clean(-er) studio plus a hair dilemma

So, yesterday was not what I would call a day 'off'. Hubby's parents were going to pay for his muffler to be fixed while they were in town (as a birthday gift), but it turned out that the garage needed to order a part...so that got pushed back. He tried to do it Monday, but problems arose when they found the pipes to be so rusted that part of it broke...and then they were unable to fix it, anyway. Since we both had Wednesday off (well, he had a meeting in the middle of the day), we decided there's no time like the present, so off a few towns over we went to drop his car for the day. I slept until 6:30! Unfortunately, it was b/c i had had a few too many the night before and was a bit hung over.

At any rate, we stopped for coffee (I had chocolate milk, instead...feeling like coffee was maybe not the right choice for my churning stomach), dropped his car at the muffler place, went next door to get ink for his printer (since he just realized he ran out and needed some for some stuff for his meeting), then back home for a few hours. While he worked, I cleaned. After his meeting, we went to open a new bank account. We've been at Bank of America since Nantucket...it was one of only two bank choices on the island!... but we've been meaning to join a local bank. Unfortunately, that causes problems when we're away and need to use ATM's...this bank refunds our fees!! Not the point...

While at the bank, the woman filling out our forms and checking our id and whatnot, stops and says, 'you're license expired.' Of course it did! he just had a birthday...and the RMV doesn't send out an notifications like that anymore! So, after the bank we headed straight to the RMV...which is when hubby got the call with the estimate for his car...about $100 LESS than my mechanic quoted! And they said his muffler was fine, they just welded the broken pipe.

Soooo....after he gets his license taken care of, we head back home for a quick check of emails and a pit stop, but decide that since his car would be ready in about an hour, we'd just go back to the bakery for a cup of coffee and head back to Midas. Since, if Laurie and/or Ian are there, we always stop and chat a bit.

The rest of the night was dinner and tv and sitting on the sofa.

So, here's the studio.

Mostly, my desk was a dumping ground for bits of started projects. I tend to take piles of stuff upstairs to work on, don't have the room or time to finish them, and so the pile just gets plopped back downstairs. My 'paper making station' had turned into piles and piles of scraps. I ended up getting rid of two trash bags full of stuff!! Which is sad, b/c the end results don't look that impressive!

The main thing is that I can actually work at my desk now. And, things are put away. I threw away so much crap, that now my extra table is being used to hold all the empty boxes I now have! I have my finished stuff together in cases, there too. It's not exactly 'finished' and perfect, but I am not the type to finish a project like that in one day...i get tired of cleaning VERY quickly!

Now, I can start working on my new ideas/projects for my etsy shop and maybe feel proud about it again!! And start blogging about creative things again, instead of work!! (yuck!)

And in other news:

My hair. Seems to have stopped growing. It seems like everyone has my old haircut these days, and it makes me long for the times when people would comment on how cute my hair was. Now, I think they wonder if I own a brush.

This is my hair now...though it's pulled back into a 'ponytail'. I still have to wear a headband, b/c the front is still too short to stay back. and it just curls all over! I have little ringlets in the back!! There's just no length!

But here's what I'm thinking: it has to get thinned out. I look like Richard Simmons some days, and that's not cool! I just don't want to lose any length...or this could take forever. I don't want this to happen.

But, maybe thinned out, I could get this look?

Though, I have never had bangs, really, but always thought I wanted them...so, maybe this?

My main problem...i get up at 3:30 a.m. most mornings, for work. I don't shower in the morning, and I don't do product. Luckily, I seem to have some natural curl and body, my hairdresser KNOWS I don't do product, and she's been cutting my hair for years so I totally trust her. My dilemma is whether I should try to get in the week before we go on our trip (and I'm cutting it close to even being able to get in this close),so that i have fresh hair. Or, just suck it up until we get back, in case something terrible happens in the chair.

I know, I know...what a terrible life that THIS is my dilemma! It's just one of many, trust me!

So, any opinions on the do's?? I really like the bangs, but I have a cowlick(?) that may keep that from happening. :(

I've decided!

A long, long time ago, when I was just a small child (well, maybe not 'small', but young), I found some strips of paper with my mothers crafting things. When I asked what they were for, she showed me one of the most beautiful things ever...QUILLING.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quilling) <-- (I can't seem to do links as I used to. new format has me stumped...so not a technology person! :( I can make frowny faces and arrows, though)

I can probably trace my love of paper all the way back to that moment. For as long as I can remember, I truly have been IN LOVE with paper. I used to buy little pads of paper in all the gifts shops...and many times I wouldn't use the paper except for very special notes to very special people. Otherwise, I would just keep them to look at, and leaf through. I just love the feel of it!! I even remember getting a great set of monogrammed stationery from my grandma as a birthday gift in grade school (in a box she made!).(Am I kind of making myself sound crazy, right now?)

I found this blog of gorgeous things...

(source:http://allinweb.blogspot.com/2010/12/amazing-quilling-art.html )

So what's the big decision? Well, I've been struggling with my etsy shop for some time. I do love crafting. I do love paper. I do have a ton of paper piling up. I don't have a lot of time or motivation to get to the studio. But I want to keep my shop open. I want to be able to create something beautiful. And I want to be able to play with my papers.

Quilling melds all of my loves and it brings me back to my childhood. I mean, it's like a 3-D version of my doodles!! Being an artistic person who can't draw is a real bummer!! So, I lean towards swirls and circles in my sketching. I even took a calligraphy class in 6th grade...penmanship as art!!

And, oh my!! the possibilities!

So, I'm excited again.

This was my first attempt, from last week. I used a toothpick, since i don't have the proper quilling tools, yet; and, i cut strips of paper from the pile of scraps I have everywhere in my studio.

Today, I'm planning on cleaning and organizing that mess so that I can have a fresh clean space! I'm carving time out of my schedule to craft. I'm slowly getting back into the etsy thing, and hoping to (maybe) get some stuff together and try to hit the holiday craft show scene again. Fingers crossed, I haven't (AGAIN) waited too long!

my brain...it's thinking weird things

Lately, while driving or dozing off to sleep or taking my break at work, my mind has been wandering in a direction towards craftitown. I'm not sure why? Possibly b/c the in-laws just left so i feel like I can take some time for myself? Maybe it's the holidays creeping up? Maybe it's b/c i haven't been working out, so i need to fill my thoughts with other things? Or maybe I'm finally ready to be creative again?

Who knows? What I do know, is that I am planning on cleaning and organizing my studio this week. I am planning on getting some stuff done...maybe work on the journals I had started prepping a year ago?

Right now, I'm exhausted and have to get to sleep, but before I do...

the guy who is in charge of ordering our pet food and such (at my Trader Joe's job, not the animal hospital) has decided to put up a board for people to post their 'Trader Joe's pets'. They want to get some employee pets with TJ's food/treats, to start the ball rolling before inviting customers to bring in their own pics.

Moxie was a good model, but couldn't figure out what we were doing.

But once I put that treat out for her, she didn't care about anything but getting that tasty morsel to her bed (yes, we let her eat in bed, but only HER bed...never in ours!). We are always amazed at how good she is with 'wait'. I'm such a proud momma!!

i did it...

...sort of.

I got into the studio today!

But i wasn't there very long.

But I like some of the creative tidbits i did.

But there, of course, there's always something. It is arts and crafts, afterall. I can't seem to get the glue thing down!

ever have one of those weeks?

I have only one day off a week, but i still always feel like my week starts on Monday b/c Monday and Tuesdays are my really long days. Those are the days i work at the vet and if it's slow, the day drags on; but, if it's busy, it's just a really long day of getting beat up. So, either way, this job is becoming part of my life that is no longer enjoyable.

I had to bathe a black lab Monday. He was fine for his bath, but he had a 'caution' in his record. I wasn't sure why, so i muzzled him to clean his ears, but not for the bath, b/c he seemed more stressed with it on. The morning was full of craziness, it seemed like everyone who walked through the door needed x-rays, and there was a laproscopic spay (which calls for two techs) and we were short a tech. By lunch time, i was ready for a break. After lunch, I asked for help with the black labs nail trim. This is when we realized why he was a 'caution' He didn't bite, but he flailed, and jumped and racked his back nails across my leg, and arm, and when we brought him to the ground, he slammed my knuckle against the concrete floor. My hand was bruised, my leg was on fire, and the way they had him down, I had to clip his nails. I was doing okay, but then i made one bleed...and then another...and i think there were a total of 6 nails bleeding by the time i was done. and one refused to stop bleeding!! All i wanted to do was go home!! :(

when the day finally ended, 15 minutes later than normal, i rushed home to change and then we were off to dinner with my in-laws. 'How was your day?' asked my MIL. 'TERRIBLE!' I replied.

After the hugs and hellos...'Do you want to have drinks now, or just wine with dinner?' they asked. 'Oh, I'll have a drink now!' I'm not sure how they all felt about that, but it was such a terrible day that I had decided that I'm done with the pleasantries...I needed a drink, and I was going to have it!!

Hoping Tuesday would be better was just a waste of time...it wasn't. I have such a stiff neck that I can barely turn my head. I ran this morning to try to loosen up, but the bruise on my leg actually hurts when I move! I ran for about a mile and then mostly walked back home. It was nice to get out though...best part of my week so far, I'd say.

Today, Hubby and i are both off, though he will be doing freelance stuff at some point. So I'm not sure what the plan is, but when he is off doing his work, I am planning on doing SOMETHING in my studio...even if i just cut and paste a bunch of stuff together, I have GOT to do something!!

156

That was my number today.

Here are some other numbers:

5:30am...the time the dog would let me sleep no longer.

8:30am...the time i met up with friends to travel to the 5K venue

10am...the time everyone got 'lined up' to run...by which i mean, there was a huge ass mob waiting to get going

10:45am...the time the race actually started after tributes to 9/11 heroes, the pledge of allegiance, the bag pipes playing 'amazing grace', prayers, thanks, etc, etc

356...my place overall out of 860 runners

33...my place in my age group (30-39). I don't know how many were in my age group, but I kept up with my friends in my age group.

32:13.8...the time i crossed the finish line

10.22...my min/mile time

1 pm...the time we finally made it to the restaurant where the food and beer were

2pm...when i got out of the hot tub, fully relaxed and ready to get together with the in laws for grilled sausages at our house.

And, 4 great peeps to share my first 5K with.

That's me on the left, then Lynne, Laurie, Sara, and Kevin. actually, we were also running with Zoe, but her family met her at the finish line and they took off. It was a great day and I feel so good about doing it. I never stopped once, not even to walk. I ran the whole 3.1 miles and shaved another 2 minutes off my best time!! So, I ran farther than my normal run...in less time!!

I think i will keep running for exercise, but I imagine the races will be few and far between! :)

Looking back...to keep my mind off looking forward!

So, we're taking a trip next month. It's about 6 weeks away, but it's truly all I can think about!! I may have mentioned it previously, but to re-cap: 2 nights in New Hampshire at The Inn at Thorn Hill, in Jackson. I got a great deal through AAA and I have not used any vacation time since our last vacation in November of last year. So I'm treating myself.

A few months ago, a friend of mine fixed an old medium format camera that Hubby had bought at a yard sale or something. He got it b/c it's cool to look at, but our friend had some film and he fixed the winder and i gave it a go. A call from the photo lab said there were about 3 very dark images, but nothing recognizable. I decided not to play around with that camera right now. It was much like the experience with the pinhole camera...I just don't have time to figure it out right now. HOWEVER, I am still planning on getting back in touch with my old 35mm...which i think will help me get better with the other cameras. I mean, it's just for fun anyway, but I hate that feeling of wasting my time. There is so little of it as it is!!

But I decided to take the old camera on our trip to New Hampshire. Where we're staying is ski country, but we are going before ski season and we are not skiers, anyway. But we do like to walk and hike and last time we went up north to hike, I was glad for the camera...it's just breathtaking.

Thinking about the olden days before digital and past hiking trips, I dug through some old photos.

I scanned a few (none from that trip). It's much harder (well, time consuming) to take picture, have developed, scan, save, maybe edit (though I am horrible at that so i tend to skip that step), post...ugh...so much work! :) Keeping that in mind, I will probably bring the old 35mm, zoom lens, little elph panoramic, AND elph digital. I'll definitely be carrying a backpack!!

At any rate, here are a couple old shots:
The baby Moxie when we first brought her home!! There is absolutely NOTHING cuter than a puppy!! I can't believe how tiny she was!!

And I found our pictures from the actual wedding day at The Little Chapel of the West in Vegas. Leather pants, sparkly tops and shoes...classy, eh!? That was us in our 20's. And in comparison, our 10 year anniversary shot. Now that's what i really call classy!! Either way you go, I don't think you can be 'out of place' in Vegas...and, clearly Vegas marriages CAN last!!

well hello, September!

My how the summer days fly by here on Cape Cod!! I can not believe it's September already. And we're already a few days in!! My life has been a whirlwind of little bits of time snatchers.

It seems all my friends are turning 40 this year! I've been to at least 3 parties this summer, the latest being my pal Hannah's 40th last night. I wish I had brought my camera...her adorable hubby bought her a retro Huffy that my sisters and auntie would swoon over!! (hey, girls she wants to hook up with us for a canal ride some time...leaf peeping season is headed our way...)

Work has kept me busy both at the store AND outside of my scheduled hours. As I may have mentioned I was asked to be 'section leader' for our cheese section some time ago (geez, was it all the way back in the Spring??). Since taking the responsibility, they have changed the way they do employee tastings to include an all day thing where little groups of co-workers come to the break room, do a little tasting, get a little informational presentation from the section leader, then off to the section for some pointers on how we like things to be done...for consistency's sake.

My section was 3rd on the list...I should've done this weeks ago. However, I was pushed back a week because we had a flyer coming out, so we had daily tastings for that. then Hurricane Irene sent everyone into a tizzy and I ended up just working the day I was scheduled to do my 'bit'. And so, today is finally the day I can get this over with. What's the big deal?? Well, I'm no public speaker and I have been on edge since the moment I found out I would have to do this...yes, the entire time...about 6 weeks of stress! So here's the deal...the first girl made a poster with some facts and had a couple recipes using the chicken sausages she was sampling. The second girl wore a toga b/c she was sampling Greek yogurts. 'I am not dressing up!!'

Here's my poster: Maybe you can click it and see the detail and my 3-D visual aide (my up close pics were sideways and I'm far too busy (or lazy) to fix them!) It has been hanging in our break room for about a week and a half! So my 'class' will mostly be a tasting since most people are already sick of looking at my poster!! (I did get kudos on my Martha Stewart-esque poster making skills and added 3-D affects.)

Of course, to prepare myself, I also brought back wine and cheese Sunday a couple weeks ago: Starting at the top left corner; plain ol' Red Wax Gouda (Goudas, if you don't know are VERY mild cheeses...not much to say about them), Pinot Grigio Salami, granny smith apples, some meats from a Spanish meat sampler (everything from Trader Joe's btw & of course), Reduced fat smoked (if you like a smoked Gouda, and care about fat and calories, this is a great sub...doesn't takes low fat at all, and I'm sure it has to do with the smoking), Old Amsterdam Aged Gouda (omg, so good! i said Goudas are mild but if you get an aged, hard variety there's some depth. I grated leftovers into risotto! yum!), crackers...pita crackers are so yummy!, and lastly a Double Creme Gouda (the last cheese leader said she hated this cheese and that she didn't stock it b/c it didn't sell well...I decided to bring it in to fill space and sell quite a bit. I thought it was a nice change from the boring red wax Gouda...the first few bites are kind of buttery.)

Okay, enough about cheese and Trader Joe's!!

My garden bit the dust (again) this year. I am terrible at watering it and just get too caught up in other things to remember it's even there! Hubby is still getting a few late tomatoes, so he's happy. He got one tiny pumpkin that had been sitting in the window until yesterday (rotted). No other squash (I think the giant pumpkin patch that formed kept the rest of that one bed from getting any sun). I got a few snow peas and beans that were consumed by Moxie and me upon picking, so nothing in the freezer this year. My edammame grew and I wasn't sure how to harvest them, but I wanted to try this year (last year I ended up just saving the peas to replant). I got some tiny ones that i cooked and ate!!

They were just so small compared to what you get when you order them out! Yummy, though!

Let's see...in spider news, I nearly got eaten by another giant one!! I noticed this little beauty in the nick of time before walking straight into it when arriving home from work. Then Hubby nearly did the same thing when he came home. And then, we went out last night...and i forgot about it and was on the other side of the car when Hubby said, 'oh, did you get rid of the spider!?' To which I replied, while wildly flailing about messing up my hair, 'NO!! IS IT IN MY HAIR!!!???? IT'S IN MY HAIR!!!' Which it wasn't...it must've blown away or something? Perhaps i walked into it and he scurried up the awning? I don't know, but the thought of that giant spider in my hair...yuck! 'Stupid hair!'

Oh, hair... (pardon my bug eyes) it's getting there...it's already actually longer than in this picture. I think my super short cuts have caused my hair to revert to it's 'baby days' when I had ringlets. It is pretty curly these days. Sometimes I think I look like my grandmother.

And mixed in with it all, Hubby is actually working MORE now that he lost his full-time job. Hurricane Irene took a lot of power out here on Cape...we were out from Sunday at 11 am until Tuesday at 5 pm. Luckily we have a gas cook top, hot water heater, and also town water. We also had little food in our fridge, so it ended up just being a good reason to get rid of last years half jars of pasta sauce. We had fires and wine in the back yard...and bbq's and gin & tonics. You can see my new summer gift to myself (which I purchased the weekend before Hubs found out he was losing his job, of course!)...it's a retro rocker...it was half price and I wanted it!! Irene also took the power out at our friends bakery...when it finally came back on (last Thursday) we went over to help clean up ...and pretty much throw away everything they had! Sadly, it included someones birthday cake! :(

You can see in the spider picture, one of our new outdoor lights (also purchased that same weekend...we had finally decided to fix our non-working outdoor lights!!). We got two new post lights, 2 new front porch, 2 new back porch, and the one side light. And my nice electrician friend put them all in in about an hour...and invited us to his annual Halloween party while he was here. Great...another social engagement!! :)

I've been running (which is another reason I've little time for creativity or blogging...I've been trying to lose the last 15 pounds -again- so most of my blogging is in the form of fitness ups and downs and kept elsewhere) and signed up for my first 5K. It's a week from today and I've managed to pack on another 5 pounds these past couple of weeks...which means I'm going backwards. Whatever...I have other things to think about! :) I'm nervous, but I've been running 3 miles 3 days a week, so I know I can do it. But I'm running with 2 friends, and so far I have only ever run alone...it will be an adjustment.

The day BEFORE the race, my in-laws arrive. This visit will be interesting. For one, they like to have lunch with us when they get in...but hubby is working until 4 pm that day. And then I have the race the next day...and he's working. They are used to him at least having weekends off. But I have taken 3 whole days off to coincide with Hubby's days and their visit. And then there's the birthday dinner...to which he decided he wanted to invite a few of his close friends...which, I think, doesn't make mommy very happy...she likes that intimate dinner, just the four of us, but its HIS birthday, so i hope she doesn't guilt him too much.

A little farther into the future, we are getting away to New Hampshire for a couple nights next month. I got a AAA email with this deal for 50% off admission to a food festival of some sort here in Mass. When I opened it up, I saw another 'deal' on the sidebar, and clicked it. It was a 2-night stay at this inn & spa, including one dinner in their lounge, breakfast both mornings and an afternoon tea, plus $20 off any spa treatment. for $260...for the both of us!! We barely hesitated to book the trip and I'm so excited to get away and sit on a wrap-around porch surrounded by mountains and trees, sipping a hot cup of coffee snuggled up in my warm bathrobe.

So that's it for now. I know I've said it before, but I'm hoping with summer winding down, I can get back into the swing of things. I re-opened my etsy shop and keep forgetting it's there. I am making a decision to add stuff or shut it down...when I can find the time to think about it!

I hope everyone's having a great summer...and, looking forward to fall?? I've not been able to keep up with my blog reading, but I've caught a few bits here and there...and I can see I'm not the only busy one around!!