Is It Too Late To Be Thankful?

I found my thankfulness yesterday but today I feel even more thankful to have what I have. I am especially thankful for the very loud toddler sitting on the couch next to me screaming "HI!' at the tractor operator that keeps passing by our window. I am also very thankful for everything I have been able to do in the last year and the people that have encouraged me to keep going on my path. It feels good to be where I am, even though a little sore, tired, and stressed, I am happy! That is all that matters to me. Thanks all!

I Don't Have Time For This!

Not today anyways. I woke up feeling like I was underwater. My head is all stuffy, my legs are achy, and my belly feels like a slept with a pile of bricks on top of it. Weird! I am trying so desperately to be ready for this weekend's fun and games and now I feel like a big steamy turd! Maybe a little nap will help. The very vivid dreams I've been having lately don't help much. I awoke from one involving submarines, alien sea monsters, toothpicks, foil wrapped chicken, marshmallows, and a sling shot................... I would love to have that one interpreted.

In happier news,my little sister is celebrating her birthday today! Happy Birthday Kiara! Have a lovely day!
AND

The little tortoise egg is doing well. It developed a very distinct dark spot and a is now growing an opaque band around it's center, just like it's supposed to. Oh happy day! I sure hope the little guy/gal is comfy and warm. It would be so cool to have another shelled baby wandering around. We will see. I am thinking good and happy healthy baby thoughts.

Other than that it is work, work, work, (which I am loving, it feels good to be busy) and baking some pumpkin bread and pies. I promised my family I would not experiment this year, I do not want to repeat last year's disaster where I set our oven on fire and made a very hideous tasting pumpkin cheesecake.

Vroom.....clank,clank.clank!

That is what my house sounds like now. Lots of sewing, lots of hammering. Lots of busy going on. I am so glad for a grey day. I don't have to worry about getting out or anything but work for that matter. My son is snoozing happily in his crib, cats are cuddled up on the couch together and Imogene is out for a walk and a break from Abner. So I whittle away at my pile of stuff. I move from sewing to ornaments and back again. I am sewing up my little heart wristlets now. I have two more to do then it is on to my key chain wallets. As for ornaments, I am making the bezel settings today. Tomorrow is setting the glass baubles, attaching those to their wire frame and polishing. Oh boy! I get to have scaly, dry, cracked and very sore hands! Can't wait!

Puke and Other Destruction

I woke up this morning to the sound of my sickly cat Humbug vomiting in the hallway. When I got up to check on her there were three piles of puke throughout our apartment. Then I looked out our window to find that all of the berry brambles that were secluding our apartment from outside viewing are gone. We are left with a bare patch of mud with lots of twigs and leaves scattered about and a huge green tractor-thingy parked out in front of our deck. I am wondering what the plan is. Hopefully nothing too loud and bothersome. I already have a headache from scrubbing up puke piles first thing in the morning.



Oh well, at least I am getting some work done. Today it's off to the fabric store to get a few things to finally hunker down and finish up this big pile of stuff for my show next week. I finished this one yesterday. I think it might be a wallet that one of Dr. Suess' characters might use:)

Tortoise Eggs Are Cool!

I never really thought that Imogene would lay an egg. I was so surprised when I found she had laid one yesterday in their enclosure. I had done some reading in the past about breeding tortoises but I kind of gave up since both of my little shelled wonders didn't seem very interested in even becoming friends for a long time. So yesterday when I found the egg I started up my reading again to make sure I am doing things right for the little thing. I can't wait to post a picture or two of the egg so everyone can see. Right now it is translucent white and when held up to the light I see a little dark patch on the bottom inside the egg. That patch will darken over the next couple weeks if the egg is in fact fertilized. So we are holding our breath and crossing our fingers for the little guy/gal until then.

The picture above is actually of a gopher tortoise hatching, I love that picture!

After All These Years!

I thought it would never happen! My lovely little Imogene laid an egg for the first time today. I was taken by surprise. I went to dig out their old food from the previous day and found a little(or not so little) egg buried in their bedding. So far everything looks good. It should be a while before we find out if it is fertile or not. I am just so excited for my little tortoises. Such a happy little event! For celebration, Abner and Imogene dined on some spring mix salad and had a nice long soak in the sink. Wish them luck everyone:)

Look At What I Got!

I recently entered PamperingBeki's ornament exchange for 2008 and just received my ornament kindly given to me by Gina, a wonderful person from unpinklife.blogspot.com, made by MIVIDACREATIONS and isn't it the coolest?



I love it! I can't wait to put up my tiny little Christmas tree so I can show it off. I have been hanging it over my sewing table for happy sewing vibes and it seems to be working. I am finishing up an ornament to send off. I hope my ornament exchange buddy likes it.

Thanks to PamperingBeki for setting up this ornament exchange. Such a lovely event to bring in the holiday season.

Zippers and Thread are Exciting To Me

My newest pouch wallet in one of my new favorite color combinations, now listed and ready to go!



So, I scored once again at a couple of our local thrift stores. I found a whole stash of super colorful thread for twenty-five cents a spool at one of the stores(plus a little stuffed basset hound for Ciaran, and a cool wool sweater that I am going to turn into a vest for me) and a whole pile of zippers at another store for a dollar sixty-five! Yippee! I just had to replace another very expensive uv heat lamp for the torts, and Ciaran needs shoes, so I was wondering where my supply money was going to come from. So I scored with my thrift shop deals! I find it very exciting. I was telling someone about my great find and they looked at me like I was crazy. I suppose it is not as exciting if you don't make wallets or clothing and are always on the lookout for good deals on thread and zippers. Today I am looking for lining fabrics at our other thrift store. I can't wait!

How to Cheer-up Those That Are Un-Cheerable

How do you cheer-up those that are un-cheerable? I really want to know because I feel that if I continue to try my soul will be sucked right out of my big toe never to be seen again! I can't always surround myself with happiness and cheer, but I refuse to drown in someone else's sorrows either. I guess I just need to keep plugging along and try to be an ear and a shoulder, but my ear hurts now and my shoulder is soggy and nothing ever seems to get resolved. I know everyone has to dig through their own piles to find their own little pot of shiny happiness but sometimes I wanna shake all the darkness and cobwebs out of them and say "snap out of it! PLEASE!" That is my rant for today. I am off to sew and drink more coffee!

Short But Sweet

I am busily chopping, and gluing leather for lots of these little billfolds among other things. I am also soldering many little ornaments to get ready for the holiday shows I have coming up. Not to mention the few jewelry pieces I would love to get done as well. So my posts will probably not be terribly exciting or lengthy for the next meanwhile. I have settled back in to my boring existence after setting myself on fire the other day. That will probably be the highlight of my week. I plan to spend the rest working hard at meeting my goals and being yelled at by my son for not having my lap available whenever he needs it. That is o.k. with me. Just as long as I get through these next couple of weeks to get stuff done without injury or illness. Should be a fun adventure!

I'm On Fire!

Yes! quite literally! I didn't realize cake batter was so flammable. I decided to make the guys a coffee cake for breakfast yesterday and didn't realize that I got the batter all over the front of my nightgown. So after the cake is done, and our bellies are full, I go off to solder up some of my ornaments. I am just soldering away in my happy little space, and then...............WHOOSH! a huge ball of fire fills the table hits my belly. I quickly turn off the torch and look around to see what could have caught fire like that. Well what do you know, it was ME! I had cooked cake batter all over the front of my nightie. I guess I need to rethink baking and soldering at the same time.

Cheeto Lovin' Kitties!

My dying kitty loves junk food. She has always loved donuts, dorritos, and cheetos. I don't know why. I don't eat these things very often. When I do, she is right in my face batting each little tidbit out of my hand. Today, I was enjoying some bleu cheese and jalapeno cheese puffs with my lunch and Humbug jumped up on my lap and stole one! Then she swallowed it whole! I couldn't believe my eyes! That wasn't the only one either. She stole about three more pieces and swallowed them all whole! I don't know how, but she did. Little monster. Now she is curled up on my lap again looking up at me with an evil look in her golden eyes. I am going to pay for this blog entry..........dearly!

We are stuck inside again. I have made my peace with it but my son has not. He has been wandering around for the last twenty minutes saying " Oh No!" in a teary, whiny sort of way. I feel bad for the little guy. He needs to get out to play. I guess it will have to be this evening on account of we are waiting for Grandma to come by for a few minutes, but we are not sure what time she is coming. We did get to go downtown for an adventure at the post office and the art store, and then to the school down the street to vote. Ciaran liked voting. While I voted, Ciaran flirted with anyone and everyone he could make eye contact. He even went so far as to throw his sippy and a stuffed alligator at a couple of voters that were not paying attention to his flirting. I am sure they appreciated that. So today the party is over. Ciaran can only flirt with me and the cats for so long before he loses interest. We are not all that exciting, especially after being locked inside a cramped apartment for days on end. All I can do is reassure the poor little guy that we will eventually get out again and he can resume his flirting with all of Arcata.

Dude! Don't Call Me At 7:30 AM About Voting!

"Argghhhh! All I am going to do is pick up the phone and scream at you anyways, I don't care if you're a robot! "

That is how I started my morning. With phone call after phone call from robot upon robot about voting.

I will vote in my own damn time, damn it! It would be nice to get prepared for the day first robotman! If you don't mind.

Then I had a fake chocolaty donut and a big frothy latte and I calmed down. Then the sun came out and I realized I had all of my packages ready to ship out and my voting decisions all ready to go. Then everything is o.k. I don't get why the robot voting squad would ever think it would be o.k. to phone someone before 10 am. I hope all robots are not as rude as the one that jarred me awake this morning.

Oh a beautiful rainy day! I just finished up and listed my latest wallet, made on my new machine! Now I am staring at a huge pile of leather pieces which will soon be headed for the same fate. I am spending my rainy morning gluing new applique's on to get them ready for sewing. I don't know what it is about the rain today but I have my motivation to work back, and it feels good.

Ciaran and I will be taking the bus downtown later to mail off a package or two and pick one up! A belated birthday surprise from my sister. I am so looking forward to my package! My sisters always give my such wonderful things. I think I just really like opening packages. Even just getting the tortoise's UVB lamp last week was fun. I am easily entertained like that, especially if they contain bubble wrap. That is my idea of a perfect day right now. A rainy day, a big cup of coffee, a spooky movie on the t.v., and some bubble wrap to play with! Sounds like my new plan for the day:)

Confusion Is My Middle Name?

At least I think it is! I am working hard at figuring out my new sewing machine. So far, so good but I get thrown for a loop once in awhile. The whole tension thing has confuzzled my brain! I think I have it.........then I don't. I am hoping I will be able to sew soon without the owner's manual sitting in my lap. I would be a lot more comfortable. I did manage to finish the little devil's finery on it though and it worked beautifully. There he is above in all his devilish wonderment. He had such a great time downtown. He was delighted the whole time and very proud of his costume.(So was his mommy!) We had a blast and it even waited to storm until we were safe at home.

I love Halloween! It is so different now with a little one than back a few years. It is so exciting to see Ciaran get excited about it. It truly made my day to see him so happy in his costume and even happier that he didn't want his candy and handed it off to me. I do miss heading downtown late on Halloween night to costume watch at bar row on the plaza, but spending a stormy evening at home with my two favorite guys and some spooky movies was the best!

So the sewing and soldering rush is on. I just hope I get enough done to get through the holidays! While I await the arrival of some new leather needles, I will be cutting, gluing and soldering. I plan to tear butt over the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned for more details