An easy blog

I found this on Sew, Mama, Sew! and thought it would do.


Gifts

* Do you have a favorite gift that you love to give?
A: I secretly like making millions of wafer-thin sugar cookies for Matt's coworkers.

* If you’re making gifts this year, what are you making? (Post photos if you have some!)
A: Initial pot holders for my coworkers? I haven't even bought cards yet. I hate Christmas.

* Do you have any good stories about handcrafted gifts you’ve given or received?
A: No.

* Do you have any great gift compilation ideas (a grouping of gifts just perfect for certain recipients?)
A: Pot holders and an oven mitt and coasters and maybe a tea towel if I get off my ass and assume Superwoman abilities.

* Name one thing on your personal wish list.
A: This necklace from Etsy. Although, I now see that it has sold out, so hopefully Matt bought it.

* Do you make and sell things that would make fantastic gifts? (Link)
A: Hells yes! www.squaresville.etsy.com but you will have to wait until December 10 as I'll be at the Rock and Roll Craft Show and Wintermarkt next weekend.

Traditions

* What is your favorite family holiday tradition?
A: My father going hunting on Christmas and not speaking to us for the next few days?

* Have you started any new traditions with your family that you didn’t practice growing up?
A: Matt and I watch "It's A Wonderful Life".

* What do you love most about the holiday season?
A: Cookies. Lights. Eggnog. I get 2 wonderful weeks off from 7th graders.I used to love the candlelight service at my church when I still lived in Pennsylvania. Dark, peaceful, Christmas carols, and being in the church at night.

* What do you like least about the holiday season?
A: Most of it. I always stress out about gifts and wait until the last minute. It gets shoved down my throat shortly after Back To School sales. It's totally materialistic and overdone.

* Anyone close to your heart that you’ll be missing this year?
A: My brother, grandparents and parents.

* What is your favorite holiday food?
A: Cookies! Eggnog! Cheese logs! I will eat anything with a shadow, so this question is moot.

* Do you have a great recipe to share?
A: The sugar cookie from the 1987 Better Homes and Gardens cookbook from my grandma.

RRCS

So, here is the latest Rock and Roll Craft Show flyer. I just hope it doesn't mean yellow t-shirts for us, as I am a spring, and look terrible in yellow.

Today was the last day of school before T-giving break. My students had a quiz (Walk Two Moons, chapters 7 to 11) and....the teacher's best friend... a word search! The last class of the day was very serene, peaceful and quiet. I turned off the lights, put on the classical station and graded papers. When W. was done, he asked to take out his knitting and give it a go. Then, K. finished her quiz and asked to help him. They sat back in the bean bag corner and whispered about knitting.

Now, I am not officially teaching them to knit, but a few kids saw the huge box of Learn To Knit! kits I have, and asked to try it. Who am I to say no to crafting!

It was a beautiful moment, one that I wish all my knitting friends could have seen. It was then ruined by a "heated verbal argument" from the class next door, which left T. sitting in the hallway, half in tears because everyone picks on him. He also can't keep his dang mouth shut, so don't feel too sorry for him. Well, feel a little sorry because he doesn't have the sense to keep his comments to himself.

I am cooking a turkey this year, so if any of you have suggestions, I'd like to hear them. The whole prospect doesn't worry me, but I want everything to be perfect.

In other news, Squaresville has expanded, and will now be accepting credit cards at craft fairs! So, if you come see Beqi and me at Wintermarkt, bring your plastic, because we'll be taking it!

Knee Deep in Thread

I haven't been posting because this computer is aggravatingly slow. Perhaps Santa will bring me one for my birthday.
Things you might like to know:
1. Beqi and I will be at Wintermarkt in the West End on Dec. 8.It is in Greg Freeman Park, at the corner of Des Peres and Kingsbury Avenue.
2. Rock and Roll Craft Show is Dec. 8 and 9, at the Mad Art Gallery.
3. I am cooking Thanksgiving dinner and am not afraid.
4. I have 2 butterfly bushes that would like a new home.
5. I am married to a man who can fix important things like the faucet to the washer. No more leaks!
6. I have a lot of sewing to do, but will be meeting Laurene for coffee in just a bit.

I Love You, Erin

This is my new hair, courtesy of Erin at Bouffant Daddy Salon in Maplewood. Suffice it to say that I am pleased. The best compliment was when I walked into the cafeteria this morning for duty. Little Camaron (no, not misspelled) said, "Mrs. Rabbitt, you are too hot for the classroom!"
I love my students this year.


This was the first time I actually made an appointment to get my hair done. Those of you who know me know that I am not a foo-foo gal. I like nail polish, but I also do a lot of gardening. But, based on Robin's rave reviews and fully awesome hair, I decided to get it cut by someone who knew their way around a curly mane. I was a little apprehensive that I would feel like a country bumpkin in the salon, but it was totally awesome and relaxed. Plus, Erin lives on my same street!

When I left the salon, I could feel my hair BOBBING as I strutted/floated down Manchester. I am the happiest girl in South City right now, especially after a new Degrassi!

No Time For Photos

1. Strange Folk was super fun. I made enough to spend a lot at my friends' booths. The skully quilt is still with me. What's the deal?

2. Tomorrow from 10 am to noon, I'll be at the Brittany Woods PTO table at Market in the Loop on Delmar, right by delicious Racanelli's Pizza. Come stop by with an iced coffee and pick up a Chilicraft flyer and buy a raffle ticket for the Dine Out! On Tuesday, participating restaurants in the Loop will donate 20% of specified customer bills to our PTO. So, if you're out to eat Tuesday, tell your server you'd like to support the Dine Out.

3. Also tomorrow, my awesome former students will be drumming and playing and marching in the Homecoming Parade. The high school drum line kicks serious ass, and is a sight to behold if you grew up in a bland, 99% white town like me.

4. Chilicraft is next Saturday, at Brittany Woods Middle School, 8125 Groby Road, in 63130. You can get your face painted, buy cute hair pins from Beqi, fancy art glass from Bev, and luscious shea butter from Keisha. I'm enlisting my homeroom to run the raffle table.

5. We have a sofa!

6. I thought the new season of Degrassi was on tonight, according to one of my students, but she was WRONG! Way to get my hopes up!

Come see me Saturday!

The weather will be magnificent, the crafters will be charming, and I hopefully will have Paypal's Virtual Terminal to accept credit cards! My booth will be next to Tiny ontgomery's, so look for the cute aging punk rock chicks!

Yay!

So, after a harrowing blood drawing this morning, I headed down to Hancock Fabrics to pay for my machine.
The manager took $10 off the price, which made me feel better. It shows that she understood my woe and that they made a mistake.
Then, I got to drive out to Gravois Bluffs Shopping Center. Ick. I do like Red Robin's burgers, but the humanity! Oh, the humanity and pavement and SUVs!
And now, to sew.

To Boycott or To Not Boycott?

Here is what I feel like doing to Hancock Fabrics right now:


Oh, that brother of mine and his camera timer!

Here's my dilemma. I dropped ye olde sewing machine off at HF for a cleaning on August 10th. It wasn't back when we returned to Maine. I called last week, and the gal said it had just gone out. Apparently, nobody saw it on the 14th, when the fixer guy called to see if there were any machines for him to pick up. It has a giant Descendents sticker on it, for chrissakes!
I feel that THEY should pay for it, since they screwed me out of 2 weekends of sewing for the million craft fairs I'm doing this fall. No such luck. I'm going to pay them their little $60 and then decide if I will shop there again.
Am I wrong? What should I do? They're so close and I hate the Jo-Ann's with their dried flowers and seasonal banners and cutesy shit.

Rat finks.

Maine in pictures

Because I am feeling beaten down already by the school year, and because only 26 % of our last year's 7th graders scored "proficient" on the mother f-ing MAP test, here is our totally awesome trip to Maine in pictures. No reading.
Okay, some reading. We took the Amtrak to Chicago ( I will spare you the pics of me in a Panera Bread). From there, we got a sleeper car to Washington D.C. I actually love looking out the window of a moving vehicle, even though I look bored in the picture.























































We had some time to spend in DC, but the camera batteries were dead, so just imagine 2 sweaty folks trudging across the Mall. Many monuments, thousands of Asian tourists (how much would it cost them to vacation here?!) and many homeless folks. The Vietnam Memorial was really hard to walk past, what with the photos and boots and crying people. If you know me, you know I can't see soldiers without getting a little weepy.
It was cool just to ride around in the cab. We ate Haagen-Daz ice cream in honor of Ian Mackaye and Henry Rollins' early career. In the train station, there was a woman crying for no apparent reason, even when her husband and kids came up. They just stood there watching her cry, then all went to dinner.
Our train left DC at 10 pm, and sat in Penn Station for like 2 hours. I look like a gay Klan member. I did wake up in time to see the sun rise over the marches of CT or RI. Very pretty and quiet and peaceful.

Kate and Vin took us to Topsham Beach, where I spent a great deal of time digging a hole and building an army of heads. The water was super cold, so I just dipped my feet and kept digging my hole.

Kate drove us to Boston, where I visited with my old boss at Salem Street True Value and feasted on paninos. We also visited the reasons for my credit card debt: Urban Outfitters and Downtown Crossing. We parked in front of our old scummy apartment on Comm. Ave. It's still a depressing graffiti-filled shithole, but it felt oddly normal to be strolling down the street with Kate at my side. Allston is the shithole, not Boston. We also had dinner with my old flame Tom at The Common Ground, the source of my imminent liver failure. Anthony was kind enough to water us and entertain us with party videos from my wilder days, much to Matt's surprise. There are no videos on here, though...yet!
In Boston, we also went through the Old Granary Burial Ground, where we saw Sam Adams' grave. Good job, Mr. Adams! I like your beer!

We had lobster and mussels for dinner and fresh green beans and they were delicious.
Lewiston, ME has some cool stuff, but I liked Portland better, namely because Matt (innocently sitting on the sidewalk) was told to "Get a job" by some woman as she walked past. Plus we saw "The Simpsons" and it wasn't half bad!


It was easily the best vacation yet, including our honeymoon (alternator blew out in Petrified Forest). Sleeping cars on Amtrak are awesome, Maine is wonderful, Boston is the same, and I had great hair the entire week. We ate the best food ever, got sand in all our crevices, and I heard an owl or a loon. Shaun's little nieces let us make s'mores with their marshmallows and I drank blueberry beer. We went to an organic farm and fed goats and chickens. There was sea glass collected and WW2 forts explored.
Then we sat on the plane back for an hour BEFORE leaving the tarmac. It was so freakin' hot when we got home, even at 1 AM. We had 20 straight days of 90+ heat. Today was a break, but it's so humid you wouldn't believe it.

Kate, I'm moving to Maine! Let's do that fabric design/art school/fabric and yarn shop thing! What color is your parachute?!

The Cotton Whisperer

So, for my Craft Mafia pseudonym, I chose "The Cotton Whisperer" not just because I love Cesar Milan, but because I feel that I have a way with cotton, much like Cesar and his pooches.
Here is what I've been sewing furiously on for the past week or so.

I know they're not quilted yet, but I wanted to take a pic of them since it's like 100 degrees outside with 89% humidity. Mmmm...warm wet St. Louis blanket.



You all wanted to see a crotch shot of my dog, right?



The perfect Baby's First Quilt....skulls and roses!




There's not many times when I feel proud of myself, but looking at these makes me feel that way. I don't hate myself; I just never feel accomplished. Of course, I could get my Ph.D. and be like, "Big deal--tons of people have their doctorate!"
Now back to quilting. Blech.

I'll be selling these bad boys at CraftaNostra on August 18th. You better be there, but not in a stalking way. I might be short, but I will reiterate my shortness=compressed rage theory.

Next tattoo!

OMG! This is the most awesome thing I've seen since Tiny Montgomery's new hairless rat (not in a perverted way).
I so love this design! I'd change the butterfly to....a praying mantis? A grasshopper? No, a ladybug! Nah,. maybe a grasshopper.
Obviously I wouldn't include the book title. And maybe I'd change the colors a little bit.
Where to put it?

$374

So, today is the last day of Poppymom's auction to raise money for breast cancer research. Her cousin is walking in the Minneapolis (I think) race, and has promised to shave her head if she raises $5000. We are $374 away from making that happen.
So, get over to www.boobhaha.com and bid on something! My contributions are the black Ice Ice Baby quilt (seen above) and a gift certificate to my Etsy store, redeemable any time. I have a stack of flippin' awesome oven mitts that I'm about to work on, so if you go to my store and don't see whatcha want, just wait, my friends.
The quilt is a summer quilt-no batting. It has a ton of cool little prints, like hot rods, cherries, pinups, florals, plaids, Asian stuff, baby dolls, etc, etc. It is about 5" wide by 7 feet long, methinks. It is newly washed and dried, and will make anybody happy. I didn't want it to be too gender-specific. You only have to bid $101 and it could be yours!

I know that if ever other one of you who reads this goes and bids, The Cuz will be bald. Plus, it's for a good cause.
Come on, relive your crazy youth when you did spur of the moment things! It's Bastille Day too! Go crazy, folks!

Quilts and Guns

So, I've been working on this:


and I think it's pretty damned cute. Superchick has encouraged me to make many more for the upcoming CraftaNostra show. Just how many more? And how much should I charge?

In other news, some asshole tried to break into my car last night. Apparently, they really wanted the 11 cents and dog hair on the floor. The handle is all bent, but it opens. I'm so ready to sit up all night on the front porch with a shotgun, only I don't have one. Again, you shouldn't mess with short people. Our anger is concentrated!

The damned possums or rabbits keep eating my and Tiny Montgomery's tomatoes. More victims of my imaginary shotgun!

Matt found a website that tells you if your house was ever condemned, and ours was in 1997! It is a great time-waster, and I recommend you spend some time poking around it. We also found a website that has estimated appraisals of houses, but I have a hard time believing that ours is $181,000. Has anyone SEEN our ramshackle garage lately?

I'm so ticked about my car. So very , very ticked. Maybe this cloud scene the other night, before the 15 minutes of nickel-sized hail was a warning sign:


Go to Boobhaha and bid on wonderful things. I will put 2 hot pink streaks in my hair if Poppymom raises $1000. I know, 2 streaks isn't a big deal, but school starts in a short time, so it has to be tame enough to be re-dyed by late August.

Transformers=good movie. Not an intellectually stimulating masterpiece, but it's good at what its goal is. Plus, Matt ate Junior Mints that he thought HE dropped in the Moolah Theatre's leather couches, but then realized that there were more than one mint in the crack. Ha ha!

That is all. Give me price estimates of that quilt. It's about 36" square.

Boobs!

In lieu of an actual post, because I am knee-deep in red, orange, and pinks for a baby quilt, (no, not for my own still-to-be-made baby) bookmark this page and bid early and often:


Poppymom is organizing an auction to raise money to fight breast cancer. All details can be read to above site. I'm donating a summer quilt-spread, and one item from my Etsy shop.
There is the promise of Gwen Stefani-hot pink hair dye and a complete head shaving if $5000 is raised. You know I SO want to be part of that!
I have added my wonderful new oven mitts to said Etsy shop. I sold a bunch at the farmer's market on Saturday, and have a ton more cut out, but the quilt demands top priority. Go see! Support my trip to Maine! I must eat as much seafood as possible!

Showin' Off

A wee praying mantis on the cup plants by the porch steps. See the water? That's why they're called cup plants.
Yes, those are the second generation of the $1.00 gladiola bulbs I bought last year. They have multiplied, and are gorgeous next to the orange day lilies out front.












Here's some awesome pics of the yard this year. Gaze in wonderment, world!
In the above photo, you'll see mostly tomato plants, some green zinnias, and volunteer sunflowers. Birdseed- the gift that just keeps on giving.

On the right is a picture of the yard from the alley. The zinnias are mostly oranges, but there's 2 lavender ones, which is a color I've never seen in zinnias. The vine, is of course, morning glory and hyacinth bean.

The basil does not appear to be living up to the 5-foot -tall behemoth I raised last year, but that's okay. It is still delicious with walnuts, olive oil, garlic, Parmesan cheese and a blender.

Productivity

I have learned that my habit of keeping fabrics, quilt blocks, and etc. for years is a good one to have. For example, these 2 Dresden Plate rings were given to me during one of my grandmother's Great Cleanings of Her Sewing Room. I appliquéd them onto black fabric, folded them up, and stashed them away.
Years later, they make a fine wedding wall hanging, even though the purchaser just realized she told me the wrong date! Seam ripper, ahoy!
The tiny little squares making the borders are from a bag of fabric scraps Tiny Montgomery picked up for me. Thanks, TM! Even though the rings are from the 1930's or 40's, and the squares are from the 60's and 70's, they work well together.
Thus was my Friday morning. Oh, and when I let the dog out at 3-freakin'-AM, guess who was getting into his hot tub? That's right....my hoosier neighbor. I love South City.

*stomach churning*

First, here is what I have growing in my yard. Thank you, Dollar Store! My pink and white gladiolas from last summer are amazing this summer. You must drive by my house to enjoy.

And now for the stomach churning....
May 11th, 1987
Monday
Dear Tippy, (name of my mom's childhood dog)
I got my ears pierced today. BAAAAARRRRFFFFF!
First, the earrings were soaked in alcohol, same as my ears.
Second the doctor marked 2 x's on my ears.
Third (very barf), He (ugh) took a needle and screwed it through my ears. It didn't hurt that much but I really winced at it.
THEN, he threaded another needle and ran it through my ear. OUCH!
Then he stuck the earring in. YOWCH! My earlobe is so fat! I almost barfed I was so nervous. I had to lay down. Dr. Sugden took my pulse. I must have been white. I couldn't keep steady for a while. It was THIRTY bucks!

Daddy is in a very bad mood just because he didn't get dinner in the living room. He got all pissy, threw pans on the floor, stomped all over the place, threw out a lot of pictures and one of his photo albums from the Navy.
Good lord.
G'night!


Let's remember, my parents said it was this way or no piercing.So, my mom sat in the doctor's office, with her hands over her face, because she was unable to watch me be tortured. I didn't write what the second needle and thread did. He pulled it back and forth to make the hole a little bigger for the earrings. Even now, my stomach is doing flipflops remembering how it felt. Believe it or not, worse is yet to come in The Earring Saga.

Needless to say, when I got the other 6 holes done, it was at the mall, sans parental consent (it was the 80's). It took my dad 6 months to realize I had gotten more earrings.

As for the finale of this diary entry, I looked up emotional abuse, but it doesn't fit what happened. This stomping and yelling and freaking out over minor things was a weekly event for a while. Who knows what was really wrong?
We Walkers are pretty strong-willed. When we're pissed off, we are PISSED OFF. For example, when Tom broke my heart into a million billion pieces, I didn't speak to him for 4 months, even though we saw eachother each weekend at The Model. He spoke to my roommate and friends, but I totally ignored him, even if we were both waiting for drinks at the bar. Finally, I got over him and was cordial again.

You gotta watch out for we quiet short people. There's a lot of malice simmering inside, and not just from the brutal way our ears were first pierced.

*blows dust off diary*

May 9, 1987
Dear diary,
I don't want to play my flute in church. Dad asked why I never play it at home. I said, "I don't want to." So now I can't get my ears pierced! I want to die or just stay up in my room forever! I have to plant ALL the goddamn onion sets. I hope the birds eat them all.

Ah, I can just hear Big Mike saying, "Well, I guess I don't want to pay for your ears getting pierced!". Also, a typical punishment in the Walker household, once we were too old to be spanked, would involve physical labor. No wonder I can't sit still when I'm outside. I always feel like I have to be doing something.
This also may mark the first sign of teen-hood: "I want to die!"
For those who did not grow up with a garden, onion sets are just teensy tiny onions that you plant and wait for them to become regular onions.
The whole issue with ear piercing was that it was 1987, and my parents thought if I went to Piercing Pagoda at the mall, I would get AIDS. Instantly.
So, it was off to the doctor's I went., clueless as to what would befall me.Stay tuned!

The Universe

One bit of good news....I have nine of these that will be blooming in a couple weeks. Remember, I paid one dollar for a bag of 10 bulbs last year. Now, I have many, many more.

And now, a warning--whining ahead!

Today, I believe the universe is against me. Twice today, TWICE, I yelled,"Oh shit! Please stop! Please stop!" to other drivers.
On Forest Park Parkway, the car in my rear view mirror did not appear to be slowing down and I was at a red light. The hair on my neck actually stood up, and I imagined my precious car being crumpled. Luckily, Drinky McGee did stop, an inch away from my bumper. Then, once the light turned green, he zipped around me on the right. A few lights later, he realized he wanted to turn right from the middle lane.
Sounds stressful, eh?

THEN, I find out another one of my friends is pregnant. I'll leave it at that.

On the way home from school, a tractor trailer pulled out in front of me on 55 south. I'm cruising along, at the speed limit, and saw the truck with its blinker on. "Oh, he's not REALLY going to pull out. Surely he can see there isn't enough room for him to get in front of me oh shit he really IS coming into my lane from a dead stop oh crap!"
By some stroke of luck, I did not smash into the back of the Lane Furniture truck, and the car behind me was paying attention and did not smash into me.

Oh, and the reason I signed up to teach summer school? Nonexistent. At least I'm just teaching art, to 3 classes of 8 students each.

I've had way too much adrenaline today. Someone else go run my errands. I'm staying inside.

Drawers

I know I'm a bad person, but I couldn't resist this photo opportunity.
That clothing, basking in the beautiful setting sun? Why those would be the boxer shorts of the former owner of Little Jerry Seinfeld: my hoosier neighbor.
His yard starts behind the basketball hoop. It's got the hot tub, non-running vehicle, 18 lawn chairs, 2 patio umbrellas laying around, and 3 broken park benches that you can't see. Plus, a child's blue plastic truck thing. You can't see the other pile of children's toys.
NO CHILDREN LIVE THERE. HIS NEICE AND NEPHEW ARE TOO OLD FOR PLAYSKOOL TOYS.

Training Babies

Not, not teaching them tricks; I mean like a training bra training baby.
I got to hold this one today:
www.xanderlucas.blogspot.com

and got to feed this one on Memorial Day:
http://luckybeesbazaar.com/home.html
For some reason, the pics of that baby are no longer on the blog, but buy some cute pouches!

Thinking further, wouldn't a training baby be a good thing? I mean, they're all heavy and sweaty and drooly and mercurial. It would really solidify one's desire to be a parent, especially if that "one" is a lonely teenage girl.

Since my last "if you post it, it will sell" trick worked (thanks, Robin!) here is what I have for you today:

It is a full-size-ish unpadded summer quilt. Just 1 layer of the quilt top stitched to a backing of heavier cotton upholstery fabric. It was made at my MIL's house during the December ice storm. I had an idea of what it would look like, but didn't have the space to lay out the blocks to make sure that they looked good together. It turned out pretty awesome!
This might be up for silent auction later on this month.....stay updated!

Oh, and I am officially on Summer Break. Envy me, you might, but I am teaching art at summer school, so break will be short lived/profitable.

Update for Matt

Even though my husband is on the other side of the wall, he wants an update.
So, in a numbered list:
1. Gypsy Caravan was DRY, thanks to all my creative visualization. If you watch this clip, you'll see not only my badass grey streak, but how eloquent I am after hours of watching frontbutt and American flag shirts.
http://cw11tv.trb.com/news/kplr-052807-4,0,3042563.story

Please note that I am identified as Becky Rabbit, even though I emailed the reporter to correct it.

2. I had a great corndog, which came with a face. See above. And no, it is not possible for me to take a decent picture.

3. I have 12 hours of work left, and am trying to suppress the urge to throttle certain children. As I said to R. (of Chilicraft fame), "I am trying to remind myself that I love you a lot" as I grabbed the back of his neck. With love, people, with love!

4. My garden shows promise of another banner year. My basil appears to be 2 different types, but once you chop that bastard up with pignoli and olive oil, it's all good.
I have many volunteer tomato plants if you want tomatoes.

5. My grandfather will be 97 tomorrow. NINETY SEVEN. And I'm all wistful this morning about when I was 24! Such folly! That man still remembers Polish from when his parents were alive and non-English speaking!

6. No Lisa, I could not be any cuter. Do you like my corndog photo?

7. I am working summer school so I can go to Maine in August to visit Kate. If you need new potholders, buy some from me and contribute to my Maine Fund. I want to eat as much seafood as humanly possible while I'm there.


8. I tried to take some photos this afternoon with our new digital camera, but.....yeah. I don't quite have the hang of it yet. Note that I said NEW, and that I haven't blogged in a while.

9. I swear to you all I will get back to my diaries on Friday! Or I will buy the Monday Moms at Hartford all coffees!

10. Time for a rum and coke.

Yowza.

I know, I know...slacking and such.

1. I've been reading a blog in which the newlywed author hates her new husband. What happens in a marriage to make 2 people hate each other? Why do people start being so mean to eachother? Is it the comfortable-ness of marriage? "I'm used to you now, and we're married, so I can start treating you like crap"? I don't know. It makes me sad and a little worried. I know I can be intolerable sometimes, but M. hangs in there. Thank god he's a social worker!

2. The brother of a student died in a go-kart wreck Sunday. The student moved to another school in January, but most of our students knew and liked the boy who died. It's been a rough week.

3. There is a baby bunny living in our rapidly-growing bushes. It ran across my bare foot the other day. I believe it is responsible for a new grey hair.

4. Tiny Montgomery and I walked the dogs tonight. Maggie jumped in 3 different bodies of water in Tower Grove Park. Clean, clean, and stinky and murky. Needless to say, she got a bath when we got home.

5. This really pisses me off: Last week, my teacher friend and I went to Kansas City for a teaching conference. Since we had some time to kill before getting drunk in our chi-chi hotel room, we went to the Mega Marshall's at Zona Rosa. I bought a tres cute shirt, and since it was only $7, I didn't try it on until we got back to the hotel.
The freakin' sleeve did not go past my elbow! It barely made it past my wrist! Now, I'll admit, my upper arms are kinda fat/muscular. But my forearm? WTFH?
Here is a pic demonstrating my outrage:

I had to take off the band around the sleeve. Naturally, the REST of the shirt fits, although I can't wear it to school unless I want to put on a boob show if I pick something up from the floor.
Who is this shirt made for? I am not a big girl. My arms are fairly normal sized, if not small. And by normal, you know what I mean. Don't get up on any damn soapbox, cause there isn't room for you up here. I have reconciled my butt to a larger size than it used to be. My belly shirts are safely packed away. But my forearm?
I enjoy food, a lot. Good food, McDonald's, comfort food, sushi, you name it, I'll eat it. I am not a picky eater (except for Long John Silver's. Never again. ). I've even started eating salads from Bread Co. again, after almost eating a ladybug hiding in the lettuce.
WHO IS THIS SHIRT MADE FOR??? WHY are clothing makers sizing their clothes so freaking small? What the hell is wrong with the designers?
I worked in a garment factory for a year. I made samples, drafted the patterns, wrote the sewing instructions, etc. All the measurements have to be in a decent ratio to eachother. Not so in my tres cute shirt.
And so I vent.
Come see me and Tiny Montgomery on Saturday at the Tower Grove Farmers' Market. I'll bet Poppymom will be there, and then your Blog Celebrity List will be complete!

All about me, and then you

Thanks, Robin!

Allison:
1. I never understood how you wound up in Boston after growing up in rural Pennsylvania. Explain.

I wanted to go to college as far away from my parents and idiots from high school as possible. University of Washington (state, not DC) didn't want me, and Princeton was too close, so Boston U. it was.

2. When did you learn to sew, and why?

I guess I was about 5. My mom got tired of me begging her to make dresses for Barbie, so she showed me how to hand sew. I still have all the old 1970's/1980's doll patterns. Heck, I still have all the rad clothes I made for Barbie.

Eventually, I graduated up to the Singer. I used that machine until 1993, when it broke for the last time.

I also spent a lot of time with my mom's mom, Grammy, who made wedding dresses and quilts. It sounds hokey, but one of my earliest memories is playing with fabric underneath a quilt that had been stretched out on a frame and was in the process of being quilted.

3. As a 7th grade English teacher, what's the most entertaining example of 'tween behavior you've witnessed?

Oh lord, I have to pick one? Well, my first year at BW was marked by having to write a referral on a boy who, as I put it, disrupted my class by "stimulating ejaculation". He had a hacky sack or something, and was pretending to copulate with it. As soon as I realized what was going on, he started pulling out the stuffing and throwing it at girls, while making ejaculatory sounds. Porn in the classroom: the only way!

4. When are you going to make that aging punk rocker survey/meme/bulletin, and can you give us a preview of some of the questions?

You might be an aging punk rocker if:

1. You read Sassy.

2. Wore red lipstick and thought it made you look "artsy"

3. You owned more than one pair of black Chinese mary janes.
4. You were goth before it was a store in the mall and was associated with massacres, Marilyn Manson, and was ripped off by fashion designers.
5. You wore black leggings and baby doll dresses, with aforementioned Chinese mary janes.
6. You burned candles in wine glasses and thought it was "artsy"
7. You loved 120 Minutes.
8. You now sell all your old "rad" outfits on Ebay.
9. Heck, you now sell vintage finds from estate sales on Ebay.
10. You fondly remember the first (and best, IMHO) Lollapalooza. I still have my t-shirt. Is it ironic yet?

That's about all I got. Once I started writing them down, the well dried up. I'm still trying, though.

5. That night that Matt was screaming, "You've gotta take me to Jack in the Box!", did you take him?

Yes. There was no other option. He ended up NOT eating all the crap he ordered. But it did make for an entertaining story.


Now it's someone else's turn to play if they wish: Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.” I will respond by asking you five questions in the comments here on this post so check back here. I get to pick the questions. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

In other news from Squaresville, my hoosier neighbor has a rooster roaming his yard/alley/neighborhood. It was given to his sister. I don't mind it, but I wish he had a pen for it.
Me and the St. Louis Craft Mafia will be in force at Gypsy Caravan on Memorial Day. Come see us and hang out in our tents.
I love Chicago. A lot.
It's raining!

Gross.

So, I'm standing at the kitchen window, eating grapes, and wishing it was a more reasonable temperature (i.e. NOT 34 degrees), when I spy a squirrel sitting on the fence, eating something red.
"Hmm.." I thought, "even if he did get into the compost bin, there wasn't anything red in there. Lemme get the binoculars."
The squirrel was eating a bird, and I can only hope that the wings were moving because it was very windy. He left bird parts on the fence. He had blood on his little mouth. I used to think he/she/they were cute, but now?
Who knew that squirrels were carnivores?

In other news, 2 of the girls who I wrote about in my diaries have found me on Myspace. Do I need to go back though ALL those posts and change names? I'm sure that they are mature enough to realize that we were just twerpy 13 year olds and time heals all wounds. Gah.
My regular computer died, and I am using M.'s old laptop hooked up to my regular monitor. Therefore, no gross pics of bird guts, but you know I would if I could.

Chilicraft--The Afterburn

I'll make this fast, since I broke the camera and have no pics to share.
I felt Chilicraft was a good success, considering I had a month to pull it together, and it was hot.
Here was my day in a list:

1. Wake up tired.
2. Get to school later than I had liked, because every single stoplight from South City to U. City turned red when it saw me coming. Marcia calls; I try to sound cheerful and unpanicked.

3. Roll up to school. Vice principal is there, as are several other crafters. It is quite warm.

*added after list was made* Patrick from Meshuggah does indeed bring me my large vanilla latte, even though I said he didn't have to. I lord it over Tiny Montgomery, who anxiously awaits the first brew of coffee. The good thing about student volunteers is that you don't have to lift a finger. "R.! Go see if the coffee's ready!" and off he trots. It was.

4. 5 of my male students show up at 8:15 am on a Saturday to help me, even though I had pissed at least 3 of them off the day before. They are wearing their team t-shirts, or navy blue shirts and are charming and carry heavy stuff for my crafters.

5. I am mumbly and confused without coffee. One boy, D., takes my seating diagram and directs the table set up and placement. He tells me to go away and that he can take care of it.I grunt thanks and unload my car.

6. The district turns off the AC and heat on the weekends. We get R. to climb up the closed bleachers with a tool to crank the windows open. He enjoys any chance to show off his muscles to a room full of women.

5. Beqi arrives, crabbing about the worst birthday ever and a speeding ticket. My students assist her in unloading and uncrab her.

6. The kettle corn man shows up, and speaks to me from his van. He is unsure if he'll do the fair or not, since I am not Dionne Warwick and cannot predict how many customers he'll have. He smells funny, and I sense that he is not the type of man I want around my students. He tells me he'll make some calls and let me know. In 5 minutes, he calls me FROM HIS VAN to say that he's going to St. Ann instead.

7. I pace the room, entertaining crafters, and am nervous that nobody will show up and we will make no money and my friends will hate me.

8. People show up, we make money, and my friends love me.

9. Matt's chili is among the first to get sampled into extinction.

10. Other students show up and work my booth for me. They are good salespeople, and sell a lot of raffle tickets.

11. Most folks go home happy. Cranky Cricket gets invited to the Best of Missouri Market, which is awesome news.

12. I "get" to climb up the closed bleachers and crank the windows shut myself, even though I am scared of heights. I develop chameleon-like suckers on my hands from gripping the wall so hard. I don't look down. I sweat a lot. I get the windows closed without falling 15 feet onto the gym floor and snapping my neck in the now-pleasantly-scented corner Morgan's Naked Soaps was situated. At least I would be soothed by the faint cloud of lavender.
I have to sit on the top bleacher for a minute until my arms stop shaking and I can get the courage to climb back down the closed bleachers. I assure my principal I'm fine, mentally cursing the 2 girls who didn't show up for their shifts. Women, man....

13. My principal is pleased with me, and I feel the best I've felt in a LONG ASS TIME.

14. Now I feel weird, since a parent of a possible future student is reading this. Hi Bev!

15. I shower, nap, and then go to poppymom's for wine and cheese and telling funny stories about chipmunks and knives and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

16. I come home, find Matt already asleep, but pull a 20-something thing and lay in bed with him talking until 2 am.

17. I worry about what bad thing will happen to delete my euphoria.

18. I sleep.

19. I wake up and wonder if my friends embarrassed me in front of my students or vice versa.

20. We think we hear someone at the front door and yell that we are sleeping and to come back later. It was just the wind.

I ate no chili.

Chilicraft!!!

Yes, the Chilicraft is almost upon us! Start starving yourselves for the taste-off!
One of my students drew up a more amazing flyer than this yesterday. I will have to scan and post his. I almost wept, it was so creative and awesome.

So, if you're interested in the mayor of Squaresville, come on over to Brittany Woods to sample chili, spend a lot of money on awesome clothes by Beqi, jewelry by Tiny Montgomery, cute little purses and change purses by String Theory, and more and more.
Heck, here's a list:
1. Beqi Clothing
2. marciamenendez.etsy.com
3. sherrybingaman.etsy.com
4. superchickstudio.etsy.com
5. Crankycricket.com
6. Luckybeesbazaar.com
7. aogstudio.com (wicked awesome glass things)
8. cateanevski.com
9. smallthingsbandb.etsy.com
10. Soul Diva trading (yum...shea butter stuff! I shall be soft!)
11. Stringtheoryshop.com
12. Morgan's Naked Soaps (a craft fair isn't complete without a soap person)
13. Tiny Montgomery
14. Of course, myself, squaresville.etsy.com

There will be kettle corn, Meshuggah Coffee, and many of my darling students to entertain you with their banter. Oh yeah, and a raffle contest!
*sigh* now to sleep. Hopefully no tornado-themed nightmares tonight. Last night, my dream killed off the guy Kate is seeing. I mean no harm!

More pics

Me and Mom in the parking lot near the Art Museum in Philadelphia. Note the tell-tale grey streak that proves I am her child!

Me being circled by seagulls. Yes, that is snow piled up in the background. Note my cool wonderful.etsy.com t-shirt! Hi Megan! We had great pizza and a cheesesteak calzone at a little pizza joint in this strip mall.

Matt and some other kid pretending they're Rocky.

Matt and 2 other people pretending they're Rocky.
My dad helped build one of those tall buildings in the background.

Me and Mom not pretending we're Rocky, next to some girl whose boobies are escaping.

It was totally fun to hang out with my mom for the day. I wish we lived closer, so I could chill with her more often.