I’m diving into 2019, throwing all my energy into my crafting. There’s a possibility that later this year, I’ll be trying to sell some of my creations at craft shows. However, if I do that, I have to have some inventory. Which…at present…I don’t. Over the next several months I’ll be slaving over a hot iron, as I make piles of fuse bead key chains, magnets, and ornaments.
As if that wasn’t enough to keep me busy, I’m also wanting to make myself a blanket. Earlier this fall, I was on Pinterest, and I discovered something called a temperature blanket. Basically, over the course of a year, you put a blanket together. You use colors to indicate the daily temperature. I decided to crochet a granny square blanket, because it’s an easy and beautiful pattern. It was a bit cold yesterday. Supposedly, it was only 15 degrees Fahrenheit, but it felt so much colder! Here’s the start of my blanket:
I’ll be updating the Temperature Blanket section of this blog daily so that everyone can see my progress. And if you’d like to join in, I’d be thrilled to follow your progress as well!
If you’ve been here over the last month, you know that I’m starting the process of bringing my blood sugar down and getting my diabetes back into the realm of “Controlled.”
I’m making sure I’m taking my meds religiously (even though they make me feel like crap 24/7). Since January 8th, I’ve not had one sugar reading over 200. I’m seeming to stay between 120-140. I know there’s room for improvement, but considering that I was consistently in the 220-240 range a little over a month ago, I’m happy to be where I am.
Not only am I supposed to be lowering my blood sugar numbers, I’m also supposed to be losing weight.
And that’s not happening.
I’m stuck. I’ll lose 5 pounds, and then those five pounds immediately come back. And then I’ll lose them again, just to find them back a few days later. It’s a frustrating, brutal cycle.
I’m stressing out so much about the weight not cooperating (and stress is really, just about the best thing for blood sugar numbers…not!). I’ve only got until the end of March to show improvement, or I’m facing insulin.
I don’t want to go on insulin! It’s not even something I can afford to think about having to do.
So, that’s my quandary. How do I get the weight to come off and stop coming back? It’s not like this is a new challenge, either. I’ve been fighting this losing weight battle for so long now, I’m at my wit’s end.
-I really want to see Devil’s Tower. I know it’s nearly 700 miles away, but I think it would be awesome to just leave after work some Friday night and drive to Wyoming, see Devil’s Tower, and drive back home. I know it’s crazy, and probably a waste of gas, but it’d be super awesome.
-I’m on a personal mission whenever I watch something on Hulu. No matter what the ad that is playing, I always mark “No” for the question, “Is this ad relevant to you?”. So far, it’s not making any difference, but I seriously hope that it’s messing with some Hulu algorithm thing.
-Whenever I house sit, my brain comes up with ridiculous scenarios of things that could happen. The most common/recurring is that aliens are going to show up. No abduction or anything. Just that aliens will suddenly appear.
-Whenever I go on Pinterest, and if I stray onto the DIY & Crafts section I suddenly am filled with the belief that I am crafty. I’m not.
-Speaking of crafts, I feel the urge to do origami. Probably a good thing that I’m nowhere near paper right now.
-I kind of want one of those graphic tablets that you use with a computer. Yeah, apparently I’m on a crafting kick tonight.
-You know what is fantastic about being out of the city and out in the country? The stars. There are so many beautiful stars just overwhelming the sky and I adore it.
-You know what’s eerie about being out of the city and out in the country? The quiet. It is so amazingly quiet, and when you’re used to the sound of traffic and sirens and trains and such, the quiet can be a little unnerving.
-Who’s got two thumbs and a three day weekend coming up? This girl!
-I really want to learn archery. And not just because of The Hunger Games. It’s a graceful sport. Plus, I have this weird noise sensitivity issue, so I’m thinking that learning to shoot would be a miserable experience.
-Sometimes I feel like I’m the neediest, clingiest person ever. It drives me crazy. It’s not intentional, it just happens. Which, somehow makes it worse.
-There’s this thing that’s been floating around Facebook lately where people put down what their favorite Bible verse is. I have many favorite verses, but lately I’ve been loving Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
Okay, I’ll be honest, I had to Google the spelling of the word “thyself” because I wasn’t sure if it was considered one word or two, and then I had to look up the phrase, “I beseech thee,” and within seconds I wrote the title to this. I’m aware I probably completely misused those words, but it’s after midnight, so I lack the ability to care that much. Also, heads up, I’m about to go on a bit of a rant.
Can I ask an honest question? Is basic modesty such a bad thing? I’m not talking about, “Oh hey, I won this award, I won’t shove it in everyone’s face.” I’m talking about, “Oh hey, this outfit leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination, maybe I should supplement it with a bra or something,” or, “Oh hey, maybe I should think twice before doing this dance that looks like I’m acting out sex positions on national television.”
I’m old school, I admit it. I don’t think we all need to be running around in nun’s habits, but I do wish there would be a bit of a return to wearing clothing that doesn’t spell out every single bump, wrinkle, bit of flab, and nipple for everyone to see. Yes, no matter what we female folks wear, guys are going to get ideas; but is it really necessary to add to what they’re already imagining. Sure, we’re not responsible for the thoughts that pop into their heads, but I think we do have a smidge of responsibility to not add to what’s already in their head. The sluttier a girl dresses, the more permission she’s giving to a guy to come and have a look. Guys’ brains are naturally wired to automatically see things that turn them on so that they can go off and perform the act that creates more guys whose brains are wired that way. It’s part of nature. If it wasn’t, they would advertise ladies’ underwear the same way Fruit of the Loom advertises guy underwear (this isn’t an original thought, I saw a picture on Pinterest depicting this). We girls don’t need to see some hot chick in underwear to want to buy it (ok, well maybe some girls do). No, that advertising is used so that girl’s have a clue about what makes a guy tick. (And since most of us don’t look like or have a body like Heidi Klum, that advertising does nothing but make us girls feel insecure and inadequate). So yes, guys are responsible for their thoughts and the choices they make as to what they continue to think on, but for those guys who are trying to think pure thoughts about us ladies, let’s not add to their difficulty.
Y’know, it’s completely possible to dress classy, without looking like you should be standing on a street corner selling yourself. Even if you’re a bit on the hefty side (like me), more and more styles are cropping up that allow us to look lovely without looking skanky (or like we’ve been poured into the outfit). Plus, if you don’t mind waiting until the end of the season, you can hit pretty fantastic sales on stuff that would otherwise break the bank.
Also, I’ve been thinking. These girls that get their start doing Disney channel stuff probably are making at least a little money off the programs, and if the program is over, there are probably some royalties involved. Now, I understand that most of these girls want to move on with their careers and not forever be associated with those “good girl” roles they had. However, they’re still will to accept the money from the royalties of those “good girl” roles. Here’s an idea, there should be something in their contract that states that it’s fine if they decide to break free of that “good girl, role model” role; but if they do, all future royalty payments and any money from any merchandise, that continues to be made, will be donated to charities that support young men and women making wise life choices and working to succeed at making something of themselves. It’s only fair.
I had an interesting moment this week. I was standing at work, looking at a cup with an amputated toe in it.
That’s right.
A toe.
From a human.
Now, being a vet tech, I’ve been present for plenty of surgeries. Working in a medical lab I see blood, and other things (I’ll call them sunshine, butterflies, and daises, to try to keep you all from completely losing your lunch). However, this was the first time I had ever seen an actual body part that was separate from the body.
Standing there, looking at the toe, I found myself feeling overwhelmed with love for my job. Seriously. By far, that toe sighting was the coolest things that happened this week at work.
Now, “normal” people would not find this to be cool. They wouldn’t think that it was a highlight of their week. In fact, they would look at me and think, “What a freaky weirdo.” And, you know what? They’re probably right.
I’ve reached this point, though, where I’ve pretty much stopped caring what people think about me. It’s too time consuming. Besides, I like that I’m a weirdo.
As if loving my gross job, and being obsessed with geeky things doesn’t make me weird enough, I’m turning into the Crazy Puppet Lady.
My mom started working with puppets before I was born, so I can honestly say I was born into this life. When I was six, she and dad went to Sunday School Convention in Peoria, and they came home with my first puppet. She was the ugliest little girl I had ever seen, and I loved her dearly. I named her Jill, and she was the first puppet I used the first time I stepped behind the stage curtain to perform. From there on, I spent my entire childhood and teen years puppeteering. Sometimes we had big teams, and sometimes our teams were just made up of mom, dad, and I.
When I graduated from high school, I thought my days of working with puppets had come to an end. It was one of those things that had been fun for the time that I had done it, but I just put it down as a part of my childhood. For a while, it was the end of it. I had a break for a few years.
Then, in early 2009 our church seriously approached our family about starting up a team. So, we did, and even though the changes a bit every few months, it’s consistently a fantastic group.
I’ve noticed a change in me, since we started team again back in ’09. When I left home back in 2003 and went to school, I really didn’t miss team or miss being a puppeteer. When I moved away in 2011, I missed team and puppeteering almost more than anything else. It really had become an intricate part of me, and not being able to do it every week was a misery.
When I moved back home last December, I had not job and no clue about what was next for me in life, but I had team and I had my puppets and somehow I knew it was going to be okay. In fact, the first weekend I was home, my parents helped me make the videos I posted at Christmas:
Now, the girl in the video is Penny, and she’s my girl. She came into my life back in 2009, and I couldn’t quite figure out what to do with her, and what was worse was that I had no clue how to give her a voice. It may sound silly, but there’s a lot more to giving a voice. You have to figure out the personality and create this whole other person. So, it was exciting when Penny started finding her voice. (Side note: Yes, I realize that Penny is a puppet, and this is not a delusional thing. However, she’s become a part of me. Hence, I refer to her as a separate individual. It’s hard to explain without sounding slightly insane, which I’m pretty sure I’m not.) Last December was the first time that voice really started to make an appearance. Last weekend, though, that voice got put to the test.
Last weekend was Creative Ministry Festival. We go every year and take our team members. Since Creative Ministry Festival is all about Creative Ministry (Puppetry, Clowning, Illusion, Dowel Rod, etc… for more info check out http://www.creativemin.com), I took Penny with me. Last year was the first year I took her, and I had this adorable 1950’s poodle skirt outfit on her. Well, a week before this year’s festival, I realized that I couldn’t take her wearing the same outfit this year. That’s when my Pinterest addiction kicked in (you may remember me referring to this addiction a few weeks ago in reference to a cake tragedy). I remembered seeing a tutorial on Pinterest about taking a superhero emblem t-shirt and making a matching tutu for it. The instructions for the tutu didn’t seem to difficult, so mom and I went on a last minute hunt for t-shirts and correctly colored tulle. We found a Superman t-shirt and a Batman t-shirt. Then, we found sparkly tulle in red, yellow, and black, and regular tulle in blue.
Thanks to my dad, I didn’t have to spend days cutting out 3 inch strips of tulle. He has this really cool circular knife and quilting mat that I used to cut the tulle. What should have taken me days took approximately an hour.
As you can see, I had a lovely pile of red and blue, and black and yellow. I then had to turn these piles into tutu skirts. Since I’m not the world’s greatest at finishing craft projects, this was it’s own challenge. However, by the day of the festival, I had created two unique tutus:
Friday night, I took Penny in her Superman outfit:
And on Saturday, it was time for Batman:
The cool thing was, because she had these unique outfits, people were more inclined to come talk to me (which is good because I’m not exactly good at socializing with strangers). Not only did people talk to me, but Penny was able to talk to them. She had finally found her voice, and started getting pretty comfortable with it.
Then came Sunday.
Since this Sunday (April 28th) is our team’s spring performance, I asked the pastors if Penny could do the announcement. I was given permission, and immediately freaked out. It was one thing to talk to strangers, it was something completely different to interact with people I know. What would they think? Would I just make an idiot out of myself?
Well, when church started, Penny and I went into the sanctuary (and yes, she was still in her Batman outfit). Even though I pretended I couldn’t tell, I could sense all the people staring. It was the first time that any of our puppet had been seen outside of the stage. Now, the number one rule about manipulating a puppet in public is that the puppet has to stay alive. This meant that I couldn’t put my arm down to my side, and Penny had to keep reacting like an actual person would. We got through the first song without problem, and then came the meet and greet time (basically 3 minutes where people can wander around and say a quick hello to each other). This is when something completely unexpected took place.
Penny and I were standing with mom, and I saw this little girl and her mom come walking over. The little girl wanted to meet Penny, and so Penny and she talked. Then, after she left, her dad brought her older sister over (these girls were about 5 and 7), and Penny talked with her. Then, after she left, two little boys drug their Grandmas over. One little boy reached out and started shaking Penny’s hand (thankfully, I had the quick reaction to grab the arm rod so Penny could actually shake hands with him). What shocked me was watching these kids interact with Penny.
I can’t talk to kids. I grew up and only child, and I had to exist in an adult’s world from birth. Yes, I had a childhood, but I don’t think my brain was ever truly a kid. Sure I liked to play and hang with friends, but I didn’t think like a kid. This has made interacting with children a huge challenge for me. I don’t want to talk down to them, but I never know what to say. However, with Penny, I could talk to kids, and they talked to her. It was my Grinch moment. It was the moment my heart grew two sizes. Each kid made me cry (which is next to impossible. I almost never cry, unless I’m watching some manipulative movie or commercial). It was the moment that I knew that I really have become the crazy puppet lady, and I’m completely okay with it.
Oh yeah, the announcement went well. I think it’s the only time the statement, “You can’t say no to someone in a Batman t-shirt and tutu.” has ever been uttered in a church.
Occasionally, on here, I mention my slight liking (scratch, and replace with super huge addiction) of Pinterest. I usually get sucked in on the “Geek” section, but occasionally I do wander over and check out the “Food” section. This is a dangerous section for me, because while I’m pretty craft challenged, when it comes to food I’ve got a little bit of talent. Not only can I cook, but I can even make it look somewhat presentable. Now, last year, I discovered something on Pinterest called a tie-dye cake. It looked super difficult to make, but after reading the instructions I decided it was worth a try. Here was the result of the first experiment (I ended up with enough batter to make 2 cakes). I called this the Jackson Pollock Cake:
This was the second one:
Believe me, those cakes were as good as they look.
So, anyway, last fall I was on Pinterest, and I stumbled across this:
This beauty is a Whopper cake! The entire outside is covered in malted milk balls. Now, I’m not a big Whopper fan, but my dad is. I knew immediately that this was the perfect cake for his birthday. After a few months of pondering this cake, I knew that I had to at least try to make it. So, since dad’s birthday was today, I set about making it this weekend. It started out well.
I had to layers like the one above. I also had the largest bag of malted milk balls I’ve ever beheld. I know the quality’s not good, but trust me, that’s about 6 lbs of x-large Whoppers:
I got up super early this morning (6 a.m., which for me is crazy early. I told my dad that he knows that I love him if I’m willing to get up then just to decorate a cake). Here’s what the cake looked like when I finished:
Sure, the Whoppers weren’t lined up completely perfect, but for an amateur cake that I was decorating from memory of a picture I’d seen a while ago, I was pretty happy (also, there’s a raspberry and chocolate filling that while it sounds like a weird combination, wasn’t half bad).
Okay, so you’ve now seen the pretty, perfect cake.
What happened next probably would’ve been avoided if I had ever purchased a cake safe type carrier. However, I make a “fancy” cake about once every year, so it’s not something I’ve ever thought about getting.
We had decided that since neither mom, nor I should have all that sugar readily available to us (she’s type 1 and I’m type 2 + I’m on a serious weight loss plan), it would be better to take in for the kids on our puppet team to share in. Now, we tried to figure out a good way to transport the cake, but we had nothing it would fit in. Eventually, mom agreed to hold it while I drove.
We were about a third of the way to church when the first Whopper popped off the cake. Then all craziness broke loose. Whoppers started popping off left and right. They made a strange sound as the suction of the icing let loose. Then, the cake started to shift. The top layer was going one direction while the bottom layer stayed put. Most people would probably have gotten angry and started yelling at each other, but that’s never really been my family’s thing. No, this morning marks the first time that I had to pull over to the side of the interstate because I was laughing so hard I couldn’t drive. It wasn’t just me, either. Mom was cracking up as well. (Dad, being mostly deaf wasn’t quite aware of what the situation was.) Finally, we got control of our laughter, found a piece of cardboard to try to keep the cake separated from mom’s shirt (the pants were a goner at that point), and I finished the drive. When we got to the church, here’s what we found (quick, remember the beautiful cake picture from above. Scroll up if needs be, cause this ain’t pretty…):
And here’s a picture of my mom’s arm:
You can kind of see just how far the cake was sliding off at that point.
Thankfully, more of the cake survived than we thought had. People got to share in the remnants, and dad’s got a couple boxes of cake casserole in the fridge.
The important thing to me, about this situation is the fact that no one ever raised their voice, no one ever cast blame (although, let’s face it, I really need to invest in a cake carrying container), and even tonight we are still giggling over the disaster. I don’t know if anyone else’s family would have been so cool about what happened. A lot of people would’ve turned on each other and used terms starting with “stupid,” and upped the ante from there.
So, Happy Birthday, Dad. Next year I’ll try to keep the cake in one piece until after you’ve had your first piece!
Alrighty, it’s 2013. Today is the first day of the rest of the year, or something like that… So, before I get to my Doctor Who weekly obsession (who are we kidding, it’s more like a daily obsession), it’s time to get the list of goals for the new year listed.
Malia’s 2013 Goals
1. Lose weight. (This is kind of a no brainer, and I’m sure I’m not alone in having this at the very top of my list.)
2. Exercise a minimum of 30 minutes 3 days a week.
3. Write a blog entry once a day.
4. Write non-blog related things.
5. Finish the blanket I promised mom I’d make her 3 years ago.
6. Read through the Bible in a year.
7. Take at least 1 photograph everyday.
8. Watch all the Doctor Who episodes, starting with the first ones from back in 1963.
Okay, so this leads into my weekly (at minimum) discussion of all things Who. It occurred to me two days ago that I can’t really call myself a true Whovian unless I go all the way back to the beginning. There are a couple hundred episodes and more than a few Doctors for me to catch up on. I actually started this monumental task on the 30th, but I figured it was better to start early than not at all. So far I’ve made it through the first three sets of episodes from season 1 (1963). Here’s my initial conclusions…
-The stories are really good. Even though there’s so much I dislike about these early episodes, I really like the plots, so it makes it worth it.
-So far, the companion Ian, does almost everything. The Doctor is pretty much this old guy-that I spend most of the episodes wondering if he’s a dementia patient-that does nothing but be a jerk and cause more problems than actually do any good. Susan, the Doctor’s granddaughter, is incredibly annoying. The first episode, Ian and Barabara (her teachers, who end up becoming the first human companions to the Doctor) both spend quite awhile discussing how smart Susan is. I’m not necessarily doubting her intelligence, but I’d like to be given some evidence of it.
-Speaking of the women, man have times changed since 1963. Basically, the sole role of the women thus far has been to scream at everything and do absolutely nothing to help themselves. Seriously. There’s one part where Susan gets tapped on the shoulder when she thinks she’s alone, and instead of investigating (like one of the modern female companions) she screams and basically has a meltdown. There’s a lot of screaming done by these two women. Also, it really bugs me that there’s this general attitude that if the young handsome men don’t do something, it can’t be trusted to be done right.
Also, I spent New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day getting mom and dad caught up on season 6 & 7 of the current Doctor. I’ve now seen the ending of The Angels Take Manhattan about 4 times, and I still bawl like a baby. I’m super excited to see the Christmas episode and the rest of season 7.
In closing, here’s today’s photos (remember, taking at least one photo every day):
So, I got this bee in my bonnet to try making these brownies I saw on Pinterest. I started with a box of brownie mix and several packages of peanut butter cups:
I then made the batter:
I then poured part of the batter into the bottom of the pan:
I then laid out the peanut butter cups:
Then I covered that with the remainder of the brownie batter and popped them in the oven. Then out came this:
Mom cut them:
And I ate one:
The brownies needed to have cooked longer. Honestly, thought they were done, but I basically ended up with brownie batter goo in the middle (the top and sides were mostly completely cooked). However, if you’re going to end up with brownie batter goo, it’s best to have Reese’s right in the middle of it. Peanut butter cups make any baking “disaster” much better.
Now, here’s some pictures of my cats. Howard wasn’t thrilled I was taking pictures:
Best picture I’ve ever gotten of Gracie (She always moves before the picture finishes taking, no matter how fast I’ve got the speed set):
Gracie also has a thing about boxes (mostly, she likes to eat them):
The days are starting to get cooler. It’s inevitable, of course. North Dakota is land of much cold. Apparently, we were spared from having a super cold last winter; there was really only one day I remember it being completely unbearable. Much as I dread the cold, after such a hot summer I’m treasuring the chill the in the air.
I’ve mentioned before that I really love my job, and today was no exception. Things were a little slow this afternoon, but that was okay because I got to do shelf reading. Basically, I have a row of books that I get to go through book by book and make sure they’re all in order. I realize that this probably doesn’t sound terribly fun, but I find it to be a soothing activity. (Yes, I’m just that weird!) Working in the library, I frequently find myself feeling very small (and not just because I’m so short I have to have a stool to reach some of the books). It’s a marvel to me to be surrounded by the words written by so many people. Thousands and thousands of people who all wrote something that will outlast them. Today I encountered something written hundreds of years ago. The author is long gone, but they wrote is still needed by someone now. How amazingly epic is that?
Speaking of books, here’s something delightful I found on Pinterest:
-Am I the only one who finds John Barrowman’s role in The Producers a whole lot funnier since he became Capt. Jack?
-Why is Pinterest so addicting?
-Why can’t people clean up after their dogs, especially if they’re not on their own property?
-Is humidity actually beneficial? (I don’t want to keep complaining about it if it is. Who am I kidding, I’ll probably still complain about it, even if it is, but I’ll not be quite so vehement in my hatred.)
-What on earth was Bic thinking with their “For Her” pen line? Follow up question… Who came up with their commercials for said pen line? Follow up follow up question… Has anyone else read the comedy gold that is the reviews on Amazon for this pen line?
-Love or money?
-If someone says they’ll contact you shortly, and it’s been 30 days, has the “shortly” window closed?
-How amazing would it be to see a tropical sunset?
-Has anyone got a really good recipe for Butterbeer?
-Why do other people feel great after exercising, and I just feel like Death’s had a near-Malia experience?
The other day I read this list on Pinterest of “ways to lose weight.” On the list was, “Start a Blog.” Well, it occurred to me that I didn’t need to start a blog, because I created this blog about a year ago. I had this idea that I’d blog about moving away from home and going back to school as an “old lady.” Well, I think I only had one blog entry, and it ended up getting deleted because it was written in anger and frustration. I sounded like a whiny baby. However, the blog remains. It’s pretty much unused, and since I’m considering this new school year a restart, I’m going to attempt to do what I was going to do a year ago. So, here’s to a new school year, and the goal of a successfully up-kept blog.
Any Second Now... 