Thanks

So, several things have happened lately that I am thankful for:

1. Gas is $1.33. This is the cheapest I ever remember it. EVER. Now, that might mean my memory sucks, but it's still cheap enough for me to consider a road trip to PA after Christmas.

2. My brother's girlfriend is kickass and nags him into calling me.

3. I live in a neighborhood where several different nationalities are represented. For example, yesterday, I saw Mohammed and Bismallah cruising their bikes down the street howling at the top of their lungs. Howling, because I'm sure it was super fun to do as they were flying downhill.
Also, I heard my Vietnamese neighbors rocking the karaoke at 10 am. It's in their basement, so what I really hear is a thin, tinny high-pitched noise. Hi (spelling?) isn't the best singer.

4. My partner-in-law is a great cook and we never have to pretend to like her food. In fact, everyone in Matt's family does a good job in the kitchen.

5. Rock and Roll Craft Show lets me sell my crap without having to be there. Let's hope it all sells so I can start fresh in 2009.

6. I am thankful to live in a city where I can email complaints about the Hoosier Neighbors to the city and they'll do something about the old phone books, the prairie in their backyard, and the rotting pumpkins on their porch. Now, the pumpkins have been moved to the side of their house, but I'm wondering when is the best time to go snatch them and turn them into compost.

7. I am thankful that I am a decent cook and can plan a week of yummy, somewhat nutritious meals. Turkey enchiladas, anyone?

8. My friends talk me into buying 60's beaded-neck dresses that I secretly love but have no real use for. Thanks, guys!

9. We live in one of the best countries in the world, barring angry mobs and illiteracy and pregnant middle-schoolers (she's not one of mine....)

10. *just now* I am thankful our doorbell doesn't work, so people who I don't want to talk to (I'm looking at you, man with the clipboard) don't realize I don't know they're there, unless the dog barks.

11. I am thankful to have a gentle, lazy, loving dog with a fierce bark and fierce looks. Here she is in one of her usual positions, looking out the window.

12. Teaching has given me a kickass immune system. When I'm sick, I am seriously SICK.

13. The Internet. How great is it?! Without it, imagine the rise in productivity of this world! We would get things done! There'd be no failing economy!

What are you thankful for?

I Am Famous.

Well, only sorta famous.
Here's the article on Metromix.com that mentions yours truly.
Like any of you needed a reminder/excuse to go to the Rock and Roll Craft Show!

It Is Done.

Soooo....I just emailed my Rock and Roll Craft Show inventory over to the headmistress at RRCS. If you were lusting after a mitt, tough! You'll have to snatch it up November 28th to the 30th at Third Degree Glass Factory on Delmar Boulevard.

In honor of my newfound freedom, I worked on our t-shirt quilt today. It's pretty much done, and pretty much all my t-shirts. Matt disapproved of my Babes In Toyland shirt (the band, not the sex toy store) but those riot grrls are on it anyway, along with my cherished Upper Hand and Billy Idol shirts. Yes, him again.

Other notes:
1. We watched the movie Eastern Promises. Best part was seeing Viggo Mortenson's weiner during a fight scene. As I said to Laurene, if I had a body that looked like that and I was a dude, I'd walk around nude all the time. Oh, and the Russian accents were charming.

2. I bought a Christmas present for myself today. Teal and chocolate brown snowflake flannel sheets, now on sale at Target! I bought a queen size set, in hopes that a queen-size bed will appear under the Christmas tree.

3. Why are my calendulas blooming like mad? It's cold out for plants!

4. I am about to experiment with bulk hot chocolate mix like my mom did when we were little. It involves large boxes of powdered milk, Nestle Quik and powdered sugar and Cremora. We shall see how it tastes.

5. Please go buy stuff at the Rock and Roll Craft Show, namely my stuff. Remember, it's all much cheaper and I'm not making any more for a while! Recession, you say? Recession, my ass! You tell that to the throngs of South Countians at Target today. The economy is alive and well, now that gas is for some reason the cheapest it's been in 7 years. Can you say "cartel"?

Oh. My. God.

Many things to discuss.
First...I grew up without cable. Only my friend Holly, who lived in town, had cable. So, whenever I went over to her house, I was a total hose beast about watching The MTV. The only way I ever saw music videos was if I stayed up with my brother and father to watch Friday Night Videos. Daniel and I mixed drinks for my dad all night and had a great time hanging out with the old man. Is it bad if a 11-year-old girl gets her father drunk?

Anywho, Laurene alerted me today, via Very Short List, that MTV's website has EVERY FUCKING VIDEO they ever aired. Now, you know I rarely cuss in my blogs. I save that for the motherfucking classroom. But GOD, am I catching up! I mean, DECADES of music trivia will be MINE! Smiths! Echo! New Order! Finally I will get what the Flight of the Conchords guys sing about in their David Bowie tribute!

Second, this:

Billy Idol |MTV Music

Now, it's usually a bad thing if you go to bed with a guy and there's a bloody handprint on his pillow, but I'll make an exception for Billy Idol.
And the glove? He sleeps and bathes with it!
And the shower scene? Get the fuck out! (to use one of Dad's favorite phrases)
Dear sweet Christ on a crutch! I should not be feeling these feelings! My mouth actually fell open. You have to love the close up shot of the lather on his chest. I know I do. It beats Harrison Ford's sponge bath scene from "Witness" any day.
I fell in love with this song when I took the cassette tape with us on a family road trip to Montana from Pennsylvania in 1989. Daniel and I were trapped in the back of our truck for weeks, but we brought plenty of tapes. I'll bet I'm the only one who associates Wyoming and Montana with this song.

The saddest part is that he ruined himself on drugs. Children, Billy Idol is why you should never do drugs.

Did I ever tell you about the best dream I ever had? In said dream, I was hanging out with Billy Idol in his tour trailer before a concert. It had tons of plants. He offered to make me some tea, and I accepted. When he brought the tea back to the couch where I was, I thought, "Holy God, Billy Idol is about to kiss me" AND THEN I WOKE UP.
Cruel, cruel fate! I never got to finish the dream! It still pains me!

Now, back to Billy.


Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, as a true statement of my dorkiness, I used to spend a lot of time listening to the radio and acting out my own videos in my room. Of course there was a camera following me! Of course I was an awesome singer and millions of hot guys were hot for me!
The sad part is that (and I'm a little embarrassed to admit) I actually would put on accessories if the appropriate song came on...scarves, my mother's cool silver high heels......and dance and lip sync to the radio. Sometimes my brother would join me as a backup singer. Remember, we lived in the country and only had 4 or 5 television stations. Summer nights were spent on marathon Monopoly games or driving aimlessly around Solebury Township when I had my permit. It was a kinder, gentler life.

Allison's Search For Meaning

Check out those SWEET Descendents Vans! They're old enough now I can wear them to river banks and other muddy spots. You know you're jealous.

I have decided to put Squaresville on sabbatical for the next year or so. The constant craft fairs and sewing and fabric overload have killed my love of pot holders and oven mitts....for now.
So, hop on over to my Etsy shop and pick up some early holiday presents. All oven mitts, pot holder sets and grocery bags are just $10.00. The initial pot holders are $5! And, I still have a ton of items to photograph and upload!
These new prices will be in effect at the Rock and Roll Craft Show and at the Green Living Expo in December. I will be making some obligatory holiday-themed goodies, but not too many. Actually, right now, "holiday" looks like "Christmas", as I haven't found any tasteful Hanukah prints....yet....

I'm strangely relieved to be sabbatical-ing Squaresville. I don't want to look at my heavy-ass craft fair tent for quite a while.
What will I be doing instead?

1. Culling and culling and culling my fabric hoard.

2. Making some clothes for myself. This means cutting into the precious red-with-silver-flecks wool and the wonderful vintage green-on-cream nubby plaid wool. Shrunken blazers, ahoy!
Also, the emerald green bathrobe my brother bought me in Saudi Arabia will be repurposed, as I don't wear a bathrobe. If my hoosier neighbors happen to catch a glimpse of my lovely lady lumps, too bad. I doubt they will, though. The blind in their window has been crooked for MONTHS and they never open the curtain. They haven't mowed their yard since August and a phone book has been laying on their stoop since phone books were delivered this year.

3. Finish t-shirt quilt.

4. Quilt Chinese Coins quilt and Maple Leaf quilt.

5. Make wonderful things for my friends and their babies. Oh yeah, Miss Olive, I've got something planned for you :)

6. Paint our porch. Paint Laurene's porch.

7. Experiment with tea towels, bunting and boxer shorts.

8. Rip out all the overgrown garden and start prepping next year's corn patch.

9. Knit?

10. I don't know.

Today was a weird First Day of Not Sewing. I went to the wake and funeral of one of my last year's students. He was 14 and died from leukemia. It was very sad, but gave me closure after a godawful week of parent-teacher conferences until 8 pm on Monday and Wednesday combined with trying not to cry during class. It was a nice ceremony, if not a little...culturally different. Lots of testifying and hallelujahs.
When I came home, I messed around in the garden, did laundry and took a nap. Now? I'm about to Google "Repairing chipped china", since I nicked one of my dear Blue Dandelion plates. Damn, damn, damn! Any ideas?