getting crafty

one would think that i didn't have anything better to do with my time...

one would be wrong. i have MANY MANY MANY more important things to do with my time, but took the time to make a little fuzzy blanket bunny instead. do you believe it??

we picked up the fabric yesterday at joann's since we (s & i) had to be there to help emma choose a pattern and notions for a skirt. i volunteered to teach emma how to sew on her school break.

anyhow, my daughter wouldn't rest until the bunny she chose a pattern and fabric for was DONE, so we took 4 hours out of the day and accomplished the task. she talked and talked and talked and talked and talked while i worked. lots of "look at this, mommy!!!" which was difficult to do while sewing a bunny blanket.

it's done now, and i can move along to more important yet far more boring chores, and my daughter is thrilled with the blanket she named "honey." maybe i'll make a few more for baby gifts in my "spare" time.

mystery date part 2

whooooo-eey! am i beat. but i am one lucky girl.

there are several reasons i never get to go to concerts even though there are always shows i'd love to see. reason #1 is that i'm old and they run late and are usually on school nights when i have to get up at 6:20 teh next morning. reason #2 is that all our babysitters have our same taste in music and are also going, or they themselves are the ones playing.

lucky me, my husband found out about a concert that i had heard NOTHING about, and planned it well so i could still get a little sleep.

we got in the car, unfortunately with not enough time for anything other than wendy's drive through, and headed to raleigh. he put in a cd, but for some reason it wouldn't play. he said, oh, well. we'll just have to go see them live instead. i looked at the cd case, and it was son volt. we discovered this band about 9 years ago, and they have a wonderful rock/country beat with vocals reminiscent of michael stipe.

so we headed to raleigh's disco rodeo... doesn't that sound like a place you'd like to go ALL the time? it was a large club with a balcony, but unfortunately they ONLY served beer in cans. corona somehow doesn't taste as good out of a can! we found a fantastic spot on the balcony at center stage and waited for the opening act, tift merritt. now i had only heard of her before, but i know she's a local girl who just got a grammy nomination for best country album. and i also heard she puts on quite a show.

the rumors were true, the music AND the show were fabulous. she's got a bluesy style and a bonnie raitt inspired vocal. she sang and danced her guts out until she was hoarse and out of breath. fantastic! now i have to buy some of her stuff on itunes.

son volt came on, and the guitar player for tift merritt filled in for them. he was incredible, how he could play such an energetic show, then go right on again with a band that wasn't even his and rock the house for another couple of hours. this band's show style matches its' music exactly-- very low-key and mellow. however, it was extraordinarily loud, and i had no ear plugs since i didn't know where we were headed! i plugged my ears with my fingers, and enjoyed the songs much more. i could have hung out all night listening to them croon! alas, the coach was going to turn back into a pumpkin, and cinderella had to leave the ball before she turned into an ogre. okay, i'm mixing my fairytales.

we left with a few songs to go on the playlist, but i really wanted a couple hours of sleep. and i got them! but this morning i feel like crap... like after any really good night... and i have a zillion things to do! cheers to the excellent husband who gets the good husband award for the day, week, and month. it was a great night out.

mystery date part 1

my loving husband asks me a few days ago...

what are you doing wednesday night??

well, i wasn't doing anything at all, so he immediately set to work planning a surprise for me. who doesn't love a surprise, especially when it comes by way of a thoughtful gesture by a husband?? he's known for his full-on excellent surprises, so i can hardly wait. last time it was a whole night, sans kids, at the nicest italian restaurant/hotel in town-- complete with strawberries and champage. for tonight, all i know is to dress casual yet trendy, it starts at 8, and that it's in raleigh. he even booked the babysitter. he deserves a cookie.

it's just a shame that my head feels like a chunk of concrete sitting atop my shoulders. these sinuses are KILLING me! i'm sure it's the wacky weather we've been experiencing. the unseasonable warmth is creating early bloom, and the rain systems going through are exacerbating the effect. claritin-d haze in full swing, i'm goin' out tonight!

i even went to the gym ONLY for the steam room this morning. talk about guilt.

a post is a promise tomorrow so we can all know the fate of my mystery date.

up-chuck-e-cheese's

i will not, for the sake of polite company visiting this blog, write what i personally call chuck-e-cheese's. i may get a "flag" on my blog, and no one wants that. so i'll regale you with the tale of our spectacular visit to the dazzling hall of chuck.

it was boring.

no, no, don't get me wrong, boring is GOOD when it comes to that place. far better than, say, "deadly" or "destructive." they've done some renovating, the games & rides are better, and it wasn't busy. unfortunately, i did NOT take my camera, so there is no photographic record with which i could (presumably) delight you, my readers. however, s DID ride the "say cheese for chuck-e" ride which provides you a fax-print photo of your child riding with the mouse himself.

The poor child looks slightly demonic in this high-quality image. and chuck could seriously use some pressed powder for that shine.

the pizza is EXACTLY what i remember from elementary school lunches, you know, where you take your paper napkin and soak up the grease on top before ingesting.

and i'll admit to actually enjoying playing skee-ball.

paint the urf

the kids have two teacher workdays off from school, so we're trying to clear the empty promises area of my conscience. first, i had been postponing an expensive trip to the pottery painting place for oh, say, two years. it is called paint the earth, but with a 7 year old speech impediment, my son says "urf."

if my children cared to paint something USEFUL, i may take them there more often. however, they will predictably choose a pikachu statue that will live in a dusty corner of a household shelf for all eternity. but i digress. h actually chose well with a trinket box shaped as a castle (minor usefulness). the daughter on the other hand picked a large sleeping cat sculpture. sigh.

i chose a large square-bottomed coffee mug (see below). you will NOT need coffee on any morning that you choose this mug, because its' garish design will certainly keep you awake all day, if not all night.

i'll post the final products after they are done being glazed.

in the meantime, you may be wondering what i have to endure tomorrow in order to clear this conscience. unfortunately, it's chuck-e-cheese's. ugh. i avoid that place like the plague, exactly BECAUSE i'm afraid one of us might GET the plague there. why kids like it is beyond me. maybe some of them are representative of the wild and crazy tv ads, but NOT the one here. it stinks. i'm hoping that with this trip, i will be able to successfully avoid the place for another year or two.

vintage dad

this post is to welcome my newest blog reader, my dad. glad to have you in the blogosphere, particularly here on your favorite daughter's page! if you want to leave a comment for me, just click below where it says "0 comments." or usually it says 0 comments. occasionally i get a very nice reader to leave me a comment and then it might say "1 comment."

if you want to peruse other blogs, try hitting the "next blog" button in the top right hand corner. you may get one written in norwegian or portuguese, it's a crap shoot. but maybe one will interest you.

everyone out there reading this... yes, i know he's handsome. with genes like this, we're still trying to figure out what happened to me. sigh.

random ramblings

nothing much to post, really.

item of note: mr. L has answered my call to pens (see previous post"voices") and composed this modern masterpiece of spam:

"between argue choose.
justice blue greater modern stairs talking.
my money wonder respect.
fail getting am added,
bought principle quickly telling across,
repeated principle word raised everyone near?
full how sandwich?
forth hurrying thank nervous again?
between suddenly word appearance repeated."

so far he is in first place, so if anyone would like to challenge him, now is the time. although i suppose the contest is open-ended, as i gave no finish line. good luck to any challengers, and thank you mr l. for providing us with at LEAST a days' worth of food for thought with that piece.

i should take a moment to wax philosophical on my geekhood. my name is melissa, and i AM a geek. case in point? the new sci-fi channel version of battlestar galactica. t was watching it regularly the first season while i was yawning. then we got the second season on dvd and i was riveted. i'm not quite sure why, but it must be the star trek appeal. somehow i got all caught up in that, too. only tng and voyager, but you get the idea. GEEK!

anyhow, battlestar has some interesting moral questions, a realistic ratio of women to men (unlike any other show on tv, i swear) and women in good roles. i like the religious and social issues it raises, but i don't like that you pretty much know that no one (important) will die. it's the red shirt effect, still left over from star trek the original series.

on a different note, the dog is coming along well. only 6 months old, and she's as smart as i never thought a dog of mine could be. she can sit, down, stay, off, drop, speak, shake, wait, and catch the ball in her mouth. she can do a ton of cool obstacles at obedience class too, i've GOT to get some equipment for home. she has a crazy tennis ball obsession. it is CONSTANT. she wants to play ball nonstop, and gets a fanatical look in her eye when searching/pleading/playing with the ball. sometimes i have to hide them all for her not to act so... well... creepy.

i promise a more cohesive post soon.

you are not a jedi, yet!

my son is also hoping for his own corporate sponsorship... from lucasfilm. maybe if he draws just enough star wars pictures and talks about star wars to everyone he meets, he'll be able to work himself a deal with george. however, i can't imagine that he'd want monetary compensation. he'd just want the merchandise. not like (between he and my husband) they don't already have most of the licensed star wars products available. we may have to buy ourselves a house just to house all of the toys. but that's okay since it will all (hopefully) be financed by lucas! we'll start a museum, right here in the middle of nowhere.

the drawing is pretty cute, though, one of his more detailed attempts. at this point, his goal in life is to be an artist just like his dad. most of dad's drawings from this age are of similar quality and of similar subjects. note the green goggles flying off of luke's head. nice detail, huh? and i guess nobody's taught him roman numerals yet, hence the "episode IIIII" title.

if you have not yet discovered my heritage, it is HILARIOUS! you upload a photo of yourself (or a family member) and it matches it with the celebrity you most resemble. we had a hoot with it last night. according to them, i most resemble shania twain, courtney cox, and charlize theron. HAHAHAHA! t looks like russell crowe, ewan macgregor, and christian slater. i wish i had the web page to post. it was really funny. give it a try! maybe it'll tell you that you look like j lo or brad pitt. good luck!

voices

i think i'm hearing voices in my head. nonstop voices. voices that chatter, whisper, sadly, excitedly. constant voices, an endless stream of words, entering and exiting my consciousness at all hours of the day.

oh, wait, it's just my daughter.

honestly, she should get corporate sponsorship. if she could name drop a corporate word (ie: pepsi) every tenth or twentieth word, she may be able to pay her college tuition. probably the things she is saying are partly comedic (or otherwise) genius, but i wouldn't know because i'm drowning them out. i try to pay attention as much as possible, but it's just too much for anyone to focus on for an extended period of time.

i don't know WHERE she gets it.

i'm thinking corporate sponsorship for my blog, too! however, since the only reader (that i'm aware of) is lotusflower, i guess it wouldn't go over too well.

the other thing i'm considering is a CONTEST! that's right, the first official hello melissa contest. here's how it will (theoretically) go. choose your favorite piece of SPAM ; you know, the ones that have a long list of unrelated words at the end. take those words, and in 1000 words or less, create a story using every single one of them. how does that sound? the winner (i have a feeling it might be lotusflower) will get eternal satisfaction knowing that they have won the acclaim.

comments?? don't be shy!

what are you doing new years'... new years' day??

welcome to 2006 to all of you who are here intentionally or accidentally. i am having myself a new years' party here, trying to read myself into oblivion and finish as many books as possible before tomorrow. the kids are cooperating with this, so all is right with the world. i'm on my 4th book in almost as many days and MAN it feels good. the one i'm on right now is "the last girls" by lee smith, and here is my favorite quote so far: "As opposed to rich white southerners who will tell you whatever they think you'd like to hear. they will tell themselves this, too, before they go ahead and do whatever it was that they wanted to do in the first place."

isn't that magnificent?

all this reading is an avoidance of real-life crashing down hard and fast. a project that i've been expecting for MONTHS hit the fan yesterday. i thought i'd be able to finish it (once it was in my hands) in a timely manner. hahahahaha! this is freelance, baby. saturday, new years eve, is not out of the question for a publisher to demand that you FINISH the job (the same one you still don't even have in your hands) by next week. okay. so today, when i really should start work on the project that i now have a bit of, i'm reading. why? you may ask? i am full time parent, compounded by that fact that my co-parent just hopped a plane to l.a. i begged friends and neighbors to pitch in for the next week so i can hopefully perform this miracle.

so next time you're reading one of those cute little books with the annoying push-button sounds on the right hand side, think of the poor mothers out there who slaved to bring it to you. 'nuff said. thank goodness this job pays really well.

i took our 2005 calendar-- a really cool shag tiki drinks one-- and put it in our calendar graveyard. i made not a single one of the swingin' mixed drinks portrayed in its' pages. (the dishwasher is malfunctioning in the background) it now joins the archives of our lives, in abbreviated form. who knows if we'll remember years from now what the scrawls in the little boxes mean? but i save them all anyway.

hello 2006! i barely know ya.