Oh, Hai!

I know it's been over a week since I posted last, but everything is a little nuts around here!  Lots of GOOD changes :) that I wish I could talk about, but unfortunately can't just yet. :(
I'm meeting personal goals that have been a very long time coming.  LIFE IS GOOD, my dahlings!

I'm making new friends left and right; I'm in better shape physically than I have been in years, thanks to going Swing Dancing every week for over a month now.

I'm extremely blessed by my family.  Gran said she never knows what to get me for my birthday (coming up in June), so she got me new dance shoes!  After 12 years of faithful service, my Bleyers officially bit the dust at last Friday's GA Tech dance...

Poor babies. :(

 ...so the Aris Allens have been ordered and should arrive any day!*  They are very similar to the Bleyers, but the strap is a little wider, which I love!

Soon, my pretties, you will be all mine! :)

I'm wearing canvas sneakers in the interim.  They are ok.  Not great, but I can Lindy in them and not break something, so just for tonight it's not that bad.

*5/22/13 EDIT: They came this afternoon!  The left one is a little snug in the toe, but I figured out (from experience) that the next half size up would be too big and rub blisters, and as the right foot fits perfectly, I conclude that the injury I sustained in college to my left foot (which resulted in two broken digits) is likely responsible for the difference.  I'm going to take them to a shoe shop and have them stretched just a tiny bit.  I'm like a size 5 ¾ instead of either a 5½ or a 6. :P
Should I have to go with the 6s, the company has an amazing return policy, so that won't be a problem to just swap out one for the other.  I think these will fit the bill, though.  I'm more than thrilled with them and Tuesday can't get here fast enough!!! :)

In the next couple of weeks, be sure to check out the Mailbox page, as there will be updates and links for photos.  I'll be showing off a lot of the awesomeness that has been arriving via USPS.
Until later, my dear readers.  Love to you all!

Return To Sender

Nothing makes me sadder in mail adventures than seeing something I sent out weeks ago back in my mailbox with a sticker on it telling me it couldn't get to where I wanted it to go. :(

One time, I sent a letter to a pen pal in Germany, whom I had connected with through social media.  I used the address from her awesome custom stamp and made SURE it was right.  It came back some 2 weeks later, saying it couldn't reach her.  So I sent her a message to double check the address, which was EXACTLY what I had used!  I put it in another envelope, RTS stickers and all, and tried again with the SAME address and she got it 3 days later.  One of those postal mysteries that leaves you scratching your head and going "???!".

And then there is the hassle of convincing people (mostly businesses) who send mail to individuals who no longer live at your address that they should stop sending things addressed to that person.  (I'm looking at you, insurance company!)  I had to physically walk into an office, hand them the stack of mail that had kept arriving weeks after I had made calls to remove my address from their list, and very slowly spell it out for them to STOP. SENDING. THESE.  I think they FINALLY got the message!

I sent out to a pen pal from France a few weeks ago and it came back RTS.  I had her parents address that she had given me as a backup though, and so far I haven't heard anything so maybe she got it and will write back soon.

Do you ever get things returned back to you, readers?  I hope it doesn't happen very often!

Backlog

When life has practiced its pitching arm and starts slinging things at you, one after the other (not all bad!  A lot of it good!), and when a whole community of wonderful people are sending you lovely letters to fill up the mailbox... this happens! :)

I've had a rotten cold the last 2 days because of the pollen, so that has also kept me from attacking the backlog stack with alacrity.  But never fear!  I'll get caught up hopefully by the end of the week! :)
How do you handle your letters when you get behind?

PSA For My Pre-school Mom Friends

Yesterday at the library, I let Cute Gremlin the Younger pick out a DVD as a reward for being a big helper.  It looked innocuous enough.  I mean, who doesn't love Hello Kitty, right?  Well, I did.  Until now.

Be advised.  This:

Will drive you batty.

The animation is cute enough, but the audio of Kitty and Mimi's high voices and giggles in stereo is worse than

This

This

And This

COMBINED.

Maybe I can convince her to trade it out for a Barbie movie.  Please, please, please let her want the Barbie movie... O_o

Ahoy, Matey!

Arrrrr!!!! Avast, me Hearties!  Today be International Talk Like A Pirate Day!  Whether ye be chartin' a course through the perilous sea o' traffic on the interstates, or swabbing the decks and spit shinin' yer vessel at home port (translation: housework and laundry at home. Though with very young buccaneers underfoot, it may well be more "spit" and less "shine".), raise yer glass o' grog and enjoy the spirit of the day!  As it be Wednesday, I thought this series of High Seas Hijinks were in order.  Hoist the Colors and weigh anchor!

I ♥ Pixar More Than Ever Before

Before I launch into today's Video Wednesday, let me offer this friendly PSA:

PUT DOWN WHATEVER DRINK YOU MIGHT HAVE IN YOUR HAND.  RIGHT NOW.  I DON'T WANT TO BE HELD LIABLE WHEN YOU RUIN YOUR SINUSES AND/OR COMPUTER SCREEN BECAUSE YOU LAUGH SO HARD, WHATEVER YOU WERE DRINKING MAKES AN ABRUPT AND UNPLANNED DETOUR THROUGH YOUR NOSTRILS.  (AS I MENTIONED BEFORE IN A POST BACK IN EARLY APRIL, MILK IS MODERATELY PAINFUL, BUT SODAS BURN.)  OH, AND YOU MAY AS WELL TAKE A POTTY BREAK BEFORE PRESSING PLAY, SO YOU DON'T KILL YOUR BLADDER MUSCLES WHILST YOU ARE DOUBLED OVER IN HYSTERICS.  THANK YOU.

Oh, mercy.  I needed this SO bad!  *Wipes tears from eyes, still holding sides*

Mind Your Fuel Grade ;)

I found this a little bit ago and thought it was hysterical.  Finally got around to posting.  SO FUNNY!  Enjoy!!! :)

Insomnia

How cute is this guy?  I'd count lots of
these if I thought it would help!

I'm retro-posting this because even though it would seem like not being able to sleep would give me plenty of time to blog, it hasn't.  I have had trouble sleeping for a long time now.  I'm taking steps to find a solution, but the causes of my sleeplessness are many and varied, so it's not as simple to cure as it might first appear.  "They make sleep aids, Jenny," I hear some of you saying (especially you, best-friend-who- has-spent-the-last-20-years-I've-known-you-in-school- [of some kind, be it regular 5th-12th or all that was beyond] studying-to-become-a-pharmacist.)  "just take one and go to bed."

Well, I would love to.  Problem is, I have never had a tolerance for any kind of pharmaceuticals, and even mild over-the-counter stuff messes with my delicate system and renders me catatonic and unable to function.  (I am already not functioning due to sleep deprivation, but the meds make me have a headache and feel icky on top of it and even MORE unable to function.  I'll take the lesser unpleasantness, thanks.)  In addition, I have dependents who need me to do things for them at certain times each day, and I can't fulfill those responsibilities if I'm knocked out by (safe, legal and even prescribed) drugs.  It's a paradox.  I can't not sleep, but I can't take drastic measures to make myself sleep.  Sigh.  Why is it always complicated??

Things I can't do while only getting a maximum of 3 hours of sleep per night for more than 4 consecutive nights:
1. Drive for any length of time.  Thankfully, the places I generally HAVE to go are within a 10 mile radius (and I would never get behind the wheel if I knew I wasn't safe to do so.  I'm mostly talking hour long trips across Atlanta here.)
2. Blog.  I stare at the blank screen and... I got nothin'.  Which always sucks, but even more so when it's in the middle of the A-Z Challenge!!! :P
3.Work.  Big things are happening for Lucy Jane and I have to come up with a solution fast, because even cutting out pattern pieces is taking WAY WAY longer than it should.
4. Deal with 4 Gremlins (cute as they may be) alone while Husband is still away for work in a non-irritable way.  ... I don't think I need to expound on this one at all.  Self explanatory.  I want to be all cuddly and happy with them and I can't when their normal being children-ness gets on my nerves.
5. Write letters.  At least, coherent and non-weird ones.  My 52 Weeks of Mail project has been all but abandoned and I feel terrible for that, but still can't seem to drag myself back into the mix and get caught up on all of the replies I need to write.  My brain is just all... fuzzy.


Things that make sleepless nights more bearable:

1. After reaching the point where keeping all the electronics off just isn't making any difference in being able to fall asleep, I have burned through seasons 1-3 of The Big Bang Theory.  It's good company.

2. Steam Powered Giraffe.  Every day I discover footage of them on YouTube I haven't seen yet and my fangirl crush on the trio of 116 year old automatons is growing steadily deeper.  (In a cute, non creepy kind of way.  Promise.  Although I did look up the cost of airfare out to San Diego to calculate how much meeting them in person and getting some autographs would cost.  They are super talented!  Don't judge me!  Watch enough of their stuff on the interwebs at 3 AM, and you would probably find yourself comparing a non-stop on Delta with a one-stop in Denver on US Airways too!!  Don't believe me?  Go watch yesterday's video a few hundred times.  Yeah, I thought so. :})


3. Tea.  No, it's decaf.  Even sleep deprived, I'm not an idiot, not by any stretch of the imagination.
4. Dreaming up new ideas for work, even if I can't immediately make them happen in my less than optimum current state.  I put them down in a notebook and some of them are quite good and worth following up on.  Once I've... gotten some sleep.  Sigh.


We'll try again tonight.  Meanwhile, I'm going to go try to get some basic things accomplished (making lunch, catching up/scheduling both blogs, going to the bank and constructing some fairies) in the hopes that it will wear me out sufficiently and I will crash into bed at a decent hour tonight (Friday.  Retro-posting, remember?) and get this sleep ship righted before next week.  Because I have a life I desperately want to get back to. o_O

Partly Cloudy

It was drizzly and overcast yesterday.  So I thought this wonderful short fit just right for this week's Video Wednesday.  Enjoy.

Sniffle, Hack, Ah-CHOO!

Eldest Cute Gremlins do not believe me when I tell them that running around at night, in 40 degree weather, barefoot and with no coat on will make them ill.  They insisted on doing this at the Fall Festival on Monday.  As a result, all three of us now have dazzling examples of the common cold, each with our own variations.  Gremlin #1 sported the sore throat variety, while Gremlin #2 is sobbing that she has an earache (this is a perpetual issue with Gremlin #2).  As for myself, I picked up the Raging Sinus Infection accompanied by a splitting headache.

No sewing got done.  No fairies got crafted.  No photos were edited.  No letters were written.  No Avon books went out.  No library books were returned or checked out.  No real food was cooked.  (I just threw 2 cans of ravioli in a pot, heated it and called it dinner.)

I used plenty of these:

And took some of this:

And now I'm going back to this:

Better blog tomorrow.  Love you all.  'Night.

"Wicked"-ly Good!

I promised several people that my review of the musical "Wicked", which I went to see at the Fabulous Fox Theatre last Thursday night, would be up today.  One of those people was Mr. Allan Vella, the manager of that glorious venue which has been the topic of a recent Go Here Thursday post. (Hi, Mr. Vella!  I hope you got my letter yesterday!)

I must offer up my apologies to all who are waiting for the review and details- it was a hectic and packed weekend after that Thursday date, which culminated in my 3rd child coming down with a stomach flu on Sunday afternoon and redecorating the interior of my van on the way home from church with his breakfast.  He was kept home from school on Monday, with me playing referee between him and his younger sister.  I stayed worn out trying to keep her out of his space and spraying every tangible surface of the house with Lysol so that I didn't end up with a puking pre-schooler today.  (Thankfully the Lysol really does what it says and kills the germs, because she's fine!)

Then there was work this morning (a very part time, but much needed gig) for a few hours, followed by a Grandmother in need of help cleaning the kitchen, moving stuff in the garage, and defrosting the freezer. Add to that some matters of a personal nature, related to the parting of ways between long term friends (see yesterday's Music Mondays post for a glimmer of insight at that one), and it makes for one heck of an early week!

So.  I promise that I am working hard on a really good review piece of what I saw experienced on Thursday.  These things always take longer to compose than I think they will.  I have woven a bit of a rant on the absence of common courtesy and etiquette in today's theatre goers into my review piece too, so you won't want to miss that.  In the meantime, thank you for your patience, and I will get all of my postings caught up just as soon as possible!

May's Gratitudes!

After stealing borrowing politely asking permission to imitate stealing the idea of a daily "Things I'm Grateful For" list from Su over at Cheekyness, I decided to let the list show for 2 weeks at a time in the side bar, and then archive the month's worth (at the start of the next month) in a post.

It helps me to see how much chocolate I really consume  all the little things that make my day better. :)

Here is May's list, beginning at the end of the month and going backwards.  Unless you would rather see it in forward chronological order, in which case, please leave a comment indicating something to that effect.

Enjoy! 


(PS- I apologize in advance, but I'm going to be posting a ton of posts next week to catch up on all the stuff going on here.  I'll be back to a regular 4 day/wk schedule soon!)

• 5.31- Leftover Chili's tortilla chips
• 5.30- Husband's extended family
• 5.29- Self control. And a calm husband.
• 5.28- Pirates!
• 5.27- Last Day of School for Kids!
• 5.26- iTunes drowns out "Barbie" movie being played in other room for the millionth time
• 5.25- McD's caramel sundae
• 5.24- My baby boy turns 6 today!
• 5.23- The supportive text message I got at 3:30 today.
• 5.22- An awesome Sunday School class at the church we visited this morning
• 5.21- My Bible
• 5.20- Cooperative weather for a photo shoot
• 5.19- Nyquil liquigels
• 5.18- My sister in law came over today!
• 5.17- Easy to read patterns
• 5.16- Angel food cake
• 5.15- Sharing new favorite praise song on radio with husband (How He Loves, David Crowder Band)
• 5.14- Husband home safe from a work trip
• 5.13- Finding the fabric I needed at another Joann's store, to finish this dress!
• 5.12- Quiet time (even if it is only picking up milk at the store)
• 5.11- Grace and understanding from others
• 5.10- Watching my sewing project transform from shapeless mass of fabric to a wearable garment
• 5.9- Sunshine
• 5.8- My 4 beautiful children
• 5.7- Fresh groceries
• 5.6- Music to play while I work
• 5.5- Lemon and basil scented body wash
• 5.4- New blog friends who share their ideas

Kitchen Tried To Kill Me Yesterday...

I swear, the kitchen has it in for me.

As I was getting the kids out the door for school, I realized I didn't have my keys in my hand, so I turned around to grab them off the counter. In one graceful, fluid motion, I banged my thigh into the corner of a rolling butchers block that we keep extra equipment (like a bread machine, toaster, etc) and such on.  That's going to leave a lovely bruise.

Later on in the morning as I was fixing lunch for Emily, it tried again.  Grandmother was talking to me as I was getting the chicken salad out of the fridge, so I was a bit distracted, and the drawer where we keep the meats suddenly stuck and then unstuck, the result being that it tried to bite my hand off as I wrestled it closed!

At 6:30 I came downstairs to make dinner.  Clam Chowder.  I had just finished cleaning performing a disaster area relief op scuba diving in a sea of dirty socks and random stuffed animals cleaning in the girls room and had forgotten that the kitchen had some sort of score to settle with me.  I don't understand.  I gave it a thorough cleaning before I left for Florida.  Did it not appreciate having it's counter tops cleared of papers and junk and given a good bathing in 409?  Did it not like the way it's microwave and stovetop shined?

As I was reaching for a 1/4 cupful of flour to make my roux, it finally inflicted some damage.  Gran had made biscuits in her small convection oven that sits in the corner beside the stovetop and under the cabinet with the spices in it.  Jeremy was reaching in the next cabinet to the left, above my head to get some bowls for his task of table setting.

Not wanting to be in his way, I moved over a bit.  But a bit seems to have been too much.  My arm made contact with the very HOT metal outside of the convection oven.

At first my pain sensors didn't understand.  My brain was telling my arm.  "Hey, arm, move; this is hot." Arm: "Wait, what?" Brain: "HEY. Move! This is HOT! MOVE YOUR ARM BEFORE IT GETS A HOLE BURNED IN IT!" Arm: "Holy crap! This is HOT! OWWW!!"

All of this was happening while the butter had melted to the point of sticking to the pan, the flour was needing to be stirred in and the whole mess was getting all lumpy and hard to work with.  But I wasn't going down without a fight!  I asked Gran to stir the roux to keep it from burning and I ran to the sink (the only part of the kitchen that likes me, apparently...) to run cold water over my now burning and tingling arm.

Because I'm a SuperMom, I managed to still finish the dinner preparations and get us to the table.  (The clam chowder was fantastic, by the way, and there were no left-overs.) I tried to get some ice for my still-stinging arm and the freezer door, due to being warped, resisted any one handed pulling as long as it could until finally giving way and nearly smacking me in the forehead.  The ice wouldn't stay in the little baggie and some slipped out of my fingers to the floor (no doubt a plot by the kitchen to make me slip and fall.....).  I finally called Jeremy to please come pick up the ice and clean up the dinner mess so I could go find some aloe.

I'm leaving the kitchen alone until I'm sure it's not mad at me anymore!!! ;)

It doesn't look that bad now.  The swelling and redness has gone down a lot.  But it still stings like all get out.

Don't be fooled by the cozy, welcoming milk and cookies on the table.  Those were my hard earned spoils after being jabbed, chomped and seared by this kitchen!

Sense and Sensibility: Making Edmund Spencer more popular since 1995

We found them!  Praise the Lord!!!! My Nikon D300 AND my wedding rings were found together, safe and sound!  There are a few odd mysteries still, such as how the camera and rings wound up together in the first place, and also the matter of WHERE they were.  But then again, what does it matter if they are returned to me unharmed?

If you don't remember the circumstances (and out and out panic fit that was ensuing) when my camera went missing, I wrote it all in this post.

A good 3 weeks after I posted that, a family member found the camera in one of the only places that I was not free to search.  For obvious privacy reasons, I can't elaborate any more than that.  The camera was found in a gold holiday gift bag.  Fact:  I may have a somewhat faulty memory, but I know beyond any doubt that I never put my camera in a gift bag. Not THAT bag, not ANY bag. EVER.  That bothers me.  A LOT.  Because that means that someone else's hands were on my camera without my permission. GRRRR.

The wedding rings had been missing for a few months.  I vaguely remember that at one point they were sitting in a little clay pot that Jeremy made in Kindergarten, on Jake's side of the headboard shelf.  Due to lack of sleep and stress and 3 jobs and the holiday rush, I'm not clear on when they left that location or whether it was before or after I had them there that I couldn't find them again.  I can't be sure of where I put them after that.  But I know where I DIDN'T put them.

I did not put them in a jar.   But I distinctly and clearly KNOW that I did not put them in a lidded jar.  It was a pimento jar.  I don't even like pimentos.  Gran has a lot of empty jars in the kitchen area for her canning and whatnot, so it was very likely her pimento jar, but she didn't put my rings in it either.  However they got there, the rings were in the jar, and the jar was in the gift bag with the camera.

I think it can be safely presumed that whomever handled my camera and put it in the gift bag also put my  rings in with it.  We've no idea who it was though.

It bothers me that my most expensive/valuable belongings have been meddled with.  I'm certainly glad and thankful that they were returned to me.  But it nags me that they went missing in the first place.

Still wondering about the post title?  One of my favorite parts of the 1995 version of Sense and Sensibility is near the end when Marianne (Kate Winslet) is recovering from her illness and Colonel Brandon (Alan Rickman) is reading to her.  He is reading "The Faerie Queen" by Edmund Spencer.  I knew the lines from watching S&S so many times over, but I never could remember their source.  I had never read "The Faerie Queen" in Literature class, so it was new to me.  Hundreds of years old, but new and foreign to me.  I did a Google search to find the quote in it's context.  And apparently, I'm not the only fan (with a massive crush on Mr. Rickman as Colonel Brandon) who thought of that scene when something lost came up found.  Here is a reference to it in a post by a blogger who lost an earring and then found it again.  There is a link to the entire section of "The Faerie Queen" by Edmund Spencer, that contains our favorite lines, in her post.

 Now that my Nikon has been returned, I am anxious to get back to shooting photos.  I did a set of my friend Meg in the Regency dress I made for her.  When I get those processed and edited, I'll be sure to post a few, or at the very least a link.

"For whatsoever from one place doth fall,
Is with the tide unto another brought:
For there is nothing lost, that may be found, if sought."

How To Completely Ruin Your Future Professional Career In 10 Easy Steps

Step 1: Use your $3,000 Nikon (the one that took 3 years of waiting and most of your 2008 tax refund money to get) to photograph your friend in your "mobile studio" (which is really a pop-up background frame that you bought on Ebay, set up in your Grandmother's borrowed front parlor between a 1970s wing-back chair and a piano so out of tune you can play a piece in tune by transposing the music down a third step or so).  Do this on the first day of the busiest retail month of the year, when you have a part time seasonal job with new and constantly changing hours.

Step 2: Set said $3k Nikon down on a table in aforementioned front parlor, instead of putting it back in it's bag.  WHERE IT BELONGS.

Step 3: Become distracted by 4 kids, Mom (who brings all her Christmas decorations down from the attic [where you have your room and all your stuff] to that front parlor, your job, making Christmas gifts- because even with the new job you are too poor to buy them, your kid's elementary school chorus concert, part of the house randomly catching fire, panicking because you were asleep upstairs and the only one home when it happened, packing 6 people for a 3 hour drive to the mountains, getting snowed in (and your car breaking) for 4 days with extended family, being at in-laws house another 8 days while you figure out what to do about the broken car.  Become so distracted by the time you make it home the week after New Year's that you have a compulsory NEED during a second round of being snowed/iced in (at least this time it's at home) to clean out everything you don't use (including kid's outgrown clothes, stuff you haven't worn since college, and a pile of junk papers that you swear you already got rid of, but here they are telling you how many times you bought milk at Kroger and ate at Taco Bell last month...) AND rearrange every piece of furniture in your attic pseudo "flat", in the belief that it will keep you organized and on task because "it's much more functional in this layout".  Your horrible memory and ADD-laced brain cells wish.

Step 4: Find yourself randomly awake at 1 a.m. and unable to fall back asleep for thinking of an image on your camera that you'd like to edit a certain way.

Step 5:  You have to pee anyway, so get out of bed to fetch camera from the last place you remember having it... front parlor?..., after stopping by bathroom first.

Step 6:  Become confused and concerned when $3k camera is NOT WHERE YOU REMEMBER LEAVING IT.

Step 7: PANIC


Step 8: Search the entire downstairs.  The Christmas decorations had been put away; maybe someone moved it to keep from damaging it.  Nowhere to be found.  Search attic and kid's rooms.  Panic some more.

Step 9: Wake up husband and ask him if he knows what happened to it.  Do your best not to be put out with him when he burrows deeper in the covers and mumbles at you to "come to bed and we'll find it tomorrow." Right.  Like I can sleep now that I'VE LOST A 3 THOUSAND DOLLAR CAMERA.  IT'S SUPPOSED TO HELP PUT OUR KIDS THROUGH COLLEGE!

Step 10: After thorough search of entire house in semi-darkness (well, minus Mom and Grandmother's rooms since it's 3 a.m. and they likely want to stay asleep until past dawn sometime before being bothered about my camera), conclude that your $3k Nikon is temporarily missing and you can't remember anything else about it between the Dec 1 shoot and today. Curse your faulty, fuzzy memory cells and try to stop panicking.  Fail.


If you add one more step, which is to sit down and write a blog post about your complete and epic inability to handle things like temporarily misplacing an expensive career investment and being unable to calmly and rationally wait (asleep) until daylight hours to find it, you'd be about where I am right now.

I KNOW it's IN the house somewhere, because even though it was grossly irresponsible of me to not put it away in it's bag when I was finished using it, I would never have taken it outside the house without it being in that bag.  Extra lenses, memory cards and the battery charger are all in that bag.  I purposefully did not pack it along with me to the mountains so that I could spend my holiday with family, instead of behind the lens.

It's here in this house, but I can't help freaking out until I find it!  I hate cleaning up.  I lose track of so much when I do that.  Ugh.  I'll let you know later what happens...

1/13/11 UPDATE: We've searched the house from top to bottom, moved everything possible and still no Nikon.  I've cried about it. A LOT.  I know I can start saving up for a replacement, but there are other goals and responsibilities laying claims to any money that I bring in, so this could take a while.  It makes me nauseous.  Yet, photography is my chosen career and I will win it.  I don't care how long it takes.  I want to know what happened to the camera, though.  It was in that room when I left Christmas Eve and it's not now.  Very, very upsetting.