Just because

I bought myself a necklace and thought I'd show you. 

Pretty, right?

I have a lot of things swirling around my head.  Lucky me I get to go to work and add some more swirls. 

To be nobody but yourself in a world doing its best to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle any human can ever fight and never stop fighting.
- e. e. cummings

Five

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
~ William Shakespeare

repeat

My dog is super handsome.  Don't bother to argue.  I know I'm right.

Faith is the bird that sings when the dawn is still dark.
~ Rabindranath Tagore

Rain

Dogs' lives are too short. Their only fault, really. ~ Agnes Sligh Turnbull

Happy Birthday, Margaret!

My sister in law, Margaret, called yesterday saying she got her birthday package.  If anyone's counting, its a month late.  Yes, I'm a slacker.

But....I can finally tell you what her present is - mentioned in a previous post....

This is the picture I showed before.....its actually....

This....



Added to this....












































With a liberal dose of time....

But it made this. 

Still guessing? 

Its homemade vanilla extract!!! 

Thanks to this blog.

I thought I took some pictures of the vanilla before I strained it and poured it into individual containers, but I can't find them.

Margaret also got these - 2 bundles of reusable fabric ribbon.  Made from a wide variety of scraps. 

Happy (extremely belated) Birthday, Margaret!

Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie. ~ Jim Davis

Tuesday round-up

This is what happens when I wake up early with a boatload of motivation....

It was a beautiful day.  Atticus did this for most of it.  (Hes that blonde-ish blur in the background).

New shoes were delivered!!  (Online clearance shoe-shopping is my new 3am activity.)

Could you tell I was in a turquoise mood when ordering shoes?

My friend Jayme is leaving for 6 months to go to physical therapy school in Texas.  We had a going-away dinner for her tonight.  I made this for her - a reusable coffee sleeve.

And this card. :)

A dark and blurry picture of me and Jayme.  Not taken tonight...its just the only one I have to post. 

My most exciting thing I made today.  This is what I started with:  a tea-towel from 1979.  My mom is awesome and finding these at yard-sales.  I have a stack of them.  This one was originally on a hanger type thing - I cut that off and washed the towel - hence the fringes at the top. 



The final product!!  Yes, its another purse.  And probably the world's worst picture of it.  Its not really that wonky in real life, I just couldn't figure out how to take a good picture.  The handles are dark brown vinyl that I picked up from the remnant bin yesterday at Joanns.  (Thanks mom!)  The button is an antique from my button collection (Thanks again mom!).  I got a lot of compliments on it tonight.  I should take more pictures and post the back (it has the kitten on it) and the insides.  And maybe just a general picture where its not hanging sideways.


If you give what can be taken, you are not really giving. Take what you are given, not what you want to be given. Give what cannot be taken. ~ Idries Shah

Monday morning

My time clock is all messed up...coming back from vacation and because I switched days off.  It was a long week at work:  2 12 hour shifts back to back.  Sandwiched between 2 10 hour shifts. 

After lazing around all last night, I feel motivated to do stuff today.  We'll see how that goes.

Last week was Washington Telecommunicator's week.  One of my incredibly talented co-workers drew the background for this.  Freehand. 



I smudged the city name for privacy.  The sign actually looks better in person.











Sometimes I worry about being a success in a mediocre world. ~ Lily Tomlin