Tired girl, I am.

Well, last night was dancing night. What a blast that was! We went to Tonic, a local nightclub. It's not the classiest place ever but it's nice and it was 18+, LOL. We finally got there at about 11, and spent an hour or so dancing. The music was pretty decent. The guys I wasn't so impressed with, I'm glad that I'm not out on the prowl cuz I would have been disappointed. Just after 12 my feet started killing me... The shoes I wore are NOT for dancing! Thankfully one of the girls' boyfriend showed up at about that time... Through some connections at his work he was able to get us VIP and to some couches! It felt so great to sit, LOL! By 1 I was starting to yawn, and ever the party pooper, I cut out shortly afterwards. The 20 minute drive home was lonely and bleary, not to mention slow driving at the speed limit, so I'm glad I left when I did.

Plus, I was up bright and early at 6:45 this morning... God, is that early. Why?, you ask... To go drown some worms. I tagged along fishing with my dad and Kris. We left a few hours later with about 20 panfish, more than enough for a great little afternoon treat. Kris does all the nasty work, then flours and frys the poor little fishies... I admit, I am one of those people who likes to live in denial about where their food comes from. Working at a health food store makes it difficult. Watching my hunny hack the heads of these bluegill makes it damned impossible. I really like that "meat" - to me - is stuff I buy on styrofoam trays at the grocery store and not the flesh of an animal.

So, ever since we got home I have been relaxing and trying to sneak in little cat naps whenever I can... I did whip up some berry shortcakes with fresh whipped cream, and that was probably the hightlight of my afternoon! Now, I think I'm off to pick up the Seraphina that I've been avoiding all day...

A work in progress...

My seraphina, that is. After I checked off my two "must dos" yesterday (gift shawl and send secret project) I allowed myself to play with the Rainbow Boucle. I worked up 2 small swatches, one in J and one in K. Decided I liked the K better and went to dive right into the Seraphina. Within like three rows I felt like an idiot... I could not understand that pattern for the life of me... even with the pictures! The boucle wasn't fun to frog, so before starting again I did a sample with some ugly, easy to see yarn. Just to make sure I'm not as stupid as I felt.
Finally got it figured out, I think it's because there were some stitches that needed skipping and it doesn't say that in the pattern... I guess I need it all spelled out for me, LOL. Anywho, once I got past my blockage progress was quick... and this is where I am at tonight. I think I'll have it finished up by tomorrow. I've decided to keep it for myself. I really love the feel and the colors and everything about it... I think I'll wear it at work when the air's chilly. Free advertising. :)

I finally got my copy of this month's sucky Crochet! I agree, it does suck, but I'm glad to have it so at least I can decide for myself, LOL. I think the most interesting thing I saw in the whole issue was a little ad on the bottom of page 31, for Fibertrends. It was the picture for this pattern that caught my eye. How totally cute is that? And it would be so easy to make, plus I think it would work great with the rest of that Rainbow Boucle. One of my LYSs carries their patterns - I can't decide if I should see if they have it to buy or if I should just wing it. Any one know of a freebie like this on the 'net?? I really want to make this, even if just to wear it as the top on the right.

Tomorrow night I am going out clubbin' with some girls from work - the fun girls, LOL! One of them just turned 21 and her parents have her daughter for the weekend... so we are going to live it up... even though I am not of age to drink it is 18+ night, so it will be okay, cuz they can always buy me drinks. Plus, I am not the type to get trashed if I can't puke in a familiar toilet. My only problem is I have no cute club clothes, only chubby clothes... and I am on tight budget. I think I might make a trip to the mall tomorrow anyway, to see if I can get a cheap outfit. I'm excited, since I've never actually gone clubbing before and I really enjoy spending time with the girls I am going with. It worked out nicely - with holiday we all have a free night - which is just about impossible any other time.

Felt like I had something else to report, but i'm drawing a big blank, so I will sign off here.

P.S. Lori - I'm sending all sorts of "healing quickly" thoughts your way... I hope you feel tons better everyday...

Alright.

For some reason my software won't install correctly. It won't actually run the Kodak piture program, but it's in there enough to recognize my camera and let me retrieve pictures. I suppose that'll do for now, but it pisses me off that it won't just work the right way. I don't have the time to figure it out though!!

Look at the lovely package I received from Fiona today. Such a sweetheart she is!!
She sent a skein of Jo-Ann's Sensations Rainbow Boucle which I have been coveting, and included two pattern mags as well the cutest crocheted bracelet! It's beautiful, Fiona, thank you so much!! I can't wait to start on a Seraphina from this yarn, it's so soft and pretty! Plus, it's a freakin huge skein! I know people have said this, but I wasn't expecting it to be this large! (Excuse my !!s, please.)

More goodness: yesterday my copy of Cool Crochet arrived! It came with the mail just as I was heading out to work, but since then I have had the chance to look through it and do my fair share of drooling. I'm so impressed with this book - it's such a great collection of clothing patterns I would wear myself or could totally see making as gifts. I usually am not the type to buy a book without looking through it first, but I'm glad I took the leap here. I thought to give you guys an idea of some of the stuff in here I would share some pics... I wanted to photograph the whole entire book, but since I couldn't, here are some of the ones I like most...
There are so many more great patterns, too... I definitely recommend this book. I especially like that the pattern sizes range all the way from small to extra-extra and sometimes extra-extra-extra large.

I'm working on fringing the Gypsy Shawl right now. One of my boss's birthday is this weekend and this is SO her style... The whole time I was making the shawl I was thinking that... And now I found out her b-day is soon, so that will be the perfect excuse to give it to her. Unfortunately I won't have time to block it, even if I did actually know how to go about blocking something, LOL, but at least it will have fringe. Anyone know where to find some good tips for blocking, for next time?

I've also just about completed my work on a secret project, I only have a few ends to weave in and I'll have it shipped out tomorrow... Once I get those shipped, the shawl gifted and the ugly poncho at least frogged I think I may allow myself to yarn shop... I really want to start on one of the sweaters from Cool Crochet, LOL! I'm so glad to have tomorrow off, I plan to be uber-productive and then spend the weekend with some fun crochet.

LOST - did anyone see LOST last night? I missed most of the beginning and will be watching it tonight after work, but I did catch the last 1/2 hour and I have to say I'm disappointed! Talk about NOT wrapping up a single thing... and now I have to wait and wonder all summer long. Shit. I suspect it all goes back to the comic book, somehow, but I'm not a patient waiter, and I want to know now!! Damn it all to hell.

Okay, gotta run, time for work...

I'm back.

All is well. My mom got some debris in her eye but it was mostly all gone by the time we got to the optometrist. They removed the rest, told her that her eye is scratched and gave her some eye drops. I've worn contacts for the last eight years so getting shit in my eyes is nothing new to me, but not so for me mum. I'd have just told her to rinse it out and lay down for awhile, LOL!

Like I said, I have pics to share... but first I have to reinstall my Kodak software.

Be back in a bit...

planned to blog but...

my mom's got something in her eye and I have to drive her to the optometrist.

Hopefully I will be back before work cuz I have lots of pics to share...

Huh?!

Does anyone else find this as fucked up as I do?? Seriously.

I have so much catch-up reading to do, at Bloglines and C'Ville... Only a couple days and I've fallen behind! I've been working five days a week lately, not quite forty hours but most of my shifts are 1-9:30... pm... which screws up my whole day! By the time I wake up, shower and eat it is time to go to work again... get home, crochet for an hour or two, go to bed and do it all over! This schedule will take some getting used to - right now I feel like I'm not getting anything done! I've never worked this many hours in my whole life, but hopefully with the extra cash I will be able to start saving a bit.

Oh yeah, for anyone interested, I thought I would pass along the link Dawn shared with me for some long hippie skirts. They're here, I really like the red one on the first page, but I'm broke for now and won't be able to get it for awhile.

Hmm, I can't think of anything else that I had to say right now, so I'm gonna go grab a couple more hours of sleep before I have to get up and get ready for work.

Blech!

My internet broke! It was running slow as hell all Saturday and then just quit on Sunday. So, we have the cable people coming out sometime tomorrow afternoon but until then I am going thur withdrawls... Right now I'm cowering away in the back office at work trying to sneak a little comp time! (good thing we are slow tonight, LOL!) So, while I would love to write a good, long post, I can't think under all this pressure! Agh!

So, quickly:

Ro - Thanks so much for sharing your pictures with me! You must be SO proud!!

Dawn - thanks for the link and the tip about the OLd Navy skirts (She says pass, Deneen.) I will definitely be looking closer when I have a bit more time.

Beth - the mattress pad is freaking divine. Totally worth the cash - I want to get out of bed even less than I ever did - uh-oh.... My mom likes mine so much she's getting one for their bed.

Deneen - to find out your page rank, you have to d/l the Google toolbar. It has a little spot that will tell you the PR of each page you view. I think last time i checked you're a 3.

Anyone who I forgot I'm so sorry! I'm so frazzled/hurried right now! Thanks everyone for stopping by and leaving comments!

MOre soon!

Where did it go?

My page rank is gone. I mean, it's zero. I thought it was four, or two, depending. Wonder why I suck now?

I *really* want one of those swingy skirts from Old Navy. SO bad! Went there today to grab a couple and they were all sold out! Total let down, plus they don't even have the style I want on the website! What the hell?? At least I picked up a cute bag on clearance for 5 bucks... It was time for a new purse, and I needed to spend some money, LOL!

So, I bought a memory foam mattress pad for my bed. Ever since Kris got his fabulous new pillow-top bed, mine has felt like a piece of shit in comparison. It's gotten to the point where I wake up with a backache...(Not sure if this is an unconscious mental thing - like I think about it so I make it worse - or if my bed really does suck.) I found one at Walmart for $60 and I had the cash so I bought it. (Side note - Shopping at Walmart makes me feel morally irresponsible. *frown*) The thing stinks a good deal right now and has filled my room with a weird foamy smell. (Luckily, I won't be sleeping there tonight.) At any rate, the thing is absolutely amazing to lay on, and hopefully will rectify the yukky bed issue.

Keeping on with the spending money theme... LOL, I guess I splurged a bit this week... I also ordered Melissa Leapman's new book, Cool Crochet, from Amazon. I was originally turned on by this review in Crochet Me, so I put it in my Amazon Wishlist. Then I saw this post at C'Ville and read the review by Amy. That was enough to convince me that I should have this book and so I went ahead and bought it. Woo-hoo! I can't wait til it comes, I'll let you know what I think when it gets here.

And going back to stores not having what I want - ! My JA's doesn't carry the new Rainbow Boucle yet! I'm so jealous of the beautiful Seraphinas that Bron and Drew have/are making... I want to make one too! *pout* Wish they had it on their website. Why do the websites not have the right products?? Once again, what the hell...

Pretty much the only crocheting I've done is a little work on a secret project, so I've not much to update in that department. I did, unfortunately, get the ugly poncho back... I was in such a hurry be rid of it that I didn't realize it was pretty un-functional... What's that about haste makes waste again?? Now I'm going to frog the bitch and turn it into a messenger bag... Needless to say I'm in no hurry to do that!!

Otherwise - still no improvement in the pal situation...I'm slowly gathering things for her and will be sending out a package in the next couple weeks - but it's not as much fun since I know she won't run to the 'Ville and post it, LOL. Oh well. I think I'm going to hold off on the Yarn Swap this round, too. I have a lot of yarn as it is, and I think I want to just buy for myself for a little while. I've been really selective about my yarn lately - not very much has been appealing to me.

I'm so jealous of both Dawn and Kari who are going on vacations... We were supposed to be going to NC the week after next - until we learned about the whole identity theft thing - which still isn't wrapped up, BTW! We're waiting for charges to be brought against him so he can be prosecuted, but aren't sure how long that will take. It's nuts. Get your credit report.

Anywho, I'm off to go "adjust my attitude..."

Enjoy your weekends, all. :)

Shoutouts!

Hey Ro! Happy Birthday!! Hope this next year brings you tons of love and laughter.

And Lori! I know you're not reading this right now but I'm so glad to hear that everything went well! I wish you a very speedy recovery.

Finally, even though he's not a reader, LOL - Mr. B!! (Kris's dad) Happy birthday you old fart! Hehe! :)

I have a few errands to run... I hope to be back shortly with a longer post!

Well, I thought I should blog, but now that I'm here I feel like I have nothing of interest to say! Especially after all the comments I got on my last two controversial posts - oh, how will I ever live up?? Back to boredom, folks... Hehe!

I organized my yarn stash last week but since then I've only admired it, not really used it, LOL! Oops, actually I did try to recreate the Lucy bag in crochet with some blue cotton chenille, but the closure's all janky. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to frog it and redo it, or just leave it and use it to carry yarn around in. I have decided that I love the way this chenille works up! I also love this Lucy bag, and I really want to get it right... I think it would be so cute striped in some fun colors of Lamb's Pride wool and then fulled.

Oh yeah, and I finally finished the ugly T&Q poncho I posted about ages ago... I don't like it. LOL, I'm not sure the recipient does either but at least it's off my hands now! I thought I lost my "N" TOTC hook that I was using, so I was freaking out for a few hours, but I found it in a forgotten project bag... I'm just glad to have it gone. (The poncho, that is)

I feel like I'm at a loss for cute summer projects... Most of the cute ones I've seen are halter tops... and right now I'm a fatty so those won't work! Seriously, I've doubled my size since I graduated two years ago - how'd I let that happen?? (I didn't go from a 2 to a 4, either.) I'm not the diet type - AT ALL - but something's gotta be done, cuz I'm not happy being this big! Until then, though, can anyone suggest some cute - not for skinny girls - summer patterns? Maybe some cover-ups or something? - For some reason I've had the urge to make this cardigan from the last IK Crochet, but I think June is not the right time to begin a project like that! Not to mention that completing something of this caliber is probably a pipe dream on my part.

Today the sun is out enough [for my mom] to play in the garden, even though it is chilly. She bought a TON of annuals, and our yard is on it's way to looking fabulous... I'll share pics once it's all done, cuz she does a great job every year. It makes hanging out back there so much nicer when there's color everywhere! We have this one plant that is indigenous to our house but is nowhere to be found in the rest of the neighborhood... The stalk resembles bamboo and it does grow like crazy, but the leaves aren't similar... We're in a hardiness zone between 5 and 6... I know this is a long shot, but anyone have any clue what this mystery plant could be?? Any botanists out there??

Worth a shot, anyways, and I'll even go one up - if anyone can identify this plant, and I believe you are correct, I'll send you a prize! How's that? Good luck!

Addendum

Gee, here's a thought - maybe we should start a forum at C'Ville JUST for comfortghan requests! There seem to be enough of them...

*Grrr!*

And while we're at it, lets everyone all write in only CAPS, too!

Can you tell im irked??

Gripe

Grr. I need to bitch for a sec, so if you don't want to read then don't.

I'm not exactly sure where to start without mentioning any names... suffice it to say that there are some rather pushy, rude people who are spending a lot of time at Crochetville and are really beginning to piss me off. First it was just a few remarks I'd noticed that I didn't really care for, but it seems like more and more I feel certain people are just saying some uncalled for things... and/or, to go off on a tangent, using C'Ville as their personal soapbox - that's what BLOGS are for people. To a point, I understand, but I feel it's going overboard lately... Yes, we are a group of good people, however - it seems like people are taking advantage of that, and or "trying to steal the spotlight," so to speak, by posting about every little bit of their drama... Again, that's what BLOGS are for... Maybe I am heartless, but I just don't give a fuck if your sister's cousin's baby's mama has to have her tonsils removed or whatever. I'm so sick of all the "requests for prayers..." That's probably so bitchy, but C'Ville just is not the place for that.

I realize that this is all probably very petty... We should welcome everyone with open arms, whatever - but lately I've been wishing that there were some members who would just leave, LOL...

Guess dealing with people I can't stand is one of those lessons I need more practice with...

I just noticed...

That if you're at http://www.natalie85.blogspot.com, my page rank is only two.

But, if you're at http://natalie85.blogspot.com, it's four.

Hmmm.

It's raining now...

a quenching rain that our lawns and flowers will love. It smells like dirt and spring and lilacs outside - YUM!

Hey Deneen! Welcome back, I've missed you! Glad to hear your trip was good!

Wow - I feel like I've gotten something accomplished today! Kris and I both took the weekend off, so we came home earlyish this morning to do some garage sale-ing with my dad - it's his (my dad's) birthday! He doesn't read my blog, but still, happy birthday Dad, I love you!!

Anyways, we went to a few sales and weren't very impressed, so we came home and Kris and my dad got into some work on the Mustang... So not my scene, so I took leave and went upstairs to play with my yarn, LOL! I got my second box from Melanie today, and I am in LOVE with this cotton chenille - so soft! The colors are great, too - exactly what I wanted. I love the satisfaction of a good buy!

So, I am unpacking the box, and I start to realize that my yarn has taken over a good deal majority of my floor space. EeeK! That led me to working on what turned out to be a much larger task than I'd originally intended - organizing the stash!! I'm not sure when I accumulated so much yarn, but somehow I along the way I've acquired a bona fide yarn stash, and it was *seriously* out of control...

So after much winding (note to self - buy a ball winder) and squishing, a little dusting, and a few hours, this is what my 'yarn wall' looks like:

I should mention that my room (the upstairs dormer) is also the only storage we have, hence all the little kids books. The truly amazing thing is how much freakin' yarn I was able to pack into this one Sterilite container - There are about 30 skeins in here!

I really wish I'd taken a before, and even scarier, a during piture... but I didn't think about it. OopS!

These are the newest additions to the stash - all the yarn I've gotten off Melanie this past week. Like I said earlier, I am really loving this cotton chenille... Don't get me wrong, I like the acrylic too, but the cotton is so soft... And the wool (on the left) was such a great buy, I couldn't resist, even if I don't know what I'm going to do with it yet, LOL!


I even frogged about 7 WIP that had turned into UFOs, even though I didn't officially join in the UFO-along. Go, Me! There was a scarf that I started years ago (literally!), a couple lonely, abandoned squares, a hat that I hated when I started it, LOL... More winding - blech. But if felt good to rip 'em up, and get my floor back, too!

I do have a FO to show off... well, kinda finished... Here's my Gypsy Wrap, minus fringe:

I'm pleased with how it turned out, I think once I actually put the fringe on it will help weigh it down a bit more. I don't have a clue what to do with it, though... I don't wear shawls, and don't really know anyone who does, for that matter.

I'm a bit stumped about secret pals this round... I'd love to spoil my pal but I can't seem to get to know her... She doesn't have very many posts [at all] at C'Ville, and doesn't update her blog frequently... And to whine a little more - she wasn't terribly thorough with her form, the answers seemed hurried. So... I don't know what kinds of things to gather, and honestly (horribly) I'm not enthused about this round like I was the last... It's so hard to be when I have not a clue what she'd enjoy... I don't want to send a 'generic' package, but nothing jumps out at me and says "Ohh, [Blank] would love me!" Even the email I sent her (chatty, I think, but I'm biased, of course) didn't bring a warm response... UH. Maybe it will get better. :)

Anyways, we just cut a caramel apple pie *drool* for my dad's birthday, so I'm gonna go grab a slice... or two... :P

Happy Fridays, all!

Yesterday I received my awesome reveal package from my even awesome-r pal, Lori. She made me a beautiful sweater, I can't even tell you how soft this sweater is, it feels a bit like Homespun but is actually made of Bernat Illusions. It fits so well too, I just love it!!

Lori also include some other goodies in her package:The little monkey pencil toppers are the cutest! She sent along some yummy tea, too, but that didn't make it into the picture cuz I was already brewing a cup! (It's the best tea, spicy and cinnaminny - YUM!! She tells me it's available on Amazon now, go check it out, I'm pretty sure this is the stuff.)

In other news, I got my grades back and I am one happy camper!! Even through my crazed last few weeks, I managed to keep them up, and I finished with an A, A-, and B+. Can't complain about that, especially since it was getting to the point where I was thinking "If I don't do this paper, will I still pass??" LOL. School's weird for me, it's difficult to be a perfectionist and a procrastinator all in one. I put something off so much, it gets to the point that I'd rather not do it all then do it wrong, but my "wrong" is usually pretty average. It's nice and not nice all at once.

I've been a happy little eBuyer the last few days. I've been feeling that my stash is too wintery, but store yarn hasn't been appealing much to me. So, I've paid Melanie at Fiber Options a few visits! My first time I came away with some Wild Rose cotton chenille and some natural colored wool. (I know I said spring yarns, but one can never have too much wool.) Then, I had my eye on an auction for some gorgeous blue cotton chenille, but I was away when it ended and was outbid by 50 cents. I was so sad! So, I asked Melanie if she had any more in that colorway she'd be willing to relist, and she did!! Of course, I snatched it right up, and added in some mint green cotton chenille while I was at it. I figure that should do it for now... I'll have like 10lbs of yarn coming here in the next week, LOL! I REALLY need to get a ball winder now!

Speaking of yarn from Melanie, I started a shawl out of the black rayon/silk blend I bought from her a few weeks ago. I really like this yarn but had no idea what do with it. It's soft and slightly fuzzy and has a nice sheen to it. It wanted to be something dressy but I didn't know what until I was flipping through my Vogue Crocheted Scarves book and saw the Gypsy Wrap pattern. It was so perfect!! It took me a few minutes to get the feel for Solomon's Knot, but now it's coming along really quickly and I should have the crocheting done tonight. Fringing is another story... (I hate fringing...) plus I'm not sure how well this yarn will hold up in a fringe. Any thoughts??

Last night I had a crippling headache... Came on right when I went to work at 1:00, and got worse - by the time I went to lunch/dinner I couldn't eat cuz it had made me sick to my stomach! Thankfully there was someone there to cover my register, so I went home and it's a good thing, too. It got so bad I was puking and crying, which in turn made my head hurt worse. I haven't had a headache that bad in awhile and they drive me nuts cuz I don't know what to do - there's really nothing to do. It finally started to subside around 8 or so, and I just vegged out and watched the Pistons kick some ass. (Did they ever kick some ass!!) This morning I feel much improved, except for being so damned thirsty... I feel like I could drink all day and not be quenched!

Sooooo, I'm off to grab some water and jump in the shower. I have today off and it is BEEYOOOTIFUL outside, so I think I'm going to get some crocheting done in the great outdoors (read: my backyard bench swing). Wishing you all lovely afternoons!

Been Tagged...

Lori, my awesome secret pal from the Spring Swap, tagged me! Here's how it works:

Pick 5 of the following and then complete the sentences. Then pass it on to 3 more of your blog friends! But no tag backs!

The Premise (pick 5):

If I could be a scientist...
If I could be a farmer...
If I could be a musician...
If I could be a doctor...
If I could be a painter...
If I could be a gardener...
If I could be a missionary...
If I could be a chef...
If I could be an architect...
If I could be a linguist...
If I could be a psychologist...
If I could be a librarian...
If I could be an athlete...
If I could be a lawyer...
If I could be an inn-keeper...
If I could be a professor...
If I could be a writer...
If I could be a llama-rider...
If I could be a bonnie pirate...
If I could be an astronaut...
If I could be a world famous blogger...
If I could be a justice on any one court in the world...
If I could be married to any current famous political figure...

So, after some thought, here are mine:

If I could be a farmer - I would live up north and grow only organic and have a big John Deere I'd ride everywhere.

If I could be an architect - I would work on building enviromentally and economically friendly housing. I'd work on making the city beautiful again, and try to reduce urban spawl.

If I could be an inn-keeper - I would want to be just like Martha Stewart and have all sorts of "personal touches." I'd serve scrambled eggs spooned back into their (sanitized) shells and have fresh flowers in every room. I would love to own a B&B...

If I could be a writer - I would publish at least one dirty story.

And lastly, If I wcould be a gardener - I would grow one garden with nothing but lilacs!! I LOVE real lilacs... Look what I brought in this morning for Mother's Day:

Wish you all could smell the great scent wafting through my house right now!!

I, in turn, will tag: Rebecca, (oh where oh where have you been?), Dawn, and Cindy!

I didn't go away...

I just haven't felt much like blogging lately.
Maybe I will snap out of it soon.

Here's the monkey I made for Brendan, I sent it out today along with 2 Hot Wheels cars.

I've been absent for awhile, things are still pretty nuts for me right now. I finally emailed my professor my half done paper today, two days late, but at least it is in. Without I would've swung a high C, but even if I get 50% on the paper it will bump be up to a B, which is much more tolerable. Even though we don't get our grades til mid-next week, I'm pretty confdent I did well in my psych class. And I take my math final tomorrow - I could fail it and still pass the class with a low A, but I know I'll do well, so I don't have to worry about that.

Things are slowly beginning to calm down at work, too. We hired in a new part timer, she's a girl from Russia who's been here for about 6 months. I admit, I was skeptical at first, because the last person we had who didn't use English as her primary language didn't work out well AT ALL. But this new girl is just a gem, we have some small communication differences (like, when she says "thirteen" it sounds like "thirty" and this has freaked a few customers out, LOL) but she has caught onto everything so quick, and she just kind of fits in really well with the mood of the place. That's allowed us to lighten up our load a bit, and settle into a regular schedule. We've figured out that I'll still be working four days a week, but three 8 hour shifts and one 5 hours shift, instead of three 5 hours and 1 eight hour. It'll work out to about 15 extra hours per check, which is good with me!! (My raise is due next month, that will make a nice increase too!!)

I've been working on a hippie hat for one of my co-workers, I think I'll have that finished up today. My plan is to make them through the summer and have them available at the store around fall, but the only problem with that is thrift shoips have no sweaters right now! I figure that garage saling will be a good way to get started on the frogging without waiting for seasons to turn, but we've had an unseasonably cool spring and there hasn't been much in the way of sales yet. Soon, I hope.

Maybe you've also noticed that I have a new button up in my sidebar, "Boxes for Brendan." This little one's story pulled on my heart strings and I felt I just had to do something to help. I'm working on making him a monkey right now, and would like to make a elephant to go with it before I send his box off. My goal is to have them mailed by Friday, we'll see if I make it. So many wonderful people at C'Ville have joined together to brighten Brendan's mood, it just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Speaking of new buttons, the one for the Crochetville Cafe Press shop is up now, too! I can't wait til I sell my psych book back tomorrw, I've already decided that I have to have at least two T-shirts, and my book money will pay for them, LOL! So, go look! Go buy!

Sorry I've not been commenting anywhere, I have been (kinda) keeping up thru bloglines but my comp time has been seriously limited so I've been resisting the urge to comment everywhere. Just know that I'm reading, and that all you fellow bloggers are in my thoughts, even if I haven't piped up in awhile.

Now I'm off to enjoy the few free hours left in my Sunday. Talk to you all soon!