Just call me Ms. Blogger

No, don't, because I have not been here to update shit in over a week! Ack! I need to leave myself a note or something.....

Well, I'm off to NY for a long weekend and the besty bestest Halloween ever! I finished my costume TODAY because I kept hating parts of it and changing it. It's supposed to be 60-ish and sunny on Friday, so that would sure be great since I didn't design a COAT to go with my costume. Of course..that could be a great excuse to go BUY a new coat! In New York no less! Hmm.....*thinks*

And I hope to find some awesome fabrics at Mood! Yes, that's right, Project Runway fans, we'll be visiting Mood Fabrics this weekend! I hope no one punches me out when I turn to leave and yell "Thank you Mood!!" ala Tim Gunn.

Stay tuned for cool Halloween pics next week!

Random Thought Part I

I was cleaning out the cupboard in the kitchen today where we keep the Tylenol and cold medications and stuff like that. There was actually some childrens Tylenol in there that expired in 2004! Obviously this cleaning task was well overdue! So, I figured I would post a sort of Public Service Announcement just to remind everybody how to properly dispose of old medications. Important stuff here, for people and the environment. The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service say just three small steps can make a huge difference: 1. DO NOT FLUSH unused medications. Consumers were once advised to flush their expired or unused medications; however, recent environmental impact studies report that this could be having an adverse impact on the environment. 2. When tossing unused medications, protect children and pets from the potentially negative effects. APhA recommends that consumers: Crush solid medications or dissolve them in water (this applies for liquid medications as well) and mix with kitty litter or sawdust (or any material that absorbs the dissolved medication and makes it less appealing for pets or children to eat), (I mix the meds with coffee grounds and wrap all of it in tin foil) then place in a sealed plastic bag BEFORE tossing in the trash. Remove and destroy ALL identifying personal information (prescription label) from the medication container. Check for approved state and local collection programs or with area hazardous waste facilities. In certain states, you may be able to take your unused medications to your community pharmacy. 3. Talk To Your Pharmacist. Research shows that pharmacists are one of the most accessible healthcare professionals. As the medication experts on the healthcare team, pharmacists are available to guide you on how to properly dispose of your unused medications. Okay, so there's your task for the day. Go clean out your medicine cabinet and properly dispose of old meds.

My Halloween Costume

One of my besty-bestest friends, Jules, lives in NY. (I heart NY!) Every year, she sends me these awesome photos of their Halloween activites and I just get so jealous because it looks like a totally kick ass day. Well...this year, Halloween's on a Friday and Jules invited me to come, stay, visit and trick or treat with her and her fam! COOLNESS! I was at Expedia.com faster than you could click that "I forgot my password" link. It's been a cool millennium since I dressed up for Halloween, so I went through a lot of ideas. It had to be something fantasy, something I would NEVER wear IRL. A fairy? A unicorn? An elf? Then my son came up with the most obvious and perfect idea...a HOOP GIRL! I'm an avid hooper ("hula hoop" for you novices out there) and most hoopers are young, pretty and thin and they wear crazy costumes to hoop in...stuff with flow and colour. You can Google Image search "hoop girl" and you'll get an idea of what I mean. So, I'm going to be a Hoop Girl for Halloween, but a more covered version. A 40-something version,if you will. ; ) These are the fabrics I'm using for my costume. (see picture up there^) Here's a link to a blog that has pictures of Jule's relative's house: http://www.newyorkshitty.com/?p=9368 Now you see why I'm so excited to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Today's my day off and I hope to get a lot of sewing done on this. I also have to go to the post office and see just how I can mail a few hoops to NY. I'm going to assume I won't be able to take them as carry-on! I have directions on how to make collapsible hoops, but I honestly don't think I'm going to have the time to make any! It's only a little over 2 weeks away! :::shifts into stress mode::: Plus, the final episode of Project Runway is on tonight! Gotta love Wednesday!

Cute wool sweater

This is the wool sweater I picked up at the Salvation Army store for 4 bucks. I was planning on shrinking it and using the felted wool to make crafts. Then my husband said "That sweater is really cute..why don't you just wear it? Why do you want to shrink it? That's just weird that you would shrink a perfectly good sweater just to make cat toys out of it."

Clearly, he doesn't understand crafting. *hrmph* However, he may be right about the sweater.

*VOTE HERE*

Shrink it or wear it?

David Sedaris...continued

Okay, I did NOT get to meet Mr. Sedaris, get his autograph or have a picture taken with him because the *certain people* I attended this function with (previously known as my family, but now only refered to as *certain people*) did not want to stand on line and wait. Granted, it seems the whole of the theater wanted this chance, and we certainly would have been waiting for quite sometime, buuuuuuuuuuuuuuut...........it's David Sedaris! David-Fucking-Sedaris, people! ARGH! Bringing it up again only makes me want to send another anonymous magazine subscription to some *certain people*. :::pulls self together::: Anyway...the evening was wonderful and filled with much laughing and yes, even tears of laughter. Mr. Sedaris gave a 15 year old girl $20 to introduce him. HIL-arious! I will never forget the story about the rabbits (Runny, Moist and Screened-In Patio) or the Costco story. It only made me love Mr. Sedaris more. And I learned a valuable lesson..next time, I will go alone and leave *certain people* home. Oh....and NEEK-ah-RAAAA-gwwwaaaa! ( you had to be there!)

I want David Sedaris to be my BFF

Tonight I'm going to see/hear David Sedaris speak at the Palace Theater in Cleveland. I've been a fan for years and years and I'm really psyched for this show!!! I paid the big bucks for great seats aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand I just found out he's doing a BOOK SIGNING afterwards! OMG! OMG! I could actually speak to David Sedaris and maybe even get my picture taken with him??!!?! Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Words cannot express my excitement!!

Wait....will I make a fool of myself in front of him? Will I ask a really dumb question or not even be able to speak at all? Will I trip on my way up to the table? What am I going to wear now that he may actually see me???

Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

Etsy Mini

Check out the new feature I added over there...*points to the left*...an Etsy Mini of my shop! Coolness! I'll figure out this interwebs stuff yet!

I did go to the thrift store yesterday and I found this terrific all wool sweater in a gorgeous lavendar colour. I may not shrink it, however, because I think it's just too cute! I may just keep it and wear it! Doy dee doy! The other all wool sweaters I found were in sort of boring colours, so I passed on them. I also found some cool striped tops that I'm going to turn into arm and leg warmers for my Halloween costume.

Hmm..I still haven't written about my Halloween costume yet, have I?

duct tape

After I got off work last night I had to go to the store and get some stuff...a pineapple, some pluots, thread, fabric. I stopped at home to change out of my work clothes and discovered that I had never hemmed the new cords I bought at winters end last year! I needed a quick fix...thought of using the stapler to hem the pants, but I was afraid that would leave holes, so I used duct tape! I folded the hem up as if I were actually going to hand hem them, and stuck a few healthy lengths of duct tape along the edge. Worked like a charm and no one knew..like a dirty little secret! This morning I hemmed them up proper with needle and thread but the really disappointing thing is........I think pluots are out of season now! The store had none and I fear with winter rapidly approaching I may be doomed to eating apples and *gasp* canned fruit all winter! Oh! And frozen blueberries, which are actually really good if you buy Wyman's frozen wild blueberries. I get the huge size bag of these at Costco and thaw a few servings at a time, in the fridge overnight. Okay...so that makes me feel a bit better now that I remembered the frozen blueberries. Okay, so let's recap and find the silver lining here...my pants are finally hemmed, I finally got the fabric I needed to make curtains for my son's room, I can eat blueberries all winter long and duct tape hems pants quite nicely. I'd say all that makes up for the "no more pluots" thing. : ) Now I'm off to take my mom shopping and check out the thrift store for a wooden bench for the entryway (thinking ahead, again, to winter...we need a place to sit and pull off our boots) and I'll be looking for some wool sweaters to shrink and use in some crafts! And maybe I can find a cool skirt to modify and use for my Halloween costume. More on the Halloween costume later!

Nom

Like I said, I work parttime/part time/partime(naw...I'm sure that last one isn't right!) at a vet and we get a lot of stray animals in that need homes. I've only worked there for 2 years and I've already adopted 3 animals. By the time I retire, I just know I'm going to be one of those Crazy Cat Ladies.

So..this is our newest addition to the fam...Nom. She's a 4 month old polydactyl kitten..she has 22 toes! How cute is this???

Welcome!

Welcome! Hello and welcome to my blog! Hopefully it will be filled with deep insights, thoughtful comments and....................... Oh, who am I kidding? It's going to be filled with the random thoughts and ideas that run rampant through my head 24/7. I will try to keep it funny because "Laughter is the very best medicine. Remember that when your appendix bursts next week." (credit to Weird Al for that quote) The title of my blog comes from my personal belief and practice thereof that almost anything can be fixed with twisty ties and paperclips. Really, it can. I'll list some of these and maybe even post some pics of twisty ties and paper clips in action. Duct tape and bungee cords are also very useful "repair" items, but that would have made the name of my blog, like, just waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long. : ) A summary of me: I am a crafter of all kinds of things and a stained glass artist. I work part time (part time? one word? two words? one T? two T's??) at a vet, too. I'm married, have 2 teenage boys and (currently!) have 4 dogs, 4 cats and about 40 koi and fancy goldfish. I have a shop on Etsy....please feel free to go shop there and tell every-single-person-you-know to go shop there. Buy from me! Buy from other hand crafters! Buy, buy, buy! Buying=good. Fuel the economy and that sort of thing! http://squidstuffis.etsy.com Be patient with me while I try and figure out this whole blog thang and the little doo-daddy boxes and tabs and stuff. (and yes, MARVEL at my use and grasp of technical terms!) Kthxbai!