Another day, another opportunity.

Hmmm. I ought to start thinking this way and embrace the good fortune that I have. I am an intelligent person, and I am not needed at home as much as I would like. I am needed in the workforce. Although I would love to do my crafts full time, I know that it is unrealistic of me to expect to be able to do it at this time. Times are too tough, and my husband is cracking under the pressure. Justin called me last night and said that he can get me a job up at the hospital. I hope this is the case, even though I interviewed with them 3 weeks ago and they chose not to hire me. I did tell them that I only wanted part time. This position is full time, three 12 hour shifts a week. Sounds good, I am just worried that I won't be able to work a 12 hour shift. It is secretarial work in the ER. And I would be working with Liz. She's cool, nice, just a different type of person than who I am used to being around. But, change is good. You grow from change. I certainly have only grown fatter as I sit on my ass.

Good Reads

I recently finished reading The Great Tree of Avalon: Child of the Dark Prophecy. This was one of those books that once I started, it was hard to put down. The first day I got it I read over 100 pages! The characters are great, the story-line was easy to follow. I love that I got a bookmark with the map of Avalon, which made it easier to understand alot of what was going on.

This book is set in a new world that Merlin the Wizard created. It is a little hard to follow and reason how exactly they live on a huge tree that is as big as earth. Some of the directions got confusing to me, but other than that I followed the plot easily. I love the different types of creatures that T.A. Barron created and am eager to read the next installment!

What a Fucking Mess!

I am starting to appriciate my husband's curse of cleaning. Yesterday I was completely wiped out with cramps and a 3 year old and didn't get the house straightened before bed. Now I am going to live the reprocussions of this. Here is a preliminary list of chores I HAVE to complete today.

1. Load and Run Dishwasher (done)
2. Wipe down all counters/table.
3. Sweep/Mop kitchen floor.
4. Pack up 85% of all kids toys.
5. Vacuum Randi and Thomas' Room
6. Move Beds from Bunk to side-by-side.
7. Sweep/Mop Kennedi's Room.
8. My office is horrible. I need to clean it out and make room for the TV again----no tv in kids rooms!
9. Laundry, fold, and PUT AWAY!
10. Vacuum, Vacuum, Vacuum.
11. Clean out piggie cage

Ok, so this is just a starting point, but I already have doubts about my abilities to do this. Yesterday was a HELL day with me and the kids. I am tired of screaming, so I am taking all of the toys and packing them up. They are going to have to learn to behave and get along before they can start getting their stuff back.

Looking Glass Tattoo and Gallery

My brother's girlfriend, Judith, is opening a shop, title above. She is having major problems with the Kansas State Board of Cosmotology getting her license. We think it is because the co-owner of one of the TWO shops in town in on the Board. I feel it is a great conflict of interest for this person to serve on this board. Here is an article where they boast about how they were the ones to get the law passed and how they ran all of the other businesses out of town/state.

"He saw a marked decrease of tattooists in Kansas after the regulation passed.
"They left the state like rafts leaving a sinking ship," he said, as he filled in a Harley-Davidson tattoo on the left arm of St. George resident Cliff Mahan."

Hell yeah they saw a marked decrease...because you have to go through his WIFE to get a license. Also, as the statute dictates....you must attend a board certified school to recieve this license, however, they have not approved any schools, anywhere. Which leaves you to the other option of apprenticing under a licensed instructor.....guess who.....yup owners of fat line tattoo. Humph!

Anyway, she is an artist and plans to open her gallery until she gets her license. I gave her a set of Marble Magnets, and she said she may consign some of my stuff.... YEAH BABY. My things I think I can make to sell are:

Marble Magnet sets.
AOL CD candle holders
Lighted Blender fishtank...

I wanna do these projects.....

Ok, so alot of these will probably NOT get done, but I still have to put all of my ideas down somewhere.....so......:

1. A-line Mini Skirt: I am drafting my own pattern for this, I got a whole bunch of black fabric from Goodwill the other day, and when I get some hot pink thread I plan to put it together. EDIT: I bought some black thread tonight, I am thinking of using pink embroidery thread for some sort of accent. Maybe applique something on it????

2. Finish hem (tie waist?) for sheet skirt.

3. Mini-Duffles: These would make good gifts, I haven't decided on a fabric yet....

4. Pleated Mini: I need to loose about 20 lbs before i can make wone from me, but Angela could sooo pull this look off.

5. Stuffed Felt Monsters: I have the felt for this project, I want to design my own monster, I need to sit down and get this going...

6. Messenger Bag: I took apart a coat I got from the Goodwill store, this really great grey/brown color.......with a lining that I can use to line the bag. I've never done a bag of this magnitude, with lining and all, I'm sure it will take a while to start this project. I really need some interfacing so my bag stands up, so will wait for the $ to roll in :(

7. Lacoste top: I have cut up a blue, red, and white striped shirt to do this project, I just need matching thread.

8. Knotted Shag & 'Strung Shag' Rag Rugs I think that I can make a 'loom' to do this on...

9. Knitting Needle Case

10. Fall Wrap

Camping in the Rain......We are.....camping in the rain!

What were we thinking?  Our wonderful weekend plans turned bad when the rain started this morning.  It is pouring down rain and we are trying to camp at Lake Clinton, near Lawrence, KS.  I woke up to dripping  water on my face and found the campsite destroyed by water and wind.  I was looking forward to swimming all day at the beach and getting a little sun, but looks like I can kiss that hope good-bye.  Rain Rain Go away come again another day!  This season is super wet, I hope that means we get a ton of snow this winter.  It would be nice to get SOME heat this summer.  I haven't had to water my garden but maybe twice because it rains almost every morning. 

On the other hand, we have had a lot of fun so far.  We took the kids to the beach for about an hour yesterday.  We had a blast and Kennedi finally got the courage to get in the water.  Kayden absolutely is a water baby, he was going under and everything!  We wore the kids out good last night and us a-dults drank the night away.  Travis and Ange came out, and she really is pretty cool.  Trav and Malcolm hit it off (who doesn't hit it off with Malcolm?) and they talked all night.  Jason got hammered and Kristi had to show him 'whats up'. 

Current Favorites....

Frugality

Budget Stretcher
The Frugal Shopper - Free Printables
Valupage
YDF - Your Daily Freebies Forum
FrugalVillage Forums
The World's Shortest Comprehensive Recycling Guide
FatWallet Forums - Free Stuff
Coupon Sneak Peak
Hillbilly Housewife
Dillons
Walgreens
Pinching your Penny's
getorganizednow
FrugalVillage Forums - Homemade Ravioli
Identify Tree by Name
KAW Area Technical School
Budget Stretcher
The Frugal Shopper - Free Printables
Personal Budgeting Finance Money Saving Tips For A Debt Free Life
Library Subject Index
The Dollar Stretcher
Frugal Links, living contentedly within your financial means.
Frugal Living
Frugal Simplicity frugal tips, cheap living, budgeting, save money
BzzAgent Report New Bzz
Epinions.com - Coupon 101 Getting Started

Hobbies

getcrafty NLP
knitty.com
. SHEMADETHIS.com .
copacetique - your copacetic boutique
craftster.org projects forum - Index
Glitter Discussion
Handcrafted by Elaine - macrame instructions - variations 1
Herbs Forum
Kraft Foods Healthy Living
Mirkwood Designs - Interlocking Card Template
Recipezaar - a recipe food cooking & nutritional info site - Recipezaar
SuperNaturale
TeeJay's Fonts Page
WebLife Cob Builders Handbook Contents
Easy A-line Skirt
Sew Wrong
Craftgrrl
Ugly Monsters..
Monster Make-Better
On My Mind... Knitting Blog
LET'S MAKE A KNITTING BOARD
FRINGE PONCHO - Groovy Crochet
Crochet 'N' More's Read A Pattern Page
Free Legwarmers Pattern
A miniskirt for people who hate their legs!
kenko knits
Head Huggers Pattern Double Crochet Hat Pattern
tshirt_surgery insomniaxcore
C is for Crazy Crayons
Too E-Z Denim Quilt
not martha
makestuff.com - Recycle old bottles, make them into lamps and vases
Two Peas PeaNut Gallery
Sling Wrap-Making
Crafts
craftychica
tackyliving
Handcrafted by Elaine - macrame instructions - variations 1
Make Your Own Bead Spinner - Kimberly Chapman's Beading
Craftygal

craftgrrl a few questions for you more experienced sewers out there
craft_recipes Put images onto T-Shirts W-O using Iron on Transfers
Crochet bythehook
Crochet Pattern Central - Free Hat Crochet Pattern Links
Crochet Pattern Central - Free Pattern - Posh Poncho
http://p084.ezboard.com/bcrochetville
Cutting a Rug
Daydreaming on Paper Let's Play!
Full Skirt
Home & Garden Television Laminate - Vinyl
How to make chalkboard paint
Marlo's Crochet Corner
obnoxiously simple fingerless gloves
phro's links
ReadyMade Feature - Slide Lamp
Sew Wrong
Sew Your Own Pocketbook!
Single Section Bookbinding Tutorial
skirts!'s Journal
Smiley's Yarns
ArtsySmartsy-Arts & Crafts Instruction Online
TVI Second HandCrafts
Two Crafty Ladies

Education

BBC - Learn Spanish
Literacy Link - PBS
Medical Terminology

Misc.

Ex-Mormon Community's Journal
T.V. Guide
Online Sweeps
Google
Adult ADD
Day Planner-Article
Kansas Foster Parenting
The Coupon Clippers
The Love Bank
Blog-skins
CJ Online
Rip-off Report.com - badbusinessbureau.com
Project Vote Smart -
BBC Beast
From WBEZ in Chicago This American Life
iSketch
Soople; easy search in Google.
Topeka.org - A Capital City Government Working For You
Welcome to Topeka Public Schools, USD 501
envy.nu - Free web space provider. 100-250 Megs of free space, front page extensions, FTP, free games, free site tools, free we
Erowid Freedom Vaults Guidelines for Saying No to Police Searches
Pets
PetsHub.com - Guinea Pig Forums
The Cavy Forums - Cavies-Guinea Pigs
How to Make a C&C Cage
Habitats

Desktop Publishing/Printables

Word Templates
Free Papers
Hewlett-Packard Printables
Free Court Forms
Alenka's Printables
Moms_diner.com
Planners, digital women
Fantasyland Graphics - Free Web Sets, Backgrounds and Graphics
#1 Free Clip Art - Over 10,000 free categorized clip art images!
Free Images - Free Stock Photos
Leo's Icon Archive - 10,000+ free icons & graphics, caps, comics, buttons, bars,...
IconBAZAAR

Fitness and Workouts
Yoga
Mantra Meditation -- About.com
Meditation Station - The Total Meditation System
Meditation Introduction, Meditation Techniques, Information, Related Links, Self Help Tips
Free On-line Book and Complete Course in Meditation
Yoga Basics Yoga for Beginners
Learning Center - Health - Alternative Health for Beginners

Tracking and interactive
Cool Running Lootyaj's running log
FitDay - Online Diet & Fitness Manager
Body-for-LIFE®
Fitness Fundamentals
Welcome to In-Home Walking
Arms Sexy Summer Arms Workout
Your Online Workout Center - Weight training and cardio workouts, exercise articles
Are you Stoned Liver cleanse gallbladder cleanse gallstones flush recipe
Cool Running The Couch-to-5K Running Plan
http://www.dwlz.com/WWinfoTOC.html
Gardening
Gardening and outdoor crafts
redwood bench
Rick's Project Plan Links
Mini Wishing Well
The Gourd Artist's Guild
Gourd House and Feeder
Tutorials
How to Build a Bluebird House
Building a Birdhouse
Phenology Planting by Nture Signs
The 2003 Planting Table
Herbs Forum
Herb Guide
Cold Frames and Mini-Greenhouses from Home Harvest®
Talk - Favorite Gardening Website - Recipezaar
About.com http--www.rainyside.com-resources-hoophouse.html
GrowGuide Online - Weekend Gardener
The Official Site of Square Foot Gardening and Mel Bartholomew, Originator and Author
Food For Everyone Foundation - Mittleider Method
IS941 Greenhouse Plans
Herbal Preparations Drying
Herbal Preparations Tinctures
How to grow Vegetables, Vegetable Gardening
Christmas
CEO's Christmas Countdown Get Organized Week Index
Gifts in a Jar
Friendship Soup Mix in a Jar
Gifts In A Jar Kids' Journal Jar - HolidayOrganizer.Com
Holiday Grand Plan Week One List Week
Christmas Links
DLTK's Holiday Crafts and Activities
-- getcrafty - making art out of everyday life --
Craft Site Directory - your guide to arts and crafts on the internet

Recipes
FlyBabies #14839.1
FlyBabies #14847.1
FlyBabies #14734.1
Frugal Living #32184.7
Frugal Living #31828.18
Frugal Living #31828.15
FlyBabies #14982.1
BREAKFAST AND BRUNCH
Frugal Cooking
Meals.com - Suggested Meals - Browse Results
Hillbilly Housewife
Homemade Mixes
The New Homemaker Saving on Energy, Pizza and Milk
Once a Month Cooking
Back to the Basics Mixes and Make Your Own Recipes recipes - from CDKitchen
Totalhome Meal Planner
Kraft Foods Healthy Living
Recipezaar - a recipe food cooking & nutritional info site - Recipezaar
http://pub46.ezboard.com/brecipeexchange11667
Prevention South Beach Diet Forum


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