I'm hooked!

Any of you who know me, know that I'm not much of a sports fan. I do enjoy attending the occasional sporting event in person, but am not all that interested in watching sports of any kind on TV and am not really overly fond of any team sport....until now. Roller Derby ROCKS! I can't believe that I've lived on this Earth some 40+ years and have never been to a Roller Derby Bout. I guess I just haven't been in the right places at the right times. I attended my first Bout this past weekend and LOVED it! We ventured to The Kill Floor in Greeley and watched the Slaughterhouse Derby Girls vs. Sioux City Roller Dames! Here I am enjoying a giant PBR while watching the Bout...

I think drinking PBR during Roller Derby Bouts is required ;)

I was at this Bout because Thing 1 has joined Junior Roller Derby and her team, the Butcher Babes, was working...selling raffle tickets, helping at the concession stand, skating around letting other girls know about Jr. Roller Derby, etc. She was decked out in full derby gear and had a blast! Check out Toxic Neon rolling around the rink after the Bout:

Here are Cha-Cha Crusher and Toxic Neon:

Cute, huh? ;)

At the next Slaughterhouse Derby Girls Bout, the Butcher Babes may get to do a little scrimmage at half-time.

Also happening last Saturday was the Sneak Preview of Whip It! I really wanted to go see it, but seeing real Roller Derby was pretty awesome. So, I'll just wait until this weekend. In the mean time, I'm reading Derby Girl (the book the movie is based on). I looked up Roller Derby at our local library and this was the ONLY book they had on the subject. I'm only about halfway through, so I'll do a little review when I'm done. So far, I am enjoying it!

It has also been re-released in paperback with the title Whip It! 

I'm also watching trailers for Whip It!...

 

...and watching documentaries about Roller Derby. I watched this one late Saturday evening. There wasn't a lot of actual skating, but I really enjoyed getting a glimpse behind-the-scenes at the Austin League that brought Derby back and learn about the business side of things, as well as some of the politics.

 

...and looking up Derby names.

Next on my agenda is to figure out how to get my own skates (and protective gear, of course!) and see what this old gal can do on wheels!

Birds on Skates

Clever little play on words there, if I do say so myself. Check out my new Roller Derby Blog Button to the left AND then head on over to The Selvedge Yard  for a great blog article about Vintage Roller Derby complete with fabulous photos of some awesome "birds" on skates ;)

Vintage Roller Derby Bad Girls | Sass On Wheels!

'round and 'round she goes....

...and where she stops, nobody knows.

First, let's clear the cobwebs off this blog. Sometimes, I get so caught up in existing that I forget to LIVE life like the beautiful gift it is. It is so easy to get bogged down with the HAVE TOs and forget about the WANT TOs. Lately, I've been on a quest to cut the excess baggage from my life. Purge the crap, decrease the negativity, and increase the positivity. I am trying to surround myself with people who make me feel good. I don't mean people that pump up my ego. I mean people who love life, are positive, live out loud, and it just feels good to be around them. Perhaps I'm having the onset of a slight mid-life crisis after my recent 4[mumble]th birthday. Perhaps I'm tired of tearing up every time I see someone living their passion and wondering when I'm going to get to live mine. Perhaps it's just time to start LIVING again.

My main priority for the past 13+ years has been being a Mommie. I love this job. I wouldn't trade it for the world, but it does tend to become your whole world, if you let it. Thing 1 and Thing 2 are growing up and don't need my constant attention any more. I have my hobbies...Asian Ball Jointed Dolls, sewing, and various other silly things I like to do...but, I long to do something big. Something fantastic. Something outrageous. Something that will make people talk. I've always said I would rather be interesting enough to be talked about than be so boring that no one talks about me ;)

I ask myself...What is my passion? What is it that I really want to do that I'm not doing? I've pushed it down for so long that I really don't know. I look at my hobbies...the things I enjoy doing most. The Dolls. The answer is in the Dolls. I discovered Asian Ball Jointed Dolls about 5 years ago and was immediately hooked. Each Doll I have (or  have had...if they've moved on to new homes) has a distinct developed (or being developed) character...actors, burlesque dancers, buskers, carnies, ghosts, knife throwers, musicians, pinup girls, rollergirls, steampunks, sword swallowers, time travellers, vampires, witches ...but what is the common underlying theme with all of them? Each one is some kind of performer or exhibitionist or has some fantastic ability that sets them apart from what is considered ~normal~. I realize...each doll represents some part of me. Each one is a tangible form of what I wish for, long for, or am fascinated by. I have been living vicariously through the Dolls and their stories. All well and good, but that still leaves me with a hole in my soul that needs to be fulfilled. And, lately, my Dolls have just been sitting there...staring at me...taunting me with all my unrealized hopes and dreams and aspirations.

So, what does all this have to do with going 'round and 'round? Ever since we moved here, I keep finding myself wishing that we lived closer to Denver. STUFF is going on there! STUFF I want to be a part of. STUFF I want my girls to be a part of. But, I have my priorities and they keep me close to home...away from the STUFF. Every so often, I search the web to see if something, anything, that calls to me might have popped up close to home. Nothing. Until yesterday...

I have been fascinated with Roller Derby for years (and secretly wanted to get involved), but [insert rambling from above]. All of sudden, it's popping up over and over in my life. I have reconnected with many old friends from my past on FaceBook. Three really good friends were or are currently involved with Roller Derby. I recently made a new friend that was on a team in Denver. There's all the buzz about Whip It! (can't wait to see this! Reading the book now)...

...I want to be a Roller Girl for Halloween...Yes! I AM dressing up this year! It's been way too long and that is just wrong...then I start searching for more info about the Denver Roller Derby teams and plan to attend an upcoming bout. Unbelievably (mostly to myself), this will be my first. Then I do it...google...Roller Derby Loveland...and discover FoCo Girls Gone Derby! I click all over their web site, sign up for the newsletter, plan to attend a bout, join their FaceBook Fan Page, start getting all pumped up and thinking...maybe, just maybe, I could do this...and then I remember that (1) I'm not all that coordinated or athletic, (2) I'm quite out of shape, and (3) I'm no Spring Chicken. I am working on the out-of-shape part by biking daily and have dropped almost 2 sizes over the summer...yay!...but, there's not much I can do about the uncoordinated part or the Spring Chicken part. Whatever. Then...I notice a link I hadn't clicked yet. One little entry on their blog...Jr Roller Derby. What!?! My heart skips a beat and I click the link. There is a League in Greeley for girls 9-17 and I have 2 of those! Well, Thing 2 will be 9 in exactly one month from today ;) I quickly leave a comment asking for more info and if there is a Jr. League closer to home. The reply comes back from a mom who lives in Loveland and they have a carpool!

So, you guessed it. We are going to join Junior Roller Derby! Right now, it will just be Thing 1 since Thing 2 is in Ballet on practice nights, but she wants to check it out, too. Thing 1 is super excited and I'm excited for her. She hasn't found her passion yet, but I think this is a step in the right direction. I want her to experience anything and everything that ignites a spark within her and one day she will find that thing that lights her fire. I may not get to realize my dream of being a Roller Girl, but I am going to try and give my daughters every chance I can to find their PASSION and ROLL with it...whatever ~it~ may be.

I know. All that means I'm still living vicariously through someone else and not embracing my own passion, but who knows where this will lead? ... ;) Right now, it's leading me to create a new blog button for ROLLER DERBY because I have a feeling this topic is going to need it's own section!

Busy, busy, busy...

...busy, busy, busy. It seems that I have been so busy being not bored that I have neglected to update my blog in quite some time. Last week, I had big plans to jump back into this with a fervor, but managed to keep so busy that I didn't. The family went canoeing on the Green River and were gone for a week...a whole week...all of them....which left me home ALONE :) for a whole week. A whole week of being responsible for no one but me (well, me and the 4 FurKids ;). I ate when and what I wanted (and lost 4 more pounds to boot!), I got up when I wanted (well, as long as the FurKids would let me sleep), did what I wanted ALL day long and into the wee hours of the morning (i.e. sewed for MYSELF, watched movies, got in touch with my inner geek and hooked the laptop up to the TV, etc). I missed my family very much, but it was a MUCH-NEEDED break and probably the only vacation I'll get any time soon. So, I enjoyed it :) I will get back to blogging soon because I enjoy that, too....

Buggin' Out

Mr. NeverBored planted a lovely garden this year (i.e. I have brown thumbs) and we have been eating delicious fresh spinach for the past month or so. A couple batches in, I noticed some teeny tiny white specks on the underside of most of the spinach leaves. Trying not to be overly alarmed while thinking about how many of these we must have already eaten (and hoping we don't have caterpillars growing in our tummies), I started washing each delicate leaf by hand. ugh. This takes sooo much time. I have no idea what these white dots are or what to do about them. If anyone knows what kind of bug lays these, if they are harmful to eat, and/or how to get rid of them...I would appreciate a comment ;)

File Me ORGANIZED!

Ha!ha! Not really. I have my own style of organizing and, to the outsider, it probably looks quite UNorganized. BUT! I do usually know where to find what I need. So, I guess whatever system I have come up with works for me.

I have a love for all things vintage, especially metal vintage things. Recently, I found a couple old metal files that I have not been able to put to good use...until today!

First up is a vintage card catalog file found at Re-Store for a couple bucks. It has been sitting in my office, under a pile of stuff, being neglected. Today, I started walking around the house and looking at things that needed to be changed [to make life a little easier AND more organized]. I was in the kitchen and noticed that Mr. NeverBored had, for the umpteenth time, hidden away my messy, disorganized menu holder. I admit, the cute wire basket didn't look very nice sitting on the counter, stuffed to the brim with tattered menus, but I always knew where to find the menus when I wanted them. I dug it out of the pantry and the idea hit....I could use that old card catalog file to NEATLY store all the menus! But what to put in the 2nd drawer? Another glance into the pantry and a glimpse at my messy recipe books provided the answer. I could transfer our recipes to index cards (yeah...just what I need...another project) and keep them all NEATLY in one place! So I made a couple labels for the drawers, dragged the file up to the kitchen, and decided on just the right place...

Now I know right where to find that awesome Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe so we can fill up the cookie jar!

New project to add to the ever-growing To Do List...fun recipe card templates AND then transfer all the recipes to cards.

Next up, I found a vintage metal slide organizer for about $3 at Goodwill. Again, it had been sitting in my office waiting for inspiration to hit. This morning, I was in the bathroom getting dressed and trying to find something in my drawer. I have one drawer in the bathroom counter and it's stuffed full. I organized it very nicely a couple months ago, but somehow it just didn't stay that way. I will not take all the blame. I did try very hard to keep things neat, but with two little girls who love to rummage through my stuff...well, I don't think I need to spell it out. So, the lightbulb went off (the one over my head ;) and I decided to thin out, organize and re-home my makeup collection into the All-Metal Slide File and keep it out on the counter....

Inside view...

 

Each drawer was divided into two sections and I found that some of the makeup wouldn't fit. In the top drawer, I bent down the middle divider and managed to make everything fit.

I LOVE finding new uses for old things!

I wear my sunglasses at night...

[If you don't care to read my ramblings about eyeglasses and prescription sunglasses...you can just scroll to the end of this post for an eyebuydirect.com discount coupon code] ... I have had my funky little glasses for about 3 years now. I kept putting off getting new frames because I still get so many compliments on these...

 

But, it's time (and I needed a new prescription with, ehem, bifocals 8-). I searched around with the help of Thing 1 (who is awesome at picking out eyeglasses frames...she chose the ones above and promised I looked good in them since I couldn't see a darn thing when trying them on!) and settled on these...

BUT! New glasses...new dilemma. With this pair of glasses, I opted not to get the darkening transition lenses since I wasn't all that crazy about them on my old pair. They didn't get dark enough for me and they didn't get dark at all in the car and I really didn't like the way they looked dark anyway. So, now I needed some kind of sunglasses. I decided to visit my trusty old standby ... www.39dollarglasses.com . I have used them several times and have always been happy with price, selection, quality, etc. Well, when I added everything to my order the total was over $70 just for a pair of prescription sunglasses! Back to the drawing board. Search, search, search. I happened upon Eye Buy Direct -- www.eyebuydirect.com ... WHAT?!? A complete pair of glasses starting at $7.95?!? Too good to be true, right? Wrong! A quick interweb search resulted in some good customer reviews...yes, I know they could have been planted, but for that price I was willing to give them a try. A few minutes later, I found some cute frames, tried them on...yes....you read right....I TRIED THEM ON with their awesome EYETRY NOW feature. Upload your photo and actually see what you will look like in the eyeglasses before buying them! They didn't offer an option to darken the lenses like sunglasses, so I saved the photo, imported into PhotoShop and colored the lenses myself ;)

Choices made, order entered, the total (including shipping!) was a mere $13.80. Impatiently, I waited for my new sunglasses to arrive. About a week later, they were sitting in my mailbox. I ripped open the box and put them on. AWESOME! I love them! I haven't had cute sunglasses in years. Happy me!

If you would like to give eyebuydirect.com a try and save a little more $$ ... please use this eyebuydirect.com discount coupon code IFDFPR6I8P ... you will get 10% off your order and I will get a little credit for sending you their way ;)

At the risk of starting to sound like a commercial...I am thrilled to recommend Eye Buy Direct ( www.eyebuydirect.com )!

Lazy, um, Strike That ---- CRAZY Days of Summer

I am lagging way behind on my blogs, my sewing, my multitudes of projects and ever-growing To Do list. Having the kids around ALL the time AND having a next-to-nothing entertainment budget is seriously cutting into my ME time. I do enjoy having the girls around (when they aren't fighting), but I miss having time to myself.

In addition to the girlies being around this summer, we have a new family member...Robbie the Boston Terrier. Mr. NeverBored has been, increasingly, bugging me to adopt a BT puppy. We all miss Moxie terribly (RIP January 2009)....

 

...and, certainly, could never replace her, but having a Boston Terrier around is always a hoot ;) So, I made a deal with Mr. NeverBored...I would agree to bringing a new BT into the house if (1) we got one from a Boston Terrier Rescue group and (2) the new one wasn't A LOT like Moxie.

A week or so ago, I was at Office Depot and saw an older gentleman with a cute little Boston Terrier in the parking lot. I approached him and asked about his dog. He told me he had adopted her from Mid-America Boston Terrier Rescue (MABTR). He got my name and number and called me later that evening with the contact info for MABTR. We found their web site (www.adoptaboston.com) and started looking at all the Bostons they were trying to find homes for. It was heartbreaking and we wanted to adopt them all, but we finally decided to get more info on Robbie. He was a poor little guy that had been recently rescued from a puppy mill. After spending about an hour on the phone with his Foster Mom in Nebraska, we decided to give him a try. He arrived in Colorado on Monday, June 15....dazed, confused, timid and sweet as can be.

We have lots of photos, but this is one of my favorites and was taken shortly after we surprised the girls with our new family member...

Robbie's first week (and a couple days) with us has been quite eventful and he is fitting in with our other two dogs just fine. I am putting together a little movie of his first week, but until that is finished, here is a silly little video I made the other day with my Creative Vado HD video camera:

 

Speaking of the Vado HD Video Camera by Creative...I recommend it!

I have been, unsuccessfully, trying to save up for a fancy schmancy video camera to record the days of our lives. All I had for video was a not-so-great function on my little digital camera. It was better than nothing, but not always handy and I've missed so many great video opportunities over the years :( The other day, I got an e-mail touting the Vado HD and offering it for a ~very~ affordable price. I decided to go for it because I knew we weren't getting a fancy video camera any time soon AND I was tired of regretting missing out on good video of the girls (not to mention that Thing 2's FIRST BALLET RECITAL was just days away and I really didn't want to miss that opportunity).

The camera arrived the day of the recital and I put it right to work! I took several short videos before, during and after the recital and then put them all together with Windows Movie Maker. Here is my first attempt at video editing....

Get one of these awesome little handy dandy Creative Labs Vado HD Video Cameras from Amazon.com...

More videos to come!

Will Resume Soon

Summer vacation has started and my days are now filled with trying to keep the girls busy without spending much $$, refereeing sister fights, and trying to get my work done in between all that. Yesterday, we started sewing lessons and the girls quickly got bored with it when they realized that they weren't going to get to wear their new creations within 5 minutes of cutting them out. So, they ran off and I managed to make something I can actually wear...a cute little nightgown. I haven't sewn a thing for myself in years. It was fun and I would like to make more things for myself this summer. I hope the girls will learn to enjoy sewing as much as I do.

No, I don't have a photo of the new nightie yet. I doubt I'll model it for the world to see here, but I will try to snap a pic soon. I'm on a mad hunt for a dressmaker's dummy now, so that I can fit and photograph human-sized clothing ;)

Sorry this isn't a very exciting or interesting update. I will try to get better as soon as I can get into some kind of summer schedule. This first week is usually kind of unstructured and unproductive.

Bailey's Face Cups

I've been collecting the Bailey's Irish Creme Cups since they were first introduced sometime in the 90s. Well, I only had 4 (before yesterday, but I consider them a little collection because I love them and display them and am always looking for more at a good price. I got the Helen Hunt Limited Edition Cups with a bottle of Bailey's back in the 90s, then found a set of the man and lady cups at a thrift store a while back. I don't know how many cups were released in all, but I will find out and I will have them ALL some day ;)

Yesterday, while fluffing up my Antique Mall Booth, I found another set to add to my little collection...a Sugar & Creamer set! So cute and only $5 for the set!  They match the man and lady cups I already have and now my collection has 6...

Vintage Ever-Ready Razor

I am starting to understand the Vintage Razor Obsession...ha!ha! There are so many awesome old razors out there and the Shaving Community is so helpful and interesting. So, I went to add some things to my Antique Mall Booth yesterday, and the lady across the way had a lovely old flip-top Ever-Ready Razor (PAT'D 1912) just sitting there waiting for me. It was marked down with an additional 25% off, so I got a new specimen for my little collection for about $5!

This razor uses single-edge blades, which I haven't had a reason to purchase...until now. As soon as I can get some, I'll give this one a try.

Now, what to do with this little collection that will probably grow? I had a small cabinet out in the garage awaiting it's turn to be painted black, but I decided it would work nicely in the bathroom, as is, to house the razor stuff collection.

Great, just what I need...another hobby ;)

Vintage Reproduction Safety Razor & Real Vintage Safety Razors...

Last Christmas, I gave Mr. NeverBored a Safety Razor set up (vintage reproduction safety razor, shaving mug, badger hair brush, mug soap, a gazillion razor blades, and a book to help him learn how to use all that stuff). I must admit that my main motivation when I started looking at razor sets was the fact that Mr. NeverBored's razor cartridges were costing us a pretty penny each month...especially since he liked to have a new cartridge with almost every shave. Add that cost to the cost for my shaving cartridges (I could go at least a couple weeks with one) and $$ just kept adding up. So, I searched around on the Internet and decided that a Vintage Reproduction Safety Razor was the way to go! Not only would it look nice in the bathroom, we were going to save $$ on blades AND take a step in the greener direction of reducing waste (those cartridges and disposable razors create a lot!) So, I took the plunge, bought the set and presented it to him on Christmas morning. He was quite intrigued and that afternoon we retreated to the bathroom, book in hand, and had our first lesson. It resulted in the smoothest shave he's ever had and he was hooked ;)

Here is the book I purchased...

Leisureguy's Guide to Gourmet Shaving: Shaving Made Enjoyable

It was very informative and gave us all the info we needed to get started with Wet Shaving.

Here are items similar to what I purchased:

 

Badger Shaving Brush:

Colonel Conk Shaving Mug & Soap:

There are also fancy Shaving Kits that include everything:

But, you really don't need to spend that much to get started. You can actually get started for very minimal cost....AND! I'm pleased to report that Mr. NeverBored has not asked me to buy new razor blades yet! The starter pack that came with his set has lasted all these months AND there are still some left...even enough for me to snatch a pack and get started on my own Wet Shaving Adventure ;) ...

Ever since Christmas I have wanted my own safety razor set, but haven't had the extra $$ to buy all the stuff just yet. Then, the other day, I was at one of my favorite thrift stores and happened to find THREE vintage Gillette Safety Razors for only $2 each! They were a bit dingy and grungy, but I figured I could clean them up.

I did a little research on the Internet and here is what I came up with for VINTAGE SAFETY RAZOR CLEANING (check back a little later for the link to my tutorial) ...

From here to there

Too much time, too little to do...uh, strike that...reverse it...too much to do, too little time. I have been thinking about moving one of my web sites for a while now, but knew it could turn into a time sucking drain on me...so I put it off. Then, it was time to renew the domain name and I discovered that by moving the web site to the company that held the domain name, I could save about $400 this year. I contacted my current web host to try and negotiate some kind of reduction in monthly hosting fees (mainly so that I wouldn't have to actually do the huge moving project). No luck. I've been with them for almost 10 years and they wouldn't offer me anything to stay. Wow. So, they've lost a good customer and I'm going to save a bundle. Let's hope the new host works out [fingers crossed].

Long story short, that's what I've been doing this week. Moving a web site and dealing with all the hassles that go with that. I'm getting grumpy because I haven't gotten to make anything fun this week :( ...  well, that's not completely true...I did find time to make a cute little display case for my Antique Mall Booth and managed to clean up some awesome vintage safety razors found for a steal at a thrift store. I took photos and will put together a quick tutorial as soon as I can.

Back to the Interweb!

Couldn't Leave It Alone...

So, of course, I couldn't leave it well enough alone. I just kept looking at that black hem and not liking it and not being able to move on to another project because this one was bugging me. I thought about adding some lace or a black ribbon and a bow, but neither of those stretch and might require additional care after washing (i.e. ironing...something I really don't care for). Then I found it! A whole roll of black organza elastic lace! It's pretty and frilly and fun and stretchy...perfect! I pinned the lace over that ugly black hem, zig-zagged it on and done! I think it looks so much better now...and so does she ;)

It might still need a bow somewhere on the hem and some stripey sleeves...maybe I should change this blog to "Never Done!"

Lengthen a kid's Tshirt ( tutorial )...

Thing 2 has a birthday sleepover party tonight. She got up and dressed herself in a favorite T-shirt that is getting shorter every time she puts it on. Thing 2 is quite slender and only seems to grow in one direction...UP.  She is still able to wear clothes that she got when she was 4, but, of course, length is an issue.

I decided to tackle a project that I've wanted to try for a while now...lengthen a T-shirt. So, here is how ~I~ did it. I'm no expert and I'm sure there might be easier and/or better ways to accomplish this, but here is what I did...

 

 

 

1. Find another T-shirt to cut up and use for the extra length. I chose an adult T already on-hand (I'm trying to accomplish this project quickly and for zero cost ;)
   
   
2. Use the small T as a guide for how wide to cut the pieces from the larger T.
   
   I laid the small T on top of the large T (both inside out) and cut.
   
3. Next, I opted to serge the two long upper edges cut from the large T because they were starting to ravel a tiny bit. This might not be necessary on 100% cotton T material, but the large T was a stretchy poly blend, so serging the edges made it look nicer on the inside.
    
   
4. Then, with RIGHT sides together, serge both side seams. I stressed ~RIGHT sides together~ for my own benefit because I messed up the first go around and serged right to wrong side and had to rip it out and do it again ;0
   
5. Turn both small T and new lengthening band right side out and pin the band to the bottom of the small T. Since the band is stripey, I found it easiest to pin this way and use one of the stripes as a guide on where to pin. I made sure the upper serged edge of the stripey band was slightly above the stitching on the hem of the small T since I would use the old hem stitch as a guide for the new hem stitch.
   
   
6. Next, stitch the band to the small T. I would have chosen hot pink thread to match the original hem stitch, but I didn't have that on-hand and, as I mentioned before, I was attempting to do this project as quickly as possible and for no cost. So, I chose black thread and used a straight stretch stitch to attach the band. I sewed on the outside of the T, stitching through both the small T and the new band.
   
   
7. As expected, this method created a bit of a puckering effect when it was completed. I steam ironed the hem and it looked much better.
   
   
8. Done! Quick and easy and free ;)
   
   Again, I would have chosen thread to match the small T so the new hem wouldn't be so noticeable, but she's happy and she can wear her shirt for at least another season. I could cover the stitching with some cute trim or add a ruffle and I might add some more of the striped fabric and make the sleeves a bit longer because I think that would look cute, but that's for another day. Right now, I just need to get her to brush her hair and find some pants that match and we'll be ready to head out to the birthday party!

So, of course, I couldn't leave it well enough alone...

A different perspective...

This morning while cleaning off the kitchen table after the family has departed for their various work and school locations, I found this note penned by Thing 2 yesterday afternoon...

...a little glimpse into the life of an 8-year-old on a Wednesday afternoon.

I guess I have been stressed lately (probably a lot longer than just lately, but it seems to be more evident lately)....feeling pulled in about a million different directions at any time and not being able to get much actually accomplished...excuse me, I have to run upstairs and reprimand and retrieve the doxie who is in the yard barking non-stop at passerbys...I'm back, but that took longer than expected as I reached the yard and remembered that I promised Mr. NeverBored that I would...excuse me again, I have to run upstairs and yell at the giant lab puppy who is cleaning my kitchen counter right now...NOT forget to water the "crops". He planted grass, spinach and pumpkins last weekend...have I mentioned that I have BROWN thumbs?!? As I return to my desk, I remember that I have e-mails to send, bills to pay, web sites to update, packages to mail, projects to start and finish...all before the kids get home from school and that starts a whole different set of things I must do...etc.etc.etc.

I need a week or two off, but doubt that will happen any time soon. School is almost out for the summer. I used to love summer vacation. Vacation? What's that? I don't even recall the meaning of that word anymore. The last ~real~ vacation I had? A trip where there was just fun and a break from reality? That would have to be a trip to New York (won from E-online) with my BFF in December of 2004. That was almost 5 years ago. There have been a couple other trips since then, but none were just for fun...a move from the East Coast to here, a trip to visit family that was ill, a weekend camping trip to Estes Park with Thing 2's Brownie Troop (OK, that was fun, but being responsible for a cabin full of screaming Brownies is hardly relaxing ;) and...and...well, that's about it.

...stressed mom...yeah...I need to change that. I think one of my next projects will be a VISION BOARD with a VACATION prominently featured. But, first, I have to make a ~pretty~ Vision Board that will look nice in my newly redecorated studio ;)

 

 

 

 

In the interest of reducing stress and bringing more positive things into my life, I recently swapped to receive the book THE SECRET...

 

Swapped, you ask? Yes! I discovered SWAPTREE.COM a few months ago and have already completed a few trades and love it! The basic idea is to list books you have that you are willing to trade and then add books you would like to trade for and then wait for (or initiate offers). You each pay the postage to get the book to the other, but that's the only expense involved. If you would like to join (and give me a little credit for free postage ;), shoot me an e-mail (either you know me and my e-mail OR there is a link on the first page of this blog, in the column down the left side,  that looks like a vintage postcard) and I will send you an e-mail invite. After you join, you can invite friends and get free postage, too!

 

 

 

 

There is also a DVD, that I have watched:

Some of it is kinda hokey, but there are some good (common sense) ideas presented. Basically, think positive thoughts and good things will happen to you. Easier said than done, right? ;P

Sorry for all the whining...I will try to get back to more fun stuff soon.