Bamboozled

I really think I super funny sometimes. Like when I thought of the title for today's post. See above. :P

May just be reaching that point of exhausted delirium for tonight. I am so grateful that it's Friday! Woohoo! It was another long day of running around, trying to help as many people as I could doing as much as I could. Not sure why I do that. It's really tiring, lol. The usual work, creating more visual communication cards, and trying to figure out my schedule next week working in 1-3 classrooms a day. I don't know how they do it. I can handle throwing all of my focus into a single classroom but to split it into four rooms daily? I would leave such a trail of disaster in my wake. Oh, and I began volunteering to set up the volunteer appreciation breakfast. FMIL kicked me out to go volunteer in her classroom because she that it was ironic in a ridiculous sort of way. I can't help it if we're super helpful people like that! Or if we're always some of the last people to leave... We just keep finding stuff to do.

It's only just past 9pm and my eyes are bloodshot red from being tired and the crazy dry weather. It's steadily creeping towards that 99-100 mark and I do not appreciate that! :P We checked out one of the garden plots that one of the classrooms just planted in not too long ago. They have a whole bunch of radishes sprouting and some squash. The carrots, zucchini, and marigolds also have made their initial appearances. The kids were watering the area with tiny squirt guns while we attacked the plot with a leaky hose. Obviously, I got soaked and muddied up from the knees down. That was first thing in the morning too. Lol. Of course! Not a dull moment when one of your unofficial job titles is School Garden Fairy.

I had one thing keeping me going strong(-ish) today. The fact that after the rough day yesterday, I asked FMIL to stop by Best Buy as we ran errands on our way home after school. Then... I splurged on this: The Bamboo Create. Yep, one of the tablets that I linked here the other day. Been wanting one for so long and no one was stopping me... and yeah. I am in love! I have yet to truly explore it with how exhausted I've been physically and mentally but hopefully I will get a chance to this weekend! I'm practicing using it during web browsing, tried it out writing with it by opening up the typical paint program, and... actually that's all that I've managed to do. I haven't tried to seriously game with it yet and I just barely managed to install all of the neat programs it came with last night. Oh! Another thing I've done with my new graphics tablet? Well, for some reason, it reminded me that I now use the SO's old headset and that meant I was compelled to try some free online karaoke again! Because... I'm a weirdo like that. XP

That's probably all from me today, I want to get back to my delirious shenanigans.

Eyes Of A Predator

I will not procrastinate on this post any longer. No matter how cruddy I feel.

That chest cold I thought I was finally getting over? It is not letting go without a fight. My sinuses. To quote one of my favorite artists, Meghan Murphy: "I was so sick, I was more mucus than human. Ugh." Just stick an "am" where the "was" is located.

This past Tuesday, we had the somewhat unexpected happen in our household. It's a little graphic and you've been warned. You can skip until past the italics. The sixteen year old calico cat that belonged to FMIL has been battling with breast cancer tumors and had decided to... well, not deal with that particular tumor anymore. She ripped it out of her belly and, despite having a large gaping wound, then decided to carry on about her business- jumping up on top of a tall armoire and playing with a ball that had been batted underneath the door to her bedroom.

The SO, FMIL, and I brought her into the vet to confirm our suspicions and upon hearing so, the decision was made to put her down. She was her stubborn self to the very end. I have teased that she's been death incarnate and was, at this rate, going to out-live us all, and this was just her merely opening a portal to the underworld. We can all still hear her distinct and loud yowl-meow and feel her piercing stare even now.

After it was all done (we were glad to have the opportunity to stay with her through the process so that she, nor FMIL, would have to face death alone), we talked in the car on the way home about how she was probably going to reincarnate into a predatory bird (if she hasn't been several already) and we'd probably feel that glare of hers and be screeched at any day now.

With those thoughts, rest in peace, Clown.

I'll see you soon. <3

Warmth

This...

has been one of the few things that have given me strength and comfort lately and at this very moment too. Other include four close friends, the SO, our beloved sweet kitty and making sure he's as comfortable as possible, making gifts, and planning for some semblance of a decent holiday season.

I can't believe I somehow turned on the date feature in the corner. That was a handy feature back in the day, but since uploading the pictures to a computer records the exact time and date, it's kind of an eye sore, lol. 

I've been wanting to blog so badly but had no idea what to talk about. Being here is like being all warm and comfortable in bed. It's just a familiar and often safe place. 

I'm still at a loss. Maybe that's mostly because I'm in the middle of a lot. Items have been woven, knitted, and crocheted. I still need to make those cake pops for the school and may start that project a week earlier than originally planned because morale has hit an all-time low from what I've seen.

This past month has been a whirlwind of negativity and a huge example of that would be the fact that the SO, FMIL, and I spent nearly $100 and 6.5 hours changing all of the locks on the house last night in order to protect ourselves. It drains my energy just thinking about all of the details and events that have led up to this latest development.

It's flabbergasting how self-serving and destructive people can be these days. There is a massive lack of accountability in the air. It reminds me of how grateful I am for the tough lessons I was taught growing up because I'm that much more responsible. Or my moral compass is stronger than most that I've observed, at the very least.

I'm nearly done with all of the gifts that I need to send out, then I can work on preparing the gifts closer to home. I actually have one wrapped as of today! So weird. XD Still haven't started writing the cards but that should go much more quickly this year with the stamped sentiments. 

Tomorrow I go into school to balance my time between two classrooms, then go home and prepare for a meeting on the phone to determine my education future (Fingers crossed that all my concerns will be taken care of in as little as possible!), and I might be able to meet up with good company for ladies' night out. I may not drink, but I am all about finger foods and fun conversation.

I will finish all of the cards that need to be sent out this weekend. I will finish and prepare the gifts that need to be sent out. The SO and I have planned to harvest all of my tomatoes and Bird's Eye Chilies this Saturday with the impending very cold weather coming soon. Even if they are still green, we've gathered paper bags and newsprint to wrap them individually until the ripen on their own indoors. We have so many cherry tomatoes that we've been scrambling to find recipes to use them in or just eating them like candy. I think I'm okay with letting the trees die off (They are already getting so yellow! >_<) this winter and using some of the seeds from the fruits that I have grown for next year's crop. I'll just try for one main tomato plant and think we'll start one off indoors at the end of this month or the middle of next. Hm.

Dear Universe, please let this new month bring better experiences for the loved ones in my life as well as myself. Thank you and sincerely, Me.

I'll see you soon. <3

P.S. I hope you have been able to do a little something to help raise awareness and fight today in honor of World AIDS Day. Every bit counts against this epidemic!

Turkey Butt

I have updates on the garden but those will have to wait because there is still quite a bit to do today and this weekend now that the holiday season is in full swing.

Wanted to stop by and express my gratitude for the many blessings in my life that may be hard to fully appreciate during these rough around the edges era. I'm working very hard to take a breath and remember/ find the silver lining in everything.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, we had carefully calculated how long it would take to cook a the 22-lb. turkey we snatched up and figured that we needed to have it stuffed and in the oven by 6:30 in order to have it ready by 3pm. FMIL decided to have it a little early because most of her boys had double/tripled booked themselves for the occassion at the last moment.

Well, this sucker not only overflowed the tray with it's greasy juices, but it was actually completely finished by 11:45am. Oh, good gravy. Pun seasonally intended. Needless to say, there was a bit of panic on how to not overcook and/or dry out. Never thought that we'd run into this issue. Ever. XD

Our next dilemma was trying to figure out how to bide our time with the rest of the fix-in's. Oye, lol. It was the least of our problems but we were still flabbergasted nonetheless.

I hope you and all of your loved ones have a wonderful, safe, and fulfilling long holiday weekend. I'll see you soon! <3

Befuddled

I took that word from a recent episode of Big Bang Theory. There are great amounts of other emotions swirling around inside of me right now, but that's the kindest one of the bunch.

I am astounded by the sheer lack of tact and lacking senses of responsibility and duty that seems to plague the modern generations. How people disregard the fact that you can't take back words one has uttered or typed in the heat of the moment. How people can have so much gall and disrespect on a multitude of dimensions the hands that have fed them. How people can metaphorically crap on the faces of those that have reminded them of the dangers of life and society, who took a step back to watch realities shatter, and then were still there to help the reattach the tarnished and scarred pieces together as best as anyone could.

It is mind blowing.

I have to go now. There is much to do now because of moderately unforeseen circumstances and I am absolutely livid.

Wish me luck, I'll see you soon. <3

Don't Understand

Another week has gone by and although it's just the beginning of this one, life has gone downhill at light speed. While I won't get into details, I will say I can see rock bottom from where I'm sitting right now. As honest as I've been with myself for a while now, I did not see this coming so suddenly and deeply. Quite frankly, it sucks. I'm so terrified of what is to come but I know that life waits for no one. We'll just have to see. :(

I haven't been able to figure out how to easily shrink all of the pictures I've stored on Picasa without letting the downloadable program track way too much information about my life or without going through the several hundred pictures one by one. That's fine with me for now because I don't think I have anything new to share.

One of the things that have perplexed me the most lately are my Bird's Eye Chilies and Hybrid Cherry Tomatoes. I have very few red fruits on some of my plants but they're from newer smaller growths and not the fruits that have been around for weeks. Why are they ripening sooner? It's mind-blowing and I have resigned myself to never understanding a single thing about plants and gardening. My job is to just go with it now, lol.

The SO and I went to the first scrimmage of the college basketball season at the local state university this past Saturday. It's his favorite sports team and we went ahead and bought team shirts for the occassion. It was nice to be amidst the excitement and community support for these young guys who have been giving it their all. They also honored former members during the event and it was pretty cool so see people that I've gotten so used to watching on the television live.

Oh, I also finished this year's Christmas cards. Hey, at least I didn't finish them as soon as I did last year (mid-August). I also cut down the number of cards to roughly fifty and instead of postcards, made full cards. Tried a few techniques that are personally new to me and had a lot of fun. I won't post pictures of these until they're sent out in early December, so maybe I shouldn't have mentioned them. :P The two things that they share with last year's card are a snowflake theme (mostly unintentional) and a "Season's Greetings" sentiment (also mostly unintentional). As much as I have been collecting ideas and trying to design them since mid-August, until I got all of the supplies I wanted in front of me... Well, I had to change up quite a bit of my vision for them at the last moment. Despite all of that, I am very pleased with how they have turned out. I learned my lesson very well last year and stamped a nice message inside each card instead of trying to find several dozen ways to express the same nice things I wanted to say. This way, I can get away with just addressing and signing the cards or adding a quick note if I want to next month.

I think I'm going to do something personally productive and work out or something. See you soon. <3

After The Storm

I really would have written sooner but we had a pretty violent storm that we've had to recover from over the past few days. Plus, I've been called into school and have gotten very little sleep. Not a great combination. That's all changed now. :P Well, at least until next week starts. That's going to be an insane week for me and I'm probably going to show up here crawling. Yay for having my youth to pull my sorry butt through? Lol.

Being the dork that I am, I have kept a running list of what I wanted to blog about in meantime!

Once I took a good hard look at my newly organized Simply Adorned inserts and my list of the ones I want to make, I realized that I'll probably need another booklet soon.

 This is also for various school-themes.

Empty, for now.

This garden. Hoo boy. This past week, I have yet to water the plants this week. That's how serious it has rained and because of how the desert is not used to being wet, there are often flash floods from the run offs. My garden area just happens to be the lowest area in the yard. It's lovely... The day I intended to start writing about the following updates, we actually lost power for two hours but more about that later on.

Pretty little tomato blooms!

I cannot wait to harvest hundreds of cherry tomatoes this fall.

 We watched many documentaries and tributes on Remembrance Day (September 11th) and this was the beautiful sunset we saw that helped remind us that the world can heal and still be beautiful.

These are fresh Bhut Jolokia Chili Peppers aka Ghost Pepper, the hottest in the world.

I have those seeds right now and I'm debating trying to grow a tree.

One of the brothers that loves very spicy foods ate that bottom left piece. 

It rates about 1 million on the Scoville rating. For comparison, a Habanero chili rates between 100,000 to 350,000, my Bird's Eye Chili rate 50,000 to 100,000, and Tabasco sauce falls between 3,500 to 8,000. Oh yes. We have video footage and it was nuts. We had crackers, milk, and lettuce standing by for the aftermath. The SO just dipped his finger in the oils to try, turned red instantly, and downed a small glass of milk. There's no way we're going to let the brother try one with the seeds (where most of the heat is locked), let alone whole. Not that he wants to. This guy has eaten a large fresh Habanero whole before. We're all fans of staying alive.

These storms. The ground is still saturated today and it has not rained. Not as much lightning and thunder as we would have expected but what we got left its marks all over town. Our neighborhood's power was out for about two and a half hours. We were among the few thousand that lost it that night. The aftermath we had to deal with was our cable internet being out, our wireless network being zapped, and (as we discovered last night) our nearly one year old printer also getting zapped and dying despite being plugged into a six-strip at the time. What's especially aggravating about that is that we cannot afford to get a new one right now because of funding other household projects and just put in new ink cartridges. Sigh.

The SO and I have each decided on new household projects to focus on now that the faucets and light situations have been fully taken care of. I have to say that it is pretty awesome having two working showers and three working sinks instead of one of each. He's re-dug a trench for all of the water that has accumulated just off of our patio for the water to drain and not come inside, dug and built a temporary patch for the retaining wall that has yet to be finished by another brother (There was so much erosion due to the storms!), and now has set his sights on dry-walling a few holes throughout the holes. Let's just say they are large due to having three rowdy boys grow up here with many of their friends.

We lucked out when we bought the electric drills yesterday. Got this pair that we've been eye-balling for a few weeks now because it seemed like a good deal and ideal for the projects we had in mind. Unfortunately, we didn't read the box very thoroughly in all of our lust because they were too small and more for simple and quick projects. So, we went to return them and knew already which heavy duty sucker to grab and they happened to be running a deal about getting a free electric drill with purchase! The mini free one was actually one from the set we were returning. We're so pleased with ourselves. Lol.

My big project has been tackling the family's recipes. It all started when I went to pull out a recipe for a particular pork roast and I couldn't find it near the top of the pile so I started emptying the two drawers of all of the recipe cards, pages, and cook books to find it. FMIL comes around to see what all of the commotion is about and sees the floor littered with everything. We spent the next hour going through all of the pages and books and sorting them out. Fifteen minutes in, we found the initial recipe somewhere else in the kitchen, but were already in too deep. This is something that has been on my long term goals list. It has been fascinating for me to see the history of these beloved recipes and I want to preserve them. So, I've bought binders, page protectors, dividers, and bigger box to do so before they deteriorate further. They are well-loved. :P I stayed up the rest of the night to organize the smaller recipe cards that were jammed packed in a special box with the categories we had established earlier. Eventually, I'll heavily alter and decorate the binders and boxes. That pork recipe? Five minutes of hands-on preparation and slow roasting for several hours during the daytime resulted in a delicious dinner.

So good.

The table behind be is completely covered with my heirloom recipe preservation project and the fact that I'm planning my first extensive holiday workshop for Stampin' Up! I've been very fortunate to have garnered a lot of positive attention and interest with my Simply Adorned necklace at school. There will be a Halloween, Fall, and Winter themed 3-D projects. FMIL and I have been digging deep and working hard to hash out all of the details as soon as possible. A lot of planning going on there, lol.

The storms have been a sight to see. Here's some of what we've seen out back.

 Awesome cloud layered with sunset colors. We watched as it morphed and grew.

 A type of stick bug! :P

 My poor garden has spent most of the time looking like this.

 My lettuce bed is like the city of Atlantis. That's at least two inches of water.

 By the end of the day, the water is absorbed, but is replenished the next day by another storm.

The other day, I found the greenhouse tray full of water and floating in front of Gryffindor.

Fast-forward to today. Sorry in advanced for weirder looking pictures, I actually took these well after dark. Hooray for flashlights and flash!

 I potted what jalapeños that have sprouted. That small terracotta pot in the back is the parsley finally thickening up. The tiny green cup is the cilantro finally taking off.

These are their "forever" homes at 10 inches in diameter. There are eight pots total.

 You can barely see the little guys! Two leaves and no more than two inches tall.

 Pictures of the herb planter make sense now that there's nearly a little of everything making an appearance.

 Basil - Chives - Cilantro - Dill (first to go crazy) - Oregano - Parsley (sprouted within past two days) - Sage - Stevia (I believe it's the one going crazy instead of Sage) - Tarragon - Thyme.

 The lettuce, it lives!

 The cherry tomatoes have really taken off. Wow!

The peppers are each working on new lower leaf growth and branching out appropriately. Slytherin has three peppers that we're keeping a close eye upon. It's so exciting!

There has been a plethora of tiny weed growths in my area that I've tried to take care of but it's still very saturated. Tomorrow I tackle the recipes! Wish me luck. See you soon! <3

Lesson In Patience

It's so nice to have everyone in the household excited about my garden corner to some degree.

It pretty much means that I can check on the plants constantly, I don't have to in order to stay in the know because everyone else is getting curious throughout the day, examining each of them, and reporting any news to the rest of us.

It's actually pretty fantastic lately because with how fast some of these guys are growing, they really do change from morning, afternoon, and evening. I have been having a bit of an issue with ants in my herb planter and lettuce bed. I really think they are making a vacation home in each area. Those... jerks. I have a theory that they are attracted to the freshly tossed soil, consistent water, and new seeds. I've tried a few natural repellents-concoctions but they just go about their business: waiting for it to stop being unbearably hot, going nuts if it looks like its about to storm, and then go to bed at night. Sigh.

I have been pretty fretful that they were destroying my plants before they even got a chance to sprout but look at what we've discovered today!

You may be able to see it but here's part of the top right row:

and here is a chunk of the bottom left row:

Holy Cow! They've survived being trampled on by the dog, being continuously invaded by ants, and my erratic-unsure watering! Whoa. The kicker is that they are mostly in their respective rows. :P

FMIL happened upon this with the cherry tomatoes, I have no idea how none of us have noticed before today:

Tomato #1

Tomato #2

 

 Tomato #3

Those, my good friends, are BUDS! Wow! I know I calculated that we may have tomatoes by the end of fall but I didn't completely process that it meant we should see something like this happening right now. Amazing.

This is a gratuitous picture of FMIL's tiny large-egg-size terrarium of Butterfly Bushes. It was planted a little more than a week ago and has the potential to become 8-15 feet tall. Another holy cow concept.

Growing a garden does not get stale, no pun intended... somehow, I feel that it could loosely have been a pun. O_o I no longer really know what I'm talking about so I'll see you soon! Lol. <3

The Waiting Game

Good things come to those that wait, right?

It seems to be a bit of a double edged sword but that just might be my crankiness showing at the moment.

Whoa. I was just distracted from contemplating the order of this post by finding a little tarantula on the porch out back! 

 Whoa! Why, Hello there!

 Just a little guy!

 We let him loose in the front yard, away from pestering family dog.

Well, that's one way to reset my mind frame. Mmk, where was I going to start? Yesterday, there were two trips made to the two big craft stores. We went on a mission to take advantage of a buy a pack of card stock and get a second one for a cent more for the class room. There were a few other side missions that were also accomplished too. I felt so proud and productive in a craft fashion.

We were able to grab the paper, I found mini 4x6 photo albums that fit 60 pictures each to save for later when I start making brag books for my garden. :D Most of the albums I've been seeing around only hold 12 and sometimes 36 pictures, but with how many photos I've taken, I knew I could only crop it down so far. They will be digitally scrapped too, so it won't just be plain snapshots shoved into the sleeves. I'm too enthusiastic about them to just leave it at that. :P

One big project that I worked on and finished last night (it was a long, drawn out, and frustrating night) was a portable way to store my Cricut cartridges. I have been keeping them in a gallon-sized zip baggie and I'm pretty sure if I got one more, it would burst. I like to have the cartridges, handbooks, and keyboard overlays together. One good idea I've read about was taking out all of the pages that I don't need. Namely, all of the ones with instructions in languages that I can only sort of read and understand. I felt a little guilty doing so, as if I was committing some narrow-minded crime, but I got over it because it allowed me to store two more booklets per stack. Here are the results:

Okay, I don't have as many as are shown in the first picture. I promise. I borrowed FMIL's to fill in the space to see how well it worked. This idea combines the idea that has been floating around the forums for a few years that use plastic ribbon bins that stack and snap together plus a 12x12 scrapbooking carrier (which I have now) that has come out with a plastic tray insert designed to hold 18 booklets and cartridges with a few tools. I used plastic canvas and planned out a few layouts but found that this worked the best. I made sure to get a bin with a handle. It also snaps shut. 

My shapes cartridges are on the top row with room for 18 total. The next row has my seasonal, lite, and character cartridges and can fit 8 total. The last row also holds 8 and currently has my font cartridges. That means I have individual slots for 34 cartridges and about 40 handbooks. Lol. If I ever reach that amount, I could always throw some carts in the booklet or tools section. :P I'm pretty friggin' proud of myself! It took so much longer to figure out and make than it should have because I was so tired but wanted to finish before going to bed. Stupid stubborn streak. 

Oh! I also got a crochet book that I was eyeballing a few months ago but decided against it at the time because we were already grabbing so many yarn goodies. Well, after some discussion with friends and much contemplation, I hunted for this book, could not find it anywhere, and then snagged the last copy at the store yesterday. It's Twinkie Chan's Crochet Goodies for Fashion Foodies! It's so hilarious and amazing. I cannot wait to try a pattern out.

While on my mini missions in the store, I stumbled upon a few little treasures! There is a line of terrariums that are guaranteed to grow of all sorts of off the wall plants to get kids interested in grow gardens. With alien and fairy themes, I was so excited too! :P They have individual eggs, small trays, and bigger trays with up to twenty plants (5-6 different species). FMIL wanted to test out one to see if they would be good in the classroom and got an fairy-themed egg that will grow these purple flowers that will be attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds. I got two eggs to try out and... one's a fly trap and the other is a pitcher plant. And they will possibly sprout by the end of this year. Oh yes. Patience is some sort of virtue that will be tested with these guys!

 

 

 

The fly trap will sprout sometime between late September and late November. Roar!

 

 

 

I have to refrigerate the pitcher plant for 6 weeks and then it will sprout sometime between early November and early January. I can't wait! This is going to be so weird!

Today wasn't nearly as fun or intriguing. Except for one part that I'll get to that later. :D It was full of chores and errands. We decided to tackle the less than user friendly kitchen sink faucet today and I took it on the task of clearing out the space underneath so the SO could crawl underneath and around to change out some of the connecting tubing too. It... took quite a bit of time for me to get through everything. Thankfully, it's all done now and working like a charm. I even helped with the caulking. Yay for growing up doing weird jobs on household projects. It does mean that I'm peeling dried tacky stuff off my fingers for the remainder of the night. Sigh. :P

That rain that I showed you last time? It's resulting in things like this:

 The Barrel Cacti are flowering and/or fruiting (again).

 There are different variations that are so pretty.

Almost in full bloom!

Another vivid and pretty sunset.

I also decided to pot the spider plant chunk that FMIL gave to me to try to grow for our kitty. He loves eating the plantlettes off. Silly veggie lover.

 Soaked it in some water for a few days and it developed its own roots.

 That's some pretty serious effort going on there.

All ready to go nuts and become a little bush.

I also realized that I haven't measured the tomato plants in a little while to see how much they've grown since moving outside. So I did so while I was out checking in on everyone.

 Tomato #1 is about 12.5 inches tall.

Tomato #2 is about 12 inches tall.

 Tomato #3 is also about 12 inches tall.

All of their stalks have become more reddish-brown and they have endured a few very windy nights surprisingly well.

Fast forward to this afternoon, I got a wonderful semi-surprise in the mail. I had forgotten to remember that I had a package on the way from my best friend-former roommate. She recently moved half a country closer to me and sent me presents she had purchased back when she spent time in Japan for school as a birthday gift. I love it all! It was the highlight of my day. 

This is my stash after ripping them out of their packaging. There's a stationary set with paper, stickers, an envelopes; a multi-color pen (everyone knows that I love those); a cute pair of chopsticks with elephants and their own special case; a striped mini pencil case; a mechanical pencil with a retractable eraser; and four oh-so-cute eraser critters (a bunny, hamster, puppy, and bear - I believe). It's all so cute, from Japan, and from my bestie! I think the very best part was the postcard she sent with it. :D It was so cool to hear from her in that medium. I definitely have some stuff to send back to her. Hooray mail! I cannot wait to use it!

I guess the past two days have been more productive and random than I thought. I guess how tired I've gotten by the end of the day zombifies my brain into dulling all of the excitement while my body recovers. Oh, the joys of blogging to remember and share.

I need to go tidy up a little bit before I start gnawing on my arm. :P See you soon! <3