Will the real dog stand up?

So I've been very busy working away at sock dogs. I had to badger Gravity into this photo, and to not tearing the buddies apart. One of them is blind and can't smell anything yet. I'm still working on that one.

My first attempt at making a sock dog.

This is my very first completed sock dog. Instructions came out of Martha Stewarts Kids magazine, Special Winter 2003 issue. You can still find copies of them on Ebay.

I'm pretty happy with him, even though he didn't come out quite as I expected. It might be the material of the socks, because I wanted a soft and fuzzy sock dog. Additionally, I don't know how to hand sew very well. The magazine quotes that it takes an afternoon to create. I spent an hour on it on Friday. Maybe 2 hours yesterday, and another 4 hours tonight. I hope to get much better at it.

Positive note, I completed my first sock dog!! Sad note, they postponed The Killers concert. Apparently the lead singer has bronchitis. My sister in law is going to the Sasquatch festival next Sunday, so is unable to go. Do I get a refund, or do I go anyways? Decisions, decisions.

What Gravity brought in.

So Friday evening, Jeremy and I went to Mark and Lisa's get together, where we drank Georgetown's "Bob's Brown". Its a fantastic beer, that is only created once a year. All the proceeds are donated to the charity that helped Bob out, before he passed away. Bob was a friend of Manny, the owner of Georgetown Brewery, a local Seattle microbrewery.

We got home just after one am. Let the dog out to go potty. Half an hour later, and not answering the calls of "Chicken strips!!" I started to worry. Gravity finally came up the porch stairs, but with an additional something in her mouth. I thought it was a very large rat.

Luckily she answered to the command "Drop!", dropped it, and went inside the house. I quickly went inside the house, and left the porchlight on. Not a large rat, but a small opossum. Was it dead? No, it was breathing. Gravity whined, and pawed at the glass sliding door. "Mine! Let me get it!" I'm fairly sure she was saying.

I continued to watch for the next half hour. Apparently it had been playing "possum". It slowly got up. Hissed when Gravity threw herself at the glass door again. It slowly meandered around the porch, trying to figure out how to get away. At 2 am, I turned off the light, dragged our beagle to the bedroom, and shut the door.

Where Jeremy and I was then subjected to 6 hours of whining and door scratching. She begged and begged to be let out to collect her prize. "I caught it, its mine. Let me catch it before it gets away!!"

Here area couple of hazy photos through the glass door, as I was not about to get up close and personal with our neighborhood wildlife.

Wrong number...

I had the best wrong number phone call at work the other day. This probably tops my favorite list.

"Hi this is Cyndy at ****. How many I help you?"
"This is Alfie, NSL, No sex life....mumble mumble mumble."
Thinking this had to be a joke, I said ,"Excuse me?"
He said, "This is Alfie, NSL, No sex life, I'd like to cancel my ads."

How's that for a wrong number to perk up your day?

Heh.

Why I never get any art & crafts done...

This is my arts & crafts room. Try not to get lost getting out.

Just a really busy Saturday.

Just after 2 pm, and I've put another load of laundry in. Since I last checked in, I dropped the winter comforter off at the laundromat, went to Storables in Bellevue and bought a big clear container for the fabric that belonged to my Grandmother, 2 containers to put flour and sugar in, a medium sized laundry basket to separate whites, and then a small container to hold current create a monster of some sort project in. I then headed over to Joann's in Crossroads, to buy some stuff with my $50 gift card that I got from work.

I ended up getting 3 magazines. Altered Couture, Cloth Paper Scissors, and Adorn. Adorn looks kind of cheesy, but here was one or two interesting projects in it. I was hoping to use my 40% coupon on my Altered Couture magazine, but it looks like they discount all their magazines by 10% off now, so you can't do that anymore. *sigh* I didn't get any fabric, although I looked at some more fleece. Until I have a good project in mind, I didn't want to buy any more fabric.

Anyways, the fabric is now boxed up, but still in the living room floor. I got more than I had realized. Now I have to figure out where to put the baking pans and dishes that I took. I need a nap.

Saturday morningish...

Its only 11 am. I've already done one load of laundry, mowed the lawn, weeded for an hour, taken batteries and scrap metal to the yearly county hazardous waste event, bought one of their rain barrels for $20.00, and gone to the Post Office.

A little torqued off at a Craigslist buyer. He wanted to buy my autographed baseball and to meet me last night. But then never called/showed up. I called him and left a voice mail, but no response. Grrr.

Anyways, I need to go buy a couple of plastic bins to store my fabric and crafts in. Make a trip to Joann's to use the gift card work gave me, take some books to a 2nd hand bookstore, and maybe, hang out with Martha after 2:30 if she is still up for it. I'm getting exhausted just thinking about how much I have to do.

Sunny Thursday

The nice thing about Thursdays, is that if you work Monday thru Friday, you know you only have to survive one more work day before the weekend. I am definitely ready for my weekend.

Yesterday, as I walked to the bus, I saw some construction workers coming around. Having seen them working all over the neighborhood and wanting to know what they were working on, I stopped and asked one. They were putting in fiber optic cable for Verizon. Wahoo!

At least is was wahoo until we got home from work. And found out they had disconnected our DSL. Its back up now, but I missed my internet connection, even for that brief moment. I wanted to write in my blog, and I needed to respond back to a potential buyer from something that I had put on Craigslist.

On the ride home, I started looking at my plush-o-rama book. My art goal is to create at least two monsters this weekend, and think about making a hat out of an old sweater. My other goals include: laundry, mowing the lawn, cleaning the living room, and both the bathrooms. Cross fingers!

Bugs, Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble, and taking the bus.

I got home from the last of the early morning shifts, and found that I have won 4 tickets to the Woodland Park Zoo for commuting a couple of weeks ago. Pat on the back for saving gasoline. Of course, I drove all last week while I was recovering from my cold and due to early shifts, but will be back to taking the bus tomorrow.

Reading my Sew Subversive book, and I'm very excited to rip something apart, and try to create something out of it. Muahahahaha.

Going to have dinner at my sister in laws, tonight, waiting for the hubby to get home from rock climbing.

I have included a photo of my strawberry rhubarb crumble, which will make your mouth water. I have also included a photo of the bug infestation in my backyard. This will promptly make you lose your appetite.

Cynky de Mayo, Cinco de Mayo, and the day after.

Friday, May 4th, was Cynky de Mayo, as my husband likes to put it.

It started off at 6:07 am with a Happy Birthday chorus from my friends Maya and Tim, who were still in bed. I on the other hand, had already been at work for 15 minutes.

Just before 11 am, a call came across the caller id display, Vernon LMP, Jason. My best friend Jason tried to surprise me by stopping by the office and taking me out to lunch. Unfortunately Google Maps had my company's LAST location, from a little over a year ago. He was trying to figure out what floor we were on. Doh.

So he stopped by, and I ended up with a really awesome book "Flawed Dogs" by Berke Breathed, and a box of Oh! Chocolates. I also got a really neat piece of silk tied around the box, that I'll have to use for a project.

After work, I met Jeremy and Ali at Alison's apartment. We walked from her apartment to the Taphouse, split a Mediterranean hummus appetizer and drank beer. I had a sampler of porters. Snoqualmie Falls Porter, Mac & Jacks Porter, Rogue Mocha Porter, and Stone Smoked Porter. My favorite was the Rogue Mocha Porter. Mac & Jacks is normally my favorite porter, but for some reason, wasn't holding its head.

We then walked over to The Melting Pot. Yummmm. The cheese fondue was excellent!!

The next day, Cinco De Mayo, we drove down to Portland, OR. Once a year, we make the trip and meet my father and sister down in Camas, Wa to see my Aunt Gilda. On this day, we celebrate everyone's birthdays. Mostly mine, and my father's.

This year, Jer was thankful that we ate at McMennamins. He does not like to eat at the Beaches restaurant that we have eaten at in the past. After lunch, we make our annual trip out to the Skyline Cemetery in OR, to visit my Grandfather,Grandmother, and Uncle Ray.

After the trip to the cemetery, we spent an hour at Powells bookstore - the best bookstore in the world. I escaped with only two books in hand, and purchased the three that Jeremy chose. I'm pretty excited. I bought two books on sewing. One more generaly one, and one for sewing skirts.

We finished with cake at my aunt's house, and then a couple of hours running through my Grandma Marie's old house, snagging items that my Aunt doesn't want to keep. I took a couple of sweaters, some of my Grandma's fabric that she had used,some linen napkins that she had made, and a few of her baking dishes. I guess Uncle Ken is thinking about buying a cabin up in Anacortes, WA to be closer to his kids and grandkids.

Today was a pretty busy, if mellow day. Slept in, washed laundry, exchanged a couple of shirts, bought groceries, and picked Gravity up from doggie daycare. I spent about an hour in the backyard weeding, and came across 4 of the new plants. They seem to be infested with bugs. Its still creeping me out. I had to shower as soon I came inside. Brrrrr.

Well, goodnight, sleep tight, and don't let the garden creepy crawlies get to you. I have to work the early 6 am shift again tomorrow.

Howling beagle alert.

Gravity's outside patrolling the yard right now. A little howling, an the enticement of a Costco doggie chicken strip to come inside. Doggie crack. Since we introduced those treats, she doesn't think about much else.

"Gravity, want to go potty?" Dog looks at me, then looks longingly at the closet door that the chicken strips are behind. "No, mom, but how about a chicken strip? I'll just pee and poop on the carpet, and you can clean it up later." Sigh. Beagles definitely have expressive eyes.

Nothing too terribly interesting happened today. Went to work, boss came in, then left 4 hours later feeling ill again.

Made some small talk with the other tech support/QA guy about not being full blown out OCD, but having some pesky quirks that just can't get gotten rid of. He can't close the car door unless he has his car keys in his hands. Locks the car door, but can't shut it if he doesn't have the keys in his hand and physically looking at them. Doesn't matter if he knows they're in his pocket, or can feel them in his pocket.

Think about it. Is there anything in your life that you're maniacally crazy about?
I used to be crazy about keeping my heavily read books in mint condition as a kid. Maybe having to finish a book when its been started. I'll have to think about it some more.

If thats too hard of a thought to contemplate, did you ever see the movie Amelie? Brilliant movie. In French, so if you don't like reading subtitles, probably not for you. But in the beginning, it goes through the likes and dislikes of various characters. Dislikes almost more of a pet peeve even. Think about your own, and leave a comment.

I started off with Likes, but realized that wasn't a good category, because it was too easy to give a broad answer. Likes for tomorrow, dislikes for today.

I dislike: wet hair dripping down my neck, trying to put sheets on the bed after I've just cut my fingernails, cheap toilet paper (a shout out to my artfest buddy Kim!!), and getting my hands dirty.

Sick people all around me.

Shift eyes left. Empty chair of sick person. Shift eyes right. Empty chair of sick person. No wonder I got sick. Its blowing through the office. Took out my boss and the admin today.

Work was busy busy busy today. I responded to more phone calls and emails in one day, then I normally do in a week. Pretty crazy. Since the admin was out, I also took care of lunch. MMMmmmmm Thai food.