Wednesday Warbling

Missed yesterday. Sorry. I won't go on about craziness, just know it exists in my world.

DD is loving school. She loves everything: the kids, the teachers, the classes, lunch, having a locker .... yesterday she was SO happy (having had an especially good day) that she would NOT be quiet. She talked a mile a minute about anything that crossed her mind, and even if she had nothing to say she hummed or spouted nonsense words or just giggled maniacally. It about drove me crazy. But it's hard to get angry when someone is just so darn happy.

They're having a field trip on Thursday and she wanted me to drive (mostly so she could ride with her new best friend). It's ALL DAY and my schedule is already nuts, but I told her if they couldn't find enough people I would. Thankfully, they found enough people.

I know, I know ... I should participate, but Oy.

She's doing pretty well, grade-wise, too. All 90s except English where she first forgot to do the homework on time( so 10% off) and then did it sloppy and partly wrong. She got a 57%. AND she had to redo it correctly.

I check on her homework assignments, and I nag a bit, but she's old enough that she knows what to do and is competitive enough she won't want to fail. Hopefully.

I tried taking pix of the stairs last night, but they didn't come out. Will take more today in natural light. They look nice enough, but I just know come winter with me running up and down in my socks that I'm going to slip. And fall. I'm not the most graceful person when it comes to stairs and fall down (and up) most sets of stairs I use at least once.

I did take pictures of the magnets my mom cross-stitched and that I'll be putting up on DistinctivelyDD soon. Aren't they adorable?





I also located a crafters store where you can rent space for your stuff. It's not in a great spot and I don't know how much traffic it gets, but I'm going to look into it and see what I think.

Yanno... in my spare time.

On a side note -- going through the slush pile again at Samhain Publishing kinda sucks. The wait is 3 - 4 MONTHS... *sigh*. I'm antsy. And I can't help but think about submitting it somewhere else at the same time. I'd love for the sequel to be at the same publisher, but there's no guarantee they'll take it and if I wait to submit elsewhere, it's just going to make the time before it sees the light of day that much longer.

Decisions, decisions...

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Your Next Car Should Be an Audi

You are pretty conventional when it comes down to it. You have mainstream tastes and interests. You value quality and craftsmanship. You rather have a few nice things than many low quality possessions. You are very focused and responsible. You take your duties seriously, no matter what they are. You are patient and trusting. You know that the best things in life don't come overnight.

What Should Your Next Car Be?

About 80% right, but I don't like Audis.

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Craft Show!

My husband gave me a necklace. It's fake. I requested fake. Maybe I'm paranoid, but in this day and age, I don't want something around my neck that's worth more than my head. ~Rita Rudner

I officially signed DD up for a small craft show a local church is sponsoring. It's on June 11th and I'm in a bit of a panic -- I've never done a craft show before, and never really paid attention to what people (the crafters) DO for a show. Thankfully, one of the ladies I work with at LASR/WC does several shows a year and sent me a list of things I need.

I have none of them and three weeks to figure it out.

*sigh*

I spent some time haunting eBay and found a couple of reasonably priced earring displays. I need a tablecloth (I might either buy a few yards of material or a discount sheet -- is that too cheap? will it reflect on us?). I don't have a sign with her name or logo ... since it looks hand drawn anyway, I might go with poster board and ... draw it. Or ... I'll hit up Vista Print.

I need hanging earring cards, a cash box, a way to track sales (because I'm determined we'll have TONS). DD has been making jewelry like a crazy person, because the 100 items she has in her store aren't enough.

As a side note, if there is anything in her store you were looking at and contemplating buying, now is the time. I'm going to put her store on vacation for the show, and with any luck sell much of what we have.

We're also bringing her supplies, and she'll be able to make earrings to order while you wait. Necklaces and bracelets take too long to do, but earrings are *fairly* quick, except wire-wrapped ones.

I'm nervous as heck. I don't want to mess anything up.

Click on the button below to take a look at her store if you want to shop before it's gone:



BTW, yes -- it's still raining here.

I'm going to have a crazy weekend, though. Tomorrow, my friend Michele is going to be up from Massachusetts and we'll get to hang out most of the day. Then, on Sunday we have an agility competition. DD will be running three dogs: Dakota, the instructor's dog, Missy (a Papillion), and Kenzie (a French bulldog / terrier mix). I'll be videoing the whole thing and will put it up on our agility class's YouTube channel. I expect to be exhausted on Sunday night...

Any big plans for you this weekend?

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You Should Visit Big Ben

You are orderly and focused. You get things done quickly and efficiently. Whenever possible, you like to be in control. You are good at running things. You like to be in command. You find the leader role to be very comfortable. You are a hyperactive and impatient person. Once you get the gist of something, you're ready to move on.

What Landmark Should You Visit?

Um ... yeah -- that's about right. LOL...

Finally: Announcing Distinctively DD!

In the business world, everyone is paid in two coins: cash and experience. Take the experience first; the cash will come later. ~Harold Geneen

I know I'd talked about launching DD's store a couple weeks ago, but we hit some snags and couldn't get it all together. However, this weekend we DID get it together and uploaded about half of her items onto the store front.

So, I'm here to announce the grand opening of:



Currently there are book thongs and earrings available. Plans for the future include bracelets, necklaces and cell phone charms as well as notecards, needlework, possibly some sewing stuff and more.

DD is ambitious.

We made a financial deal however. Here's how it works:

I fronted her the initial investment, but I'm not buying her any more supplies. She's going to have to pay for stuff out of what she makes. She also has to save some of it as well. This is how her income is split:

50% goes to me to hold for future supplies.
10% goes into savings.
40% is for her to use however she sees fit.

So... if she sells an item for $10 --

I get $5 for future supplies.
Her savings account gets $1.
DD gets $4 to spend or giveaway or whatever.

So far she's sold 9 bookthongs and 4 pairs of earrings. She's very excited.

Also: Maria Zanini is the person who suggested the name for the shop. Maria, if you'll email me your mailing address (authormariannearkins AT gmail DOT com), DD would like to send you your own special book thong as thanks.

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Aside from taking a zillion pictures of earrings and bookthongs, it was a quiet Sunday. I took a bit of a break from my computer, because I've really been fighting eyestrain and it was good to have some time away.

I made applesauce (the last of it, I hope) and baked some cookies (thank you, Sarita).

Now... the week starts anew. I feel remarkably refreshed. Wonder how long that will last?

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Pay It Forward and Puppy Kisses

There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face. ~ Ben Williams

In this post of Groovy's, I was insane enough to sign up for a Pay It Forward gift!

It's a really neat and simple concept:

I will send a handmade gift to the first 2 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. The only thing you have to do in return is Pay it Forward by making the same promise on your blog. I have absolutely NO IDEA what the craft I send will be, but I can be pretty crafty when I set my mind to it. So, if it sounds like as neat an idea to you as it did to me, get busy - comment and then PAY IT FORWARD!

Kay?

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DH and I decided the house was too empty without our darling Bailey. So, look what we found:



You see, I was sitting around, bored, nothing to do... and I thought: I know! I can fill all this spare time making crafts for a Pay It Forward giveaway and potty training a new puppy!

I all seriousness, I have to say: Finding the pup (whose name is Dakota), was a blessing. We decided we really wanted a dog similar to Bailey, because she was such a stellar critter in temperament and brains. She was a Golden Retriever/Gordon Setter mix. We didn't want something that looked like her, though. Too painful, as we still burst into tears at the drop of a hat.

I looked online for Golden/Setter and found a lady about 50 miles from here who had a litter of Golden Retriever/Irish Setter puppies that were just ready to find their forever homes.

Incidentally, I've always been a proponent of Pound Puppies. Bailey was a pound pup. BUT, apparently the northeast is right on top of the whole spay/neuter thing, because there were no puppies in any shelter locally. I looked in NH, Northern MA, VT and ME. Additionally, most shelters won't adopt a puppy out to you if you don't have a fenced in yard (we don't) or an invisible fence (we don't). We would have failed the application process in more ways than one. And, yet, we manage to raise happy, healthy, spoiled dogs... go figure.

In any case, Darling Dakota has filled a bit of a void. She's a LOT of work, but very smart. She's catching on to potty training like a champ. She and the cat are slowly working things out. She's learning to let go of her fixation on my slippers. And, best of all, the DH and DD have a critter to play with and cuddle with again.

I still miss Bailey, though. God messed up: Dogs should have a longer life span.

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It's snowing here, and we have about 4 inches on the ground thus far. The worst, tho, is still to come: Wind. That's what will knock out our power if it's going to happen (fingers crossed it won't). Still, thus far, it hasn't been as bad as they thought. I hope that keeps up!

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Your Expression Number is 7

Very intelligent, you are usually thinking, introspecting, or analyzing. You have a good mind, and you are especially good at finding out the truth. Very little ever escapes your observation and deep understanding. You tend to obsess over wisdom and hidden truths. You are likely to become a authority on any subject you undertake. Operating on a different wavelength, most people don't know you that well. Very logical and rational, at times you tend to lack emotion. So much so, that you often have times coping with emotional situations. You are not very adaptable - you may tend to be overly critical at times.

What's Your Expression Number?

Funniest Turkey Craft -- EVER

You MUST go see Eileen Cook's blog today for a very interesting Thanksgiving craft.