Oh, Happy Day!
12 Mar 2012 4 Comments
in Personal notes Tags: blog award, body piercing, bugs, dare, delete, fish, gardening, joe walsh, memories, music, nickel allergy, organizing, random music, rap, researching, sorting, wooden watch
I’ve been up all night listening to music. Since I woke up at 6 pm there is no way I could go to sleep. I’ve been making my way though all the music on my computer that was labeled “other” and there is still a chunk left. This is all the music from everyone in the whole house by the way. When my other laptop gave up the ghost my husband got me another one and dumped ALL of the music onto it. So I’ve been painstakingly weeding out the stuff I don’t like and now and then finding something new that I do like. I get sidetracked occasionally and listen to something else but I’ve gone through a lot of random music and given it a classification. I also make sure each file has all the details because I think I’m a little OCD and can’t stand to leave out a detail or leave a blank unfilled. I double check the dates too and if a file is a greatest hits album I research and find out when it was originally released. That way when I sort my music by decade I get what I want. I did go through all of the RAP music which took me all of 2 seconds. I selected it all and hit delete. I do NOT like RAP! I can’t believe someone in my family downloaded that in the first place. Of course I’m only deleting the music from my laptop so I’m not permanently deleting anyone else’s music. Next I have to go through all of the music labeled “unknown”, “genre”, and nothing at all…. Once I get those sorted I can go through the known genre’s without worrying about duplicates hiding somewhere or downloading something I already have. Funny thing is I’m actually enjoying this. I love researching and reading about the bands on Wikipedia.
I just found a song from an album my older brothers used to have. It was “Life’s Been Good” by Joe Walsh from the album “But Seriously, Folks…” I had some major flashbacks going on and now I have to download the rest of that album.
When I was younger… not sure how much younger exactly but I’m thinking 10 or 11 maybe…. I remember sitting on the floor in this old van my brothers had and listening to 8 tracks and cassette tapes while waiting for them to do odd jobs I believe. The van had an 8 track player and they had a extremely large “boom box” for cassettes. I loved this and never ever left the van or got into trouble because I love music and at home I wasn’t allowed to listen to anything except choir music, “preaching” on tape and sometimes some old country music. It seemed like the time went by so fast when I was listening to music in that van. I never got lonely.
Anyway, guess what? I got an award! From my buddy Sabrina at http://www.muchneededadvice.com. Isn’t that cool? There are some rules though so I have some work to do.
The requirements of my accepting this award are:
- I share 7 completely random pieces of information about myself.
- I nominate 15 fellow bloggers for The Versatile Blogger Award.
- I inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each of their blogs.
So I’m going to start with my list of 7 random facts about myself… Let’s see if I’m as interesting as Sabrina LOL
- I love fish. I have a 55 gallon fish tank in my living room in the prime (central) spot of the living room where most people have a TV. Some of my fish have names depending on their character. Did you know fish have character? I have a plecostomus (algae eater) that is the tank bouncer and his name is Bubba. If anyone starts a fight he whips them into shape.
- I live in Alaska and hate snow. Ironic huh?
- I actually like bugs and am always trying to save their little lives. My mom was scared to death of everything that moved and if she saw a spider she would start screaming and stomping and swatting wildly. I would scoop it up – with my hand even – and take it outside before it was smooshed into spider jelly. Now that I’m older and know that some spiders bite, I don’t usually pick them up with my hands. Alaska spiders are really small but there are some poisonous spiders here. If I find a caterpillar or other interesting bug I like to put it in a jar and research online to identify it. If I can’t, I go to the cooperative extension at the university. My kids used to love doing this with me. Of course, I always let the critters go afterwards.
- I love plants and growing things. I have a perennial garden in my front yard that my mom actually helped me plant a few years before she died. Sometimes I fill in a few annuals but mostly I love the perennials. In the backyard I have my vegetable garden and I usually grow herbs too. I have several house plants and when one starts to look ill or dies I actually morn like my dog died.
- I got my belly button pierced once. I did it at the fair because of a dare. My husband and a bunch of friends were teasing me because I could never get a tattoo or a piercing because I was afraid of needles. I really was/am afraid of needles but now I’m a little better. I’ve learned it isn’t so much the needles that I need to fear but the nurses that are bad at using them. I had both of my children without an IV because I out-right refused one. Anyway, these people were teasing me and DARED me! So I did it. I figured one poke was better than a zillion and piercings can be removed later. I actually kept it in for a long time.
- I’m allergic to nickel and can’t wear a lot of jewelry. I actually have a wooden watch my husband bought for me because of this. The back is also made of wood so I don’t have to worry about it causing a horrible rash that can scar. I have a heart shaped scar on my chest from a necklace I fell asleep on.
- I HATE oatmeal with a capital H A T E. I actually start to feel nauseated at the sight of it or of someone eating it. My parents made me eat it when I was younger and I buried mouthfuls of it in my mom’s plants.
There, how was that? Interesting enough? I could keep going actually. That was rather fun. I’ll have to take some time to think of 15 websites to grant the award to. Then I’ll post them here. Wow, that’s a LOT!
- http://marteandkristin.wordpress.com/
- 1
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Do-Over!
17 Jan 2012 2 Comments
in Crochet, Personal notes Tags: blanket, crochet, first, good job, memories, mingled yarn, NaBloPoMo, photography, pooh, Project Linus, quasimodo, Quote, shakespeare, slip stitch, teacher, variegated yarn, william shakespeare, wool eater, yarn
"My Flag" on 365 Project
”The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together.” ~William Shakespeare
I’ve been feeling a little better today. Not great, still kinda punky but definitely better. So I have been crocheting on my wool-eater blanket today and listening to music. I’m still working on cleaning up my itunes music. Anyway, I added a row of this bright variegated yarn that had some purple like the previous row. Each row is getting bigger so it took me a while. I never like to stop before I finish a row and that is going to get harder and harder as I go. So, whenever I finish a row I always like to hide the ends before starting a new row so I decided to get that done right away. I make sure and do a really good job since these blankets for Project Linus will get washed a lot and I don’t want it to fall apart. I always make sure the hidden tails don’t show. When I was finished I laid it out to take a picture and noticed it was ruffling at this one spot. Then I realized why.
See on the top? Quasimodo happened...
I had added an extra shell where there was supposed to be a slip stitch (Valley). I also noticed another spot where I messed up. UGH! I really wish I hadn’t hidden those ends so well! I had to sit and find them and dig them out. Thank goodness the errors were all on the last stretch that I had just done. So I unraveled that side and fixed it. I think it looks good even though the center is pink and the color in the bright variegated yarn is more of a red but it isn’t easy to tell and it doesn’t obviously clash. I don’t think anyway…….. Anyone else???
I need another row of solid next I think. I wonder if I have enough blue?
Fixed!
Okay, so the NaBloPoMo Prompt for today is
Tell us about your first teacher who was important to you.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm……… thinking………. thinking……………. (picture pooh with his hand to his forehead)
Nope, can’t think of any. They were all evil.
Fill in the _____ Friday
13 Jan 2012 2 Comments
in Crochet, Personal notes, Photos Tags: crochet, diet pepsi, fiber, Fill in the blank Friday, free crochet patterns, knitting, memories, photography, wool, yarn, yummy cake
3. Using the letters in my name I can spell my name LOL [donna] okay, I can spell.. do, on, an, nan? I can’t spell much
Anyway, about my wool-eater blanket I’m making…. I don’t remember where I left off yesterday but this picture shows me adding the first row of the blue. The second row of blue is now finished completing the circles. I’m ready to start adding a new color but I am having a really hard time deciding what color to use. I’m trying to use yarn I already have – yarn that was donated for Project Linus – but it’s all so random. Some of it is probably from the 70′s and wouldn’t look good at all. I might go with some purple…. but I’m not sure… I actually started to add this mid-toned purple baby yarn with some green fun fur… it looked cute at first but once I got a full section finished the fun fur just made it 
all hard to see. I realized I made a mistake too and when I tried to take it out it got stuck. So I grabbed the scissors and I’m glad I didn’t go any further than I did. Fun fur is bad.
So apparently the NaBloPoMo prompt I used yesterday was actually today’s. If I blog later they already have put the next days up. Alaska’s time zone is 4 hours earlier than Eastern. Screws things up nicely.
So Thursday’s prompt was
Tell us about your earliest school memories.
I remember playing out on the playground and hanging upside-down from the monkey bars. Then this little girl I didn’t know came up and pulled me down on my head. It hurt and a big chunk of one of my molars broke off. I told the teacher but she just told me to quit tattling and go play. I showed her my broken tooth and she just said it was a piece of gravel and tossed it in on the ground so I couldn’t find it again. She told me to go play and quit whining or I would have to have a timeout. After I got inside I told another teacher about what happened and they actually made me apologize to the girl who did it for making up stories about her. When I got home I showed my dad my broken tooth and the bruises from where I fell and he went in there storming mad. That is when I learned my evil passive aggressive ways…. I used a baggy to pick up a soft dog poop and put it in her coat pocket.
Wool-eater blanket
11 Jan 2012 1 Comment
in Personal notes, Photos Tags: alaska, beautiful sky, conversion chart, creative project, crochet, headband, memories, new years resolution, photography, sky, snow, wool eater
You can click that photo to see it larger. The sky is so pretty and it has been so long since I could see it! I took two pictures today and had a really hard time choosing which one to use for my 365 Project. The one at the top has a beautiful sky but I think this one is really the best.
It actually warmed up! Yesterday it got to around 13 degrees F and now it is 5 degrees. I have to admit I was actually thinking about slipping out to go to Joann’s since it is soooooo horribly close to me. But, I remembered my new years resolution and decided against it…for now. I’m supposed to be using up my stash and I have a lot!!!
So my next creative project is a CAL (crochet-a-long) and I’m making the wool-eater blanket from Sarah London’s website which will help me use up some of my stash. I have already learned something new. UK and. US crochet stitches are not the same. I found a conversion chart here.
So when she says to work a “dtr or double treble” she means to work a triple crochet or trc. Also a dc/double crochet is really a sc/single crochet.
I also learned something else….. or rather I finally caught on to something. I noticed in Teresa’s (crochet geek) video for the headband I just made that she wrapped the yarn around her hook counter-clockwise… the opposite way I do. I don’t know if I was taught to wrap my yarn that way or if I just did it that way but I wondered why she did it differently. Well, I remember hating triple crochet because the extra wraps never want to come off and I have to grab them with my fingers to move them over to the hook. I was thinking maybe this was the wrong pattern for me because this was going to take me forever! That is when I had my AH-HAH moment. I realized if I wrapped the yarn counter-clockwise like Teresa did that the loops slip over much easier! So now that I know what I’m doing I’m getting started with the same yarn I just finished making my headband with. That will be my first stripe. Now I just have to get the hang of changing something that is so ingrained in my head that I could do it in my sleep. Anyway, I’ll take pictures as I go. This blanket will be for Project Linus and will go to a little one at the hospital. If you know how to crochet or knit, or even tie fleece you can make a blanket for a child too. You can find a Project Linus Representative in your area by clicking here. If you are in Fairbanks, Alaska that would be me. :O)
The NaBloPoMo prompt for today is a challenge to my memory.
Who was your first friend?
Well, I think that would be my sister. I was always close to my sister when I was little until she left home when I was 5. I was brokenhearted when she left. My sister is the oldest and 13 years older than me. She is still the one I call when I’m down and need a pick-me-up because she is really good at that. What surprises me is that even though she left home and the state when I was 5 and I didn’t see her growing up we are still very much alike. We like the same things. When I went to GA for my (our) mom’s funeral I discovered that we made our coffee the EXACT same way. I don’t drink coffee anymore but I used to be very particular about how it was made and no one could make my coffee…. until then. We carry the same lip-gloss in our purses and were wearing the same shoes. The only difference is I was born a tomboy. I didn’t want anything to do with pink or purple, ruffles, lace or bows…. and my sister was all of that. Now that I’m older I’ve found that I like pink and purple but still wont wear ruffles, lace, or bows!
I’ve been busy
09 Jan 2012 4 Comments
in Personal notes, Photos Tags: art, ATC, camera, chessboard, facebook, free music, iphone, itunes, memories, NaBloPoMo, neat effects, photography, reoccurring dream, white queen
I feel better then I did yesterday so I’ve been into all kinds of things. I had a little fun taking a picture for my 365 project. I was cleaning off the chessboard and decided to create a little royal trouble.
As you can see the white queen is seen with the wrong king…. by the white king himself. He is not happy and I wouldn’t be surprised if she doesn’t get locked in the royal dungeon. I used the camera+ ap on my iphone and it has some neat effects.
I also created a facebook page and I’m going to be posting paintings and things that I’ve knit, crocheted or tatted. If you trade ATC cards let me know there too. I’d be happy to do some trading. I’ll be posting some of my cards there too. Hopefully I can make a little money by selling some things and make some new friends along the way. I haven’t posted anything yet. That will take a little time. If you look on the side bar there is a like me box. So far I am not feeling the love *pout* so please hit that “like” button.
I also added a goodreads.com widget to my side bar. I’ve never seen that widget before. Now you can see what I’m reading and just how slow I’m going. The thing I like the most about goodreads is that I can post a quote I like on the page it is located. Then when someone looks up that book they see those quotes.
Okay, so the NaBloPoMo blog prompt for today is an interesting one.
What is your earliest memory?
For the longest time I thought I was having a reoccurring dream. At first I just got this quick glimpse of a house…. sometimes I saw an old truck loaded up with stuff…… and a little people chicken far below the porch beyond reach. I could see it through the spaces in the porch. These quick glimpses came to me every now and then and usually I felt terribly upset like I wanted to cry but it wasn’t like a movie…. it was more like photographs. I always woke up wondering what that was about because it wasn’t like a normal dream. Then one night I saw more of it and it was more connected….. and I heard my sister yelling my name….. she yelled “Donna, come one! Get in the truck!” So I called my sister and she told me that it was a memory and not a dream. She said I was 3 years old and that was my (maternal) grandma’s house. She said I carried that chicken around all the time and dropped it and it went between the boards of the porch into the chicken coop below. No was going to go get it cause it was stinky and they were in the truck all ready to go. I just kept crying and didn’t want to go without my chicken. After my sister explained this I started to see more of it but it was still like still scenes. This probably explains why I never wanted to share the chicken when I was in preschool/kindergarten.
Okay, one last thing. Did you know you can get a free song by The Band Perry through itunes by checking out this link? I just downloaded it and it is the song called All Your Life from their current album named after themselves. I gave it 4 stars :O)
Once upon a time…
05 Nov 2011 13 Comments
in Family, Personal notes Tags: alaska, cold, comfort food, daughter, death, memories, mom, sadness
…there was a princess who lived with her mother, the queen.
But the queen died and I so miss my mom. I have been thinking about her a lot lately – Falling back to crystal clear childhood memories of a beautiful smiling face with straight black hair that fell down her back like smooth satin. Her hair wasn’t like mine at all….. my hair is dark brown and fizzy if I’m not careful. Her hair was smooth and shiny – like a river of black flowing down her back. I remember how everyone asked her if she was greek and she would laugh. My mom was part Seminole indian and had this charitable heart of gold. The thing she loved most about receiving gifts was to give them again to someone who was down.
She died on Feb 16th, 2008 and the events of that day play over and over in my head like a movie I can’t stop. My mom was sick with colitis and we were all worried about her….. but people don’t die from colitis. My sister was driving to see her and talking to me on the phone (headset). My oldest brother was already there. My sister had just talked to him and had called me after and I remember that something she said made me suddenly worry. She told me I should just call and talk to them but I decided to wait till later. Not long after we hung up she called me back and I can still hear her voice yelling “Donna, mama died!” and next thing I knew I was crying uncontrollably into the kitchen linoleum. My husband picked me up and took me to bed and arranged everything….. He was a Godsend during that time.
Well, for some reason I’ve been thinking of her a lot these last few weeks. I actually dyed my hair black to see if I would look more like she did in my memories. I used a dye that washes out in 28 washes just in case I looked more like Elvira. Of course I don’t have the boobs for that though. I determined that it didn’t make much difference since I can still see my dad’s side of the family in me but for some reason my husband has been wanting me to wash my hair more often.
Last night I made myself some tomato soup with rice in it. My mom used to make that for me when I was not feeling well only she didn’t use Campbell’s soup and minute rice. It wasn’t the same but it was close. It made me cry and wish she were here so I could tell her I miss her.
Brrrr!
My husband I went out to run some errands today and I got cold again. It was pretty out though and the sky was mostly clear and the sun was bright! The frozen black branches of the birches glittered like they were coated in sugar. I love it when my husband drives and I can take pictures through the car window… sometimes I use them for paintings later and just omit things like telephone poles and taco bells banners.
I went by the library and picked up a book I’ve been wanting to read called Forgotten Household Crafts. It must be a good book because every time I tried to find it, it was already checked out. Or it was in North Pole. Maybe Mrs. Claus was reading it? 
There actually is a small town about 30 minutes from here called North Pole and it is decorated like Christmas all year around. Anyway, this time I wised up and put the book on hold and now it’s here waiting for me to read! For now I need to paint though… my brushes are calling me.
*Edit: My face painting is pretty much as finished as it’s going to get. I think it’s okay for a first painted face but I’m hoping to get better. I can’t wait to see what my watercolor teacher thinks of this one.
Finished face
This is later in the day when the sun was heading to bed
Missing my mom
28 Oct 2010 Leave a Comment
in Personal notes Tags: boys, memories, mom, Mother, reflection
“The older I get the more of my mother I see in myself.” ― Nancy Friday
It would be so much easier if that weren’t true but it is. It makes me sad when I look in the mirror and realize how much I look like her………. or when I catch a glimpse of myself in a reflection and have a little start because I thought I saw her for a minute. I wish I could sit down and talk with her a little while about my boys and hers. I know she would want to know about mine and that she would tell me everything is going to be okay since hers turned out okay. I wish I could hear her sing or hum one last time…. “Hush little baby don’t you cry….daddy’s going buy you a mockingbird”
Miss you Mama
