Oh.My.Goodness. I love having the summer off!
Let's just discuss a few of the reasons why I love summer and my days off.
I dare you to deny that this is the best and weirdest tongue you've ever seen before. Who wouldn't want to spend time getting soaked by something so full of chocolate-y love? I love being at home with Hudson.
Knitting socks on a weekday in the middle of the afternoon--another wonderful perk to having the summer off. Do I need to do laundry instead? Probably, yes, but we can wear old undies for just one more day this week. I've got plenty with holes that I've been hanging on to for just that reason.
Need I say more? Totally acceptable to have this in the middle of a hot day, while lounging on the patio, knitting socks that I won't wear until October.
I'm sure I could enjoy all my flowers even if I had to work in the summer, but not in the middle of the afternoon, in the middle of the week. (I'm just pushing it now, aren't I?)
Thank you for joining me as I list the reasons why I love summer, and why I love working for the public school system. Happy first day of summer to everyone!
I'm in a really frustrated mood this week. I've been thinking that on the whole, the week itself has been good (a free iced coffee from the new coffee shop in town for lunch yesterday, a phone call from my very best friend, Kate, and my summer break only a few weeks away) but I think I'm feeling out of touch with my creating. Instead of feeling inspired, I'm feeling run down and out of new ideas.
I need to build up my confidence in new projects, and be happy with those that I want to finish. I feel as though I base my success solely on the opinions of others, and I just think I need to move past that.
This, apparently is what a gloomy, chilly, rainy day in May does for my confidence.
Psss.....I have something to show you...
Meet Hudson, our new puppy dog! Go on...call me a sap. I'm okay with it.
We got Hudson this past Monday, and he's adjusting to life in the house very well. (We're adjusting pretty well, as well!) It felt like a big jump to get a new dog already, but as soon as we got him into the car to take him back home, I knew we were doing the right thing. I can't say that Hudson has taken my sadness for losing Kasey away, but having a new friend to come home to every day makes me so happy.
I am so happy to have Hudson!
Thank you all so much for your touching comments and thoughts. We sent our sweet puppy to sleep today after a very hard weekend for her. It was the hardest thing to do, but it was right. I miss her so much already.
It's been a hard week or so for me. We found out that our sweet puppy, Kasey, has lymphoma. There's nothing we can do for her, other than to treat her symptoms, and it has broken my heart.
Growing up, my family never owned a dog. Up until Ben and I were married, I wasn't sure I would ever want a dog! But when we took Kasey in to our lives in 2004, I couldn't imagine my life without my crazy little dog-person. It's hard to explain just how much personality Kasey has, but her sense of humor, her smile, and her companionship was never ending to me.
Back in January, we started noticing things. She wouldn't eat and just wasn't herself. The vet told us she had the flu. Then it was strep throat. When things just weren't getting better, the x-ray and the blood tests started to tell us the bad news. This, unfortunately, is what happens with so many golden retrievers that are her age.
It's hard thinking about what it will be like coming home from work and not having my wagging puppy by my side. For now though, we want to make the rest of her life as comfortable and as happy as possible. Even though I am sad for the inevitable, I have to remember how much joy she has brought to my life in the past 3 and a half years.
Some scenes from my weekend:
I just can't explain how much I love balloons. I lived a good chunk of my childhood in Statesville, North Carolina, where they have the most amazing balloon rally. We'd park away from where they'd be launched at and I remember how magical it seemed when all of a sudden, hundreds of balloons would rise up from behind the tree line. Unfortunatly, this balloon festival wasn't quite as impressive as those, but to me, it was still wonderful.
Now on to today's pressing matters.
Happy Valentine's Day! Regardless of whether you like the holiday or not, I hope you take time to tell someone you love them today. Be it a good friend, a family member, your pet--someone today loves you back unconditionally. I hope that puts cheer into your day, no matter what.
I was thinking red today, so I snapped some photos some of my favorite red things around the house.
Cookies, ribbon, and fresh breath always go together!
My sewing room's red trash can is doing it's job of keeping my room clean today.
Sharpie pens make my heart flutter!!
And just since I'm slowly jumping back on the doing bandwagon, here are my two latest projects:
My new button bag!
A happy feltie mushroom tote!
Love to you all today!
xo
I'm having a rough time getting motivated to create recently. I haven't worked on a quilt in weeks, my ideas feel bland and boring, and I've had no real inspiration to really work on any new projects. I feel like all of the ideas that I do come up with are essentally copies of what has "inspired" me and very little of what I do think of is really original. I see so much wonderful, creative goings-on elsewhere, and I just don't feel as though I stand on the same level of the women who's blogs I daily read.
I was excited about this tree bag at first--I whipped it up very quickly and it sold super fast on Etsy--and I had plans to make others just as quickly, but that quickly fizzled. I need to get through this creative block, and get my clogged up mind back in action!
I'm feeling compelled to write today but I'm also feeling like I'm without anything important to share. Instead I've decided to join the SPT bloggers with a photo of my own today. I'm always a little hestiant about posting my pictures here, especially ones of myself. There's so many people who can outshoot me so well, and I worry that what I do post pictures of looks so bad that people will think less of what I do, because of it. I guess I'm not really worried about that today though!
So this is me, standing in my mustard yellow bathroom, pleased to pull my hair back in a ponytail and feel a little relaxed for the evening still to come.
Happy Halloween, everyone! The mini light up Frankensteins and I are mere minutes away from helping our neighborhood kids get their very important, yearly sugar fix. I hope you all are doing your part in your town too. Think of the kids (and think of yourself with your leftover candy, too)!
And speaking of weddings, Happy 2nd Anniversary, Ben!
I can't believe it's been two years already! Here's to another wonderful year together! :)
Despite having a very busy week last week, I think I can officially say that I've caught up. Last night I finished pieceing the last block of the wedding quilt (YAY! No more two inch sqares to piece!) and tonight I'm hoping to finish putting the last six blocks on the rest of the top. All I'll need is a bit of a border (I'm thinking it'll look strange, and will possibly be too small without one) and then I get to quilt! So very, very, very exciting!
Another projects that I started and actually finished this weekend were shrinky dink pins.
Again (like many good ideas these days) the pins were inspired by the ones done at Wee Wonderfuls. So many cool things ideas come from there. All I did was make crappy little drawings on the shrinky dinks (I totally love that stuff now--I've never played with it before and now I'm hooked!) and then I stuck a pin through it before I put them in the toaster oven. If nothing else really, the look so cool in a pincushion!
In the world of blogs that are not my own, I did want to mention that everyone should go check out Angry Chicken. Amy Karol is a textile artist has the coolest things on her blog. Today's post featured an amazing log cabin quilt that her mother made. The quilting on it is so unique--it makes it look very different from any other log cabin quilt that I've seen, which in my opinion, is a good thing.
Finally, I have to post a picture of the cake my friend Laura made for our crafty girls group birthday party last week.
Here's Alice and Allison posing with their knitting cake--yummy and crafty!
I started a new scarf out of the pink fuzzy yarn I bought, but I'm still not done with the blue one yet. Oh wait... I'm not done with those, plus the new Wedding quilt, the Apple Core quilt, there's that antique quilt I'm working on, I've got one that I started when I made Wedding Spectacularrrr that's the same pattern, only in bold colors, I still haven't finished the one that I'm making for my Granny, and yeah... there's a Trip Around The World quilt that I'm doing by machine that I started in 2000. Just what I need to be doing--starting new projects, that probably won't get finished.
Hopefully I'll have some extra time after the stress of the last three days at Fox are through. Here's me having some fun at the teleprompter during a commercial break tonight. Let me tell you how glad I'll be to never, ever, ever run a teleprompter again after Sunday night.
I've got to stop starting new projects.
I'm not so much about writing about the problems of my personal life, but I have to say, I'm pretty mad about what's happening at work right now. Not only did everyone that I work with get fired on Monday, but I promise, no one is jumping up and down for joy about it. Yesterday in the Lansing State Journal, our station's General Manager made a few comments that I thought were just horrible. "The mood is just great here" and "I'm just tickeled." Whatever. I guess she's not the one trying to comfort the on-air talent while the show is going on. No, I can't say as though my life is over with since I lost my job. I was looking for other prospects. But no one likes to have the security of having a steady job taken away from them before they're ready to. So, although I know no one from work will read this, and the only people that I suppose will are my friends and a few others out there on the Internet, I wanted to make sure, in some way, I'm not giving my soon to be former employer good press, since I don't think they deserve it.
Okay, I'm off my soapbox and I promise I'll go back to writing about my usual stuff next time.
I have just over two weeks to get A&V's Wedding Spectacularrrr quilt done. I'm not so sure I'm going to make it. I'm honestly starting to freak out about it.
But something else for me to freak out about... I lost my job today! I swear it wasn't just me though, it was the entire news department at the fine Fox 47 establishment. Turns out they're "outsourcing" our news department to the NBC affilate in town to produce two shows a day for our air, starting at the end of August. I guess they're talking that some people will be able to go with the news, but not everyone. It's strange though. I think my time as a news producer is done for good. I can't imagine taking another job for just over $7.00 an hour, and at best, getting part time work. I'll either be working for the State of Michigan this fall, or be subsitute teaching. It'll be an interesting season at least.
On the up side of things, Kasey has come to live with us for good now! We had a little bit of stress at first; she knocked over Ben's madagasgar palm, ripped the screen door, and took off running away from me (that wasn't fun) but she's behaving herself well now. We're going to have to work on her getting up at 5am just to say "hi" habit, but that'll come in time!
I'm bored out of my mind here at work, so let me take a moment to slip out of the newsroom and actually enjoy my day.
***I'm enjoying the beautiful, sunny Memorial Day by relaxing at home on my day off. It's been lovely.***
I just got a call from a woman, WAIT! She was a crazy woman, who asked if we had any plans to update a story we ran in March, about two bears that were saved after their mother was killed by a logger. She wanted us to run a story about how they're freaking progressing! Ahhhhhh!!!! I can't stand this place!
***I had a beautiful day at home today! Did I mention that I went to the most lovely Memorial Day picnic at Ben's family's house. It was really, so lovely. We really should have days like this more often.***
I went to a wedding this weekend for a friend of mine from high school. It's so strange to see our friends getting married, and in some cases, starting to have kids even. I can't say much, especially since Ben and I were just about the first of any of our friends to get married. But I was thinking about it later in the evening, that I've really got to get all of my girlfriends from high school together sometime. I think I want to throw a dip party, and make lots of yummy dips and have everyone over to my house to see each other. It would be fun to make invitations and food and do it for all of my old friends. I'm not sure if I should do it before, or after A&V's WEDDING SPECTACULARRRR, since I'm still so wrapped up in projects like the quilt and Angie's bridal luncheon for that. But I think it would be a whole lot of good-time fun.
I'm still here at work, aren't I? It's now 4:45, and I've been here since 2:30. This is the most I've done yet. Weighing out my options, I do get double-time for my appearance in the Fox 47 Newsroom today though, and it looks like it's going to downpour any minute now. It's all good in the end!