The Cake was a lie...

Potty talk.

2009-05-11T11:45:00.000-07:00

I always find bathroom etiquette to be a bit shaky most days. Today was no exception. You know that old adage all of our moms taught us? "If you don't have something nice to say...don't say anything at all." Well...I have to admit I always agreed with this statement. That is...until today. I have come to the conclusion that some things are just better left unsaid. Period. So let me share with you what I just witnessed. I was using the ladies room here at work, sitting in my stall taking care of business. I don't know about you, but normally I am not paying attention to anything other then myself and also praying I don't have surprise gas. (you know this concerns you too, don't judge.) When low and behold something caught my attention and my ears perked up. (shut up...yes I was eavesdropping). To set the scene...there was a woman (I will call her woman #1) peeing...and another woman (she is now woman #2) doing whatever she was doing.

Woman #2 through stall to Woman #1: My GOODNESS...you have a large bladder (I kid you not...) Your bladder is bigger then my husbands I think! You sure can hold a lot in you! I wish MY bladder could hold that much! (at this point I want to die as I am sure the woman with the super size bladder also wants to do)

Woman #1: (thankfully super gracious) Well...um...thank you...(really what COULD you say to a comment like that???)

Woman #2: oh my...that was rather forward. (you think???) I meant it as a compliment! (thank you for clearing that up....)

Let's really look at that for a moment. I admit that woman was peeing for a long time, but giving her mad props while you are also peeing is just bad form. Why say anything at all I wonder. I was mortified for the "big bladder woman" and quickly made my escape before the chat was moved to the sinks. So in going to the bathroom, I discovered a new phobia. Besides my irrational fear of doing a bowel movement in a public restroom, I now fear the "pee critic".What's next? "My that was a large crap you took...what did you eat for lunch?" Seriously folks...don't talk in the restroom. Ever.

Been awhile....

2009-05-10T05:55:00.000-07:00

Well I am a slacker and a procrastinator. Sexy.
I am going to get back into my personal blogging this week I swear.
For now Happy Mother's Day to all those mommies out there:)

Creativity reborn through crafting and a friend.

2009-02-17T16:48:00.000-08:00

Recently I came across the peddle to my sewing machine and my creativity was reborn. I would say I come from a creative family and always found ways to express myself either through drawing, sewing or making jewelry. I have a condition called Rheumatoid Arthritis though that has hindered my creativity for years and I felt those effects of not being able to create things with my hands for the past five years. Creating things from nothing into something beautiful is very freeing and rewarding to me in many ways. Taking a vision and an idea and being able to create it in a tangible sense is what crafting of any kind is about to me.

The two areas I work most in are sewing and jewelry making. I actually started making jewelry about 7 years ago as a way to make simple presents for family and friends. What started as napkin ring holders out of beads and simple bracelets soon blossomed into custom pieces. I had just started to build a small business when I ended up not being able to use my hands due to my RA. It took me till this year to realize that if I took it easy and paced myself there was nothing that could or should hold me back anymore. So I started again.

My first jewelry project was a necklace I made for Kory. She had a bead she had been holding onto for a few years.

She had mentioned to me that she would like me to make her something and finally I was inspired:) Kory has been working on herself and growing and evolving over the last few years. During her process butterflies have become a symbol of her many transformations within herself. So I found these fabulous pieces and…had inspiration.

Working on the necklace was a way for me to express to Kory how proud I am of her development and accomplishments. I wanted her to be able to wear this and be reminded of her growth and changes.

Kory also has taken up knitting and crocheting and mentioned one weekend that she was soon going to need a holder of sorts to keep her supplies in. Well I had been holding on to a piece of silk fabric for years. It was a beautiful purple shade with rich colorful butterflies throughout the fabric. I did some research online and modified a pattern I found for a knitting needle roll holder.

I modified it to be a little bit bigger in size, and I added a shorter pocket as well to hold crochet hooks as she collected them. I was really pleased with how this turned out, and again delighted in the fact that Kory had again inspired this creativity in me. I did not overlook the fact that both pieces that rekindled this need to create came from Kory and the theme of the butterflies was fitting I thought. *grin* Transformation and growth to do and be whatever we decide to be in life. Fitting not only to give as a gift to her, but also in giving myself the gift of being able to create again.

Been super busy!

2009-02-08T08:26:00.000-08:00

I have been working on starting an online store for some of the things I make:) I also went to the NYC Comic Con this weekend which rocked!!

I plan on blogging a ton this afternoon, but we have soccer soon. Just a little check in and will post about my latest projects and the con later today!

My kids crack me up...

2009-02-02T03:57:00.001-08:00

I had told Cameron to stop moving and sit still. The result was THAT. HAHAHAHAHA
Chase just wanted me to leave him alone. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

The boys makikng me a card:)

2009-02-01T13:50:00.000-08:00

My first sewing project!

2009-02-01T12:08:00.001-08:00

So I did my first sewing project today! I made a knitting needle/crochet hook roll for my friend Kory. The entire project took about three hours from cutting the pieces to completion. I am also using my new camera to take pictures of it!
The pockets were the hardest part to be honest. I modded the pattern to be longer, and added the shorter pocket for crochet hooks. I also wanted the thread to be seen. I thought that would be kind of fun so I used a baby blue.

The top flap I am not crazy about. It is great to hold the knitting needles in...but it was puffy. I think that is my lack of experience though. I am hoping with some practice I can make this a little neater and more uniform. I have no complaints though overall for my first project in years!
The finished roll!! I think next time I will use a cotton fabric. This was more satiny and it got puffy. I actually have had this fabric for years and had wanted to make something for Kory with this for years. I finally did and I am super excited about the way it came out!

Happy early birthday ME!!!

2009-01-29T16:43:00.000-08:00

Elaine gave me my birthday present early :) WHOOT! I had asked for a camera. A real live one! I have been using my camera on my phone and it really sucks most of the time. For some shots it is perfect, but for the most part...I wish it sucked less. So anyways expect lots of pictures to start showing up here once I figure out how to use it. LOL. Actually, I am charging the battery so I will start messing with it later tonight, probably after the boys are in bed.

She got me a Sony Cyber-Shot

Series highlights: 10.1 megapixel, 2.7" Clear Photo LCD™ display, Carl Zeiss wide 5x (28mm) Optical Zoom lens, Smile Shutter™ technology, Face Detection, Intelligent Scene Recognition, Super SteadyShot®, HD output and HD slideshow

So look for up coming pictures, especially as I get mt craft geek on!

Suckage Chronicles

2009-01-29T04:57:00.000-08:00

Suckage chronicles are something I came up with a while ago as a running joke with my best friend Elaine. We went on a tangent one day on how things suck and could suck less. She was just starting to be friends with this woman who totally for all pretense and purposes...sucked a lot. We wished she could suck less but it was impossible we found. So hence the Suckage Chronicles were born.

So my week last week sucked much. It sucked energy out of me, it sucked randomly and sucked a lot. Friday I ended up at my regular Dr's office in full respiratory distress. They changed all my inhalers and gave me a breathing treatment. Advair for me went up to about $55.00 and I totally can not afford that monthly. So they switched me to Symbicort and gave me two full sized samples. YAY ME. So far I am having a love affair with this stuff as it totally cleared my lungs out in a way I have not felt in years.

On Monday I went to my RA Dr and they gave me a 120mg dose shot of prednisone to help with my inflammation and pain. With the day I was having it was no surprise to me that the first shot failed. Failed you ask? Yep. Failed. Sucked. The first shot malfunctioned. Now...if you have never had an inter muscular shot in your ass you are really missing out on some good shit. No lie. Nothing like exposing your ass as you lean over an exam table for a nurse to stick a thick needle into. Well as I said the first shot failed. The needle malfunctioned and the medicine would not come out. So...we had to do the other cheek. What the hell. The second one though was perfect and I didn't even feel it. A testiment to my favorite nurse at the office who taught Elaine how to do my Methotrexate shots.

I also got a new muscle relaxer. Soma. Who has been hiding this crap from me? It is like the holy grail of muscle relaxers. Donna the PA who prescribed it told me to take it IN BED. ONLY TAKE ONE. So I am always leary of advice and often do my own thing. So the first night I took it, within 10 minutes I became stupid. I could barely walk to the bathroom. Now most people might curse that...I was doing mental cartwheels as this was proof to me that I would sleep pain free. I also renamed the medication. No longer is it called Soma in my house...it was called COMA and I say it out loud like a school girl with a mad crush where I write the name over and over again in my notebook with hearts. Mrs. Coma...I "heart" Coma. You get the picture. I am a dork.

On a crafting creative note...I need to get some fabric supplies to start working on the fabric needle roll I want to make Kory. I am also working on a project for Elaine. We are die hard JPop fans and one of our favorite Japanese music companies to follow is Hello Project!. Basically what I am doing is creating a graph that dictates all the girl bands that have started since 1997. I am going to interpret one of the graphs into a modern art piece that we could possibly make into a poster and frame. I will update with pictures as I work on it. Again....nerding out but it is creative. I was telling E last night that it has been so long since I could be creative that all of these little projects are jacking me out and totally geeking me out. So that is it for now...carry on.

Oh and please feel free to leave me comments!

Necklace

2009-01-25T18:25:00.000-08:00

So my friend Kory has been doing a lot of personal work on herself over the last three years. Aren't we all? A lot of soul searching, making personal progress and making positive changes in her life. Well as she has made different steps in her life that are life changing, she gets a butterfly tattoo to mark her transformation. So butterflies have taken on a personal deep meaning to her and they symbolize something to her that goes along with her own life process.

Well a few months back, Kory had gotten this blue glass bead and had asked me to make it into a necklace for her. The bead is the large base bead at the bottom of the necklace. When I was looking for some pieces to complete her necklace, I came across the silver butterflies, and the two crystal butterflies and I thought how perfect! So I finished this piece Friday night around 11:00pm. I wired all the beads individually, and used a length of chain that I counted out and made into shorter chains. Each section was put together using a jump ring. It has been almost five years since I have been able to make a piece of jewelry and I was so excited to complete this one.

So...I found my sewing machine today...

2009-01-25T12:49:00.000-08:00

I have always been creative, but my RA sometimes (actually always) ends up limiting what I can do with my hands. I decided this weekend though that I NEED to find a way to be creative. I made a necklace this weekend for my friend Kory. I will have pictures soon. I plan on showing some of the things I make on here. So this weekend Kory mentioned she needed a holder for her knitting needles and her crochet hooks. So I have some beautiful fabric that I have had for years and didn't know what to use it for. I decided, after finding my machine, that I am going to sew her a roll case. Again I will post pictures as I complete projects.

Here some other pieces I have made in the past though:)

I am so excited to try and get my creative juices flowing again. It gives me something that is all mine and allows me to express myself:)

Messing around with my blog.

2009-01-23T09:55:00.000-08:00

Of course, I am at work and I decide to go mess around with my blog. I was trying to put AdSense on my blog, and in trying to add my code of course I messed up. I am frankly computer illiterate. So I had to revert to a plain blog layout till I get back home. I have my old set up backed up on my home laptop. So please ignore the boredom you see here. Also if anyone can speak to me in laymen's terms as to where EXACTLY I need to place the code for the AdSense into my HTML I am all eyes. It needs to be simple and basic as I tried it and failed. I should have the layout back to what I had it before when I get home.

The field trip!

2009-01-22T13:45:00.001-08:00

Well today was our big field trip! We went to the Univeristy of Hartford to see James and the Giant Peach:)

I was in charge of three of Cameron's classmates and Cameron himself of course. The play was adorable and only an hour long. Plenty of time for a 2nd grade class. Any longer then that and I think everyone in that auditorium would have gone mad.

So I had AJ who is Cameron's best friend in class. He was cracking me up on the bus. His expressions and wit were extraordinary for a 7 year old. Here he is with Cameron.

The Jamesha. She was super quiet and adorable. She sat on my lap and snuggled for the whole play.

Then Myan. She was super helpful and carried the bag with our lunches for me:) Can't knock a super helpful kid;)

Some of the other classmates being silly:)

The other white meat....

2009-01-22T04:58:00.001-08:00

Then there is Chase...who thinks screaming is the only form of communication any life being can hear. I am hoping this changes fast or I will have to have his vocal chords removed. Trust me...everyone will be happier.

Oh yes...the child in question

2009-01-22T04:48:00.000-08:00

This is Cameron, my wanna be gangsta. No clue what he was thinking. He dressed himself.

He is super adorable though and this smile kills me. His sarcasm...not so much.

Why did I get out of bed?

2009-01-22T04:36:00.000-08:00

I have been in an incredible amount of pain the last few weeks...months? God I have lost track. This week though, my hands are the size of a dinner platter, I can't walk and this morning when I woke up I had my period. I think I am being punished for wearing plaid pants as a kid. Well actually the fault for that does lie at the foot of my mother. So...yeah...why am I up this morning? Oh yeah...two boys ages 7.5 and 5 and a field trip today. Life could be worse I guess I could be getting a tooth extracted with no novocaine. Oh what...field trip...lots of kids that are not mine...shit...it is worse all already.

SO yeah, today Cameron's class is going on a field day and in some joyful holiday mood back in December I agreed to be not only a room mother, but to be a chaperon. Don't get me wrong, I think it will be fun on some level but I really was not cut out for this. Especially not today. I promise not to bite, kick or maim any child today. I promise to be nice, happy and not pop pain pills in front of them. I will be the poster child for good mothers everywhere with a smile on my face and a mom glare from time to time. I don't even know how many kids they expect me to keep track of. I should bring a small notebook. With my luck, I will lose one. God...what a day. I promise to update after the said event possibly with pictures if the day goes well and I actually remember I have my phone.

I hope everyone else has a great day. I am going to go have breakfast and contemplate narcotic drugs and my love affair with them over coffee.

Oh side note...Cameron's teacher is adorable and I love her. She has been great:)

Begginings...

2009-01-21T20:39:00.001-08:00

Well every blog needs to start somewhere I guess:) I don't know what my goal is with this blog other then to have a place to share, talk, vent or just cry. I have a lot that goes on in my life and I think I just wanted a place to go that I could call my own where I don't have kids yelling for me, the phone is not ringing and I can just sit back drink some coffee and write. So this is to new beginnings.