Ten on Tuesday

1. Pretend it’s Monday morning–take us through a day in the life of you.
Well Mondays this semester James my husband gets up about 7:30 and gets our son up and going for school.  They eat and head off.  If my daughter is up then I get her up change her diaper get her clothes on for the day and put her in my bed to watch TV while I take a shower and get ready.  We are typically downstairs eating breakfast by 8:30 or 9.  After breakfast we either run out to do errands or maybe hit an event in my MOMS club.  If we stay home we usually play outside if it's nice or inside if not.  We typically have lunch between 12:30 and 1.  Then I try to clean up whatever needs it.  My daughter either plays by herself or watches Scooby while I work.  We head to the bus stop to pick up my son about 2:30.  We typically get home around 3 and if it's nice I make the kids play outside.  Again if it's not we play inside.  Snack time also happens about the time we get home from the bus.  Once everyone is played out we all sit at the kitchen table and work on homework (the 2 year old colors).  And starting this year we are adding a half hour of reading time on the end of homework.  And we all read for the 30 minutes (not sure how that will work with my lovely headstrong 2 year old...).  Once all the homework and reading is over I start dinner and the kids play (if they start killing each other I put something on the TV).  We eat then head up for bath and bed.  On a good day the kids are clean and in bed by 7!  And I get to relax and do dishes, pick up toys, pack lunches for the next day, etc....

2. What’s your favorite reality TV show?
Of all time The Amazing Race.  But I love so many that's it's a bit sad.  I did a blog post about it awhile back.

3. What motto do you live by?
Well lately I find myself saying It Is What It Is .... a lot.  Things are hard and when something else goes wrong I try not to let get to me .... so my motto lately is, It Is What It Is.

4. If you knew could you try anything and not fail, what dream would you attempt?
I would put more into my craft business on Etsy.  Really I would start going to as many craft fairs as I could but I just can't right now.  It's expensive and they happen on Saturdays for the most part and since I now have a job on the weekends that cuts that out.

5. What was your first job?
I was babysitting by the time I was 13 and my first official job was as a cashier at an A&P grocery store in high school at 14.

6. What is your current job?
Stay at home mom during the week and a photographer/salesman on the weekends.

7. What would you call yourself if you could choose your own name (and you cannot pick the one you already have)?
If I had not already named my daughter Marley I would choose that name.  I happen to love it!

8. What musical instruments can you play?
Sadly none.

9. Is it easier to forgive or forget?
Well I have hard time doing either.  I tend to hold a grudge.  But if I had to choose it's easier to forgive but I never forget.

10. What is one food you’d never want to taste again?
Okra.  I HATE it.  I just don't get it.  It's nasty.

Ten on Tuesday ... just a bit late

I know I am a day late and a dollar short but I loved this idea for Ten on Tuesday and still wanted to do it.  

For each of the following, take a picture. This is a chance for us to get a literal glimpse into each other’s lives. Feel free to skip a question if it doesn’t apply to you or it’s too personal. You can include explanations if necessary.

1. My house.  The ONE big (maybe 8 inches) snow we had this year.

2. My shower.

3. The inside of my refrigerator.  It's packed because a.) we trying to eat at home all the time and b.) my mom just left town again we got all her perishables.

4. My pets.  Rio the cat and Frodo the dog.  She is loving on him and he is tolerating it... sorta.

5. My favorite pair of shoes.  I LOVE these flip flops!  They are so comfortable and I can wear them most of the year here.

6. The most comfortable seat in my house (at least according to me).  It also doubles as my computer station.

7. My favorite cups.  I don't know why I like these so much but I do.  They also have matching lids!

8. My laundry room which is also the entrance to the garage which I don't like but oh well.  And yes I know my washer and dryer don't match!  My original washer broke a few years ago so we bought a new washer but didn't see the need to replace a perfectly good dryer so we left it.  Then a few months ago the dryer bought the farm too and we replaced it with the fancy one because we got a ridiculous deal.

9. The views from my office chairs.  Well since my "office" is my home and my craft room is sort of my office I thought I would show you it.

 

The view of my craft room from the playroom

 

Origami flowers and various other crap on one table

 

My spray station - this is a frame for a friend for her baby shower

 

The view from the windows back into the room

10. My spouse & Kids

Confessions of the Day 18

You know how there is always the one ghetto house on the block??  Well my house would be it this week ... umm OK last 2 weeks.  For one thing our grass was really, really ridiculously overgrown.  It was a bit long when we got back from Tennessee (that was TWO weeks ago).  But then James and I had to go right back to work and we have been in a heat wave so mowing just can't happen in the heat of the day (from about 10AM to 5PM). Well then there is issue that I have never mowed a lawn before and don't know how to work the lawn mower (I in theory understand how it works and I am sure I can do if I had to ... it's not rocket science) so that leaves James to do it.  Plus we have been having afternoon/evening storms almost everyday.  So that rules out doing it in the evening.  I must admit it was really bad.  I just knew we were going to get a nasty letter from our HOA (it finally got mowed today btw).  But then driving home from work last night I was looking at our jungle of yard and the broken screen door and the toys in driveway, along with the extra cars and I had to admit that we are the ghetto house at least for a few weeks.

I have been to the movies 3 times in 4 days.  I love going to the movies.  It's my escape.  So I went with my movie buddy and friend Ivy Thursday and then again tonight.  But I also went on Friday when James and I had our date night.  So you can skip Dinner for Schmucks (really silly and not as good as the original) but Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is so much better than I would have thought.  And finally The Switch was cute but you won't miss anything by waiting for the DVD.

I hate Sponge Bob Square Pants!  It's a fact and I never (usually .. just wait) let my kids watch it.  Now James will let them watch it but that's different.  I just can't stand it.  Well I was organizing and going through some things in my craft/scrap booking room this afternoon and my 2 1/2 year old daughter came in.  I didn't mind having her in there with me but of course she started playing with paintbrushes and trying to walk off with some of my origami flowers so when she turned on the TV I let her watch it.  I flipped around for some cartoons and the ONLY one on was yep you guessed it Sponge Bob dumb ass Pants.  And yes I let her watch it so she would stay out of my stuff...  mother with outstanding morals right here.

Ten on Tuesday

1. Where did you go to college?
The University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW), I did both undergrad and graduate degrees there.  I moved here to go to college and never left!

2. What did you study?
My undergraduate degree was a teaching degree & certificate in special education (with an emphasis on learning disabilities) and my graduate degree is a masters in education with a cross categorical teaching certificate in special education (that means I could teach children with all disabilities not just learning disabilities).  Wow now that's a mouth full!!!

3. Was college really all that it was cracked up to be?
Yes and no.  It was a fun time when I learned a lot about life and myself.  I just wish that I had gone into college single.  I missed quite a bit the first year being in a long distance relationship.  I also wish I had gotten into that ceramics class I always wanted to take....

4. How far were you from home?
2 1/2 hours.  Not bad I came home a bit more than I should that first year but again that's because of the boyfriend thing.

5. Did you have the same roommate all four years?
Ha no.  I lived on campus the first year and somehow managed to get into the apartments instead of the dorms.  So I had my own room (it was about the size of parking space) but I shared a living room, kitchen and bathroom with 3 other girls.  Anyway I met some nice girls and became really good friends with one of them for awhile.  But I moved off campus my sophomore year (I was supposed to move in with my boyfriend at the time) but things didn't work out and I had to find a roommate fast.  I found one but she bounced checks on me and basically had her surfer boyfriend move in too with out asking. So after the summer she was out and one of my roommates from the campus apartment moved in.  She ended up getting into a bad car accident at home during Christmas break and ended up not being able to come back to school.  So after that I'd had enough of roommates and moved to a single bedroom apartment so I didn't have to have a roommate.

6. Where did you order food from at 2am?
I don't remember but I am sure it was pizza because around here that would be the only place to deliver unless you got in the car and drove to Taco Bell (one of the only places open 24 hours here).... and I never did that ..... ever....  really .... oh OK I did so sue me.

7. Did you date in college or were you tied down?
Well I already covered this a bit above but I came to college with a boyfriend (my high school boyfriend who I dated for 4 years).  But we broke up the summer after freshman year.  I was single for a few years and did a lot of dating around then I met my husband in my junior year.

8. Funniest drunk college moment?
I really don't remember and I did most of my really bad irresponsible drinking in high school.

9. Did you make it to class on time?
Always!  I hate being late and always have.  In fact I try to be places early if I can.

10. What was your favorite class in college?
I actually liked geology but I really liked religion and philosophy.

Manic Monday ... Who am I kidding more like manic life

I know last week I said I was going to get around to posting about my family vacation/reunion in Tennessee but it didn't happen.  Shocking right?  No not really....  but I do have a legit excuse!!  Last week was my mom's 60th birthday, my husbands birthday (they have the SAME birthday) and then Sunday was my son's 7th birthday.  So this week was a rush of getting things in order from being gone for a week and then prepping for 3 birthdays!  Throw in on top of that my new job and my existing Etsy stuff and I don't have nearly the time or energy I used to have.  But I swear this post is not going to be me whining about everything.

So I had briefly mentioned that I worked this summer as a home companion.  I started in May and worked my last few days the week before I left for Tennessee.  I worked about 20 hours a week taking a 30 year old guy around to appointments, meetings, and to do some volunteer work.  I don't have permission to go into detail about why he needed a companion.  But it was an enlightening and very interesting job.  Maybe I can get permission so I can talk about it sometime because it was eye opening to say the least.  But it would have been nice to be able to work with him a little longer but his situation changed.  I knew the end was coming so I started looking for other job options.  I saw that a company called Portrait Innovations was hiring, so I sent in my resume just to see what happened.  I originally thought I wasn't even going to get an interview because over 6 weeks passed with no call.  But then I suddenly got a call to go in and interview.  It went well and I was offered the job within 24 hours.  I have now worked two days.  I was hired for weekends only which is ok for now.  I am hoping I can move to full time eventually.  Anyway I am going to be taking pictures.  I haven't yet but I am training.  I like the people I work with and I think it's going to be good!

So that's the job situation as of now.  My hubby started back to work (after vacation) last week but the classes didn't start back up until today.  His work schedule this semester sucks but we need the money.  He will basicly be working 12 hours a day Monday through Thursday becasue he has taken on an extra class for extra money. 

And on a completely different note my baby boy turned 7 yesterday.  I used to get very sad and choked up about birthdays because my baby was getting older and was moving away from being a baby.  I love babies so it was sometimes hard.  But this time as I was watching him open presents and read birthday cards I realized that he was going to get older no matter what and celebrating his accomplishments was better.  And he frankly amazed me with his reading and just how big he has gotten and just what a good kid he is.  And is about 10 days he starts 1st grade!!

Ten on Tuesday

OK, OK I know I have been MIA for a little over a week.  I was on vacation in Tennessee for my annual family reunion.  It was a fun time and I loved seeing all my extended family.  Hopefully I will get around to blogging about it soon.  But for now my Ten on Tuesday.

1. Do you have an innie or an outie?
Innie.  It's always been an innie even during both of my pregnancies.

2. What kind of milkshake do you order?
Chocolate or if we go somewhere like an ice cream shop I get a chocolate malted!

3. How often do you repeat outfits at work?
Well at my stay at home mom job I don't really repeat outfits.  It's all about what ever is clean and comfortable.  At my new part time weekend job (I just got a job at a company called Portrait Innovations), I have enough outfits to last the month.

4. What are your feelings about thank you notes?
I always try to send them.  I think it's important.  Now I have to admit that since having two children I haven't been as good about it.  Mostly because I intend to do it and then forget.  It's called mommy brain and it sucks!

5. Do you like spicy food?
I have come to LOVE it!! As I've gotten older my taste and tolerance for spicy foods has increased.

6. How many toilet paper squares do you use?
NO clue!  I don't count and really don't care.

7. Were you in Girl Scouts?
Nope.  I did a year as a Blue Bird (the Brownie equivalent in The Camp Fire Girls) when I lived in Colorado.  I still have my little vest with all the patches and beads I earned sewn on!
 
8. Notebooks/Journals: College ruled? Wide Ruled? No lines? Spiral Bound? Plain front? Decorative?
Again what ever I have in front of me is what I use.  I tend to lean toward decorative journals both spiral bound and traditional book bound.

9. Do you snack throughout the day? What do you pack for snacks?
Well since I am at home most of the time I snack with my kids but I eat almonds/nuts or yogurt or fruit.  I also try to keep almonds in purse for a snack on the go.

10. What is your favorite month? Why?
April.  It's my birthday month, Easter (I LOVE Easter Candy), and it's spring here.  And spring is the by far the best time of the year in North Carolina.  It's not too hot yet and all the flowers are blooming.

Scooby Doo as a methaphor for life

So my children (especially my 2 1/2 year old daughter) are obsessed with watching Scooby Doo.  I happen to love watching the old ones from back in the 70's when I was kid with them so it's a win win.  Which is not always the case because I get sick of watching some of these crappy new cartoons (can you say rhymes with bunge mob?).  Anyway as we sat watching Shaggy Scooby Doo as my daughter calls it, I started to wonder what the appeal is to my kids.  Because let's be honest the animation on the originals is terrible, they have really d list stars (of which my kids will NEVER know ... hello Jerry Reed????), the music sucks (hellooooo Jerry Reed), and the same crap/plots happens to the gang over and over again.  I mean they can watch cartoons with much, much better animation and plots but yet they ask over and over again for Scooby Doo.  So while I was watching yet another episode of Tivoed Scooby Doo with my kids I started to think about why they love it so much.  First off I think (OK I KNOW) they love Shaggy and Scooby the best.  I think it's because they can relate to them the most.  Shag & Scoob love to eat and eat everything in sight.  I know my kids would do the same if I allowed them too.  There are meals when one or the other or even both eat more than myself or my husband.  It's kinda amazing actually.  So they see Shaggy and Scooby doing what they want to!  Plus Shaggy and Scooby are just big chickens.  They are scared of everything and show it.  They aren't afraid to say that ghost (or whatever) scares me get me outta here!!!  I can so understand why this would be appealing to them.  I mean how many people in their lives fess up to being scared by things the they are??  And this brings me to the other reason I think they love Scooby Doo.  All the scary monsters/ghosts/witches/robots/animals/aliens/etc. are really just stupid adults who get caught by a bunch of KIDS.  It lets them see that all those scary things that they genuinely think are scary are again just stupid adults in bad costumes who get busted by a bunch of lousy, meddling kids and their dog.

Ten on Tuesday

1. How do you take your coffee on an average day? How do you like your coffee if you’re splurging?
I don't drink coffee everyday.  When I do drink it I get fancy smancy stuff from Starbucks or a local coffee house call Port City Java.  I usually go with a skim Caramel Macchiato or a carmello leche, they are basically the same drink just a different name at each place.  If I am desperate I will drink regular drip coffee with cream and sugar.  My splurge would be to get the drink with whole milk or 2% instead of skim.

2. What is your genre of books to read?
I read stuff all over the map.  I used to read mainly best selling fiction and science fiction but the last few years have been all about what ever catches my eye.  I have read best sellers (The Help), science fiction (The Host, The Sookie Stackhouse books, Twilight), autobiographies (Scar Tissue - autobiography of Anthony Kiedis lead singer of Red Hot Chili Peppers and sTori Telling- Tori Spelling autobiography), Historical fiction (Centennial by James Michener), and true crime/story type books (Under the Banner of Heaven and Into Thin Air).


3. Where do you want to retire, if you could go anywhere?
I have no idea.  I am thinking where ever my grandchildren are and hopefully that will be here near the beach.  And of course this is if I ever work long enough to make the money to retire.

4. The 17-year-old you is told to write a 10-minute speech. What topic would you have picked?
Ummmm.. well I have no clue.  I would have been petrified that I had to get up and give a speech in front of  people, I was really shy.  I most likely would have picked something to do with music or maybe my favorite artist Henri Matisse.

5. What word describes you best?
Eclectic

6. What is the next “event” that you are looking forward to? (ex.: vacation, moving, date, job change, etc)
My family reunion/vacation next week.  I will get to see a lot of my family, who I only get to see once a year.  Plus it's a vacation so it's all good.

7. Do you like to discuss controversial topics or do you prefer to avoid those types of conversations?
I love to discuss controversial topics!!  I like to see how people react and what their take on them is.

8. Would you rather add 4 free hours to each day, or add 1 extra day to the week?
I think 1 extra day but one that I didn't have to go work on.  So it would be like a 3 day weekend.

9. If you created a sports team; what would your colors and mascot be?
Blue and silver and the mascot would be a kangaroo.  Random I know.

10. If you had to be a teacher, what subject would you teach?
Ha ha!  I was a teacher and I was a special education teacher.   I taught both elementary and high school.  I like both and would teach both again if I had to (long hours and waaaayyy too much paperwork has made me want to find something else).  But I think being an art teacher would be fun too.

Summer Storms & Craft Fairs Don't Mix

Last weekend I attended my very first craft fair ever.  I had been contemplating for awhile about weather nor not I should try to sell my crafts at a craft fair.  But the only ones here locally are huge ones on the waterfront and there is one in the fall and one in the spring but they cost at least $100 for a space.  I am very reluctant to try those out,  due to cost and time involved (two whole days outside).  So as luck would have it an email popped up in my Etsy account inviting me to a craft fair in Garner, NC.  Garner is just outside of Raleigh which is about 2 hours from here.  The booth fee was only $25 so I thought I'd give it a try!  The fair was scheduled to start at 8AM but the sellers had to be on site to set up by NO later than 6:30AM according to their directions.  Since I live 2 hours away I didn't want to be getting up at 4AM to get there so I asked my brother and sister in law who live in Raleigh if I could stay Friday night at their house so I would be closer in the morning.  They were out of town but they let me stay in their house (Thanks guys!!!!) anyway.  My good friend and neighbor Jennifer came with me to help out.  I wasn't sure I wanted to do it by myself nor did I think I could physically do it with tables, tent and bathroom/food breaks.  My hubby was going to come but then we had the kids to deal with too and that would have been more of a disaster.  So I put the word out on Facebook for help.  So thank you SOOOOO much Jennifer. 

We got to the site right at 6:30AM on dot to set up.  We managed to get the tent up (not that easy and you totally need at least 2 people to do it) and tables set up by about 7AM.  Now according to the website and all the paperwork I got, I was told they would close the site to car traffic at 7AM so if you arrived late you would have to unload across the street and bring it all over.  Well this was not the case at all they let people drive in to unload until like 8:20AM.  I was not happy about that because I would not have left so friggin early to be there AND we had an hour with nothing to do because they wanted me there so early.  They also had me next to another lady selling (wait for it ... ) FRAMES!!   Yes they did that in a craft fair with 40+ sellers.  I was not happy about that at all (I don't think she was either).  But our stuff was VERY different at least.

People really responded to this mirror and LOVED to touch it

So it was finally time for customers to start arriving.  It was slow.  I am not sure how much advertising they did but I don't think it was enough because foot traffic was minimal and sporadic at best.  It was really too bad because there were some really awesome crafts people there.  I went walking around and I was really impressed with the other booths.  The fair was supposed to last until 3PM but at about 1:30 a huge thunder storm started to roll in and roll in fast.  The wind picked up and people's tents started to blow over!!  So we all started packing it in for the day.  The wind was actually troubling the whole day.  My frames kept blowing down which was not ideal because they look a lot better standing up for people to see at a distance.  But you can't change mother nature!!  I got people coming up and looking and making comments which gave me good feed back.  I sold two things which *almost* covered the cost of the booth fee.  I lost some money in gas but it was worth the experience.  I gave away a lot of business cards and got a few emails for contacts so that's all good.  I also sat and made my origami flowers while it was slow which got people over the booth and talking to me. 

 Flower Kusudama Ball

The origami flower balls got by far the most interest and comments but I didn't sell any.  Not sure if people thought it was too early to buy Christmas ornaments (most people called them ornaments) or they thought they were too pricey.  I guess I should have asked but it didn't occur to me to while we were there.  So that was the experience in a nutshell.  I would do another one again but this time I know what questions to ask (like what marketing they will be doing) and to look for ones INSIDE during the summer if at all possible! 

The Black & White Puzzle Piece Frames got a lot of comments (I sold the 8x10 version that day)

This clock got a lot of comments too

This candle got a ton of comments (my pictures never did it justice) and it sold!

Ten on Tuesday

So the instructions for this week were to put the brand or company I use for each item. 

1. Cell Phone - Verizon and I have a Samsung Intensity phone

2. Email - I have several accounts but most are on my home Time Warner Road Runner account.  But I also have a Gmail account too.

3. Toothpaste - Crest Whitening Cinnamon flavor

4. Car - Chrysler Town & Country Mini Van named Lightning by my son.

5. Writing Utensil - What ever I can find closest to me.

6. Lotion - I have several I go between depending on what scent I want that day.  But mostly I have been using Body Shop Strawberry Whipped body lotion or plain old Lubriderm lotion with 15 SPF because I am trying to be better about using sun protection ALL the time.

7. Interior Paint - What ever is the cheapest and/ or my husband buys.

8. Soda/Drink - My favorite soda of all time is Vanilla Coke but since I try not to drink too much regular soda I don't have it often (and they stopped making it in diet) but I like Diet Dr. Pepper a lot.

9. Laundry Detergent - Method in the Peony Blossom scent

10. Medicine - Not sure what they mean by medicine.  But I don't take any prescription meds.  I take a multi-vitamin and oh yeah Zyrtec for my allergies.  And my drug of choice for headaches and pain in general is Advil Liquigels (LOVE the liquigels because they really do get into my system faster).

Well that was short and to the point this week.   No rambling stories.  Could be that I'm tired and have have a headache so I am going to go take a few of those lovely Advil Liquigels right now.  Maybe I will get around to posting how my very first craft fair went this last weekend.  I wish I had remembered my camera but I didn't.  When I get some free time I will do a quick post (which means it could be a few days at the rate I'm going lately).