IT'S ALIVE!!!!!

The beer Mark's making went funny last night! I had noticed earlier in the evening that it was hissing, booming and banging and gurgling up a storm in the closet. Apparently something within the container was "over stimulated" and caused a lot of pressure build-up and lots of oozing. Mark had to eventually move it from our closet to the bath tub just in case of explosion. It spent the rest of the night there gurgling and hissing away. It did'nt blow-up, but it sure sounded like it would.

Ciaran also had a gurgling, booming, banging, and hissing belly last night. He woke up at about 2 am crying and I spent my night on the couch listening to Ciaran's tummy and the beer in the bathroom conversing with each other. It was pretty comical actually. Ciaran's belly would make a statement and then the big tub o' beer would respond with a hiss and a gurgle. I don't really like being up all night but it was too hard to sleep. I am still dealing with my allergy/sinus-y head all night, every night and all the dripping and pressure that go with it. So up I stayed, listening to every little noise made inside/outside/next door, in this tiny apartment it is hard not to hear every noise ever made by us and our neighbors.

Today all is calm, Ciaran's tummy has mellowed out with some cheerios and milk for breakfast. The beer seems to napping the morning away and the cats and tortoises are snoozing peacefully at their various posts throughout the apartment. I hope tonight is more peaceful and all of us get some sleep.

New Hairdos!

We finally got around to getting our hair cut yesterday. We made it a family event. Mark took Ciaran while I got my long,stringy hair chopped and then we both held on to Ciaran as he screamed and cried through his haircut. I am so glad we left the length of his hair, he still has his curls. My main concern was getting his bangs cut so he could see. He has been wandering around far too long with his hair in his eyes, tripping over his own feet because he cant see them.

Other than haircuts, we spent the day downtown getting the last of the ingredients for Mark's beer, getting more snaps for my wallets, and touring around town. Then we stopped for a lunch of burgers and fries from our local burger place. On our way home we stopped at the park to let Ciaran get some excercise. He ended up sitting in a dirt pile, where he decided to dig through it with Cookie Monster.

Once we got home we got Ciaran get settled for the evening and I helped Mark make his second batch of beer. The first one turned out pretty darn good. I am anxious to try this one. Now we have a huge bucket of applewine and a huge bucket of beer fermenting in our closet. Should be fun to try it all out.

Ciaran Made a Friend!

My son Ciaran made a friend yesterday. He made two friends actually. One person and one dog. We decided to go out for a walk yesterday afternoon just to get out of the house and have some play time. On our way back from downtown we usually walk through a large sports field and elementary school so Ciaran can practice walking and get a little exercise. As we were walking yesterday, we saw a yellow haired boy, his mom, and a huge yellow dog playing in the field. I did'nt think anything of it until Ciaran started bolting across the field to the little boy. The little boy also ran towards him. They both stopped short of running into each other and stared at one another's feet. Then the big and happy yellow dog came running over and gave Ciaran a big ol' sloppy doggy kiss across his face. It was really cute. I am glad to see that my son is a bit more socially outgoing than his mom. I am so weirded out by meeting new people, I often miss out on opportunities to get know other people. It made my day to see Ciaran so curious and happy, I hope he makes many good friends throughout his life.

What the Heck Man!

The title of my post is definitely more exciting than my actual post today. That is my disclaimer.

So if I haven't complained enough, my allergies are driving me crazy these days. I thought I beat them years ago. Now they are back and worse than ever. I was working last night and my face started to burn and itch, when I went to check it out in the mirror, My face was covered in hives. Crazy! I don't really mind the allergies so much as the way they interrupt my work. I was so excited to get a few things done last night, including a custom order and I ended up too drippy and itchy to work. Part of the problem seems to be that Northern California is on fire, and the air is full of smoke. That is a bummer all in itself, I feel really awful for anyone in the immediate area of those fires. I can't imagine how scary that must be for them. Yucky stuff all around. Around here, we get the smoke and ash from the fires. The light has this orange tint to it and the air feels really heavy. It makes it hard to breath. Smokey and yucky, blahhhh!!!!

In other news, my new wallets are turning out lovely. I finished three and sold one yesterday. I have three more cut out and ready to put together. I was in a panic yesterday because my machine seemed to be skipping stitches with the last one I put together so I did all sorts of little tests to see what was going on. It turns out that the way the wallet is put together makes it hard for the machine to sew the last hem around the outside of the wallet. So I messed around with a few ideas and decided to try using the zipper foot to sew the outside seam, and it worked!!! Yay! I love my machine. What a trooper! I tell it thank you and give it a hug and a kiss each time I use it.

A New Wallet for My Sister

I finally finished a wallet for my sister. She had wanted something crazy, so I picked my favorite color combinations and had a blast. I really like how it turned out. I still have to finish the edges but the sewing is done! I used hemp cord this time to do the hand sewing and I love it. It is really strong! I hope she gets good use out of it. I am in the process of making her a ring out of copper, sterling silver, and opal. I think I have finally come up with a decent and functional design so I am pretty excited to get it done.

The only part that sucks is cleaning up my space to work. UUUUGGGGHHHHHH!!!!! I can never stay organized and that drives me nuts! I have everything so organized and accessible when I start working and it just gets messier and messier as I go. Pretty soon, instead of a work space, I have a pile of junk that I have to sift through every week just to see the table surface. I can't wait to have an actual studio, one where I can have a table space for each portions of my work. One for the designing, one for cutting out, one for sewing, one for jewelry making, and then lots of containers and areas to store materials and finished projects. Hopefully some day, I will dream of it until then.

Day Trip!

Today I am going on a day trip with my parents and my uncle. I really love that Ciaran gets to spend time with his grandparents and his great uncle. I think we are just going up to the beach but it seems like it's hundreds of miles away. That is why I love this area, it is beautiful everywhere you go and little car trips are always an adventure. What makes it even more special is that I don't own a car so going in a car is like a special event in itself. I just love kicking back in the back seat next to my son with a huge latte to sip on. Yay! I am too excited for words. I know it's silly but not having a car means I get to where I am going on foot or on the bus and that is about it. I love it actually but every once in a while a car ride is the best thing ever.

When I get home tonight I have many projects to keep me busy. I got a good night's sleep last night so it should be no problem to stay awake tonight. I will post some photos when everything is done. That is all for now, short and sweet:)

My Snappy Project and Other Things

It's all done! My first item for sale with a snap. I sat down yesterday with a brutal headache and decided to design a new wallet one that would specifically use a snap and there it is. I really like how it turned out. I am getting ready to put a couple more together. I am thinking a purple one, a green one, and an orange one. It should be a colorful week.

I have been having lots of problems with my allergies this last couple of weeks and I think they have finally zapped my sinus cavities pretty well. I have had a constant headache for the last few days and my sense of smell and taste is pretty much gone. I hate when that happens. I guess it is good in a way when you can't smell awful smells, and can't taste terrible things. It always came in handy when I was working with children because when I was like this, I never smelled all the weird kid smells.....and there is always a weird kid smell somewhere! I am trying all sorts of things to clear out my head but so far all that works well is the zombifying anti-snozzle medication. I hate it. Poor Ciaran who is having some intestinal issues this morning is reaping the benefits of having a zombie for a mom. He is fussy every two seconds but I am on a fifteen to twenty second delay. So now he is extra frustrated. I feel bad but since I am a zombie all I can do is point and groan. We are both pretty tired from being up all night so we may just stay in and relax today. Maybe I will bake something yummy for Mark and Ciaran. Oh wait, if it burns I won't be able to smell it....bummmer!