Domestic GeekAll This and I Can Cook, Too!2026-04-22T02:48:17+00:00ExpressionEngineCopyright (c) 2026, LaDonnaWonder Whatever Happened to…tag:domesticgeek.com,2026:index.php/1.29102026-04-22T02:46:00+00:002026-04-22T02:48:17+00:00{summary}2026-04-22T02:46:00+00:00LaDonnadomesticgeek@gmail.comhttp://domesticgeek.comPersonal, Work,
Anyway, the one piece of advice she gave our class that stuck with me over these last 20+ years since I was in college was every graphic designer needed to spend at least a year working in a print shop. It was so true - I really understand why things need to be designed certain ways so they can be printed due the years I spent working prepress and in the digital printing dept.
So she popped into my brain because we're working with someone trying to design something that has absolutely no clue why we asked for bleed, safe space, margins, etc. Even gave her a template, but of course she's working in Canva and couldn't follow our instructions. When I got unusable files yesterday, I literally cried.
Today I was wondering about my former teacher and how she was holding up with her her design studio she had in Denver. Turns out she stopped doing it. She's now making soap and living in Arizona. I wished I hadn't lost touch with everybody from back then. I wonder if she'd think it was hilarious that I now have a print shop. Who knows? Maybe one day I'll reach out and say hi.]]>Stained Glass Obsessiontag:domesticgeek.com,2025:index.php/1.29072025-04-05T18:38:00+00:002025-04-05T19:59:34+00:00{summary}2025-04-05T18:38:00+00:00LaDonnadomesticgeek@gmail.comhttp://domesticgeek.comPersonal,
I found a post I made back in 2006 about wanting to do stained glass. I had totally forgotten about that woman (wish I had made note of her name to see what she's doing these days), which is why I really miss the archive that my blog used to be. When I moved to the Black Hills in 2016, I made an ad for a lady whose sister was going to be in town teaching stained glass in Keystone during the month of October. Since Marcus hadn't moved here yet, I decided to go ahead and splurge and started the classes. I found out I was actually pretty good at it. Then my dad died on October 16th and I had to go back to Denver to take care of all that stuff. Luckily, they were very nice and accommodating and worked with me to make sure I got all the class hours I had paid for. I ended up completing 3 little projects. I'll try to find pictures I took of them and attach later. I need to get my photos off my old mac and onto the server at home so I can access them.
The woman who facilitated the class for her sister had plans of turning that location in Keystone into rentable stained glass studio space where one would have access to the grinders, be able to buy supplies, etc. Unfortunately, that never happened. They also came to teach other classes, but because of my crazy business owner schedule, I couldn't attend. I also haven't had the money to buy my own supplies.
Anyway, I was digging through some stuff a couple of weeks ago and found the stained glass angel Tom, one of the instructors, had made for everyone that took the class. It spoke to me that I needed to start doing things that are good for my soul, not just the business. I think that class was the last real creative personal thing I ever did. Then I was digging out the larger fridge in the basement because the big fridge in the shop apartment died and saw my tote of leftover supplies from that class. This morning, I hung up my angel in my who's apartment window and decided I need to figure out how to get myself the supplies to do this. In addition to having a creative outlet that I REALLY NEED RIGHT NOW, I can probably also sell some to supplement the print shop. We've kind of hit a point where we need better equipment and more space, but there is only so much print that can be done in a town our size. I also have dreams of another kind of business that I'm not going to discuss publicly until it happens, but that's going to need funding, too.
]]>I Hate the Internettag:domesticgeek.com,2025:index.php/1.29062025-03-16T21:58:00+00:002025-03-16T22:10:05+00:00{summary}2025-03-16T21:58:00+00:00LaDonnadomesticgeek@gmail.comhttp://domesticgeek.comInternet, Personal,
One of the worst is these garbage sites that are probably run by bot farms. They are all precanned content with affiliate links or some such shit in them. These days, they're probably AI generated, to boot. I've been going through my archives trying to delete the paid posts I made in my unemployed days. I found out my original domain I had has become one of these horrible sites in 2020. If this whole C word we can't name scam that happened in 2019 hadn't happened and almost made us lose our business, I would've kept it. A lot of the blogs I used to follow have fallen to the same fate. It makes me sick.
The sad thing is, people fall for this crap. I recently dealt with a computer of a guy who had recently passed. His hard drive was full of these things that he'd purchased, trying to make passive income. For what, those same articles were on at least 100 other sites, exactly the same.
Anyway, I'm slowly trying to get this thing up and running again. I'm sad about how I gave in to the whole Facebook, social media psyop. I basically wasted over 16 years of my life being addicted to that garbage.]]>I’m Still Here, Just Horribly Busytag:domesticgeek.com,2019:index.php/1.29042019-12-26T06:26:00+00:002019-12-26T06:35:21+00:00{summary}2019-12-26T06:26:00+00:00LaDonnadomesticgeek@gmail.comhttp://domesticgeek.comPersonal,
I really miss blogging.
I have been so busy these last 2-1/2 years with our business that I've lost touch with what makes me happy. I haven't had a garden in years, my houseplants have died, I only cook on special occasions, can't remember the last time I actually baked anything, my house still isn't unpacked and I really can't remember the last time I actually finished a craft project.
I've also been eating crap food with no exercise, so my weight is going up again.
We've moved to a beautiful place, but I haven't been enjoying it.
So, I'm hoping in the new year that if I get back into the routine of writing, I'll get back into the routine of doing what I enjoy.
Now, how in the hell do I post this thing? LOL]]>I’m Back!tag:domesticgeek.com,2018:index.php/1.29022018-10-04T16:58:00+00:002018-10-04T17:39:24+00:00{summary}2018-10-04T16:58:00+00:00LaDonnadomesticgeek@gmail.comhttp://domesticgeek.comPersonal,
Just a few of the things that happened that have kept me from all this:
July 2016: Got a job working at paper in Custer, SD and quit working at the printer in Denver that I was at for almost 10 years
August 2016: Moved to South Dakota by myself
October 2016: Dad passed away
July 2017: Quit job at paper to run print shop business in Custer that Marcus bought
June 2018: Marcus moved to South Dakota
It's been over 2 years since I moved up here and I still haven't gotten unpacked. My house is a disaster. We still need to sell the condo in Denver. We really need to find a bigger space for our shop.
Anyway, it's been a crazy couple of years and this just didn't get on the radar. Since I really want to do NaBloPoMo in November, I had better make sure this is all working again soon.I also want to restart my 101 in 1001 days and do a Project 365.
ETA: OK, so looks like NaBlogPoMo is defunct? WTF? I guess I have been out of the game for a while. Oh, well...]]>This So Blowstag:domesticgeek.com,2017:index.php/1.29002017-05-07T05:01:00+00:002017-05-07T05:16:02+00:00{summary}2017-05-07T05:01:00+00:00LaDonnadomesticgeek@gmail.comhttp://domesticgeek.comPersonal, Expression Engine, HTML,
For reasons I can't go into on a public forum, I need to get my skill set back. My poor site here has been broken because I hadn't upgraded EE in so long that when Marcus upgraded his servers to the latest PHP, everything here was broken. I'm back up enough that I hope this will post...we'll see here in a bit. PHP has changed, Expression Engine has changed, even HTML changed (I have no experience whatsoever with HTML5). It's going to be a challenge, but I will relearn all this.
ETA: OK, my little mood guys are broken, but at least I can post. That's a start...]]>Failed Again at NaBloPoMotag:domesticgeek.com,2016:index.php/1.28992016-11-18T03:14:51+00:002016-11-17T20:20:52+00:00{summary}2016-11-18T03:14:51+00:00LaDonnadomesticgeek@gmail.comhttp://domesticgeek.comInternet, Blogging, NaBloPoMo,Man, can not get my act together with this daily blogging thing anymore. Totally slipped my mind last night...so, guess this is it for this year.
Since it snowed here in South Dakota today, I'm behind in my work (left late packing stuff up in case I got stranded, left work early and it took 1.5 hrs. to get home), so I've got some of that to do tonight. I've got a bunch of stuff to do for Marcus, I'm exhausted and haven't been feeling well the last few days. My house is a pit. I am just going to have to admit that I don't need this obligation on top of everything else right now.
I'll still try to keep up with the Project 365 thing. I really do want to finish one of those, for once. I'm not posting those tonight, though.
Better luck next year...]]>Feeling Much Better Today & Project 365 #14 & #15tag:domesticgeek.com,2016:index.php/1.28982016-11-16T06:10:29+00:002016-11-15T23:44:30+00:00{summary}2016-11-16T06:10:29+00:00LaDonnadomesticgeek@gmail.comhttp://domesticgeek.comArts & Crafts, Knitting, Food, Internet, Blogging, NaBloPoMo, Project 365,Sorry for the funky mood yesterday. Feeling so much better today. It helps that I didn't freeze all danged day.
I finally found another set of size 7 circular knitting needles. They'll do for now, except that I think I'm allergic to the nickle plating and will either have to go in really short bursts or find some cotton gloves to wear. They also have a more blunt tip than the one that broke, so it was a little awkward (this yarn is a little bit splitty). I messaged the company about the needle that fell apart, and while they have offered to replace it, they say it will take 6-8 weeks as it has to come from India. WTF? Load of crap there. So, while I wait for that replacement, guess I order a new one off eBay or something. It cracked me up when I titled this photo "Broken Dreamz" - Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" started playing in my head. LOL
Here's a link to an amigurumi pumpkin I want to make. Let see if the link keeps the Google Translate function intact.
There's a winter storm watch in effect for Thursday and Friday of this week. I'm really not looking forward to driving to Custer in the snow. Hope it's not as bad as some people are saying. Of course, Marcus is supposed to come this weekend, so it better not be horrible. I miss him and T.
OK, on to the Project 365 photos and then I'm hauling my carcass to bed. I need to start compiling my Thanksgiving menu so I can send a shopping list to Marcus for the stuff I can't get organic around here.
#14 - I'm going to be finding skeins of floss for a while, it seems. I found a box that I thought might contain another size 7 needle as it has the extra yarn skeins for said project. Nope, but there was more cross-stitch stuff tucked in there.
#15 - The restaurant I was going to eat at tonight was closed and I was craving a burger (today was rough at work, but a different rough than yesterday). I didn't feel like cooking. Black Hills Burger & Bun in Custer is usually packed and I've only ever had carry-out from there once. As I drove by, I noticed it almost empty, so I popped in. Had some cauliflower soup and a burger called "Big Sur". Yum, radish sprouts and cucumbers. (NOTE: I am not drinking a Pepsi - that is iced tea.)
]]>Random Monday Thoughtstag:domesticgeek.com,2016:index.php/1.28972016-11-15T06:18:43+00:002016-11-14T23:45:44+00:00{summary}2016-11-15T06:18:43+00:00LaDonnadomesticgeek@gmail.comhttp://domesticgeek.comInternet, Blogging, NaBloPoMo,
OK, my new employers apparently don't believe in providing heat. It's always super cold in there on Mondays and today I was so cold that I never warmed up. I tried running the heater in my car during lunch. I had the heater raging on the drive home. No luck - once I get chilled to the core, it takes me a long time to finally get warm. I felt like such crap when I got home, that I turned up the heating mattress pad and crawled into bed. I don't know when I dozed off, but I finally woke up around 10pm somewhat warm.
I'm either going to have to invest in some kind of electric hand warmers or something. It's only November and it really hasn't even gotten that cold yet. I can't take a whole winter of freezing every danged day.
I was in a mood today, anyway. Wonder if it was the full moon, in addition to the fact I was freezing. Things were really irritating me today, especially the office manager of one of our clients. She got bent because I told her it would cost extra money for me to take their black and white ad (for the paper) and remake it color for their office use. She thought since they were paying for the ad, I should just do it. Um, you didn't pay the extra for a color ad. GRRRR! I was already miffed at her because I did exactly what she asked me to over the phone to change this week's ad, but when she saw a proof, she said that's not what she had in mind. Um, how about spelling out in writing what it is you want? You have email. *Sigh* This is why I can't make it as a freelance graphic artist. I would've cut her loose weeks ago. Oh, well. It's still better than working my last job (not that I wouldn't bolt in a heartbeat if I won the lottery).
Wish I could find my other size 7 knitting needles. I'm sure they're probably in a project somewhere. This is one of the things I'm not thrilled about this area. There are no more knitting stores and there are no cross-stitch stores. Sure, there is the Internet, but sometimes you just want to go browse. Oh, well...in theory I will spend less money that way, right? LOL
I wonder if mammogram machines really do give some people cancer. There's a woman I watch on YouTube every week that was mentioning how she went in yearly for her test. She's got cancer now and her doctor even mentioned that there was a spot she had been concerned about the last couple of times. I know there are studies out there that say they do. We all know I detest the medical profession and wouldn't doubt that this is just one more avenue to make sure they have patients.
They say we're getting our first measurable snow at the end of the week. I'm really not looking forward to driving to and from Custer in the snow. It's one of the misgivings I had about taking the job. Guess that time is here now.
I'll post my 365 picture tomorrow - I don't feel like transferring from my phone tonight. I'm going back to bed. Hope I feel better in the morning.]]>Update Gone Horribly Wrong & Project 365 #13tag:domesticgeek.com,2016:index.php/1.28962016-11-14T03:39:05+00:002016-11-13T21:10:06+00:00{summary}2016-11-14T03:39:05+00:00LaDonnadomesticgeek@gmail.comhttp://domesticgeek.comEntertainment, Netflix, Television, Internet, Blogging, NaBloPoMo, Project 365,Well, I made the mistake of trying to upgrade my Expression Engine installation last night. This is what I get for not keeping up with the versions. It went horribly wrong and I couldn't even log in to my control panel. I felt it necessary as something changed in the last few days that broke my site and I couldn't edit past entries and it was telling me there were all these new comments that weren't there. Good thing Marcus & I made backups of everything. I'm back on my old installation, but I've removed some deprecated things that I think were breaking stuff. At least I'm able to post again and edit past posts. I am so frustrated that I've let my web knowledge get so rusty. Marcus will have to help me trouble shoot and get it updated once he's up here later this month.
I've spent a good chunk of today watching old movies on the Sundance channel. It's one of our free previews this month. Sometimes wish I could get more channels, but the cost isn't really worth it.
Speaking of TV, Gilmore Girls is on in less than 2 weeks. There's an ice cream company in New York, Ample Hills Creamery, selling a Gilmore Girls branded ice cream. Tempted to splurge and order some. Not sure when I'm going to settle in to watch. I'm probably going to be one of two people working in our office the day after Thanksgiving. Hopefully we can keep the front door locked. Not really wanting to be bothered by people on Black Friday (the front of our office is an antique-type store), especially since there's really nothing cool to buy there. Will probably have to do it when I get home.
So, stuff like this below is what is frustrating me about my craft supplies situation. I thought I had found all floss and had it wound on bobbins and cataloged in my Xstitch app. Nope, while looking for the ever elusive size 7 knitting needle, I found this today:
