Garden Update

I have all sorts of wonderful photos of my weedy garden, but Blogger is taking too long to load, and I'm an impatient woman, especially with ONE DAY of school remaining!
You will have to wait, all 3 of you.

How about a list of updates?

1. Only 3 classes left to teach, and then it's a summer of reading on the back porch. My irritation level is at an all-time high, but I'll make it through tomorrow.

2. You know you've had a good night when someone says "Allison, you are a dancing fool!"

3. I sexy danced with the husband's great-aunt Virginia to "Hot In Herr" at a wedding.

4. Matt's mom requested "Superfreak" at same wedding. BTW, the Roberts Orpheum Theatre has the worst food and appetizers. Our wedding food is still the best I've had. But, we (and Matt's Uncle Jack and other older family members) climbed all the way to the top of the theatre seats and Matt worked the spotlight!

5. Home grown lettuce is yummers and you should come have some. There's lots.

6. My corn grows about 2 inches a day, and is beginning to show its lovely corn-bearing tassels. Unlike a stripper, these kind of tassels are the kind I want to see in my yard.

7. DJ Frankenstein will be "in the house" at Crammed Organisms this Friday. It's also his birthday, so bring him gifts.

8. Sewing has stalled again, but should pick up next week when I am FREEE of work!!!

9. Massive hair cut due tomorrow. I warned my mane that if it didn't start behaving, it'd get chopped. So, to Erin we go.

10. My hollyhocks, which only put out foliage last year, are enormous and inky purply black and I love them.

11. We have mowed our yard twice since the young hoosiers mowed theirs. I hate them so very, very much. So much so that I want to throw dog poo on their garage roof. How can you respect anyone who gets rid of a dog because she sneaks out through a BROKEN gate?

12. My Vietnamese neighbor is growing a mystery squash in his yard, which I lovingly/nosily keep an eye on.

13. Speaking of hoosier, is it hoosier to make a bean pole tower out of bamboo citronella torches? Cause if it is, well.....

Back on the chain gang

One of my diary characters found me and has posted on "Jumping the gun, not rope"! Hi Scott! It makes me sorta nervous about these folks finding me, but it's all in good fun. City Gardens rocked! So dirty and dangerous and full of hot hardcore or punk boys from Jersey...what more could an impressionable, overly smart 18 year old want?

February 21, 1988
Sunday

See Feb. 18th. Jen called and said that afterschool Friday, a guy named Matt in 10th grade or so, went up to CT and asked her for my phone #. Then he got in a car with mike. I have no idea what's going on. I hope someone cute really does like me. It's about time!
-Al

February 22, 1988

CT told me everything. It could be MP! Jen and I are having a t-shirt contest to see who can wear the most obnoxious t-shirt. Yuch. My period is coming around March 1. My stomach hurts already. Everyone is getting sick. H. is on crutches for her knee. Mike went home sick today. Poor dear. Nina was in a bitchy mood today.
See ya,
Al
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1. Oh, stupid, stupid 15-year-old Allison.....it almost pains me to think that I was so sprung on Mike! And how sad (and foreshadowing of my love of The Smiths) to read "It's about time!"
Keep in mind, Sassy magazine hadn't come out yet, so I was still a Seventeen and YM disciple.

2. Funny, I don't remember having PMS symptoms as a young lass. I guess I did.

3. How would I know if Mike went home sick? My school wasn't that freakin' small!

4. H. had knee surgery, becoming the first of 3 close friends who had the surgery. Weird...

5. My garden is kicking grass and taking names! Photos to come!

Tomorrow

Wow, only 2 weeks since my last blog?
Well, there was Spring Break, and a week of nausea that included 3 days without coffee, if you can believe that, and well, it's been nice outside.
The garden is sprouting like mad, due to the TON of rain and warm weather we've been having. I'm actually surprised that I don't hear the dehumidifier running in the basement.

Tomorrow, my friends and I will be chillin' at the Tower Grove Farmers' Market in the TG park here in St. Louis. The market is run by the nicest couple ever, Patrick and Jenny, and their stellar friend Chris and Jenny's great dad......Jenny's Dad. Jenny is the type of gal who makes me want to be nicer instead of bitchy and intolerant. However, when your idiot neighbors put a huge tree branch IN the "No Yard Waste" dumpster, one should be allowed to stand in her garden and loudly announce that some people must be fucking idiots if even the Vietnamese family can read the "No Yard Waste" sign on the dumpster.
Oh, I've been busy calling the neighbors idiots, too. So, if I get shot, you'll know why. The beauty supply store is...hmm...maybe two blocks away? Three?

Anyway, Pat and Jenny and Chris and Jenny's Dad are people after my own heart, what with their Local Harvest grocery store and reaching out to the community via an EBT machine and working in schools (!!!) over the summer. I am thankful that they allow us crafters at their FARMERS market, too. Plus, Jenny's Dad is a crossword fan just like me.
You can come buy cute market totes and matching bird potholders for your mom, or honey or meat or coffee or crepes or super hot salsa. There'll be bands playing and people with dogs and yoga and apple tarts.
Now, to wind the clock and to remind myself to pick Alecia up tomorrow morning!

What I've Been Doing

Recycling in action. I cut a toothpaste box in half, added some potting soil and a corn kernel and...voila! A plantable container! Yes, that is a toilet paper roll and a tea bag box.


A view from the steps. Ignore my hoosier neighbors' dead newspapers lying on their walk. I swear, I really did not pick the rest of their daffodils. It wasn't me!
This, my friends, is where sweet corn comes from. A tiny pale green finger looking for the light.

Le Jardin 2008. Thank you, Matt, for building the squares! Please also note my bourgeoisie compost bin. It was on sale and I was tired of messing with my bent plastic garbage can with the plywood/brick roof. You can see I'm surrounded by hoosiers (plastic toys in yard) so I don't need to add to the downfall of my block. The blue glass lantern is used to keep Matt's pepper plant warm these recent COLD nights. The screen door (found in alley) is covering the first basil I couldn't wait to plant. They're doing okay so far!

From Under the Rock...

I know it's been a while. Blame it on the MAP test screwing up my schedule and happiness!

The 2008 Garden is off to a good start. I planted a bunch of various flower seeds last weekend, as well as a pepper, German chamomile, onions, more spinach, lettuce and carrots. My corn has sprouted but I'm still waiting on the squash to germinate.
Photos to follow!
Let us go back in time, my friends:

Feb. 20, 1987
Today the YF went skiing at Elk Mountain. There is a new boy, Kevin, who is SO gorgeous. His cheekbones remind me of Mike's. OH MY GOD! Kindy was talking to a hot boy when Laurie and I got off the lift, and by the time we were at the top, they were at the bottom frenching. He's 16, name=Lyle. Kevin was looking at me so many times. Laurie and I sat in front of them on the way up and they (Jon K. and Kevin M.) listened to everything we said. Jon gave me a Cramps tape to listen to. Goo Goo Mah is the neatest song! I was listening to it and in between songs, I heard Jon say "Leave her alone, she's listening to the Cramps." And when we were at the place, Kevin kept on staring at me. He is so cute!
Love,
Al
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Okay, so my friend was a slut. A ski slut, no less. This never happened to me on a ski trip! There was a band trip later in high school where a local youth saw me and followed us around. Skateboarders....gotta love 'em!
I'm trying to figure out the logistics of getting off the ski lift, then knowing that the "frenching" was occurring when we were at the top of the mountain.....Kindy must have filled me in later. She did later go to the Catholic high school near us...
"Frenching". That kills me! Don't you think that frenching on a ski slope at night would lead to a painfully chapped face?
And god, was I acutely aware of who was looking at me and when! He was probably looking at me not out of teen boy lust, but out of wonder that I was such a rampant dork.
I still love The Cramps, and even had the classic yellow "Bad Music For Bad People" t-shirt, although its current whereabouts are unknown :(

I Can Grow Anything!

I got 4 dendrobium orchids from Freecycle on January 1, 2007. I carefully watered them, kept them from drafts, and put them on the back porch all summer, where they reveled in the Amazon-like climate that is summer in St. Louis.
Once it got cool, I brought them into the bathroom. Two went on top of the medicine cabinet, and the other two perch on the toilet tank. Apparently, I did the right thing, because look what opened today!
This may be the most beautiful thing I've grown, aside from my moonflower or morning glory/hyacinth bean hedge. I do mean hedge, no exaggeration.
The other orchids all have flower stalks of varying lengths, so my bathroom will be exotic for a few months! M's cousin is getting married next Saturday. We had discussed how expensive wedding flowers are, and I joked that I might have orchids for her. Well, I'm pretty sure I will, but I don't want to share!
Thanks, Mom, for my green thumbs!

Why I Love Big Cities

I grew up in the country. No sidewalks, street lights, public water, bus stops, homeless people, no nothin'. So, when I was considering colleges, I knew for a fact that my country ass belonged in a city, where I could experience all the cool stuff I read about in Jay McInerney and Bret Easton Ellis's books, minus the drugs and poor life decisions.
Boston gave me sidewalks, a subway, crazy homeless folks, pigeons and gross tap water. I have never regretted my choice, and am glad that I live in a city (for all its problems) now. The country still beckons, but that's when I'm older and retired. Or when country school districts aren't filled to the gills with Meth Addict Megan and Paris Hilton wannabes. Yes, I judge unfairly.
This blog has a million reasons why I love cities, particularly New York. When I considered myself a writer, I was always listening to others' conversations on the streets or on the T. I heard some awesome stuff, some of which I wrote down. Mostly I wrote about the people I saw, instead of their wacked out dialogue.
There's something so brazen and snappy about New York. When I'm there, I feel younger and cooler. Not that I think I'm a total dork now, but it reminds me of my Boston days of crazy hair colors and outfits involving striped tights.
Read, my friends. Read and laugh until you almost pee yourself.
If I were to contribute one, it would be the conversation Matt and I heard in a pastry shop near NYU. A bunch of 20-somethings were seated around a table. It seemed like some students from a summer college program who knew each other loosely through the dorm they were staying in or a class they were taking.
One girl was holding court about what a slut she was, all the sexual things she could remember doing, blah blah blah. It was obvious that all the geeky guys there were totally turned on and thinking they might be the next lucky Slut Victim. The other girls were getting annoyed with her, but Queen Whore kept talking about her boobs and underwear until I was ready to get up and slap her filthy mouth.
It almost ruined the chocolate masterpiece we were enjoying, but it did make for good conversation afterward.
Ah, I love New York.

Feb. 19, 1988

Feb. 19, Friday

Yesterday, C. and I were discussing what we would do if MP came up to one of us and said, "I want yer sex!" It was funny. Tonight I'm leaving to go skiing, so I won't write until Sunday. Anyway, today I saw MP again. Someone named Chris just called and told me that a boy in 10th grade likes me. I don't believe the, though. She (or he) said he's in the library 1st period on Wednesdays. Come Wednesday, I WILL NOT march in there and stare!! I'll send J. in.
Help?!
AL
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God, again with the MP. I was 15, remember. And again with the damned " I want your sex!"!! That song has cursed me!

I totally remember this conversation with C. I had a steady babysitting job after school for a woman from my church. I'd get home, pee, and she'd come pick me up. Nina had 2 girls-a 2-year-old and a.....maybe 5-year-old. It was fun, as the girls were good and they had a super cool haunted house. Plus, Nina and her husband had a Porsche 911, which she occasionally picked me up in. They bought it during the oil recession in Texas in the 80's. Remember that? All the oil farmers went bankrupt or something. Nina also informed the girls in the Youth Fellowship that if we ever needed birth control, she'd get it for us, since she was a registered nurse. I was in the front seat of Nina's car, coming back from the Youth Fellowship summer retreat. (Which was SO FUN, I can't believe I never wrote about it. I bought "The Joshua Tree" by U2 and hung out with older kids and watched "Witness" for the first time. Mmmm...Harrison Ford.......)
In the rear view mirror, I caught the eye of my older friend Betsey. We were a little shocked, but that comment cemented Nina's coolness in our minds!
When C. and I were discussing the improbable event of MP wanting to boink one of us, I was in Nina's kitchen. The kitchen had been the scene of several possible ghost encounters. Things would disappear from the top shelves, or you'd put a glass on the counter, go away and return to find it moved. It was dark outside, as it was about 5 pm in February. At the time, it was a really, really funny conversation. We were like, "What if we had sex on his skateboard?" and such. It seems kind of stupid now, though.

JM was slowly becoming my friend at the time. She was always willing to do my spying and I enjoyed her humor and sensibility. You will note that I didn't believe the person who called me. Perhaps JM was a good influence. She was a total Jersey Girl, even though she wasn't from Jersey. Big hair, weird clothes....very Jersey. Years later, her parents bought a brand new house and paid cash for it. They also got a Jaguar. We joked that her dad was in the Mafia, as they were very Italian. Perhaps we weren't too far off! Ol' Ralph was a made man!

And I guess I totally got my ski trips screwed up. Eh, you go to one Poconos ski area, you've been to them all.

Wardrobe Refashion Pledge

The Pledge

I, Allison___________ pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 2 months. I pledge that I shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovoated, recylcled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftyness brings! Signed_Allison_____________.

Goodie! I can do the Value Village Half Off Day Sale! Look out, March 26!

Fire Under My !!!

I have been accepted to Wardrobe Refashion's latest round!
There is a laundry basket of clothes under my sewing table, full of stuff I sort of like, but which needs some tweaking.
Basically, I am not allowed to purchase any new clothing (save for underwear or socks or shoes) for 2 month. This will be relatively easy, except for Value Village's monthly Half Off Everything Sale. Must! Resist! Until May!
Stay tuned!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

http://www.apostropheabuse.com/

There are apparently many others in my Grammar Army. Someday we will take over the world and fix low-budget signs and newspapers and television headlines everywhere.
Now that I have a camera phone, nobody in South City is safe from my crusade!

Apostrophe abuse is the one thing that sends me over the edge and makes me loud and violent in the classroom. Well, loudER. And usually I say, "Take this pen out of my hands before I throw it!"

Insensitive? Perhaps.

Feb. 16, 1988
Nothing much. If I don't get a B or above in Geometry, I can't pass math. Oh yeah, Nov. 9, C's mom had her baby, but it died. I'm watching the Olympics. Today I got a drink at the water fountain and immediately after, MP came out and got a drink. Today Dylan got carried out of gym on a stretcher. He got hit int he eye. I'm so glad it wasn't MP!

Feb. 17
MP got his hair cut. It looks so cool! He has the greatest cheekbones and he looks so cool in black. He has dark, liquid brown eyes.
Bye!
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1. First of all, WOXY Vintage just started "Liar" by the Rollins Band, led by my secret boyfriend, Henry Rollins!

2. Stream of consciousness or insensitivity? The baby was named Joy, and the cause of death was something to do with RSV....I think. I remember finding out during Sex Ed. class (the first time I had to take it). Maybe the death was what put C. over the edge. My mind was obviously on other things at this point beside my friends.

3. Dylan lived up the road from me. He recovered nicely.

4. Geometry was taught by the awesome Mr. Penge. (I'm assuming this link is to him) He may have been the reason for my long-standing weakness for witty Italian/New Yorker-type men. I really liked shapes and angles, but just couldn't do the proofs! QED? WTF? He had lots of pictures of his family on his bulletin board. One day, I foolishly asked how many kids he had, and he replied that he had 3, but one had died. Quiet fell across the math room. Everyone looked at me. I looked intently at my math book, waiting to disappear.

5. I ended up with a (pity grade) D in Geometry, but failed the mid-term exam. When I got the exam back and saw my F, I got physically sick and, for the first time in my school career, asked to use the restroom. When I got home that day, I put on my pajamas and laid on the couch, crying. Perhaps it was PMS that made me so sick and weepy, but I really felt like I had let Mr. Penge down. Plus, it wouldn't be easy to explain the F to my dad. C's were unacceptable, so I was really up the crick with this report card!

Feb. 15, 1988

Feb. 15.
Today is Mom and Dad's anniversary. 19 years!
Today the 4H club went to the Sox Lady Factory. It was really neat! The socks are so soft and comfortable! Well, back to school tomorrow. School. I love it because I can see MP and CC (I think I love him). Father Figure is on. Lately, the snow has had a hard crust on top of it. So thick dad and Mom can walk on it. Anyway, Dan and I were sledding down Betty's barn hill. It was tres fun.. Brian H. now wears a leather jacket and iced jeans. MP has gym tomorrow. He is HOT!
Ta ta,
ALlison
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1. I am impressed that the Sox Lady is still in business!

2. Betty was our weird neighbor across the road. She lived in a huge farmhouse with several cats and doted on Daniel and me. She slowly went crazy, and wandered around our yard in her bathrobe a few times. I think there was more going on than I knew about, because why would we have her brother's phone number in our Rolodex? What did my mom know?

3. I tried to find a picture of "iced denim", to no avail. Imagine acid washed denim with a layer of frost on it. Am I the only one who knows what this was?

4. Brian H. was the mad genius of our class. I'm sure he's working on top secret government projects right now. I hope. He wore the typical "dork" clothes for years, until Santa gifted him with a leather bomber jacket, Led Zeppelin t-shirts and the aforementioned iced denim jeans. Ah, Brian H. So many good stories about him. Wait a few more years!

5. Snow day AGAIN today!!! Of course, I'll be whining about it on June 10, but it's nice now.

Caution! 15-year-old girl ahead!

Here is where my diary totally shifts in lovelorn teen girl-dom. It ain't pretty, folks, and I'm a little embarrassed to be sharing this with the entire world (or at least my 4 friends and husband who read this blog), but it'll be fun.
I think.
Apparently, nothing happened from the first day of 9th grade until February, because I skipped all those months. I do remember I got "Tango In The Night" by Fleetwood Mac for Christmas. I went on the yearly Youth Fellowship ski trip, where I heard The Cramps for the first time. It was super fun, and I got to sleep in an inflatable raft. That may have been my first time skiing.
Here we go.

Feb. 13, 1988
I started this diary almost a year ago. Wow. In one year, I have learned how to ski, swim, canoe, made an awesome volleyball serve, put in contacts, work a VCR, do proofs, survive during my period, annoy my parents and countless other things, even type. I don't like BC, I like one of his friends: M. P. I love him so much it isn't funny. I die whenever I see him. I would die for him I think.
I still have no hole in my right ear an I am getting soft contacts sometime next week. I had hard ones, but they hurt my eyes. I think I'll limit myself to one page a day. I bought tan pants today. C. had carved 666 into her arm and mastered the art of 5 fingers. Maybe she'll stop since AD and VS got caught. I love MP so much
-Al
* I drew a picture of the back of his head. It wasn't a good picture.*
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1. Christ. " I die whenever I see him"? WTF? I hadn't even started listening to The Cure at this point!

2. I was usually picked first for volleyball in gym class. It was my shining glory. I could hit the opposite side of the gym with my fearsome serves.

3. This whole MP thing started when C. developed a crush on him, and I tagged along for the ride. She was getting super weird at this point (i.e. self-mutilation) and I probably wanted to salvage our friendship. The infatuation gets a LOT worse, folks.

4. 5 fingers is shoplifting, nothing dirty.

5. My handwriting also is totally different. Geez, you hit puberty and your whole being changes! I had had my hair cut super short at the beginning of 9th grade, and it grew out CURLY, after being straight for 14 years. It is still curly, too. WTF?

6. It is almost painful to remember the pang of unrequited love. You all had serious crushes-why did it hurt so much? I am SO glad I don't have to go through all that again. I watch my students deal with the tides of "love" and thank god I'm not 14 anymore.

7. To show what a dork I was/am, I wrote a letter to my mom telling her I started my period. Bodily functions were never openly discussed in my house. The only Period Talk I got from my mother was in 5th grade. Mom said, "You know, there's pads under the sink if you ever need them." The Sex Talk was "Wait until you're in college to have a boyfriend." Thank god I was a reader and already knew all about the many ways of the vagina.

8. The book referenced in the Period Talk link is the exact one our school gave us in 1984/1985. It was the same book C's mother got when she was in school. What the hell were belts?!

9. On the way to the ski lodge for the Youth Fellowship ski trip, Jon lent me his Cramps tape. In between awesome songs, I heard him defend me to his hot friend Kevin, "Leave her alone, she's listening to The Cramps." I had a mild crush on Jon for a while, until he became a pot head. He did also expose me to The Descendents for the first time. Thanks, Jon, wherever you are!

10. I am totally tired of being sick. I have even lost my voice, which made for well-behaved students yesterday. We had a snow day today, and the prognosis is good for tomorrow. I may milk the Inability To Speak for a few more days.

FDOS=First Day of School

I wish I could scan the 2 pages that encompass June of my 8th grade year and September of my 9th grade year. The handwriting looks totally different. I can't imagine anything I did that summer to cause the change. I walked a LOT down to Carversville and Grandmom's house, but not on my hands!

Welcome to 9th grade, my friends. I am now officially in Senior Band.

Sept. 10th First Day of School!
Hi. I hate school! When I got on the bus, Daniel screamed at the top of his lungs BYE ALLISON! HAVE A NICE DAAAAAYYYYY!!!
I'll kill the bastard!
Well, there are some new girls who seem okay. One is on my bus. She's okay. ER, BW and BC are back. BW=Zit City. Well, Honors English is okay.
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1. Ah, the first day. Show off your new clothes and your new tan, everyone! I wish I could remember what I wore, cause I'm sure it was a fashion disaster. I had Mrs. Colby for Honors English in 9th grade, and she rocked my world. She was one of those teachers who totally make you feel like you're good at something.

2. My brother caught the elementary school bus until he was in 7th grade and I was a senior. Until senior year, I always worried that he would embarrass me every day as I boarded the bus. It was a valid fear.

3. The new girl, JT. later became a goody-goody. Supposedly, her family was Mormon or something, which would explain the millions of Taylor kids at our school. She was our valedictorian and won a four year scholarship to the Air Force. However, even though she sat next to me in Sex Education class, she ended up knocked up during her freshman year and had to flush Air Force dreams down the toilet. Idiot. She also briefly dated CV, who was the heart throb of our school. CV sat by me, Lex, Jason W. and later, Jon W. during homeroom. He's a big Myspace music guy now.

4. ER. had been in elementary school with us. I have few regrets in my life (well, more than a few), but one thing that shames me is how I treated her. She was nice enough, but if the popular girls in my peer group teased her, I quickly jumped in. After all, I was tired of being lowest on the totem pole. A couple times, we went over to each other's houses to play, and got along great. But at school, she was a different, snarly, defensive person. I WONDER WHY.
God, it is almost too embarrassing to write about how we teased her, and later H. I mean, there were several meetings in Principal Sonier's office, even!
I distinctly remember her saying she was going to be a grownup at age 12, because in Judaism, you're considered an adult after your mitzvah. Always the smart ass, I yelled back at her that since she was in America, she was an adult when she was 21 and could vote and drink.
Ugh. We were so horrible.
But when she returned to 9th grade, we were indifferent, if anything to her. I might remember her declaring in the locker room that she wasn't going to let us tease her anymore. Words that now, are direct lines of advice from her mom. Words that my own mother would have told me to say.
I can only hope that she is a well-adjusted 35 year old now, with a happy and healthy life.

5. El Burrito Loco for dinner=Super Yum!

Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory of the Meme

Thanks Robin!

What were you doing 10 years ago?

Um. 1998? HA! Funny you should ask that. It was about the time my fiance broke up with me, so I was crying myself to sleep. Then, I took off to Cincinnati for the weekend to visit Kate and Bob. Basically, my life went to shit and I was living in St. Peters. I had to cram all my clothes into a printer box and stick it under my bed.

What were you doing 1 year ago?
Probably eating dinner or on the computer. Clearly nothing interesting.

Five snacks you enjoy:

1. Popcorn in any flavor
2. Cheese of any nationality, except Provel.
3. Clementines
4. Kit Kats
5. ice cream

Five songs that you know all the lyrics to:

1. You're So Vain by Carly Simon

2. Can I Get Get Get by Junior Senior

3. Hotel California by The Eagles

4. Back On The Chain Gang by The Pretenders

5. Horse With No Name by America

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:

1. Donate lots of it.
2. Pay off my house.
3. Open up the Urban Craft Academy in the house for sale across the alley.
4. Get my grandparents set for the rest of their lives.
5. Tear down my garage and build a new one in a better alley-entry position

Five bad habits:

1. Procrastinating
2. Not really doing lesson plans, but copying from what I did last year at this time. Bev-tell no one :)
3. Entertaining negative thoughts.
4. Hoarding fabric.
5. Not walking the dog.

Five things you like doing:

1. Discussing Degrassi or doing Family Guy impressions with my students.
2. Eating/drinking.
3. Gardening.
4. Reading.
5. Sleeping

Five things you would never wear again:

1. Acid wash
2. White sneakers
3. Turtlenecks
4. Bike shorts under babydoll dresses. I'd wear babydoll dresses again, but over jeans. No Spandex.
5. oversized blazers

Five favorite toys:

1. Sewing machines

2. Mac Mini

3. Dog

4. Car

5. Hmmm. Does my garden count?

Jumping the Gun, Not Rope

I apologize for not reading ahead in my diary and finding that my earring was...removed...days after the George Michael/My Father/Porch Incident of '87. It is dim in my sewing room, and I can't see very well anyway!

May 29-Friday

Hi. H. is being a massive bitch. It is SO hot! I like JN! I finished Lisa's shorts.

June 2, 1987

Today I woke up to a nice little thunderstorm. The power was off at school for a while. It was neat. My ear is infected and I can't get the earring in. Help me!

June 11, 1987
So I'm irregular, give me a break. Funny events'
1. My bra thoroughly came undone in gym.
2. Today, L. had her Le Clic camera and BC took it and stuck it down his pants! And took a picture of course.

I have no earring in my right ear. I have to get it pierced again. There is a smallish lump in my ear. Very weird. EXAMS! I have been writing to Scott L. under my and on my English desk!
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1. Hmm...how come I "couldn't get the earring in"? I guess Mommie Dearest "removed" it, and I tried to put it back in. God, was I stupid.

2. Le Clic!! This incident happened during a break in our exam schedule. We were all funneled into the Old Gym, given sweet treats, and milled around for a while until our next exam. There was so much down time in school; it's a wonder we learned anything. Our teachers must have been drinking.

3. So I'm in English one day, and noticed someone wrote "hi" on the desk. So I replied with "hello". It evolved into a long desktop conversation, which led to me and this stranger leaving notes tucked into the crack where the desk's legs were bolted to the desk. On the last day of school, we revealed our names. It was a totally Good Clean Fun thing, nothing dirty. The guy who I had been writing to was a few grades above me. He was not the handsome stranger who would fall madly in love with scrawny, dorky me, as I had hoped. Scott L. actually lived up the road from me. He later became DJ Scott Lowe on WPST's "Post Modern PST" (seriously, why was this videotaped?) Friday night show, which Lex and I loved. Ah, The Happy Mondays.
And that was it. I thought maybe we'd talk over the summer, since we had quite a relationship via note. We discussed school, why people were such assholes, and how dumb the popular kids really were. But no, it ended in June.

4. My high school started AFTER Labor Day, which is why we were in school on June 11th. Next year, my first day of school is freakin' August 18th. Oh, how times have changed.

5. OMG! Dance to the radio!

6. I would be making $54,780 if I was teaching at my old high school. Christ! Then I could afford the $800,000 house down the street from Grandma.

7. Wasn't it weird how as kids we'd hang out by literally laying around your friend's room listening to the radio? Or, DANCING to the radio?

8. Now I am completely depressed and probably won't get a snow day tomorrow, either :(

Idiots

Give me this goddamned kid so he can be raised right.

I sometimes think people should need a license to breed. I would cheerfully be the one to enforce it.

Jump Rope? HA!

Since my belly is full of homemade mac and cheese, fish sticks and green beans, and is also surrounded by a nice layer of winter fat, the thought of jumping rope just tickles me to no end. As if!
It's a doubleheader tonight, as I am at a pivotal point in my earlobe's history here:

May 20, 1987
Spring Concert
Yesterday Jump Rope For Heart

Today Dad is in a bad mood because Mom didn't send in an ad for the kayak. Sometimes I want to be deaf and blind so I don't see or hear anything bad, but see and hear everything good. That would make the perfect person, you think?
Bye,
Tired Old Me

May 23, 1987
Hi. Mom and Dad are acting like normal human beings. Today Dad worked on the porch and I helped him. I majorly cleaned and not so majorly redid my room. Last Night I babysat Emily for Mrs. Hurst. They are rich compared to the Cowles. Emily is so sweet! I saw John (the baby). He has hair!



Ahhh....life with a short-tempered father and a forgetful mother.....So many times I wished I could run away, but I didn't have enough babysitting money saved up and I couldn't leave Dan behind.
So, the discussion:

1. Jump Rope For Heart? Yeah, I did it every year. That might be why I was always scrawny!

2. Kayak? When did we have a kayak?

3. John was the baby I used to babysit. The illegitimate one!

4. The Hursts and the Cowles were successive pastors of my church. The house they lived in, the parsonage, was truly haunted. My friend Kindra babysat when I couldn't, and she agreed with my fears. I'd see things moving in mirrors, weird lights, and a sense of never being alone with just a baby. It wasn't a bad feeling, just a bit unnerving.

5. Aaaannnddd.... helping Dad strip the paint off our porch. For some reason, I don't write that we were listening to the radio as we worked. Dad gave up having me scrape paint, and instead set me to work trying to get the piercing stud out of my very, very infected right earlobe.
It had gotten that way from babysitting, of course. During a game of catch with the Gerenser twins, I caught a ball to the right ear. It knocked the piercing stud out, and I STUPIDLY put it right back in, causing a massive gross infection.
Dad told me not to leave the porch until the earring got out.
So, as I was trapped with my conservative father, guess what song, very popular in 1987 came one? I'll give you a hint: when the singer "came out", it was no big surprise.
That's right, Laurene, "I Want Your Sex"!!
I tugged and tugged frantically at my poor ear as my father shook his head and said, "Jesus Christ, what kind of shit is this? Why can't you listen to decent music?"
"I hate this song too! It's so dumb!! Can I go inside?"
And with his blessing, I fled the scene.

Later on, my mother, NOT a nurse, performed bedroom surgery on me. We got the earring out alright! She held my ear lobe against my neck and gave the earring a good yank. A small piece of skin came with it. Thank god for endorphins and blacking out pain!

Those of you who don't know me may be surprised to know that after all that, I have 8 ear piercings and a belly button ring. But, believe me you, the last 7 earrings were done WITHOUT parental permission, WITHOUT my family doctor threading a needle and telling me to hold still, and WITHOUT any negative consequences, except for getting hollered at by Dad for getting more earrings.

And how weird that I found my old pastor's profile? I credit him with teaching me to ski.

Lack of Backbone

There seems to be a recurrent theme in these entries. I had no backbone and never stuck up for myself. C. and others bossed me around and even though I hated it, I never did anything about it.
Fast forward 21 years and I'm bossing 80 seventh graders to within an inch of their lives, eight hours a day. Sometimes I even come home and boss my husband around. I'm making up for lost time, Matt!

May 18, 1087

Hi. We had 4-H tonight and HP kept bossing me around. ARRGGHH!!
Today in gym we did this crab soccer thing for Blue and Gold Night. We usd a big medicine ball. I found 5 cents. Big wip.
Bye!

1. Yes, yes, I was in 4-H, now stop making fun of me. I can sew better than you because of it, so there.

2. Blue and Gold Night was an evening pep rally at my high school. Kids whose last names started with A through L were gold (or blue, can't remember. Lex?) and the M through Z crowd was blue. We practiced all these "fun" games in gym, then competed against the opposite color team in the evening. I remember it being a lot of fun, even though it was a gym-related activity.
It might sound unmanageable to you all, but my high school was grades 7 to 12, and had about 300 students total. It worked for us.

3. Yes, 5 cents. Ever the thrifty one, I am.

4. You MUST get thee to Indie Valentine tomorrow evening! I will be working the registers and my beloved will be DJing the finest West Coast hard bop and 80's punk/new wave/rock you can shake 2 sticks at.

Love The One You're With

It's funny how when your innocence gets taken away, you don't realize it for a while. I don't remember learning the...well, the ins and outs of sex, or death or Santa=Big Lie. But the following entry shows that I certainly knew about adultery!

Lex, this one's for you!

May 17, 1987

Hi. I was at the McKissocks' for a Youth Fellowship party. It was fun. I love their house. CM is possessed with me. She kept on following me around. I like her.
Last night L. and I babysat for Mrs. G and yes, they were late again. We massively raided their pantry, vaulted onto their couch and threw toys.
*here I drew a diagram of us whapping toys down the length of their freakishly clean and white kitchen island. It was funnier in 1987*
L. slept over and we went to the the Country Fair. It is so much better when C. doesn't sleep over. I don't want her in my room again.
Bye!


1. The family in question had the first "portable" phone I ever encountered. Mr. G. would call from his car, which I thought was the coolest thing ever. Sometimes the husband and wife would leave together, but only one would come home. Or, I'd show up to babysit and some guy who was NOT the Mr. would be there, freely helping himself to the fridge. He would leave with the Mrs. The Mrs. was actually the kindergarten teacher at our elementary school! L.'s mom was friends with her, which is how we came to find out about adultery. They had twins who were tolerable.
Their kitchen was also sterile as an operating room. It was a big, new house built on a former farm. You could roller skate or ride a bike in their basement.
I distinctly remember watching the show Hunter, which is weird because now I hate crime shows, except for Monk. God bless the OCD.
One time, an older cousin called, and I got to have one of those super brief infatuations with a stranger who you never meet. We exchanged numbers, I pored through their photo album (he was sorta cute), and envisioned him being the Smiths-loving, poetry-reading, sensitive boyfriend of my dreams.
It never went anywhere.

2. Yes, I was in Youth Fellowship at my church. I grew up in the country! There was nothing else to do! I learned how to ski (and ski very well....I'm short), so nyah!

3. (For Kate) C. was one of my closest friends, but it was an uneven relationship. She was bossy, demanding, and didn't appreciate sleep as much as I did. Plus, my room was always a god awful mess after she'd leave. Even in 1987, I was sort of a neat freak!

James Dean

May 13, 1987
Wednesday

Today, being a half day, C. and I walked to New Hope. She bought James Dean crap and a J.D. address book! Preserve the Queen! I bough shampoo, Seventeen and gum.
She didn't want H. to go with us because she said H. is a pain. So now H. is mad at me! But I know Ill make her laugh and then we'll be friends again. I have a knack for that. Once, C. was REALLY mad at me because of something to do with BW and so I called her and talked in my early Toadwort (of Gummi Bears) impression. Of course, she burst out laughing because I am a humorous person!
Bye.


Okay, where to start with this one?
My friend C. was wicked into James Dean and Sal Mineo. In fact, she later believed their ghosts lived in her room. I didn't really know who they were and thought it was a little weird.

You'll note I only had $11 to blow, and of course, thriftster me had to buy freakin' shampoo with it. I wish I could remember what kind it was/what fruit it smelled like. My mom was a Prell woman, so we never got anything fancy.

And Gummi Bears had voices? Since when? Oh... since Disney got a hold of them...

I think this really shows why I didn't blow my brains out with one of the many guns in our house. We learned to deal with things with humor, a trait that helps me immensely in my daily travails with those wily 7th graders! Or, it shows that I'm unable to say "I'm sorry" directly and have to joke my way around the situation.
Or, that I'm just a moron.
Can you tell I was big into the "All Creatures Great and Small" series?

Mac Mini presents...May 12, 1987

This is my first post using the glorious, wee Mac Mini, my birthday present. Yes, yesterday was #35 and I am still accepting gifts of Kit Kat bars and vanilla lattes.

And now, faithful readers, let us journey back to the time of slouch socks and Forenza....1987

May 12, 1987

Dear Diana!
Hi!
Today was normal. At lunch, LH. and I went down to see the elementary school practice, then we went to see Dr. Hogan about L.'s parents. Her "Dad" is going away for 2 weeks at the end of May. She is so happy! I hope I can learn to swim! Dad was in a decent mood. I have $11 to go to New Hope on. L told Dr. Hogan that I am her best friend. I didn't know that. It sort of makes me feel nice like I was needed. I like that. We are pretty true friends. Today in Science, L and MM had a huge water spray bottle fight when Volpe walked out of the room. The floor was VERY wet!
Bye!

And now to explain:
1. The elementary school practiced for their spring concert in the high school's gym.

2. Looking back now, her step-dad was wicked abusive, maybe even sexually, but it just didn't occur to me at age 14! Nobody ever told me what to do in a situation like that. It makes me wonder what my students know is going on at each others' houses and if they know that they can tell me. Since I'm apparently Most Popular Teacher (due to my "Back That Cart Up" song or Descendants Vans), maybe they do feel okay talking to me. Hm.

3. I still can barely swim, regardless of working at a pool (in the snack bar) or who tried to teach me.

4. Okay, totally stream of consciousness, eh?

5. The $11 refers to spending money I would take with me when we walked down to town from school.

6. Volpe=physical science teacher. I totally remember this day. The lights were off, there were dissected worms in trays on the sinks next to us, and Lexi and MM attacked each other with water bottles. Totally hilarious if you're in 8th grade. I can only imagine what Volpe thought when she came back in!

7. Dr. Hogan was the school psychologist. I think she was the one who Dan and I got to talk to later on. Maybe the school did think some abuse was going on, which is why LH and then Brother Man and I got to see the shrink. Hmmmmm.

Indie Valentine!

2007 In Review

As my husband knows, the computer I currently type on is maddeningly slow. I am an impatient German girl and I want it NOW.So, this post will be word-scant and photo heavy.

So, to review:

My mom and I at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.



I taught sewing in summer school so these kids and I could finish the hurricane quilts that Robin and I started 2 years ago. We got 11 quilts (I think) done, and donated them to a women's shelter.


We took the train to Maine, thanks to my summer school earnings.


We ate fresh lobster and mussels and green beans and blueberry beer at Kate and Vin's house.


Matt bought this silver beast.


I made this.


And these. Ignore the dog rolling in the grass.


I turned my tresses over to the talented trimming talons of Erin at Bouffant Daddy.


I won these awesome motorcycle boots on Ebay for $20!

And now my fingers are sore from quilting a quilt I have no pictures of yet.

It was a damned good year, and hopefully 2008 will be better and include a new computer for my birthday (in 23 short, short days)!

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!