Walking!
I’m so excited. We’ve been waiting and waiting, and now William is finally taking steps regularly. He’s getting more and more confident. I really love the hurky-jerky movements, like he’s a funny little zombie. Soon, I know, he’ll be running circles around me. Enjoy the movie!
This is also the first movie I’ve put on you tube. I’m trying to find a good way to share movies with family…seems like this is much better than emailing the smaller, harder-to-see versions. Anyone else use any thing like this?
My name is Blabby. I’m a crafter.
That’s right, I can hardly tear myself away. We may need to write a “Big Book” and hold meetings, because I’m a junkie. Here are my newest creations…the crazy pink purse is for my neice’s birthday - she’s turning nine. Both purses are my own design, and the grey one is my first attempt at a lining. Needs work, but definitely better than no lining. The mouse is my third attempt at amigurumi animals. The pattern came from anapauloli. Still a work in progress.
My good friend Slapdash pointed out that there’s a wealth of amigurumi examples on flickr - so I’ve been doing lots of looking for ideas. I’m amazed at people’s creativity! I’ve never been very good at coming up with good ideas on my own. I’m better at looking at someone else’s genius and copying it. Is that bad? Now, if only I could get it to work to my advantage like Martha Stewart!
Mail Call!
Today was an excellent mail day. I got the new Stampin’ Up! catalog from my friend Lysa, and I got the fruit of 7 different eBay auctions I won last week. Yarn, yarn, yarn - all from the same seller. I got 30.5 skeins for $60 - and they’re all super fancy yarns that would cost at least $6 or $7 a piece!
I also went on a date with my sweet baby. We went to Chipotle where he refused to eat his cheese and rice quesadilla and I wolfed down my chicken burrito bowl. Man, I love that place. The good news is that he drank half a cup of water! He NEVER drinks water, and this is a great concern of mine, so I was stoked that he loved the novelty of the coke cup with the bendy straw and the ice so he could go, “burrr” and shake his head all around every time he took a sip. Whatever works, right?
My husband is in Phoenix for work for a couple days. There’s been talk of us transferring there. He’s been going on and on about the 116+ degree weather and how awful it is, and then he went to the plant where he might work and he loved it, so he was like, “I think I’d love to take that job!” He’s obviously not a salesman. You can’t lead with the 116+ weather. He should have lead with the “I’ll be home by 2pm everyday!” Even that isn’t very motivating for me. Just kidding :)
Hope everyone else had an excellent Friday!
Oh yeah - and I sold TWO sets of stamps on eBay. I have about 30 to sell, and I’m listing a couple everyday, but those two sold in the first day on a Buy It Now price! Exciting stuff - I didn’t even have to wait for the auction to end!
If you’re an eBayer, you might want to consider auctiva (link at left). It’s really made my listing life much easier, and the best part is that it’s free! I love free!
Book #38 - The Thirteenth Tale
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. Wow! Best book I’ve read in a long time. A little bit Jane Eyre, a little bit Flowers in the Attic, and maybe a little The Sixth Sense- excellent writing, wonderful stories. Unlike my normal book choices, there was no romance here. I kept waiting for it, but I didn’t miss it.
This is a story of a solitary book seller who is asked to write a biography for a reclusive author. As the story of the book seller and the author unfold, you really don’t know what’s going to happen next, or how it will all come together. I genuinely didn’t figure it out.
I really related to the book seller. Here’s an example:
“I never read without making sure I am in a secure position. I have been like this ever since the age of seven when, sitting on a high wall and reading The Water Babies, I was so seduced by the descriptions of underwater life that I unconsciously relaxed my muscles. Instead of being held buoyant by the water that so vividly surrounded me in my mind, I plummeted to the ground and knocked myself out. I can still feel the scar under my fringe now. Reading can be dangerous.”
I once got in a car accident because I was reading in a traffic jam. Reading can be dangerous. So sit in a secure position when you read this one, it’s wonderful!
[rating:5]
ridiculous people: America Supports You George W. Bush USA war
by Blabby
1 comment
To Independence!
Happy 4th, everyone! I love love love all things revolutionary, and this is my favorite holiday! Let’s have a resurgence of the kind of thinking and activism that the founding fathers exhibited! Get involved, write a pamphlet (um, blog) like Thomas Paine (wiki), repeal a tax like Ben Franklin(wiki). Close Gitmo, impeach the President and VP, put Scooter Libby in jail, send a care package to a soldier, end the war!
Okay, that went in an unexpected direction. But I’m not sorry.
I dream of a day when we have a leader like John Adams or Thomas Jefferson that we can really get behind - not necessarily their personal beliefs, but their VISION for what this country could be! We’re so far removed from that, it’s very saddening.
Anyway, happy independence day. Be careful with your fireworks! Keep water/fire extinguishers close by.
BTW, I just won my final auction of yarn on eBay. Now I’m getting 31.5 skeins for less than $60! And they’re fancy yarns! Woo hoo!
Books, books, books
I’m realizing that my goal of 100 books this year might be harder than I thought. I’m not including the tons of craft books I check out from the library - like the six crocheting books I checked out yesterday. I’m only including the fiction and non-fiction books I read or listen to from cover to cover (or CD 1 to CD whatever.)
The fact that it’s July already and I’m only at 37, and I’ve been reading constantly all year, tells me that I may not make my goal. And I’ve been reading short books!
Recently, I checked out a few books that I normally wouldn’t be that interested in - since they’re not YA or romance. Just kidding. But I’ve started The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, and I love it so far.
Here’s my cheater method. If I start a book, and I’m not pulled in by page 50, I stop reading it. I’m probably missing out on worlds of great literature, but I just don’t care. If I’m still struggling to pay attention by page 50, then that’s it. There are TOO many books out there for me to struggle through the ones I can’t get into.
So the result is that I always have 8-10 books checked out from the library (not including the craft and cook books) and end up reading 3 or 4 of them. I just gave up on a few…The Sunday Philosophy Club and one about Renoir’s wife, I can’t remember the title.
Does this make me a bad person? I figure some people don’t read at all, so I’m doing better than that, right?
And Allison and Deb, I’m still waiting for both The Life of Pi and The Kite Runner from the library. Since those were so highly recommended, I will actually finish them - regardless of how I feel by page 50!
So keep the recommendations coming!
books family romance novels: Authors Barbara Delinsky family drama grace metalious looking for peyton place mercury poisioning peyton place
by Blabby
leave a comment
Book #37 - Looking for Peyton Place
Looking for Peyton Place by Barbara Delinsky. First of all, this book made me want to read Peyton Place, so I promptly added it to my library request list. Second - I’ve read lots of books where the writer was kind of conversing with the reader, but this was the first one that I’ve really noticed. There’s a lot of “You’re probably thinking…” and such phrases. It was a little disconcerting. Other than that, I whizzed right through it. Great characters, more than one good story line. I wish I had already read Peyton Place because it seems that this book offers some insight to the author, Grace Metalious. But the heroine, Annie Barnes, is great all on her own. I like that she is honest and steady and sticks to her word. I also like the effort she puts into her relationships with her sisters - it was a little inspiring. I really should try harder with my own sister.
Maybe later.
Anyway, highly recommended. This is my second Barbara Delinsky read, and I really like her. And in case you’re wondering, it’s not all steamy gossip and romance like the name might imply. There’s also a good Erin Brockovich-esqe storyline that’s excellent. [rating:4]
