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! :)

Week(end) update

The dinner at Magnus was good/nice but not awesome. They have tapas there, but I guess they plan for their tapas to serve two people. We had a seafood ceviche as an appetizer, but it really could have been a main dish. It was tasty and Duane loved it. I had a white gazpacho with fig that was incredibly tasty, but was way too much food. Duane had California sea bass as his main dish and that was very good. I had 3 different types of sashimi. One of them was very good, but the other two tasted like cold fish. We had dessert (even though we shouldn't have) and it was ok. It was a peanut butter bomb, basically a chocolate shell with peanut butter mousse in it, which definitely could have been better. It was 11 by then though, so I don't think the kitchen was trying it's hardest. The music was good, but the place was packed. We didn't feel like standing, so we didn't stay.

Saturday involved being lazy and attending a going-away party for some friends that are moving to Calgary. He is going to be doing a post doc there. I brought fruit and Duane made hummus! He is trying to learn to cook more. We ate before we went because we knew the amount of food would be limited. It was held in a park (which would make you think cookout), but it was mostly an amalgamation of store bought cookies and chips. Saturday night we played the Wii for quite awhile and had a great time.

Sunday was the day for the Pitchfork Music Festival. We went to this last year and had a great time (despite the 95 degree heat). This year the weather was much nicer, but the music was much duller. Steven Malkmus played mostly by himself. Duane said it wasn't as good as one other time he had seen him. The band started tuning up on the other stage before Steven was done, and I thought that was rather tacky. Of Montreal seemed to be the band everyone wanted to see. The music was great and the onstage antics were quite funny and strange. The New Pornographers were also there and their set was also dull. The music didn't seem loud enough to really engage the audience. We decided to wander over to see the Klaxons, who started 40 minutes late. It was really time to go by that point so we didn't see much of their show. Duane did buy two cool Hold Steady posters (there is an area with about 30 tents of posters), now I just have to get frames for them.

Yesterday was mostly fine. Duane and I hit some golf balls and hung out with a friend of his from work (side note: we hung out with them to finally deliver the baby blanket that I made). We played the brain game on the Wii, which was hard! I can see how it could help develop your brain. We had an awesome dinner of a Cajun-style pizza. It had a spicy cream sauce with andouille sausage and chicken on it. It was definitely a break from the norm for Duane and it was really tasty.

Today has brought the confirmation that a potential client made a really stupid error which means I will not get a commission on a $250,000 house. There is a builder here that requires agents to register their buyers names before the buyer makes contact with the builder. If the buyer registers with them first (as simple as entering your name on their website), the buyer's agent receives no commission. It sucks royally. :(

I did go through applying for a federal tax id and a WI seller's permit today all so I may get to purchase items from American Apparel wholesale. My Etsy shop is up (www.yourbabywearswhat.etsy.com) and running. I don't have any items posted for sale yet though.

Some good news!

My buyers received an accepted offer!! It was a multiple counter-offer situation with one other offer on the table. We accepted their counter and returned it within 30 minutes, which I think gave us bonus points! Now I just have to hope for a good inspection. They don't close until August 31st, but a check is a check whenever I get it.

We are out to a fancy restaurant for dinner and jazz music tonight. Duane has a mentoree that plays tuba in a jazz band (I used to play the tuba in high school and college). She seems pretty nice and Duane thinks she will buy a house eventually. We are going to Magnus.

Also, I bested Duane in the first tennis set of the summer 6-4!

Etsy shop update

I have chosen yourbabywearswhat as the name of the shop. I have registered previously at Etsy with my name as the username. The username is what is used as the web address, so I wanted it to be yourbabywearswhat. I registered under that user name, but you can only use an email address once. I used my work address and to complete the registration you have to reply to the email you send. What's that? My work email server isn't working right now?? Oh yeah, I guess I will have to wait till I get home.

No fax yet.

Irritation situation

Could this week be over so next week can be better?

On Sunday I did not go to Summerfest and see one of my new favorite bands for free (the next local show is in Lollapalooza which is $$$) because my little sister asked me to go see Hamell on Trial in Ft. Atkinson. Now if I knew that my sister was going to arrive late to the show (and high btw) I might have just gone to Summerfest instead. This "show" is not something I would pay $10 for although the location (Cafe Carpe) was nice.

On Monday I had a class for work which wasn't too bad. It was my dad's birthday and we had cake and ice cream in Jville. The kids were good and we played Euchre. Nothing too annoying about Monday.

On Tuesday I met with my current clients to write on offer. This took 45 minutes because they can't seem to agree. Location is really important to her, but he doesn't care. He would like to call the seller and just negoitiate man to man. I did get a new sewing machine.

On Wednesday I went to Janesville to use my new sewing machine. I discovered that I didn't buy enough fabric to make curtains for my two doors in the kitchen. The fabric is really cute too. It took me so long to get to this project that the store that sold the fabric is out of business now. I will find another fabric though. My mom can also be very a-n-a-l about things and is easily frustrated if you aren't doing things the way she thinks they should be done. I told my sister about my possible Etsy shop and she has asked me to make 11 onesies for her. My new sewing machine does have some really neat stitches on it.

Duane was nice and picked up the wood I needed for my workshop class. I had to carry two 8 foot boards into the UW Union, do you think one person could open the door for me? One guy even came out the door I was going to go through and couldn't hold it for me. Class was ok. There is this douchey guy there that plugged up the planer and made a mess on the floor (even though the teacher instructed us in the first class how to clean a plug in the planer). The teacher has revealed himself to be a perv (No, you aren't a gynecologist when you are saying push,push you are an OB-he was instructing me on how to use the table saw) and being way too touchy feely. Ugh. I came home to find that Duane hadn't done anything except play Playstation (but he did take out the kitchen garbage that I asked him to do 2 days ago).

I woke up this morning to find that Duane had not brought in my Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper (it is in his trunk) like I asked him to. He also had not done his usual chore of filling the cat's bowls, so they were pretty hungry. Our 2 border cats have overstayed their welcome and will hopefully be leaving next week. I also finally got a response from the listing agent on my offer, which is why I am sitting in the office now. She told me there is now another offer on the property, which she did not tell me there was even the possibility of earlier in the week. Now, she doesn't HAVE to tell me. If she were to have told me, I would have had an easier time convincing my buyers to make their best offer. Now I wait to see if we will receive a multiple counter offer. In a multiple counter offer, the seller has the upper hand. We can choose to accept their counter or write another counter. If the other buyers accept their counter or write another counter, the sellers can accept their offer before they even see our offer. Time is crucial, so I sit here and wait. Our email server has decided to f up right now too.

I have been crampy and tired all week, which doesn't help either. My sleep patterns are all out of whack. I fall asleep, but not deeply, for about 6 hours. I wake up, let the dog out, and then when I go back to bed I fall deeply asleep. It sucks. The weather has been beautiful the past couple of days, but I guess next week is supposed to be hot and sticky again.

I feel a little calmer now.

Etsy shop

I am trying to come up with a snazzy name for my Etsy shop. I don't think the name of the shop has to have anything to do with what you are selling.

Hersheyfrogs (Hershey is my dog and I collect frog related items)

SunshineSnazzyKitty

CreateMyBrain

CrazyShitRUs (maybe not)

Yourbabywearswhat

I will accept any and all suggestions or tell me which one of the names above you like the best.

Duane and I hit up Art vs. Craft in Milwaukee yesterday. We went last year for the first time and it was pretty cool. Not many craft shows have tap beer and music; however, this year was kind of lame. We went towards the end of the second day, so we could have missed all the cool stuff. There was no tap beer (PBR in cans) and it seemed like there were fewer vendors. The art part of the show seemed to be lacking. There were a lot of prints, but they were very psychedelic and scary.

I will go to the Renegade Craft Fair again this year in Chicago and there will be DEPART-ment at the Pitchfork Music Festival. I love these shows, but it will also be recon for my Etsy shop. I didn't see anything like the items I am thinking of making for my shop at the Milwaukee show. I did pick up one of these (see below). It is a Scrap Cat made by a woman that has a shop just off of State St in Madison (Glitter Workshop). I haven't been to the physical store (way too many cute things to buy).

F'ing Spam

I am so tired of spam emails. I have several people ready to loan me $300,000 no matter what my credit is, or several banks I don't have accounts at that want me to update my account. I could buy drugs from several different people or have a lawn that is on steroids. My ebay and Paypal accounts regularily need updating as well. Oh and there are tons of stocks just ready for me to make billions off of. I especially like the penis enhancing one that has an actual picture of a giant penis.

Tomorrow the office is turning on our brand spankin' new spam filter.

Negative: My email account will seem so empty.

Positive: I won't miss actual emails from actual people because of having so much spam to
wade through.

My first wife was 'tarded, now she's a pilot

Sometimes there is so much to talk about that I start writing a post and then freeze up.



btw: Ashton Kutcher is pretty hot



My seminar last Thursday went well and I will have another one this month. Friday involved making ice cream (strawberry and double chocolate) to take to Missouri. I also went to a baby shower for someone at work. 2 ultrasounds were read as a baby girl, but the mommy-to-be couldn't stop obsessesing about the baby coming out with a penis. Friday night we went to see The Steepwater Band at the Terrace. They play there once a summer and we always go to support them. There were plenty of people there this year. We got home at 1:30, and got up at 5.



The drive to Missouri was uneventful. I got to drive 95 behind 2 Arkansas drivers. We arrived in Missouri and greated Cate, Conor, and the beautiful Eva (Toby and Barlow too). We went out to lunch at Flat Branch Tavern, that place has great food and beer! We prepared for a dinner party (I am happy we brought all that beer!). The dinner party was excellent. Cate and Conor served some amazing organic beef hamburgers that were the best beef I have ever tasted! Duane and I were both exhausted but we had a great time.

Sunday morning we slept in. Cate, Eva, and I went out to hit the local antique malls. I found some great owls for Duane's office and I cool rooster tea pot for the kitchen. Cate found a great butter dish, and Eva got a chewable wool lamb. Duane bought some earrings for me from a local artisan. Sunday night involved some awesome pizza, drinking, Idiocracy, and a brief Trivial Pursuit game. Monday morning was breakfast at an awesome cafe and then we hit the road.

We will miss Cate, Conor, and Eva terribly until we have the occasion to see each other again.

Duane was convinced to cloth diaper any future babies, and I was moved towards baby making.