  But on Sunday, at least, they were blown up.

Which means there were still plenty of people lining up at 5am for an all-you-can eat feast.

Which means there was lots of scrambling of more than just the eggs.

Which means I was exhausted.

Needless to say, several naps were in order.

By 1pm on Saturday I had already worked six hours and napped for two.

...

And on Corey's end, he was in charge of monitoring Oliver-dog 24 hours each day for bruising in his ears, eyes, or gums that would immediately send us all to the doggy ER.

"I had to google what a Golden Retriever's ears are supposed to look like just to be sure."

"And?"

"He's fine."

For some reason, Oliver develops this weird rash on his undercarriage that lasts for several weeks and then disappears.  Corey took him to the vet on Friday just to finally find out what it could be and was surprised when the vet thought he had a serious blood disorder.

Corey left the office with several hundred dollars in vet bills, a 3x per day medication and a special shampoo to be used that day.

For a guy who has never owned a dog in his life, let alone bathed one, the whole process took a lot out of him and I came home Friday night to towels strewn across the floor, dog hair in the drain and a wet dog running wild, sliding all over the wood floors in our apartment.

Corey also had instructions to monitor Oliver closely and keep him calm and confined until his blood work comes back this week.  If anything about him even slightly changed Corey was told to take him to the ER immediately.

Confined, yes.  Calm, no.

But I guess it's a good sign he still has the same amount of energy.

...

So now here we are, Monday...again.  But this week we have a weekend of leaf peeping, granny visiting and a world's largest garage sale to look forward too.

Happy Ending.

Weekend Wrap Up: Wine tasting and birthdays

We saw the sun this weekend.

WooHoo!

Also there was some flooding, alpacas, eccentric artists in coat tails and a top hat, a roasted pig, leopard print, a birthday girl, white caps and felt balls.

Put all that together and you get one crazy party. 

A 98-year-old nana in leopard print?!

No, we spread the fun out into two very long days.

Early Saturday morning I dragged Corey with me to an artist community for Harvest Fest; an all day open house featuring animals, art, food, and demonstrations.  People in the northeast reeeeally embrace the fall, and I embrace people who embrace fall.  And Corey embraces me as I embrace people who...you get the idea.

We met puppies from the local animal shelter.  I picked out ten of my favorite ten.  And then I told them I loved them as Corey ushered me by.  We pet alpacas and baby cows, walked around the grounds, ate hot dogs, I bought eight ounces of alpaca wool and then we left.

Lunch was a fabulous mess of all kinds of slop thrown into a container and labeled the "trash can" platter at a nearby drive in.  Fortunately, I digested enough to still be able to enjoy the sampling of food at the local performing arts center's wine and food festival Saturday night.

There was meat, and pasta, and bread, and more meat, and shrimp, and some kind of green veggies, and more meat, and cheese, and cookies.

And then there was wine that sparkled, wine that didn't, wine that was sweet, wine that was really whiskey with maple syrup, and a funny liquor that tasted just like cough syrup with a hint of pistachio.

I may or may not have sampled my share and beyond of everything.

I also may or may not have forced Corey to smuggle out the etched wine glass under his coat.

Good times.

Then there was family time.  Sunday we drove up to Corey's hometown for his grandmother's 98th birthday party.

We took pictures and cooked hamburgers.  And it's a three family affair so there were plenty of stories.

Oliver played with his cousin Reuben, a one-and-a-half year old Springer Spaniel before passing out on the ride home.

I spent the rest of the day felting to a Matlock movie marathon and Corey watched whatever games were on; football, baseball, horse racing, badminton, bass fishing, literally whatever.

And then we slept the sleep of two very sleepy sleeps.

The end.

...

Try reeeeally hard friends, have a happy Monday!

Dreaming of an orange fall

Tomorrow is September. 

By the Lord's mercy and grace and determination to use me for other projects I am sure will prematurely wrinkle me, I made it through the summer.

There were a few things going on.

This was my July:

(keep in mind there was a 9-5 work week and endless laundry not noted here)

(how two people can generate so much laundry is beyond me.)

And then August:

Even after the event that consumed me I still have a very full schedule.  Why??

But then the gates of relaxation and good mental health open up and I get a September that looks like this:

Dear, sweet, sugar snowflakes do I need a month that looks like this.  My October is even more sparse and November is completely free of all commitments....

...which leaves me an entire month to fret about Christmas presents.

But that's far enough away.

In the meantime I'm going to enjoy the last day of August knowing it's finally over and my favorite season is practically here!

Coming Together For Hope: check

Remember that thing I was talking about last week?

You know, that little event keeping me from blogging, and working, and keeping up with friends, and eating normal meals at normal hours of the day?

Well, that little event is over.

(enter huge sigh of relief here)

It darn near killed me, a fact Corey can attest to after seeing me nearly face plant in my french toast the next day, it definitely fried me, and I needed a full three days to recover.

My best friend with a red beard, Pete of PJN Photography, was our official photographer.  I know you're dying to see pictures of the thing.  Especially after reading my weekly rants of waning sanity, and then not reading because I was always just too busy.  I promise I'll post some when I get them

Yeah, just like how you posted pictures of Kimberlie getting snotted on by that alpaca.

Ok, that was an entirely different situation depending on my mom, who does not have a professional reputation to protect, getting me those pictures which are still floating around somewhere.

But I digress.

The day was good.

Crazy, hectic, and long, but good.

Here are some bullet points with words after them:

• The event was about bringing people to Jesus, and thankfully there was no actual going to Jesus when two of the larger-than-a-two-bedroom-house bounce houses deflated.
• Or when some of the vendors packed up early and drove their cars straight through the field.
• We'd do things differently next time.
• I suffered from swampy feet all day.  Note to self: bring extra shoes when dew is involved.
• Additional note to self: remember that you actually have extra shoes while wishing you had extra shoes.
• I will from now on leave notes for myself: Is your zipper where it should be?
• On the occasions when it is so important for it to be up, it is usually down.
• Two words: Christian rap.
• Three more: I like it.
• Now four words: Anthony Kohlhepp is cool.
• You'd think churches would be all over a church-type event.  They weren't.
• (shrugs shoulders)
• Our planning committee was awesome and now that we aren't meeting every second of the day I kinda miss them.
• I got to carry a walkie talkie. 
• My dad wore a Mickey Mouse shirt because he goes by Mick.
• My dad is goofy.
• (shakes head)
• Up next: serving breakfast to thousands at 5am to raise money for the same soup kitchen. 
• With all this work we should at least get a discount on our meals.
• That was a lame joke.
• The executive director and his wife are on my "Nicest People I Know" list.
• They showed me where the secret stash of chocolate is in the basement.
• I needed it.

Chew on that for now, folks, until I get some pictures up and running.

Oh, the anticipation!!!

Some things I was thinkin'

A coupla things to chew on until I post next:

(which could be next week, so read slowwwwwly)

There is a colony of the scariest type of bug somewhere in our apartment.

There are very few things that scare me like the centipede does.  I can handle bugs, spiders, snakes and rodents.  But these suckers give me the heebie jeebies like no other.

"Where was that bug you saw last night?"

"Behind the tv.  He ran back and forth from the tv to the couch.  Corey, he was taunting me."

"I don't see it..."

"Well I'm sure he's moved by now!"

"Oh, wait!  I see him!  Look, there's two, three.  Three!  Oh it's a family!"

"Very funny."

Right about now I'm so glad I don't have to worry about a colony of creepy crawlers making a home in my shoes.  Sandals, I'm guessing, just aren't the habitat they look for.

Phew.

Another thing I think you should know is that I have the foggiest brain right now.  It's hilarious.

Hmmm...I don't remember finishing that one Ten on Tuesday question.

I did.

"Hey Stace, can you call so-and-so about such-and-such?"

"Yes."

(five minutes later)

"Um, hi.  Who was I supposed to call again?"

Hilarious.

Wait, did I spell that right?

My dad and I had breakfast this morning, as we do several times a week, to go over more details for the Coming Together For Hope event:

"So, we might not have a dunk tank."

"Eh."

"Or a Wii tent."

"Coo."

"And our grand finale band backed out."

"Whatev."

Hil-ar-ious.

...

Space cadet, over and out.

A Noticeable Absence

I get weekly notices of how many visitors I've had since the week before.  There was a dramatic drop in visits in my last notice.

What the heck is going on?!

Why is no one reading the blog anymore??

...

Oh yeah, there's nothing to read.

Whoopsie.

That should change by next week.  This Saturday is the BIG event.  The one that has been more time consuming than my wedding.  The one that Corey wishes was over more than I do.

...No, I can't say I wish it was over.

I'll certainly be relieved when it is, but I don't want it to be gone.  The whole planning experience has been exhausting and has tested my patience with people I never expected to test me, but...

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  James 1:2-4

This event me and a handful of others have spent countless hours on is an effort to bring churches together and non-believers to Christ.  Something I think we can all call a worthwhile use of the extra hours in our days.

Extra hours being the ones we use to eat or sleep or converse with our significant others.  But who needs conversation when you can put the message of Jesus to people who really need it? 

I would have been sick of horse race gossip by now anyway.

Although, because of horse racing I was just this close to Bobby Flay yesterday.

"This close" meaning about a hundred feet.

But I digress.

What was I saying?

Joy!  Yes, joy.

That's what I will be saying.

He hasn't called back yet??  JOY!

We might not actually have a dunk tank?!  JOY!

Another vendor cancelled?!  JOY!

Gray hair?? JOY!


Just you watch, by the end of this thing I am going to possess the maturity of your gramma.

...

I just hope your gramma still plays laser tag.

...

PS. If you're in the upstate New York region Saturday, August 13, stop by Crandall Park in Glens Falls from 9am to 8pm!  Look for the girl with the clipboard and very large bags under her eyes and throw some coffee in her face.  I...I mean she will appreciate it.

Bad Day(s)

This is a grump alert.  Girlfriend's gotta keep the blog alive but so far all she can do is whine.

 Just kidding, I'm not gonna whine at you.

But I am grumpy.  Just so we're clear.

The past week and a half, which I'm sure will seem like candy compared to the next week and a half, hammered me with some serious stress.  I have meetings, more meetings and then meetings about meetings.  Don't get me wrong, I'm all about getting together to go over the deets, but meeting morning noon and night wipes me out.

Although this crazy schedule has given me some pretty amusing dreams:

Like the one about happy little kitties holding hands and playing in the middle of major highways at rush hour.  Dis-turbing.  You can imagine what happened when the cars broke up their frolicking....

Cotton stuffing flew everywhere.  I know.  A total mess.

And then was the dream about walking along a glacier and needing to use the bathroom inside the glacier that was full of stuffed animals and a live gorilla.

This is what mental exhaustion does.  It takes too much energy to make a logical dream so my brain just puts together random thoughts floating around in the gray matter.

Why I would have gorillas and kitty-cide anywhere in there is beyond me.

And I don't quite have the time to figure it all out...I've got a date with a dunk tank to schedule.

Priorities

"What happened to Ten on Tuesday?"

"Sorry mom, I've just been so busy."

"Doing what??"

"Well, work."

"What about right now?"

"...but it's 9pm."

"And you still have three more hours left of Tuesday."

...

"Hey Beetle, you do a blog today?"

"No, I was too busy."

"You gotta keep on top of that.  People read that stuff."

...

So, my dad and I have been planning this little fundraiser for Saturday, August 13 in our town.  It's sort of a big deal, in that the proceeds are desperately needed for our area soup kitchen and it's our first year planning the thing.

Here's what we've got going on:

• Food.  Lots and lots of it.
• Vendors.  People sellin' their goods and non-profits looking for volunteers.
• Kids stuff.  Games, arts and crafts, bounce house, face painting, storytelling, etc.
• Music.  All.  Day.  From 9am to 8pm.
• Raffle.  Including several gas grills.

Hey, no big deal.

Yeah.

It's been a little more involved than we expected.  Like, "So we need a permit to sell food??"

And, "Maybe we should have more than five vendors so we don't look stupid."

And then there was, "So you're saying the bands want to know exactly when they perform??"

And now that we're in it up to our eyeballs it's probably a good idea to follow through.

Although I threatened to quit all responsibilities more than once.

This includes laundry.  Mostly because I would prefer to not have to fold laundry.

But in the end, what we're doing in preparation for August 13 will be worth it.

And every missing Weekend Wrap Up, Ten on Tuesday and Friday Confessions means more time for figuring out how to add fried burritos to the menu or harassing local pastors into signing up for dunk tank shifts.

I know you understand.

That's why we're friends.

Weekend Wrap Up: craft festivals and torential downpour

Hello friends.  I'm back.

Back from the brink of exhaustion.

Not really the brink.  I was fully there.  This stress/anxiousness/sleep deprivation induced cold sore on my lip is proof.

But I'm back.  Because my first major craft show is over.  All that's left now is wrap up: figure out money and inventory stuff.  Load leftovers on Etsy.  Get every piece of jewelry out of my sight before I scream bloody murder.  I don't want to look at another piece of wool for at least a week.

That is, after I finish the three custom orders for four pieces.

But I digress.

The weekend was fun.  Rainy and dismal.  But fun.

The public still managed to come around.  They brought their jackets and umbrellas.

But to be honest, I was disappointed.  I wanted so badly for my very first show to be successful, and by my own wildly unrealistic standards it wasn't.

Some of the factors were out of my control.  Like the rain.  As hard as I tried to use my mental muscle to push the clouds out to sea I just couldn't make it happen.

And then there's the economy.  I'm not going to pretend to know what the heck this means, I just hear everyone else use it when things go wrong so I can assume I have a 50% chance of being correct when blaming lack-luster sales on "the economy."

But then there were things that I could have controlled.  Like the layout of my booth and its lack of whistles and bells.

Dangit Stacie!  Why did you forget the whistles and BELLS?!

But alas, I know what to do next time.

And now that I've had a day to recover, assess the damages and let my brain fog clear I can say there will be a next time.

I pretty much had that figured out, though, at the end of the show Sunday when I met a fellow jewelry maker who clued me into the world of trading.

"Wait, so I can buy your earrings by giving you a pair of mine??"

If only I had known about this when ordering my second crab cake sandwich, the one that cost me my entire profit for the weekend...

I'm only slightly exaggerating.

It was worth it.

Now, on to the goods:

I used a lot of things I had on hand and/or freebies for my props.  Like the driftwood I smuggled in my suitcase from my trip out to Washington.  Oh, and the little silver trays I collected at various garage sales.

These hair accessories went like hot cakes.  Like chocolate chip, Mickey Mouse shaped hot cakes.

This display is courtesy of Corey Lucas.  

I am most proud of this "bracelet stand."  Also previously known as two pieces of driftwood I found laying on the beach among others I also wanted and ended up kicking part of the way back to the house we were staying in because I just couldn't hang on to it all.

I painted my silver trays with chalkboard paint, swiped flowers from my mom's yard, and grabbed the milk glass from Mrs. Buck's house.  My parents' bought a lot of things, too, to help me out.  Like this pie shelf.  Which I hope to keep stocked with pies.  As was intended.

And these little bathing-lady figures you may see standing around.  They are the most darling little things...

Sometimes I call them my fat-bottomed girls.

They make my rockin' world go 'round.

Get on your bikes and riiiide!

But I digress.



I was happy to hear so many positive comments. 

"So pretty!"

"Very unique."

"I like this a lot."

"They look like moth balls."

And then, of course, there were a few who I would not consider fans.

But I'm pleased with the overall response.  Pleased enough to see what happens next year.

...

**Update: find more ideas from my 2012 show on my new craft blog here!

Desperate Plea

Oh my gooooosssshhhh.  Fellow bloggers: please stop.

Seriously, can you give me, like, 20 seconds to catch up before you post anything else??  I've been away from my computer, unable to soak in every word, ponder the conundrums of breast pumps and bottle rocket wars, and make thoughtful (yet odd, sorry) comments.

And I want to do all those things!  I need too.  Your news is my routine, and like my daily celebrity gossip fix, a la People online, it's as precious to me as wearing shoes in a public bathroom.

Can I tell you how gross I feel just standing in a public bathroom?  Don't even get me started.

But I digress.

Can you just feeeeeell the whining here?  Do exaggerated vowels convey that tooooone?

I'm doing my best to read it all, like actual read.  Which means I can only do a little at a time.  So, if you all were able to take, oh let's say, a half-day blog siesta that would do me a world of good.  Thanksomuch.

...

PS. Can someone fix Blogger so I can resume commenting?  For some of you I still am not able to leave my feedback, which I know is crucial to the development of your blog.  Please advise.

Jewelry and math problems

I've mentioned this before, but I feel like diggin' it up again, probably because I'm lacking sympathy...

...kinda like how preggos eat dirt because they need more iron in their diet.

Or worms.

I make jewelry in my spare time.  Which at this moment means every spare minute in which I am not at my "real" job or sleeping...or eating, or folding laundry every third week.

It started a few years ago, I stumbled on a fun little craft and decided to give it a try.  I've always had my hands in tons of different mediums, so why the heck not shear a few sheep and make cutsie little beads out of their sweaters?

So I snagged a few different colors or wool at my local craft store, messed up a few beads, emailed a professional, learned the right way to do it, learned not to use craft store wool, learned that craft store wool made me itch something fierce, and so on.

Let's not make this a normal Stacie post.  Go with the Reader's Digest version today.

Oh dear, I guess I do tend to get carried away with the details.

So let's fast forward to last fall: for some reason I decided to try making money with these little felt thingies.  I took 'em to a store near Albany and much to my surprise people bought my stuff!  There is a felt ball niche; it's small, but there.

Then I thought, "if a few people in Albany like my goods, why not try a craft fair?"  Then I said to myself, I says to myself, I says, "But, not just any dinky little thing in the park where you show up for a few hours and families stroll by on their way to get ice cream, but a real, 30,000 attendees, rules and regulations, entire weekend kind of fair."

What were you thinking?

What was I thinking??

We've paid a quarter of a million dollars in supplies and fees (slight exaggeration, I admit), and my daily quota is to roll 20.6 felt balls (I generally round up, it's not quite that easy to tell when a ball is only .6 felted...) and construct 3.5 pieces.

That sounds reasonable.

Pppppshhhh. 

20.6 felt balls...I mean 21 felt balls takes about 45 minutes.  And just one of a certain style of necklace takes 3.5 hours.  Do the math, friends.  That's 3.5 + 3.5 + 3.5 + (3.5x.5) + 45 = STRESS.

And 57.25.  But that's not taking into account the minutes and hours thing where you convert the hours to min....never mind, I've lost track of myself again.

(Warning: even more whining ahead)

People, I am tired: I space out on my drive to and from work.

I have no life: the stinkin' sun is shining and all I can do is look at it from my window or while walking my psycho dog.

I am getting sick of felt: I find it on all of my clothes, my furniture, my FOOD.

I want to not whine about something that I used to enjoy!

...sigh. 

And that's all I have for you today. 

No funny business.

Just pure ranting.

It's like I'm planning a wedding, sheesh.

But just so you know the "wedding" is June 11 and 12, so I should be back to normal after that.

I mean, after I go through a week of decompression.  Like the scuba divers do.

Hopefully then I will be able to stay on topic.

Busy, but not too busy for laser tag

Hey.  Remember me?

Yeah, I used to post stuff here.

Stuff like how I walked around town with my fly wide open every other day.

Or how Corey thinks pee comes from a uterus.

Those were the good ol' days.

Now I've got a million things going on all at once and writing out a blog post has fallen below such crucial activities as performing the duties for which I'm paid, keeping myself alive and smelling good, and watching Seinfeld.

(it relaxes me, don't judge.)

And then there's the planning of a major fundraiser, making sure my dog is walked and psycho-free, and massive felt ball production also keeping me from sharing the most intimate and ridiculous details of Corey's and my life.

Sor-ry.

From now on I'll try to leave little tid-bits while I sort through the flim-flam:

Last Saturday was laser tag day for my mom's sewing class.

You know I love laser tag.

It was my idea.

And you know I'm not exactly 28 years old.

More like 12.

So we had a blast.  There were nine of us: five kids, two parents, and two "adults."

I use the word "adult" loosely when referring to my sister Kimberlie and myself.

We all played, along with a 10-year-old boy's birthday party guests.

There were alliances.  There were strategies.  And there were team meetings.  People, we played to win, and those boys knew how to win. 

Sadly, the girls' best strategy was to follow a single member of the other team the entire time. 

Eh, they're still learning how to fight.

Because it's not already in their genes (ahem).

(that was a probably too vague reference to my disapproval of women in combat...we're lovers not fighters, but i digress)

Afterward we stopped by Pizza Hut for stuffed crust pizza, soda, heavy duty hand washing, and a "you don't look almost 30" from our waitress (thanks shirley, and thanks mom for feeling the need to tell strangers how old your children are).

Pizza was directly followed by a walk in the park and Coldstone ice cream.

In conclusion:  Best.  Day.  Ever.

And yet, I can't remember a time when I've been more tired.

Being 12 is exhausting.

Retreat Wrap-Up

Was my vacation confusing to you?

I just realized I've talked about wandering around my aunt's house, her dog, collecting crabs, and then I'm talking about sewing for hours on end.  I've been in two different places and I don't think I even told you what the heck was going on!

Bad blogger, very bad.

Let's catch up: Corey's Christmas present to me was two-fold, a visit with my aunt, uncle and cousin, and then the quilting retreat my aunt's quilt group planned months ago.  My mom and I flew in Thursday night.  We hung out with the fam and did all that crazy driving that nearly sent me to the toilet to reverse my digestion.

And then, on Sunday we left for the coast and a house on the beach to do some hard core sewing (wrap-up to follow, shortly), which we did, hard corely.  And Thursday morning we packed up all the goodies and went back to my aunt's house to do more hanging.  Until Sunday.

Are we less confused now?

So, let's begin the wrap-up.

I can tell you are just shaking with anticipation.  But for time sake, I'll spare the stitch-by-stitch detail.

Here's the gang.

Boy were they goofy.  And efficient.

And since I signed an oath in blood to leave all the happenings of the quilt group with the quilt group, I can't share the funnier moments and conversations.

But I will say I am fully prepared for life's little changes.

We stayed in a house on the beach.  Which meant we spent time on the beach.  Two whole hours to be exact.  It was the less gloomy, calmer two hours of our stay.

 Isn't she pretty?

 

This was when we collected enough driftwood to build me a little raft on which I can float all the way back to New York.

Through the Panama Canal, of course.  It would just be downright silly to go all the way around South America.

But I digress.



We spent more time than you could possibly imagine working.  A couple of the gals were churning out a project a day, which we then hung on the walls.  By Thursday, we'd run out of wall space.

You can probably pick out my project in this group.

I'll give you a hint: it has a buncha stripes in it.

Yes, the one on the left.  I was happy to just finish something.  I spent the rest of the time rolling as many felt balls as my hands could manage.

(the other two quilts are my aunt's and mom's respectively, perty, aren't they?)

So that's that.  In summary: good time, good company, good eats, terrible weather.  In all, I give it an A.

Breakfast time, hasta manana!

(i know, spanish makes no sense in a post about quilting.  lo siento.)

Greetings from the rain capital of the world

Day Four: on this sewing retreat I have managed to put together half of a quilt and roll 100 felt balls.

My house-mates are on their 3rd and 4th finished quilts.

People, can I tell you: these ladies are work horses.  And my 28 year old body and brain are struggling to keep up.

What?!

My expectations of this week: wake up around 6:30am, have a cup of coffee and some breakfast together, comment on the weather, more small talk, shower, mosey to the sewing machines, sew, talk, sew, talk, break for lunch, sew, talk, sew, break for snack, sew, sew, sew, break for dinner, meander about randomly, go to bed at 9:30pm.

What's really going on:  wake up at 7:30am, sew, sew, sew, break for breakfast, sew, sew, sew, sew, sew, sew, sew, snack at machine, sew, sew, sew, sew, sew, gnaw on a sandwich at machine, sew, sew, sew, sew, sew, sew, break for dinner, sew, sew, sew, sew, sew, sew, sew, drag self to bed at 11pm.

This is more of a working vacation, but hey, I've been in yoga pants and no make-up the entire time.  And I've gotten to play with pretty fabric.  And I've learned about what to expect in the heartburn season of my life.  All very important criteria for a vacation.

I'll post pictures soon.  I'll show you what the other ladies are working on: incredible stuff, I tell ya what.  And then I'll show you what I managed to piece together and you'll say, "um, wow, is that all?  Haven't you been there for THREE whole days??"

But whatevs.  It's my hobby and I can do what I want with it.  As slowly as I want.

Later gators.

Day Off Re-cap

Oooo childs, am I exhausted!  I can't even tell you how exhausted I am!

But I think you know I'll try:

I'm pretty exhausted.

You probably felt my void yesterday, cried in my absence, and what-not.  But little did you know I was suffering right along with you.

Not really.  I was loving every single second of my twelve-hour, non-stop, frantic, jam-packed day.  No Lifetime Movie Network for this lady.  There was a dog to walk, jewelry to alter, a DBA to acquire, lunch with Corey, brownie bake-off invitations to print, cut and deliver, a mom to chauffeur, capping ceremony to attend, dinner to consume and a sister's future mother-in-law to embarrass.

A true 7am-11pm day jam packed full of everything I would have wanted to do even if I did have a choice.

The only problem is that by 6:30am today I felt like I had just died.  And then at 9am I still felt dead.  And now at 2ish I am just starting to revive myself only because I am leaving in a few short hours to pick up my dad and raid his cafeteria for a couple carrots (read: big, fat brownie).

But I will survive.  I always manage to.

A few things to mention from yesterday:

• I am now an official maker-and-seller-of-jewelry, see right (shameless plug).
• And am sometimes referred to as an artist, as in "You'll be the artist of the month..."  Whoa.  All I do is play with wool...
• My sister earned her nurses cap last night in the traditional capping ceremony.  I am beyond proud.  Like "ohmigosh my sister can now do things I couldn't even imagine doing" proud.
• But let's be honest, both sisters are way better than me.
• When I say we embarrassed Katie's (the capped sister) future mother-in-law I mean we left nothing in the arsenal of "stuff you shouldn't say/do when meeting someone for the first time."
• Like talking about the poop version of pee catheters: according to my dad they are called flexi-seals.
• My dad knows about poop catheters because he buys supplies for hospitals.  I know you were wondering.
• I would not be happy with a less than open version of my family.  We're loud.  We're proud.  And we're often inappropriate.

The.  End.

(snicker)

Oh Where Does The Time Go...

I know you were looking forward to a recap of Sunday's episode of The Walking Dead, but I just haven't gotten around to watching it yet.  Besides, I heard it is the season finale (wha...??  it only just started.) and I'm having a hard time accepting it.

Life, in general, got a tad busier.

I have this thing coming up where I am splitting a table with a friend of mine and we are going to sell our wares.  Our jewelry, that is.  And I have had to spend my "snuggle up with zombies" time putting final touches on necklaces and acorns.

Then I have this other thing tomorrow I'm helping with.  It's a forum about disaster preparedness.  It's getting religious leaders together and pooling resources in case of emergency.  It has the word "epistemic" in the title.

Oh, and you all know about Christmas.  Apparently it's just two-and-something weeks away.  I'd like to say I have a good handle on things, but I don't like to lie this close to the big day.  I do, however, know what I'm getting for others.  Those things just aren't on my person.  Or in close proximity to my person.

And then there are other little things.  Do you know how long it takes to put three layers of clothes on to go outside, only to take them off when you get hot from putting them on?  Or, do you know how long it takes to go through the Sunday fliers that now come most days of the week?  (you never know when The Christmas Tree Shop is going to start stocking that one product you didn't know you couldn't live without.)

So, in other words, I will get to a zombie recap when I can find a 40-minute chunk of uninterrupted, emotionally vacant time.

Later gators.

Wrap It Up: NYC Edition

Hmmm, how do I break down my weekend without making this post the size of Texas?

...

.....

I know.

Bullets.

We all love bulleted lists.  They're short.  Simple.  And short.

Let's start with Friday:

• I don't remember Friday.

Saturday:

• Hellloooo 5:00am.
• Wake up, shower, dress, eat, drive, board train by 7:00am.
• Giggle at how much I love and miss train rides.
• Act like it hasn't been 18 years since the last time I was on a real train.
• Arrive in NYC.
• Act like it isn't the first time walking around the city by myself.
• Giggle at how cool it is to be a big girl.
• Walk fast like locals.
• Find Rockefeller Plaza.
• Stare at huge tree.
• Stare at people.
• Freeze.
• Find heaven on earth (read: 2-story Antropologie)
• Find NBC studio store.
• Find NBC studio cafe.
• Find place to sit right at the window where I can stare at people without them knowing I'm staring at them.
• Wait two hours.
• Surprise BFF Jill as she walks in the NBC store (her birthday "party" was a NYC scavenger hunt)
• Take tour of NBC.
• Wave at SNL cast members.
• Giggle about almost meeting famous people.
• Walk to FAO Schwartz.
• Wait.
• Wait.
• Wait.
• Get in, find two more friends, watch big piano show, hear "let's go find a bar."
• Walk to bar which was actually a speakeasy.  I just had water.  It's legal.
• Find Scottish restaurant and eat best crabcake ev-er.
• Eat chicken.
• Eat cake.
• Eat haggis.  Find out what it's made of.  Turn green.
• Down two pints of beer.  In five and a half hours.
• Giggle at everything.
• Realize my train leaves in 30 minutes.
• Run to Penn Station.  In boots that were barely made for walking.
• Board train with 6 minutes to spare.
• Use bathroom on board.  Gag and giggle.
• Curl up on two seats with scarf over my face.
• Fall asleep then wake up abruptly no less than 5 times, scared I missed my stop.
• Reach Albany, find Corey waiting.
• Drive home, put on pjs, crawl into bed, fall asleep at 3:00am.

Sunday:

• I don't remember Sunday.

That was easy.  I may choose to expand on some of these activities at a later date.  A date my brain can produce full sentences; any amount of the drink gives me the stupid hat for awhile.