Tomorrow is going to be my "grand opening" of my Etsy store.
I already put some products in the store, none of which have sold but from tomorrow and on I am going to try to promote it a bit.

But I need your help.

What type of things do you buy online?

And what type of things do you wish you could buy online?

Is there a certain item you struggle to find that maybe I can learn to make?

If ever there were a post you commented on please let it be this one.

And be sure to check in tomorrow when I officially open the store. I promise the prices will all be smashingly cheap since I need to build clientele.

Feel free to steal the image and code in this post to help me promote my shop.

Thanks!!!

Labels: etsy

Labels: children, singing, talent

This comic is dedicated to Tink and Hoop from Pickled Beef. I present them with this Savage Chicken zombie comic in honor of the linked post. And also because this blog is always fun and refreshing!

Labels: chicken, comic, zombie

A friend of mine in the land of blogs wrote a post today answering the questions of someone who wanted to know about her. The questions pertained to her knowledge of the spiritual world. You can read it at "On A Limb"...

Now why am I mentioning it?

Well, I commented on her post with a slight disagreement, not not in an agrumentative way, just that my experience with the spiritual world has been different.

For instance, lately I have been surrounded by spirits I wish would just leave me alone. As awful as it might seem, I have enough on my plate and they are sucking the life out of me. I don't believe that is their intention, but spirits DO effect the environment where they linger. And for me they can drain me quickly depending on how many are around.

There is a spot outside of where I work which maks me particularly uneasy.
I don't know or think anything bad happened at this spot, but there is a spirit who frequents the area and it is not happy. I have taken a picture of the area before because it looks so peaceful. There is a gazebo and a garden, it is on my way into the office from the parking lot.

There are many spirits which go there and most of the time they are cheerful. But this one, I just don't know what is wrong with him. Yes, I believe he is male, but I have been wrong about that before. I bet if there were a way to get the temperature of this particular stretch of concrete it would be significantly colder. It almost makes me want to throw off my routine a bit, because I know he knows when I come to work and leave work. He waits. There have been times during which I come in later int he morning and he is not there. But if I leave on time in the afternoon he is there and he is especially cold then. As if to somehow say he isn't happy I missed our morning meeting.

I wish I knew what was wrong but he never talks. And I don't hear music.

Music?

Yes.

There are spirits that surround Braeden and when they do they sing and play music. It is soft, light and calming. I hear it all the time. It is comforting. When he isn't home and I don't hear the music it is more difficult for me to fall asleep.

Ah well. Maybe one day I'll uncover the mystery. Until then I'll endure.
Thank you Claudia for your post, it definitely got me thinking. =o)

Labels: ghosts, spirits

I say ... and you think ... ?

Protocol :: prototype
Girlfriends :: wear travelling pants
Shoulders :: hurt
Coming home :: to the place where I belong
Let it in :: keep it in
Honor :: Thyself
Tyler :: Who's Tyler?
Thriller :: White knuckles
Angela :: Banana Fanana Angelanna
The winner is :: that guy.

Labels: unconcious mutterings

Happy Birthday to Brian.

My husband turns 27 today and since he is 28 days older than me I feel I can stick out my tongue, dance around and call him an old man.

But when I turn 27 in 28 days I will purely be glowing in my youth. Haha.

Anywho, here is a link to "This Day In History"



YOUR BIRTHDAY: 24 February (PISCES)

Your personal ruling planets are Neptune and Venus.

Your destiny is such that you will struggle for balance, usually the balance between family and work. You have a highly strung nature and this is generally the result of possibly taking on more than you can handle at any given moment. As you are essentially an emotional person the requirement in your case is to carefully plan your work and not take on too much. Often you may find yourself a stranger within your own family through overwork. These vibrations indicate a "workaholic" tendency.

You have a fortunate vibration in that you can meet important people who will be of assistance to you, particularly influential women. The energy is successful for the future, particularly where the opposite sex is concerned.

Your lucky colours are white and cream.

Your lucky gems are diamond, white sapphire or quartz crystal.

Your lucky days of the week are Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Your lucky numbers and years of important change are 6, 15, 24, 33, 42, 51, 60, 69, 78.

Famous people born on your birthday include Wilhelm Grimm, Winslow Homer, Billy Zane, Edward James Olmos and Manon Rheaume. [birthday profiler]

And here is your special birthday card!

Labels: birthday, brian

Whwn I saw this quiz on Late Bloomer Boomer's site I decided to give it a try because I was curious to see the results. I found out I am a comma and the first thing that popped into my head is that it must mean I am overly used. lol

You Are a Comma

You are open minded and extremely optimistic. You enjoy almost all facets of life. You can find the good in almost anything. You keep yourself busy with tons of friends, activities, and interests. You find it hard to turn down an opportunity, even if you are pressed for time. Your friends find you fascinating, charming, and easy to talk to. (But with so many competing interests, you friends do feel like you hardly have time for them.) You excel in: Inspiring people You get along best with: The Question Mark

Labels: quiz

McCain and his lobbyist ties and now the Pentagon speaking up against Obama. (Let's seem him charm his way out of this one). Of course we can't forget Clinton making them suspend an anchorman because he made a quip about her daughter. Oh dear. Oh dear.

And it's great because it gives more creative fuel to comedians. Hehe. It is sad to say but the candidates who wish to be president are all jokes as far as I'm concerned. Though if I had to vote right now I'd vote for Clinton. At least she has Bill in her pocket and he didn't do such a bad job. And in all honesty she does a lot for children and health care which are my weak spots.

More political cartoons to come.

Labels: cartoon, politics

A New York Times article suggested that John McCain had a sexual relationship with a female lobbyist. An indignant McCain responded, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman... Okay, let me rephrase that."

Labels: politics

Is it strange that I think it is cool that the Chesapeake Bay Bridge is #4 on the list of the 10 longest bridges in the world!

"The Chesapeake Bay Bridge (commonly known as the Bay Bridge) is a major dual-span bridge in the U.S. state of Maryland; spanning the Chesapeake Bay, it connects the state’s Eastern and Western Shore regions. At 4.3 miles (7 km) in length, the original span was the world’s longest continuous over-water steel structure when it opened in 1952. The bridge is officially named the William Preston Lane, Jr. Memorial Bridge after William Preston Lane, Jr. who, as governor of Maryland, implemented its construction."

I think I'll forever like everything Chesapeake related since that is where Bri and I got married. =o)

SOURCE

Labels: weird news

Created by Eugen Erhan & Tudor Muscalu

If you don't read these comics now you certainly need to start, they are so flippin' hilarious. Sometimes very odd, okay, always odd, but I love them. So if this made you laugh then click on it to get to their site and read through their other comics.

Labels: comic, pidgin

Old phone, new phone.

Just a story of a girl and her psychotic need to talk on a phone that was nearly dismantled until she could upgrade for free.

Time with wire exposed phone approximately 6.5 months. =o)

Labels: phone

It has been confirmed that a 6th person has died in the most recent college campus shooting at Northern Illinois University. If you include the shooter who killed himself at the end of his rampage there are now a total of 7 dead.

This leaves 15, instead of 16, still wounded from the shooting.

Please continue to pray for all those involved.

SOURCE

Labels: tragedy

Happy Valentine's Day everyone.

My Bri sent chocolate covered strawberries to work. He also brought home wine and made dinner, very sweet. =o) This is our first Valentine's Day as husband and wife. I am so blessed. (Though I must say I feel this commercialized holiday further complicates love and romance by perpetuating frivilous expectations. I do like my sweets,hehe)

Braeden has also been cute, asking me to be his Valentine and writing me little scribbled love notes with his new High School Musical pen. This morning I have him the pen and a Disney's Little Einsteins Gameboy Game, he ran up to me proclaiming "It's just what I have always wanted." =o)

I have had a migraine since Tuesday and am still feeling wretched, but the doctor gave me some medicine to try and it seems to be helping a bit, but the headache is still lingering.

I have just been reading the breaking news regarding the shooting at Northern Illinois University where six are dead and sixteen wounded. It upsets my stomach, hy heart goes out to that community. I have no idea what to say about it, these things seem to be happening more and more and it is inconceivable to me. Senseless.

In other news, tomorrow is Friday. Friday is good. A new day. I welcome it.

Labels: brae, brian, tragedy, valentines day

ModMom is hosting a slew of giveaways.

You need to check them out, seriously, and enter. No strings attached. Enter them all, there are giveaways of books, cupcakes, chocolates, gift baskets and a bunch of environmentally friendly products. Ohhhh and 10 mac digital burning software suites!

Plus her website is just a really great site, so it's worth bookmarking. There are also links on her blogroll that lead to great sites for designers and crafty moms who like to remain in the know. =o)

Labels: mod mom

There really isn't a place to post about political issues on my site. This is for a very good reason and mostly it is because it would only ever spark arguments and controvery.

Some things get me all riled up ya know. I get passionate about topics and being feisty is alright (hence the scrappy+tink=scrink), but I don't like when I get mean.

Regardless, there is a topic in international news that has me riled up and I do want to write about it, so I'm going to.

Timor Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta was shot and wounded Monday in the stomach by rebel gunmen in a predawn raid on his home in the capital Dili, but his wounds were classified as not "life threatening."

I get upset when anyone is hurt. It further upsets me in this story, because he was attacked at his home. How brazen are people getting if they become comfortable enough to attempt assassinations at the residence of a president?

The home of Timor-Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao and his motorcade came under fire in apparently coordinated attacks.

To have two incidents planned like this I would imagine a leak somewhere. Now I hate being a conspiracy theorist and as much as I should be less gullible I don't often feel paranoid about things. I usually find the silver lining to everything. Here I don't. I have bad feelings about this and I don't think we have heard the end of this situation.

Not only do I think there is a leak, but I also think these events are happening for more than one reason. Somebody is helping someone else and they each have their own motives. Even if this means the happening in Australia are a decoy for things happening elsewhere, nearby, perhaps in China.

But what do I know.

Labels: politics

Yo my pals.

hehe

This is the deal, plain and simple. I try to make extra money with my blog.
Obviously.

And soon I hope to start selling things I sew.

I do giveaway contests on the music section and would also like to extend giveaways from other sections if y'all have any ideas. This is an effort to get more traffic.

Also, my page rank is 0 and has been for a year, it seems nothing I do helps to increase my ranking. Well, a lot of people, silly as it is, base their view of my blog dependent on my ranks and so I'm losing sponors. =o/

If you can help, please just go here My Technorati Profile and favorite me. Or better yet tell me how I can improve my situation.

Eventually my hope is to be able to do more work from home and less from the office. I need more time with my son. Ideas?

Thanks guys.

Labels: help

Yesterday was Jada's birthday. As you may or may not know, Jada is my brother's lovely girlfriend. Later this month is their two year anniversary. =o)

Yesterday also happened to be a terrible day for driving due to an inch of ice out on the roads. Even 495 ended up getting shut down going into Pennsylvania. Knowing how my Jeep is a magnet for crazy drivers you should also know another wipeout occurred directly in front of me on my ride to pick up Braeden yesterday afternoon. This time a silver Mustang spun out 10 feet in front of me and ended up facing the wrong way in the shoulder. How I didn't hit him is beyond me, but I'm glad my guardian angels were working overtime, as were the drivers.

Back to Jada. My brother is a hopelessly hopeful romantic. He is such the Casanova or Don Juan of our time. He made reservations a month in advance for some fancy place in Philly to take Jada for her birthday. With the weather he ended up needing to cancel those reservations. Thanks to good sense and fair warning they stayed in for the night.

At first Gregory was irritated. This is his girlfriend and it was her birthday and he wanted her to have a fabulous time. So naturally he did what all guys do and he got busy in the kitchen. (Note: Very few guys actually do this, I was being sarcastic).

He made all of Jada's favorite foods. He had three pots going on the stove, the oven filled with food and had several courses to bring down to her in the basement apartment. He even called and told her that her driver would be on his way ten minutes of 7 p.m. to take her to a lavish dinner. He lit candles, used linen napkins, placed roses around the room and everything.

(Note: I don't live there, this is all what my Mom told me she witnessed).

He made decadent desserts with her favorite fruits and chocolate, including homemade applesauce sprinkled with cinnamon. Some kind of champagne glass with chocolate, pudding, whipped cream and other deliciousness, too.

Now if that isn't love, I don't know what is...to make the best of a bad weather day and sweep his lady off her feet in spite of it all. I hope they had a wonderful night. Happy Birthday, Jada!

As for the weather, of course this morning I was sliding around outside in an attempt to start my car early and defrost it a bit. I put ice out but I don't know if it made a difference or not. Bah. The temperature is rising and I surmise the ice will be gone by the time I leave. However, there is a flood warning until tomorrow morning. =o)

The photo is from my wedding, that is Jada and my brother Greg after she caught the bouquet.

Labels: driving, Gregory, Jada, romantic

And now for another exciting installment of the life of Christy.

6:15 a.m. the alarm goes off.

I decide I'll try to sleep just a minute longer.

Braeden screams "MOMMY!" so loud you'd think a spider were on his face.

I go into Braeden's room and lay down on the floor.

6:30 a.m. I wake up on Braeden's floor.

I tell Brae, Mommy needs to get herself dressed for work.

I get dressed.

Pick out some clothes for Brae and tell him we need to get up, we're running late.

His response, "Don't tell me that. Don't touch me. I'm not going to do anything you tell me to do."

Quizzical look. Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

Disregarding his rudeness I proceed to get him changed into clothes and out of his pajammies.

He kicks me like a mule.

Aw man now you've done it child.

Now he's getting dressed if he likes it or not and no airplane games and giggles!

It's 6:41 a.m.

We finally get downstairs.

He goes digging through the pantry for his pediasure and I got start the car.

The wind tries to knock me over.

I fight back against its frigidity.

The jeep is started and telling me about the 12 degree weather we're having.

Going back inside.

I open the pediasure and then grab a cup to put it in.

I have forgotten about already opening the pediasure and I shake it. Hard.

A chocolate, vitamin smelling eruption takes place in the kitchen.

The walls are now soaked with chocolate.

The refrigerator door...chocolate.

The floor, the table, my clothes, my hair and my shoes are SOAKED in chocolate.

Braeden starts crying. "Look what you did. Now I'm going to need to get another one."

I walk out of the room and upstairs.

Brian sees me, white sweater with chocolate all over it. But it's dark, I'm sure he thinks it looks like blood. He sits up in bed so fast I think he's going to hurt himself.

I explain. The chocolate eruption.

I get changed.

Brian goes downstairs.

I walk back downstairs.

Brian says, "You weren't kidding."

No.

It's now 6:55 a.m. and I haven't poured my coffee or gotten something for lunch.

And there is pediasure ALL OVER THE KICTHEN!

Brian tells me he will clean it up, I should leave and get Brae to daycare and get myself to work.

I apologize.

I apologize again.

We get outside and into the car, still 12 degrees.

I begin backing out and notice my coffee mug sitting on the hood of the Jeep.

Stop.

Get out of the car.

Get my coffee.

Get back in the car.

Fast forward until now.

It is 8 a.m. Braeden is at daycare and I am now at work, on time, thank goodness.

All I can smell is pediasure.

Labels: monday morning

So I'm meshing my sewing craft into the design blog from now on because I wanna be crafty. But I thought I'd let you banter reading people know that I am almost done the space man pajammies. And I'm pretty darn proud of myself.

Last night I finished the shirt and tonight I almost finished the pants. I even made a casing at the waist and fed elastic through it to gather the fabric and make it the proper size for my Brae Brae. The only thing I have let to do is to hem around the bottom of the legs and I'll be done and moving onto the next project.

A friend of mine at work wants me to make him a black vest. And I have so many great ideas for little girl clothes, so I'm thrilled!

Isabella spent some time with us tonight. She colored with her Uncle Brian for a bit. I painted her nails and she ran a muck with Brae for awhile. Her Mom, my cousin Roo, is sick and so we'll be taking care of Miss Belle tomorrow evening as well. She's a good apple that one and cute as a button. Now if only my little one could listen as well. Though I am sure she gives her parents a hard time, too. Kids seem to be that way, easier on other people and wicked to their parents. Why is that?

Right now I'm drinking some sort of light pink sparkling wine. It's not bad. If there weren't bubble it would definitely be too sweet for my liking, but I'm enjoying it all the same.

I'm frustrated that spell check isn't working on Blogger. It hasn't been functioning all week and I'm just clumsy with the keys. So if my entries have been horrifyingly full of errors than I apologize.

Labels: brae, brian, isabella, sewing

This test says my blog is worth a nice chunk of change.



I'd like to know how that is possible, because I know I don't make that money. Nope. Where is it going? Where is the hole in the bottom of this blog's pocket!? Hmmm?

Labels: random

Since I'm not sure how to explain this, I'm just going to start typing.

At approximately 11:30 a.m. my Mom called me at work all upset because some woman called her looking for me. The woman claimed I was committing fraud against her by having a phone sent to her address, a bill sent to her address but with my name on it.

Okay, so she calls FedEx, they come back to pick up the package because she refuses to accept it, logically, because it's not hers. They tell her to call the police because it could be fraudulent activity.

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!?

So the woman then looks up my name, finds my parents phone number and calls with these threats.

I called Fed Ex and told them the story, they said they were sorry but that the cell phone company would have to assist me. I have been on the phone now for 30 minutes with this damn company and they are NOT helping me. They keep saying they will reorder the phone and have it sent to me by the end of the week. That is not the point. The point is that they need to fix this riduclous situation. This moron of a customer service rep has refused to transfer me to anyone else because he says no one will be able to help me. That if he calls Fed Ex to explain the situation they will not even believe that he is from the cell phone company and therefore it won't matter.

WHAT THE HELL!?

What do you mean they won't believe you? You are an employee of this company, user error on your end made my phone go to the wrong address. This wrong address ended up being the home of a crazy, paranoid woman who thinks I'm trying to get over on her. She reports me as committing fraud against her.

And no one involved is helping me. You have no idea how frickin' pissed off I am right now. Then when I told the man I want to be transferred, he said "Well, you never specifically said you wanted to speak to my manager."

How do I calm down this psycho who thinks I'm committing fraud against her if neither of the companies involved will help me. And what do I do if the police really do show up at my house? This is INSANE! It doesn't make a bit of sense!

Labels: wacky wednesday

Yes, this interactive map is finally complete!

I know I don't normally talk about my "real" work on this site, but this map was a pain in my arse. Just because when working with faculty there is a lot of down time. They have hundreds of other things to do and so communicating is difficult. Plus, I don't know enough about the gardens to really do this without instructions on positioning. But now it's finished until more flowers begin to bloom!

Woohoo!

Labels: work

Thank all Higher beings it is FRIDAY!

Man. Oh. Man.

So yesterday I had to call out of work and watch my Brae and my goddaughter Belle because daycare closed. My Dad had to have emergency knee surgery, and so Mom had to close the daycare obviously.

You might have read on the wellness section of this blog...about my Dad having hurt his knee. Due to the inflammation and infection around the knee they had been putting off surgery. Until they realized the infection was starting to eat away at his muscles. Oh yum! There is a significant amount of gout involved in the mix and so my Dad is in a considerable amount of pain.

Belle will be three years old on February 15th and Brae is four, so my day was quite hectic and loud. We had fun though. We played DVD Bingo, drew pictures at the easel, ate pizza and watched movies. Then I finished my third sewing project, Braeden's Tranformers pillow. The kids helped me stuff the pillow.

Last night I attempted making a bag for Belle. I had picked up cute scrap fabric that was lime green and purple and had little girls, polka dots, flowers, all kinds of girly stuff on it. I did finish something, and you could call it a bag, but I'm hoping for something a little more even next time. Haha. I should have taken a picture to show you. Bah. I need to take a picture of Brae's two new pillows. So since purchasing the sewing machine I have crafted four items. =o)

I have so many great ideas, but I don't yet know how to put them into patterns and sew them up. Little by little I'll rock it and you'll see, soon enough, J-LO will be asking me to sew clothes for her babies. =oP

Labels: brae, family, isabella, sewing