Worth Cheeping Twice Josh mentions something about "the smart kids" (after just telling me about getting 105% on a spelling test) and I say, "You're ONE of the smart kids!" to which he cries, "I'm Anakin Skywalker!! I've become the VERY thing I have been fighting against!" ~Josh age 12.6 THE COMPLETE COLLECTION
In 2007, I made THESE for the Super Bowl. Bacon Wrapped, Cream Cheese filled Jalapenos from the Pioneer Woman's delectable list of food things she shares with the world. They were DELISH. Totally and absolutely. BUT. They were also hard to fix when you aren't the host of the party. Because they are BEST when they are warm out of the oven. Soooo this year, I've made some changes. I bought about 10 Jalapenos, and prepared them by taking out their seeds and core. (I saved that on the side for later) THEN I roasted them on a roasting pan in my toaster oven for about 15-20 min. Until they were tender and slightly brown. Oven temp was 350. Once they were ready, I diced them, and put them into two packages of Cream Cheese, along with one package of Hormel's REAL bacon bits. Then I mashed it all together, and using my garlic press to mash them, added small amounts of the uncooked core and seeds to the mix until I had the heat I wanted. EASY!! And GREAT for getting ready to GO to someone ELSE'S house for the bowl. Won't this be tasty on Roasted Garlic Triscuits? YEAH. OH. Yeeeaaaaaahhhh.
You might remember my hummingbird... Just before Christmas last year, we had snow, and LOTS of ice. Ice that killed all the flowers that stick around here on the coast most of the winter. There are a couple of species of hummingbirds that don't migrate here in our area. The Anna's Hummingbird is one such species. I think that's what I have. With all the flowers dead, he came to my feeders that I still had hanging around. The stuff in them was NASTY old... but he kept trying them... I made new sugar water as fast as I could and he's never left. I caught him on video here... It's hard to tell in the video, but I'm really only about 4 feet from the feeder at the beginning.
He is SO SO SO sweet!! He's pretty dependable, as you can see in the video!! That was about my bazzilionth trip out of the house after a trip to get groceries. He buzzed down each time, and chattered at me!! I can't even express how happy he makes my heart. You can listen to what they sound like HERE... that's pretty much what he does every time I come out the door!! He buzzes down to the Butterfly Bush, and sits there, singing to me, and talking. When I talk to him, he turns his little head like this: and looks at me... He likes to ruffle himself and fluff up for me a lot too! :) I love it. I accidentally caught him doing that in this photo... Here's a not so great photo of HIM, but you can see the beautiful glow of his rosy head. Interested in feeding Hummingbirds where you live? It's so easy... first, I should say, that I am whole heartedly against putting red dye into or using products with red dye in hummingbird food. There is opinion out there that states red dye in hummingbird water has stunted reproduction, and in some cases, created infertility. The only reason for adding the colorant to hummer food is because they are attracted to the color red in nature. HOWEVER. If your food is kept fresh, and you have red on your feeder, they will come. Sometimes, you have to change the water a few times before they start coming. You can also tie red ribbons around your feeder to help them notice it. I recomend wide mouthed feeders, so that you can easily scrub the feeder with hot soapy water between feedings. (I've bought mine cheaper than the one I linked to at my local WalMart) It's imperitive that you keep your feeder clean, so that you don't introduce bacteria into your hummingbird populations. Use the hottest water you can, with soap to scrub the inside AND outside of the feeder between EVERY feeding. Bleach is acceptable too, and both should be rinsed off WELL. In warm weather, food should not sit out for more than one or two days. In cool weather, you can go a day or two longer. If you notice an oder when you open a feeder, you should shorten the time between changes. Making Nectar is simple. Use 1 part sugar for every 4 parts water. Using regular tap water, bring 4 cups of water to a boil. (this may not be necessary, according to some, but I do it anyway, as it also can't hurt) Pour in 1 cup of regular granulated sugar, and stir until dissolved. remove from heat, and let cool. Pour into clean feeders, and you're set! Some people recommend a sweeter solution. This solution, is as near as I can tell from research I've on line, the closest to what nature makes through nectar. There's no need to make it sweeter. Doing so can cause digestion issues. Likewise, you should not use honey, or artificial sweeteners for making your hummingbird's water. These ingredients don't have the nutritional value that hummingbirds NEED to provide the energy to fly and search for food. HERE is some good info on taking down your feeders... in fact, that whole SITE is good... lol Happy HUMMING!!
As much as I laid around and farted on the computer yesterday, I really WAS getting things done. I swear. I got my GutterGirlz project finished, and the prompt is up today also!! I had to stew on this prompt for a while until I got the right inspiration... then it all fell together really quickly!! So nice when that happens. I also got the two prompts for Emily's 52Q finished today!! Week 3 Do you believe in Fairies? Week 4 When I look into my eyes I see _______ Off to straighten the kitchen... in case of company tonight.
At least when Martha Stewart threw her hat into the crafter's ring, you knew she actually COULD use the stuff. Now, it appears that Paris HILTON is in on the money to be made in the scrapbooking industry? In a Newsday article, she says her target audience is tweens and teens. Really Paris!? Because when I was a teen, I totally could have seen through your shit. It's all about the dollar you THINK you can make. I can hardly imagine if you actually scrapped, that you would want to purchase a ton of crap with someone else's face and initials written all over it. I used to think you weren't as dumb as you pretend to be. Now you're making me wonder. The article also says.. "In the craft market we see a lot of demand for tweens and teens," said Genevieve Lecompte, Wooky's vice president of sales and marketing, "but there’s not much to offer." WHAT?!?! Have you not SEEN Rusty Pickle and BAM POP and Sass Lass, and if we're talking PINK and BLING... can you say GLITZ and HEIDI SWAPP!?!? Whatever. Do your freaking research before you talk out loud. I don't know WHAT her rep is smoking but the article also says "She's a great icon for teens and young adults," Lecompte said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times." HELLO!?!? A WOMAN who has had her PORN all over the net, has been known to flash her cootch at cameras, and walks around looking and sounding like a drugged out spoiled brat snob is a good "icon" for teens? Well obviously you THINK so... or you wouldn't have smeared her FACE all over the product. Yeah, Paris. You're right. That's HOT. Just in case you didn't get the sarcasm... I am totally NOT buying your crap.
I've been Photo Tagged by Adrienne! It's actually a pretty awesome tag, and super easy too!! I only mention the Devil because there are so many 6s in the rules.... lol This photo is from the Day of the Dead folder on my computer. It's a picture of Ian rolling out the tortillas that we were making by hand that day. It was our first year celebrating the holiday, and it was a blast. That's my mom in the background. I don't think I've edited this picture yet. I should scrap it.
SO here's the rules for Photo Tagging.
Go to the section of your computer where you store all of your photos.
Such a simple question. Macs and I were in the art supply store today. I've been wanting to find it for a while now. Today, I did. We went in, and I looked around just to get a feel for what I can get there... of course, I found some things I wanted... but while I was checking out, the gal running the shop today was talking to Macs. She asked him if he liked art. I tell you I just about burst when he looked her in the eyes, and said with full confidence... "I'm an artist." I thought I would cry. I'm so proud of him and his confidence. I hope he never loses it. I hope I can learn to have that confidence in myself. Today in the shop I confided in that same gal that I was hoping to start ....TEACHING art. I want to spread that confidence in other children. To tell them that coloring inside the lines is nice, but when you aren't in school, and the teacher isn't asking you, it's OK to color outside the lines... it's OK to make creatures that don't exist, and play with orange in your skies... Maybe in teaching that... I'll get to that place myself. Maybe, I'll get back to that place where I can lose myself in the moment. All I know, is that more than ever before, I feel like everything I've ever learned, everything I've taken time to do, my past jobs, my past volunteer work... it's all coming to a place I think I want to stay. A place I want to grow. A place where a little boy can look at a stranger and TELL them he's an artist.
My friend Jen played THIS game on her blog a while back, and I asked for a letter! How does one play the Alphabet Super Game, you ask? You have to list 10 of your favorite things that start with a certain letter assigned to you by the blog owner. Jen gave me the letter 1. Blogging. I love blogging. I have over 20 blogs that I either contribute to, or that I own. One of them, I made just so that no one else could take the name I thought up. :P
2. Boys. I have three of them, and they are the BEST. I love love love being the mom of boys.
3. Books. I have shelves and shelves of them. I have piles for altering... I have piles for reading. I think out of the hundreds I have, only a handful haven't been read once before. Most of them have been read a few times.
4. Buttons. Again... it seems that if I like it, I have to have a lot of it. Buttons are no exception. I have buttons coming out of my EARS.
5. BlueTooth. I love my blue tooth. What other contraptions can YOU think of that allow you to charge your phone AND stay on the phone? Blue Tooth.
6. Best Friends. I don't know what I'd do without my best friend Coffee. She makes me smile, and laugh and once in a while cry... (but only because she's so good at making me feel loved) She makes me feel like I'm not the only crazy cookie in the batch.
7. Birds. I love feeding them, looking at them and seeing new species I've never seen in real life before. I think I may have been a birdwatcher in another life.
8. Bubbles. When I was a toddler teacher, my bubble machine was my favorite thing to get out on a gloomy day... no matter how cold, or overcast a day was... bubbles would make it all brighter!!
Nothing better than a barbecue with friends and family. NOTHING. That was a blast! Thanks, Jen!! Anyone want to play along? If so, leave me a comment in the comments section. Be sure you have your email enabled, so I can email you a letter!! Once you've posted, let me know, and I'll try to get everyone linked here in this post! LIKE THIS: Joan Rhomany Jocelyn
I kept Josh home from school today for a little while... For some reason, I was thinking that the inauguration wasn't until later today. By some weird chance, I thought I would turn on the TV and watch for a little while before I took Josh to school. Why the TV was on CNN, I'll never know. Thank goodness it WAS though!! I got to watch HISTORY today. What a powerful day.
In other important news... LOST starts again tomorrow!!
Sooooo IF you happen to live at Tally, like I do, you probably noticed that you CAN'T get there today!! No fears though!! This is ONLY temporary!! There's been a mix up with our server and a code somewhere, and Nerd will be taking a look at things from our side of the site a little later!! He's in a meeting at the moment, but he should be able to get things straightened out in a bit. Here's what I understand... The certificate of authenticity that makes Tally a known "safe" and trusted site to servers got entered wrong by the server when we renewed. They "fixed" things on their side, but in the fixing, made something on our side (a side I do not see) have a hic up. SO once that hic has been found, it WILL be fixed. Thanks to SUPER nerd!! My hero, and Tally's CAN DO ANYTHING man. ETA: Since posting, Nerd has updated on Facebook at TallyScrapper's GROUP. It apears that the mix up on our server's part has done much to cause trouble, and it's all trouble that they (the server) have to fix. The word from our server is that we'll be back in business "soon".
Here's my card for Emily's second question: Am I afraid of Change? It was a blast playing and making this one... and no. I'm not afraid. We have a lot of it in our family, it seems, but I think we all do a pretty good job of rolling with whatever change comes our way.
Only camera I had was my cell, and don't have a USB to load it to the computer, so I had to resort to taking a picture of the picture, and then editing THAT to get a better shot of it!! lol But it's there!! In the middle of the coffee... and I did it all on my own!! (not that I'll be able to do it again any time soon.... lol)
NOW off to pack for the crop I'm going to tomorrow.
One thing that I love about getting a KIT every month as the Creative Director on Tally, is that even when I'm at my busiest, I can justify (in my own head, of course) forcing myself to sit down and SCRAP at least once a month. Then, add my responsibilities as the owner of Gutter Girlz, and A Year in the Life of an Art Journal, and I have at least FOUR more chances to HAVE to be creative. Somehow, having that responsibility is what I need. I have deadlines, and I have to meet them. It can be hard at times, to stop and "force" creativity out of "nothing", but somehow, it always works... so I wonder... is it really that we "lose" our mojo...? I think that maybe that's not the case. For myself, at least, I have found that even when I am working with product that isn't "me", I am really just being challenged to MAKE it me. On the days when I don't FEEL like doing anything, and I'm forced to think creatively because I have pages and art due in a day or two... it seems like I can find creativity where I'm not feeling it. In fact, a lot of times, I find that once I'm done creating, I feel refreshed! I'm glad for that. What do you think? Is your creativity something that you can find even when it feels unfindable? If it's not, what do you think it is that is KEEPING you from finding it when you need it?
Here are some pages that I created "under the gun" this week. I'm really thankful for that gun!! I used photos that I might have stuck in my to do pile and never gotten to otherwise... All of these pages where made with the Jan 09 Kit from TallyScrapper.com! The kit will be released for sale later today, usually around noon central time. The Gutter Girlz prompts is also up today!! Check it out, and get YOUR art in the gutter!!
On a totally off creative topic- IF we take the Dump Dog, to those who are wondering... we'll be giving him an illicit drug name. It's a kind of silly tradition we have at our house. Even more fitting, now that Travis is officially a Drug Recognition Expert. lol We have Doobie and Kilo so far... and the dump dog will most likely get a drug name too. :P So far, my top choices are Blow, Ganga, Hooch or Crank. Ganga is my fave.
That's what he was called for about 3 months when he was left to fend for himself at the dump here just outside of town. Since then, he's been rescued, and he's in amazingly good shape for a dog who has been through the ringer!! He seems really sweet, and very accepting of attention. He's still pretty young. As near as I can tell, he's a mix between a Red Australian Cattle Dog and a Chocolate Lab. You can really see the lab on his face... but his hind end is pure cattle dog!! lol If I get my way... we may be thinking of a name soon....:)
I've been on a private mission. It's led me to have purchased not one not two BUT THREE typewriters in search of the PERFECT vintage typewriter. My first typewriter it turns out, is worth a good penny. I love the way it types. HATE the case it has. The second typewriter has a KICK ASSSssssk case. SUCK ASSSssssk typing. WHICH leads me to my THIRD purchase. I know what you're thinking. When you see this case, you're thinking, WOW. That is the most DELUXE HIGH FASHION case I've EVER seen. And you'd be right. Says so right at the end of the instruction manual that sits under the typewriter in said case. I can only assume, that what makes this case SO deluxe is it's handle. As you can see, it's VERY high fashion. That, and the hard plastic that makes the body of the case. For reals though... I do like the case. I actually BOUGHT the typewriter because it had the case, and took a CHANCE that it might type well too. I was crossing all sorts of body parts on that one, because I really wanted a typewriter that could be taken with me to crops and such. One that had it all. It's a little newer than the other two that I bought. but I am officially in El Oh Vee Eee.... This is THE typewriter. I think it might be THE one... Sooooooo..... anybody in the market for two half great typewriters?
That's me. All day. Dude. Where did I come from!?! I got rid of 40 you read that right. FORTY pounds of clothes today. I've been slowly working one coffeehouse paycheck at a time... toward a wardrobe that can be casual, well put together, AND still say ME all at once. I've been buying, and not ridding... so today, I rid. It all started a while ago, when I got a really great start on a new wardrobe at Penny's. Turns out, the day I just HAPPENED to be there, there was a sale... buy 5 items, get $10 off. (or something like that) The gal (thank you SOOOO much Penny's gal) noticed that I had 10 items, and asked if I wanted her to ring me up as two smaller (and 2 instead of 1 $10 off-er) orders. That way, I'd get $20 dollars off instead of just ten. Um, HELLO!?!?! Yes. I totally wanted. Soooooo to top off the MEGA sale I got for clear out winter clothes, I spent about $85 dollars for 10 things, that would have cost me over $230 altogether if I had bought them at full price. Combine that deal with a few that I've made at the dreaded WalMart, I've got a really cute new wardrobe. WHICH meant that I needed to get rid of the schtuff that I don't wear anymore, or that doesn't QUITE fit... like my old BRAS. WHICH leads me to ANOTHER great find. Do you know how much I HATE BRA SHOPPING? I totally hate it. It's very close to the torture I imagine having a mamogram would be. Nothing makes you feel flabbier, saggier, or more UNlike anyother woman in the WORLD than bra shopping. Because I don't care WHO you are, or if you've bought that same brand this MORNING, you have to try on EVERY SINGLE ONE, because most likely, the SAME effing bra in the SAME effing size only a different COLOR will not fit. Good luck not rubbing your chest raw while you figure out that one bra maker's 36 isn't another's... In the end, and I must admit, after TWO trips of torture with NO luck, I have 5 new bras. Threw out ALL the old ones. Turns out my boobs HAVEN'T shrunk. They just SEEMED to have... what with all the stretching and loss of shape that my old bras had come to. Yep. The girls are still hanging tight at D, ladies. Well, hanging. Maybe not so much TIGHT. More like LONG. At least they LOOK perky when they are contained in their new Hanes (r) All Over Comfort bra. I think I could LIVE in this bra. Nice straps, that actually SUPPORT your bra, and don't DIG into your shoulders. A sturdy chest band that doesn't give you that I'm-going-for-the-back-boob look. GREAT elastic, and comfortable fit. I'm not even getting paid to say so. Got mine for $10.50 each. OK. Enough raving about my new boulder holders. Today, I also got my fanny into the bank to open auto transfer into our savings. This will eliminate the monthly checking fee, and yeah. We should totally be saving AT LEAST $25 a month in the first place. So WHY didn't I do this sooner....? no idea. Gave myself a haircut. AND Cleaned my bedroom. All of this while standing on my head, while spinning plates on my elbows, and blowing bubbles through a ring of fire.... HA!! Unfortunately, I don't expect to have another day like this for a LEAST another year... lol How about you? Had any masterful achievements in your mommy life? Do tell....
