Whooopsie!

Yeah, I knew I'd be a slacker, but,  umm,  WOW!

 In my defense, before Christmas, aside from the shawl, (which *still* isn't finished!)  I made 6 pairs of slippers, 3 infinity scarves, and 2 hats.

Okay, okay, I know....

I'd love to know what they heard out there, because they went from dead asleep, to looking out the window in a nanosecond!

Of course I never got any pictures of the work I did! I'm going to have to get one of at least one pair.  I also haven't gone through the paltry Christmas pictures I have to edit them either.  Yes, yes, slacker, I know.  And now I've been commissioned to make a mobius type sweater!   Soooo, Woohoo!

So, how were your Holidaze?

As usual...

Thanks for Noticing me!

           

The mess

I started out planning on a fun, and self congratulatory post, but since it was about Christmas presents, it got me to thinking...

The Holidays are such a stressful time, and usually it isn't even on our own behalf.  We want it all perfect, *for everyone else*.

I've come to the conclusion, that I'm not perfect.  Therefore, nothing about my holiday is going to be perfect. My kids will make me nuts, my food will be tasty, but not outstanding, someone will be less than thrilled with whatever gift I give them.  But here's the deal...

I'm sharing these days with my family, and with my friends.  They accept that I am not perfect.  They understand that I can't afford to buy them some of the things I want to give them, for the same reason they can't afford to buy them for themselves.  But they know that what I can give them is my undying, and unconditional love.  Behind every meal, behind every gift, behind every snark, giggle, and joke, is my affection for them.

I guess the moral here, is, why the hell are we stressing?  Let it go.  If the food isn't edible, does it matter? Will they hate you? No!
If there are only 1 dozen cookies left, will they hate you?  Ok, maybe, but still!

Let it go, and just enjoy being with the people you love, and who love you too.

Happy Thanksgiving

Today, I am thankful for so very many things.
 For the opportunity to express my views without persecution.
For the love of my family and friends.
For the laughter shared.
For the roof over my head, and the food in my stomach.
For my girls...
For my boys.
I am thankful that the place where I live, here in the N.E., was undisturbed by Sandy.

Today, while lighting the candles on my overfull table, I will think of the people I know, and that I never knew, that have no warm home,  no table left to gather around, and hope that very soon, they will be able to go back to their normal lives.

I will think of loved ones gone, never to share our table again.  And once again...

Be thankful for so very many things.

Happy, Healthy, Holiday to you all... Wherever you may be.

Much love,

Amanda

I. Am bored.

This almost never happens to me.  I can't even remember the last time I was this bored.  It's one of those "I'm bored"s that comes with total apathy.  My fingers ache, so yarn is out of the question... I don't feel like reading, and the internet has failed.  Failed *utterly*!  An epic, and utter, failure, the internet is tonight.  Did I mention I'm bored?  I get wordy when I'm bored. And I drone on, and on, and on...

Meet Ichi.  Our second suicidal Japanese fighting....Betta.










The first one... George... Managed to jump out of the tank.  My bad. I had it filled too high, and didn't have the lid on all the way... WHO KNEW?!?!  He was still alive when I dumped him back in the tank, but I guess he was out too long by the time we noticed.  (Those suckers dry out *fast*!)

I must've noticed Ichi right away, because he's still kicking a week later.  I still have no idea how he managed to swim fast enough to go through the plastic seaweed, and through the tiny gap in the lid, but, well, there it is.
Here he's in his new amusement par... ummm... tank.  It has a filter, and bubbler with lights.  he swims to the bottom of the tank, stays there by furiously spinning his fins, then lets himself drift into the bubbles and rides them to the top.  Pretty funny to watch, but I always thought he must be bored just swimming around in a tank with nothing but bits of plastic to amuse himself with.

That's my problem! I think I need to go search the internet for a giant bubbler!  Or I could, y'know, go to bed.

As usual folks,
Thanks for Noticing me!

Here we go again.

The life of a crafter does not lend itself to too many other pursuits. Add that to responsibilities, and things like needing to shower, and eat once in a while, and sleep... sleeping's good...  I tend to forget that I started this blog.

Working on gifts for everyone again, and realizing that I might actually make it is a pretty cool feeling.   So, since I will continue to be a blog slacker, I figure you deserve a bit of my own personal retail hell...
After I found my scraps of paper and receipts last time, I instantly lost them again, and ... well ... They've been in the notebook I keep next to my computer this whole time.

Duh.

We could start with the very pleasant girl who chatted with me the whole time she was making her med. sized coffee.... With 15 (I counted, because she did each one individually!) Splenda packets, then hit in 4 flavor shots in ex. large cup concentrations, (in other words, 1 would go in an ex-lg coffee cup, to flavor that much coffee.) took a sip, claimed the coffee was disgusting and tossed it in the garbage without paying for it.

Or a mildly funny.,.
We kept the gas station at about 70 degrees all year long.  On one particularly hot summer day, I could see folks walking toward the door, all sweaty and pissy, walk through the door and have this look of wonder cross their faces, and then smile and sigh. Every. Single. One.

And to finish it off, a jaw dropper...
A customer comes up the the U-scan... puts everything through until she gets to her bananas.  She's staring at the screen, and is completely ignoring my calls to her to see if she needed help.  She finally turns to me and asks, "Is this a fruit or a vegetable?"
No. Kidding.

Well, off to finish up a row! ( :

Have a great week, and as usual... Thanks for noticing me!

It's scary how my mind works...

 Let me start by saying, I'm not much of a "chick flick" watcher. I love "Fried Green Tomatoes", and that is one of maybe 3 movies of that genre I'll watch.  My collection includes more action/ comedies, sci-fi and superhero movies than anything else.  My TV tastes flow to mysteries, geekiness, and sci-fi.
Why do I bring this up?

For days I've had the song the girls sing in "A League of Their Own" stuck in my head, and today I decided to sit down and try to figure out why, considering I haven't seen the movie, or a commercial for it, in ages.  I don't like baseball, or dramas, or chick-flicks, but I love the cast, and I think the movie rocks.

AH-HA!

On my way home from a clients house, I pass a road called Stillwell... Stillwell Angel... "A League of Their Own"!
  So now random scenes of the movie flash through my head, and the League founder pops into my mind eye view... Ooh! NOW I know why that guy on "Alphas" looks so familiar!

 *sigh*

Randomness, people, randomness.

As usual, Thanks for Noticing me!

This is what I have been up to

Pumpkin picking with all the boys

Taking random road trips to see the foliage

Braving crowds of people to go to the Apple Festival, and I only freaked out twice!

Being awed by the critters in my own back yard

Baking  with what few apples are around

And adopting Ichi.  The pic doesn't do him justice, he's terribly pretty.

So. What have you been up to?  And as usual...
Thanks for Noticing me!