smelly dogs

Our dogs smell. Seriously. They're big,
hairy, smelly, smelly, smelly. Bathing
them is not an option, at least not until
spring. They are country dogs, not well
groomed pretty pooches.

Really, they're big. One weighs more than
I do--142 pounds! I remember when he fit
in the palm of my hand, sweet little puppy!
So cute. Now he's big. And with some
digestive issues, the smellier of the two smellies.
The other, Ralphie, has his moments, but usually it's
after he's rolled in something particularly putrid, or been sprayed
by a skunk. In any case, their large, stinky, dogness has made us
think thrice about investing in new carpet.

Mud+four children+two big dogs+3 cats=new carpet over.

pruning

Now I've decided it's time for some fall pruning. As in, cutting out some
of the stuff we don't need to be doing. For example, spending as much
time on the computer. Hmmmm. It seems as if the "oh my, we're
getting behind!" feeling came early this year, so that's it. No more
"stuff." It's hard, too, because we all have extra stuff we could do,
want to do. Actually, right now, it would suit me fine to sequester
myself for a few months and not venture out beyond my own fence,
but that would effectively eliminate my children's social lives entirely.
(Okay, it pretty much cancels out mine as well, aside from DH.)
Not to mention church. Therefore, church is still "in" (bear in mind
this includes Wednesday evenings, Sunday mornings, and Sunday
evenings), Girl Scouts, music lessons, hand chime choir. That's enough
for now. Sigh. At least 'til we get caught up again. Sigh again. Time is
not on my side.

The atcs are from a swap, of course, from swap-bot. Did them a while
back. Pink isn't my thing, so these made me step outside the realm of
what's normal for me. Somewhere out there is a site, or so I've heard,
with pictures you can use to illustrate your blog. Somewhere. But that
would take some more time . . .

time

So I thought I'd post on this pretty regularly,
hah, snort, hah. What a laugh. There's been a
lot going on, okay? We finished up our homeschool
co-op, helped set up for the Special Care
Homes sale, found out we're hosting Christmas
(oh-my-gosh, overnight guests! GASP!) for my side of the family, my
Grandpa and his dear wife (she is a dear, I'm not being
sarcastic in the least) is moving, it's taken me three days to
clean out my closet, there are mounds of laundry everywhere,
there are boxes of candle making supplies (umm, yes, we made
candles) in the kitchen and living room, we're picking up an
estate sale for the Special Care Homes today, and attending a
Sunday School class get together tonight. And tomorrow the
Girl Scouts rappel. Last weekend we went on an overnight,
and the GSs rode the horses. Somewhere
along the line, we need to concentrate a little harder on school . . .
the boys are working on making another movie right now, so
the youngest son's shouts are somewhat distracting . . . maybe
someday I'll read this and long for the activities . . . snort again!

AND I got a lot of books from ebay yesterday in the mail--a brain
candy mystery series--just finished up the last Potluck Club book,
and it was a delight. So what I really WANT to do is curl up in bed
with a hot cuppa tea and read. Sigh. Off to the laundry.
(Just to remind myself of funness, here's a pic of some atcs I did for
a swap.)

needle felting and GI Joes

Had the needle felting class tonight; it was an easy and fun project.
Very glad I went. Dear daughter wants to learn as well, so that
makes it even more worthwhile.

Living room is still full of GI Joes,
but most of the stuff has been photographed and uploaded, and is
anxiously awaiting its debut on ebay. I'll just be glad when it all
moves out, but it has been fun to play with it all.

GI Joe stuff is way more fun than Barbie stuff, and these guys had
it all. There's a very cool silk parachute, and blow up rafts, life vests,
scuba gear, gun galore (of course), a tent, fire, food, even a teeny tiny
GI Joe medal. The backpacks are the best. I'd post a pic of the Joes,
but they're all nude at this point, and this should remain family
friendly . . . maybe it's the Girl Scout in me, but seriously, my
Barbie gear just wasn't this cool. Sigh.

my new hero!

So Tuesday some of us are having lunch, and dear Deann boldly
proclaims for all to hear her fondness for naps. It was as if
someone had given me permission to be tired, and do something
about it. It was a very freeing experience.

I took a nap that afternoon (albeit a short one).

Today I got up hideously early to melt wax to take to our
co-op so we could dip candles. After 3 some hours of co-op, a
short lunch, and 2 some hours of Girl Scouts, I took a nap.
Short again, but long enough. Ahhh, lovely.

Deann is my new hero!!

Tired? Sleep. Hungry? Eat. Not hungry? Don't eat.
Need a hug? Say, "please give me a hug!" (Just
remember to hug back!) :)

I like making stuff (quilts, soap, candles, collage,
paintings, scrapbooks, ATCs, altered items, weavings).
Therefore, I have a lot of stuff. We homeschool.
Therefore, we have a lot MORE stuff.
We also have our own small business, have had for the
last 20 (wow, we're getting old!) years, dealing with
sports cards, memorabilia, and vintage toys such as GI
Joes, Hot Wheels, Marx, and Star Wars. You guessed
it, more stuff!

How some of the shop stuff recently found its way home with the school and art stuff is unclear, but our living room looks like ebay EXPLODED!! There are boxes and bins of Hot Wheels and GI Joes (some in desperate need of Rogain) and stacks of books and we're in a school co-op and I'm teaching hands-on history, so there's drop spindles and wool and candle making stuff and quill pens. If you try to read that out loud, without taking a breath, you will get an idea of how I feel whenever I walk through the room! Stand up and spin around about 25 times, just to get the appropriate dizzy feeling, too.

That said, a friend invited me to join her for a needle felting class on Monday night, and I am so happy! First, that she asked me, and second, because I don't know how to needle felt. I pretty much want to know how to do everything. A true dilletante. Sigh. No, some things, I'm actually not-so-bad at. And I hate to admit it, but third, it was fun hunting and gathering all the stuff
for the class! Ugghhh! I need help!

Anyway, thanks, Kris! I'm so glad we met, and I love hanging out with you.

Since I don't have a buncha pictures to post, here's one of an altered compostition book made for a swap--it was a delight to make, since it took some of just about every art supply imaginable. (Okay, you're right, no clay . . .)

blog what??

What a laugh, I have a blog! Who in their right mind would ever have thought it?
Not ever a journal keeper. But I keep pretty much everything else, so why not
a blog, yes?? So if you find me, fine, but I'll not be divulging this somewhat secret
to nary a soul.

And that, in itself, makes me smile to myself . . .