Thursday, May 28, 2009

Mine :)

I arranged a loverly trade with LibertyDoll Creations on Artfire and got this neato pouch in exchange for two of my clips:

I need something compact I can just throw in a diaper bag or big purse that still has my essentials. This is the winner! And I can attach my keys to it too. Perfect. Can't wait to get it!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

'Tis Pretty

From Chantilly Lace, This bermudaful headbead appeals to my whimsical side. Doesn't it look like something a bride would wear for beach wedding or something?
P.S. I don't know if you noticed, but didja see that I learned how to link the fancy way? Didja didja didja? Me = techie geek in training.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Raising kids on television

I like to joke that I was raised on television. Not like, on television, but you know, television helped raise me. It's not so much that my sisters and I were plunked in front of the TV and left to fend for ourselves, but I just have so many fond memories of kids shows that I enjoyed.

Sure I liked books and crafts and playing outside, and I have fond memories of those things too, but I don't feel ashamed adding TV shows to my list of nostalgic memories. Getting up early and watching Hercules cartoons with my dad, watching Fred Penner after a bath (there's a pic in my baby book of me and my sister naked in front of the TV with Fred Penner singin' away). 80's kids are very pop-culture nostalgic so maybe that's part of it. Maybe children of the 80's were the first ones who had lots of kids' programming readily available, day and night?

Anyway, just as I have no shame adding TV shows to my list of fond memories, I have no shame getting Clara to watch and enjoy television. Yes, I've tried reading to her. All she wants to do is eat the book. Every time. But to see her giggle at the TV is just precious. Plus, I kind of like watching kid shows again. There are some good ones out there! I'd rather be caught watching a kid show than a reality show any day of the week.

Just some random thoughts. Feel free to chime in.

And now for something completely different. Some adorable lampwork beads from www.DerondaDesigns.artfire.com:

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Oh, the joys of self-diagnosis on the interweb

Everyone knows you shouldn't diagnose yourself on the internet. But everyone does it anyway. Well, not everyone, but a lot of women I know have done it, and I am a chronic self-diagnoser. My husband, and a few other husbands I've come across, don't understand why a woman would needlessly freak herself out by googling her symptoms.
Well, I thought I might shed some light on the subject for those who don't get it.
Here's a typical scenario:

1. Woman develops a symptom, usually something a little out of the ordinary. Like, say, an odd twitch or pain in her arm. She doesn't remember hurting or over-working her arm at any time. So this mysterious symptom is unexplainawayable. She tries to ignore it for a bit, but if it gets worse, the need to know just what it might be grows stronger until it's almost overwhelming.

2. Woman goes through what she has heard or experienced to explain it away. She resists checking Google because she knows Google will tell her that she's going to die a painful death. So, she racks her brain for other sources of info. Family, friends, that Oprah episode last week. Does cancer start this way? A motor neuron disease? The problem is she only comes up with more questions, not answers.

3. Woman starts to get panicky, but since she has gone down this road before, she doesn't want to annoy her doctor or her significant other for something that's probably nothing. Unless it isn't. Her mind goes back to that Oprah episode where Dr. Oz emphasized the need for self-advocacy and quick action when something is wrong. Is this one of those times? Or is she being an idiot? Where will she find peace of mind? Where can she find information? She needs something anonymous, something that won't mock her. She needs the internet.

4. Finally, after a sleepless night, trying to forget about it, she decides she has to know the worst. She sneaks out of bed, goes downstairs, and flips open her laptop. She types in a variety of search words and clicks on the scariest results first. To rule them out of course.

5. After about 45 seconds she's convinced she has necrotic facitis and she's going to die in 48 hours or less. She spends about 5 minutes planning her funeral and imagining her last moments, and then attempts to calm down.

6. It takes a while, but eventually reason returns and often she won't even need to discuss it with anyone else. She reads the scary information again, this time more carefully, and realises she only has 1 of about 10 symptoms for the scary disease. And that one isn't even quite right. Then she remembers she was carrying her daughter around a lot more than usual yesterday and that's probably what it was. She sneaks upstairs and goes to bed, her husband and her doctor none the wiser, and goes to sleep. The end.

Now what's wrong with that? I--I mean she--didn't bother anyone. Solved my own--I mean her own problem. Is self-diagonosing really so bad? Should a woman have to do it in secret? Just sayin' is all.

On a completely different note, my artfire item of the day comes from http://YarnChick.artfire.com and isn't it adorable? I can't decide if I want it for Clara or myself:


Sunday, May 17, 2009

Finally, Something Interesting from Science Class!


Check out this necklace made from a microscope slide! I didn't want to showcase jewelry items two posts in a row, but I couldn't resist this one. What a cool idea! The image is so me. It's like carrying a little bit of England around on your neck. It would match with everything, too! There are many styles available at this studio, as well as some pretty nice notebooks. Check out www.debvandetdesigns.artfire.com if you likey :)

Friday, May 15, 2009

Jewelry, Backyardigans, and Moving Day

We'll start backwards.

No, not moving blogs. This time it's a for-reals moving day. Tomorrow I help move my parents out of my childhood home of 16 years.

I'm a nostalgic kinda girl, so I'm surprised I'm not a little more upset. Maybe because their new townhouse is fraking awesome, but still. 16 years is a huge chunk of my life. I still remember that moving day. I did not want to leave our old house, and the only way my mom could convince me not to throw a fit was to get me a kitten. Trixie died almost two years ago now. And all of a sudden I'm a grown up and my parents are old. Er. Strange.

Now I watch Backyardigans with my daughter. Since she has started actually paying attention to TV, the only things that really interest her are when people (or animals) on TV sing and dance together. Being a mom, I appreciate shows that feature such things that aren't completely idiotic or obnoxious. Enter Backyardigans. Dang it, those songs are catchy. I love the rhymes. Take this for example:

Racing day, it's racing day.
Racing day, it's racing day.
It's not sausage-casing day.
Today's the day we race.

Brilliant, no? I sang it for Brandon and he laughed outloud. I've had it in my head for a while and I keep editing it to fit with what's happening in my life. Like, "Moving day, it's moving day . . ." you get the idea.

Finally, another artfire item of the day. This comes from CreativeHaven Jewelry:



It's a genuine African amethyst carved rose pendant. It goes for $89, which may seem expensive, but I'd rather spend the money here than at a chain jewelry store. Plus this item is one-of-a-kind. It'd be nice for somone with an amethyst birthstone. See more of her work at http://www.artfire.com/users/creativehaven.

Well that's all for now. Happy Friday!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

The House of Mouse

Oh my, these are just too precious. Plus, they're handmade in the land of my ancesters: the Netherlands! There's a big variety of mice, including star wars mice, famous musicians mice, holiday mice, but my favourites are these three from the beloved J.K. Rowling series (yeah, those little books--ever heard of them?).





Check it out!
http://www.artfire.com/users/TheHouseofMouse

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Item of the Day

Since I've suddenly become part of the handmade revolution (sounds so important, doesn't it?), I've become involved in the Artfire community. Artfire, like Etsy before it, is a hosting site for artisans who sell their wares online. I prefer Artfire, though I have no beef with Etsy. And since Artfire is the new kid on the block, it needs a little extra lovin'. That means each of its members is (or should be) working hard to promote not only their own shop, but the shops of other Artfire members in order to draw traffic to the site.

So in the spirit of that notion, I'd like to feature a new item/studio every other day on my blog. Ambitious, I know. We'll see how it works out. I hope to keep it varied, featuring a bunch of different artistic mediums, as well as featuring newbie and experienced artisans alike. I'm a newbie myself, so I think everyone deserves a chance.

Today I feature MichiganMud Clay Studio. She works with stamps and clay to create her stuff. Here is one of the things I was admiring in her shop. Cute ring at a great price! Nice and simple with that professional yet crafty look:

























Check out the rest of here items here: http://www.artfire.com/users/MichiganMud

Well that's it for today, folks. Remind me next time to tell you about the time when Clara drank air freshener and I called poison control (she's totally fine, just has interesting smelling poo).

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Welcome to my new home!

Well hey there,

Glad you found me. So yeah, I moved and I even changed my blog name. Why? Reason number one: word2yourmother was already taken at blogspot. Reason number two: I'm 27. Who am I kidding? I'm not that edgy.

But why the Happy Cheerio? As I was contemplating a new blog name, I looked over at my 10-month-old daughter munching a cheerio and thought about how blessed I am, and then just typed it in. Much to my surprised delight, it wasn't taken! So here we are.

More posts to come. No, really.