Happy New Year!

2008 was a good year but a hard year in many ways. From the worst moments (losing our Abe in June) to the best (adopting Jasper in November) it was mainly an emotional one for us. Here's to hoping 2009 brings more positive and happy moments than sad ones!

Happy Halloween!!!!!

It is Friday October 31, 2008 and I am very happy it is Halloween. Tonight I plan to hand out candy wearing my green feathered witch hat and relax.

I've been watching horror movies over the past couple of weeks in honor of Halloween and here are my reviews:

Catacombs - This one gets a big D minus from me. It is fun at first (the concept of a movie set in the catacombs below Paris is awesome) but then it just becomes an endless boring loop of watching the main character running around lost and freaked out and then it gets a little nonsensical. The ending was a bit of a surprise to me, but didn't make up for the rest at all. The singer Pink costars and in case you were wondering, yes, her character was annoying and she is a terrible actress. Not recommended.

The Messengers - Family moves to scary old house in the country and the teenage daughter and toddler son see scary stuff. The little boy in this movie was extremely cute and the acting was okay but the plot was predictable and and despite a couple of "jump" moments it just wasn't scary. Not recommended.

Grindhouse - Super fun! I really liked the seventies feel of the whole thing from the opening credits to the scratched footage to the "previews" in between. The movies had their weak points but were still lots of fun to watch and the ending of Death Proof was horrible yet also awesome. Recommended.

Waxwork - I remember loving this movie in the late eighties and when I saw it was on On Demand I had to see it again. It is way cheesier than I remember (and looks so dated now!) but it is still a pretty neat movie all the same. The concept of all the scary waxwork scenes coming to life and characters being able to enter into those vignettes is still really appealing and this movie still has lots of fans twenty years after it was released. Recommended.

October Surprise

Sometimes there are days when nothing good happens and it feels like doom...other days make you feel like there are such things as good omens. We went to Home Depot and bought a shed last Saturday and then Jeff put it together and filled it with most of our stored stuff in the garage. It freed up a lot of space and made us feel a lot better. I think it really was a good omen too - Jeff found his missing wedding ring last Sunday while going through and cleaning! He'd lost it on his big trip this past summer and went crazy going through his stuff trying to find it and we'd given up hope. It was hiding in a bag with his AAA guidebooks! We'd even gone and bought a replacement for it two weeks ago that he hadn't even gotten around to wearing yet. So I was able to return the replacement ring to the store we'd bought it at last night. YAY!

Book Signing

Last night I went to MOA to a book signing by Vicki Myron for her book Dewey: the small town library cat who touched the world. I got a copy for myself signed and also one to give to my mom for Christmas. Vicki was nice and very gracious. I'll post a picture here of it once I get them downloaded.

Good News!

I just found out my brother is coming home for Thanksgiving! I am so excited! It is going to be the best Thanksgiving ever, I just know it. Here he is with a very suspicious looking Miss Lucy the last time he visited us.

Sweetie is the cuteness...

It's been a while since I last posted. Lots going on, most of it good. But I just discovered something that I HAD to post about.

I occasionally visit the site Cute Overload because I love animals and it is fun to see all the cuteness. I clicked on a Youtube video called "Scottish Fold" not really understanding what that meant, but now I think it refers to kitties with ears folded over forward because there was a kitten with ears like that playing.

I was sitting on the little couch with the laptop and Sweetie napping on the backrest behind me and after I watched that first video I clicked on another Scottish Fold one to see another cat. This one had a black and white kitten that looked a lot like Sweetie probably did when she was a baby. I looked over my shoulder at my little cat to compare and discovered she had woken up and was staring at the video INTENTLY. When the kitten on the screen meowed Sweetie loomed toward the screen in surprise. She couldn't believe it, especially since she doesn't get exposure to cats very much (except when her doppelganger with the missing tail sneaks into our yard) so it is always a BIG deal for her to see another cat. It was really cute to see Sweetie's reaction. We watched a couple more videos together and then when I turned them off Sweetie turned around, curled in a ball and went to sleep.

Yay for the Powderhorn Park Art Fair

Last Saturday I went to the art fair in Powderhorn Park with my mom. We had a really good time. It was a hot but nice sunny day. I think this art fair is so much better than the Uptown one, and I'll definitely try to visit it again next year. The layout is nice - you just walk around the lake and visit the booths along the lake side - and not overwhelming because it isn't too big and crowded. I think the quality of artists' work was better too. I found lots of things I liked and even got a few things, including some magnets, a gold squiggly ring (only ten bucks!) and best of all, a small Brenna Busse doll for my wall as a present from my mom for my upcoming birthday. (I'll post a photo here soon.) I love her work and it is fun to see how it evolves and changes over time.

Photography

This next weekend is going to be all about taking photos for me! I have been putting off getting familiarized with my new Nikon and I need to get some practice. I'm going to be doing some informal photo shoots soon (for fun and to see if I can eventually earn some cash from taking photos to support my art/photography hobbies) and I need to know what I'm doing for that. I feel comfortable composing shots, but my technical knowledge sadly lags behind and I need to improve that.

Dr. Horrible = Dr. Awesome

I watched Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog this weekend and it was really great. The songs were very catchy, the acting was great, it was funny and sad and wonderful and awful with all of the little details and things I like about the Whedonverse!

I am glad that Jeff is back...

Here is a picture of Jeff when he was in Seattle on his trip. Isn't he cute?

Jeff made a casserole (or would it be hot dish?) in our pretty robins egg blue dutch oven that we got as a wedding gift. I like it so much when he cooks! I wish he'd do it more!

Too Hot

It is really hot outside today. It has been for the past couple of days and it is really getting to me. I feel tired and lethargic and sick. I stayed home today because I felt so horrible. Jeff does too but he is so behind at work after being gone for nearly two weeks that he had to go in no matter what. He's under a lot of stress right now. But he brought me home some Famous Dave's for dinner because I wanted some barbecue so I love him extra specially today.

I finally felt okay enough to go out tonight by 9 p.m. so I went over to Target to get some bottled water and soda and razor blades for Jeff. While there I found some plaid rainboots (I've been wanting rainboots for about a year now at least but had only seen them online) so I bought them. They were only ten bucks! I think they'll work just fine for what I want them for - slogging around outside when it is just too wet and muddy and nasty for regular shoes. So between those and my winter boots, I am now set for all kinds of weather!

Welcome Home Jeffrey!

Jeff finally came home today! Sweetie and I were very happy to see him. We expected him yesterday but by the time he reached his mom's house last night he was way too tired and just couldn't drive anymore. He drove 5,056 miles on his trip! It was crazy. He took some beautiful pictures and got to see lots of natural wonders and had so much fun but is very glad to be home, too.

I've been cleaning and working like a madwoman for the past few days so I was tired today. I've been tryng to keep on track with my projects but it's hard. I still have to do a lot of cleaning but I really just want to do art projects and crafts. I think I've been doing an okay job of striking a balance with both. I've done a little decoupaging and made a bracelet for Jami on Friday. I also finished painting my tray and I painted the pink bookshelf cream, which was definitely the right choice. Now I need to paint the little bench in the bedroom (right now it is a dingy white). The color uniformity will really help pull things together, I think.

Food, glorious food

Lately I've gotten really interested in food. Not in my usual craving sugar kind of way, more in a "I want to make it myself" kind of way. I've been looking up cookbooks and started getting the Rachael Ray magazine which has a lot of recipes in it. I don't think I'll ever be a fancy great cook but hopefully I'll be able to progress beyond just making macaroni and cheese from the box soon.



Tonight I made lime bars. They were a packaged recipe and weren't bad, but not as good as lemon bars are. I think making lime cheesecake bars would have worked a little better. Maybe even with raspberry. (I think that would turn out either awesome or totally gross - I'm not sure. My culinary skills are not advanced enough to know definitively.) Next I want to try making my own custard. I also have this little stoneware-type baking dish that I've never used and I'd like to break it in. As part of my cleaning I'm going to be making the "appliance garage" in the basement more accessible so I'm going to finally start using some of our new kitchen toys that I've put off trying out for way too long.

I went to Lowes two times this week and bought some home stuff too. I got a shelf for the upstairs closet and a cream colored paint. I think it is about as good of a color match as I could possibly find, all things considered. The little tray I'm working on painting right now should blend in nicely. I will probably also paint my some of my white desk accessories and the little pink shelf the same shade so they'll be less obtrusive. I am on the fence about painting the shelf. It took a lot of work to paint it pink, so I hate to just change it, but I think I'd like it better and would feel I had more options with placing it if it were cream instead...

Hanging with Sweetie

So with Jeff gone on his big trip I've been trying to get some major housecleaning done - the kind that is hard to do with him home because it makes a bigger mess that is impossible to live with initially before it gets better. I've contained my mess in the upstairs rooms for quite a while so I've been unearthing lots of stuff. It is kind of scary.

At least I have Sweetie to keep me company. She has been a hungry mungry lately and is constantly meowing at me for food and treats. She also finds my cleaning insane.

I miss Jeff

He left on his big motorcycle trip today and I miss him already. I took pictures of him as he left and waved as he drove away and felt sad. So now it's just me and Sweetie for the next week and a half.

I plan to do lots of projects to keep myself busy in the meantime. But not tonight. I watched "John Waters: This Dirty World" instead. I saw him speak at the Walker a few years ago and it was great. The film was basically another lecture by him in a similar format, just telling some more stories. Some of them were pretty funny - I especially liked him telling how he likes to eavesdrop and sharing some of his favorite overheard comments. I love that kind of stuff and always try to remember those kinds of things.

I think my all time favorite eavesdropping story is from many years ago when I was riding the bus home from my job in Downtown St. Paul one day. An elderly lady got on shortly after I did and sat right up close to the driver. I could hear her talking softly and figured she was either chatting up the bus driver or simply talking to herself. Then she started to get really agitated and spoke more loudly and it became clear really quickly that she was talking to imaginary people/experiencing delusions. Suddenly she shouted, "You ruined my life and my children's and Rod Stewart's!!!!" A couple of girls sitting near me started to giggle and the lady shot them evil death glares. I looked out the window and bit my lip and tried to keep from laughing and attracting attention to myself. The lady then settled down and got off several stops before I did, thanking the bus driver nicely in a sweet little voice as she got off the bus. I never saw her again but I never forgot her funny comment.

Mmmm Strawberries

On Monday I went to Hudson and picked strawberries at Fred's Farm with my mom. It was fun and went quickly because they had so many good berries. I don't think I've picked any strawberries since I was a kid, so it was a neat thing to do and I'm so glad I got to do it this year. Since doing that I've eaten a lot of strawberry shortcake and have frozen a bunch of berries for later.

I also went to the chiropractor for the first time in years and she did an adjustment on my neck. My one leg was shorter than the other so I was way out of alignment. At first I wasn't sure if it did much but I've been pretty achy in my neck and upper back ever since. The good news is that my bad knee is much better and feels a lot more stable so I think it really helped with that. She also gave me a cleanse that I plan to start this week. Not looking forward to that, but I can tell I need it and in the end it will make me feel better.

Pretend magazine covers - fun!

I discovered this on the Nest. Having wedding photos handy, I thought I'd try it with one of those. There are also other fun coverstyles so I'm sure I'll make more of these in the future....

Motorcycle Trip

We went on our trip to Houghton, MI this weekend. It was fun and a much needed break for both me and Jeff after all the sadness we've been dealing with. Here I am at the dunes on the Point in Duluth - a stop we made on our trip home.

I found that I really enjoy riding on the motorcycle. We spent the first night in Ashland, WI and then headed to Houghton the next day. Saturday we drove to Copper Harbor and it was really beautiful. Sunday we did the big drive home, which I'd been dreading (a lot of miles for me) but it wasn't bad at all. I'm looking forward to our next trip.

Still Feeling Sad

And missing our baby dog. We've been doing a lot to keep busy lately. Lots of trips on the motorcycle around town, running errands and getting ready for our trip to MI. It has helped but it is still very hard. I keep feeling like he is still here, just in the next room or is at the vet and will be back soon. In some ways it is getting easier and in some ways much harder.

Abe

Abe 8/6/1992-6/9/2008

Adopted by Jeff and Me 5/31/1999

We had to say goodbye to our little boy at the vet yesterday. I will miss him so very, very much. I feel like my heart is breaking. The nine years we had our "baby love" were wonderful. I love you Abe and I miss you.

REM Concert

We went to the show last night at the Xcel Center. It was really good! Modest Mouse opened for them and I enjoyed their music more than I thought I would, too. My favorites were when the band all gathered around a piano and sang pretty songs and when they did "Fall on Me" with guest guitarist Johnny Marr during the encore. It was a pretty long show but it felt like it went by in the blink of an eye!

RIP Yves Saint Laurent

Yves Saint Laurent died on June 1, 2008 at the age of 71. I read a biography on him a few years ago and I also saw documentaries about him that were made at about the same time: Yves Saint Laurent: His Life and Times/Yves Saint Laurent 5 avenue Marceau 75116 Paris (2002) . I highly recommend learning more about him - he was most definitely a bridge between the couturiers of the past and the ready to wear-focused designers of today and so influential on everything in fashion even now that it is mind boggling.

May Flower

It's been a long time since I last posted. I just didn't feel much like writing, especially with Abe being ill for so long. But now I'm on my lunch break and have a little time right at the moment. I've been catching up with friends a lot lately and that has been really nice. I've also been tackling the messy house in stages. Jeff is on a motorcycle/camping trip this weekend so I'm going to have the house to myself (and the pets) and I'm planning to get a lot done so it is more clean when he gets back.

The regular tv season is almost over and I'm kind of glad. I fell into watching way too many shows this winter and it was just too much to keep track of. I'll miss watching Moonlight (so cheesy but good! MickBeth was the best tv romantic couple since Buffy and Angel in my opinion.) but there are so many shows I like coming back next fall that I'm going to have to make some choices. Much as I love television, serial shows can get too dominating. Summer is movie season for me anyway so it's time to catch up on those.

Too much stuff!

So I've been on kind of a discount store frenzy lately. I went to Target again yesterday and got a little tempered glass end table to use outside in the "Sky Lounge" (aka on the flat roof outside over the family room) to set books and drinks and stuff on this summer. It was only ten bucks and was the perfect size. I also got a couple of tank tops to wear under cardigans and some black trouser socks.

Lately I've been all about big roomy clothes. My coworker asked if I was pregnant on Tuesday because I was wearing a giant blouse and I had to tell her that no, I was just wearing a big shirt. Having gained weight this past winter, I just feel like only wearing super large clothes so I don't feel confined. I figure it has been worth it to ante up and get a few new pairs of pants and a couple of shirts so I have nice big clothes to move around in so I move more and get smaller!

I got rid of a couple of things on Monday at the DAV pickup so it offset some of my recent accumulation a teeny bit, but not much. I really need to get rid of some more stuff. I wish I wasn't so sentimental. I like keeping everything. I don't want to get rid of any of it, I just need more space to put it away, but I don't have that. So it's a struggle.

Freak out

I went to Target yesterday and got a new tote bag. It is hobo-style with brown ticking stripes on a beige background. So far I really like it - I can put it over my shoulder and it's nice and deep so stuff won't fall out. Plus it was only eight dollars so I didn't spend too much money on it. I think it will be useful for summer.

Today it snowed like crazy...on the first full day of spring. It is pretty depressing and it feels like December and it was hard to get up today. And then I discovered when I went to the restroom that I'm not wearing my engagement ring, only my wedding ring. I am pretty sure I forgot to put it on this morning while I was distracted and I have no sense memory of putting it on today, but this is the first time that's ever happened to me (if I just wear one somewhere it is always deliberate and for a practical reason) so I'm freaking out a little bit about that and have a strong desire to run home and check to make sure I left it on the dresser, but unfortunately I can't do that yet. So I'm going to have to stew until I'm able to go home this afternoon.

Update: it was on the dresser like I suspected. What a relief!

It's Almost St. Patrick's Day

And no lie, there was a green muffin amongst the baked good treats in my work area today. Glowing green, studded with chocolate chips. It looked radioactive. It had disappeared by two o'clock so I don't know if someone actually ate it or took it and threw it away. There were still some regular looking muffins sitting there. I seriously thought about taking a picture of it but refrained.

Hiding out

This week I've felt like a big ol' hermit crab. I don't want to see anyone except Jeff and the pets or go anywhere - just communicate via email or phone when necessary. It might have to do with the pain being back. I'm going to have to switch sleeping to the other bedroom tonight because the taco bed is too soft and it's racking me up. So that means cleaning up clothes mountain (Sweetie's going to be mad about that) so I have a good place to sleep.

Last night I watched the Biggest Loser and it made me so mad. I don't think I'm going to be able to watch it next season because it is so infuriating! And it doesn't inspire me to lose weight the way it used to - it just makes me want to go eat fried food and stew angrily in the grease over the reality show shenanigans. Why can't they just keep it basic? The transformations are the best part and the competition and constantly changing elements are really taking away from that.

Pain, pain, pain

This weekend was ALL about pain for me. I fell asleep on Thursday night with my white hoodie on and it bunched up under my neck causing much pain on Friday. I got through it and then stupidly did the same thing Friday night (reading Dean Koontz mystery thrillers until you pass out with the lights on is really stupid). So Saturday was a day of pain and today was only slightly better. I went to Walgreens and got some pain reliever cream that smells like old lady peppermints and it's helped a little bit but not much.

Last night I was trying to go to sleep despite the pain and not succeeding, so I decided to watch a Lifetime movie I'd recorded. Oh, how I love them. Jeff makes fun of me for it but I don't care! I know they aren't cool or neat, but the awesomeness of eating ice cream while watching Mother, May I Sleep with Danger (starring Tori Spelling) is undeniable.

So anyway, last night the Lifetime movie for me was The Watch starring Clea Duvall. It was good and spooky! It was pretty scary because the fear elements were based on real life-type scary stuff - if I were alone out in a shack in the woods for weeks hearing creaky sounds and weird stuff and then saw someone in a black hoodie running past my window I'd be freaking out like Clea too! The ending was a little silly and not as scary as I'd hoped, but that's true of almost all scary movies I've seen.

Staunch, S-t-a-u-n-c-h

I watched a little bit of Grey Gardens today after getting back from ROOT where I got my eyebrows waxed after letting them grow wild over the past five months. I had watched it for the first time last November but I couldn't help but get drawn in again and watch a little. What a fascinating movie! Here is a review that explains it:

http://www.notcoming.com/reviews.php?id=95

I fear that with my messiness and goofyness I'm destined to end up living like the Beale women, surrounded by filth, pets roaming around, and nuttier than a fruitcake singing songs to myself and dancing around and wearing bizarre outfits. My grandma's house got a little like that at near the end of her time living at home before moving to a nursing home and there is something very familiar and somewhat comforting to that kind of insanity (although it definitely has it's repellent qualities too). I hope if I crack up like that I'll have some good help around to pick up after me!

Anyway, right now I am very much desiring to wrap a big scarf around my head and pin a big ol' brooch to it on top a la Little Edie.

Tax Rebate

There's been a lot of media today about the tax rebates we're supposed to be getting at some point later this year and whether they will do any good to stimulate the economy, etc. I'm going to be totally selfish right now and honestly say I don't even care about that (although I hope it works despite my doubts because a recession is bad for everyone). I'm just looking forward to getting a little batch of money to pay off some bills and/or pay for our bike trips this summer! Usually when these types of things go out I'm too poor to qualify to get anything. So I say yay to to it because this year I'll get a slice of the pie!

I'm glad the weekend is almost here. I have no plans other than to get some stuff around the house done as well as work on some projects. I start my new part time job on Monday and will have training all morning. It's nice because that probably means I'll have the afternoon free!

Frida Kahlo

So I finally went to see the Frida Kahlo retrospective at the Walker last Sunday - the last day it was on view. I'd been putting it off because I knew it would be crowded and it definitely was. The line to get into the museum was sort of long but only took a few minutes. The line for the show itself was far longer and took an hour and a half. I kept busy by reading all free literature available, drawing pictures, virtually rearranging the furniture in my bedroom in little diagrams on paper and making lists of things I need/want to do.

There were two couples in front of me - hipsters in their late teens/early twenties. I pretty much ignored them and didn't listen to their conversation. After about 45 minutes of slowly snaking around in line, one of the girls asked me what I was doing, so I told her (lists of things to do, notes to myself, doodles). She asked me if I was taking notes and writing about her and her friends! I told her that, um, no, I wasn't, and that that would be really creepy. I was stunned at how obnoxious and self-preoccupied her comment was. Then they sneaked two of their friends in line ahead of me later on (despite my rage I was just too tired and beat down from standing in line to make a big deal about it and draw attention to myself) so they were jerks as well as obnoxious.

Anyway, after the big huge wait, I finally got in to see the show. It was hot and the air was stuffy from so many people breathing. It was pretty crowded inside so I did my usual wander around to minimize the time waiting to see different works. It was a very comprehensive show - so many of the works I'd read about and seen in books were there. I was surprised at how big many of the paintings were. I expected more of them to be really tiny and they weren't. I could see why so many of them reproduce in print so well. I was impressed by many of the paintings' little details. They were often more interesting than what I would have ever expected. To me that is where her real talent shined through. The self portraits were sometimes the main aspect of the paintings that interested me and caught my eye and sometimes they weren't - they were offhand in a way - allowed her to literally put herself in there with the other items she was depicting and that was really interesting to me. Well worth the wait to see it all!

The Walker gallery space for the show was really disappointing. The art was hung in a white cube with absolutely no design elements to tie the show together and make it look good. It was like they could have just hung them in my cousin's whitewashed garage and they would have looked better. The poor design cheapened the look of the works and made me really wish the show had been at the MIA instead. They would have done a much better job of curating it, I think. It was in keeping with how I feel about the inside of the newly designed Walker in general: big disappointment. Instead of impressing me and making me appreciate the modernity of everything, I just miss the old setup even more. Sure it had it's flaws but the art always was showcased well and it felt like there was a system and a flow to everything and now there just isn't and it's a big old blah mess.

January Budget

After the past two months of sticking my head in the proverbial financial sand, I'm ready to deal with my finances and it isn't pretty. My November spending spree combined with necessary holiday shopping and my tiny income lately has led me into the hole. I'm going to be very frugal over the next several weeks while I try to pull myself out of this mess. With my new part time job starting soon and a few cutbacks in my disposable spending and some magical credit card shuffling, I think I can do it. But I wish I could just win the lottery.

2008

It is already two weeks into 2008! Time has been flying by. I haven't gotten a lot accomplished lately. After battling flus and colds for weeks and getting through the holidays I've been feeling kind of blah. I don't want to do much of anything and I'm easily overwhelmed by everything. I think I need a new hobby to devote my energy to (like Jeff with his motorcycle stuff) but I'm not sure what that should be. Just doing what is necessary (going to work, paying bills, grocery shopping, taking care of the pets and house) seems to crowd everything else out right now. It is discouraging.