What Was I Thinking???

          

What was I thinking????? We are going to be a little tight on money this year because of the whole I can't seem to find a real job thing, so I decided that I would try to make some things for X-mas instead of buying gifts for everyone.

First step was to look at my list. My very first thought was afghans, but that got shot down for a couple of reasons. 1) I haven't got enough time before x-mas. 2) They can be expensive according to what yarn you use, etc. I have one that I finished earlier this fall that I think I am going to give my brother and his wife. It is beautiful...looking around for a picture. Aha! I'm actually getting this whole graphics thing figured out! (Thank Goodness for Test Journals though <LOL>) As you can see in the first picture, it's good sized, and it's heavy <LOL>. I added a close up so you could see the pretty colors/pattern. It was done holding 3 strands of yarn and changing the colors out one at a time. WHAT a PAIN! It's also is really soft. The yarn in this thing cost me about $80 or so. I have some left over though, so I'm thinking maybe scarves for a couple of people.

    

Having thrown out the idea of making like 15 afgans before x-mas, I decided to get serious. Afgan for brother & his wife... that's one. Fudge!!! Yeah, I have people asking me in August if I'm making fudge for x-mas, and I haven't been home for 5 years to make it!!! So, that takes care of one of my best friends, her husband, all of my boyfriends work friends, most everyone coming into winter quarters. Course, I'll be making like 30 pounds of this stuff, but that's o.k.

What about my brothers kids???? Now, this is where the What Was I Thinking thing comes in. Seems the kids like the Hemp jewelry (info via their father). So.... I used to run a jewelry Mnfg Co. and help make the jewelry, how hard could tying some knots in some string be??  I'll get a book, some beads, Hemp.... I'll make them necklaces, throw in a scarf and voila!

Well, let me tell you, it ain't as easy as it looks! <LOL> I have a package of regular colored hemp and one of those big bags of "assorted" bead to practice with. I bought two books on how to do it and I -thought- I was ready to go! Turns out that this isn't as easy as it looks <LOL>. But, I'll keep plugging away at it. I bought some of the colored hemp for the actual present necklaces, and once I decide (and practice) the pieces I'm going to make for them I'll go out and pick out nice beads to match each piece. Wish me luck! I think I'm going to need it.

Say Thank You to a Veteran Today!

 

Today is Veterans Day!

 If you know a Veteran (or anyone who has or is serving in the armed forces for that matter), be sure and THANK them for all of our Freedoms!!!

I have many people in my direct family that have proudly served our country. My boyfriend is ex-Navy and his family also has always been involved in the military. He grew up from age 4 to 17 on military bases around the world. My brother and nephew are currently actively serving in the Navy. I have 2 uncles who are ex-Army, and several great-uncles who also served in the armed forces. I am proud of them all!

If you are reading this on AOL please check out  AOL Research and Learn: Veterans Day

Woo Hoo! also note that this is the first time I've added a graphic <g>

The flag graphic is from http://www.3dflags.com

Country Music Awards

O.K.... I know I'm probably in the minority in J-Land, but I love Country Music. I listen to a variety of artists/genre, but I always come back to Country. Maybe because I grew up with it. I remember my Mom always playing Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Waylon, and Elvis<g>.

Now, I like more contemporary country than my Mom. Reba, Big & Rich, Keith Urban... But, watching the CMA awards last night reminded me of how much I like some of the "older" artists and songs. Especially when they were doing inductees into the Hall of Fame. Anyway, if you are interested, here is the link for the winners of the Country Music Awards last night.  

Remember Point and Click Adventures??

Today I have a couple of entertaining games for you....if you get stuck, I have finished them, so e-mail me and I'll help you out. They reminds me of an early PC game I played called Loom. Oh, just a tip, make AOL small and bring up IE to go to this site. For some reason I was getting kicked off AOL from this site, but was o.k. going directly thru IE.... your mileage may vary <LOL>  

The name of todays first adventure is Samorost. If you liked that one, try Quest for the Rest. Also, Balloon Head is a little harder, but still engaging..... For those of you who just want an adventure without using your brain, go to Zoom. It's a little freaky. I went thru it twice just to examine the imagery.  

Hope you liked these!

Wasted Days and....

Some of the silliest wastes of time find their way into my mailbox!! This was actually kind of cute and managed to hold my attention for a little while. It's called Imagination Cubed. I sent it on to some friends who have children (and some friends who seem like children <eg>). I thought some of you hear in J-Land might find it an amusing way to spend a few minutes. The cool thing is it "records" what you do and you can send it to someone. Be sure and play with all the options of pen size and color and different tips, and stamps.... O.K.... I'm easily amused! <LOL>

Clowns.....or what do you find scary

What scares you?  

Working in a Haunted House for Halloween made me stop and think about what things are scary. And one of the things that a lot of people (and children) find disturbing are.... Ready for it?.... CLOWNS.  

Now, I know what you are thinking. Aren't clowns funny and happy and all of that? Aren't they supposed to entertain you and make you laugh? Doesn't the whole world love a clown? Well, after working for a circus and meeting real life clowns, I gotta tell you that not everyone finds them cute and cuddly. Some of my friends, who are clowns, tell me that many children are actually very frightened by them. Even some adults find them upsetting. There is even a name for it--coulrophobia!  

I have many friends who are clowns, and most of them are very nice and like to make people laugh. But, there are disturbing clowns out there also.... such as Stephen King's IT. And if you've ever seen Killer Klowns from Outer Space... well, that movie is just disturbing!!  

So, Just a thought.... What do you find scary?

E-mails, Journals, Bulletin Boards, Oh My!

Wow, It's been a long time since I've had a chance to sit down and write in my Journal. I've written several entries in my head over the last week, and I plan to get them into written form sometime <LOL>. I get a lot of inspiration from the Journal Board and of course other Journals. Why have I been so quiet? Wellll.......  

First, I managed to get sick the week before Halloween. Now normally that wouldn't be a problem... But, normally I don't spend several hours with my head hanging down wailing at people <eg>. Of course, the last two weekends of October were BIG ones for Howl-O-Scream, and we worked Thurs thru Sunday both weekends. Since I didn't feel well, I basically worked and slept and took medicine for those four days.   

Monday comes and now things should calm down. I'm feeling better, off the meds, but, no..... my SO volunteers me to rescue a friend. He's currently working near here and has no transportation. Since he is living at the place he is working, and it's in the middle of nowhere, he was desperate to get away. So, I pick him up, bringing him to my boyfriends place of work (a zoo, so we had fun), and afterwards he took us both out to dinner. By the time I drove him the hour back home and came home myself I was again exhausted. Went on AOL just long enough to check e-mail for mail from family, cringed at the number of other e-mails there and went to bed.  

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent catching up on e-mail (where does all of it come from????). This takes a while as I have several alerts set up for Journals and other things. After slogging thru e-mail, I was on to bulletin boards. One look at those and I wanted to crawl in a hole <LOL>. The only board I had popped on and read over the weekend had been the Journal board (and the not-journal one). One board I usually read had over 1000 messages. After shuddering, I went thru and marked almost every board as read! I glanced thru and read any strings I was particularly interested in, but now was not the time to be squeamish! Also, on the Journal board I had to read some journal entries I couldn't pass up... you know how it is! And of course, I do have a real, non-Internet life that has to be attended to.  

How did it get to be Thursday already? Today is my boyfriends day off, and we had errands to run and he does demand some attention be given to him, silly man! So, now it's 3am and here I sit, writing an entry to explain why I haven't written an entry <ROFL>.  

Tomorrow, or actually today as it is early in the am, is Friday and I have the sad duty of going and handing in my employee ID card so I can pick up my last check WHAAAAAA! Now, I'm unemployed again. I spent a little time printing out resumes on Wed and plan to resubmit to some places, and check the paper this Sunday for part-time seasonal work. My paycheck, when I'm getting one, allows us to have extras... I like extras! So, I'll be doing the apply, interview, hope I got it thing for a couple of weeks. Unless I hit the lottery this weekend..Yeah, the lottery, that's the ticket! <pun intended>