On celebrating the little things.

Sometimes, I forget just how far we've come with the dogs. I often take their hard work for granted, focusing more on their naughty or annoying behaviors rather than celebrating their successes.  I get frustrated with the lack of forward progress, when in reality it's entirely my fault for not providing them with the time, attention, and direction they require. How can they ever know what's expected of them if nobody tells them what to do, or what's appropriate? How can they control themselves in an excitable situation if they've never had the chance to practice in a calm scenario first?  I often curse (in my head) their wild barking at dogs passing by, only to berate myself for it afterwards. "Your dog isn't stupid, stupid. You just haven't been giving them the time to figure stuff out!"


Tonight I had my foot soaking in a bowl of essential oils, epsom salt, & water in order to draw out a splinter. Maggie walks up to sniff the bowl, and I'd rather not have her trying to drink that concoction. I give her a gentle "leave it" and she immediately turns away, opting to lie down by my feet instead.

Shortly after, Kira walks over to the window and starts to snortle/huff - a clear indication she sees something exciting and is about to react. Before she has the chance to lose her marbles, I ask her to "leave it" as well, and she immediately turns to me for an ear rub.  Unremarkable, to the average viewer, sure. In reality, those two moments were HUGE victories, and years in the making.

Maggie is an independent, curious, active old gal with nearly a decade-old habit of doing whatever the hell she wants to. This is the dog that, when learning how to walk on a leash, reportedly turned back to the handler, excitedly grabbing the leash and barking wildly. This is the dog that would intercept water-bottle squirts on behalf of the family cat, catching the stream in her mouth. The dog that can open cabinets and trash cans and bedroom doors (really). The dog that uses her front dew-claws as thumbs. She's extremely intelligent, but more motivated by doing what she wants to do than by food. Getting her to turn away from a bowl of interesting smelling-stuffs and lie down on her own accord is monumental. It took a moment to register exactly what had happened- Maggie opted for a cuddle over pursuing the good smells. She listened. She listened, happily. It wasn't a fight. It wasn't frustrating. It was...smooth. Easy. Automatic!

Kira is our high maintenance darling. She was bounced around a few homes, the shelter, foster homes. Adopted & returned. Highly anxious, highly active, and highly reactive, we were told Kira could never be in a home with other dogs. We were told she was highly aggressive with small dogs. We were told she was a handful. She chewed through her metal crate the first full day she was left alone. She whined and paced and panted for weeks after adopting her.  She bonded with R right away, but it took nearly three months before she'd even settle on her side. Longer, before we could try rubbing her belly for just a moment. Here we are, a three dog house, and she's thriving. Her best bud is our little terrier mix. Her leash-reactivity has gone from "Kujo on leash" to an alert, but in control darling. She happily offers her belly up for rubbings, and no longer loses her mind when passing another dog. When a super-exciting pair of dogs walked by the house with their people, she eagerly turned to me for lovin'.

My point is, focus on those little things. Celebrate those baby-steps forward. Rejoice in those small, seemingly insignificant victories. They're the foundation to those ultimate-triumphs, after all.

My girls

Love that unruly toe hair. 

Must.boop.nose.

Wiped

I'm still utterly exhausted from this whole wedding-fiasco in September, (yay! I'm a Mrs. now!), the holidaze, and the moving (yup, we're moving! In just a couple days!). So the gooshy wedding post and awesome photos will come later. Much later. When I don't feel like giving the stink eye when someone asks me "how was the wedding?" Cuz, right now, I just want to scream and run off to the coast for a nap. The West coast, of course. I refuse to accept Texas as having anything but some gravely sand and dirty bath water. A gulf is not a proper ocean, people!

That said, here's a LONG overdue, rambling update on a project. 

The chair from hell.

This took over a year. Mostly, because I have a short fuse and little patience for obstinate furniture. Which this was. Stubborn. Uncooperative. Horrible, even. 

See? It even looks like a jerk. 

I picked this baby up on good ol' craigslist for $10. I had wanted two of them, but someone got to its mate before I did. In the end, it really was for the best. I loathed  this project. It was horrible. 

To start, this thing smelled like old-lady perfume. It was bad I tell you. My car stunk for days after bringing this home. The bright side of having horrible dry weather in Texas, is the option to leave car windows open for a week, with no worries. In my garage, of course. I'm no fool. 

Also, I stuck this sucker in the middle of our yard for a couple of weeks to "air out." I thought if anything could help remove the funk, it would be the 110 degree heat and the merciless Texas sun. It worked. sorta. 

Now, the plan here was to strip the fabric, sand down the wood (the stain was coming off, like, everywhere and I am not a fan of the beat-to-hell look), and re-cover. In some sort of awesome fabric. 

First problem: 

Removing the bottom cover was a pain. There was bleeding involved, and a whoooole lot of cussing. 

Why? 

Industrial staples. A bazillion of them. Everywhere I looked, industrial staples. 

Staples in places that didn't even make sense. Like, randomly in the chair leg, where no fabric had ever been. 

The entire chair was covered in staples like this. Two-three extra rows of staples. Staples in non sensical places. The extra-super-duper fun part about these staples? They break. In half. Every.Single.Time. The best method to attempt removal was to shimmy a thin flat head screwdriver underneath the head of a staple, wiggle it around to raise the staple from the wood, and yank it out with pliers. This was the most successful approach, at a success rate of 50/50. Most of my time was spent desperately trying to pull out staple nubs. A lot of them we ended up pounding back into the wood. 

I loathed this chair. I was tempted to set in on fire, several times. Then I remembered how bad it smelled when I picked it up, and decided sending those toxic fumes in the air would just be cruel. 

This project scarred me. Scarred. A couple of times I thought I would need stitches for the gaping wounds that the random pokey edges of broken staples gave me. Good thing I'm solid on my tetanus shot. R is definitely worse for wear-that boy is a bleeder. 

So, yes. This bastard of a chair took over a year to just rip off the fabric. I'm scarred. R is scarred. We both HATE hate hate this chair. Or, at least we did. When we finally removed the last piece of fabric, there was much celebration. Then we hid the beast in the storage room for a few months. What? We had better things to do...

Fast forward to me complaining about the chair not being done- we hit up Home Depot for some stain, and got to work sanding this bad-boy down. 

I love nudey furniture pics. 

As a purely cheap-skate move, we kept the original batting and foam. Due to the depressing lack of crafty-fabricy supply stores nearby, the cost vs reward was too high ($50 for replacing that wee amount of goods, if you were wondering). 

Also, it was all in pretty good shape. Other than lingering perfumey smells, that is. I ended up spritzing (soaking) the foam & batting with a vinegar/water mix, then a hydrogen peroxide/water mix. Let sit out it oppressive Texas heat to dry. Called it good 'nuff. 

Next step was to stain this sucker, which I forgot to photograph. R helped, which was awesome, because I love working on projects with him. I doubt he has the same feeling about me. 

We stained, we wiped, we suck at this process. We sanded for a light "distressed" look, then decided we didn't like the distressed look, and re-stained. It's still not the right color we were goin' for, but, we've had it up-to-here with this chair, so, it's good enough for now.  Once we move, we'll tackle the whole staining-and-sealing the legs again. Let's be honest, movers will probably screw it up, and I just don't have it in me to finish it off. Right now the legs are "Walnut," which is what we thought we wanted. Maybe it'll look better after a coat of poly on top. Maybe? At least the wood is actual hard-wood, and not some mdf crap. 

Recovering this bad boy, fortunately, was pretty easy. Not that I took pictures of the process... 

Keeping the original fabric as a template, I cut out the new stuff (that R picked out from a selection of options I pulled up), and pinned 'em together. A better idea would have been to mark the original pieces with a sharpie, clearly explaining where they go and in what order, THEN pinning the new fabric to it. Lesson learned. 

Once we finally had the patience to tackle the reupholstering, it was a pretty quick process. I remembered, vaguely, in what order the pieces came off. So, ya know, reverse that and put 'em on. My handy-dandy staple gun (with lots of extra staples on hand!) and R tugging/holding fabric in place was all I needed to finish this sucka off. 

And now, the before, to refresh your memory: 

annnnd the after:

I know, I know, the lighting is horrible and the photo is fuzzy. Send me a photographer if you want better. It's not an exciting fabric. It's earthy-greenish, microsuede. Microsuede, to match the couch. And so my sumptuous thighs do not stick to the chair during the summer. I hate vinyl seating, btw. Worst idea for desert-type areas ever. Ever. 

Says the chick in exercise shorts sitting on a giant yoga ball right now. Sticky sticky. 

We have curtains stashed somewhere that match the chair. Microsuedey and everything. FYI. Wasn't planned, I swear. 

R is not overly adventurous in decorating choices, and our current living room set is very...manly. Which I'm cool with. I like neutral. I like earthy. Our coffee table is wood with stone set into the top. It lifts up into a cocktail table. It's awesome, and looking for a photo example was unsuccessful for something even close. I'd post a photo, but my house is packed up and on a moving truck right now. 

I digress. It's a man-cave in here, but a classy one. So, simple neutral chair fabric it was. Besides, I can get wild with throw pillows later. Right? Riiiight?

What would I do differently with recovering? Well, for one, get the dogs out of the house before using a staple gun. Seriously, they freaked. There was shaking, whimpering, and massive drooling during this project. It was pretty pathetic. Also, I'll never ever touch a "hotel chair" again. I wanted to cry trying to remove staples. It was the worst project ever. After that, though, things went well. 

I would probably change my mind about replacing the foam, too. For some reason, sitting in it now isn't as plush as before the re-do. That could be because I didn't spend much time sitting on it in the first place, but whatever. My big tush sinks in more than I would prefer, so I'll banish skinny guests to the chair. 

Which look fantastic dressed up with that throw pillow I made way-back when. Huzzah for scrap fabric, and hoarding tendencies! 

Thus ends the year-long saga of the chair-makeover (for now). A mite extra seating, and a whole lot of toil. I still can't decide if the effort was worth it, versus buying a similar chair at Ross for $250. 

Who am I kidding? I'll never spend  that much money on a single chair! 

I'm off to move far, far away from Texas. Yeehaw! 

All quiet

It's been radio-silent here for quite awhile, but for good reason! My life has been totally consumed with planning a wedding, preparing to move three dogs n two people to a new state, and for both humans to start new jobs, go back to school, and re-adjust to civilian and college life. Oh, and lots of shameless doggie glomping, ear nomming, and cooking crazy good food!

Right now the house is overrun with crafty-ness, and starting next week it's only going to get crazier. Friends & family will start arriving from all over the place, and our house will play host to dinner parties, extended guests, and even more dogs! My wedding dress will be fitted just a few days before the wedding (a little nervous about that, I won't lie), and I'm sure I'll lose the dining room to the amazing friend & seamstress making my dress. Several people have pulled out of attending/helping, so I'm scrambling to find back-ups for the back-ups that cancelled, and some last-minute changes to the plans (our venue currently has no sound system, at all!) have left me uneasy.

I'm definitely going through phases of "We got this," to "shit shit shit." I'm not panicking, but I am a wee bit more stressed than I would like to be at this phase. My original plan was to have everything wrapped up two weeks ahead of time, so I could focus on the little extra details. Hah! Having been involved in wedding planning before, I should have known better!

Thankfully, R has a truly incredible sister that has been busting butt to help us out. Seriously, she's been kicking ass on several key projects, and is even coming down a week ahead of time, to make sure we have extra hands, and stay as de-stressed as possible. My best gal is flying in a week early, AND her parents (my 'adopted' fam) are coming out to stay the week, just to help us wrap up whatever we have left. I'm a little overwhelmed with how much people want to help-which is probably the only thing keeping me somewhat calm at the moment!

I'm looking forward to sharing all the awesome projects, foods, and photos here when it's over n done with. For now, I'm off to bake my third batch of chocolate mint cookies!

Salmon & Strawberries

I stumbled across the Inspired Edibles blog recently, and lemme tell you...I'm in yum! It's so good, I get all cheesy and lame sounding (since grunting doesn't translate well over the webz, anyway).

 I recently gave one of the recipes a whirl, and it was so stinkin' easy and so incredibly delicious, it's going on my "I'm too lazy to cook, and too lazy to drive to food" list. This round was the "Roasted salmon in a strawberry balsamic reduction," and you can find the original Inspired Edibles recipe & blog post here.

I won't bother going in to detail, because Kelly did all the work for me. I will post some food porn, though:

               

I made some adjustments to the recipe, based on what was around, and my apparent inability to properly follow a recipe, ever.  Since decent produce is pretty difficult to find in this town, I used frozen strawberries instead of fresh. I keep warehouse-club sized bags of  fruit in the freezer at all times, to make life easy and slightly less depressing out here.  Let's pretend I behaved and used 1 cup (probably was more like triple that, but, I'm a big strawberry fan so, yay for leftovers). 

Drizzle in some balsamic vinegar (okay, really, I "glurged" it around a few times). I have some pomegranate  vinaigrette that I think would be amazing in this recipe, so I'll try that next time. I also threw in the honey at the same time, because I was too impatient to wait, and trying to check my email while making dinner. Multi-tasking, probably not a good idea when hot things are involved....

Since the salmon fillets (from pre-frozen package) were pretty small, I popped them in the oven right before putting the sauce together, and it all finished cooking about the same time. About 30 minutes before starting this fiasco, I threw some butternut squash (halved, seeded, plopped face down in a dish) in a 350 (f) before taking one of the beasts for a walk;  tossing the salmon in the oven when I got back. Eaaaasy. 

After the sauce reached a hardy boil, (actually pay attention to the sauce, so you don't have to clean up an overflowing mess like I *nearly* had), I reduced the heat and added some rosemary sprigs I had just snipped from the garden. I felt a perfumed flavor would lend nicely to the sweet-tangy smell of the dish. So glad I did, since it balanced it out nicely. The nose knows, you know?

At this point I took the squash out of the oven, sprinkled on some fresh herbs (lemon thyme, oregano, shopped scallions), some sliced parmesan, and popped back in the oven to get all melty and amazing like. 

Since the strawberries had been frozen, they broke down in the pan pretty quickly, making the puree/mashing part unnecessary. Laaazy bones, right here. I let the sauce cool a couple of minutes before spooning it out on plates (time enough to achieve squash & melty-cheese goodness). 

Served just as Kelly suggests, spooned onto plates, topped with salmon, topped with more sauce. Apparently my plate had more liquid than R's, which featured a better example of a "reduction" but, being me, I was too impatient to photgraph his too. I wanted to eat it ASAP, and let me tell you...

It.was.GLORIOUS. 

Since the fillets were tiny, as were the squash halves, we supplemented dinner with the last of a baby watermelon, some homemade salsa, and our favorite paleo-cheat snack, Stacy's Pita chips. Fantastic. Easy. Friggin' delicious. There's a healthy amount of leftover strawberry lovlieness that I'll be swirling into yogurt tomorrow morning...or maybe just eating by the spoonful. 

So, go thank Kelly over at Inspired Edibles for this fantastic recipe. I have a feeling I'll be posting more success stories from her site, soon! 

Surgery Pt 2

I recently had my one-year check-up following my clavicle surgery (which you can read a bit about, here) and was told that the bones have knit better than expected, and I can get the plate taken out any time. Usually the plate can be left in, but since I do love a good backpacking/hike, and routinely participate in activities that put pressure on the area, it would be more beneficial to have the plate removed. Hooray for increased comfort & function! 

Since this will be simple removal of hardware, it should be a fairly quick healing time. Other than having to take it easy for a couple of months following, while the holes in the clavicle (left from the screws) fill back in, I should be up and around the next day. I'm anxiously awaiting approval from the insurance company (fingers crossed!), and may very well be in for the surgery within a couple of weeks. Plenty of time to heal up before the summer fun begins! 

On Dogs & Progress!

I need to gush for a moment. This is my fluffer, Kira:

She's a giant ball of fuzz & worry. 

Cute, if not a bit pouty.

R & I adopted her about two years ago, and she has been making steady progress ever since. Kira's  biggest issue was reactivity with other dogs. Not all dogs, but, a lot of them. Especially the napoleonic chihuahua's  that shake constantly. Whether it was her prey drive kicking in, or just those tiny terrors and their smug sense self importance (can you tell I'm not a fan?),  our poor darling would freak the hell out and try to eat them. Even a previous neighbor's awesome, wiggly bulldog pup wasn't immune to her mood swings. At least when she let go when he squealed...

The problem was so severe, we couldn't even park near a dog park. Kira would throw herself, snarling and barking, at the window trying to go after the dogs. We attempted a couple of dog park runs, with very few dogs around, and well...it's fortunate that nobody but me got the pointy end of her teeth (at least it was an accidental grazing).  Walks were tense when another dog came into the picture, regardless of the distance between them & her. Kujo comes to mind in this instance.

At home, she was our gentle caramel ball of love, and got along especially well with the little man, barely 20lbs of snark and gas. I mean, they even sleep together for cryin' out loud! 

So, obviously, the problem wasn't "all little dogs" or all dogs in general, just, those that weren't her "family." Unfortunately, we don't live in an area where we can consistently expose her to other dogs, to help alleviate the behavior. Most folks have "purse" dogs around here, and those that don't are rarely seen walking their dogs. Let's be honest, Texas is not a place people often go outside, especially in this town, where sidewalks do not exist outside of neighborhoods. Seriously, the sidewalk literally ends and the last house in our area. Then it's your choice of tall grass which you know is harboring rattlesnakes & fire ants, or the road. Considering how Texans drive, I think the grass is safer. 

Anyway, getting her to calm down around dogs has been a sloooooow process. Consistent walks, hoping to catch a glance of another doggie. Lot's of attempts at refocusing her attention (which rarely work). Lots of comforting tones. Crazy mad praise when she doesn't totally spaz out. Other than passing dogs-behind-fences (which, next to chihuahua's, are her mortal enemy), she has been doing exceptionally well. Recently we started walking with our next door neighbor & her weenie dogs, which has been going wonderfully. We even run into escapee dogs (strays, or dumb ass people who "walk" their dogs off leash), and most of the time I'm used as a human shield. Ever see a 90lb dog cower in fear behind someone? It's kind of hilarious. Good to know not to trust her for help if I'm ever attacked by a yorkie. 

The point to this rambling, run-on of a post, is that I adore her, neurosis and all. I resigned myself to the fact that she just wasn't a "Dog Park" dog. Which is ok. I can respect her need for space. My little oreo of a dog is a fantastic dog park dog, and he plays beautifully with big dogs at that (he too is afraid of the little shakers). So, one out of three isn't bad. I just don't trust our other girl to ever come back, if let off leash. She can easily scale a several-foot-fence from a sitting position. 

This face is nothing but trouble.

Anyway, something awesome happened recently. A park opened up about 20 minutes away. Why is this exciting? Parks don't exist in this town. Seriously. Other than playgrounds at schools and a couple outdoor  "recreation" areas about 40 minutes away, we have not seen not heard of any outdoor play areas, in the two years we've been here. So, there being a park, in general, was VERY exciting. Then I find out it also has two dog park areas (one for small dogs 30lbs & under, one for dogs 30 lbs & over). 

With fluffy-butt's progress, R & I decided to at the least, walk her around this new park and get nearish the dog areas, to gauge her reaction. 

Let me tell you, she.was.AMAZING!

We started on meandering path around the park, running into the occasional walker, and she would just sniff the air as they passed by. A couple of tyrant chihuahua's rattled her a bit, but in all fairness, they were lungung at the ends of their leashes snarling at her. All my girl did was pull a bit and huff. Thatta girl!

Then came more pedestrians. A couple of bikers. She sat pretty and just watched as they went by. A couple of gorgeous huskies & their people came towards us, and my darling sat nicely as they passed. She continued to sit nicely as we chatted with the husky-people a moment, then after us asking permission for her to "say hello," she politely introduced herself by walking past the dogs, showing them her side, and going behind for a proper sniff. It was incredible!!!

I was so proud of my girl in that moment! All of her previous anxieties seemed to disappear, and she was suddenly this happy, friendly, well adjusted pooch just out for a stroll. I actually had to stop myself from crying, I was so happy! Shortly after that encounter, a walker came up from behind us (something that would have seriously spooked her in the past), and Kira politely moved to the side with a tug of her leash. More bikes whizzed by, and she tucked in close to us. Another pair of large dogs passed by, and again, she sat nicely while they walked on by. Then came the dog park areas. Lots of big & small goofballs running around, being silly. She noticed, but kept walking. A few even ran up to the fence to get a better look, and still, no reaction. She saw them, she looked back at us, she kept walking. 

Did you read that? A bunch of strange dogs, being rowdy, near her, and not.a.peep. 

WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

I'm still thrilled (if you couldn't tell) about the whole experience. I thought about taking her into the dog park, but the number of dogs (over a dozen) might have been a bit too much for her, so we figured we'd end the day on a high note and head home. I'm so proud of her progress, and so excited to take another trip to see how she does in an off-leash setting, with just a couple of dogs around. This is me, doing a happy dance. Seeing how far Kira's come has definitely strengthened my resolve to work with dogs that have "behavior problems." There's really nothing like seeing how much progress a dog can make!

Kira, letting her buddy "win" the game.

Weddingy De Ja Vu

Since I am asked the same wedding-related questions over and over (and over) again, and I'm quite frankly sick n freakin' tired of answering them, here's the general run-down of how the wedding plans are coming, what we're doing, and what to expect. It'll be way easier for me to cut & paste a link to this post, than to address these questions directly, in depth, every time. I'll be less cranky-pants, too, which is good for everyone. My intent is not to be abrasive with this post, just efficient!

We can't do much in the way of planning until April, which is when our chosen venue (for both the ceremony & reception)  is available for reservation. No, that still hasn't changed. There is no "advanced registration," waiting list, or call-back list to be put on. We've already asked. Until April, our "planning" stage is on hold. We can't even get inside to take measurements, find out how many tables & chairs are available, or whether or not the kitchen will be fully functioning.  No idea on seating arrangements, no clue as to what kind of table cloths, chair covers, or wall decor I will be needing/wanting, if any.  Until April, we have no solid address for the ceremony or reception, and until reservations are confirmed, we have no schedule for the day. Nothing. Nada. Zip.

I am not wearing a white dress. It will not be long. I will not have a veil. I will be making my own jewelry. There will be no special "wedding shoes" to decorate the bottoms of. No, there will not be a flower girl, ring boy, or traditional wedding party, and no one will be giving me away. We won't have "his & her" sides of the aisle. I don't even know if we'll have an aisle. Yes,we will see each other before the wedding, and no, we don't care that it's "bad luck" to do so.

 There is no "theme" and we do not have "colors," though there is a general idea and organization behind it all. This will be a child-free wedding, and no, we will not make exceptions.  Doing so would be totally unfair to everyone else with children. If, for whatever reason your children will be flying out with you, we may be able to help you find a local nanny for the day. Maybe. We will not have specific mother/son or father/daughter dances. There will be NO "Chicken Dance," no money dance, no live band, and no DJ (other than our awesome selves).

 We are catering the wedding ourselves. If you would like to lend a hand with providing a dish, or helping with prep work, we would be most grateful.  There will not be an "open bar," though we will have some alcohol available. If you're feeling charitable and would like something specific available, guests are welcome to bring & share liquor. We may even be able to help get a potential discount on said liquor.

 We do not have a registry, because all we really want is to share our wedding with the people we love. Your presence is all we ask; and maybe a little help with the details along the way. We'll never turn down a gift, though. We like gifts.

Hotel rooms & transportation will not be paid for, though we may be able to help with reserving cabins and  arranging a carpool. Maybe. We're still working out those details.

This will not be a formal affair, but it is still a wedding, so dress to impress. Think 50's picnic, tea garden-party wear, not spring-break-in-Cancun wear. Yes, it's going to be warm outside. The reception venue has AC. Cut-off shorts & tenny tank tops are not appropriate. Conservative, religious older family will be in attendance, so please make an attempt to be vaguely respectful around them. They'll probably leave the party first. After that, by all means, let yer freak-flag-fly.

A good friend will be our photographer. Guests are encouraged to bring their own cameras & snap photos all night long, but please, let our photog do her thing and stay out of her way while she's working. We also kindly ask that cell-phones be left on silent, if not turned off completely. We'd love to see your face, not your head looking down at a cell phone all night. Likewise, we kindly ask that all cell phones & cameras be off for the ceremony. The ceremony will be short, promise.

We are not going into debt for the wedding, nor do we have much we can spend on it. Seriously. Read that sentence again. We will not have custom letter-pressed invitations, because they are pricey. There are no save-the-dates, RSVP cards, or meal cards to check. Instead, there is a website with ALL relevant wedding-related info, including an RSVP page. It's all very interactive. There's a list of local accommodations and attractions, guest book, food survey, several places to leave notes/suggestions, a photo gallery, and even crews you can sign up for, via the website, if you would like to help. If you have specific concerns, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

This will probably be different from other weddings you've attended, and that is exactly what we want. Instead of doing something "because it's tradition," we will be doing what makes sense for us.  We will do what feels right for us as fairly liberal leaning, modern-thinking people. Our goal is to hold a lovely event that reflects us, as a couple and as individuals. Personally, I will be trying to incorporate as many nerdy things as possible, while R tries to talk my crazy down to a more manageable level.

We wish the wedding-weekend to be a time to spend with our friends & family. A time for you to take a break from the chaos of life and relax, laugh, and enjoy each other. If you're invited, you're family. All we want, really, is to enjoy our family.

Shorty

I haven't been busy, really.  More like...easily distracted? Consistently preoccupied? Unusually productive? Okay, really, I'm spending a great deal of time watching Doctor Who, eating popcorn, and using R's chest as a pillow. He makes a splendid pillow. 

I have been doing loads of projects.  Mostly wedding-y in nature, or plodding out in the yard. Also known as the mostly bare dirt patch surrounded by mostly dead lawn and a growing army of unnervingly long-rooted dandelions. 

I hate renting. 

Anyway, our poor desolate backyard is slowly coming back to life,with great success! Once I locate the camera, I can actually share photos of the small garden successes, and loads of half-completed projects I have been spending too much time on. 

Mac'd

Lemme just say R is good to me. Like, spoil me rotten good sometimes (uh, but don't tell him that). My old ASUS laptop has been in the repair shop for nearly a month now, and I have been pretty much computer-less since then, save for a few sleeting moments on a borrowed laptop, or what few I sites I can access on my smartphone (thank goodness for that smart phone!).

Today, though, I have my computer-ly-ness restored, with a brand spankin' new Macbook courtesy of R. Seriously, he spoils the heck outta me, and I'm not gonna complain! Now, pardon me while I play.

No End in Sight

Lemme just say to you productive bloggers out there: Where do you get the energy? With all the blogging, amazing projects, holiday madness, and having a real life n all...seriously, how do you people sleep?

Still having hinky computer issues, and I'm lazy so check out the post about it on the official jewelry blog:http://bluedartdesigns.blogspot.com/2011/12/no-end-in-sight.html

Hoping to be back in business within a couple of weeks, woohoo! Happy New Year folks!

Computer issues (AGAIN!)

(For those of you who follow both my blogs, I apologize for the double post in your streams!)


A quick note (using an old rickety laptop with a usb keyboard since the laptop is missing half its keys) to mention computer issues....again. My laptop crashed for no apparent reason, and R's laptop (same model as mine) is also broken-the power pin ripped out when he unplugged it. Awesome. Mine had that problem on three separate occasions. We are not happy campers, and plan on raising a fuss to have the laptops returned and our money refunded. We bought the laptops in April of this year, and this will be the 4th time mine is going in for "repair." It wouldn't be so bad if the customer service rep didn't try to tell us it's our fault every time. "Oh, your power pin snapped off? You'll be charged for that!"

Apparently, one is never ever ever supposed to unplug a latptop. Ever.

Crankypants.
If R's desktop (from the same company as the laptops) hadn't crashed a few months back, this would be slightly less of a crummy situation. He's only had the desktop for a couple of years, and it's DOA. Guess who we're never buying computers from again? These guys! Ranty blog regarding how crappy this company is, coming soon! When I have a better functioning computer to use, that is....

If only MAC's weren't so expensive, and could run our sizeable collection of games & software without needing to shell out even more $ for software compatibility programs.

Fortunately, I have a smart phone and can at least access email (though, sadly, not Etsy at the moment) so I can keep up with any sales and mail out packages quickly. Just no fancy pants printed invoices at the moment. Grumble!

So Close

I feel like a neurotic Jack Russel Terrier hyped up on caffeine pills! Yes, that anxious. And, yes, I relate most things in life to dogs. You should know better.

My love is coming home SOON! So soon. Not soon enough, but, I'll take what I can get. This week has been a flurry of activity! Cleaning, chasing dogs down for baths/grooming, trying to stop said dogs from rolling in dirt, getting the car serviced, personal spiffing up, etc etc I am one lazy housekeeper if nobody's around, apparently.

An amazing WONDERFUL neighbor that I wanna hug until her eyes pop (in the happy, cartoon way of course) came by yesterday to help out with a few things, and I ended up monopolizing her whole day with car issues. Thank goodness for Sears Auto, lemme tell you. The dealership wanted $180 to replace the car battery. Before tax. I dun think so. Sears saved me a lovely little hunk of change which will go straight to the "beer n pizza dinner night" fund. Ok, I lie. It'll probably go towards the dogs...but, still! That's a lot of treats.

Now that I have the official date & time for his arrival, it just can't get here fast enough. I'm nearly finished with my to-do list, and the rest of my time will be taken up with obsessively detailed cleaning, trying to vacuum off a dog (hey, YOU try living with a Husky in Texas!), and/or playing computer games to pass the time. Oh, and planning the short-notice Thanksgiving dinner for 15 ish people. Wooohoooo! Good thing I like cooking :)

Bah Humbug

Halloween is my favorite holiday (next to my birthday). I have never skipped a year of dressing up and being a little ridiculous. Until now. I just don't have the energy, or the inclination. Of course it doesn't help that the 4 people I know in the state already have out-of-town plans, or are too busy to celebrate, and the fiancee is all deployed n stuff. So, bahhumbug! I barely put up some half-assed decorations this year (though I did score a pretty sweeeeeet entry mat from target!).

It's glittery and has rats...how could I resist?

I don't even have the excuse of handing out candy, to dress up. Without a large, strong metal gate blocking off the entryway, there is no chance I could keep the beasts from barreling towards the door and barking their heads off every time the doorbell rang. By the time I would be able to usher them into a room and answer the door, the poor kids would probably have fled.  

Which, I'm ok with. Past experiences of handing out candy show that kids are rude little monsters. A few times they've tried stealing the candy bowl from me! 

Which reminds me...I should probably bring that awesome mat in before tonight.....

Happy Halloween, folks!

Crafty bits

I admit, I'm a little wedding-obsessed. Instead of focusing in on the dress though, I'm all about the decor. I'm also a little too cheap to pony-up and by the schmancy pre-made stuff. So, in a fit of madness and mostly boredom, I started in on way too many projects. One of which has great results, but is taking forever. I am not a patient person, so it's slow going on this right now. I also kinda suck at taking photos of the whole process...my bad.

Materials:
Fine grit sandpaper
Container (Glass votive, old drinking cup, etc)
Sticks of varying length & width
Glue gun & several glue sticks
Branch snippers


Start with a container. In this case, I'm using a cheapy paint can. It was used as a flower pot in a previous life...

Grab some fine grit sand paper and give your container a once-over with it. If using glass, skip this step. Whatever you use, make sure you give it a good wash & thorough dry before hand.

Warm up the glue gun! I like to use sticks about an inch longer than the container itself. Make sure the bottom of your sticks are cut level with the ground, then go wild! I'm using dried branches from the sunflower jungle I finally cut down. 

Grab a stick, then look at where the stick meets the container, and put a dab of glue on the top & bottom of the container to secure. When placing the following sticks, put dabs of glue along the sides as well as the top & bottom. Hold in place until fairly secure and move on. 

It should like zis.

There comes a time when you may find yourself with a gap, like so.

Grab a wonky little bit of branch, and snip the top at an angle to match up with the gap.

Glue in place, like zis. 

Then cut to length, like zis!

You may notice the sticks tend to lean after awhile. You can fix this by going around and gluing them straight up and filling the gaps in later, like above, or just go with it. 

Which is what I did below...

Did I mention I was bored, and a little crazy? Yup.

Continue until it's covered all around with those larger sticks, then go back over it and fill in the gaps with the smaller bits left over from trimming. If you have a lot of stringy bits left over from the glue, take a hair dryer set on "high" for a quick blast to melt 'em away.

Yep, it's a little tedious if you're a fan of quick results. But, the results are pretty killer. So far I've stuck-it to a tea light holder, plastic nursery pot, and a little olive jar. I'm pretty stoked on how these are turning out, especially the plastic nursery pots! Our recycling center doesn't accept the recyclable pots (uhm, cuz that makes sense), so I have an ever growing collection if these babies just hanging out. The vague plan in my head is to eventually cover all those babies, and have a prettified stash of container we can use for the wedding and beyond. 

Fundraiser goodness

As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm holding a fundraiser via crowdrise for my birthday. Rather, using my birthday as an excuse to raise money for The Nature Conservancy.

So far, I managed to raise $90 of my $200 goal! 45% of the way there, folks! Thank you, again, if you're one of the three awesome folks to have already donated!

I admit I'm pretty bad at pushing myself out there-I don't want to be annoying with all the "HEY! Donate! NOWWWWW!!!!!!"

I do totally want you to donate, though. Pretty please? I don't want to be annoying, I really don't. All the money goes to a GREAT cause, and it's tax-deductible! Hey, if I can get 22 people to donate JUST five dollars, I would meet my goal! Awesome, right? It's all really easy, too. Just follow the crowdrise link to go directly to the donation page. A great quirk of crowdrise, is the writing is a little snarky. I like snarky.
It's just a few simple clicks to donate any amount ya want. Want to find out more about The Nature Conservancy?
Here's their home page. 

For followers of either of my blogs (and anyone you refer!) there's an extra incentive to donate! Anyone who donates any amount of five dollars or more to the fundraiser will receive a coupon for free shipping on orders from my etsy shop. $20 donations also receive a coupon for 10% off your entire purchase! $40 donations will receive free shipping, 10% discounts and a free pair of beaded earrings in your choice of colors! $50 and up gets all the previously mentioned goodies, plus custom earrings from a selection of styles, and a whole bunch of yet-to-be-determined goodies, depending on interest and preferences... If you like cookies, there's a darn good chance I'll make some for you.

Want to "join the team" and help promote the fundraiser further? You can do that! Check out the donation page for more info. I like teams, teams are fun. Hop on board the fundraiser-wagon, and we can raise even more for TNC! And I'll even let you think it was all your idea. Promise.

Just comment on this post after donating, to get the goodies rolling. If you'd rather not make a fuss on the webz about your donation, go ahead and drop me an email instead. Don't forget to share this post with friends! The more you refer, the more treats I'll send your way. I'm already stockpiling them. So, go go go!!

On gushing & roses

May I have a moment to gush like a fool? Kthx

This afternoon I received a rather unexpected package from UPS. If I had the sense to take pictures of it before tearing into the long, slender box, I would have. Know what comes in long slender boxes these days?

Two dozen long stem red roses. That's what. And a super sweet note from R that had me grinning, crying a little, and saying "no freaking WAY" all with my jaw firmly planted on the ground. I guess you could say I was a tad surprised. I thought flowers like this only got sent as a sweeping gesture to that impossibly flawless pretty girl in romantic comedies.

This pretty girl got 'em, 'just because.'
 If I had been wearing socks, they would have been simultaneously rocked and knocked off.  I'll be moving the vase around the house so I can look at these gorgeous buds all day long. When I wake up in the morning. when I make my coffee. When I spend entirely too much time on my computer. All day long.  R is pretty much the best, but I kinda knew that before the roses. I think this guy might be a little fond of me, and I'm definitely keeping him around.

Have I mentioned this guy is amazink? I'm still rather giddy. 24 red roses. Who does that? While deployed? Love this guy.

end gushing. for now.

On birthdays & nature

Since I'm several states away from 99.9% of the people I know, this year's birthday & the following holiday season is going to pass quietly. I'll probably find a lovely bottle of wine, get some gourmet cheese, and make myself a big ol' Italian dinner. There will likely be a B-rated movie, and couch-cuddling with as many beasts as I can get on the couch at one time. And that is perfectly fine with me.

Okay, fine, I'll probably have a cupcake, too. 

Especially since last year, R was the only one to remember my birthday....and it's not an event I am ever quiet or subtle about. I was already struggling with adjusting to the move and some massive disappointment with people I was close to. Having absolutely nobody remember my birthday (when usually it's a loud, populous affair) had me...well, kind of pissy. R remembered, of course, and was pretty much the only thing that anchored me down to sanity and non-crankyness.

So this year, my expectations are firmly set for a yummy dinner. I'm still making a big fuss about my birthday, in a different way.

 October marks the 60th anniversary of The Nature Conservancy, a rather stellar organization that I've been a member of (off and on) for about a decade now. They've done so much for preserving wild habitats around the world, it's a bit overwhelming. In the best of ways. To honor TNC's 60th anniversary, and all the awesome things they do, I'm holding a little fundraiser via crowdrise.  The donation goal is a modest $200.

In lieu of gifts or cards, I'm asking that folks check out the fundraising page and make a donation. I know a lot of folks out there are struggling with finances, and I'm certainly not one to be all judgy about donation amounts. If my etsy shop was selling, I would have donated more already. So, there.
 If 15 people donate $10, I'll meet my goal! If I manage to raise more than the initial goal of $200, then honestly, that would be one heck of an amazing birthday gift!

As an added incentive: Donate any amount via the crowdrise page I've set up, and you will receive a coupon for my esty shop in your inbox, as well as a complimentry "thank you" gift with your order. I'm whipping out something special to send to donors, so check it out! 

A friend is skipping one coffee drink a week, and donating the money she would have spent on latte's. It's an awesome idea, and makes me wish I spent money on latte's so I could do the same thing. Considering how addicted she is to coffee, I'm trilled she's willing to forego her fix to donate!

Won't you help a gal have an amazing birthday this year?

Peeved

The past couple of weeks, I've been in a mood. A grumpy-all-day, irritated for no specific reason, I-just-wanna-snarl-at-everyone kind of mood.
But, I'm not allowed to be grumpy. The dogs won't let me. Cuz, if I fall asleep, I wake up to this:

Or, if I hand out treats to keep them occupied, the little one decides that sticking his butt in the air is the appropriate way to enjoy his snack:

Or, they use each other's butts for pillows:

Finally, there's the "sleeping against a wall with a tongue sticking out" pose:

That one gets me every time.

Cranky-pants 0, Followers 1gazillion points!

So I was all geared up to bitch n moan about how there are so many rude/nonreciprocating people involved in my life lately; you know, the "friends" that only call you up for favors, the odd acquaintance that hits you up for money (despite the fact the last time you two spoke she accused you of being a "f'ing snob,") or the fact that you end up following a bazillion blogs as per a team-challenge thing and instead of getting "followed" back there's just this insane list of posts you don't have the patience to read through..?
Yeah, I'm in a mood, I know.

BUT! Then, I was checkin' out my dashboard, and some of you awesome folks left a bunch of lovely comments that I had somehow missed before. Lemme tell you, that totally made my day! So thanks for making me less cranky-pants :)
Just so's you know, I'm totally interwebz stalking your blogs if you're all nice n stuff. Cuz I adore you!