My Second Mother's Day

Mother's Day weekend was pretty good on my end. We had a LONG day Saturday, which completely wore Mooch out and threw her schedule for a loop... which meant I paid dearly for it on Sunday.

But then, somehow, someway, after all the excitement of Saturday, she managed to climb out of her crib in the middle of the night, steal her grandpa's wallet, and drive to a store to pick up these roses for her Mama for Mother's Day. Such talent, I tell you!

Privacy Issues with MySpace

I deleted my personal MySpace account today. Too much going on with my account to deal with on top of what's going on in my real-life life. I really don't wanna worry about my privacy on there, and the privacy issues I encountered today was the last straw. I'd already taken down all my photos and personal info, except for the couple of blogs I've written as of late so it wasn't like I lost a lot... just contacts, really. I don't need the unnecessary drama when my real life has enough ups and down right now, especially with all the crap going on with my repeated doctor and hospital visits trying to figure out what all is going on.

True Mom Confessions

Have you seen this site? I came across it months ago, and it had since completely slipped my mind. Some of the things that are written there are completely outrageous to me, while others... well, I can certainly relate to those. There are some posts that make me just wanna melt and say "AWWWW!!!" and then there are some where I have to pick my chin off the keyboard from disbelief. It's a great way to vent, I'm sure. I've never posted on there... my life isn't as dramatic as some of those who have posted. I must say though, when I left there that first time I visited, I was grateful for the nice, quiet life I have now. I can't imagine going through some of the things those other mothers do, nor feeling the way they do about some things in my life that I absolutely love.

Anywho, this link will take you to a BzzAgent page that tells more about the site, plus you get to see how other people have rated the site as well as read their opinions on it. It's really neat. And from there, if you decide to, you can continue on to the True Mom Confessions website.

Enjoy!

Rumble, Rumble

I haven't really done anything in the way of crafting this week. Yes, I'm a slacker. In one of my recent posts, I talked of getting my first sale off DaWanda. It was the first set of clips that I've sold, period, so I wasn't sure of how I would package them. I finally decided that simple is best, and I rather like the way they turned out.

Yesterday, I was awoken to a nice little earthquake, whose epicenter wasn't too far from here. Took me a second to realize that no, the noise is NOT Mooch rocking herself in her sleep in her crib (she has a tendency to do that), and that yes, my bed is indeed vibrating. Then I giggled. It was neat, just lasted for a few seconds. And Mooch slept right through it. People at work kept talking of aftershocks, but I never felt any. Of course I was moving about constantly and actually working, while the others were taking advantage of the fact that we were extremely slow and sat around talking most the day. Who's the slacker now?

I hate going to the doctor. Let's just leave it at that. I do have more appointments coming up. Scary stuff that I don't wanna deal with, but I have to. I have to find out what's going on even though it's scary as Hell the more that's found out. I'm in good hands, though, so I'm confident everything will be okay eventually. I try not to think about it all, try not to let it weigh on my mind. Negativity brings nothing good, so I try to think happy and peaceful, positive thoughts.
It's all gonna work out for the better.

Just Call Me Betty

I don't know what got in to me today. I had the opportunity to sleep in (I covet the two days a week that I get to sleep in). There I am, laying in my wonderfully warm and comfy bed, having just changed Mooch's diaper and laying the grumpy, still-tired tot back in her crib. It was my chance to close my eyes and fall into a joyous slumber.

Waffles.
Wait, what?
Waffles. I want to make waffles.
And I want to make them NOW.

I surely must've lost my mind overnight because the next thing I know, I'm digging through a closet looking for my never-used waffle iron. Success! I found it and grabbed the waffle recipe I stole from a former employer. Now, I must tell you, I've made these suckers numerous upon numerous times, but I had never eaten them. It comes with someone telling you you *have* to make them, and you *have* to make them NOW... sucks the joy right out of cooking.

But I made them this morning on my own will.
And I ate them.
And they were goo-ood!

I even took pictures of them, but alas, I took them indoors and they turned out horribly horrendous, so I used a stock photo courtesy of Hilde Vanstraelen. Mine were square, not nearly as pretty as her heart-shaped ones. (Telling myself I do not now need to invest in a heart-shaped waffle iron.)

Anywho... I'll share the recipe with you....

2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tsp. baking powder
1-3/4 c. milk
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 c. vegetable oil.

Mix all ingredients (not too well, though).
Bake in a waffle iron according to appliance's manual (5 minutes for mine).
Today's yield: 11 waffles

I also stuck some leftovers in the freezer for a rainy day. Just let them cool completely and stacked them with pieces of waxed paper between them, and placed them in a freezer bag.

Oh, and Mooch loved them!!!
Yes, I know. It was really the syrup she was "Mmm"-ing about, but I can dream. Right?

Joy!

It's always great to wake up to an email stating someone purchased an item you made with your own two hands. That's how I felt the other day when I discovered I had made my first sale from my DaWanda shop! I tried not to get too excited about it, as I've heard from numerous fellow DaWanda sellers that they have had experience with non-payers over there. I checked out my purchaser's feedback and was confident in that she was legit... and I was correct, so all is well with the transaction. I'm now on my way to package up my Clementine Clips, pictured above, to get them ready for their journey to Germany!

It's a dreary, blustery, wintery day here... complete with the howling wind.
And Mooch and I get the pleasure of venturing out into it when she awakes from her nap. Joy!

Buggy

Buggy.
That basically sums up the last two weeks or so.

Mooch and I have both been under the weather, and neither one of us can seem to shake it. I believe hers is just a case of allergies... just a yucky, annoying runny nose that won't go away and drainage that's causing her to cough in the morning. I'm surprised she still has a nose considering the number of times it's been wiped as of late! Mine's a bit more serious, causing me to have repeated doctor visits. What fun!

And then, there's our computer. Little bugger has something wrong with it. No virus... that's been checked a zillion times. Basically, it's just prevented the usual time spent on the Internet tinkering around and posting... and viewing more than a page or two in a sitting. Rather annoying. But really, I haven't felt like doing anything more than being lazy after my 9-hour day, so it's really only bothered me on the weekends when Mooch is asleep and I need entertainment.

But on an awesome, amazing, bright note, we've been going through my grandmother's belongings. Oh, my! She was sitting on a treasure trove!!! Not so much valuable as in a monetary meaning, but more of a personal meaning. We've spent a couple of afternoons over there together as a family, snooping around, laughing hysterically at some of our findings. And then also being completely blown away by others, such as the photos dating back to the late 1800s of our ancestors... reading their names on the back... seeing our faces in their faces, reading my grandfather's collection of notes on how certain family members died... shootings... diseases... axes... some were outrageous! There's a collection of letters written back and forth between my great-grandmother and great-grandfather while they were courting... and all this was found in just one corner bookshelf of one room in the house! So super excited to go through the rest of it.

It's been rather spring-like here lately... warm weather, sunshine, a few rain showers and storms.... This weekend it's supposed to snow. Snow! Arg.

The above photo is courtesy of Gustavo Bueso Padgett. Creeps me out a bit!

New Addition

I finally added something new to my Etsy shop this afternoon. Going through my box of finished items, I found this long-forgotten leaf. Sure it's an Autumn piece, but it's Autumn somewhere in the world, right? Besides, Etsy has an Autumn section in it's Gift Guides, although my items have never been "good enough" to be featured there. Bah!

This is one of the very first items I created with felt. I made a set of 5 Autumn Leaf hair clips, each a different design and color. I only have this and a red one left, as the others were sold in my pre-Mister Mooch days. Anywho, you can read the details of this particular hair clip here.

As for last nights crafting? HA! I finished the Mister Mooch card... folded and trimmed it down, wrote the little message on the inside, addressed the envelope it'll be traveling in. Then I went to do the same to the Jumbo Blossom card. Only when I went to fold it, the dang flower popped off the card stock. WHY?!?! Why will that flower not stay put? Needless to say, I was more than a little aggravated and that put an end to my crafty efforts for the evening. I've been avoiding even looking at the stubborn thing today, but I really need to get it fixed as the thank you card that it's being made into is *long* over due. Arg.

Simplicity Is Always Better

Crafting 365, Day 8:

I finally affixed my felt Mister Mooch and my Yellow Jumbo Blossom onto card stock this afternoon. It took a bit longer than usual to do so, for some odd reason. But I re-thought my technique and found a way that worked, so I'm satisfied.

I've not been able to do anything more than attach the felt pieces, as the scissors I need to put the finishing touches on the cards are in a box in my bedroom. The very same bedroom where Mooch now lies, napping. I don't dare go in there, for fear of waking her up. She's not a happy tot when her sleep has been disturbed.

Since my intended crafting got a little de-railed with my forgetting to grab the scissors, I've been working on stitching together the pieces of felt I'm using to make a tangerine-colored Jumbo Blossom, that will also be turned into a card. I've got the yellow center stitched on, but it's not anything worth photographing. Hopefully, I'll stay on course and finish the piece tonight in order to have a post tomorrow.

Last night, our town had a fireworks display... one that I was not aware of until the first BOOM! of the night shook my house. It caught myself and our house full of pets quite off guard. I grabbed Mooch and we watched it from our front porch, until I had lost all feeling in my bare feet due to the ice cold concrete. You'd never guess it's nearly April by the temperature here... crazy this year! Anyways she enjoyed the show immensely. I've been blessed by a little toddler who is unafraid of large noises and takes interest in the pretty lights instead... although the echoes were confusing her a bit! The finale was amazing... our yard was showered with so much light, it resembled daylight for a full minute!

Well, I've been bitten by the Spring cleaning bug... and the tops of our kitchen cabinets are seriously calling my name. Why I thought of cleaning the tops of them, I'll never know. My dad says (teasingly) I'm acting as though I'm nesting again, as I did when pregnant with Mooch. Nope, no new baby here... just a bit stir-crazy, I suppose.

Oh, and speaking of Spring cleaning, I've cleaned up the side bar of my blog. Too much going on for my taste right now, so I deleted a good bit of it. Simplicity is better.

Getting Back Into the Swing of Things

Crafting 365 / Day 7 ~~

I've been working on the first Jumbo Blossom and have hit a moment of indecision. I stitched together the 3 pieces of felt and added part of the detailing so far. I cannot decide whether I want to continue the detailing as I had planned when I made the pattern for this flower, or if I should leave well enough alone and call this piece complete. Hmmm.... decisions, decisions.

Anyways, I'm quite proud to have finished this piece in only a couple days' time (I'm starting to pick back up a bit!). I can now attach it to my designated piece of cardstock and get my very late Thank You card in the mail. Ah, the life of procrastination.

This piece *has* inspired a new project that has been jotted down in my notebook of ideas and raw sketches... I'll probably get to making the actual project in about a year or so at the pace I'm going now.

While taking my leave of absence from crafting and writing, my Felt Bell Pepper Magnets were featured here by Amy Esther of Amy Esther Ceramics. It's a rather humorous write-up. Definitely gave me a much-needed laugh when I read it.

Spring Has Sprung... Or Has It?

Crafting 365 / Day 6 --

I'm getting better. It's only been 8 days since my last Crafting date, rather than a month or so like my last post was.

I drew my pattern for my Jumbo Flower Blossoms and was inspired by the thought of Spring, so I chose to do the two flowers in vibrant yellow and tangerine felt. I think I've settled on using chocolate brown thread to do all the stitching.

And yes, I do know that it is officially Spring, but here it is on Easter Sunday... snowing. Yes, that's right. Nice big flakes.

I threw a mini Easter Egg hunt for Mooch inside the house this morning. She absolutely loved it! Has been playing with her plastic Easter eggs most of the day, taking breaks only to eat and dance... and well, now nap!

Our Easter dinner is in the oven as I type. We're doing turkey, as we just had ham a few days ago. I'm excited for the fresh pitcher of Sweet Tea. I've been craving it here as of late.

As for that basketball game I wrote about last time, our boys did indeed win and advanced to the State Finals, which were yesterday. And I'm proud to say that they won that game as well! Our little town is home to the State Champions! It was quite an exciting night last night!!!

I've got some time to myself, so I believe I'm going to get started on stitching those blossoms.

Here's to a Happy Easter to you and yours!

De-rails, Hijacks, and Curve Balls

Crafting 365 / Day 5 (only a month or so late!) --

Yes, I finally sat down and finished the felt version of Mister Mooch last night, so I counted it as my Day 5 of the challenge. I would do 10 stitches here and there on any given day, but nothing to sneeze about nor count as a day of crafting.

So here he his, my Mister Mooch. Overall, I'm satisfied with him, but I've learned not to stitch when my mind is elsewhere. There are a couple of mistakes that only I can see in him (I asked around for opinions!), but I'm a perfectionist and those mis-placed stitches really frustrated me for quite a while. I've come to peace with him now.

My next step is to attach him to cardstock and turn him into a card for a very deserving group of individuals. I only hope they appreciate what went into making him. And, before any of you ask... No, I will not be making these to sell.

He has inspired another project that's next on my to-do list. Hopefully, I'll be writing about that soon and not a month from now.

As far as life goes... my grandmother did indeed pass away. My dad has had a very hard time with it, so we've all been doing our best to make him laugh because laughter cures all heartaches in our family. My grandmother still has brothers and her father living on the other side of the country, but they were unable to attend her funeral because less than 12 hours before her passing, my 90-something great-grandfather took a dramatic spill and required surgery. So they stayed to care for him and see him through the hospital stay.

Now, I must go listen to the radio to see if our boys basketball team is once again going to play in the state tournament. This is Indiana (you know, The Basketball State), so it's very big news when our small town has a leading contender in the state tournaments!

I'm Around

I haven't been doing much as far as writing, creating, crafting, Etsy... much of anything, really. I completed my first week of work. It's draining. I only like one co-worker there. It's as if I'm not there, invisible. Weird. And I really do not appreciate a girl (yes, a girl) who is 8 years younger than me making me feel stupid because I don't know something yet due to not being shown yet. Whatever. I have another week of training there, and then we'll see where I end up.

I get home, and all I want to do is spend every second possible soaking up Mooch. I miss her terribly when I'm away from her. I call every lunch hour of every day to check in on her, and she's always doing fine of course. She got two more teeth in the course of this past week. Didn't do too badly with them. Had one rough day, but I was allowed to go home early that day because we were hit yet again by a bad ice storm, so mama was there to make everything better for her. Mama always has the right touch.

And then there is my grandmother, who will be passing away any second now. She took a drastic turn for the worse this week, ended up in the emergency room, and is now essentially in hospice care because there is nothing more anyone can do for her, other than to make her as comfortable as possible until she goes. So, we've been alerting family members (some of whom refuse to accept the fact that she's dying), and trying to tie up loose ends and prepare everything for when she does go.

This week has been absolutely draining, stressful... and of course, it's wore me down and I've become ill. I have a feeling I've got a case of sinusitis and bronchitis, but I have no money nor health insurance to see a doctor or pay for any prescriptions, so I'm hanging on and trying not to infect Mooch.

Needless to say, I've not had the time nor energy to sit and craft. I've done a few stitches here and there, but nothing much to report on. Hopefully, I'll be able to pick up where I left off soon and things will settle down a bit.

This blog is such a downer, and for that, I'm sorry. I'd much rather be cheerful, but my thoughts are otherwise preoccupied.

Bursting!!!

With happiness that is! Thanks to all those that sent me well wishes on the job interview. It was rescheduled for this morning, and I apparently had the job before I got there. They didn't even bother calling any references or former employees because they loved the vibe they got from my resume and application. They want me to start Monday, due to some very unfortunate circumstances surrounding one of their current employees. All that ice we had that caused my interview to be rescheduled? Well, this employee's son was involved in a very serious accident that afternoon due to the road conditions and is now in a coma due to major brain trauma received during the wreck. So needless to say, she isn't going to be working ANYTIME soon, and they want to get me trained for the position to fill in for her while she's away. This is a very small community where everyone knows everyone and their business, and when something like this happens, it hits hard. I know him. He's a couple of years younger than me, a good friend of my sister, and an great guy. Okay, after writing that last bit, I'm not so happy now.

But since I had to rise early again this morning, I didn't do much work last night in the crafting area for day 3 of my Crafting 365.


I cut the various pieces of Mister Mooch from the appropriate colors of felt and stitched two of them onto the yellow piece. I did the stitches very close together to make it look like the black lines Jelene drew when creating Mister Mooch. Just a note, I'm not doing this item to sell it. It's for a gift of sorts. I'll fill y'all in on the details at a later time.

Derails and Prep Work

Crafting 365 / Day 3:
So, I never got that nap I so badly needed yesterday afternoon. As soon as I opened the door to the bedroom, Mooch's head popped up and she decided her naptime was over, even though she had only slept for a half hour. That was fun.

I decided I would do something simple for my crafting, something that wouldn't require me to focus on stitches. I began cutting circles from patterned paper, gathered up the rest of my needed supplies only to find that both tubes of my E-6000 glue were dried up, and I couldn't proceed with my project. That's okay, though. I've found a non-toxic alternative to the E-6000 that I am so excited about. Just need to pick the stuff up.



I moved on to blowing up the Mister Mooch logo and then dissecting it to create a pattern for my next idea. By the time I was finished, Mooch was tuckered out from all the playing we had done during the day, and we both headed to bed for the night.