Domestic Geek

Geez, haven't posted anything craft-related since before Halloween. I wish I could say I've been off crafting up a storm, but this has not been the case. Work got crazy busy and while I got a lot of overtime and was able to buy Christmas presents for the first time in years, it didn't leave a lot of time for hobbies. I also slipped into my pre-holiday depression that I've been experiencing the last few years and then caught a bug going around work and have been sick for a little over the last three weeks. I'm starting to finally feel better, though, so some new projects are in the works.

I did get a few more feet of crocheted popcorn garland made during the first couple of weeks of December, but not enough to make it to the tree yet. To help with it, I bought a cool little product called The Crochet Lite at Michaels (pictured at right -->) so that I could crochet in the dark. It basically has an LED or something in the handle that shines up through the hook. It definitely lights up enough so that you can see what you're doing. I don't like the feel of it as much as my regular metal crochet hook, but it's usable. I'm going to bring the project out to my current project basket in the living room so that I will continue to work on it throughout the year. It'll be on the tree next Christmas. Oh, yes....it will.

I did finish my bag from my knit class and totally forgot to post pictures here. I'll have to write up a post later and post some pics. I started trying to make a second bag, but I got stuck. I'll try to pick that project up again soon. I really want to knit myself a sweater and some socks.

Currently, though, I am trying to learn to machine embroider. My most awesomest boyfriend in the entire world gifted me a Brother PE-700 embroidery machine for Christmas. A co-worker that embroiders gave me her old copy of PE-Design software, a card writer box, some blank cards and some of her old designs to get me started. w00t! It looks like this is the year I'll finally be able to live my dream of starting my own embroidery business.

I've finally been invited to join Ravelry. I've got to get busy and set myself up a profile over there.

I also just joined Etsy. I need to make some money and since paid blogging ain't gonna do it anymore, I guess it's time I put some of my skills to use and sell some stuff online.

OK, that's about it for now. I'm really looking forward to making 2008 a really crafty year.

As I haven't been much of a Potter follower since my disappointment with book 7 (except to watch Order of the Phoenix), I haven't been making my daily visits to J.K. Rowling's site. Thankfully Fond of Snape made mention that today is Severus Snape's birthday, or I would've totally missed it this year. Happy Birthday, Severus!


* He's a Capricorn (as is Marcus) — the perfect match for a Virgo such as I.

I was perusing the Techie Diva site and found a geeky accessory that I absolutely must have! It's the Cyber Snipa Dog Tag. I don't usually wear jewelry or such, but I think I'd wear these. One of the tags houses a flash drive (I'm always finding myself in a spot where I wish I had a flash drive on me) and the other sports some tools and an LED flashlight. Definitely something a geek such as myself should own.

Happy Birthday, Marcus!

Today was Marcus' birthday. As usual, I don't dare divulge his age for fear of the wrath I will bring down upon myself. I've never met a man so freaked out about birthdays and getting older, especially since no matter how many he has, I'll always be older. To hear him go on, you'd think he was on the verge of geezerhood!

Yesterday we celebrated out to dinner with Mike & Nina at Chili's, followed by Dairy Queen ice cream cake at our house. Mike & Nina got him the coolest calendar they made via iPhoto/Apple using Mike's mountain biking photos. It's really neat. This evening, Dad accompanied us to the Texas Roadhouse for yet another yummy birthday dinner.

Since his birthday is almost over and I'm really late in posting this, why don't you head over to his site and give him some belated birthday wishes.

Also, today would have been my mother's 63rd birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom.

Hey everybody! Hope you're having a wonderful 2008 so far and getting back into the swing of things post holidays.

I've been in a really crappy mood, so I haven't been going anywhere near this blog. I've been sick since two days before Christmas (Marcus was also sick a few days before I and he's still not totally well). It's finally starting to clear out, but the cough is lingering. I coughed so bad the other day I popped a blood vessel in my eye ball and it's all red and yucky looking. Fortunately, it doesn't hurt and isn't affecting my vision, it just looks nasty as all get out.

Our POS landlords gave us a wonderful holiday gift - they raised our lot rent by $45. As if we weren't being shafted enough to live in this dump, we now get the privilege of paying even more. Marcus and I have vowed that by this time next year, we will not be living here. I'm sick of throwing money down the drain to these people every freaking month. I also want a dog and I promised myself that I would wait until we're out of here before I got another one. Having no dog to give gifts to on Christmas morning sucked in a major way.

Work has slowed down in the new year (as expected). I'll be lucky to get my 40 hours a week the next few weeks. There is a chance I can get some extra hours working in the bindery, if I can ever get well. The bindery is a dirty, hot place and I'm not subjecting my ill body to those conditions, y'know? I was contemplating going back to pizza, but I'd have to get a beater car because I swore I would never deliver pizzas in my Baja. I really don't want to deal with having another car, though. I'm going to have to start doing some design work on the side, probably, even though I hate working with clients. I will get my embroidery business going this year, thanks to the gift of a Brother PE-700 embroidery machine that the awesome Marcus got me for Christmas. A coworker is letting me have her old PE-Design software and card writer to help me get going. I'm so excited!

I got some really neat gifts this year. In addition to the embroidery machine, I got a USB turntable to convert my old vinyl albums to digital, the 2nd season of The Muppet Show, A Muppet Christmas Carol, a couple of iTunes gift cards, the CD and DVD of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Tom Petty & The Heartbreaker's Greatest hits CD, A Night at the Museum DVD, some cool cannisters for my counter and a Harry Potter Hallmark ornament. Our workplace gave us all fleece jackets and an LED flashlight, too.

I've only set one resolution for this new year: get healthy. I was not pleased with what I saw in holiday photos this year, plus my weight went back up over the 300lb mark last week. The 4th was the 11 year anniversary of my mother's death and I was thinking about how she was only 51 (I think) when she passed. I'm only 10 years from that age and I don't want to die that early. I'm also tired of being tired all the time. I'm fed up with not sleeping well.

I need to take a look at my 101 in 1001 list and see what goals I had set and get busy.

Stupid Google mail started blocking emails originating from my IP, so I had no idea I was getting comments here for over a month. I just had to clear out a ton of spam comments that made their way into my posts. Grrrrrr! If I blew off a comment you made, I'm sorry. I'm trying to figure out where I have to change the email address for comment notifications to be directed elsewhere.

So there, that's what I've been up to while I've been away from the blog. I'm sure as soon as I get better, posting will become more frequent here. I've also made the decision that I will no longer do any paid blogging here (not that there is anything available to do anymore, anyway). I'm hoping to have this blog moved to its own domain by the end of the month with a new design and everything. We'll see how that goes.