Disappointment

We found out this week that some guests we were expecting for New Year's Eve cannot come. They never guaranteed that they would be able to come, but we had been planning on seeing them. We were going to have a party, but now I think it will be pretty low key.

Duane is off playing poker tonight, hopefully he has fun. He has to go to LA next week Monday through Friday. A sucky time for it, but they insist that they need his help.

My holiday party was yesterday and it was fun. My bowling stunk though, except for the last game. I never bowl at this particular alley (smoking allowed since it is not in the city of Madison) and I swear their lanes are different (more oily, less oily..who knows). I came up with a gift, although some how I missed that it was supposed to be white elephant. I framed 2 pictures I had taken of the Capitol. They went to the one man who participated and he was happy with them. I almost ended up with a weird bottle of pink merlot and a box of chocolates, but I switched with someone.

I made the most amazing macaroni and cheese recipe (Martha Stewart). It was so good I even ate the last bits of it cold. It has 2 pounds of cheese in it (it makes a 3 qt pan), but I think it could be lightened. I also took wonton wrappers and made little shells. I filled them with goat cheese and tapenade. I should have made a label though because people didn't know what they were. I wanted to make cupcakes (chocolate stout) but I was too tired.

We got MORE snow today.

Let's make it

less than a week since I last posted!!

Last Friday I headed up to the WI Dells for our staff retreat. I managed to get the car stuck in the driveway (my fault because I didn't shovel first). I was proud of myself for getting it unstuck though, especially since none of my neighbors would help me.

On Saturday I picked up Duane from the airport and then headed down to Jville to help my sister out with a party she was catering. She did all sorts of appetizer things and all the food was good. The party was held at the local curling club so the party goers got to try drunk curling! (this was not witnessed by me).

On Sunday I wanted to work at home all day, but we shopped all day instead. Duane needed to look at luggage (which he was supposed to do while I was in Jville), but I got a little of my own shopping done as well.

Tuesday was a snow day this week (seriously the snow has been out of control here). The road conditions were dicey and Duane worked from home. My office ended up closing in the afternoon, so it was no big deal that I didn't go in. I got a lot of work done at home as well.

See, things have been kind of boring! My holiday party is this Friday. It should be fun! I have been practicing up on my bowling, but I have to remember that my bowling does NOT get better with drinking! I need to think of something to make, and come up with a gift for our staff gift swap.

Hey

My cold is gone! You would certainly hope so since it has been elevenity* days since I posted last.

I do not like this working thing, but why would one after they had many days in a row of doing whatever they wanted? The work is not hard (lots of details to not f up though). Even though is it is 4 hours it seems like it takes up my whole day.

My Christmas decorations are way behind. I haven't put any ornaments on the tree yet, as I am having a problem with Boots jumping INTO the tree. I got a rotating tree stand this year, and I think the turning lights are irresistible.

I made a very nice necklace and earring set for my sister's birthday. She was in town today for work, so we got to shop and have lunch. I had an amazing grilled cheese sandwich with goat cheese, bacon, and pears on homemade cheesy bread!! I am hoping to get a picture of her with the necklace and earrings on to post.

We have had tons of snow here. This isn't so good for me (although my yard looks pretty) because the shoveling responsibility falls to me. I guess when you grow up in North Carolina you never learn how to shovel (or clean off your wife's car in the morning). Underneath this snow is the other snow we got that was then covered by a layer of freezing rain. Yuck is right. Walking the dogs the day after that freezing rain was pretty comical.

I am up early tomorrow morning to drive up to the Dells for the staff retreat. It feels a little weird going to this since I have only been staff for 2 weeks. It it interesting to see things from the "other" side.

Duane is in Portland until Saturday. Maybe he will come home with a renewed sense of non-laziness? We are having people over on New's Year and there are certain things that need to be done before then. Time speeds up as Christmas gets closer.

*elevenity is not a real number

Mo-onday

Well I haven't been blowing my nose every other second tonight, so it could be possible that my cold is ending. My chest feels very "scratchy" though (like I ran for a long time and am trying to catch my breath), so that may be bad.

I had an update on the kitty litter box I made. The kitties are using it and my sister loves it. I just got her some SimpleHuman carbon odor filters to stick in there too. Their house is small and no one wants stinky litter box odors in there.

We did have sunny weather again on Sunday. We were pretty low key around here, but got out for a little shopping. I did not go to the Craftacular (the local craft show I applied for), so I can't report on that.

Today was busy. I took the dogs into the vet to have their nails clipped. They were both good. I did some poop removal and mowed the front yard (it would have been 2008 if I had waited for Duane to do it). It is time to start the outside decorations and the lawn needed that last mowing. Work was busy, so the time went fast. (the weather was cloudy and gloomy though)

Tomorrow is an early work day, so I am hoping to get lots done in the afternoon. This means I should go to bed now, but I am going to watch Journeyman instead.

And now I have a cold

I got my eyebrows waxed on Wednesday and I think my esthetician gave me her cold. My Mom said they looked nice, but she must have been plucking for a long time (thanks mom!).

Our Thanksgiving was low key, but nice. We ended up bringing a cheese plate. We did this the year before last I think, and my family really liked it. It opened them up to cheese beyond cheddar, colby, swiss, etc. We also had prosciutto, Genoa salami, and pepperoni. There was a fiasco when Duane and I went to get the cheese, but I will tell that story later.

I didn't get up on Friday to go early shopping because of the cold. There were only a few things I would have bought, and nothing I really needed anyway. I did get a rotating tree stand (I waited too long last year and they sold out), and I love it. It actually spins pretty quickly.

We had nice weather today and I am hoping for more tomorrow (and for this cold to go away).

New Job

The new job is keeping me from posting, but I will catch up soon. Job is going well. It isn't difficult, but my "boss" is kind of (anal). I like her generally though, so it doesn't bother me.

I have no idea what I am contributing to Thanksgiving, but it won't be fried stuffing on a stick or fried pumpkin cake (Paula's Party is on right now).

I am going into work tomorrow at 9 and I am so hoping I can get up in the morning, which means I had better get in bed now!

Late Night

It is a Woot off, so I sit here hitting the refresh button. Will something super exciting come up? Who knows???

I am driving to Chicago tomorrow to go to the Design*Sponge Biz Ladies meet up. I am then staying at my friend's house through Saturday. I don't know what we will do on Friday, maybe hit up some fabric warehouses? Saturday is the DIY Trunk Show. I am supposed to bring a snack for the meet up. I am going to put goat cheese and homemade tapenade into little phyllo shells. They should travel well.

On Monday I start my new job. My plan is to work 4 hours for the office and then 3-4 hours for myself. This also means I will have to plan my craft time (as I will have less time to sit around and not do it).

2am is paid programming time. Good thing there is a Christmas Decorating show on QVC. I also have some good kitty belly sleeping next to me. He has cute little snores too.

Kitty Litter Box pictures

I got the idea from the Ikea Hacker website. It is meant to look like a trunk from the front. The entrance to the litter box is at the back. Inside the box is a spot for the scoop and bags.

Seattle pictures

Duane at Pike Place Market (the place where they throw the fish is right behind him)

Space Needle

PSA

Diet Dr Pepper now has a cherry chocolate version that is super yummy!! The label said it is out for a limited time, so get it while you can!

Grocery shopping wasn't bad. I managed to hit the time period after the old people and before everyone that is trying to figure out what to get for dinner. I picked up a couple of Kashi frozen dinners to try out.

I also went to Target and got an Amaryllis bulb to plant. My mom always plants one at her house and I usually never remember to. I did not pick up the blow up Santa & reindeer that I am going to put on the roof yet. I get way way way too into Christmas decorating.

I got a few new shirts at Kohl's for work as well. We had a 30% off coupon, and I needed some shirts to wear with my brown dress pants. I also ordered from Old Navy online yesterday and got 10% off + free shipping (Duane has an Old Navy credit card we never use). They let you use mulitple coupon codes!

Weekend

Duane did go to his dinner on Saturday and I went babysitting. I think that means that I get to keep the babysitting money for myself! :) The kids were very good. We played the Wii and Candyland (the computer version). Duane enjoyed his dinner (pork schnitzel and spaetzle). I had EasyMac (not so great).

Duane worked on the laptop ALL day on Sunday so the day was pretty boring. We did watch Knocked Up. It was ok. The movie tried to be a comedy and a drama (a dramady if you will) and it didn't work for me (although some of the funny parts were really funny).

I have to go to the grocey store today and I don't feel like it!

I do need to get those pictures up.....

Update on work news

I start the new job on Monday and it pays $11/hr!! I was worried that the pay would stink, but that is decent. 4 hrs/day and I can work them anytime between 8-5 that I want. Now if only someone wanted to buy a house......

I did some sewing yesterday!

Not a ton, but it was a start! I finally sewed the cloth diaper wipes that I need to send out for some real life testing. I finished the Halloween t-shirts. I hemmed the sleeves on my rain jacket (now I just need to sew some buttons back on). I have had about a million crafty ideas for Christmas too (my brain is keeping me from falling asleep at night lately).

I have a dentist appointment in Janesville this afternoon. It is just for a clean up, and my teeth are usually great. I do need to get back to flossing though. I will see my mom and pick up the products I bought at a Body Shop at Home party at my sister's. I will report back on the products.

We are babysitting tomorrow night for my sister. We were supposed to go to one of Duane's coworkers for dinner (she just asked yesterday), but my sister doesn't have anyone else. Duane might still go to the dinner though.

Brisco thinks he is a lap dog (80lbs of lap dog). I was on the phone with Duane and on the computer. He jumped into my lap and knocked the computer on my foot (OUCH). The dogs go for a walk every day and I take them on separate walks now. They are on my case from the moment I get up until we go for the walk (especially after I take a shower). Sometimes I wait to take a shower just so they won't bug me.

I need to leave for the dentist in an hour or so, so I better get moving. I will have pictures later!

Work news

While I was in Seattle, I got an email that one of the office admins is quitting. I thought to myself that I could do that job. On Tuesday my manager called me about the job. It seems she had thought the very same thing. She had already talked to the big boss and he was good with the idea. I don't know the exact schedule, task list, or pay yet. It will be part-time though. It will get me in the office and still allow me to sell houses.

This job does not have the glamourous side of my jobs in the past (researching the HIV virus always seemed to impress people), but it has things all those jobs didn't have. It has a supportive boss (he came to me yesterday and told me he thought the job was a great fit. Anything that would allow him to see me more, was a good thing!) and a good work community. I need some money coming in and some structure. This job provides both of those things while still allowing me time to work on my other projects.

I will know more next week.

I have a hole in my arm

I went to give blood yesterday. I just started doing this recently. I think I always had this fear that there would be something wrong with my blood and I am not a huge fan of needles.

I had no troubles the first time I gave blood, but I drank a lot of water beforehand. I didn't drink as much water this time, but they couldn't say if that was a problem. I think the technician stuck me incorrectly, but the other tech couldn't say so.

Basically I filled up 3/4s of the bag before the blood gave out. They said that if you get the needle too close the wall of the vein then a soft clot can form, which blocks the needle. They can't use your blood if you don't fill up the whole bag. Bummer.

I did get some awesome free bread and bagels. They had bags and bags of it from a local bakery.

Seattle Cont.

Ok. Giving blood totally sucked yesterday, more on that later.

We jumped in a cab to go to the restaurant Sunday night. It was a damn good thing we knew where the restaurant was because the cab driver had no clue! He got no tip as we were charged for him driving around the block (and he had a gps!). We had the restaurant call us a cab. I think our waiter (who had an awesome mohawk) thought we were drunk. We jumped in a cab (turned out not to be the one he had called) and headed to the UW campus. This cab driver also did not know where he was going. We managed to get onto campus and then we just got out. We were going to have an easier time finding the place by asking a student.

We asked someone and got heading in the right direction. Now the union building on the UW campus in WI is a happening place. They have live music there regularly and ice cream, beer, and snacks. The union building on the UW in Seattle is not a happening place. We saw online that it had a games room (with bowling!). This room was closed at 8pm. We headed up to the "ballroom" where the concert once. The concert was in a giant room (not unlike a gym) that had one of those big wall dividers. There was nothing to eat or drink (nor could you bring anything to eat or drink into the room). The lighting was abysmal (2 spotlights on stage). The music was great (the lead singer of Art Brut was totally pissed about the venue but then got over it). Everyone stood around and some tapped their feet. There was about 200 people there and the concert ended at 10. Wheeee...a rocking time!

We then had to figure out how to get home. I was all for taking the bus, but Duane didn't want to figure out where to pick up the bus. There was a large mall just down from the campus, so walked down there. The Barnes & Noble was open, so we called a cab (who knew how to get to our hotel).

On Monday we drove up to the Boeing plant and took the tour. It was very cool (no pictures inside). The building is the world's largest, verified by the Guiness World Book of Records. We headed to the airport after that and flew home.

I forgot to mention that the coolest building was the Seattle Public Library. It was just down the block from our hotel. It was built in 2004 with lots of green principles. I got some good pictures.

Let's go back to Thursday

Ok, so on Thursday I had a work event all day. Every year Century 21 corporate has a sales rally for our area, and this year the event was a different venue. The rally is basically speeches, lunch, and a motivational speaker in the afternoon. This new venue sucked hardcore. The whole place needed an overhaul out of the 80s. I feel for anyone who may have actually stayed at the hotel. The conference room was freezing and the bathroom was disgusting. The lunch was nasty (grisly roast beef and what looked like boiled chicken). You can fill out a review of the rally, so I really hope they got enough feedback to go back to the old venue.

I was not going to go downtown to see Steepwater (if you like music you should check out their website), but then I found out that our friend Chris was going to be there. We don't get to see him too often as he lives in Bloomington (Indiana). I was exhausted, but I went to the show. It was great to see Chris and the band was great, but I didn't get home until after midnight.

I got to the airport with no trouble and arrived in Seattle at 11. Duane met me at the gate. He had checked a bag and we ended up gettting a tour of the airport while trying to find it. The NWA WorldClub agent had told Duane it would be in lost and found (which I hope you never lose anything at the Seattle airport because the lost and found is in timbuktu). Lost and Found had no clue what we were talking about and it turned out the bag was in the NWA baggage office down in the baggage claim area (which makes much more sense). We got our rental car with little trouble (the guy printed the receipt to a different printer and then spent 10 minutes trying to fix the printer he thought he sent it to) and headed to the hotel.

It was a clear day, so we saw Mt. Rainier on the way to the hotel. Our hotel was decent, and we got a good priceline rate. Parking was $30/day though! My only hotel complaint is that the bed was extra extra firm. It was like sleeping on a piece of plywood. I also thought it was creepy that the window opened outwards (it was on a hinge) and we were on the 19th floor. With a little modification you could have opened that window far enough to jump out of it.

We went to lunch (I am going to do a separate post for food/beer) and walked around downtown Seattle. We were both exhausted, so we went back to the hotel and slept for a few hours. I ended up with a stupid migraine (overtired and dehydrated duh). It hadn't been that bad in the afternoon, but I didn't take anything (couldn't find the ibuprofen). Duane went out an picked up a pizza for dinner, but forgot the ibuprofen. He got some from the (rip you off) gift shop. We watched Friday night tv and the headache eventually went away.

On Saturday we got up and went down to Pike's Market. It wasn't what I had visualized in my mind, but it was still neat. We got lucky and saw them throwing fish right when we got there. We checked out all the neat shops and walked quite a bit. After that we jumped on the monorail (it only goes between the downtown and the space needle), and went to the Seattle Center. We didn't go up in the Space Needle (because we are cheap $16/person). We went back to the hotel and figured out where we were going to dinner. We took a cab to dinner, but then walked home. Seattle is very hilly, if you didn't know (I didn't), and walking can sometimes be a challenge. On the way back from dinner, we saw a bowling alley. We like to bowl, so we stopped in. It was small and very hipster looking. The guy gave us shoes, and then asked what group we were with. We weren't with a group (a 2-2.5 hour wait) and the guy took back the shoes. I guess he figured we didn't want to wait!

Sunday was the day of the show. We went and checked out the Fremont neighborhood (the center of the Universe so they say). We had a nice breakfast and did some antique shopping. We went back to the hotel because we had decided to take a cab to the dinner and concert.

More later.....I have to give blood this afternoon and this post is super long already.

Live from Seattle!

We are heading up to tour the Boeing plant this morning and then off to the airport to come home.

Seattle was very nice. We had some great meals (no sushi though) and some great beer.

I will have a longer post later!

Trick or Treat

Answering the door with only one person home isn't easy (2 dogs wanting to know who is at the door), so I put out a pumpkin bucket with candy. I have done this in the past, but this year I put a sign up saying 2 pieces of candy per person please.

When I came home at 6:30ish there was at least half of the container left. We don't have too many kids in our neighborhood and trick or treating was to end around 7. I went out and got the bucket at 8ish and it was totally empty. I have a feeling that the older (uncostumed) kids from the neighborhood about a mile away came and took it all. Nice huh? It has happened before, but I have a feeling I wouldn't want to be answering the door to these kids either.

The power went out at 4 today, so that made up my mind to go to the laundrymat. We have a winter weight synthetic down comforter that doesn't fit in the washing machine. I got a new duvet cover from the Crate and Barrel outlet, so I washed the comforter and put it on the bed.

I am up early tomorrow for a work event but home in time to take the dogs to the kennel. Steepwater is playing in town tomorrow night as well. I have to be at the airport by 6am on Firday, so hopefully the show doesn't go too late!

I picked up some books at the library including some Seattle ones. I am excited about going!

Hell has frozen over and Pigs are flying

Duane ate sushi (more sashimi than rolls) and liked it last night. The night before he ate raw tuna!

I like sushi, but we never eat it, because Duane refused to even try it. Now I am not so jazzed on Madison sushi restaurants, but we have traveled to lots of places that have great sushi! Even Honolulu where Duane is now. We are going to be eating some sushi in Seattle!!

He has this weird thing where he won't tell other people what he doesn't like to eat. He was with work people last night and they went to this restaurant and had sushi. He went along with it because he doesn't want to be the dissenter (or "bad guy"). He also seems to think that he can't call me when he is in a car with other people, but I should stay up until 12:30 when he does get around to calling me.

Yesterday was a better day. I got some cleaning done around the house and my IKEA hack project is almost finished. I went to see Lars and the Real Girl at our new Sundance Theater (a lovely theater but not sure it is worth the $10 ticket). Lars and the Real Girl has Ryan Gosling in it and is an excellent movie.

I am debating on going into work today. I will be at a work event all day tomorrow. Maybe I will stop in. I have a dresser to paint, more cleaning to do, and I need to pack.

It was not a good Monday btw

The day was supposed to go much differently. I was not supposted to go to bed at 12:30. I was in bed around 11, but Duane was dinking around till then. I was not supposed to be woken up right after I fell asleep by a dog who needed to go outside. I was not supposed to be woken up at 5am by a dog that need to go outside again. I was supposed to go right back to sleep, not lay there for an hour. After I did fall asleep, I was supposed to sleep until the alarm went off at 7 and not be pestered by a cat the whole time.

I was supposed to be awake enough to get in the shower after I dropped Duane off at the airport, and not get back into bed. After I did get back into bed, I was not supposed to be woken up by the other dog and pestered by the cat.

I was not supposed to have a headache all day that I still have even though I took some ibuprofen.

I was supposed to get some sewing done, which I did not do because I didn't get home until 8:45.

Tomorrow I am going to dinner and seeing a movie with a friend. Let's home tomorrow is a better day.

Another 5 days without posting

I think I can see why I don't get many comments. My posting can be rather haphazard!

Duane is currently on a plane to Hawaii (Honolulu) where he will be until Thursday night. On Thursday he takes a red-eye flight to Seattle arriving at 5am Friday morning. Friday morning I leave Madison at 7am and get to Seattle at 11am. I think it will be a fun weekend.

I have been doing some crafty things. I purchased a book by Amy Butler with some really cool patterns in it and a book called Craft Inc. which teaches you about starting a craft business. I am almost finished with an IKEA hack (from the IKEA hacker website) to give to my sister. I will try to remember to take a picture tonight. I made a bracelet for her from feldspar stones, but (as usual) I forgot to take a picture of it before I gave it to her. I have many more things to work on though.

Yesterday we went a pumpkin carving party at my sister's house in Janesville. I made crescent rolls w/little smokies inside and decorated them like gross looking fingers and I made a candy corn look alike appetizer (it was pizza dough in the shape of a candy corn with spinach/artichoke heart dip on top and white/yellow/orange cheese arranged like the layers of a candy corn). My pumpkin turned out nicely. I forgot my camera, but my sister will probably email me a picture. I donated my pumpkins which unfortunately turned into stabbing victims. The kids had already carved 1 or 2 pumpkins and I didn't keep an eye on what they were doing with my pumpkins. No big deal though as I had no particular plans for them. My little sister was supposed to come, but stayed out too late at FreakFest. This is the Halloween event on State Street. We had some intense vandalism a few years back, and the solution was to sell tickets to the event. It has been quite orderly for the past 2 years, but my sister said it felt a little sterile.

The Cable guy actually came early last week. Unfortunately the dvr box we really like (the Moxi box) is no longer being made. He tried to replace our box with a refurbished one, but no go. We got a new dvr box that I don't like. It does not support an external hard drive, but we were able to return the one we bought. It's functions are very basic and limited, but it does record.

I am at work clipping coupons now, but I will head out in a bit. The Bombay Company is going out of business and I am hoping they still have some good stuff at the store here!

No good news

No word on the work situation and there may be no information for a few weeks. I think I will need to do my own thing and if something comes up, so be it.

The market isn't looking to get any better. Sellers are having a hard time accepting the correction to the market (i.e. lower list prices) and buyers are either scared or waiting for prices to go lower.

The good news is that my company is #8 in the world, so at least I am working for the right people.

The bad mood continues

And I almost gave myself quite the electric shock. I had plugged in the laptop cord and it had a kink in it. I untwisted the kink and sparks and smoke shot out. Good thing someone had some electrical tape at the office.

The cable company is coming this afternoon to fix or replace our dvr. It seems the thing is really f'd up and it isn't just an outage in our area. I don't have a good history with the cable people. They usually end up being here 2+ hours to fix whatever needs fixing, so I am hoping that isn't the case today. The window is only 2 hours, so at least I won't be waiting around for 4 hours. I also have to shut the dogs in the bedrooms. Hershey is very nosy and Brisco does not like strangers coming in the house.

I need to order a new filter for the refrigerator. You are "supposed" to replace them every 6 months, but they are $40 each! I also have not seen them in any stores so you have to order them and pay shipping. I think the current one has been in the fridge for a least a year.

Sleeping last night was so-so. It took me a little while to turn my brain off and fall asleep. I woke up at 2 when the dog had to go out. I was having a dream that my sleep was really fake sleeping. The dog had to go out again at 5:30. I have been having lots of strange dreams lately as well.

My manager is here today, so maybe I will get an update on the job situation.

Crazyness

Ok. I cannot be concerned with my bad mood anymore. The fires in CA have gone crazy, burning everything! A lady on a message board that I read is in danger. People cannot travel to the airport because highways are blocked.

Another lady on the same message board was diagnosed with breast cancer that has spread. It is bad enough that they have taken her to a big hospital in Houston. She hadn't been feeling good for awhile, but thought it was allergies.

Crazyness.

I am not in a good mood today

but nothing is really wrong or terrible so I should just be thankful that nothing is wrong or terrible.

We watched Transformers last night. It suffered from bad dialogue and a lame soundtrack. The soundtrack could have been so cool, but they spent all their money on special effects. The Autobots and Decepticons were very cool though.

We also watched Club Dredd. Beerfest was much better. Club Dredd suffered from too many inane sex jokes and boob shots. It was Duane's movie pick though and he liked it. It didn't help that we had already watched most of it awhile ago when it was on HBO.

I went shopping in the Chicagoland area on Saturday with my mom. We had a great time. We went to IKEA, TJMaxx&More (which is a TJMaxx and a Homegoods combined), a quilt shop, the Crate&Barrel Outlet Store, and Trader Joe's. We spent most of our time in IKEA and the TJMaxx. We had plans to go to an outlet mall, but we didn't make it there. The TJMaxx was amazing, very clean and organized (which is unusual). Almost everything there is made in China though, which is why it is so cheap. According to the Economist, we better be happy that China has a strong economy because our economy is sucking so bad and someone needs to bolster the world's economy so we don't all go to hell in a handbasket.

I have not slept well lately, so I slept really late on Sunday. Duane played Metroid all day Saturday and all morning Sunday. He has beat the game now, which means he probably won't play it again for a long while. We had beautiful weather, so we headed out to an apple orchard. Unfortunately the place was crawling with people and there were no cider doughnuts left. We almost didn't get a caramel apple because people were taking 4 at a time. Hey, someone else might want a caramel apple you know!

Last night I went to bed at the usual time. I felt very restless. My pulse was not too crazy, but it wasn't at a resting rate. I was trying to do some deep breathing, but I felt like I couldn't catch my breath. I have felt like this on and off at night. The weird thing is that if I go and lay on the couch in the living room, I will fall asleep within a few minutes. If I lay in bed, I could be awake for hours. Very strange.

The weather is cool and rainy.

Tagged

I was Tagged by TheHotLibrarian last Thursday.


1. Link to your tagger and post rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself, some random and some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of post and list their names.
4. Let them know they were tagged by a comment on their blog.


My 7 facts:

Fact One: I watch way too much tv. I know this but I don't want to give it up.

Fact Two: I love to cook, bake, and entertain. My older sister is this way too. I used to suck at cooking and baking. Cooking is more of a recent improvement. I got the hang of baking while I was in 4H, but before that I had a bad habit of switching the salt and sugar and things like that.

Fact Three: I hold grudges for a looooong time. I might not treat you any differently, but I remember everything.

Fact Four: I went to a Catholic elementary school but left in the 6th grade. I would have stayed until 8th grade, but a new crazy principal was chosen. She was too nuts for my parents (and others), so they pulled us out. I believe it that the school failed me educationally, but it certainly wasn't as depraved as public school.

Fact Five: I was kicked out of confirmation class and I made a nun swear. I was kicked out because I said that I did not believe in God and I refused to discuss the matter. I was let back in (we got a new director) and my penance was teaching CCD classes (religious classes for kids in public school). We did a lot of crafts.

Fact Six: I want to be a science teacher. I wished I had figured this out when I was in college. I have always thought that I was meant to do something important for mankind, but I always thought I was going to discover a cure for a disease.

Fact Seven: My mom wants me to be a nurse. I think my saving grace at this point is that WI does not have an accelerated nursing program (1 year of classes for people who already have an undergrad degree).

I do not know 7 people to tag (I know 4 people who have blogs but don't write in them so there is no point in tagging them). I can tag:

1. Kandy

Holy Crap Batman

I didn't realize that I hadn't posted since last Tuesday. I even knew I had been tagged, but I kept thinking I would post on the weekend. Well that didn't happen.

I will get to the 7 things as required by being tagged later today.

I just looked out the front window to discover that both trees (which I swear were green yesterday but maybe it was Friday) and totally changed color. Our temperatures this week are definitely more fall like.

Our DVR box has been non-functioning all weekend, supposedly due to an outage with our cable company. We hate our cable company in general.

We (as in me it seems) are taking care of chinchillas this week. I have seen them before, but have not petted them or fed them. I will pet them and report back.

Yawn

The flip side of picking Duane up from work was also driving him to work this morning. Oddly enough he left that part out when asking me if I would pick him up. :) We did go to Trader Joe's last night, so that was nice.

I talked to my little sister yesterday and she is not doing so great. She is attending UW-Madison completing pre-reqs in the hope of going on to PT school. She got her undergrad degree from UW-Milwaukee and was taking classes there last year. She is overwhelmed with classwork and struggling. UW-Milwaukee is a much smaller school with more resources per student. Her husband is also not living in Madison 100% of the time, so I don't imagine that helps. I am making dinner for her and we will talk it out. She was crying on the phone last night, so I know she is really stressed. We have a "problem" in our family where we each think we can do everything on our own with no help (and we are extremely stubborn).

I am somehow missing a pair of work pants. I don't know if I mistakenly put them in the "give to charity bag" or the "no longer fits" bag, or some random drawer. I may go to Kohl's later as they have dress pants on sale (well really everything is on sale there at one time or another). I remember a time when sales at the department stores were a big deal. This is also the time when I thought $100 was a lot of money (junior high or so). What is the real price of things if they are all on sale at one time or another?

I talked to my manager yesterday about how I am obviously not interested in doing the work required to make money at my job lately. I don't want to leave Century 21, it is almost like a second family (although I swear I was getting weird looks after the agent retreat-I really shouldn't drink and dance). My manager is going to look at some possibilities for me within the company.

Blue October

I totally forgot to report on the Blue October concert.

We weren't going to go out to dinner, but then decided to at the last minute. We went to the Milwaukee Ale House (www.ale-house.com) and it was infinitely better than the Water Buffalo. We had $2.50 Imperial Pints (20oz) of their beer and it was tasty. I had lasagna and Duane had the walleye fish fry. Both dishes were tasty.

The concert started at 7. We arrived a little after 8 to find that we had missed Shiny Toy Guns. :( I couldn't figure out how they had gotten two bands on stage and through their sets in an hour, but who knows. Yellowcard was playing when we got there, and they were so-so. When we came in, they were handing out free (really free) tickets to an upcoming Fuel show. Guess no on likes Fuel anymore. Duane had a beer, a Miller product this time, and it was $6.50. We managed to find a street spot this time, so no $15 for parking. They had us enter through a side door instead of the front door, but then we just ended up back at the usual place. They searched and wanded people, so I guess they expected more violent offenders than at the Regina Spektor show. The concert itself was good, but they were better in Madison. I also realized that the acoustics at the Rave are horrible. The music has to be super loud to actually hear it (all the people talking doesn't help either) and the people singing seem to have to yell.

It must be money that motivates bands to play in Milwaukee instead of Madison. Regina Spektor and Blue October were both in Madison last year and I think both shows were sold out. I think it has to do with the lack of a middle size venue in Madison.

I also think I must be an old fogie because I prefer to have good, reasonably priced beer available and actually be able to sit down when I go to a concert.

It was fun to go to all the concerts we went to this month. I don't know anything about the venue for the concert in Seattle, but hopefully it will be decent.

Hey I am actually posting on Monday

The weather was gloomy this weekend and Duane didn't make my life any easier. I got through my work on Saturday (ended up being later and lasting longer than I wanted it to). Our friend came over which resulted in Duane's ass growing roots into the couch. He didn't do any of his chores, even the ones that have been on the list for 2 weeks (and would take 5 minutes). We ended up watch baseball all night as well.

I did some research online last week and discovered that our new hard drive for the dvr was malfunctioning because it was going into sleep mode. Duane made the necessary repairs and it is working just fine. Of course in the process of "testing" it (which was dumb in my opinion), some of shows recorded earlier in the week got deleted. Not a big deal, but there was a simple way to keep them from being deleted.

I got to sleep in on Sunday, while Duane went to BW3 to watch the Packers game. This was an error on my part, because Duane sometimes needs someone to act as his common sense. The Packers won, and BW3 has a raffle. Duane won a lot of free beer (which has to be consumed that day) and was with 2 non-drinkers. It was MGD, not worth drinking even if it is free in my opinion. He called me to say he would be home right after the game, so I had planned to go together and run some errands. He really came home about 1.5 hours after I expected him, and was totally drunk. It certainly did not make me happy as we could no longer run those errands, and none of his chores were going to get done AGAIN. It did not make him happy as he wasn't feeling so great.

The BMW is in for service today, thankfully the last inspection under warranty. Now we can take it to other garages to have things fixed, instead of relying on the overpriced dealer. Duane called a couple of other garages about things they wanted to fix today (not under warranty) and got much cheaper quotes. The car may stay overnight though, so I will stick around the office until it is time to pick Duane up.

I watched Bridge to Terabithia last night. I will have to read the book, because the movie was quite dull.

We may see some sun this week in between rainy days. I hope so!

Thank you

For the comments on my hair. I do agree that the yellowness of the door made the color difficult to see. Maybe you will just have to see me in person to marvel at the redness! :)

I need to harvest the other 7 pumpkins in the backyard today as they are calling for frost tonight. They still have quite a bit of green on them, but I like them anyway. I think I was supposed to remove the leaves of the plant awhile ago to promote the orangeness. I will know better next year when I may actually plant pumpkins on purpose!

We have cloudy and depressing weather today, but supposedly tomorrow will be sunnyish and warmer. I have a little bit of work to do tomorrow (which may result in a paycheck so I shouldn't grumble). Hopefully the work won't carry over into Sunday.

We are back to Milwaukee tonight for the Blue October concert. I wish they would tell you approximately when the band you actually want to see will be playing, but they want you to get in there and wait around (all the while buying $7.50 beers and $3 glasses of water).

We have a friend in town this weekend, but I am hoping to get some crafty work done. Most of the house is clean, the laundry is done, and the Halloween decorations are done SO no excuses!

Spam

Some of the more savvy spam out there (actually spelled correctly and everything!)

Have you ever heard this, "God! Your penis is really tiny!"?Didn't you feel sad? Don't let girls choose sexual toys but not you! Megadik will improve your situation once and forever! You just have to trust this wonderful preparation! "Oh! Your penis is impressive!" Is it what you just love to hear? Soon you'll be the only one ladies will dream about! Megadik is your true rescue!

I even like the name, Megadik!

FYI

I loathe pictures of myself but here is one of the new hair color. Can you tell that it is red?

Hot and Humid but back to Sunny and Cool

Supernatural was good last week, too bad we don't get CW in HD (stupid Charter Cable). We also watched Pushing Daisies, which I found entertaining. The narration idea is not new, but the concept certainly is.

The Of Montreal show was last Thursday in Milwaukee at the Pabst Theater. We had dinner at the Water Buffalo. I got the rec off of the Chowhound site, and unfortunately our dinner was disappointing. They had 4 beers on tap (what? I thought I was in Milwaukee) and the beer was expensive. We had an appetizer that was tasty, but our entrees were nothing special (although I did finally get some tuna actually cooked rare!!). Duane and I shared a plate of macaroni & cheese that was penne in alfredo sauce (huh?). Everything seemed under-seasoned as well.

Unfortunately the show was lackluster as well. We did catch an opener that was hilarious (two dudes and pre-recorded synth tunes). We first saw Of Montreal at the Pitchfork Music Festival. I understand that a music festival is an opportunity to do a full blown show, because it doesn't have the carrying costs of a tour. There were stage antics and lots of original costumes. The Pabst Theater show had no stage antics, the lead singer barely acknowledged the audience, and everyone seemed to be playing to get it over with.

On Saturday Duane and I walked the 5K to raise money for an Easter Seals camp up in WI Dells. The walk was nice and not too difficult. I was having some tummy troubles and made the error of not going to the bathroom before walking (there was only 1 bathroom though). There were no portapotties along the walk either. We had a hair appointment that afternoon and I am now sporting the lastest fall hair color.

I had just enough work to do on Sunday that we couldn't do anything fun (like go to an apple orchard). We did watch Babel. I understood the point of the movie, but I was underwhelmed. I think it is in the genre of Crash, which I found much more moving.

So last night we were back in Milwaukee for the Regina Spektor show. We were back at the Rave (still a horrible venue). It wasn't extra smokey this time, because they had posted signs that Regina requested that people refrain from smoking. I think if you are paying money to see an artist that you like, you might respect that artist's wishes (given that there were mulitple other areas to smoke), but people still smoked. Regina did call people out on it, but that didn't get people to stop either. She played by herself on the piano and guitar for 1.5 hours. I liked the show, but this was not the right venue for her at all (and probably not a great impression of Milwaukee, this being her first time there). People were talking loudly over the music, although you could probably hear it ok if you were one of the people all smooshed up in the front of the stage. Duane and I had a beer this time (instead of a $3 glass of water). Heineken was the only import (and about the only non-Miller beer-they did have two Leinie's beers). We payed $15 for 2 glasses (they were 16oz glasses at least). Yikes! It did taste very good (even Heineken taps can taste skunky sometimes), but we didn't have another.

On Friday we are back at the Rave to see: Shiny Toy Guns, Yellowcard, & Blue October. Yellowcard & Blue October seem to be co-headliners. The show does start at 7, but it will probably be a late night. We bought all the tickets to the Rave shows at once, not having been there before. I can say that I will probably never buy tickets to a show there again.

I haven't mentioned that I will be going to Seattle at the beginning of November. Duane had an opportunity to travel to Hawaii for work and he needs the miles to retain his Northwest status. He would have to miss a show in Chicago (Hold Steady/Art Brut) though. He figured out that the show was playing in Seattle the following Sunday. He can travel to Seattle from Hawaii and stay there for a few days, at no extra cost to him (company pays the flight cost). I was not that excited about going, and didn't pay any attention to the details. Oops. That Saturday is the craft fair I was going to participate in at my nephew's school. I hadn't reserved a spot, but it was something I really wanted to do. I am sure Seattle will be cool though.

No new craftiness to report.

Sunny, but cool

It is sunny today, but about 56 degrees out right now. I think we are supposed to get back up to 80 at some point this week.

I watched Music & Lyrics last night. I thought there might be some shred of humor or interesting bits in it. Nope. Hugh Grant was looking old. Drew looked very nice. There was a lame attempt at conflict but everything ended happily ever after. Good thing I can send that back to Netflix.

I got the check I was whining about yesterday in my home mail. It was half of what I expected it to be. Not a good thing when you are not bringing in any money. I am thinking about applying for temp work.

I went out in search of items to finish my Halloween decorating yesyerday. Why can't I remember that as soon as October 1st rolls around, Halloween is shoved to the side and the Christmas stuff rolls in?

I am excited about Supernatural starting this week. I have loved Jensen Ackles since he was on Days of Our Lives.

The daytime tv schedule got all moved around too. Martha is on at 2pm(although for some reason the new season stinks), Creative Juice (on DIY) got moved to 2pm (from 4pm), and Passions on NBC was cancelled (I didn't watch it but it was weird to see a game show come on after Days).

I have also finally accepted that I am both a perfectionist and a procrastinator. Not a good combo.

Ha...hopefully not too late

Well the funny thing about the show on Thursday was that the band we went to see did not, in fact, start at 9:30. The band we went to see started at 11:30. It was good thing we went, because there were only about 4 other people there. This venue used to be pretty cool, but I guess it isn't any more (the bar side of the venue had all you can drink for $10 w/free food--should have been a clue).

This weekend involved some working around the house, some babysitting, and some movie watching. I got a whole bunch of t-shirts on clearance at Super Target, so I have some designing to do! I also bought some fabric paint made in France (shown on Martha) so I need to get working on onesies too.

We went to see The Kingdom on Sunday. I liked it. Duane was so-so on it, but he doesn't like Jamie Foxx (who is a main character in the movie).

On Thursday we are going to a concert at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee (Of Montreal). The Pabst Theater is a really nice venue. It is no smoking, you can sit, and you can drink your beer at your seat (and they serve PBR). On Saturday we are walking the 5K for Easter Seals. I am trying to get to $100 in sponsorships, so far I have $40.

I started my Halloween decorations yesterday. I will post a picture as soon as I have everything finished.

A check came into the office a week ago, and I am STILL waiting for my cut of the check. My manager isn't here today to complain to either.

2 kitties were out (one almost all night) because I left the garage door open. They both seem no worse for the wear though.

I liked all the tv last night. Bionic woman was good, but not great. Life was very amusing and Dirty Sexy Money was interesting. Tonight is CSI, Smallville, and ER.

My mom is being proactive and offering her help for the November 3rd craft show. I have been brainstorming ideas, but I need to write my ideas down.

We have almost all of our lightbulbs switched over to CFLs. We have 3 light fixtures that are on dimmers, which CFLs do not work with. 2 of the fixtures do not get turned on much though. We are thinking about changing the switch on the dining room fixture so it doesn't dim. We don't eat at the table often, so we don't have much need for mood lighting.

I love the my cats can take care of small pests in and around the house. I don't much like cleaning up the guts though. At least it was outside.

Duane got a new mp3 player from Woot. Hopefully this one will last longer than a year.

We are out tonight in Madison to see The Steepwater Band. Hopefully not too late.

Wed-nes-day

The dishwasher detergent worked as well as the Clorox bleach pen! I was trying the technique they demonstrated on the show (dipping cookie cutters into the gel and stamping the shirt). On the show they said that the outline would bleed into the shirt (creating a thicker outline), but that didn't happen for me. The shirts are for Halloween and I will show them when they are done.

I was also working on another shirt yesterday. I was very surprised when the cloth showed no reaction to the bleach!

I got some sewing done as well. I have 2 baby blankets in the works and I got one almost all the way put together. I need to call about having some embroidery work done on one of the squares.

The weather is nicer today, partly cloudy with a high of 68, so I will be able to work outside.

Bones was good last night and we liked the new show, Reaper. It was quite funny. It made sense when Duane found out that Kevin Smith is the director.

America's Next Top Model and Gossip Girl tonight, with new shows Bionic Woman and Dirty Sexy Money. I want to check out Life on NBC too.

Yes, I watch too much tv.

No dice

I was not chosen as a vendor for the Craftacular. I think this is will be the third event and they received 3 times as many applications as they have space. Hopefully this will lead them to find a larger venue for the spring show.

I have done some research and I know my product is unique. I don't think I showcased it well enough in my application though.

TV watching was so-so last night. Duane didn't really like Chuck and with so many other shows out there I don't think it will make the cut. Heroes was cryptic as usual, and CSI:Miami was good. Journeyman may be a keeper as well. The first half was confusing, but the second half had some interesting bits.

Tonight is Bones and the new show Reaper.

I am trying to get the front yard ready for Halloween decorations, but the weather is not cooperating.

I learned through one of my crafty tv shows that dishwasher detergent with bleach may work as well as the pens with the bleach gel in them. I bought some t-shirts and will be trying it out today. It would be a significant cost savings if it does work.

WTF

It is now the 24th. The day I am supposed to hear whether or not I will have a table at the Craftacular. Am I supposed to wait all day?

I am feeling better than I felt last week. I am started to wonder if the crappy feeling was caused by all the smoke I inhaled at the show I went to. Madison is smoke free, so my every day exposure is pretty low.

I continue to slack off at my real job.

Tonight's tv watching includes: Chuck (new), Journeyman (new), Heroes, and CSI:Miami. I am trying out the two new shows, not that I need anymore tv to watch though!

crud

I have been feeling like crap when I wake up every morning since Sunday. Headache, stomachache, and backache. Usually I feel better by the afternoon, but the mornings stink.

I realized that I had a dream with Britney Spears in it last night. I think she was sitting behind me in church with her kids. She looked very nice (not skanky). I kept thinking, "is that Britney Spears sitting behind me?" Weird.

After listening to Cat Chat on Martha Stewart's Sirus radio channel, I have switched the kitties from dry food to wet food. They talk about dry food being like kitty crack and causing all sorts of health problems (diabetes and urinary tract). They seem to like it so far, and haven't bugged me for extra food. They still bug me for treats though.

I harvested two pumpkins yesterday. I was worried about our freezing temps over the weekend, but all the pumpkins seem ok. A bunch of the leaves suffered though. If all the pumpkins ripen, it looks like we will get 8 or 9! Pretty cool for an accidental pumpkin patch.

The backyard is lookin rather heinous otherwise. We used to have a lawncare company that fertilized and spot treated for weeds. They showed up twice in the spring, and we haven't seen them since. No letters or anything. Very weird.

I watched Hollywoodland last night while Duane was off at a fancy work dinner and playing poker. It was a good movie.

Does anyone remember the movie Kuffs? I used to have a thing for Christian Slater, so I would watch anything he was in. It was on the other night so I recorded it. Duane had never heard of it.

American's Next Top Model starts tonight!!!! (I miss Veronica Mars)

Crafty goodness

I used a freezer paper stencil (worked fabulously btw) to create the simple block design of the orange t-shirt.

The top onesie has fabric circles that I printed using a picture of flowers that I took. The bottom onesie has iron-on cupcakes with a piece of ribbon sewn in the middle that says, "So Sweet". These are both organic cotton.

The rock t-shirt was created using stencils, not my finest work though. I was hoping the bleached areas work go totally white so I could accent the flames with red.

Rock me like a hurricane

Well, let's just say that the agent retreat (and golfing) was a lot of fun. It put me out of commission for the whole day afterwards though!

I did get part of my niece's birthday gift make (an excellent t-shirt), but I am still working on the other part. When the directions on the magnetic paint say to use at least 3 coats, I think they really mean about 20. In the future I plan on using sheet metal instead of magnetic paint.

I got my application in for the Craftacular, at the last minute as always. I have made a number of things these past months, but I never take pictures. I whipped up two onesies and 2 t-shirts today so I would have pictures to send in.

Duane and I went to a concert on Saturday night in Milwaukee at The Rave. It is a pretty shitacular venue, especially for the range of acts they are able to book. Not only is smoking allowed, extra extra smoking is allowed. I woke up on Sunday feeling like total crap (and I hadn't had anything to drink). We still drove down to Chicago to check out the Renegade Craft Fair and a great dinner with my friend Kandy.

I am watching one of my favorite movies (Broken Arrow) while I wait for the Today's Special Value on QVC. It is something to do with Halloween! Halloween starts the whole decorating season for me, so it is time to put some thought into that.

I won't find out until the 24th if I will be a part of the Craftacular. I am also planning on having a table at my niece's and nephew's school when they have their craft fair. It means I will have to ramp up production!

Happy, happy, joy, joy

We had a great time in San Diego!! Duane even went kayaking in the ocean with me (picture proof later). We went to the zoo and saw the pandas. We had awesome hamburgers in Ocean Beach and hiked trails at Torrey Pines State Park.

Hershey is doing even better. I am waiting to hear if his liver numbers have improved. They took blood from him this morning, but I don't know when they were going to do the bloodwork. Duane took him in, and he forgets to ask those important questions.

We came home to much cooler weather and no mosquitos!! I hope they are really gone for the season.

We have our company retreat tomorrow in Lake Geneva. I am golfing in the afternoon. I haven't hit anything in forever, so the first couple of holes may not be pretty.

My niece's birthday party is Saturday, so I have to whip up her gift this week. I also have to get in my application for the Craftacular as this is the last week to apply!

Great news!!

I talked to Dr. Susan (our vet's office is women only, Dr. Sandy and Dr. Susan) and Hershey's numbers are way better!! His kidney values are down in the normal range, so they don't think he has kidney disease. One of his liver values is down, but the other one (alk phos) is still off the charts. She said he was wagging his tail and eating!! She advised that I can go to San Diego and not worry. He will be getting subq fluids at the kennel and will have his bloodwork rechecked on Tuesday.

I had her go ahead and order some liver support meds (~$100/month, yikes!). The liver can heal itself, and these meds could be very beneficial. He will finish up his iv fluids and I will pick him up tonight.

Now I just have to do the 9 million things I need to do to be ready to leave tomorrow.

Sooooo frustrating

I met with a potential client back at the beginning of this month. He had attended one of my first time home buyer seminars and is using the lender from the seminar. He said that he was going to interview other agents and was waiting until he received his September raise to make a decision.

I found out just now that he chose another realtor. Do you think he was going to tell me or just wait till I emailed him and then break the news. I asked him why he chose someone else. He said that he went with someone that a friend recommended (and had just used).

I am getting so sick of real estate.

I am not sure when they are going to run Hershey's bloodwork again this afternoon. I am really hoping that his numbers are better.

Mosquito Hell

The mosquitos are still absolutely horrible. You cannot leave the house without insect repellant on, no matter what time it is. Every time you open the door, you let in about 1o more mosquitos that you have to kill.

Hershey is doing a lot better. He ate some wet dog food last night and even ate a dog treat this morning. He was being his usual stubborn self as well. He is back at the vet this morning for more fluids and they will do more bloodwork.

The high today is 91 and it will be humid. We will be begging for cold weather soon.

Update

Hershey's liver and kidney enzymes are elevated. They can't tell why (it could be infection, cancer, or kidney disease). He has been receiving IV fluids all day. I get to pick him up in an hour and then drop him off in the morning to receive more fluids. They will run his bloodwork again in the afternoon and see if his numbers have improved.

I can cancel my ticket to San Diego without much trouble because it was purchased using frequent flyer miles. The last time Duane checked, he could change his flight home for $100. We do have them staying at a vet's office (not their vet's because they don't board dogs), so he would have good care.

I just hope he is feeling a lot better tomorrow, which would make my decision a lot easier.

Cont.

Hershey ate some hamburger and rice Monday morning and seemed to perk up a bit. We went to Janesville and hung out with the family.

Hershey wouldn't eat anything last night or this morning, so I took him into the vet. They are going to run bloodwork and give him some fluids. He has already lost about 7 pounds! I am keeping the tears away for now. It does seem like something he can get better from, but I just don't know.

Boots got out Sunday night when I was trying to get Hershey in the house. Sometimes he will come back if you shake the treat container. Duane left the container on the counter, and lo and behold "someone" ate the whole container of treats. We forgot to buy more treats yesterday, so the kitties were not happy last night. Duane left a glass on his nightstand and oddly enough Boots pushed it off the nightstand this morning and broke it. We never keep glasses on our nightstands! *sigh*

I took Duane to the airport at 5am this morning. I was going to try and take Hershey in at 8am this morning, but I just couldn't wake up. I won't know until I hear from the vet if I will have to cancel my flight to San Diego.

I didn't get any craft work done this weekend either.

The mosquitos are still insane here.

Dog Sickness

It is 4am and I am awake. Hershey was sick in the middle of the night last night. He would drink water and then throw some of it up. He stopped throwing up this afternoon, but still seems really weak. He will drink water, but is not interested in food.

I am going to call the emergency vet in the morning. Hershey is 14 and seems so frail.

I am really hoping he feels better in the morning.

We also have a mosquito infestation here. They are inside stores (you don't think you are going to get a mosquito bite when you are in Circuit City)! We have probably killed 30 or 40 that have gotten in the house.

We are supposed to go to Janesville tomorrow, but we will have to see what happens with the dog.

I need a bed under my desk

I had an early closing this morning, so I was up earlier (way) than usual. I stayed up late finishing my gift to my buyers, which I didn't end up giving them. I am working on 5.5 hours of sleep, which means I feel like crap. I will feel better after I have lunch with Duane today.

I have messed around with my website today and have concluded that I will be ending my contract with this company. The customer support is non-existent. There was a class on the websites back in April while I was gone, but there was no hard copy information on the class. You cannot edit the template at all. There is an "easy" editor, which is buggy (so you have to go in and change the code anyway). You can never get a picture to upload. I like our company website (which is done by these guys), but for $50/month the individual websites suck.

I could write my own website (although I need to seriously brush up on my coding skills), but I would need to do some research on setting up the MLS search function (anyone know anything about IDX function?)

I will definitely take all the comments into consideration on the new site, and I will change the profile section for now.

BTW, I found the receipt for the broken MP3 player the day AFTER the warranty expired. It seems I was really smart and put the receipt in the box. Duane doesn't seem to care, but it was a $200 MP3 player.

At least the weather is beautiful!!

Sew, sew, sew your boat

I managed to put together a baby blanket, but I still have 2 more to do. Plus some cloth diaper wipes I have been planning on getting together for 2 weeks now.

One of my goals this weekend is to make some onesies and t-shirts. I need items to take pictures of for my application for the craft show. The neatest ideas come to me at weird times. I wish I had a device where I could mentally transfer my thoughts. It is difficult to write things down while you are in the shower, driving, or drifting off to sleep.

I bought some probiotic pills to start taking. My stomach has not been right for a least a few weeks now, no matter what I eat. One of my first jobs involved a lot of research on probiotic bacteria. It is nice to know that something I did had an impact. I should remind myself of that when I am feeling down.

I am going to go work on my website now, more witty content later.

Help Me Out

I could use some help from all you readers out there. I have a website for work and I could use comments/suggestions/criticism on it. I pay a monthly fee for it and I need to make sure it works effectively.

www.careypiersonc21.com

Also, the majority of hits I get are from people using the house search function. I could require a login to use this function, but I am afraid that people will go elsewhere instead of creating a login id. Anyone have any thoughts on that?

The internet is painfully slow at the office today, so I may check out early. I have some shopping to do! (well actually I need new sheers for the living room window because it is 14 feet wide and right now everyone can see right in!)

Weird feeling

I had this weird feeling when I came into work today and was talking to one of my friends here. It bothered me because I couldn't figure it out and I felt like I was being too sensitive.

I think I figured it out. They had been talking about me before I got there. Or I am paranoid. I do definitely get a weird vibe when I haven't been into the office for a few days. Like maybe a, gee look who decided to show up today, vibe.

Or I am crazy.

Duane's cool MP3 player (well cool before this point) has crapped out. Apparantly this is very common for this model. If you are within the 1 year warranty period, they give you a new one. If not, oh well sucks to be you. I stayed up too late last night researching this and then looking for the receipt. I keep every other important receipt, but I can't find this one!

The laptop has also stopped recognizing that the battery is plugged into it. WTF?

The beat goes on.....

I have lots to report on and lots to say, but I have a headache right now. I will be in the office all day tomorrow, so I will have time to write.

I am thinking of applying to have a table at a local craft show. It is a small venue and wouldn't be too overwhelming. It makes me nervous just thinking about it!

New

I added a new picture and a new blog link today. Ikea Hacker is an awesome blog which shows how creative people can be with items from IKEA. The new picture is something to make me laugh on this gloomy day!

designstar

Designstar is a show on HGTV. The selected 11 people this season with all different levels of experience.

Adriana- She was very sweet and had good ideas. She couldn't pull it together during the first individual challenge (show 3) and was eliminated.

Christine- Cute Southern gal. She was great with color and did well at the individual challenge.

Josh (sparkle)- They played him up to be an outrageous character (all faux fur and sequins). He was really more down to earth. He excelled in all 3 of the first challenges.

Josh- Talked a lot about "green" design, but didn't seem to practice what he preached. He said he had carpentry skills but failed at this in the first challenge (there is a great scene of him using the table saw and having a piece of wood shoot across the room). He was eliminated at the 2nd challenge.

Kim- She is a hair stylist, not an interior designer. She stepped up at the individual challenge, where she was definitely on the chopping block. She seems nice, but hasn't shown a whole lot of personality.

Lisa- She was spunky and the sacrificial lamb of the season. She was the punk artist, but couldn't follow through on the first design challenge.

Nerraja- An older candidate with a career as a photo stylist. They played her up to be the bitch, but she didn't turn out to be such a big one after all. She was the team lead on the 2nd challenge and was eliminated.

Robb- The "jerk" of the season. He failed miserably in the first challenge by teaming himself up with Josh. He did an excellent job at the individual challenge. He seems to have potential, but all the other contestants hate him.

Scott- A sweet guy, but he didn't seem to have much design in him. He was eliminated at the individual challenge.

Todd- A surfer dude with a brain. They made him out to be very egotistical before the show started, but seems to have been a team player so far. He has outstanding graphic design skills, but we have yet to see him design a "real" room. He has carpentry skills as well, and reminds me the most of last season's winner.

Will- He hasn't shown too much personality so far, other than complaining about Robb. He excelled in the first challenge and the individual challenge.


The Challenges

The first challenge was to design the penthouse space they are living in. Some people did individual spaces and some paired up. Christine and Ariana fought the whole time about the space they did, and it turned out rather mediocre. Sparkle Josh and Will got along really well and did an awesome job on their space. Scott, Kim, and Todd worked together and did well (Todd built a quarter-pipe skate ramp). Robb and Josh paired up and ended up with something horrible. Lisa did her own space and fell flat. The panel said that she took a functional space (the entrance from the work space to the living space) and made it non-functional.

The second challenge was to renovate 2 kitchen spaces. Neeraja was the lead and decided to tile the counter tops. This would have been fine if they had started tiling on the first day. In the end they couldn't afford the tile they wanted and chose cheap black ceramic tile. They also hadn't measured (!) and didn't buy enough tile. Sparkle Josh did the dining room and it turned out really well. Josh was the leader of the other team. They did a Tuscany style kitchen which the homeowners had asked for and loved. They were criticized by the panel as being very faux Tuscany. Josh and Neeraja were eliminated. Josh was eliminated for not stepping up to lead his team (he was already on the chopping block) and Neeraja was eliminated for the tile fiasco.

The third challenge was to individually design a space that had a couch, end table, and bookcase. The only place they could shop was the 99 cent store! (last year's challenge had them shopping at a pet store) Quite a few people excelled at this challenge. Ariana and Scott were eliminated. Their rooms weren't too bad, but not on par with what the other challengers had done. Ariania's looked rather cheap (while the premise had been to take cheap stuff and make it look awesome) and Scott had overdone his room. He had so many things in there you could hardly see the furniture.

I haven't watched last night's episode yet.

Who do I want to win? I like Todd and Robb. They have a couple of manly men shows now (one with the carpenter from Clean Sweep and one with the host from Monster House), but something that incorporates design AND building could be cool.

Money Saving

Work hasn't been so awesome for me this year. I have a closing at the end of the month, but my last closing was in March. This means that I have made no money for 4 months, but I have been paying my office costs (so I am in the red). Instead of digging ourselves out of debt, we have been getting further in. One thing keeping us from baby making is the debt. I could take a part-time job, but I would need to make a decent wage to make it worth my while. How many $12/hr part time jobs are out there?

We need to cut costs. I will be reading The Hot Librarian's blog for money saving tips and probably purchasing the Tightwad Gazette. We eat out way too much and part of that is Duane's eating out at lunchtime. He has a hard time saying no when his friends at work ask him to go to lunch. I don't think it is fair to say that (we) shouldn't eat dinner out as much, but he can eat lunch out as much as he wants. I already clip coupons to save money, but I don't shop the sales at grocery stores very diligently.

I am hoping that the staging class I am taking this week will help out business. The only way it will help out my business is if I promote it. I came into the office early this morning to do some calling, but I haven't done any.

Duane and I also need to take advantage of the gym membership we pay for. We have a great gym and we like going there when we go. I am going to check into the times for different classes. I think Duane will love step aerobics and yoga don't you? :)

Or I might not post until Monday

Hello from the rainy land of mushrooms. We have had thunderstorms and heavy rain here all weekend and predicted for the next 4 days (it is dark and rainy now). The pumpkins are loving it, but it makes for a pretty depressing Monday. I got up earlier than usual this morning and all I can think about is crawling back into bed.

The company picnic was pretty lame. The actual location had been confused so many times (there are 2 parks that are close to each other and it was at the furthest park) that I think many people gave up on coming. The food was cold when I got there, so how many people are going to eat cold hamburgers and hotdogs that have been sitting there for 2 hours? There were few desserts, so my snickerdoodles got eaten quickly. I got bored after awhile and starting filling water balloons. I didn't actually throw any, but filling them was enough to entertain me.

We did go see Alice Cooper and he and his band were great. What was not so great were the people bumping into me for 2 hours. It was the first time I had ever seen Alice Cooper. The show started off a little slow, but once they got into a groove it was great. There was a song with a vampire baby and Alice stakes the baby. Then they brought out a gallows and hung him! There were intervals where just the band played that were awesome as well. We had the best funnel cake ever!

Saturday was supposed to be about working around the house. Our friend came to stay overnight, so that disrupted the plan. We decided to play games and watch the Packers on tv instead of going to a movie. A game was chosen without my input. At the start of the game, I said that it wasn't the type of game I enjoyed playing and maybe I shouldn't play. At the end of the game I was accused of cheating and making the game "no fun". You would think that guests in your home would behave better. Duane didn't stick up for me. I went to my bedroom and was pretty upset for the rest of the night. Duane decided to drink more and stayed up till 2. We were having bad thunderstorms and the dog was very restless. I didn't sleep well at all.

More rain on Sunday. I held an open house at a friend's listing. A couple of people came so it wasn't totally boring. We went to Janesville after that to visit with my parents. They had been up late the night before so we were all tired. We watched The Night Listener (totally strange movie with Robin Williams) and had yummy pizza for dinner.

I did take care of my friend's bunny, Floyd, this weekend. He was a cutie! I should have taken a picture of him.

Travel

Duane is going to San Diego for work September 4th. We (he) decided to make it into a mini-vacation. I am flying out on Thursday and I think we are staying until Monday.

I have a hair appointment today. I have gone longer than usual and my hair is bugging me. She likes to schedule Duane's haircuts while my hair is being colored, so that is why I have waited longer than usual. Duane is looking pretty shaggy too.

Next week I will be down in Chicago for 2 nights. I am taking a home staging class and I think it will be great!

Our company picnic is tomorrow. I don't think Duane will be coming. I always wonder why they schedule the picnic on the afternoon of a work day. Most realtors have significant others with 9-5 jobs, so they can't attend the picnic. Duane wants to go to the Dodge County Fair that night to see Alice Cooper. His work friend (+ children) might come along, so I can keep myself entertained with the kiddles.

This weekend is all about home projects (it is supposed to be rainy). I have 2 closet organizers to install and maybe some furniture refinishing. I have sewing projects too!

We definitely have 1 more pumpkin and could have as many as 4!

We watched The Wicker Man last night. Skip this movie unless you would really enjoy watching Nicholas Cage burn up. We watched The Lady in the Water earlier this week. I can see why people were disappointed in the movie. It wasn't terrible, but it certainly had more potential. We also watched Failure to Launch. It was way funny and I could actually recommend it.

I am finally caught up on Design Star, so I might talk about that tomorrow.

Look at those pumpkins

Well the State Fair was pretty darn hot, so it wasn't quite as much fun as usual. We had fried cheese curds, spiral-cut potato chips, a cream puff, and chocolate milk (from the Herb Kohl milk stand). We went to Delafield to check out a newish (1 yr old this month) restaurant that a friend works at. The food was tasty and the place was really nice.

Duane mowed the lawn Sunday morning and we saw Harry Potter in the afternoon. The movie was fine, but this book/movie is kind a "filler". Harry is growing up and Voldemort is growing stronger, but nothing major to the overall plot.

A Super Target just opened up here (they scrambled to get it open before the Super Walmart) and I discovered that they carry the Gerber organic cotton onesies. They didn't have any on the shelf, but they do have them.

It is cooler and with less humidity today. I could hardly believe it when I went outside to walk the dogs. I tried to check out the meteor shower this morning (when Hershey woke me up to go outside), but it was cloudy.

Oh, the kitties went home on Friday night. It has been rather quiet without them.

Craft shopping

Craft shopping kind of blew yesterday. My current JoAnn's coupons stink ($5 off of $35) and nothing that I wanted to buy was on sale. I did get some fabric to do a trial run of cloth baby wipes, so hopefully I will find some time this weekend to sew.

I was looking for some flannel for a baby blanket, but I had to order it online. The store had it in pink but not blue! They also had NC State and Duke fabric, but no Wake Forest (wtf?).

The boarder kitties new home is ready for them. Now we just need to figure out how to get them into the cat carriers. Squeaky won't be any trouble, but the other one runs away when you get close to her. Duane wants to keep Squeaky, but I think her sister would miss her too much.

We are going to the State Fair tomorrow!! They have the best fried cheese curds and many other super yummy food items. I just wish it wasn't so HOT.

Wrinkles

I remembered one of the things I was going to post about yesterday. I think the time has come where I have to pony up and buy some anti-wrinkle cream. I am not as young as I used to be (oh the horror) and I have wrinkles under my eyes (some dark circles too). I think the wrinkles (and the extra weight) are leading people to guess my correct age. I have hit that point (that my mother told me would come) where I don't look younger than my age anymore.

I may also schedule a make-up consultation with the girl that does my hair (and yes I can call her a girl because she is 20). It doesn't seem like anyone is going to nominate me for What Not To Wear anytime soon, and I have always needed help in the make-up area.

I am off to do some craft shopping!

I made a few changes

I changed up the blog a little bit, a few colors, a link list, and a travel picture.

My blood giving arm still hurts a bit today, but I didn't get a huge bruise.

I have had an earache all day today as well. Random spikes of pain running down my ear canal, no fun.

I was checking out The Glitter Workshop Dish today and I won a goodie bag! You had to be the first to post about what you had done for the weekend, and I was reading only minutes after she posted. I should really get down to the actual shop sometime.

I swear I had some other things to say, but I have to go make dinner now.

I survived

I made it through the blood donation ok. It would have been nice if the juice (SunnyD!) and cookies weren't gross. I did have to lie down on the office floor and put my feet up though. I came back to my desk and got hot and clammy all of a sudden. At least I know they vacuum the carpet every night, but still.

I am going to drink a bunch of water and hang out for a bit before I go anywhere. I wouldn't want to get all lightheaded while driving (plus it is Hot and Humid out there).

Oh my hemoglobin is 16, so I am not anemic!

Blood donor

We are having a blood drive at work today. My appointment is in 2 hours and 40 minutes. Can you tell I am a little nervous?

I was going to go home and pull weeds this afternoon, but the blood donation directions say to avoid strenuous activity for a few hours. Does making dinner count? Maybe I will do a little shopping. I am on the hunt for some blue Snoopy flannel so I don't have to order it online.

I should get some water to drink, as you are supposed to be well hydrated. Maybe some sugar too.

Duane split his shorts today, so I had to run a pair of shorts to him at the office. These particular shorts were on their last legs anyway, and Duane is pretty rough on his clothes. Do you think I will be able to get him to look for a new pair of shorts? He has plenty of shirts. I just got him 5 new shirts last week. Sometimes I think he has more clothes than I do.

I made some awesome mashed potatoes last night. I don't usually make mashed potatoes, so I was happy that they turned out so tasty. We had a haddock filet that I fried with a little panko.

I am thinking of making some chocolate stout cupcakes. The Hot Librarian mentioned making them on her blog, and they were awesome the last time I made them. Baking can be very therapeutic for me. I would bring them in to work, because otherwise Duane would eat them all!

Organic Onesies

I received my shipment of organic onesies from American Apparel. I use RIT dye on the non-organic cotton, but I was thinking of using natural dyes on the organic.

Does anyone out there have an opinion? Should I leave the organic cotton white or try natural dyes? (by natural I mean onion skins, berries, etc)

I appreciate the input!

CLARIFICATION-- I wasn't very clear on this, but I ordered WHITE organic onesies this time (not the natural color). This is why I was thinking of dyeing them. If they were natural in color, I would leave them that way. I will try the natural dyeing on muslin first, good idea!

HHH weather

Last Wednesday was my last woodshop class. It was Hot and Humid here, I think around 90. The woodshop doesn't have A/C, nor any really ventilation. I had to go in early and do some work. I had sweat running all over and sawdust stuck to me. It was not a pretty sight. My table is not finished though (but it is close). The snotty girl in the class left without even saying goodbye to the instructor. It was weird!

On Thursday I met with a potential new buyer. He is from my seminar last week. He said he wants to interview other agents. We clicked pretty well though.

I spent about 5 hours cleaning the house on Friday. It gets SO cluttered and full of pet hair. (btw, the boarder kitties have NOT moved on yet) We had guests coming Friday night. We hit the greek place for dinner and had a great meal.

Saturday was up early for golfing. I played really well! My drives and putts were awesome, but I struggled in between. We were playing a scramble (aka best ball) format, so that didn't matter. I wasn't going to go to the non-friend's house afterwards (I was going to sew), but got asked/pressured into going. We took the Wii for some entertainment. Unfortunately Duane packed the Playstation and the Wii in a paper bag (even though the last time we took them somewhere we put them in a backpack). The paper bag failed and the Playstation suffered (at least it wasn't the Wii!). You can get a used Playstation on Ebay for a pretty reasonable price. We stayed out late and drank too much. My sleep was interrupted several times as Duane was searching for his keys. He eventually rode his bike to Walgreens to get some Pepto-Bismal. His keys were in the front door (where he usually leaves them), but our guest thoughtfully moved them somewhere Duane never looked.

Sunday was a late breakfast and goodbye to our guests. We went to see The Bourne Ultimatum in the afternoon (excellent movie!).

I am wiped out today. The cat and dog had me up at 2am and 6am. I am giving blood tomorrow (for the first time other than the doctor) and I really don't think I should be exhausted to start off with. Our weather for the week is predicted to be Hot, Humid, and Hellish.

State Fair this Saturday!! Cream puffs and cheese curds, YUM!

Kitties

The two boarder kitties will be moving on to their new home some time this week (fingers crossed). One of the kitties is really sweet and will be missed. I am hoping the animal dynamic will go back to normal.

Boots got out Sunday night. We had a friend staying at the house and he accidently let him out. Boots stayed out all night. We kept checking for him, but he wasn't interested in coming in. He showed up in the morning and then slept all day. Who knows what he was up to.

Mister Kitty was caught twice trying to eat a rubberband. He is such an airhead.

Miss Kitty has become the Queen Bee and tries to eat people food. She wants to eat things you would never think a cat would like. Everyone thinks she is witchy, but she is just very particular about who she likes.

When I was visiting Kandy in Chicago I got to pet the elusive lil kitty. I have spent time at Kandy's various abodes when there would be hide nor hair of lil kitty for hours. I guess she decided that I am not that scary anymore.

The dogs have been good. Our visiting friend has a dog that Brisco likes. He was sad when she left. We are always sad to see her go because she is such a sweet dog.

Duane was at Germanfest this weekend and declared that he wants a weinerdog. They are super cute. My family had a long haired mini one when I was in high school. I think a baby comes before another pet though!

We have pumpkins!

Our pumpkin vine has some baby pumpkins on it! Even without watering it has managed to propagate. I am excited to see if they will get full grown.

Last week was a rather rough week. Duane and I were fighting every day, we had a friend staying with us, I had a seminar, and I had baby onesies to make for my sister. By the time Saturday rolled around, I couldn't wait to get away.

I got the onesies done, but I didn't take any pictures. My order of organic onesies should be coming in today or tomorrow, so I will work on those and take pictures.

Chicago was nice. The weather was great and the sushi was awesome. The antique fair has been better in the past and I didn't find anything to buy. I went up to Schaumburg and hit the Container Store. I love that place. I got a cute box to organize my work related receipts in. I went to IKEA after that and it was a madhouse. I only needed a couple of things but I think it took 45 minutes.

I worked around the house yesterday and today I will in the office all day. I have got to spend some time in the woodshop tomorrow or my table will never get done!

Man sized weeds

I wouldn't let Duane salt the earth this year with Roundup, so now we have man sized weeds (some of them are literally 8 feet tall). Every year I plan to fix the situation and every year I wait until it is hotter than hades outside. We have sunflowers growing under the bird feeders and a pumpkin vine growing into the yard.

We have 2 cats that we have been taking care of since April. Their owners are not able to take them back and I have a feeling they will be with us for awhile longer. One of them has just started coming upstairs in the daytime. I would never take them to the Humane Society, but I really thought we would be done taking care of them by now.

We bought a device that you plug into your various appliances and it tells you how much energy they are using. It turns out that the dehumidifier (and it is a small one) uses a boatload of energy. Our basement gets rather moist and stinky without the dehumidifier especially when the AC is off. We have also been investigating different solar options. Our city actually pays quite a bit or offers you low interest financing to install solar options. They will even pay part of the cost to have someone evaulate your home to see if it is right for solar options.

I am off to Chicago this Saturday for a sleepover! We will be hitting a big antique market, neighborhood festival, and hopefully eating some sushi. I can't wait!

Etsy store update

I have received an account with American Apparel to buy wholesale from them!! :)

Now I just need to get to work on my ideas.

(end)Week update

Wednesday was good workshop day, although I hurt my thumb. I ended up getting a nasty looking bruise. It is still a little stiff.

Last Thursday I managed to drop my wallet in the parking lot at Menards. I didn't realize that I had lost it until about 2 hours later. Luckily someone had turned it in. Duane and I were at the weekly volleyball slaughter when I went to get gas after and couldn't find my wallet. Duane went and picked it up for me and they made him give me name and address on my I.D. Well luckily Duane remembered the really old address that is on my drivers license!

On Friday I hosted a Lia Sophia party at my sister's house in Janesville. I had to run out to the west-side to pick up my wallet because Duane hadn't left it at the house for me (!!). I have been to a ton of jewelry/clothes/stamping parties hosted by my sister and figured it was time for me to get some free stuff. The party went well and got about $100 worth of free stuff. The food I made kind of stunk though. Last week I got strawberries that were really sweet, but the strawberries I got this week weren't so great. I made pita chips, but I think the humidity screwed them up. I made brownies for Duane which I didn't cook long enough and pecan pie bars for the party which turned out decently. I found the ants that were in my kitchen a week or so ago all drowned in my light corn syrup though!

Saturday was the wedding of one my friends. We used to be closer before I met Duane and before she met her new husband. The wedding was an afternoon affair and was short and sweet. We played 18 holes of golf after that. Duane couldn't hit the ball for anything and was no fun to play with. He got better on the back 9. I didn't do too terribly but I definitely need to play more.

Sunday was a day of leisure and we didn't do too much.

Work-wise: I have another seminar this week. I need to work on my presentation a bit. I am having some difficulties with my current deal, but everything should be resolved this week. My work website is down because I let the domain expire. The adminstrator hasn't gotten back to me about renewing it yet (!).

Fun-work: I got my WI seller's permit in the mail. I need to get that to American Apparel as there was no response to my previous email. My sister asked me to make some onesies for her, so I need to get those done tonight. Maybe I will get some other sewing done tonight too! :)