planting things

Processing Wool for Moths

2012-01-31T12:44:00.000-08:00

I was not careful after acquiring a moth-eaten sweater around christmas, and I'm afraid moths might've gotten into some of my stuff. I have so many woolens, that I can't put them all in ziplocks in the freezer, and I don't have my own washer, so although I have washed them all by hand, the solution I've finally come up with is this:
soak as many woolens as possible in hot water in a bucket, without any agitation. after some soaking, place on a plate or in a bowl in a clean microwave until steamy. If you have a thermometer, you could try to make sure the sweater gets up to a certain temp, but I'm not entirely certain what that temp is. 170 maybe?
I slide the heated sweater off the plate into my waiting canning pot. It's a Tamale steamer, so there's an insert with holes in it, perfect for draining wet sweaters.
Once the sweaters are cool (not just cool enough to touch, but room temp. hot wet wool can be ruined easily), squeeze the moisture out of them gently, and hang/lay flat to dry as you would normally.
Now the thing it, what to do with wool pants, shorts, with metal zippers? They can't be microwaved.I'm hoping I've gotten everything important, and I'm going to just wait and see.

Bikes!

2012-01-21T12:04:00.000-08:00

We have lived in Austin for almost a year, without riding our bikes almost at all. (admittedly part of that is that we hardly ever go out in the first place)
Last weekend, we had houseguests that we tried to show around the city, and since they had been driving ten hours a day, they wanted to walk it. And I was amazed at how walkable it was. In my mind it was a lot bigger, but in reality we covered a lot of ground quickly, no parking fees, no driving in circles looking for a spot. (and Mark and I are quick walkers, so when alone, we could probably cover a lot more distance)
Now I want to go out and walk/bike everywhere. Betsy finally got a bike, so we can bike places together. I pulled out our map and found a safe way to get to her house.
Now I need to get some better brakes/handlebars. What I have right now is neither safe nor comfortable.
Deciding/agreeing on what to get, though is tougher than it should be.

Holiday things are happening...

2011-12-03T21:22:00.000-08:00

We've got our tree up (and finally probably straight), and I just put 21 cups of Turkey broth in the freezer. I can get sick any time now. It's fine. I have the broth to deal with it.
Presents are being picked out and slowly making their way into the house, and under the tree.
For some reason, this year, I've not got that many great ideas for gifts. Usually I get so excited, because I have so many wonderful ideas, and can't wait to implement them. This year, no. Just... no. I have a few lame ideas, but really, I'm just tired, and not ready for Christmas. It's not cold here at all, so Christmas snuck up on me before I was prepared. Now it's almost here, and I'm floundering.

Beglad!

2011-04-16T19:28:00.000-07:00

Stupid Bathroom

2011-04-05T14:52:00.000-07:00

So Far, I've been fairly pleased with this new apartment. Everything that I don't really like has been minor things that don't really matter, like the placing of the air intake vent, or the fact that all the dirt on our upstairs neighbors balcony filters down onto ours, because the slats are really far apart.
And then comes the bathroom. Specifically the bathtub/shower stall. I noticed when we were beginning to unpack, that the bathtub really needed a good scrub. The whole bottom was just splotchy grey, because it's mildly textured and therefor catches all the foot dirt that comes it's way. I also noticed that the soap dish on the wall had a weird texture but figured it just needed a good scrubbing as well. when I took a closer look, I realized the soap dish seemed to have been painted over, and the paint was peeling on the part that holds the dish/collects water.
I decided that for the tub, not knowing the previous residents, I'd rather just bleach the whole thing, instead of getting on my knees and scrubbing. I left the bleach bath to sit for several hours, and when I rinsed it out, I realized that it hadn't done a thing. Did I dilute the bleach too much? I mean, the whole house reeked of bleach, so I would've thought it was enough. I mean, maybe that's why it was still so dirty after the last residents moved out, it was stained or something.
So I get down on my knees with a scrub brush, a sponge and some baking soda. It sort of seems to make a difference, but when I get up, it still looks just about the same. It seems as though this bathtub has some sort of inherent matte texture (which is great for picking up dirt!), so I will never be able to get it smooth and shiny, so I have no idea how to tell the difference between dirty and clean.
I go to work on the soap dish, and the I'm able to peel paint off in large chunks. Seems that they did a fairly uneven coat of paint, over a dirty dish, so it never really sealed well, and that's why it was coming up under the soap. I scrub off the old dirt underneath the paint too.
Mark points out that some of the tile is also really scummy, so I give that a go. Turns out that's been painted too, or at least, some of them have. Also tile grout scum smeared everywhere and anywhere.

Since everything is white, you can only sort of see the smears of tile grout everywhere here, but it's all over.

It's hard to tell there, because I'd already scrubbed off a lot, but pretty much that whole ledge there was just smeared with sealant.

There's about three different shades of white tiles in the bathroom, kind of in patches. The tiles underneath the paint are grayer, and kind of stained, so I'm wondering if I'm supposed to leave this stuff there as protective coating? But I mean, what was their plan? Paint the tiles, and then NEVER clean again? Disgusting. I'd rather ugly clean tiles than white ones that are covered in gross.

So after peeling and scrubbing paint off of several tiles, and parts of the bathtub, I take a shower, because I am covered in paint flecks and baking soda, and dirty water. And I get to stare at this the whole time:

Yeah. If this were my house, I could take that panel down, and clean it and repaint it, but since it's not, and they already passed on their chance to clean it up, I just get to stare at it whenever I rinse my hair out.

After my shower, I discover this:

Yes, that's right. Water got between the paint and the tile, making them sag like old skin. Now I have to clean them all. Ugh.

So much to update...

2011-03-31T21:43:00.000-07:00

I guess I should've been keeping up with how we're decorating and organizing this new place, now that we've been here a few days, but honestly, it hasn't felt that inspired, we've just been shoving the contents of boxes onto shelves, and hoping it will all fit. MOving into this place has been a lot like a game of tetris. It's a smaller apartment, but not in every room. For instance, the bathroom has a lot more storage space, but the kitchen has less. Until we get a washer and dryer, we'll have the whole laundry room to use as storage, which feels like a lot, but if we want to not have to use the common facilities, we'll have to give that up soon. We have a bigger bedroom closet, but no hall closet, so we have to cram a whole bunch of other stuff in there.
We did try to really pare down several areas that we knew were getting out of hand. We both were able to donate quite a few clothes, and books, and I pared down my art supplies and tea.
We're not going to do much differently in this place, probably. We are closer to an ikea, so it's tempting to go buy lots of new stuff to go in our new place, but honestly, we should probably just try to make what we have work. We might try to get rid of one bookcase, because there's only so many places they can comfortably fit.
If Mark's desk faced a certain wall, I could get it fit in, but he'd rather set it against the other wall, and I can't tell him what to do, it's his desk, and he's the one who has to sit at it. It just messes up my Tetris. because of that, some of my wall space is split up into smaller separate wall spaces that can't get anything fit into them. Grrr. But we will be able to fit it all, hopefully. Just not the way I was hoping.
We've taken the shelf that sat in front of the window and held my gardening things, and put it in the dining room, where it holds cookbooks and extra kitchen paraphernalia. For now, the gardening things are outside on the porch. There's an outside closet there that can hold all our unimportant/messy stuff. Our DVD shelf is on the back porch holding the plants, waiting to get painted. It'll be going right in the entryway, so I want it to look good. I'm thinking we'll paint it blue, and maybe try and find some cute coordinating paper for the shelves maybe? Or put in a back covered in cute paper. Right now it's painted white, and is covered with brown weird spots, after living in my grandparent's garage for years.
We're also going to hang up the light weight curtains, instead of the heavy denim type ones we had in the last apartment. There, we needed to keep the heat out in the summer, here we need to keep out the eyes of the neighbors, but there will be no heat or light to keep out. We just can't find the hardware for the curtain rod.

Right now the biggest things I need to move are the boxes of DVDs, (I haven't decided what to do with them, but they are in the way, and need to go somewhere), and the books, because I want to really really know where the bookshelf is going before I fill it up. It will be impossible to move after that, and I'm too lazy to take all the books back off to move it. Ugh.

What is done:
The bedroom closet, pretty much, and the bathroom. The kitchen, except for hanging things on the wall.

New Apartment

2011-03-13T12:26:00.000-07:00

We'll be taking a trip to Austin on the 15th to sign the lease (yes, it is during SXSW, not they wouldn't let us do it by fax. Yes, it will suck).

Since we'll be getting our keys that day, I figure we might as well bring a load down in the truck while we're at it. I just haven't figured out what yet. There's the obvious: Christmas decorations and books and other things we won't be needing, but I'm also wondering about what would be helpful to have while we're there. We've got an extra mattress pad and some extra pillows, I think I could spare two towels and some shampoo and conditioner. I think we'll bring down two living room chairs, and maybe some cleaning supplies. Rags, sponges, hand soap. Maybe some paper plates and napkins. (I have a bunch that Mommy left at my house after Christmas) Maybe a lamp? And some toilet paper.

Packing up

2011-02-27T13:08:00.000-08:00

This will be a boring post, mostly just to get me motivated.
Today is the first day that I'm feeling better, that I've had a day off. So it's back to work on moving house. With both of us sick there for so long, nothing has really gotten done since before Valentine's day. Tonight we have a friend coming over, though, so I started to clean up a bit, and decided I might as well pack up a few things while I'm at it.
I think I'll start with books and DVDs, and maybe some of the frames and framed artwork. Maybe some legos and other knick knacks. I really need to take out the recycling and drop off some stuff at goodwill, but even though I have the truck now, I don't really want to take those trips by myself. I like the help.
I don't know where we're going to put all these boxes, because we barely have room for the empty boxes that are packed down.

We did get our bikes out of storage (Well, the bikes we use. We left the brown one for the time being, because I don't know if we'll have room for it in Austin yet.) They were both in okay shape, although the tires were all flat. I now realize that the red one is kind of a piece of junk, and the black one was a great find. It's got a nice glossy coat, and almost no nicks or scrapes, where there's not an inch on the red one that doesn't. The black one is lugged, and has some nice gold and red painted on details, where the red one just has decals, that are slowly peeling up and getting crisp, and no lugs. It's not a terrible bike, but it's not the prettiest, and we could do a lot better.
We're thinking to sell/give away the red one, and buy a new one. Mark wants a cream colored Fuji, with brightly colored brake cables. If we're getting a bike for me to use, I'd prefer a lady's style, so I can step through, but Mark thinks I should use the black one and he'll get a new one. I guess it depends on who finds a good deal first.

Update:
So far, I've packed up a few boxes of things (candles, frames, books, shoes), and threw away and put away quite a few other things. I hate that I don't have anywhere to put things that I've packed up! The empty boxes are also in the way of quite a few things that I'd like to pack up or clean up. When Mark gets home, I'll have him help me move the couch, and I'll see how many boxes I can just shove behind it.
I'm getting kind of sad about the fact that we spend SO much time this summer organizing and decorating, and as soon as we got everything the way we wanted it, we're packing it all up. Who knows how long it will take to get to that point in the new place.

I really need to get cracking on the job applications, but I'd rather pack.

Macarons

2011-02-18T20:50:00.000-08:00

When we visited Austin a few weeks ago, Betsy and Ashley and I sat and had some tea in the afternoon, and I had a lovely pistachio macarons to go with. Turns out Betsy wants macarons at her wedding, and although I'm sure there are those more qualified than I, it would still be fun to try!
I'm starting with this recipe, using almonds ground into flour with my blender. I used a little bit of imitation vanilla for flavor, but I think it would be fun to make some with green tea powder, or maybe some mint ones, and several kinds of fruit flavors. I still haven't decided what to fill the ones I'm making with. Maybe nutella, or jam. I don't really feel like whipping up something special for them.
Next time, or at least if I'm making them for the wedding, I'd like to have someone helping me, and a candy thermometer.

So far: first batch didn't really work. I think they were too dry. they looked great, but when I pryed them off the pan, the were hollow underneath, and they never got a 'foot' like they were supposed too. This was with added water, and a shorter baking time. Weird. I can still fill them, they taste fine, but they will just take a lot more filling, since they are concave instead of flat on the bottom.
With the remaining batter, I added some melted chocolate, and once piped out, I let them sit a bit longer than the first batch had. Once they baked, I opened the oven, and voila! they have perfect little feet, and smell amazing.
I turned off the oven, but left them in there, since they didn't bake as long as the recipe said to, but I don't want them to dry out like the first ones.
I'm going to have to buy some peanut butter to put in there, and maybe make some sort of minty ganache? hmm. I will probably do all this tomorrow.

Snow Day Activities

2011-02-02T12:38:00.000-08:00

I wouldn't really say it's snow, but it's white, and it's cold, and it's keeping us all inside. And it's given me the chance to do a project that I've seen a lot of places, but never had the opportunity to try before: ice decorations.

The idea is that you put berries or branches or something pretty in a container, and fill it with water, and let it freeze, and then hang it from a tree or something, to decorate outside. You can use a bunt pan to make a wreath one, but I just had these little cake pans, and some red berries I picked up on our walk yesterday.

I hung another one over the side of the balcony, and I think it will last longer, because it's not being blown around by the wind. It is just hanging on a thumbtack though, whereas this on is hung on a nail. I'm curious to see whether they melt or break first!

Trudging

2011-01-30T17:22:00.000-08:00

I've been doing a bit better lately, although the house is a mess.
I made some soup last night, and some sort of blueberry cake for mark.
I'm working on some slippers for Christy. I wasn't able to find as nice of sweaters at Goodwill, so I'm hoping these look just as nice as the first ones.
I cleaned up most of the Legos this afternoon.
I hung up the laundry yesterday, and did a load of dishes yesterday and today. Took out a month's worth of recycling.
Tomorrow we'll finally be going to visit my parents.
I've been making myself smoothies, and they've been nice and refreshing, making me feel better. But I used up all the juice last night. Can you use milk instead? I guess I'm just going to have to find out.

Later

2011-01-19T15:49:00.000-08:00

So I got right up after writing that last post, and did a load of dishes, swept the kitchen and stairwell, put my coat on, and went to the grocery store. I feel much better now, than if I had stayed at home watching the waning light, and playing Little Big Planet 2.
Other good things that are making me feel better: text messages from good friends, emails with good news from Daddy, and on the way to Tom Thumb, I passed a girl who was singing to herself, and another who was getting into her car with a huge batch of pink cupcakes.

Next up: empty the dishwasher and run another load, make lentil stew, and then, maybe, sit and knit.

January and February

2011-01-19T14:20:00.000-08:00

This time of year is hard for me, especially lately. Because of our horrible work schedules, I usually only see the daytime sky for a few minutes on my way to work, and then by the time I get off work, it's dark. Spending months in darkness is really not good for my depression-prone nature. Spring is much better, but then in the summer, again, I can't go out til after dark, because of the heat. Blech.
I'm trying to get out of this slump, but it's hard to know what to do about it. Take vitamin D (does that work)? Just will my self to do more? (This Does Not work. but I always try it first, until things get out of control) Wait it out? (that's what usually happens)

So, the house has been a mess, the laundry was getting out of control, there were piles of christmas decorations that had been taken down, but not moved to the closet. Lots of dishes, but not much food. Not enough showering, or vacuuming, or plant watering.

Mark's been really understanding, and helpful, and last night I got home from work to see almost all the decorations put away, the odd project bits and pieces away, the pine needles all vacuumed up... it felt great. Now I feel like I can handle the last bits that need doing, and maybe then some.

I'd like to start knitting more, and selling on etsy again, if possible. I figure that it will always be nice to have some options out there for extra money, if I ever have the need.

I have also been wanting to knit myself a sweater, since I rarely knit for myself. I'm thinking this one:

But I have to make myself get to the yarn shop to buy supplies for it, which involves spending money, which starts up my anxiety-and-depression machine. (I do have some money saved up for it, but that doesn't make parting with it easier!)

I do feel proud of myself for selling so many pairs of handwarmers this year. I think I lost count, but it's something like six or seven! If I hadn't spent all the money from them on hot chocolate, I would be amazed at how much money I have in my pocket. (Okay, I still have money from them left. But not as much as I should)

Maybe today, instead of playing video games til mark comes home, I'll open wide the curtains to get as much sun as possible before it gets dark, and then put on some music, and do the dishes, knit something to sell, or maybe even walk to the grocery store to pick up stuff for lentil stew! Better start quick though, I can feel the sun setting as I type.

Felt Slippers (now with pictures)

2010-12-16T19:14:00.000-08:00

I was very tempted to try knitting slippers for christmas presents, but thought of it too late, and thought better of it. Instead, I'm making felted slippers from old sweaters. I haven't finished, so let's hope they work!
Here's how I'm doing it:
Step 1:
Buy sweaters. I went to Goodwill, and found two very nice cardigans, a red one from the gap, and a grey yoked one from old navy. Choose 100% wool sweaters, it's okay if they have holes in them, or whatever, as long as it's not in a place that you will be using. A cute fair isle pattern or something is nice. You could probably buy wool pants or a wool skirt as well, but they would be a thinner fabric most likely, and therefore you would need to buy soles or something to make them last longer.
Step 2:
Cut off anything that isn't wool: buttons, tags, zippers, etc. You could even deconstruct the sweater at this point, but I didn't bother.
Step 3:
Felt. I put them in a Hot/Cold permanent press cycle with some jeans first and detergent first, but they didn't felt much. Putting them in a hot dryer with jeans didn't do much either. I washed them again on hot/cold on the regular cycle with just a bit of detergent, and two old towels and my crocs. Felted up almost perfectly, so I put them in the dryer on a knits cycle. I had to empty the lint trap about three times though. Crazy piles of lint.
This is how they look after step 3:

Step 4:
Make a pattern. I traced my foot on a piece of paper, and cut it out. I'm not sure what people's feet sizes are, but I'm hoping that if I cut one a little big and one a bit small, it will work. Now I have to decide what I want the top of the slipper to look like: Do i want sides, or just a plain pocket style? how many thicknesses? do I want to incorporate any of the features of the sweater into the slipper?
Step 5: cut out. eek! You'll want several soles, and one or two tops for each slipper. how many depends on how cold the recipients house might be, or how thick the felt is. you don't want a super stiff upper, but you don't want the sole to wear through the first winter either.
I did deconstruct the sweaters at this point, so they would lay flat.

The felted sweaters will not ravel, but will be harder to cut through. I cut out three thicknesses of sole:

and one thickness of the top. I would've liked one more upper thickness, but there wasn't any extra. For the second pair, I was hoping to make use of the yoke design. being a raglan-type sweater, there are four shoulder seams, instead of two, so it will be impossible to cut an upper that doesn't have a seam. I've just had to center the upper between two seams. I think it will be fine.

Step 6: Sew together. I used some yarn to baste the sole layers together so they wouldn't stretch while I sewed them together. Then I used doubled thread and blanket stitch, to sew the slippers together. Then I sewed the upper to the sole, also using the blanket stitch. For the red slippers, I folded over the ribbed edge and sewed a button (taken from the original cardigan) on the outer edge of each slipper. For the grey ones, I folded over the edge as well, but no button.
Finished pictures:

And they loved them! and showed them off to everyone!

Christmas Crafts Everywhere: or, what I did on my vacation

2010-12-03T12:46:00.000-08:00

The cookies were okay. everybody told me they were good, but they didn't seem sweet and chewy enough to me. It doesn't help that I don't really like eating sweets, because even though I've got a good idea in my head of how I want those cookies to taste, it doesn't meant I want to make a whole bunch, or even necessarily taste them when they come out of the oven. I'm probably just going to use that AG recipe, but cut down on the baking time, because they were really hard. Maybe flavor the icing with orange. we'll see. They were cute, at the very least.

I'm taking my vacation this week, and I'm trying to get as much done as possible while I can, because this wedding is coming fast, and christmas is right after.
We bought our christmas tree yesterday. I can't tell if it's too early or not, but I was so excited I don't want to wait. We lit and decorated it too, and now it's smelling up the place like crazy. :) I can't find the tin of ornament hooks though, so we only hung the ones that still had in hooks from last year. It's still plenty decorated though! maybe we should stop buying ornaments for a while.
I also wrapped most of my christmas presents that I've bought so far. It's just so much easier than keeping them hidden away somewhere. (I keep a box of gift wrapping/mailing gear under the couch all year round. I've got bubble wrap, smaller pieces of wrapping paper, tape, scissors, tags and envelopes. The box of tissue, and the rolls of wrapping paper are kept elsewhere though)
I've of course put up our beloved advent calendar. So far, the manger, cow and chicken are up. I can never remember what order I put them in the pockets the year before, so it's always a fun surprise!
Things I need to work on now:
-finish buying christmas presents for mark.
-make a popcorn/cranberry garland to put on the porch.
-make the sashes for all us bridesmaids.
-finish already started ornaments
-start any ornaments I want to give as presents for Baker family gift swap
-eat more pie
-maybe start working on the programs for the wedding, if I get some info from deena on what she wants on there.
-keep knitting hand warmers for tony
-start knitting stuff for me

There's probably a whole bunch of other things, but that's a start!

christmas cookies #1

2010-11-22T20:17:00.000-08:00

For deena's wedding, we'll be farming out most of the food duties to people. A couple of people make some pots of soup, a couple of people each bring a batch of cookies, etc.
I'll be making the cakes, carrot soup, and some sort of spice cookies. Deena wanted Speculatius, which are crisp store-bought spicy cookies shaped like windmills. we can't find any here that aren't chocolate covered, or have almonds in them, or that just plain don't taste right. So, I'll be trying to find some sort of gingerbread-cookie type thing that will fill the gap. I know there are plenty of speculatius recipes out there, but I'd rather not pretend that I'm going for the real thing. I'm just going to look for something full of spices, and soft and molassesy, and then use these lovely cookie cutters that Mark's mother bought me. Maybe a little bit of white icing piped on in cute designs

I'm going to try a few recipes out before the big day, just to make sure I end up with the perfect taste. First up: Ginger Cookies, from Kirsten's Cookbook.

I probably haven't cracked open this book since 1997, and I know I only made these cookies once, because my parents had to import molasses from Egypt, and brown sugar was a thing of dreams. I'm kind of excited.

You'll notice the emblem on the back of the book that shows that this was published back when the American Girls were owned by a lovely little company called "Pleasant Company", started by a lady named Pleasant T. Rowling. There were only 4 dolls when I first got mine: Felicity, Kirsten, Samantha, and Molly, while Addy, and then Josephine were added a year or two later. They cost 82 dollars. A few years later it was sold to Mattel, and they changed the brand to the American Girl Company. I've never been sure how I feel about that.

Christmas Ornaments

2010-11-17T00:14:00.000-08:00

A few years ago when I was home for Christmas, I was helping my mother pack up the ornaments, and she was letting me pick some ornaments to take with me, and I found that one of my favorite ornaments was really coming apart. It was made of a detergent scoop that had a bit of fake snow and a glitter lake glued on the bottom, as well as some pipe-cleaner trees. A tiny wooden skater and snowman enjoyed the space quite comfortably, but detergent scoops aren't meant to last twenty years, so I took the poor skater and snowman home with me to wait a new detergent scoop.

Well, it turns out American detergent is liquid, so I just tied a thread around each while I waited for something better. Well, they have lovely little paper-mache ornaments at Paper Source, for a dollar fifty, so I've picked one up, and by Christmas they should have a lovely new lake to skate on.

We'll see how it goes!

Good Idea # 37

2010-11-16T23:42:00.000-08:00

My mom started a few basil plants this summer in her garden, and when I went to visit a few weeks ago, they had become giant bushes, and since there was a danger of frost that night, I took home a huge container of leaves.
I've already got lots of pesto made up in my ice-cube trays, but I didn't have room for more, so I reused my jelly jars. They're lined with sandwich baggies, so that once they freeze, I can take the jars back, and use the jars again for other things. It is important that they are jelly jars, because they have the wide mouths, otherwise you won't be able to remove the pesto easily.

halloween projects

2010-10-26T20:06:00.000-07:00

So if you hadn't guess it from the previous post, mark is thinking of doing something life-aquatic-ey for halloween, and so I've made up these shoes for him to wear. We haven't pinned down the rest of the outfit, but we'll see what we can do.

This is the finished product:

Although you can find lots of information on the web on how to make much more expensive, accurate replicas of the zissou adidas, mark had this white pair of converse that he's maybe worn once. He didn't want them ruined (just in case!), so I've used Elmer's glue to hold everything together. It should wash out when we're done with them. Unfortunately, it doesn't hold the felt on very well.

I used pinking shears to cut ribbons of felt the width I wanted, and then trimmed them to size. I made a paper template from mark's sambas of the back piece, and then adjusted it to fit the converse. This took a few tries. Glued it on and held it in place to dry with binder clips and regular old tape.

The stripes I taped in place, using the Sambas as a guide, again, and then glued them on. I kept the tape on until I was fairly sure it was dry.

The yellow shoelaces we got at a place in the mall called Journeys, for $3.50. The felt we already had. I'm really happy with the outcome, and if they were mine, I'd wear them like this all year round!

A little hint

2010-10-24T23:51:00.001-07:00

About my newest project:

We've been here two years...

2010-10-23T20:32:00.000-07:00

... And we're finally putting up some art. We borrowed the mat cutter from mark's parents, and bought some frames at Ikea and Goodwill, and luckily we had plenty of leftover mat boards from school. Mark's been cutting up a storm in our living room for two days, and we're finally getting somewhere. I am nervous about hanging real frames, since the pushpins we were using before don't seem so permanent. I'm so afraid of wrecking the walls, and it looking terrible. Oh wait, we already did that with the bike racks. I guess we're safe then.

I baked the first pie of the season tonight, and am eating a bowl of lentil soup (amy's organics, not homemade.) So many nice cozy nesting feelings. It's definitely beginning to be fall here.

And on to today

2010-10-10T20:45:00.000-07:00

The last post got you caught up on what we did this summer, but this is what I've done today. Now I'm onto the bedroom. This is the least beautified of all our rooms. We didn't paint it when we moved in, and it just always seems overwhelmingly blah in there to me. when you lie on the bed, all you can see is white. The bedroom is where we hide a lot of our messes.

-We moved the old TV in there, on the sewing machine treadle table. This is used mostly as a place to put our jeans and other clothes we plan on using more than once. We also have a pile of pillows and other bedding that I don't know what to do with. there's no other place to put it, and we use all of it. It doesn't stack well, and when you pull one thing out, or try to put something back in, it all falls over itself. We also have various pieces of shelving. I consolidated it to all, as well as the MDF and particleboard, behind the closet door. We keep the red bike in here too. Nothing we can do about that. The bookshelf in the bedroom has also been rearranged several times, and now is probably at it's best, although it doesn't look it.

-We have a bit of art on the walls in here, but it doesn't seem to brighten it up at all. We've got kelsey's artichoke painting over mark's side table, my flower crown form my wedding over my side table. I've got the recently finished sihouettes over the bed, and an old poster for the New York Central System on one wall.

-There is alot of art projects scattered all over the bedroom, mixed in with shelving, rockband equipment, cds, etc. I'm trying to consolidate it. Along with that, there are several stacks of music and video games in here. Since most of the art and cds aren't mine, there's only so much I can do, But I can at least pile it all together. I have gone through my old cds tonight, throwing away anything I don't need, duplicates, etc. I've got quite a few cds that are just pictures from a long time ago. I was going to save all these onto the Pluginbaby, but I couldn't find the power cord (despite all the attempts at cord wrangling I did earlier the summer), so for now they've been put in chronological order in one of my cd wallets. The other wallet now holds most mixes I've made or been given. There's a stack of burned music that I will probably never listen to again, but I spent one night in college drawing some really interesting pictures on each album, as I prepared to take them with me on a trip. I really like them, but it's all on my computer, and I don't have any cases for any of it, so I really just need to get rid of it.

-I put all of Peter's music in chronological order, and all my music that's still got a case. these all fit in a shoe box, along with the mixes wallet. They're on the shelf next to all the mailing stuff. I need to probably find a better place for it, but mark doesn't really want to put any of our music besides the records on display, so we'll see.

-I've started to try to see what I can do with mark's cds, but I know he won't want me to do anything with it. He has a huge cd wallet that he's been putting a lot of his games and DVDs lately, so I'm hoping most of this goes there too.

-We have a big shelving unit that mark used to have in his room at home, I'm thinking of putting up in the corner near the window, which will hopefully take care of some of our camping gear, tools, and art. Let's see if I can put it together by myself!

New Ideas

2010-10-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

I've been using this blog mostly to encourage myslef to keep up with housework, and also to complain about my life. I've been recently reading lots of home-renovation/decoration blogs, and although we don't have a house to fix up (oh, how I wish!) we have been doing some major organization this summer, and I want to start to document some of the things that we do to make our lives a little easier, and prettier. Maybe some random crafts too, and of course recipes and other bits and bobs to make myself feel better about housework.

Most of the organization that happened this summer was to move my craft piles into a dresser (a red three-drawer from ikea). we moved the red craft table back into the dining room, which until then had been being used in the way a garage might for most people.

-We bought mark a new desk, because the one he had, while free, was not really useful in most of the senses of the word. new desk was moved to the corner behind the couch, where my crafts had been which means when it gets messy, it is less intrusive into the rest of the room.

-We bought two trunnks at mark's grandad's estate sale. we moved the legos into them, and got rid of the huge bins we had the legos in.

-We went through our closets and filled at least four large boxes with stuff to take to goodwill. We then rearranged our remaining clothes to better fit the space we had, which cleared a lot of stuff out of the hall closet, which is our only real place for storage.

-We also cleaned out a lot of our kitchen stuff and gave them to goodwill which gave us more.

-We went through our DVD collection and sold anything we didn't think we needed anymore. since the majority are mark's, the final say was his, as is the money afterwards. But now we can buy more better movies!

-Did the same thing with books. We still have a box of some of mark's stuff in the closet, but for the most part, everything we have, we want, and is easily accessible at a moment's notice. This freed up more closet space, and also makes things just look a little more organized.

-Got a new record player, (this didn't really make our house more organized, but it is prettier, and works better so it's still an improvement worth noting) So now we're gradually moving our albums from one side of the living room to the other, where the new player sits. Eventually we'll find a good table for it, hopefully with some sort of album storage, but for now it's on the floor. It still looks better than the desk that used ot be in that corner.

-In the search for a table, we found a lovely mid-century modern danish-ish chair. it actually looks exactly like two my parents own. it's lovely and gives us a bit more seating options for when Sterling and Tony come over to play games or watch movies. I'm thinking of reupholstering it, because the cushions, while in good shape, are sort of a grey-brown faux-suede leathery look, which feels nice but sort of icks me out. The color is okay though.

-I went through all my art. It was taking a whole wall in the dining room, and something needed to be done about it. Luckily, most of it was organized still from when we moved here, but there was plenty to recycle. lots of old class sketches on newsprint; projects that I didn't care enough about to do a good job, etc. I also sorted out all the unused canvasses, and pieced of MDF and particle board, and have stored them in the bedroom. these we use for projects, to protect the carpet, etc.

-Mark a has a thing where he keeps the box from anything new he buys. His dad does it too. This clutters up the dining room pretty quickly, but it is a pretty good way to keep all the information on one item together. We got rid of all the boxes hanging around, and put the receipts and warranties, etc. in the box we keep in the bedroom closet. It has all the warranties, instructions, extra screws, etc. from just about every appliance and piece of furniture we've gotten since we've moved in here. It isn't really organized in any way, but it is really helpful anyway.

-We put up thick curtains. they are light blue, so they let light in in the middle of the day, but they keep heat out. We are west facing, with no trees, so during the summer our living room gets super overheated really quickly in the afternoons. The curtains also look a lot nicer than the shades (which we left up). We also bought lightweight white curtains to hang behind them but didn't buy a second rod to hang them on, so we're still figuring that part out.

-We used the small (ikea) shelves that I had used for craft supplies previously to store games and toys. I also keep my sewing machine on top of them, and the iron. We bought some (ikea) baskets that just happen to fit into them pretty easily. This is where we put small games that we play more frequently. board games go on the shelf in the bedroom. Felt food also goes here :)

-We took down the gigantic prints of mark's food photos. I needed to put my thread organizer on the wall, and they really took up the whole thing. Mark gave me free reign over the walls in that room, so I dug out my Mucha prints that mommy and daddy bought me, a painting mark did for my birthday, and the cd album art from Thom Yorke's The Erase. Mark doesn't like Radiohead at all, but really likes the album art on this one, so we now have it on cd and vinyl.

-We bought a few cheap frames at ikea, and I have one with a picture of my mom reading a book (alfie's feet) to me when I was really little. this one is on the red table. We also framed the skeleton print that Matt gave us, but haven't hung it yet. We have some prints of a church that he gave us, but haven't framed or hung them. Other art to be framed: two Scott C. prints, and a print that we bought this summer as a benefit to help clean up the oil spill. We aren't sure yet where to hang any of this, and need to cut mats first. We bought a bunch of frames at goodwill, and they need to be sanded and painted, and then we can use them for these and other art. We've borrowed the mat cutter from mark's parent's but haven't gotten around to using it yet.

-We've also been rearranging the kitchen. I took down all my tea/coffee paraphernalia and ceramics, and wrapped up anything I don't really use right now, and threw away and goodwilled a lot more. The rest was returned to the cupboard. We bought new really big glasses (at ikea) and some more medium ones as well. The big ones are really great. The ceramics are out of the way in the closet, as well as some other stuff we didn't need out right now, like the third teapot, and most of my demi tasses.

-We have two ikea spice racks on the wall next to our stove, and I filled up anything that was getting low, and consolidated anything that I could. I washed all the jars that were emptied, and filled them with anything that was in bags. Put it all back in the cupboard in such a way that I can see everything. Much nicer.

-moved all the Nalgenes into the pantry, as well as all the empty canning jars. I put the dish drainer under the sink, since we rarely use it, adn it just gets used as a catch-all. this cleared up room to move appliance over to that side of the sink, so now I've got the kettle and blender there. The huge cutting board also fits perfectly here. Because the tea kettle is now right next to the mugs and tea cups, I put some of the tea onto that counter, and the small tea accessories into a bowl next to it. Most of the tea is still on the floor of the pantry, but there's really too much of it for anywhere else.

That's the basics to get caught up to where I am today. It seems like we did more that that, but I think that throwing out and giving to goodwill really did the most work.

Fall is so inspiring!

2010-10-03T12:40:00.000-07:00

it's 66 degrees outside, and i've put some music on, and I'm baking the potatoes that mommy gave me.
I did a load of dishes, rearranged my beans, and I'm eating a yogurt. I'll work on the spices next. maybe clean up the counters some more. maybe put away the dish rack? rearrange the spices?
All I want to do is listen to christmas music, and wrap christmas presents.

ETA: I rearranged and consolidated the spices, rearranged everything on the countertops and the bar. I have a little tea-making corner now too!

eating

2010-05-03T10:25:00.001-07:00

We've been eating out a lot lately. I thought it would bother me more than it does, because we're eating mostly healthy stuff, so we don't feel gross. It's been really nice not to feel like I have to do the dishes all the time. I don't have to worry about buying groceries, and I don't have to worry as much about all our groceries going bad before we eat them. cooking shopping, and eating is SO stressful for me. I feel like even when I make things I think mark will like, they're still not good enough, and then I feel selfish, because maybe I wasn't trying hard enough, and maybe all I care about is myself. then I feel like a wasteful person when it all goes bad in the fridge (although the compost helps with that). It's cut down on so much stress between mark and I, because there's no way to eat at home every meal, and have him satisfied. I can't make burgers or chicken fingers or pollo al chipotle every day of the week. if 'eating at home' means eating hot dogs or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, then is it really worth it?
I know we can't afford it, and we'll have to go back to cooking again soon, but oh goodness, I'm not sure if I'm ready to deal with it yet.

This is a huge part of the reason I'm not pushing the baby issue. they're so much more stress and work, and if I can barely take care of myself, should I be taking care of someone else?

I want this whole place to sparkle, I want to have a clean bright kitchen, but it's not going to be bright even if it's clean, so it always feels dirty everywhere in this house.

2010-04-06T12:51:00.000-07:00

planted cucumbers, garlic, squash, tomatoes (heirloom!), peppers (cayenne & poblano?) marigolds and green beans yesterday. I just hope the wind doesn't kill them.
also planted some african violets in mary's garden, and weeded her back yard a bit.
two potatoes came up, no sign from the raspberries or strawberries yet though.
my hands ached all yesterday, especially left hand. hopefully just the weather. feel very old though. probably should stop cracking my knuckles.
the dogwoods were blooming.
mark had seconds of my strawberry pie. didn't have any more today though. mine was delicious, so i don't mind eating the rest of it. :)
saw christy sunday, talked a lot about babies.

2010-03-23T22:16:00.001-07:00

got hte house nice and clean,
had a nice short visit with mommy (too short :( it makes me so sad she doesn't get to spend as long here anymore)
feeling good about tomorrow, and all the planting we'll get to do, and maybe shabby sheep too!
i forgot to eat dinner, but maybe we can do something fun when mark comes home, to celebrate finally having a day off.

2010-03-22T16:54:00.000-07:00

kelsey is getting married.
we got a new tv. it is nice and big.
i beat the 2mil challenge on katamari.
it snowed two days ago, and i really want to garden, but i've just been so much busier this year. it just makes me sad, because i know that even the little bit of time that I will get to spend gardening won't matter, because it won't be enough, and everything will do badly, because I'm not there to take care of it every day.
it is so hard not to be able to garden. really, right now, it feels like that is the only thing i want to do, ever, for the rest of my life. i've begun thinking about career options that would support this ability, but i'm not sure, because i know eventually i will just be a stay-at-home mom and get to have a garden in my back yard, and then i will be happy. getting to that backyard is the issue.
i don't know what to do with my compost heap, if i should let it take up room in my garden, or if i should ask to be allowed to put it somewhere else.

so far in the garden i've got mint, onions, and blackberries.
sprouting, i've got basil, chamomile, zucchini, green beans, marigolds, and in pots i've got chives, parsley, more basil, rosemary and something else i can't remember. some assorted flowers.
i want to also do: peppers, hot and/or green, cucumbers, potatoes, tomatoes, and garlic. possibly more onions around the edge, if there's not enough garlic? and maybe some poppies just because i love them so much.

2010-02-22T10:12:00.000-08:00

yesterday I
emptied the dishwasher
made dinner
did a load of laundry

2010-02-20T12:42:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I made chicken pot pie
(frozen peas,corn,carrots, two chicken thighs in pieces, less than 1/2 recipe of the white sauce for macaroni and cheese, one can of cream of mushroom soup in 13x9 pan, one recipe of mommy's fast biscuits, rolled out thin on top, 350 for 20ish minutes, till barely golden. so yummy!)

and cupcakes
and did a load of dishes

and in katamari i got those two stars that I couldn't find,
and beat two levels of coop on my own
but still can't get 2000000kms. need to play through more coop?

enchiladas

2010-02-16T18:38:00.000-08:00

not too weird, so that mark will eat them

Innards:
ground beef,
onion
green pepper
taco seasoning
garlic
one tomato diced
half a can of corn
can of whole black beans

whole wheat tortillas

grated cheese

sauce:
two cans of chili
one can of rotel
1/2 c salsa

brown ground beef with onion, mix in other stuff, until soft

put a bit of your sauce on the bottom of the 15x10 pan, fill each tortilla with ground beef, and a bit of cheese roll up and put face down in pan. If you have leftover innards, mix them in with your sauce. pour sauce over enchiladas, cover with cheese, bake at 350 for 20 or so minutes.

The chili is to make mark eat them, because that's how his mom makes it, the veggies are to make me bother making it. next time, we'll see what happens if i make a real sauce, but mark doesn't trust me to make up recipes that I haven't tried yet. start with the basics, when he likes that, change it gradually to be healthy.

2010-02-11T15:13:00.000-08:00

today it was snowing when we got up! and sticking!
work closed early so i didn't go in, instead i went on a walk, and then to the grocery store.
i baked sweet potatoes, and made a modified green bean casserole too.

2010-02-10T22:29:00.001-08:00

today i didn't do much at all because my back hurts.
but i did take pictures of the baby hat and posted them

2010-02-09T22:21:00.000-08:00

vacuumed
put away clean dishes
swept and mopped kitchen
washed kitchen rug and blue blanket and mittens
finished hat
spent time with mommy

2010-02-08T22:40:00.000-08:00

cleaned the house
super rearranged the 'dining' room
did a load of dishes
made pretty bad pancakes

2010-02-06T21:42:00.000-08:00

I've sold both sets of handwarmers, feels good. when i have some extra time i might make some more to sell.
yesterday we unlocked at least 10 trophies :) but didn't get much done other than finishing the baby hat. now i just have to add tassles

Today I cleaned the kitchen pretty well:
did a load of dishes, and washed out the pot from the olive meal washed too.
cleaned out old stuff from the fridge, rinsed out the containers, wiped down the floor of the fridge.

made cauliflower soup (or something) from leftover cauliflower, leftover broth, with hand mixer. so easy!

mashed sweet potatoes(they are too sweet, they taste weird)

cleaned out and rearranged the pantry. looks much less cluttered. need to do some baking!

took a shower and shaved
cleaned the mildew and scum from the shower tiles and bathtub.

2010-01-28T22:36:00.000-08:00

I finished the hand warmers a few day sago
yesterday we made pizza and did two loads of laundry
today mark was sick and i took care of him

2010-01-24T14:03:00.001-08:00

yesterday I started on hand warmers
cut mark's hair
snuggled

today i've taken out the trash
cleaned up the kitchen somewhat
cooked pasta
I bought chicken at CM (no hormones! or whatever) (even though the guy at the counter was mean to me. i would have cried, if i were a crier)
I finished hand warmer #1
I unlocked 2 trophies, and finished off two locations!
I got to talk to mommy

yesterday and today i:

2010-01-23T10:40:00.000-08:00

hung out with sarah!
Put together my new compost heap

today I am going to look at yarn (even though i possibly have what i'm looking for.)
and take care of zeke

2010-01-20T19:37:00.000-08:00

yesterday i made macaroni and cheese

today i did a load of laundry and a load of dishes
i made a batch of biscuits and gravy, and washed some dishes by hand.

yesterday and today i:

2010-01-19T11:39:00.001-08:00

did a load of laundry and folded most of one
tried to make orange syrup
bagged up the minestrone into the freezer
unlocked lots of things on little big planet
made a fabulous sandwhich

Today I:

2010-01-17T10:03:00.000-08:00

Took a shower
Did 2 loads of laundry
and dried one, hung one up.
did a load of dishes
(mark put them away and did one more)
made minestrone
swept the bathroom and kitchen

2009-02-10T20:03:00.000-08:00

a huge storm just blew up out of nowhere, banged around on the doors, knocked over my planters, broke one, the other one fell all the way down to the first floor, behind a bush.
my plastic cups i had just planted just sat there on the table and didn't move. mark helped me find my wisteria in the rain, and fixed it.
the power went out just as we unplugged our computers. now there's just quiet rain and a bit of lightening, but there were sirens and gusts, and what sounded like a herd of elephants, all for the space of about ten minutes. now we've got the shades pulled and the lights off, so we can see the lightening.

2009-01-07T19:45:00.000-08:00

I want to move to Colorado (but not be cold). I want to knit sweaters. I want to work at a library, and not worry about healthcare, and job security. I want to make cool things and sell them online. I definitely want to eat less meat.
And I want to have a good birthday.
I want to keep being as happy as I've been in the past few months. It's been nice not being depressed and anxiety-ridden. more people should try it.

2008-11-06T12:28:00.000-08:00

I'm almost done with to of the sockies for michelle. only they aren't a pair. hopefully there will be pairs for both of them soon.
It's getting dark before mark is home, now, so I'm going to go to the park by myself, instead of taking a walk with him later. I can't find any of my old headphones, because our closet does not have a light, and all outlets are very far away from it. And I think our only flashlight is actually stored in it somewhere. So I'm probably going to borrow Mark's nice expensive headphones. off we go!

2008-11-05T06:19:00.000-08:00

I don't have to move to Canada now. That's a relief. I really didn't feel like buying a warmer coat.
In all seriousness, though, and as much as I doubt my ability to properly research and understand things, I am really relieved right now, and looking forward to what next year brings.
I hate talking about politics, especially where it involves me saying what I believe and why, because I know someone has always heard something more or different than I. I know how easy it would be to arbitrarily choose someone, and then read certain websites, etc. that only let me hear the good about the one I chose, and the bad about all the others. I know that has happened to an extent, but the important thing is that I was reading, and that I did choose, and then I voted, to the best of my ability.

2008-10-01T16:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our first day of work. It was actually really fun and exciting, and it went really well. My feet still hurt from standing for so long, but I was expecting that.

I finally got my name changed officially today! i'm still waiting for my new SS card, until i can change my drivers license, passport, get a joint bank account... ugh. i have my work cut out for me.

today we went to michael's and bought stuff to make an autumn wreath. we also priced christmas trees, and ornaments! being a 'family' is fun. we never even thought about getting a tree the past few years, even though I was living in a big house. Now that I'm in a tiny apartment, I'mm really excited about having a proper christmas.

I'm not the sort to go overboard with kitschy cutsey dustcatcher decorations, but i want to have a little christmas tree, at least our first christmas. I was fine with not having one at home growing up so many years, and i thought it was pretty neat that my mom made a christmas mural when we were really little and couldn't get one. (which I think I might inherit?) but this year, I really want a tree.

2008-09-08T15:25:00.001-07:00

trying to find a job: not fun.
i want the job at the museum, i think.
i want a full time job so i can get good insurance.
i have an interview at michael's tonight.
i don't know much about these things, getting jobs, and what not, but i don't feel like it's going well. i want to look through a catalogue, pick what i want, be told yes or no promptly, and then move on to my next best. none of this wait-a-week-and-call-back stuff, them never calling if they don't need me, me finding better and better jobs to apply for, changing my mind about what i want to do, not applying for hte best things first. beuh. this sucks. i just want a job! full time! making alot of money! and (good) insurance!
sitting at home makes me want to be a stay at home mom, and just have babies, and take them on walks, and sew things, and sell them on etsy, but i don't want to have babies without insurance, and i can't get insurance without a (full-time) (long-term) job , and part of me just sort of wishes it weren't all up to me. getting pregnant, getting a job, you name it. ugh.

2008-08-29T09:34:00.001-07:00

if i could, i would break into flower, if i could, i'd no longer be bad,
this day is filling up my room, is coming through my door,
oh, I have not seen this day before

I'm working on mark's sweater. it's all done but the weaving in of ends, and the neck and cuffs. i thought it would take me some five minutes to weave in all the ends. hardly. i might never get this thing done. but if looks GORGEOUS.
note to self: be more wary of fair isle next time.

2008-08-13T19:17:00.000-07:00

i'm married!

2008-07-28T19:08:00.000-07:00

also, i HATE being in school.
i hate class. i hate homework. i hate teachers. even good ones. i hate studying- or trying to.

2008-07-28T16:38:00.000-07:00

we painted our new apartment yellow this weekend. parents, sisters, new apartment, things are beginning to get exciting. except that i had a test this morning,a nd work this afternoon, and none of them involved mark, or dallas, or being away from commerce, in general.

but i've spent the afternoon looking at things on rivendell, to compensate. mostly their bags, racks, etc. trying to stay away from bikes, seats, and the other sorts of things that i don't actually need. i really want some good, pretty bags/panniers so i can go off to tomthumb/central market/borders by myself, and not have to use the car. some things make this hard.
-size: obviously i iwll not buy as many groceries at once as i do now, but it would be nice to be able to fit quite alot in these babies. i also like the idea of us cutting down on unnessecary large food items, and going for smaller ones. not that we eat that much food in the first place, in fact, we need to eat more. but i think we should buy food when we need it, and not just because we ran out.
-look: i believe in cycling apparatus that does not coordinate with rainforest animals. natural colours are the best! no spandex, no neon things of any sort, although of course reflectors are useful. but those can be red or white, not radioactive. nigel smythe makes the most beautiful bags that ever graced a means of transport, and i want them, i just can't afford them, and i don't count myself as responsible enough to take care of them as well as i ought for hte next couple of years.
-function: as well as being big enough to hold groceries, i would like to easily remove them from my bike (like, one swift motion) and bring them into shops to use as a grocery basket, and therefore do away with plastic bags, etc. my current wire basket does this quite well, but does not fit on my most functional bike.

so i'm left with decisions. lower expectations and buy something cheap, ugly, badly made, or small.
or i can make my own, emulating the style of nigel smythe, but to my own sizing preferences. so i'm ploting my next trip to goodwill, and their plaid wool skirts section. and old leather belts. hah. it will be amazing.

2008-07-22T21:50:00.000-07:00

twenty days till i get married
just over two weeks, and i can't wait. everything about what is happening after august 11th is filled with good feelings and relief and happiness, and i can't wait. sleeping in the same bed, in our new apartment, being in dallas, not being in commerce, whatever new job i have, hopefully at borders. camping on the way to colorado. being in colorado instead of texas. settling down and being together, instead of apart, forever. moving all of our fun new (and old) things into our pretty yellow and blue apartment.

everything during the next two weeks, however, i am a little more worried about, or just in general not having as much fun with. going to class. being cold in class, not taking good notes in class, going to work, being at work for too long, looking up obscure records while trying not to fall asleep (maria callas, joan sutherland, and pavarotti would haunt my dreams), being away from mark, seeing mark with alot of other people around. not knowing what to tell people to do during the week while i'm busy with school. packing, cleaning, living with people other than mark, having more and more people around.

but also i'm excited about the things coming up. some of them just because of what they represent, but also because i hope they will be fun too: painting our apartment, hanging out with mommy and daddy, having christy here, going to letourneau together, graduating, moving stuff into our apartment, setting things up for the wedding, seeing friends, even if just for a little bit. i'm so glad i'm finally graduating.

and i really hope i get a good job.

2008-07-02T16:32:00.000-07:00

i'm done with the paintings, i think. (not that it matters, because it's too late to do anything about it.) i'm eating brie and whole grain bread, and drinking my secret stash of elderflower drink, to celebrate (and alleviate). i'm doing laundry, i've unpacked, am ready to repack, and am thinking 75% positively about this weekend, and deena living with me for a month.
and the washer's making a weird noise.
i accidnetally took an hour long nap this afternoon, so i'm surprised i have time to sit a breathe before vaughn comes over. i'm surprised i'm able to force myself to eat something.
i still need to clean my room: as in, my art stuff has taken over and is eating everything, and i need it to be fit to have someone sleep on the floor comfortably. probably even take apart and pack my easel. showering would be good, and making sure my laundry gets done, so i can have things to wear this weekend, and into the next weeks.
i'm looking foward to being married. it will be nice. nice to be around mark, without anybody else, which is not likely to happen for a while. nice to be able to eat with someone else, to eat at all. to have someone around ever, who is such a positive influence in so many ways. to have my own kitchen, refrigerator especially. to have my own bathroom that people aren't stealing TP from. seriously guys.
the wedding, we'll work on that. but being married, i can't wait.

2008-06-17T11:20:00.000-07:00

it's raining buckets.
i walked home in the rain, with thunder and lightening right over my head. it was scary, and cold, and i was soaked to my undies when i got home.
but you know, life needs adventures, even if they are uncomfortable scary ones.

2008-06-16T15:34:00.001-07:00

we made all our invitations yesterday. they're really pretty, and it wasn't as much work as we thought it would be. we simplified some of our first ideas, so that helped. i'm trying to figure out if it's okay to hand them out to people at rebecca's and peter's weddings next week. i don't want to make people who aren't getting them to feel bad, or anything. but it would save so much on postage!
and i'm supposed to be painting. and it's not going very quickly. i think i pretty much finished christy's, unless i have some sort of epiphany while i'm out there next week.
next is a self portrait.
then hopefully while in chicago i'll do a picture of mark. maybe just watercolors or charcoals, or something else that won't ruin clothes/apartments, etc, and that won't take up lots of space in suitcases.
i'm really excited for these weddings, but i'm not so sure, also. it might be really emotional for me, being with mommy and daddy for a few days, and then being with peter and angela and kelsey and all for a few days, and everything with everybody changing. it might be weird, or it might just be hard. or i might not feel any difference at all.

2008-06-11T18:13:00.000-07:00

painting is happening. sort of. i think something is wrong with my paints though. they don't feel right. but that is just a lame excuse. i need to get off my but and get work done!

so i need to remember how to be personal again.

2008-06-04T18:14:00.000-07:00

christy was here for the weekend. she left here this morning, and i am much lonelier now than i thought i would be.
she came to bring me my wedding dress! which fits nicely, and i think is really lovely. it might be a bit warm come august, what with long sleeves and all, but fitting+free=i love it! it's really old fashioned feeling, and i feel very at-home in it, since it's mommy's. i don't have to figure out what is most "me" from all the mass=produced homogenized companies' stock, i find something personal instead. it feels much more comfortable that way.
while christy was here, we talked about her moving up here sometime in the next year or two (what fun!) and ate lots of food, and i had her sit for a portrait for me. it isn't quite done yet, but i need to only work on things like background and finishing touches, and the important bits are done. which means i probably should have finished it today, except i somehow accidentally took a three hour nap. it probably would've been longer, if i hadn't managed to convince myself that i ought to eat lunch sometime before dinner.
and, i officially received my first formal wedding gift yesterday! it's a lovely red blender, and i wish i could open it up and use it for smoothies and hummus and pesto right away! but i don't think that would be nice, and i'm afraid that i would break it or lose a piece in our mess of a kitchen, before i'm actually married, and moved to our nice new neat apartment. but it looks so tempting, and so... red.
i don't like being lonely, and i don't like spending hours online, and i don't like being in charge of planning this wedding, because i don't know what i'm doing, and i do know what i want, and i don't know how to let anyone else know.
i want to watch Firefly, and knit, and get to know other people who like those things, or at least people who don't creep me out or make me feel uncomfortable or awkward or lonelier.

2008-05-27T19:53:00.000-07:00

last class day till july 7th, today.
which means i actually have to get work done now without anybody breathing down my neck, and telling me my ideas are bad every other day. now i just have to get work done, and hope for the best. it's a weird feeling. i'm used to things drawing out forever and ever.
also there were a ton of fireflies outside tonight. i haven't seen that many fireflies in my life, so to see that many was amazing.
christy is coming on friday, and she's going to bring my wedding dress! yay fun!
and i'm going to paint a picture of her!
and deena's coming through next weekend, (just a stop on her way to chicago, so i'm not expecting to have an exciting time or anything)
but this summer is definitely underway, in a major way. soon i'll be off to chicago myself, and then i'll be in class again (political science, ugh), and then... i'll be graduating... and getting married. wow. partly, it feels like there's just a bunch of hurdles to jump through till i can get through to that warm fuzzy place of being done with it all (this place is located in estes park, colorado, just in case you were wondering), but partly, i feel like it's all coming at me really quickly, and this is going to be a whirlwind summer.
every week counts now, and every weekend.

so now, i need to start making my time meaningful. i will start by watching "firefly" and knitting socks. that counts right? it's better than digg, at least!

2008-05-22T17:05:00.000-07:00

so i've been meaning to get one of these for a while. i keep reading more and more interesting blogs about knitting and planting and wedding, and ... living, and i kept wanting to be a part of it.
if you want to know what i've been doing previously, go read over here.
and no, i won't be using capital letters.

some current projects i'll most likely be writing about:
-my garden. it's amazing and i love it.
-my knitting. currently trying out my first pair of socks (not including that mess in home ec).
-i'm getting married! in august. yay! so lots of planning, etc.