First to whine a little... Today I've got a sore throat and eyes that hurt if I don't just look straight ahead. Bleh. Tonight is going to be really low-key.

I've been thinking about my stash of boiled wool sweaters and what needs to be done with them. I like the idea of lined winter hats and was so excited to find this tutorial. I'm imagining some exposed edges and cute embroidery.

I'm on my break right now, multi-tasking. Eating lunch, writing emails, grading papers, ordering Sharpie markers... Of course, trying to get it all done before the kids come back in. It amazes me how frozen I was just one short year ago over leaving the elementary and coming here to the high school. Never did I imagine that I would love it this much. These young people feel so strongly. They're angry and ecstatic. They're funny and intense. Today a student brought me a stack of CDs that she really thinks I need to rip onto the computer here. She worried that all of my music sounds a little like Sheryl Crow. She's probably right. So here I am, getting stuff done to an intereresting mix of Jason Mraz, John Mayer, RENT, and Bob Marley. Not even a little bit like Sheryl now.

Well friends, after a year of putting $##,### into improving our humble little home, the city of Minneapolis has cited us. "Repair or replace the fascia at east side of garage by November 20, 2006"... Or pay a big fat fine and legal action. I'm wondering if they cited the crack house behind us on Lyndale? I'm also wondering what the heck fascia is. City Pages had an interesting article about it a while ago. Yes, crime is a big ugly problem that we can't forget about for even on second over here. We've cried alongside parents that've lost their children to violence here. But somehow and somewhere, someone dreamt up a plan for curb-appeal to be our north Minneapolis genie-friend. And our genie does not like unrepaired fascia or buckets for that matter. I call BULLSHIT, and I know I'm not calling it alone. Right now a some-what-angry complainer is what I am. I'd like to get involved, get more angry, and help bring change. Don't know where to start. Bleh.

Zander is at 24 hour comic day right now. Last year I seem to remember two sorta tipsy girls tumbling in to the 24 hour scene, and disturbing the hard working people doing the drawrings. I think Drivas might have even gotten mooned, if I remember correctly???

Need Inspiration?

Go here! Way to go Rebecca!

More monkeys!

I love these!


From Craftster
Also on Craftster

Well, it's Sunday night and the weekend just FLEW by! Friday night we met up with my sister Sara and her husband. She works for the Good Earth and gets a pretty good discount at Chino Latino, so we met up there. I haven't been there in ages, and man-oh-man it tasted good. Their mango shrimp gets me every time. Oh, and naturally so do the Bloody Marys. I was up for a night of relaxing after all the hype of Homecoming at school earlier in the day. Our seniors used their mad art skillz, and whipped up a few t-shirts the night before. I was a bit flabbergasted when I realized that "Homecoming on your face," was not just bad grammar... It was a dirty little pun! The students were amazed that none of their teachers would let them wear their shirts as they were, so about 50 of them marched grudgingly down to my art room to alter them a bit. It was a pretty funny sight to see. I mean, it was very serious business. Ahem. Saturday night we headed over to the Gnome's place for a little bit of basement chilling. So nice to hang out with you guys! Today we've been doing a ton of laundry and I took a super long nap upstairs with the windows open. I love this crisp air!

I'm home for just a second before I head back to school for "back to school night". Just the parents come to this one and I'm a smidge less than excited. Not that I don't just love to meet 'n' greet, I'm just ready for a little down time. Zander's parents were in town this weekend, and geez, they kept us hopping. In a good way. We had a great time at Jeanne's show, going out to eat, watching Shawn of the Dead on the deck, shopping, and of course, getting a few house projects done. After this weekend, our around the house to-do list has shrunken by about a mile.

Now that this little gal has been sent off to her new home, I can show my newest monkey.

First day of School!

Today just the 9th graders came to school. This is so they can be humiliated about not knowing how to buy their hot lunch without the older students rubbing it in. I think it's such a great idea. This semester I'll be teaching 2 painting classes, 2 Art I classes, and an Art II class. I'm pretty excited, mostly for the painting classes. I'm also thinking about introducing some screen printing to my Art II classes, mostly because I think it's so cool and want to learn how to do it myself.

Yesterday we hit a couple of the 1/2 price thrift sales. This jokerman vase makes me so happy.

I also picked up this cool chicken bowl. It's not in perfect shape, but I just love the design.

As a perfect end to a really perfect day, last night Zander and I drank a bottle of wine and burned stuff. Who knew that'd be so much fun? After tearing down the grossest basement shower ever, we were left with some crappy lumber that was just begging to be burned. I'm learning that this Cannon family is filled with pyromaniacs, and as of last night we've done our part in keeping up the family's reputation. Apparently, Zander's grandfather used to burn all of their trash in the living room fireplace: plastic milk jugs, chicken carcasses and all!

This is my latest crafty project. I call this one the double placemat.

This is what happens when I feed little Joey at my house. Now, if this was a full sized picture, you'd see that those carrots are not just on his face, but between his toes, in my hair, and all over both of our outfits. OK, he was wearing an outfit and I was wearing grubby old sweat pants, but you get the point. Isn't he the sweetest? Right now, he's sleeping on our couch, tucked in with a bunch of pillows so he doesn't fall off. I'm trying to type quietly. He was a tough bugger to get to sleep.



I'm savoring my last few days of freedom around here. As are a couple others that I know. There are so many things I'd like to do before next Monday.
I'd love to head out to the Minnesota Arboretum and wander around. This year their theme in The Secret Garden. Have any of you seen the movie? I remember very little about it, except that one of my friends suckered me into sneaking into after seeing some other movie, and we got caught. I was so humiliated. My cheeks still burn when I think back to it. Anyway, I'd also really like to go see the Calder Exhibit at the Art Institute, and the Diane Arbus show at the Walker. Oh yeah, then there are about a million and a half people I'd like to spend time with before time is ultra limited. Did I mention that this Friday is our 5th anniversary? Any ideas for a Friday/Saturday get-away?

I'm crabby this morning. Today I've got another appointment with Dr. Clomid. No, that's not really his name, but that's what we talk about, so that's what I call him in my mind. I guess it's a bit of a dangerous thing in terms of appropriateness, because one of these days it's just going to pop right out of my mouth, and I'll be embarrassed. ...On the topic of Clomid, I'm going on a little mini rant. I know it is difficult to always know what to say to a woman friend about miscarriage. I get it. I feel weird a lot of the time, too. If you feel that uncomfortable, save that woman who is already going through enough, and don't say a fricking word. Especially if what is going to come out of your mouth is advice about what your woman friend might have done wrong in the first place, or advice about getting it right this time. You see, your advice will be the last thing she thinks about at night and the first thing she thinks about when she wakes up to in the morning. That sucks. And, it will almost certainly guarantee that it will make her even more irritable than the Clomid already is. I know that lots of you are reading this right now thinking, was it me that caused this, am I to blame? And the answer is probably not. Mostly what I hear from you is love and patience and hope, especially when my own hope is a smidge down in the dumps. Thank you for that, and thanks for loving me even when I'm crabby.

This, on the other hand, cracks me up.

Little Miss Sunshine

I'm SO not a movie critic. Jeez, I see movies for the pure entertainment of it. Rarely do I want more from a movie, because a movie is just not a big deal. Really I just love a night out of the house to hold popcorn greasy hands with Zander and snuggle in a freezing cold movie theater. That all aside, go see Little Miss Sunshine. Go see it as soon as you can. I laughed outloud a lot, I covered my eyes because I was so embarrassed for the characters, I cried a little bit, and I left with a warm glow.

Campbell DeNormandie Mahoney

Adorable little baby Mahoney was born early this morning! Zander's sister (Becca, of course) is doing great and so is Campbell. Doesn't she look precious? I can't wait to spend time with her in October. Today I've been sewing little "welcome to our world" gifts for her. I'll post pictures of my projects as soon as it won't ruin the surprise.

I made this stuffed Boo out of all reused and thrifted stuff. The wool on the front came from a pair of pinstriped pants that I always thought I'd wear, but don't. The eyes are from a set of napkins I picked up at an estate sale. I made this for my nephew Joey because now that he notices that Boo is a cat, he's decided that he LOVES him. He loves him so much that he just buries his face is Boo's side and giggles. If you've been to our house, you know how much of an affection hog Boo is, so it all works out just right. I might just have to make another Boo for us too.

Pigs in Space

It's official, I'm back to school on August 28th. While it'll be difficult to give up all this wonderfully juicy freedom I've got right now, this lunch-box is definitely getting me in the spirit. I'm hoping it'll even make packing a lunch at 6:30 am seem like wacky fun.

In other news, today I had a little bit of time down in my studio. I did another t-shirt applique project that I'll post pictures of tomorrow. I also altered a vintage dress that I picked up for a quarter at an estate sale. It's pretty cute, except that it'll require ironing after each washing. I've been known to let something sit in my closet FOREVER just because I hate ironing. Tonight we're watching Who Wants to be a Superhero with some friends that are nice enough to share their cable with us on Thursday nights. I'm so surprised to love this show as much as I do, but honestly, it's so much fun.

Etsy

Some women in the Crafter's Conspiracy pointed me to Etsy. If you're not familiar, don't feel bad because I certainly wasn't, it's a selling service for people that what to sell their hand-made stuff on line. Jeez, I've been wanting to do this for a while now, and Etsy just seems like a really easy way to start. Here's my store front. For now, I don't want to sell stuff here because it feels like my friends and family might think I'd be expecting them to buy something from me. Ick. That feels weird. Weird and untrue. Ick. Anyway, as you can probably tell from my Domokun posting, I'm into embellishing recycled t-shirts right now. This is my first of a new Frida series. I might put a few of the last series up on Etsy as well.

Dork Out

Yes, this is the dorkiest picture ever. In my defense, it is difficult to set the self timer, run over to a random spot that'll hopefully not cut off my head, and look poised too. Anyway, I finished this dress this afternoon and I like it. The pattern was on sale for 99 cents and the fabric came from a box of assorted vintage fabric that my mom gave me a while ago. I think she got it at an estate sale. I do want to acknowledge that my sewing room sessions are bordering on obsessive lately and that it is a little silly to spend two whole days sewing a dress that I could buy at an end of summer sale. It's just that I'm having fun and it feels like playing. I wish a had a cooler hobby like race car driving or karate. What am I going to do when school starts and I have zilch time to play, and I have to wear real clothes and sometimes even makeup?

Powderhorn Greatest Hits

Well folks, the Powderhorn Art Fair keeps getting bigger and bigger every year. It is, by far, my favorite out of the three big ones of this weekend. I love that it wraps around the lake and I love that not everything is super expensive and/or it doesn't all look like craft time at the senior center. I didn't buy a thing, but I wish I would have gotten a little wood block print I saw toward the end. My two favorite vendors were Amy Arnold and Marlys Kunkel. Amy makes hats and dolls sculptures out of recycled sweaters and her work definitely looks folksy to me. I'm not really motivated to start up any projects involving boiling sweaters right now, but come February, I'll be all over it.


Unfortunately, Marlys Kunkel doesn't have a website, but you probably get the gist of what her work is like. The lyrics to Beatles songs wrap around the pottery. I bought several pieces last year, and I love 'em because they're so interactive. I found myself sitting on the floor at home turning one of the vases around and around and singing "Let it Be".

And here's a let's hope it's the Clomid update... Losing my marbles... Earlier in the week, I did an entire load of laundry only to find nothing in the washer. Duh. Today, before I left for the day, I accidentally left the fridge partially open. The thermostat inside the refrigerator said 104 degrees. I'm guessing the milk definitely went bad. Super Duh.

Today started with belly dance class, which I LOVE. In fact, I love it so much that I really want to sit in the back and take lots of notes and maybe run a video camera so I can remember exactly what to practice for the next week. Right now we're working on undulations, which make me feel ridiculous because they're so hard, but I'm getting there. I was going to say that undulations are kind of like walking and chewing gum at the same time, but that's a stupid example because everyone can do that. Not everyone can isolate two different muscle groups and move them at the same time, in different directions. After that we went to the Loring Art Fair, which was kind of like Snoresville. I saw a seven foot tall metal flower for my garden, but it was $70 and geez, that feels pretty steep. I'm sure when you look at the materials and time spent that it's a reasonable price. But seriously, at this point in life I want at least 10 things for $70! Go ahead and click your tongues saying, "cheap, cheap, cheap is what she is", I can take it. Speaking of cheap, I HATE spending $15 on a light lunch and iced tea. That's Joe's Garage for you though. After that we headed into St. Paul to check out Lula's new fall stuff. The woman who runs it, let's call her Lula, is a genius. If I pick out one thing I want to try on, by all means-she'll let me, but then brings about ten more things that she knows will look a hundred times better on me. She's almost always right. Tonight is all about sewing, and Franzia, and missing Zander who's in Chicago for another convention.

Domokun is one of my favorite little characters from Japan. He's really just a mascot for NHK, the television company, but I think he's pretty charming. My students in Japan found my love for Domokun absolutely bizarre. Even more so than my breasts, which were also quite fascinating. Still are. Anyway, when I asked them what he is supposed to be I got a variety of strange answers like: cute monster, angry poop, crazy monkey with no tail, ferocious animal, and bad teddy. Yesterday I was looking on eBay for some Domokun merchandise that I don't have yet. I have magnets, buttons, tablets, dolls, pens, and one lame t-shirt. The t-shirts they have for sale are kind of lame and expensive, so I thought I'd make my own. I already know what a few of you lawyer types out there are thinking. Copyright, eh?

I promise, I won't sell them. I won't even try to call what I'm doing a type of parody, which could possibly bail me out. Nevertheless, I made two. One for me, and one on a light purple t-shirt that's pretty medium in size. Yours for the taking. Just be the first to say you want it in the comments.

And... Thanks for all the sweet comments and emails about yesterday's entry. I agonized all day about just deleting the damn thing. I'm so glad I didn't. Thank you sweet friends. I feel very loved.

It's been a while. I've lost a bit of my blogging fervor lately, and I think it's because my brain is on overload. I've been thinking about all the things I'd like to accomplish before going back to school. Some creative stuff and some non-creative stuff. Stuff like trying to figure out where the water in our basement is coming from and unpacking our pack-rat tendencies. This might be a news flash, but we keep way too much crap. Every bit of plastic that enters this house does not ever leave. It lives in a cupboard that is so crammed full of more delightful plastic that it barely closes. I'm throwing it all out. Ok, I'm not that tough. I'll recycle. But plastic is only one small example in a very small house overflowing with junk. (Insert casual flowing transition here) However, this is all a kind of a smoke-screen for what's really going on. We are trying to have babies. We're having a difficult time. After four miscarriages, the Dr. feels that I have a difficult time staying pregnant. I say DUH. He says that Clomid helps people get pregnant. I say the problem isn't getting pregnant. He says it can also help people stay pregnant. I hope he's right. He also says this drug allows them to do all kinds of tests that they normally can't do. I just started taking the medication, and I keep waiting for hormones to strike and release the evil beast that I don't really keep hidden all that well anyway. So far, so good. I'm a bit jittery, and I've got a (not so) "beauty mark" on my cheek, but really, I feel good. I know that this is kind of a public forum for such a private issue. I have conflicting feelings about sharing, but I'm through keeping this as my very scary secret. I talked about all of this with a sweet friend recently. It felt oh so vulnerable, but her reaction was like medicine. There was nothing flippant in her reply, not even one "poor Julie", just listening and giving us the gonna-make-great-parents-someday-seal-of-approval. Now, I'm going to go down to the basement to make stuff. I'll update tomorrow with something a bit lighter. Unless the Clomid REALLY kicks in...

Let's Blame it on the Red Bull

Alright, it's late and I am seriously a go-to-bed-at-10pm-girl. It's the Diet Red Bull. It's got me jazzed. If I could do cartwheels, I'd be knocking over furniture right now. Instead, I'm researching a few girl friends that I knew way back in Junior High. I just sent them emails. I haven't talked to them in about 19 years. This is about as irresponsible as drunk booty dialing. I need to call Zander, maybe he can help stop this insanity.

Grumbling Specs

In May I bought a pair of prescription sunglasses at Target. I've gotten glasses from them before. They're cute, fairly inexpensive and therefore a bit on the trendy side. Perfect. They were having a great sale, and I'm lazy about putting my contacts in, so I went for it. When I ordered the glasses, and when I picked them up, the manager was so talkative that at one point I faked a headache just to get away from her yapping... None of which was about my glasses and the almost $200 I'd just dropped. In fact, when I pointed out that the lenses were coming out of the frame a little bit, she just told me that's how all prescription glasses are, and continued on with her kitchen-remodeling woes. I've given these glasses my best possible efforts, but really, I hate them because they were expensive (to me) and not perfect. I took them back today. I didn't have my receipt. She was snippy and passive-aggressive. I told her that "someone" in the shop told me that's how prescription sunglasses are supposed to be. She told me everyone else that works there is incompetent. I was too embarrassed to tell her that she was the one who told me that. Anyway, she claimed that there was no possible way for me to get a refund. I ever so sweetly asked her to print out the record of my order, so that I could show it to the store manager, and see what they could do. That's when she cracked. "Oh forget it, I'll print your damn receipt". She printed out my receipt and then stood (unnecessarily) with me in line at guest services where I'd actually get my money back. She did a lot of mumbling, hmmping, and shaking her head... Just to be sure that I knew that she was not happy with me. Not happy with me at all. I got my $200 back. She did get under my skin though. I totally feel like the bad guy for not wanting to wear defective sunglasses. Not too bad though, because sometime this week I'm taking my hard earned moolah somewhere else. Oh, and I spent $50 on random crap at Target that I really don't need... Like the Diet Red Bull I'm trying for the first time right now.

This year we decided to go halfsies with Mike and Emily on a farm share. They've raved about it forever, so we thought we'd give it a try. Some revelations: A) Scapes taste just like garlic but with the convenience of a something like green onion. No peeling, just chopping. B) Beets taste so good when they're done up on the grill. Peel back the charred mess, add a little olive oil and salt. Oh, and if you eat them with your fingers, they turn you the most impressive shade of pinky-red. C) Unfortunately, chard tastes and feels disgusting in my mouth. I hate it. Blech.

This week, among lots of other goodies, we got a bunch of lemon basil. This morning I whipped up some pesto, but because of the lemony taste, altered how I usually make it. Here's my new favorite "recipe".

Spinach and Lemon Basil Pesto

2 handfuls of walnuts
a hunk of parmesan cheese
a cup or so of basil leaves
a thawed and drained pkg of spinach
a little sea salt
a little balsamic vinegar
fresh garlic

Because I hadn't made breakfast before I made the pesto, I had it on toast and it tasted pretty good.

After a morning playing with Baby E, eating cereal, playing with measuring spoons, lots of rolling over, almost continually standing up with a little help, going for a walk, and going in the swing, Joey is now asleep.



Now, I'm typing as fast as I can and trying to figure out what I want to wear to see Wicked tonight. I wish that going to a play was really dressy... Unfortunately, I'll have to save this little number for chaperoning the prom next year. I got it at Anthropologie for SO seriously cheap because its a bit weird and its missing a belt.

Lucky Stars

Among the many, many things I thank my lucky stars for... Zander shaving off the monstrosity is one of them.

Deck Decorating

Here's step one of the whole deck decorating process. Last summer I picked up a set of dishes that had mini little quilt patterns all over them. Too sickly sweet to eat off of, but wonderful to smash. I had a little bit of trouble sticking the pieces onto something 3D. Everytime I look at the pot now I think of all the not-so-pleasantries that came out of my mouth while I was making it. The urn underneath the pot came from the hardware store across the street from Psycho Suzies. That place is the best. It's like a new hybrid made with the quirkiness of AxMan and the usefulness of Hardware Hank. And of course it's cheap... It's like heaven.

This picture is of me right after I decided to take a break from the heat. Ooh la, la. Yes, that's dirt and sweat and maybe a little compost with manure on my face. Lovely. Oh, and I'm sun burned, too. I honestly cannot believe how hot it's been outside this week. It's fine when standing completely still if you've found a breeze. Otherwise, it's hot as hell.
Unfortunately, I've not been calmly sitting in the cool breeze lately. I've been working on a new garden around (you guessed it) the deck. Last year I dug up and tore out our lawn with a shovel where I wanted to put a new garden. It sucked. It sucked really bad, in fact. This year someone (who does not want to be named) told me the trick to creating new garden spaces. I think it's brilliant, and since this is my space, I'm including all of the steps. Just to bore you.
First I edged the space with rocks. I used a garden hose to sort of mark off how it would look first.

Then, I filled it all in with old City Pages. I got all of the pages really wet. That kept them from blowing around AND it kept me cool. I also think this might help the newspaper break down later when it's supposed to feed the soil.

Next, I threw a bunch of dirt over the whole area and started planning where stuff will go.

Alright, I'm still on a cooling off break. I might go see what kind of trash Dr. Phill is talking to today.

Reconstruction

If you've seen me lately, you'll know that our new deck is definitely one of my favorite conversation pieces. Lame, eh? I know it's lame to get so excited about something so superficial, but I can't help it. It's like we just got a new room for our house and NOW I GET TO DECORATE IT. And that, my friends, is such an exciting drug of choice. Tonight when it was too dark to take pictures, I put together some cute planters for the stairway. It's going to be a bit of a struggle for me to not fill the stairs up with plants, and go ahead and leave it open for dumb old things like walking into the house. Some people would say that I'm turning into my mother. Next, I'm going to plant all the way along the front and side of the deck to hide the footings. I'm hoping that Linder's still has some hydrangea left. Oh, and I'm also hoping to find some sort of vine to grow across the arbor. It seems like so many of the vines I'm seeing are for shaded areas. We have zero shade, so that's a bit of a challenge. I also don't want something that's going to crap out little flowers everywhere.

Here's another tribute to Frida. Zander's mom (who should have her own website that I could link to right here) recently gave me this awesome t-shirt. It's pretty boxy on me, so I took in the seams on both sides. Now I just need to figure out what to do with the sleeves. I like that they're still a few inches above my elbow, but they stick out too much. Any suggestions? The coordinating polyester number is from one of my favorite thrift scores. 2 yards of fabric for really cheap and then an extra 25% off because I bought it on a Tuesday sale. JACK POT. I used Simplicity 5505 to make some of it into an A-line skirt. (The view that's hem is straight across) It's one of those skirts that really doesn't need a pattern, because there's really only a front and a back to it, but it sure made sizing it a lot easier.

Great Necklaces over at Snapcrafty!

I love this necklace. I've been eye-balling all the cute stuff over at Snapcrafty for a while now. You can even buy the cute little trinkets to make your own.

Boom Island

Last night we piled friends and food into a Subaru and headed down to Boom Island. We, I mean I, ate way too much junk and drank a little too much Lemon Limone. There was a toddler that kept coming over to our table for a handfull of cheeze-its, there was bass pumping out of the pavillions, there was the quirky washer-throw game with it's ever evolving rule system, and seriously, you can't beat fireworks on the 4th. (Unless they're right outside your door at 4 am) What a great night guys!

Painting Sucks

So, you're wondering what I'm doing with my glamorous summer vacation? Wondering why my roots are Behr Honeydew instead of grayish-brown? That's what happens when you're painting the bathroom on the hottest day of the year and you're sweating so much your hands are slippery and you drop your diet coke into the full paint tray. Then, you've got to fish it out of there because it's leaking and you bang your head on the wall you just painted.

The shower curtains are two sheer pieces of fabric I picked up at Savers for $1.99, finished the edges, and added grommets to. It was an easy project except that I have an extremely difficult time accurately measuring and squaring large pieces of fabric. Anyone have a trick for it?


Many of you've seen this one already, but I'm still not finished, and I think working on it a little bit tonight might help my bathroom-painting-inspired-bitchiness.

Are Garden Pictures as Annoying as Cute Cat Pictures?

I love July. I still have lots of summer vacation left, it's hot outside, it's cool inside, and simple things like watermelon taste really, really good. Oh, and the sunflowers are finally blooming. Most of ours this year come from a bird feeder and a bunch of sloppy eaters. The birds keep dropping their food (or poop, gasp) and I keep transplanting the sunflowers that pop up (in the middle of the tomato area) into a better spot.

I think this hollyhock came from the same bird feed mix!

Last year this wheelbarrow was practically free from an estate sale. Of course the bottom is rusting out, but I keep telling myself that just makes for better drainage anyway. My mom, who is a brilliant gardener, gave me a bunch of her plants that she germinated over the winter. I couldn't remember what any of it was, so I just plopped them all in the dirt and hoped for the best. This arrangement cracks me up. I think it looks kinda nice, but seriously, who's the dork that mixed the big bunch of cucumbers in there?

Everytime I see this corner of the house, it makes me smile. I've been trying to get these roses to bloom for a while now. Last fall I was too lazy to cut them back and then this spring they looked SO dead. However, I still didn't cut them back because thorns suck, and I was still too lazy. The rose fairies must have visited us though, because this is what's been happening. Aren't they purdy? (Does anyone know if the purple flowers are weeds?) I need this corner to be attractive right now because the rest of our yard is frigging ugly. The grass looks dead in the front yard because I'm not going to water the lawn. The grass IS dead is the back because the wood from the deck we're building has been lying on it for a while now. And seriously, who wants to mow the only things left living, clover and creeping charlie? The deck, while not quite done, is looking wonderful. It's like adding a whole extra room to our house. It's supposed to be finished next week, and then I'll be spending the rest of my summer out there sipping iced tea and writing the most enticing and wonderful lesson plans ever. And reading... Right now I'm reading Mating. It's really good, but also a bit of a tough read. I can't let my mind wander while I'm reading it, or back I go to where I started. That's been happening A LOT lately.

Grandma's was the Greatest

We had a great time in Duluth last weekend for the marathon. Zander ran fast and didn't die, which was all I really care about, and it was really just lots of fun to be a fan around so much hoopla. When we drove the guys to the shuttle before the race, at 5:30am, there were already four men drinking beer in the middle of the street, wearing only their jock straps. It'd be an effort to not get excited. Another really great part of the weekend was staying with one of Zander's friends from Grinnell. He was great, his wife was great, and their kids are still making me laugh. Basically we want to move to Duluth and be their next-door-neighbors. Anyway, their youngest son is basically potty-trained except for an occasional "wipe". I was in the hall when I heard him in the bathroom talking to himself. "I need to wipe. Yeah, I need A wipe. HEY, SOMEBODY COME WIPE ME." I hate bathroom humor, but that was just the cutest.

If you see this guy to Z's left, call him Coach.

In other news, I'm taking a painting class at the U this week. The schedule is basically 9-5 all week, which is a bit gruelling for my lady-of-leisure-ways. Jeesh, I've even got to set the alarm. Yesterday was orientation, so we met with our prof and the other students. We all had to share what we were going paint for the class. I must admit, I had absolutely nothing in mind when he called on me out of the blue, especially after the lengthy and DEEP intentions of the woman that was called on first. He called on me right when I was thinking to myself, "BLAH, BLAH, BLAH..." I looked like an idiot. Luckily for me, most of the group seemed to be in my position. Although, the last person in the group shared two ideas that she's been working on for a while. I'll share only one of the two, both of which were said to complete strangers through tears. *SNARK ALERT* *GET READY THIS IS GOOD* "One thing I've been thinking about, um. Um, people call me a doctor, but um, it makes me so upset because I consider myself a healer. I mean, doctors have basically raped society, and that's why I don't even want to be associated with the profession. So, um, I was thinking about doing a painting about that..." A few of the people in the group nodded their heads like crazy in agreement, murmuring their affirmations. Maybe I'm not so deep, but I really almost felt a giggle coming on. Bleh. I will tell you though, my painting is roughed in and my sewing machine is present. OK though, just know that I don't consider myself a sewer, because I'm really a fabric-put-em-together-er. Don't even think anything else, or I'll get sad. SNARK. I love my professor's work. He's a Japanese-American that paints about stereotypes by using humor. Today he told me that the moment you make someone laugh, you can sneak something in their mouth that they normally don't care to eat.

I love this painting.

This one too.

Wish Zander and Mike luck this weekend while they run Grandma's Marathon! Mike has run at least three marathons, but this is Zander's first. I'm so excited for him. He's trained his butt off. I'll be sure and take lots of pictures. Have a great weekend everyone!

I'm on a kick where I'm trying not to drive much during the summer. I don't have to go to work, so why should I be burning gas at almost $3 a gallon? I'm certainly not on a soapbox here. For the most part I'm a wasteful girl. I just think it's kind of a cool, new, self-imposed game, to try and stay out of the car. I also have a bit of a thrift store/garage sale addiction, as if you didn't see that coming. I need almost nothing, but the thrill of the hunt just makes me so happy. So, I'm pretty sure I can bike to Saver's, Salvation Army, Ragstock or Value Village when the urges start calling to me. And, I'll be limited to buying only what I can safely carry in my baskets. We'll see how far I can press "safely". I expect you'll see me biking around with things stacked up like a totem pole. Now that I'm playing the car game, I can think of a million reasons why I need to drive somewhere. I NEED cedar chips. Too heavy for my bike. I NEED to go to IKEA. Too far for my bike. I need black thread. There are no fabric stores even remotely close to North Minneapolis. Normally I'd drive to the library and then drive home. When I got home I'd think about heading over to Rainbow. As soon as I'd unpack the groceries, I'd think of the next place I'd need to go. Maybe this little game will help me overcome my ADHD tendencies and combine a few trips too.

By the way, we have a dumpster in front of our house. It's there because we're adding on a deck and we're jack-hammering out the old staircase in back. I looked inside the dumpster today and it's filled with a whole bunch of used "police line do not cross" tape. If only that tape could talk, I'm sure it'd have quite a story to tell. I'm hoping it'd say that it came from Spencers at the mall and the youngsters down the street were playing a riviting game of cops and robbers.

First off, before you read this post or scroll ahead to look at the pictures, repeat after me. I (insert your name), hereby make this pledge to not judge Joolie for her chubby arms or her bad photography. I (insert your name), understand that self photography in a mirror without a flash is not an easy task. Stuff gets blurry. I (insert your name), also acknowledge that hardly anyone's arm would look good with the white underbelly showing at the angle below. I (insert your name), will be declared an unfriendly b-i-t-c-h if I still must judge after making this pledge. Amen.

I made a dress yesterday. It was really easy and took less than an hour, start to finish. I used a polyester knit that I picked up at an estate sale in the fall.

With the extra scraps I whipped up this little top using the same idea as the dress. I did change the underarm area from 8 inches to 9 inches long. It feels a tiny bit more comfortable than the dress. I'm not much of a jeans girl, so I also tried on the top with a bright blue A-line skirt and flip flops. It was pretty cute that way too.

Today is my first day at home for summer break. I'm so excited to do all of these marvelous things that I've been waiting to do that I simply can't decide where to begin. I could paint the bathroom. I could grout a few mosaic pieces. I could alter one of my new grammie dresses, so it actually fits. I could do some writing for school. Really, the list goes on and on. Speaking of lists, I should make a giant to-do list and just start checking items off. That would give me a sense of purpose and a sense of accomplishment. Both of which most of us, including myself, totally thrive on.

Yesterday we got back from New York. We stayed with Zander's cousin and his wife and baby. I don't think they read this blog so I can say this without embarrassing myself... They are the nicest, smartest, most unpretentious people ever. They're great parents too. I could have so easily felt small in their big city lives, but they just made it so easy to be comfortable. Their apartment is gorgeous. I am not lying when I say that our house could fit inside their apartment, with room to spare. I wish I'd have brought my roller skates along because I could've gotten quite a work out. Oh, and it overlooks the Union Square Garden. I didn't do much tourist sight-seeing really. I hung out in the park quite a bit, watched lots of people go by, did a LOT of walking, munched on the chewiest bagels, window shopped, had dinner in Brooklyn, chatted with Colbert and Mary, and loved up their adorable baby.

One of the many highlights of our trip was shopping in Soho with Mary. She suggested that we get a light bite to eat and something called a Vanilla Shanti at this great bar called Lucky Strike. The staff was really patient with us laughing it up with a sweet baby covering herself with every little thing within reach. Walking out of there just after noon, feeling really quite tipsy, I'd decided that my most important new quest in life will be recreating that martini. It won't be that hard though, because here it is folks: VANILLA SHANTI: Stolichnaya vanilla, lemon & lime juice, pineapple juice, and sugar. I've never heard of Stolichnaya, unless that's the same thing as Stoli. Anyway, I might add that to my to-do and check it right off again tonight.

Least glamorous news: pimple on my neck that might be eating it's way through my adams apple. I've messed with it so much, I now have a self-induced hickey. Any home remedies?

The students are beginning to trickle in right now, so this'll probably be a really short entry. I thought I was excited to just be finished with school, but now that it comes down to it, I'm really more excited for some new things to begin. I'll miss my friends at school, both student and colleage! But this summer will buy me some time to do a few things that I've been dreaming about for a while now. Some of them will hopefully involve this very website. Have a great summer Irondale friends, and I'll see you back in my dusty little cave in September.

just one more day...

Today I'll be giving finals for 1/2 of the day and then closing up shop in the afternoon. My final check-list is about a mile long, but I'm hoping to fly through most of it today, so I can take off in the EARLY afternoon tomorrow. We're leaving for the Mocca convention in New York at 6pm and I've got nothing ready yet. Not that there's much to do except throw some stuff in a bag and make sure I bring good walking shoes. Tonight... Prairie Home Companion and a bucket o' corn. LiLo, don't let me down.

TWO more days left

Here's Juno and Boo. Juno is our verion of Snuffleupagus. He hides when other people are around, but he's really pretty sweet to us.

THREE

Three little bobbles from a garage sale a few weeks ago... The woman laughed when I bought them because she'd never worn them in the tweny years she's had them. I'll proudly say that I've already worn them twice.