2011 Craft Recap

This year I set a crazy goal of reading 75 books. I did it, but kind of let a lot of my other hobbies fall by the wayside. My goal for 2013 is still to read, just not as much. I want to really focus on crafting. And getting our house ready to sell. And finding a new house. And being able to pay for a new house. Without ending up with no money. 

Because you really don't want to read the list of books I read, instead, I wanted to share the completed crafts I did this year that I haven't posted before. I think y'all have seen all the wreaths so here are the other things I've been up to.

Matt and I went to Mexico for our honeymoon and brought back a whole bunch of tangible memories. While trying to clean things out for the big move, I came across them and made a shadowbox display. I'm quite pleased with it.

Here's a quilt I made for Whitney for Christmas. She mentioned on Pinterest how she wanted a quilt like this, so I tried my best to make it for her. It's not big enough to cover a twin bed, but should be a good curl-up quilt. I had fun picking the patterns for this one, while still trying to use as much fabric as I could with what I already had. 

This behemoth of a quilt is now Drew's. He got it for his birthday. He has this weird obsession with polo-style shirts. You know, the knit variety. He wanted a quilt made out of the shirts that he couldn't wear anymore (like stained shirts, too small, wonky collars). I volunteered. And then went back on my crazy meds. It took months, but I did it. It fits a queen-sized bed, which it what he wanted. I think my sewing machine still hates me for it. 

And that little piece of cheer is my first completed cross-stitch. Well, my first real one. I made another small one last year for our gallery wall, but I don't really consider that one real. This one is a wedding record. The "Love Never Fails" is a little wonky because I free-handed it while listening to the last five chapters of "Life of Pi." If you've read that book (I don't know about the movie), you know why I might have been distracted. I plan to give it  as a gift, but we'll see. It may be too wonky.

There. The four projects that you might not have seen yet. I'm hoping to have a whole heck of a lot more in 2013. I know, you can hardly wait to see what I churn out.

Toys of Christmas Past

Let's talk for a minute (of course, I will be doing all the talking and you'll be doing all the listening, but to be polite...) about toys. Not these new namby, pamby toys like the Lalaloopsy Holiday Ice Crystal doll. I'm sorry J, but Alice will not be getting one of these from me:

 I'm so not a fan.

Instead, let's talk (again, I talk, you listen) about my favorite toys that we got for Christmas growing up. Matt, I'm just going to be talking about my favorite Christmas toys from my childhood. Of course every gift you've given me for Christmas has been my favorite, all of them are tied for first place.

Now, on to the fun!  Of the top three toys that I could recall without anyone's help (the singing Ariel doll would be on this list if I had thought of it on my own, but it wasn't technically given to me or us so I don't think I could really include it, Mar), the third favorite gift wasn't really from my childhood. It was from my teenagehood. Yep, that's a real stage of development. Dr. Piaget just did not get that far.  Nicholas and his then girlfriend whom I shall not name got me and Marla our very own DVD player for Christmas. I know what you are thinking, big deal. You are right, it was a big deal. It was ours. And is still in use. Marla got it in the separation. I got the DVDs, she got the player.

Next up,

Anyone know what that is? It's a Clueless phone. As  in Clueless, the movie. You know, that movie based on that book by that lonely English woman that I didn't know existed when we got this phone. I mean, we didn't call anyone but we were super cool with the phone. It had a voice modifier where were could call people (if we called people) and be all creepy. It also had buttons that said "As if" and "Whatever!" when pressed. Did I mention how cool we were? I mean, check out that headset. We treasured that phone until it died. It went on an involuntary swim in my fish tank compliments of a little boy with idle hands. That little boy then went on an involuntary swim.

Okay, now, it's time for my most memorable (and dare I say favorite?) toy from my childhood. My mom might correct me on this, but I think the Family Talking Dollhouse was my favorite toy as an elementary schooler.  It looks like this:

All of the family and the furniture are outside the house in this picture. I promise, our talking family never had a garage sale like this family appears to be doing. Nor do I remember a grandfather clock and piano.

Anyway, the dolls talked when you put them in certain places in the house. There were little 3-quarter deep holes in all the rooms and whatever the talking family said correlated with that room. I know, I'm not explaining it well. I found you a Youtube video. You are welcome.

Mar, how come we didn't get the vacuum and the art easel, and all that other junk in the video? We played with that dollhouse for years. It very well may still be at my parents' house. Probably in the shed, but still hanging around for posterity. And that isn't a bad thing.

Anyway, there you have it. The rundown of my favorite Christmas gifts from childhood. Do yourself a favor, google "top toys of the '90s" and make your own Toys of Christmas Past list. Go on, you know you want to do it.

Let's talk about Christmas

 I hate to admit this to the world, but I'm really not in the Christmas mood.  I have a real tree up, gifts wrapped under the tree, I've been to the Christmas capital of the state*, and have been listening to as much Christmas music as possible. But I'm just not feeling it. Maybe it's because I'm still working and haven't started my "Christmas break" yet (do adults get those?) or maybe because it is about 75 degrees outside. Whatever the reason, I'm just not there yet. I wish I was. I'm working on being there soon.

Until there happens, I've been trying all kinds of hard to get there (annoyed with that yet? I kind of am.), including driving around looking at Christmas lights. My personal favorites are really close to the house so I get to see them often. I giggle (or stare in awe with my mouth slightly open) each time. Because I'm incredibly generous this time of year (and all year...), I'm sharing pictures with you!

And now (drum roll, please), in no particular order:

I call this the "slightly over the top, but not awful" house. I'm not sure how that inflatable Santa is going to fit inside the house to deliver toys. Maybe he has to deflate to get down the chimney.

This is the "gift-wrapped house" that I would return, should anyone give it to me. It's a bit run down, and I've got enough sprucing up to do at my own house. Ironically, the people that live in this house drive a Lexus SVU. No judgments. Just letting you know.

All meanness aside (who am I kidding), this is pretty impressive. I wonder how they store that great big bow. And what their electric bill is during October through December.  Remind me during Mardi Gras, they decorate for that too.

And this, this is "the Centenary house." It's on some road with Centenary in the name, but I don't know if it is actually affiliated with Centenary. Margaret?  I do like the outside Christmas tree. And I like how they didn't mix the colors, but used one Christmas color for each distinct part of the house. I think I like this one because of all the colors. Definitely one of the more classy colorful ones I've seen.

That's all I got. I'm going to go work on my Christmas spirit. At work. Because that'll help. Really.


*that statement may not be accurate.

The Color Run

I considered racking my brain for a cuter title, but I decided against it. Laziness seems to be my M.O. these days. I have no explanation as to why. But it's cold. Maybe that's it.

Anyway, enough with the excuses. About six months ago, I was conned into running in a race called The Color Run. Supposedly, it's the happiest 5K on the planet. I think the happiness comes from the endorphins released when running AND the euphoria that comes with making a mess that you don't have to clean up. Whatever the reason, it did make me happy. Dirty, but happy.

I'm going to give you a whole lot of pictures, because I know that is what you really want. My words may add humor and a lot of head-shaking, but let's face it - you are here for the photos.

Add caption

See that? That's about 15,000 people between us and that start line. Yeah, we cut to get closer to the start. I think all of us had places to be (well, not me, but I didn't want to tell anyone that so they wouldn't think I was lame).

All fresh and clean BEFORE the run.

Get ready for color!!!

First color, orange. No one really likes the color orange. If they say they do, they are lying.

Then blue. That's a LOT of blue chalk.

And then Monster energy drinks. Because people want to drink a Monster while running. Um, no.

I don't have a picture for yellow.
Forgive me.

Post pink!!! Pink was the last color. And the most fun. Because it is pink.

Chelse and Deanna.

the end!

I know, fastest 5K in pictures ever.

Then, the real fun began. Pouring chalk on each other and seeing how much we could get in Marla's mouth.

Three cheers for chalk!

We found a sign to pose with, but you can't tell how colorful we are. We won some and we lost some.

BAM!!! Marla got some green stuff all over her. I didn't post the next picture in the series because she would have been embarrassed, but if you ask me, I'll show it to you later.

A PR was not set for this run. We got out of the gates at 9:12 and crossed the finish at 9:58. When we were finishing, the last few waves were starting. Thank goodness we skipped some people in line to get a faster start time.

Yay for color! Now, Color Run, stop sending me emails.

Giselle the scaredy cat

I can't believe it has been a whole month since I posted last. Well, I can believe it because it is me, but October flew by without me noticing. I'm sorry it has taken me so long. I know you were all so anxious to read new posts. Never fear! Here's a new one.

I don't have children so I can't blog about them and tell you about the cute things they are doing or how often they sleep through the night without needing their diapers or sheets changed. Instead, I have a dog. Well, a step-dog really. Matt had her before he and I got married, so she isn't really mine. When she is really sweet to me, I pretend she's mine, but when she's not very nice, she ain't no part of me.

Through this past year I've learned that Giselle has quite a few fears, despite acting like the most vicious dog in a 5-mile radius at times. Here, I've made a handy dandy list so you can print it out and put in your purse so you'll know what not to do when you see her.

1.   Giselle hates when people leave. She gets all teary-eyed when the suitcases come out. Her psychologist thinks it is because she is afraid of being left behind. She doesn't just get sad when Matt and I leave, but anyone that she "knows" better than the exterminator. She doesn't care much when the exterminator leaves. Here's a picture of her in her "safe zone" right before Matt and I left on our latest adventure:

Giselle at the first sight of suitcases

2.  Laundry baskets.  The psychologist cannot explain this one. Every time I pick up a laundry basket, she goes running. I may or may not have tried to put her in a laundry basket before that aversion began.

3.  The vacuum. I have to put her outside when I vacuum or else she goes running wildly through the house trying to escape it. I know exactly why she doesn't like the vacuum. I tried to vacuum the loose hair off her once. She was not a fan.

4.  Gabe. Yep, Giselle is afraid of our godson. To be fair, Gabe does stomp his feet and yell in a very high-pitched voice at her when he sees her. She takes it like a champ, though.

5.  Being picked up. Matt likes to pick our "little" dog up. Giselle will lower her center of gravity, arch her back, twist, and turn to make it impossible for him to get a grip on her. It's kind of funny to watch.

6.  Thunderstorms. I think most dogs are scared of thunderstorms, but I have no clue why.  She stayed with her Pops a couple of weeks ago during a lightening storm. He so sweetly turned on the inside lights so she couldn't see the light flashing outside. He said she stopped whining so I think it worked!

7.  Her kennel without her bedding. She refuses to get in it. I feel like she thinks we are trying to confuse her. She'll lay outside her kennel until I put her things back in it.

8.  The blender. You know, thinking about it, maybe she just doesn't like loud noises.

That's it. That's all I can think of right now.  Now you are informed and aware and can take precautions to keep our dog from being terrified when you come for a visit. To sum up, don't bring suitcases, leave the laundry baskets in the closets, don't clean at my house, don't pick her up, and certainly don't make a green monster smoothie. Otherwise, she'll cry. 

Happy birthday, Henry!

It doesn't seem like it has been a whole year since I posted about Henry's birth, but it has been. It's been twelve whole months. That's a long time in baby months. Since birth, Henry's started walking, is making "talking" sounds, recognizes people and things (kind of like a dog), and wears some pretty adorable clothes.

Henry turned one on September 26. I got to go to Jeff and Kat's house the weekend before the big day for his birthday party. It was a interesting drive (I've never driven to past the Shreveport airport on Interstate 20), but it gave me time to listen to a book on the way over and catch up with my mom on the way bag. My ankle was tired at the end of the day though. Texans don't seem to be as fond of cruise control as I am.

The party was well-attended. I even got to see the newest Shipp baby. She's pretty darn precious. 

 

But let's get back to Henry. He's one! I have full expectations of him soon being able to say my name, not get scared when he looks at me, and of course, choose me as his favorite being. 

I have full expectations, but I won't hold my breath...

Happy (a little late now) birthday, Henry!

One fish, two fish...

 You know the story, the one by Dr. Seuss, about the fish. The one fish, the two fish, the red fish, and the blue fish. We've all read it. Or had it read to us.

 

It was one of my favorites. And I've decided that since I'm a grown up now and can no longer legitimately read the book to myself, that I should just live the book. That's right, I'm going to assemble the case of characters and then let them act out the book. 

I have a bad history with fish. I particularly remember having a tank full of goldfish - like over twenty but less than thirty. The first day I had them, several died. The second day, several more died. Then they died off one at a time until I had two or three. Those two or three thrived for several months until a Clueless phone (you remember those) ended up in their tank. I didn't put that phone in the tank, but I sure know who did. His name is Albert. He is on my list. Along with the boy who put this scar on my left cheek. They better watch out.

Despite my fish-related failure in the past, I've decided to move forward with my plan to bring my beloved book to life. 

Meet Gus.

He is a boy fish and the first fish that I have acquired. He is not part of the screen actors' guild so I got him for cheap. His past performances include the stage production of Jaws and Finding Nemo. His also done some made for TV movies which include It's a Fishy Life and Gone with the Waves.

I couldn't be more excited about this new interpretation of a timeless classic and hope you'll consider joining in all the fun!