The Lilac Rabbit

Rawr

2011-11-02T00:04:00.005-05:00

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T21:40:00.002-05:00

Stay safe and have fun kiddos!

Freak snow day

2011-10-28T19:00:00.004-05:00

This is what I woke up to yesterday morning. (Sorry, grainy cell phone picture. I haven't joined the masses and invested in a fancy smart phone yet.)

Ryuu is a snow bunny. Who knew? Maybe there is some husky blood running through his veins.

One of the trees in the front yard. They are both evergreens of some sort. They look downright Christmas-y when they're snow laden.

The snow melted today and left muddy nastiness behind. Fine with me, really. I wasn't in the mood for a white Halloween.

The new baby

2011-10-24T22:34:00.004-05:00

I haven't mentioned him in a while, but I thought I would share a few pictures of Ryuu.
You can read about how he came to join our family here.

He's a lover boy.

The boys love ice.

Embarrassment and pumpkins

2011-10-19T21:22:00.006-05:00

Have you ever been out with someone in a public setting and their behavior was so completely insane that you wanted to walk away and pretend you didn't know them?
I'm sure you have.
Now imagine you're with that person and their wildly inappropriate behavior only it's a husband and his wife and you are trapped with them and 20 or so perfect strangers on a hayride and you've got my past Sunday afternoon in a nutshell.
I did manage to salvage the outing by taking some sweet pics.

County Fair

2011-10-17T22:15:00.007-05:00

Brightly lit rides

Carb explosion!

The picture of a pig that nearly cost me an arm.*

Handsome roosters
Vicious rabbits!

Prize-winning flowers
*A lady came over and nearly yanked my arm out of the socket after I took this picture. She demanded to know why I was taking pictures of the pigs even though everyone around me was taking pictures with their cell phones. Clearly, because I have an actual camera, I am up to no good. What am I going to do, sell the pic to some farm animal fetish site? Sheesh, lady, take a chill pill. The rabbit and poultry people were much nicer.

Thrifted

2011-10-14T15:27:00.006-05:00

Today I am short of temper and short of words, so I'll leave you with pictures of the few things I managed to dig up at Goodwill this week.

A foxy little trivet.

This is actually a framed painted tile.

This super cute sewing machine that runs on D batteries. I can't wait to teach Clo to use it. Three isn't too young, right? It's toddler sized.

I didn't find the puppy at Goodwill. She belongs to some friends who brought her over to visit last night. So cute!

Sea creatures are not a fashion statement

2011-10-09T21:56:00.003-05:00

Lately my blog reader has been jammed with pictures of super cute girls rocking the hair bow. I thought to myself, "I have hair. I want to be cute. Let's do this!"
ummm... No.
Naturally curly, super-thick hair does not a good hair bow make.

My version looked more like a hair jellyfish. And not one of those beautiful fluorescent jellyfish that you would ooh and aah over at the aquarium, but the kind that you see on nature shows with poor hapless fish entangled in their stinging, poisoned tentacles. It takes a special kind of girl to pull off the whole life aquatic coiffure.

Like this chick.

(source)
She is rocking the hell out of jellyfish hair.

Corn Rows

2011-10-06T20:31:00.007-05:00

Went to a corn maze this past Sunday. It would have been tons more fun if it hadn't been so mother loving hot! I did get to meet the sweetest, most personable horse ever, though. I never found out his name so I dubbed him Sir Speckles. I'm so clever and original when it comes to names. Anyone out there expecting and need a name for your future offspring?

Prettying things up

2011-09-29T16:20:00.004-05:00

For some reason, I have the urge to pretty things up around the house. I am never content with the way things look for too long before I decide to change things up. I usually just go for rearranging or putting new curtains up. Nothing too extravagant or expensive.
Today I put up a wallpaper border in the little one's room. It is a peel-and-stick border so it will be easy to change when she outgrows having a rainbow menagerie across her walls. (It's the same reason I decided to leave her walls white.)
It went on really easy. I only swore once (the number of swears is usually how I rate how difficult/pain in the ass a project was) trying to get the paper into a tight corner by the door.

Overall, I am happy with it. And, more importantly, the boss is happy with it.

Things not to do

2011-09-28T21:04:00.002-05:00

Don't go for several months without running and then push yourself to make two miles on your first run.
I feel like someone took out the bones in my legs and replaced them with Jello.
I've been neglecting my physical health due to running on pure stress and adrenaline for the past few months. I stopped hitting the gym and made bad eating choices. Now that we are adjusting to life without Zach for the next four months, I've decided to get my health back on track.
What prompted this?
I got sick about two weeks ago and that pretty much never happens.
And, embarrassingly, I found a potato chip in my bra last night. And I hadn't eaten any since lunch. (I had them with my sandwich. My eating hasn't been so bad that I eat straight chips as a meal.) Nothing like a chip in the bra to make you get your priorities in order.

I'm going to get in bed and try to imitate this picture now. Shouldn't be too hard.

Fall back

2011-09-25T23:36:00.003-05:00

I wanted an autumnal wreath for the front door but didn't want to spend sixty bucks (yeah... I'm totally serious) on something store bought so I whipped up this bad boy and it only cost me fifteen for materials.

Now if only the weather would cooperate.

I'm not an addict

2011-09-21T11:24:00.003-05:00

The other night I spent an hour haunting Flickr and another hour haunting Ebay, entranced by these big eyed beauties. I don't need another girl. I just want one.

How fantastic is this rainbow of Blythes?

Beautiful!

I blame my renewed addiction on Heidi's post about her new girls.

Thrifted

2011-09-15T11:15:00.002-05:00

Aren't these canisters sweet? They are Aladdin and I needed them in my craft room.
Today is rainy and chilly, and I know two dogs who are getting baths today.

I'm not myself

2011-09-13T13:59:00.002-05:00

Mostly because I am getting super stressed.
My honey bear (sshh... Don't tell him I called him that.) leaves in 10 days for places unknown to fight the never ending war on terrorism.
My babysitter (that I only hired so I could have a few kid-free hours to myself for the next four months) up and quit on me.
I don't really have any friends here and the loneliness is beginning to close in on me. It seems I don't play by the small town politics here and haven't decided to pledge my loyalty to any one certain clique so instead of being looked at as the social butterfly that I would like to think I am, the other girls here view me as some sort of double-agent for attending their trash-talking parties. Oy vey!
Also, yesterday was Z's birthday and only his mom bothered to call him. He says he doesn't care, but I am upset by it. I seriously want to send a nasty email to his family. I will refrain, however. I'm cool like that.
Oh well... I will survive. I've done it before.
Thanks for reading my rants.
I'll leave you on a funny note: I went to a BBQ this weekend with some of Z's work friends that I really don't know very well. I was feeling a little awkward so I drank a little too much beer and found myself on the couch entranced by a show called Trailer Park Boys. I had to go home and add it to my Netflix queue. If you haven't seen it, do so now. That shit is hilarious!

I lied.

2011-09-07T14:10:00.005-05:00

I wasn't really abducted by aliens. I took a little road trip through New Mexico. We stopped in Roswell and then made our way to the mountain town of Ruidoso. When we got back, a friend of mine from high school decided to fly out from California and pay me a surprise visit. (I'm guessing my whiny Facebook posts about my loneliness were her incentive.) She left yesterday so now things are getting back to normal around here.
In other news, the weather here is turning Fall-like which inspired me to buy a bag of candy corn and contemplate Halloween costumes. I am sick of one hundred degree temps!

You see...

2011-09-01T13:24:00.005-05:00

I was abducted by aliens. And for all the talk about their advanced technology, they have crap wi-fi aboard their ship.
They dropped me off a couple of days ago. They said something along the lines of "stupid humans" and "inferior genes" and "imperfect breeding specimen". I think it was just a cover-up so this guy never had to call me back. I mean, I thought we had fun on our date but whatever.

You don't just perform experiments on a girl and then drop her off in a corn field without so much as friending her on Facebook. That's just rude!

Ouch

2011-08-21T14:01:00.002-05:00

Just in case you were wondering, my surgery was fine. My jaw hurts. A lot. I need ET to touch it with his magic glowy finger.
And also I need the antibiotics to stop making my stomach feel so gross.
Being able to chew would be cool.
Or I could stop whining and go take a nap.

To the teeth

2011-08-16T00:17:00.003-05:00

This is a firetruck from the 1960's and it has nothing to do with the rest of this post but I thought it was cool so I took a picture. Maybe you think it's cool too.
Anyway... I'll probably be absent the next few days. I have to go to the dentist and get my grill worked on. Maybe get some platinum up in hur.
But not really.
I never got my wisdom teeth taken out like all the other cool kids so they grew in all sideways and they hurt me. It also caused problems with my other teeth so the nice dentist is going to knock me out and cut out the offending teeth and make my gums better too.
Totally not looking forward to it. Had to sign all these waivers about how I won't drive or operate heavy machinery or attempt to hold an intelligent conversation or let my family videotape me for their own personal Youtube glory.
Sounds totally fun doesn't it? Don't you wish you were me?
Don't wish that.
Anywho... if you're missing me, I'll be in bed sipping smoothies and whining about my hurty mouth.
Maybe I'll get some picture posts up.
I promise no pics of my bloody, toothless mouth.

Oh, stuff...

2011-08-12T00:04:00.002-05:00

I'm here. But not all here.
I've been sad about the state of the world lately. The riots in the UK and the helicopter that was shot down. Anything involving the military hits close to home.
Especially when you have a spouse about to deploy for four months (at least) into enemy territory.
I avoid the news at all costs these days.
On the bright side, I took the pupper to the vet. He has a tiny urinary tract infection but, other than that, he came back with clean bill of health (and a huge knot in his shoulder from his vaccines). Not bad for a dog that was literally picked off the streets.
And... he has a name! Ryuu. Japanese for "dragon".
And, oh, isn't he the sweetest?

Should have been a cowboy...

2011-08-07T23:16:00.004-05:00

Or, rather, a cowgirl.

Yippie-ky-yay! Get along little dogies.

Another mouth to feed

2011-08-06T11:27:00.003-05:00

Wednesday was a day like any other. We decided to go out to dinner and after dinner we decided to drive up to the base and take advantage of tax-free beer. As we were driving, this little dog ran in front of the car. We swerved to miss him and then he ran in front of us again to get to the side of the street he was already on. I squealed and brakes squealed and the little dog stopped to eat something that looked dead from the sidewalk. We pulled over and the little dog came over to me wagging his stumpy tail.
Long story short... we have a new dog. Well, puppy. The vet guesses his age to between 6 and 8 months of age. I canvassed the neighborhood where we found him and put several ads out. I had him checked for a microchip and reported to animal control that we found him. We've done everything and no one has claimed him. He has an appointment for a health check-up and to be vaccinated on Thursday. I figure that gives us enough time for his owners (if has them) to claim him.

Mmmm-mmm! Food that doesn't come out of the trash sure is delicious!

Although... I bathed him and pulled about 20 ticks off of him and made sure he had a nice secure yard to play in as opposed to the highway. In my opinion, if he has owners they don't deserve him.

The donkey problem

2011-08-02T20:17:00.005-05:00

There is a donkey problem in this town. The problem is... they are too freaking cute.

These donkeys live on a farm that borders one of the parks here. I always make sure to have some fresh fruit or veggies in the car when we go to the park. Just for my donkey friends. I'll probably give them little snacks until the day someone tells me not to, but until then... I'm still going to remember to bring them treats.

How could I not? Look at their sweet donkey faces.

And if you're not moved by sweet donkey faces then I am convinced you have no soul and we probably shouldn't be friends.
I kid! Well, sort of.

Strange days

2011-08-01T23:38:00.005-05:00

When you work night shifts or live with someone working night shifts (as is the case for me), keeping up with the days becomes very difficult. Especially when a "weekend" is not Saturday and Sunday. Our "weekends" this month are Tuesday and Wednesday and it makes me feel all out of sorts. All I can say is that I am so glad Z doesn't work night shifts every month. He's on a rotating schedule so we have one month of "normalcy" if it can be called that.

I've had the urge to be outside lately but the sun here is relentless.
We ginger girls have to protect our fair skin and the even fairer skin of our ginger offspring.
I've been taking Clo to the evil that is McDonald's so she can run off some of her three-year-old boundless energy in the air conditioning. However... I'm not too jazzed on that place. Apparently some parents treat it as a kind of daycare. They become absorbed in their laptops (Free wi-fi, doncha know.) and forget about their little charges running around calling the other kids "bitch" and "ass hole".
I couldn't make this up if I tried.
Whatever happened to parenting?
Children as young as six and seven already bullying other kids? It's downright disgusting. And it makes me seriously question my stance on homeschooling. Or, for that matter, ever letting my child out of my sight. (And please don't get down on me and think I am some overprotective parent just because of a few kids at a fast food restaurant. There are stories about bullying that make national headlines all the time.)
Ok... my little rants are over. I just needed to vent. My internal schedule is all out of whack.
Yes... that's what I'll blame it on.

In the meantime, here are some happy fun time pictures of flowers. A bit cliche, I know, but when they stop being so damned pretty I'll stop taking pictures of them.

Quirks

2011-07-29T13:24:00.003-05:00

*I hate wearing shoes. 99% of the time that I am forced to wear shoes, I wear flip-flops. The other 1% I can be found in my Chucks. I blame this on the fact that I am 5'4" and I wear a women's size ten. They just don't make cute shoes that big. That and I'm a Pisces.
*I buy the bananas that people break off from the rest of the bunch and leave all lonely and dejected in the produce section.
*When I get a song stuck in my head I feel like there is no other alternative than to listen to said song 8.5 bajillion times in a row. (Don't correct my spelling, Firefox. Bajillion is totally a number.)
*This song is currently stuck in my head. It reminds me of Steve Zissou and my bestie back home who is the biggest David Bowie fan I know.

Jive turkey

2011-07-28T23:14:00.002-05:00

A turkey. One of the exotic animals in our town's tiny zoo. He looks almost offended that I was taking his picture.
Or perhaps he was offended by my swearing when I couldn't get the white levels on my camera to cooperate with me.

Who are you callin' chicken?

2011-07-25T22:29:00.004-05:00

I made a little chick. Never you mind his wonky wings and legs. I like to think he was rescued from a poultry factory where he would have surely met a sad fate for being different from the other baby chicks. I drew pattern pieces for the body and legs, but I thought I could wing it with the other parts. (Ha ha! Get it? I'm such a riot!)
I'm sure my little guy will appreciate his chick, wonkiness and all.
Lessons I learned today: Google image searching the term "kawaii chick" with the safe search off is not the best way to introduce yourself to the world of Japanese porn.
*** I totally realized that if you are reading this through a feed that the post title came up as "whore" instead of "who're". All fixed now, but it gave me a good laugh.***

This Sunday...

2011-07-24T22:18:00.004-05:00

I started a messy little sewing project. (Excuse the photo quality. I'm trying to use the manual mode on my new camera so I can learn and I'm apparently a slow learner.)

I planted some new sedum and stonecrop in the rock garden.

I relaxed with a Sparkling Blueberry Izze. Best. Drink. Ever.

Four

2011-07-23T19:04:00.004-05:00

This week was our four year anniversary.
It feels weird to say I have been married for four years.
It seems like just yesterday I was getting butterflies every time a certain blue-eyed boy walked into the library where I worked.
Want to see what the blue-eyed boy gets his wife of four years?

I guess dragging him in and out of electronics stores for the better part of a year to watch me fondle the SLR cameras finally paid off. Let it never be said that the man can't take a hint.

New stuff

2011-07-16T16:43:00.001-05:00

If anyone is still reading, check out my new background. Not sure how I feel about it.
It's rabbit-tastic.

Howling

2011-07-14T23:06:00.004-05:00

I am watching Howl right now. Mostly because I have a giant-sized crush on James Franco but also because I had a brief fling with beat poets during my sophomore year of high school. I fancied myself a bit of an avant garde bohemian. Misunderstood and angst-filled. But, really, who isn't misunderstood and angst-filled when they're struggling through the teen years?
I don't remember being an Allen Ginsberg girl and this movie is reminding me why. Can you say "sailor mouth"? I like the animation though.
Can you believe it has rained three whole days in a row here? Cuh-razy! But maybe now the yard won't look as if it's suffering from male pattern baldness.

See those little cases up there? They were tagged as "toy doll luggage" and I had to buy them. Going to use them as camera bags for my budding collection.

Film is fun

2011-07-08T16:27:00.007-05:00

These were taken with an all-plastic point and shoot Vivitar. Not bad for 99 cents.

It's me!

My little ariste!

So I totally exposed the last few frames learning how to manually wind the film back into its canister.

Butterflies are free

2011-07-06T14:46:00.005-05:00

And so are we.
Happy (belated) Independence Day to all my American friends.

We hosted a little BBQ on Sunday night and we spent Monday at the park and the cooled down with sno-cones. On the way to the park we ran across a yard sale.
I found this bottle:

And these magnets:

And Sunday afternoon, while watering my plants, I found this little guy. He was being attacked by fire ants. I couldn't just watch him writhe in pain, so I hosed the ants off and put the poor caterpillar in a little container with some nice tasty, comfy leaves. Unfortunately, he died later that night. Fire ants are vicious!
Don't worry, my caterpillar friend. Your death has been avenged as I laid poison on every single fire ant hill in the yard. (And possibly in the neighbors yard. I do like to be thorough.) I hope you're a butterfly flitting about in insect heaven.

Just some things

2011-07-01T14:20:00.007-05:00

Some action shots of my new curtains. This one is in the master bath. Yeah, curtain. Work it!

This is in the dining room. Come on, curtain. Filter that harsh sunlight.

Also... remember these guys?

Now they are sweet plant holders. I've never owned jade plants before. Exciting stuff.

Sew what?

2011-06-30T13:30:00.007-05:00

Stitch, stitch, stitch...

Hello Kitty blasts tunes

Today has been all about sewing. I'm making curtains for the house and a set for a girl who, after hearing that I know how to operate a sewing machine, ran out and bought fabric, brought it to my house, and insisted that I make curtains for her. (As a side note, I hate when people do this. They think because I can sew that I want to do all their mending and curtain-making. The reality is, no. I do not.)
I got all the pinning and ironing done last night (really, the most un-fun part of sewing) so all I had to do was get the machine threaded and go to town.
Three sets of curtains later and I am kind of sick of sewing. I'm definitely sick of curtains. Which reminds me, I still need to hang these. Doh!
But first I think I'll hop down to the smoothie shop and get myself some bubble tea.

Fatherless Day

2011-06-20T16:05:00.008-05:00

Zach and sleepy Clo.
Baby me and my dad. I don't know the name of the dog. He wasn't around by the time I was old enough to remember him.

Me and my dad sometime in the 90's. (Post-Clueless based on my outfit)

My dad and sleepy Clo.

I haven't spent a Father's Day with my dad in at least six years and this year Clo didn't have her dad either. Also, her third birthday just so happened to fall on Father's Day this year but I decided to wait to celebrate as a family. Zach gets home Friday and we'll have some sort of shindig this weekend to celebrate. It's probably a good thing, considering her present hasn't arrived in the mail yet (A Hello Kitty trike! ssshhhhh...)

Thrift finds

2011-06-17T17:00:00.003-05:00

I had a few hours all to myself today so I wandered down to the Goodwill.

Records: The Beastie Boys, Valley of the Dolls score, Elton John, and the Bee Gees.

Glassware for a little home project (pics to come).

This sweet vintage pillowcase for an upcoming project/tutorial.

What have you found lately?

The post where I ramble on

2011-06-14T22:56:00.002-05:00

I. Am. So. Tired.
Damn tired, even.
In ten days Zach will be back from his two months of training and all I can picture for myself is tossing the child at him in the airport and jumping in the nearest plane headed anywhere. I would so love a vacation right now. My brain is barely functioning.
Case in point:
Yesterday we went to the park and I was happily snapping pictures when I saw a young deer at the edge of a little cluster of trees. "Ooooooooooooooohhhh", says me. "Beep beep beep", says my camera. What the... Out of memory? I have an eight gig memory card in this puppy. Oh, but I don't. It is sitting in the card reader at home. *sad face* I tried to look through my pictures to see if any could be deleted for the sake of the deer only to realize that I had taken several pictures without realizing the camera was memory card-less. I didn't feel any could be sacrificed at that moment. Then Mother Nature decides to mock my bad fortune by sending a family of baby bunnies scurrying across my path with their mommy bunny. Mother Nature, you are one ironic mamma jamma.
Seriously, I wish I had baby bunny and deer pics to show you.
I wish I didn't feel like a zombie. (Well, a zombie without the insatiable hunger for brains. I'm too damn tired to chase you. You can keep your brain. Your delicious, savory brain.)
Ten days!
I think I can hold on until then.

How does your garden grow?

2011-06-10T10:11:00.006-05:00

This flower is called "Blackberry Punch". How could I resist?

Pumpkins from seed.
Tomatoes.
Red verbena and these rust colored leafy plants whose name I always forget.

Sorry, my pretty maids all in a row couldn't get it together for a photo op.

Liar-faced liars: A rant

2011-06-08T00:22:00.004-05:00

If there is one thing that I try to be, it's honest. I'm not perfect, but I believe that honesty is the best policy in any relationship. I wouldn't want someone to lie to me, so I don't make it a habit to lie to others.
Actually, I hate liars. If you need to lie to me, I'd rather not talk to you at all. That's just how I am. I am a straightforward person.
Now I'll tell you a story. I am a military spouse. I move a lot and it is hard to make lasting bonds with people when you know you could up and leave them at any given moment. However...
When I first moved here I met this girl. She was funny and we shared a lot of the same interests. She had a fancy-pants new camera and was trying to start a photography business. I knew she didn't have any photo editing software so I offered to edit the photos from her first few shoots while she got her business off the ground. I thought I was being a good friend.
However...
She gives me the whole "I'll have to think about it" bit. Which is fine with me. I'm a patient person and it was her decision.
However...
She decides to wait until we are in a room full of people (at her child's birthday party, no less) to tell me that she would rather have a professional edit her pictures which I find hilarious because owning an expensive camera does not automatically deem you a professional photographer.
So...
Of course I am hurt. And angry. And I feel awkward for having been sort of fired in front of adults and children alike. But, I figure she must have her reasons for wanting someone else to help her with her pictures.
However...
I find out she's been "editing" her pictures with a free online tool. I won't name any names, but let's say it's not the most advanced software you can find. And teenagers mostly use it to add glitter and hearts to their pictures. And she is charging people hundreds of dollars for "professionally edited" photos.
Is it just me, or does it smell like burning pants in here?

The A-Z of Me

2011-06-01T18:42:00.005-05:00

I saw this on Elycia's blog and thought it would be fun to play along.

A. Age: 30
B. Bed size: Queen
C. Chore that you hate: Vacuuming! I don't know why, but the motion of it makes me feel almost queasy.
D. Dogs: I've had lots of dogs. Currently I have Jesse who is a Shar-Pei/mastiff mix. He is seven and he runs about 95 pounds in weight. People are afraid of him and will mistake him for a pit bull, but he is just very protective of women and he is a barking machine.

E. Essential start to your day: Green tea
F. Favourite color: Green
G. Gold or Silver: Silver
H. Height: 5'4"
I. Instruments you play: I drum on my steering wheel while driving. That totally counts, right?
J. Job title: Stay-at-home mom but I prefer Goddess of the Domestic Arts and I once put that on one of those annoying forms that you have to fill out at the doctor's office. (I, personally, find them annoying because they make you fill all that junk out and then the doctor asks you the exact same questions. Why???)
K. Kids: I have two. My son is 6 and my daughter is 2. I don't want anymore. EVER!

L. Live: New Mexico *sigh*
M. Mother's name: Melody
N. Nicknames: P, P-seph, P-phone, Persnickety, Sephy, Sephy-Sue
O. Overnight hospital stays: One for each babba and one when I was a babba myself and had some mystery illness.
P. Pet peeve: People that chew with their mouths open or smack their gum. People that queue up behind you at the grocery and have no respect for your personal space. Parents that let their little "darlings" do whatever they want in public. TEXTING/TALKING ON THE PHONE WHILE DRIVING!
Q. Quote from a movie: "It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again." Morbid, I know but it has been a running joke between my me and brother and my friends for so long now. My brother actually got me lotion in a basket with a rope tied to it for Christmas last year. Yeah, we're strange.
R. Right or left handed: Right
S. Siblings: One brother who is 15 months younger than me (and a foot and a half taller)
T. Time you wake up: Usually 8am
U. Underwear: Big fan of boy shorts
V. Vegetable you hate: Any kind of cooked greens
W. What makes you run late: The two-year-old
X. X-Rays you've had: Teeth, my skull, my spine, and my arm
Y. Yummy food that you make: Bruschetta and veggie chili and this salad with white beans and tomatoes
Z. Zoo animal: Okapi

Metamorphosis

2011-05-25T20:12:00.003-05:00

Float like a butterfly.
Sting like a bee.
Better watch out.
I'm doing a little blog re-design*.

*Yeah, I know it didn't rhyme. I'm not a poet, and I know it. ;)

Green thumbs

2011-05-23T10:57:00.004-05:00

Dear Friends

2011-05-21T16:43:00.003-05:00

I hope no one gets raptured today. Whose blogs will I read when I get left behind?
I'm kidding, of course. I'm not buying in to all this "end of days" stuff. I'm a hardcore skeptic.
Thought I'd leave you with this hilarious picture of an alpaca standing on her hind legs to reach the most delicious leaves on the trees.
We took a trip to a local alpaca farm and I learned all sorts of things about them that I didn't know. But mostly I learned that they are a-dorable.

My life in analog part 2

2011-05-20T01:15:00.007-05:00

Black and white film this time

Little fountain at the zoo

Plastic flamingos

Staring at the monkeys

Lazy deer

I love the patterns on tortoise shells

House potatoes

2011-05-19T23:51:00.004-05:00

About seven years ago my mom owned a little restaurant. I, of course, worked there, in the kitchen, whipping up delicious salads and sandwiches. Sadly, we went out of business (We were on a road where most of our customers were men who worked outdoors and wanted burgers and fries and pieces of fried meat smothered in gravy. I am from the Deep South, after all.).
In lieu of greasy French fries, my mom created a side that she called "house potatoes" (think house dressing). My mom would parboil cubed red potatoes and then cook them up on the flat top grill with onion, bell pepper, and some secret seasonings. After the lunch rush was over, and we finally got a chance to sit down and eat, my mom would cook them for me and melt cheese on the top. Delicious!
I decided to try my hand at making some the other night, and they were totally yum. Not like my mom's (I don't know the secret recipe) but still good. And a perfect excuse to use my Watkins parsley and garlic grapeseed oil. Note: I melted cheese on top and added a few dashes of Tapatio, but you can leave off the cheese for vegan-friendly potatoes.

*Fair warning: I'm not much of a recipe writer. I don't usually like to cook from them which would probably explain why I'm a horrible baker. This is a very loose version. Cook with caution.

House Potatoes (Lilac Rabbit version):
Red potatoes (as many as you need)
Onion
Bell pepper (I don't care for them myself so I leave them out)
Seasoning (I use no-salt seasoning, a bit of black pepper, kosher salt, and a bit of rosemary)

Dice your potatoes and add them to a pot of boiling water. I boil them until they are soft enough to stab with a fork, but aren't mushy.

Drain potatoes.

Sautee the onion and bell pepper in the oil of your choice. Then add the potatoes and cook until they are a nice golden brown color, seasoning the spuds as they cook.

If you want to melt cheese, add it last, remove from heat and cover the pan until all the cheese is melted.

Let 'em cool, though. Nothing like having the roof of your mouth scorched by molten potato.

My life in analog

2011-05-14T22:41:00.006-05:00

Some film photos for you:

Barbed wire and weeds

Trip to an alpaca farm. They had haircuts!

Playing at the park.

Life in the rear view mirror. (I wasn't driving. I promise.)

My friend, Photoshop

2011-05-11T23:16:00.000-05:00

I'm getting all the junk straightened out with the customer service people at Adobe about my copy of Photoshop so I can actually start using it again. I thought I might share some of my past Photoshoppings.
Before and after style!

This is one of the peacocks that roams free at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans.

Here I super-saturated the colors and changed the vignette to give the pic a "lomographic" feel. I love how his tail feathers look shiny.

My son blowing a bubble off the balcony of our old (crappy, mold-filled) apartment.

I like the subtlety of the colored bubble.

This is the wall of the lobby of one of my favorite Chinese restaurants back home. It's one of those wallpaper photo deals. I <3 bamboo!

I'm afraid this one might be overdone a bit. I was learning and trying to cram 30 different techniques into one picture.

You spin me right round, baby

2011-05-10T10:16:00.003-05:00

Like a record, baby!

TT (that's what Clo calls herself now) and I listened to the Beach Boys yesterday while rearranging her bedroom. I bought some new storage units and we spent the day putting away all her books and toys (and getting rid of a few things on the sly). I say "we". I did all of the grunt work.
I'd better go. The library is having story time this morning and I am driving a friend to the airport so he can get married.

On film

2011-05-09T00:58:00.002-05:00

We celebrated Mother's Day on Saturday because I had to take Zach to the airport today... *sigh* It's going to be a long, lonely six weeks.
We went to the zoo and I took pictures with a film camera. An SLR film camera with different lenses and all that fancy stuff. I have to wait a week to see how the pictures turned out, but I'll be sure and scan the good ones.
I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day!

Catching up

2011-05-04T23:30:00.002-05:00

Oh, hi.
What's going on, everybody? Oh, wait. I know. I've been reading everyone's blogs but I had to do it on our super-slow "back-up" laptop so commenting took forever. I like to comment just to let people know I'm reading and that I still want to live vicariously through you.
I fixed my laptop. It was in Virus City for a vacay and decided to take up permanent residence so I did what any respectable computer owner does and put the poor sick thing out of its misery. On the plus side, that means I got to start with a clean slate and install Windows 7. (I was still running Vista *shudder*) There was a casualty, however. Photoshop, I am going to miss you. It was all corrupt and stuff... Something to do with some filters I installed that weren't exactly legit.
Being without a computer made me more productive, though:
I did lots of gardening. (Check out my pretty pink cactus!)
I worked on our house and I'm hoping to post some before and after pictures soon.
I got a new sewing machine!
I had a chance to scope out some of the local thrift and consignment stores and found some treasures. I'll save those for another future post.
So... what have you all been up to? Any awesome new blogs I should be reading?

Do you miss me?

2011-04-24T15:32:00.002-05:00

My laptop took a turn for the worse and needs some sort of operation before it can live again.
Also, the pipes in our kitchen are now backed up (the same thing happened in the master bath a few weeks ago). Also, my sewing machine bit the big one which forced me to stop over-researching brands and finally choose one to order.
Aaaannd... the husband is leaving for six weeks which means just me and the tantrum-throwing two-year-old, alone.
You know the phrase, "When it rains, it pours"? Yeah... it's freaking monsoon season here.

I'm lovin' it

2011-04-18T00:29:00.001-05:00

Follow my blog with bloglovin

Dear Blog

2011-04-12T15:30:00.002-05:00

I am not trying to ignore you. I just had a helluva week last week (not in a good way) and today my brain does not seem to want to cooperate with me.
I think I'm going to make some lists and busy myself with menial household chores for the rest of the day until my poor little noggin decides to start working again.
I wanted to sew but I don't think I can be trusted with such machinery right now.

Does anyone else have days like that? How do you get the gears working again?

Kitten Update

2011-04-06T15:31:00.002-05:00

I am sad to report that the kittens' real mother took her babies to another location. I guess she decided sharing a yard with the hundred pound dog wasn't in their best interests.
That didn't stop me for searching the neighbors' yards for them, though.
I consoled myself with some flea marketing this morning. I'll share my finds later.

I'm a mom!

2011-04-04T15:55:00.002-05:00

Or maybe a grandma? A mother via adoption?
Either way, look at my quadruplets!
We had some empty cardboard boxes beside our shed and when the recycling service came to pick them up I found these babies. Their eyes are just starting to open and they look pretty well-fed. I am hoping their mommy is coming by to feed them. I just left them where they were in their little box house.
I've named them John, Paul, George, and Ringo. I don't know their actual genders as I didn't want to handle them too much. I'll check on them tonight and, if their mom hasn't made a feeding visit, I will start bottle feeding them myself and looking for homes for them.

Wild horses

2011-03-31T14:02:00.002-05:00

Source

There is a sad horse that I pass when I have to drive out to the library. He is stuck in a tiny metal shed. He never gets out. I see his head sticking out of the little door of his prison stall watching the horses in the neighboring field. I wondered if he was jealous of their freedom. His sad image haunted me until the day I pulled out the phone book and called about 10 places that claimed they "couldn't help me". Finally a man directed me to call the county sheriff's department so I did. Well, today I called to check up on the situation and they informed me that as long as the horse had food, water, and shelter that it was fine to keep a horse locked up that way.
And that made me think...
What if I forced my child to live in a closet? If I still fed her and cleaned her would that make it OK? Or would child protective services knock down my door? I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to get away with it.
And then that made me think...
Why doesn't all life have the same value attached to it? Why is the life of a human greater than that of an animal? And why do we, as humans, get to set these values? Why is it ok to farm cows and chickens for consumption but not, say, lions and penguins?
I think that is the main reason why I am a vegetarian now. I was tired of asking myself "Why is it socially acceptable to eat this cow? What right do I have to take the life of any other living creature? Why is killing in the name of sustenance ok?"
I'm not trying to be preachy, so I'll get off my soapbox for now.

Neighborly

2011-03-29T16:13:00.005-05:00

The cover of my newly acquired reading primer from 1957.

The illustrations are so pretty.

Yes, the little black kitten's name is Tar Baby.

My neighbor brought this book over the other day. (Ok, he technically brought it over for Clover but she is kind of hard on books so I'm holding it for her until she can appreciate the beauty of a 1950's reading primer.) He is an older man. Very sweet. He is a preacher at a nearby Baptist church. He also brought us cookies at Christmas time. Which is just crazy to me. We lived in apartments in Texas and our neighbors barely spoke to us unless they were complaining about our dog barking too much. (This same set of neighbors also had screaming matches EVERY weekend and the shouting is usually what prompted Jesse to start barking. Oh, the irony.)

The whole cookie/book thing makes me long for a simpler time. When your neighbors were your friends and you could depend on them to help you out in a pinch or just be there for some coffee and chit-chat. When women did their gossiping while hanging freshly washed sheets on the line. A time before texting and Facebook eliminated all need to actually speak to another human being. Guess I'll have to be content visiting simpler times with my "new" book.

Homesick

2011-03-24T16:48:00.002-05:00

home·sick (hmsk)

adj.

Acutely longing for one's family or home.

"Liz"

2011-03-23T14:38:00.001-05:00

Elizabeth Taylor
Famous for her violet eyes and her string of husbands.
And truly beautiful.
February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011

Oh ho ho it's magic

2011-03-22T21:12:00.003-05:00

I turned this dress...
into this dress. Ta Da! (Excuse the fabric scraps and Blythes on the floor. Had to distract the two-year-old while using the sewing machine.)

Here is the back.
No, I won't tell you my secrets. Magician's code, you know.

My child is a little morbid

2011-03-17T16:05:00.002-05:00

Here are a couple of the songs I've caught my two-year-old bobbing her head to or *oops* singing along:

To prove to you that she isn't entirely dark, this is her favorite song/video ever:

It's the little things

2011-03-16T15:53:00.004-05:00

Like finding a bakery that sells cupcakes and the most delicious coconut cream cake you've ever put in your mouth.
And finding a smoothie shop that sells boba.
Finally finishing the evil that is painting.
My Neighbor Totoro
Getting European chocolates in the mail (Thanks to my stepmom who knows I would sell my firstborn child for sweet, sweet chocolate.)
Finding the perfect curtains for the kitchen
Thinking of an awesome idea for a photoshoot right before I fell asleep last night and having a notebook and pen handy
And, finally, NOT freaking out about turning 30 this Saturday. I mean, 30 is so not a big deal, right? Right?
Holy crap. I'm going to be 30!

Right now...

2011-03-14T15:56:00.001-05:00

My heart is breaking for Japan.

Excuses, excuses

2011-03-11T16:01:00.003-06:00

Today I had a blog post all planned out. I was going to write about my most favorite, sentimentally valuable material possessions because I think some of the things I keep are a little strange, but I also wanted to know what kinds of things you guys out there in Blog Land keep around as the souvenirs of your life.
Problem is: See that box up there. Well, I can't find the key to it. And most of the things I wanted to photograph and share are in there. The box itself is a prized possession made by my paternal grandfather and given to me for Christmas. He also put the little padlock on which explains my hesitation to just cut the lock off. I've been Googling how to pick locks. I hope the cops never raid my house and go through my computer history. Awkward!

Street-smarts

2011-03-10T16:35:00.003-06:00

Look at the name of this street! Now all I need to find is a rabbit road/street and I'll be in business.
I'm working on a little project for my little bliggity-blog and I'll share the first installation tomorrow. Yay, surprises!
I got my hair trimmed the other day and the stylist practically begged me to let her straighten it, so I decided to be a good sport and go along with her pleas.
Here is the result (Totally taken in my bathroom with a cell phone. I am so Myspace-cool.):

I like the way it turned out. My hair is way curly and sometimes I get annoyed trying to do anything with it. I'm not a "girly-girl" and spending an hour on just my hair isn't really something I want to do. I've given serious thought to shaving my head and just investing in wigs.

Get down with the sickness

2011-03-04T15:48:00.003-06:00

I wanted to blog more this week, but I didn't think anyone would be interested in my adventures in Cough Land. Clover is currently living in Cough Land preceded by a short vacation in Feverville that had her up all Saturday and Sunday nights feeling pretty miserable. Luckily, baby ibuprofen took care of the fever and some homeopathic honey cough syrup is taking care of the cough. She seems to mostly be a happy camper today. I know she's feeling better when she has the energy for tantrums.
What I've been up to this week (besides practicing medicine without a license):
*I was a runner-up for a Super Cute Kawaii giveaway and won the cutest PDF book. Go me!
*Painting. Yes, still. Painting the kitchen was a nightmare so I took a few days off.
*Obsessing over having a photoshoot in the glamorous style of old school Hollywood. Like Ms. Crawford here:

How sweet would that be? I need to find the perfect vintage dress.
*Checking out a sale tonight at the bookstore. I have my list ready.
*Eating Girl Scout cookies.
*Watching some old movies. And a couple new movies.

What have you been up to?

What I did while I wasn't blogging

2011-02-24T15:31:00.006-06:00

Have you ever been so tired that you sat down somewhere and just contemplated sleeping there because getting up and getting undressed and brushing your teeth and all that good stuff just seemed like too much effort? That's how tired I have been this week.
Why, you ask.
Because I have been painting walls. And, if you've never experienced the joy that is painting, let me be the first to tell you: Hire a professional. That stuff is no joke. My hands are raw, my muscles are sore. I feel like I just ran a marathon but instead of a finish line I get to go hose the paint out of my brushes in my cold back yard. I think I am going to nap now. I'll be back with happy fun time tomorrow.

Hey, patriotic yet ugly wallpaper. You're going down!

I told you. Don't mess with me.

Ugly blue kitchen wall? Did you see what happened to patriotic wallpaper? Be afraid.

Shrink, shrank, shrunk

2011-02-18T15:58:00.009-06:00

Today I wanted to do a little crafting of my own so I let Clover color some shrink plastic. That lasted all of about 5 minutes before she found a basket of plastic Easter eggs that needed her attention. She was very interested in the baking part, though.

Very.

Here she is, showing off her skills.

I drew the outlines and she colored the rest. Except for the top of the strawberry. I did that to sort of get her started.
Well, I'm off. Clover is napping and I have some good ideas in my head that I need to put down on paper before they escape again.

I would gladly pay you Tuesday

2011-02-17T16:19:00.002-06:00

for a hamburger today.
I have a confession to make. I love hamburgers. I haven't had meat in over six years but not a day passes that I don't think about hamburgers. Why must they tempt me?
And I hate the vegetarian alternative. Veggie burgers. Gross. I always hated being invited to cook-outs because I knew that someone would buy me a box of veggie burgers and I'd eat them, pretending they were my favorite thing ever because, you know, they went through the trouble of buying them just for little old non-meat-eating me. But, seriously, I hate them. They are usually dry or they have been cooked/grilled too crisp or they fall to pieces when you try to eat them.
So last night before dinner we all went to the park because the weather has been crazy warm here after last week's mini-blizzards. We ended up staying longer than we intended and just decided to stop at a restaurant for dinner. I ended up ordering a black bean burger and, once it was doctored with melted cheese, jalapeno slices, pickles, onion, lettuce, and tomato, it was pretty de-freaking-licious. And it satisfied my hamburger craving for a while.
Today I am taking inventory of my craft supplies. I have to resist the urge to park at the craft store (which I have to pass whenever I want to leave my house) and spend copious amounts of money so I'm approaching craft shopping the sane and sensible (and nerdy) way and making a list of things that I actually need to work on some projects that have been waiting in a notebook for months and months for me to bring them into fruition. (I feel like that is a run-on sentence. Is it? I need a refresher course in grammar.)
My days are always so thrilling. Can't you tell?

Bah Humbug!

2011-02-14T16:37:00.003-06:00

Oh, hey, it's Valentine's day.
Did you get your love roses? Chocolates? A teddy bear stuffed into a balloon?
Wait, don't tell me. I just don't care.
The Scrooge of Valentine's? Yeah, I'm it.

Today and tomorrow

2011-02-10T16:50:00.004-06:00

This is Jackpot. I thought he was a he, but he is actually a she. She is a bearded dragon and she is the mascot at my husband's squadron. I'm probably violating some military code of secrecy by posting this but whatevs. In the words of Eric Cartman, "I do what I want". I am incredibly afraid of snakes and lizards (which I call "snakes with feet") so holding Jackpot, who is the most docile lizard ever, really helped me get over my fear of lizards. I don't think I'm ready for snake handling just yet.
She doesn't even mind being handled by the toddler set. Such a sweet dragon.
Today and tomorrow I am going to clear out lots of picture files from my laptop and clean up my iPod. The memory is hopelessly full and I have full albums on it that I don't even listen to so I am going to do a lot of playlisting of my most favorite songs from each band. The iPod clean-up is mostly to make way for my gigantic 90's alt-rock playlist. The original list is over a hundred songs but I plan to trim it down to a nice round fifty or so. Maybe. The 90's was so good for grunge and rock that it's hard to know which songs to leave out.
I should post the original list and I'll definitely post the finished product.

30

2011-02-09T14:07:00.004-06:00

I really like reading about everyone's little personality quirks so I thought I'd share mine and you can leave me a link if you share yours.
1. I always wanted to be the first female head coach for an NFL team.
2. I hate doctors and I will often Google my symptoms, diagnose, and treat myself at home. I shouldn't do this. I usually end up diagnosing myself with some sort of cancer. Which brings me to my next confession:
3. I am terrified that I will get cancer. So many members of my family have had cancer or died from cancer that I just know I too will get it. I might be a little irrational.
4. I am also convinced that I have a sensory disorder. I become enraged to the point of almost losing self-control when I hear chewing noises. I once made a woman on line behind me swallow her gum because she refused to close her mouth and chew it like a normal human being.
5. I hate chewing gum.
6. I wave at dogs. They can be in a car with their owners or running around the yard and I will wave at them. Once I was waving at these two dogs in the backseat of a car at the gas station and the guys in the front seat thought I was waving to them. It was awkward because they got out of their car to talk to me and I had to explain that I was only interested in their dogs.
7. My Nintendo DSi is one of my prized possessions.
8. I am almost 30 and I play Pokemon games.
9. When I was fourteen I wanted to be a fashion designer/model. I thought I could design the clothes and then walk to the runway wearing them. I spent most of my free time designing clothes.
10. I once filled an entire book of graph paper with the floor plans of imaginary houses. I wish I still had that book. I'd love to see the houses that ten-year-old me wanted to live in.
11. I love salad. I love "fancy" salads with fruit and arugula and unusual types of cheeses. And I love seaweed salad.
12. I still get asked for my ID to buy tickets for R-rated movies.
13. When I was younger (too young) I watched The Shining and I was convinced that Jack Nicholson was waiting behind my couch to kill me if I had to get up and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
14. If Clive Owen knocked on my door and told me to come away with him and leave my husband I totally would.
15. Reading makes me hungry.
16. Frozen margaritas are my favorite mixed drink ever. With salt please.
17. I've never had a professional manicure or pedicure.
18. Sometimes people think Jesse is one of my children because of the way I talk about him and share stories about him.
19. I have an unhealthy obsession with dollar stores.
20. Apparently drinking a lot of tea is bad if you have anemia because tea contains tannins which can slow the absorption of iron in the bloodstream. I have anemia and used to drink a lot of tea.
21. I love back rubs.
22. I've always seemed to have a problem befriending girls. I feel like my life is being put under a microscope when I meet new women.
23. My brother and I had a "detective agency" when we were kids. His detective name was "Rabbit Ears" and mine was "Blackeye". Why? I have no idea.
24. My parents used to make me sit at the dinner table until I had eaten everything on my plate so my brother and I used to switch food when they would leave the room. I hated spinach and he hated rice (Crazy, right?) so he would eat my spinach and I would eat his rice and our parents were none the wiser.
25. When my Facebook friends make too many posts about Jersey Shore, I delete them. Why? Because that show embodies everything that is wrong with America and I don't think we should glorify stupidity.
26. I wish someone would by me a boxed set of Clarissa Explains it All on DVD.
27. I really want a vertical labret piercing.
28. I am definitely a "dog person". The bigger the dog, the better.
29. I can't watch movies about World War II or Nazis or concentration camps. They are just too sad and "real" for me to deal with on an emotional level.
30. I write my grocery list in the order that I can find the things at the store.

Ho-hum

2011-02-03T17:10:00.004-06:00

I'm feeling sad today. Do you ever have those days where you feel out-of-sorts but you can't really say why? It's one of those days. Oh right. It's called being a female.
Enjoy these pictures, as I am not feeling the least bit witty or insighful.

Let it snow

2011-01-31T16:36:00.005-06:00

What is this crap? Snow, you say? That's nice that you're so excited about it, now let me inside.

Clover catching snowflakes on her tongue.

It is supposed to snow today. The weather folks have been forecasting it for weeks, but the weather decided to be stubborn and grace us with some warm sunny days. The weather gods laugh in the face of our mortal meteorologists. Except today they might have got it right. While it was sunny and warm this morning, the temps quickly took a nosedive, the sun ran away, and the wind is blowing from just about every direction wind can blow. I ran outside and picked up our chalk and our bubbles before they blew away.
It did snow for a few hours a week or so before Christmas.
I have proof!

Pink eye and the bullies

2011-01-27T15:23:00.002-06:00

When I was in the seventh grade I gave myself pink eye. Who would ever give themselves pink eye? What could be so horrible that someone would give themselves pink eye just to escape school for a few days? Well, people are that horrible. People who bully others, in particular.
In the middle of seventh grade, my dad separated from his second wife (This was actually a good thing as she was a terrible person and she cheated on my dad and I hated her with every ounce of my 13-year-old being.) and my brother and I moved in with my grandparents. Which meant that we had to change schools in the middle of the year. I wasn't in the popular crowd at my old school but I got along with everyone and I had lots of friends. I didn't want to leave them, but kids don't get much say in those matters and you could get in a lot of trouble for going to school outside your district even to just finish up the few months before the summer break. So... new school for me.
It was awful. No one talked to me. I spent my lunch breaks outside on a bench, alone. And then... This boy started coming over to talk to me. He hung out with some of the older kids (the school I went to housed seventh, eighth, and ninth-graders) and he was very cute. Ronnie* would come to my bench of solitude and ask me questions about music or compliment my t-shirt or just to say "hi". I was on top of the world. Who needs friends? A boy was talking to me! A boy was interested in me! I stopped feeling like school was such a miserable place and started looking forward to going just for those few minutes of lunch-time chitchat. I should have been wary, but I was riding the wave of an adolescent crush and I never once looked down to see the sharks circling beneath me.
After about two weeks of our idle chitchat, Ronnie came over to me at lunch. He looked shy and I swear at some point he looked down and sort of kicked at the dirt with his Adidas. (This detail could have easily been added as I replayed the whole fiasco in my mind over and over again for the rest of the school year, though.) And then he. Asked me. To be his girlfriend. Of course, I instantly said yes. He gave his group of friends a "thumbs up". They were smiling and returning his thumb gestures and I was so happy I could have burst into a million little ecstatic pieces when Mary* came strolling up.
"Oh, hi, P! Hi, Ronnie! So, Ron. Did you ask her out?"
"I sure did."
"And what did you say, P?"
"I said yes"
"Well... this is going to disappoint you, but Ronnie is my boyfriend so he can't possibly be your boyfriend, too."
I looked from Ronnie to Mary and to their group who were, by this point, doubled over with laughter. Mary was smiling, oh so sweetly, at me.
And then she said, "Did you really think he could ever be interested in a girl like you?"
And I ran. Probably to the nearest bathroom. No one would pick me up from school. I had to go through the rest of the day with kids laughing and pointing feeling like I would probably die.
But I didn't die. I went home.
"Don't use your grandpa's little blue towel," my grandma warned. "He has pink eye."
I went into the bathroom. I yanked down the blue towel and rubbed it into my eyes and all over my face. I hoped I would go blind so I could go to a different school. And I almost did. I gave myself such a bad case that I was out of school for two weeks. But, when I went back, almost everyone had forgotten about it. Over time, I forgot about it too.
Until the other day when Mary requested me as a friend on Facebook.

*Names have been changed

Dreams

2011-01-25T16:52:00.003-06:00

(source)

Last night I dreamed I had a little no-name pet mouse that I carried around everywhere with me in my *ahem* cleavage.
Then I read Trisha's post about her pet rats and the dream didn't seem so strange anymore.
On a funny sidenote, there is a bird known as a tufted titmouse. Get it? Titmouse! Oh, I crack myself up.

Music makes the people come together

2011-01-24T11:54:00.003-06:00

I didn't really know what to post today so I decided to swipe Elycia's idea and post about some of the songs that come up on my iPod when I shuffle. My dad is a musician. He can play guitar (his main instrument), a little piano, and the trumpet. I can't remember a time growing up where he wasn't in a band. When my mom left us, he really began pouring himself into his music. I fell asleep many a night on some band member's couch while they rehearsed late into the night. My dad would have still been in his mid-twenties and had the energy to party all night and work all day to support me and my brother. We weren't allowed to go with them to their "gigs" but we didn't need to. We knew all their songs by heart anyway. I say "their" songs, but they did covers: Black Sabbath, David Bowie, The Eagles, Deep Purple.
Growing up in a musical household really shaped my musical tastes at a young age. There was always music. I had a portable record player and a stack of 45's. My parents had stacks of LP's. My favorite thing to do from age six (Spandeau Ballet and The McCoys were my favorites) and all the way through my teens (my Nine Inch Nails/Marilyn Manson phase) was to read alone in my room and listen to music.
I, sadly, did not inherit any of my dad's musical talent but that didn't stop me from forming my own "band" in the sun porch of an empty rental house that my dad managed. I and my brother and a boy named Eugene met every afternoon with our makeshift instruments (Mine was a "keyboard" which was actually piano keys Sharpie-d onto a piece of white painted wood. ha ha) and practiced our hit song (Deep Purple- "Smoke on the Water" if you're dying to know) over and over and over again. Except for the drums (sticks, like from trees, and a piece of wood) our instruments' sounds were produced by mouth. We might have made a great a cappella group. I'm not entirely sure why our band broke up, so I'm just going to go ahead and blame Yoko Ono.
Oh, right, I was talking about the music that inspires me now. Back on track now.

1) The Ballad of John and Yoko- The Beatles
The Beatles are my favorite band ever. I have a John Lennon-inspired tattoo. I don't think I need to elaborate about my love for The Beatles.

2) Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds- Elton John
Funny that the second song is a Beatles cover. I love Elton John, though. I think because I always wanted to learn piano and I never quite got the hang of it. Oh, and I lack the self-discipline that it would have taken to make myself practice everyday.

3) Personal Halloway- Bush
Bush is one of those Nineties bands that I fell in love with the first time I heard and just never stopped listening.

4) Secret- Madonna
Who doesn't love the Material Girl? You might not agree with her personal life, but she makes some damned catchy music. As a matter of fact, I stole my blog title from her. Don't tell her about it, though. She seems the type to demand royalties.

5) Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness- The Smashing Pumpkins
Billy Corgan is one of my celebrity crushes and his music is awesome. Raw guitar mixed with very distinguished vocals transports me straight back to my teenage years: I'm at my bff's house. We're listening to the Pumpkins and drinking RC cola and downloading Sailor Moon pictures from the f-serves on IRC (Does anyone remember f-serves and IRC?) so we can make address labels for pen-palling. Good times, baby. Goo-ood times.

Rainbows

2011-01-20T12:01:00.004-06:00

"The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears." ~John Vance Cheney

This is my sidewalk-chalk rainbow.

This is Clover's version. I love that shadow of our spiky wooden fence.

This is the "moonbow" that I've seen two nights in a row now. I thought I was having some sort of vision problems so I was happy that my camera (and all my Facebook friends) could see it too.

I've been thinking

2011-01-16T02:20:00.003-06:00

My life has had a huge drink of upheaval lately followed by a giant chaser of uncertainty. I feel sad and overwhelmed and angry all at once. I wanted this blog to be a little record of my crafty pursuits but I haven't had the time or opportunity to actually sit and make anything in so long that I feel if I waited to make something, I'd never post.
So... I think I'll make this a bit of a dumping ground for my brain. Maybe I'll rant about how unfair life is. Maybe I'll tell you a funny story. Maybe I'll just post pictures and you can fill in the blanks.
I'll start off with this:
It is 1am. I just went out (with my husband, sans child) for the first time in 7 months. 8 months? We had dinner, we had a few drinks. We came home to relieve the sitter and start watching a movie together. He gets a phone call to pick up one of his drunk friends from a bar and drive him the twenty miles home. I am pissed. Date night is ruined for me.
Here's an idea, my drunk friend: (and I use the term "friend" loosely)
There are these cars that are painted yellow called taxi cabs, and they have a little box that ticks off the mileage travelled. You have to pay per mile, but you will get home safe and you will be all snug in your bed with the trashcan waiting beside it in no time. Enjoy your hangover tomorrow, jerk.

Karma

2011-01-13T15:58:00.002-06:00

I saw a homeless couple on the side of the road today. They were around my age and they had two dogs with them. I asked the girl if they had food for the dogs and she showed me some kibble crumbs at the bottom of a gallon-sized Ziploc bag. I gave them the 15 pound bag of food that I had just bought for Jesse and a twenty dollar bill.
People say "Don't give homeless people money, they'll only spend it on drugs/alcohol".
Who am I to judge them? I don't know their story. They both seemed pretty lucid to be potential alcoholics/junkies. And I did see the girl go into Walmart and come out with some pre-made sandwiches. (I was at the pet store buying more dog food).
All I could think of was that they are so young and how would I feel if I suddenly found myself in their place?
So, I gave them the money and Jesse's food. They were so... thankful, grateful. If they buy crack, you know, whatever. At least I know their dogs will be fed tonight.

Hi

2010-12-21T13:40:00.001-06:00

If there is anyone out there reading this can you please send me some positive vibes or prayers or something for me? Without going into too much detail, I am having a really rough time in my life right now and I could use some positive feedback.

Happy dance

2010-12-10T17:13:00.002-06:00

We bought a house! What! What! *do the cabbage patch* Awww yeah! *do the Roger Rabbit*
Ok, you don't have to but I will.
Goodbye hotel living! Goodbye rent! Goodbye rude neighbors!
I need to take pictures, but I'll have to wait until Thursday to post them because that's when they are hooking up the internet (I'm still at the hotel now, but we will be in our house tomorrow).

The business of buying a house

2010-12-07T11:40:00.003-06:00

You know what angers me about those home buying shows on television? They don't show the ugly side of home buying: the hours of driving around to walk around freezing empty houses, the awkwardness of looking at a house that people are still living in, the hours you spend hovering over the hotel's fax machine because someone screwed up on your loan application and you need it fixed ASAP, the headache you get from the air freshener that the realtor used just before you walked into the crazy cat lady's house, and the confusion you feel at the fact that you just looked at three different houses which were missing all of their closet doors (I'm calling Unsolved Mysteries).

This has been my life for the past week and I have to be honest here: it sucks. However, things are looking up and I hope to be sharing some good house news with you all very soon.

And I might be adopting a little Jack Russel terrier! (Basically, the couple is divorcing and neither the wife nor the husband wants the little dog. Kind of jerk-ish of them if you ask me.) I just need to get the little guy together for a play date with our alpha dog Jesse to see if their personalities mesh. More details on that later, too.

Happy Hanukkah

2010-12-01T17:10:00.004-06:00

To everyone out there who celebrates!

Isn't this menorah the best? source

Are there songs about driving to New Mexico?

2010-11-29T15:04:00.007-06:00

In my best Pink Floyd impression:
Hello... Is there anybody in there?

Cat tails

Playing "tunnel" with Clo-baby.

A longhorn and his feathered friend.

I've been lots of places since the last time I posted. Well, not really lots, but it feels that way. On Friday they packed all of our stuff and whisked it away to the magical land of Storage. Saturday morning we headed north to Dallas to spend Thanksgiving with Zach's mom and stepdad and his grandparents. It was fun except for the whole "I had to put up with my mother-in-law for a whole week" thing, but I survived. Yesterday we packed the cars again for our drive to New Mexico. We had a few mishaps involving hotel rooms but we eventually got things (mostly) straightened out.
Clover and I set out to explore the town today and it started snowing which is crazy to me because I grew up in the south and seeing snow down there is like catching a glimpse of Big Foot. I'm hoping the rest of this week will be spent checking out houses. I don't know how long I can stay in a hotel room with two other humans and three animals.
Did everyone have a nice Thanksgiving? (if you celebrate it)

My girls

2010-11-15T16:06:00.002-06:00

Because I have been insanely busy with all of the, well, crap involved with moving (Why, oh why must the military make a difficult thing even more difficult?), I thought I might use this week to share some little bits and pieces of my life with everyone.
Here is the link to my Blythe set on Flickr. Not too many pictures at the moment, but taking these was so much fun as soon as we get settled I will be sure to snap some more. Dolls make the best models. They don't give you attitude and they work for free. If Vogue replaced their models with Blythes, I'd subscribe to that.
A little info on the girls:
I have two Ashton Drake Gallery "Flower Power" repros: Scarlett and Lila
I won Scarlett off of Ebay and she was tore up from the floor up. One of her eyelids had come loose and was rattling around in her head. Her hair was in knots. She had a black spot on her cheek. I sand-matted her face, gave her new eye chip colors, conditioned her hair and gave it a loose boil perm to put some waves in her hair. I also gave her a lip repaint.

Astrid is a Samedi Marche Encore. My first and only Takara Blythe.

Lila was my very first doll.

Belinda was the last Blythe I purchased. She is an Ashton Drake repro "Priceless Parfait".

Veterans Day

2010-11-11T12:25:00.003-06:00

Just a quick post to give a big "Thank You!" to all the men and women currently serving in our armed forces, and for all those you have served in the past securing our freedom and safety.
And especially:
My Grandpa Benny (Air Force)
My Paw Paw (Army)
My cousin, Martin (Air Force)
My Great-Grandpa Atwell (Navy)
My friends DJ, Monik, Kevin, Nikita, Brock, Kory, James, and Andrew (Air Force)
And, of course, my own Airman, Zach! (Here we are at his ALS graduation ceremony)

A bright spot

2010-11-10T14:31:00.002-06:00

While I do try to keep things light-hearted and positive over here sometimes the fact of the matter is I am not all sweetness and light. Sometimes the stress of things (in this case, discord with my extended family and our impending move) weighs on me until I turn in to a not-so-nice person. I can feel myself being rapidly taxied to MeanGirl City (Population: ME) and I've forgotten at which street to be let out.
But then I get little surprises in my email like finding out I am the winner of Elycia's Veg Out giveaway. I had so much fun deciding which Funk Off products to try, and I can't wait to get my hands on them.

Other good things:
Jesse's tumor was benign!
Looking at the sweet animals that need homes in the New Mexico shelters (I was promised another dog once we move and settle into a new house. Or a goat. A pair of goats? I think maybe, yes.)
I'm up to two mile runs now. I never thought I'd be able to run two minutes at a time much less two miles.
We're having Chipotle for dinner. *delicious*

Deer Season

2010-11-08T14:55:00.003-06:00

Source

I love seeing the deer grazing in the greenbelt near my house. To get the occasional glimpse of wildlife in this traffic-clogged urban landscape makes my heart happy.

And then I log on to Facebook and see updates like this:

And my heart is sad again.

Art school

2010-11-07T18:56:00.003-06:00

I bought myself a Wacom Bamboo pen and my bestest friend has been giving me some long-distance drawing lessons. (Thank you, MSN messenger!)
You can see her awesome digital art here.
And these are a couple of drawings I have done:

A lilac rabbit!

Ryoku. An Ocha-ken.

Surprise!

2010-11-04T14:07:00.004-05:00

**Jesse is doing very well after his surgery. His stomach is a bit upset, but he's on an antacid and he wolfed down his breakfast this morning. Now I just have to wait for the results of his histopath.**

As for the title of my post, Zach graduated from his training nearly a month early and he flew back home to surprise me. I was so glad to see him. He brought me some cute things from Sanrio including this cute card:

He had his picture taken with Hello Kitty! Now that is love.

The downside of Zach being home early is that we won't be getting any time extensions for moving and we have to be in New Mexico by the end of November. *sigh* I am ready for a change, but I don't like the pressure of deadlines.

That dog of mine

2010-11-02T18:17:00.004-05:00

In case you're new here, this is my dog Jesse. (Beads make him feel pretty, he says. And who am I to judge?)

He is having surgery today to remove a small mass on his elbow. Then the mass will have to be sent out for a histopath to determine whether or not it is cancerous.

He's also getting his teeth shined up while he's under anesthesia.

Please think good thoughts for Jesse.

10 Habits and Guilty Pleasures

2010-10-28T22:11:00.005-05:00

I wanted to play along from this post over at Elsie's blog. I think it's kind of a fun way to get to know the different bloggers out there via their little quirks and indulgences.

**I usually don't like pictures of myself, but I think I look ok in this one, and I don't think I've ever put a picture of myself on the blog, so here you go.**

1. I buy waaaaayyy to many beauty products. I am especially fond of sheet masks and anything with the word "exfoliating" on the label. I discovered Ulta while in Mississippi and oh em gee, I am hooked. (On a side note, I bought this wonderful little bottle of miracle juice. I have adult-onset cystic acne and I have only used it about 4 times (you use it every other day) but my skin looks and feels AWESOME. It is actually clearing up some of my scarring. I would highly recommend this to anyone that has had to deal with the plague of cystic acne. And it's cruelty-free!)

2. Obsessive list making. I add "Write grocery list" to my "To Do" list. That's how bad it is.

3. The Real Housewives series on Bravo. Definitely a guilty pleasure as it is such catty nonsense. I just can't help watching.

4. I only bite the nails on my middle and ring fingers. I am really trying to stop. I am letting them grow out for another week and I bought myself a bottle of black plum-colored nail polish as incentive.

5. Dollar stores. I looooove dollar stores. I especially love coming across little independently-owned dollar stores and searching for the hidden treasure that I know is buried there. My latest find? Almay Pure Blends foundation. That stuff is like ten bucks in regular stores. My only regret was they only had one tube in my shade (Pale as a Ghost ha ha).

6. Sonic limeades. No added flavors, just plain carbonated lime goodness.

7. I sing in the car. I swear I have about 90% of my brain dedicated to song lyrics and it's not limited to any time period or genre. I like it all. I also lip sync to my iPod while I run. People in the gym look at me like I'm crazy.

8. I have housework ADD. I will start cleaning the living room and find a cup so I bring the cup into the kitchen where I realize that the oven is filthy so I fetch the oven cleaner from under the sink when I realize that the cabinets really need to be cleaned out... you get the idea.

9. I'm addicted to Facebook. The first step is admitting I have a problem, though... Right?

10. Water! I drink water all day. I actually crave it over juice or coffee or soda.

Did anyone else play along? I'd love to read them. Oh, and thanks to my new followers. I feel special.

What I did on my autumn vacation

2010-10-27T21:12:00.012-05:00

By: Jesse
Hi there. I'm Jesse, and I'll be taking over tonight to because my mom isn't feeling so great today. I know what you're thinking: "Dogs can't blog". I beg to differ. (Granted, I am not as awesome as this dog, but we can't all be smooshy-faced and speak Japanese. *sigh*)

I got to be outside! In a yard! Without a leash!

"What was that?"
I chased Clover.

Clover chased me.

I dug holes. My bad.

I saw a snake!
I chewed up sticks.

I saw a lizard!

I chewed more sticks.

Now I'm back in the city, sleeping on the bed and looking forward to my leash walks.

I'm ba-aack

2010-10-26T21:08:00.002-05:00

I am in Texas once again. I have way too many pictures to upload and way too many blogs to catch up with. (I hate not being able to read people's blogs for long periods of time. I feel like the writer will feel somehow neglected if I am not there to share my witty insight via the comments. But maybe that's just me.)
Right now I am suffering from an extreme case of jet-lag (car-lag??). Simply put, I am exhausted.
Talk to you tomorrow.

More Mississippi

2010-10-20T14:11:00.005-05:00

Botany lessons from Clover.

Photoshoots with the Blythe girls.

Flowers everywhere.

Misty morning

2010-10-14T14:45:00.001-05:00

Taking the dog outside first thing in the morning.

Oops...

2010-10-12T15:13:00.004-05:00

I forgot to tell everyone that I left for home (Mississippi) on Sunday morning. I will be here for a "couple-few" (as we say in the South) weeks. I have limited internet access (Yay for bubble tea shops!) but I will try to entertain you with some photo posts every few days.

Well we all shine on

2010-10-09T17:19:00.004-05:00

Today is John Lennon's birthday. Had his life not been taken too soon, he would have been 70.

I have a John Lennon tattoo. It was his "chop": a stamp used in Japanese art to denote the signature of the artist. John Lennon's chop said "like a cloud, beautiful sound".
I believe that those people who make a mark on the world can never truly die.
Happy birthday, John Lennon!