hello week 23 - let's get our craft on!

It's the day after American Thanksgiving aka "Black Friday". Someone in Long Island was trampled to death at HellMart. This kind of behavior after supposedly 'giving thanks'.


Published in the NYDailyNews.com
Hundreds of shoppers smashed through windows at a Long Island Wal-Mart early Friday morning, killing one store employee in the stampede. News' reader Nakea Augustine caught the chaotic scene on her cell phone
Credits: Augustine for News
Published: 11/28/2008 12:03:07

What a way to go. It so sad that we as a society could make something like shopping for a great 'DEAL' become a life threatening event. There are people in this world who are waiting in line to get a blanket or a small portion of food.....sad sad sad.

Today I am at work, one of the 10 people working in the building. It's a dark wet snowy day. I've eaten more chocolate than I probably should have and I'm thinking about having some more.



A woman was hit by a city bus while crossing the street just outside my office window. The road has been closed down for over an hour. It's a tragic kind of day out there.



Over here in blog land, there certainly is a lot of navel gazing going on right!?
Well don't expect anything different this time although, thanks to Megan, the lovely ladies at The Top Stitch and this cornucopia of links and projects from Martha I am feeling very crafty. So, while I continue to work hard on my most ambitious craft project ever:
Exhibit A:


I am also making big plans to sequester myself in my craft room for the month of December. I recently had some fabric printed with Spoonflower and it turned out really cool. It's part of my final project for school which I somehow managed to turn into a craft/sewing project. I don't have a photo yet but when I do...

I'd also like to acknowledge that the amazing and seemingly indefatigable Amanda Soule just gave birth to her latest creation and named him Harper. I asked Richard if he liked that name for our babe and he said ' I'm not naming my child after that conservative PM' so there you go. The baby's name will not be Harper. But anyway, I am in no way friends or have any connection with Amanda Soule beside being in total awe of her abilities to infuse creativity and love into her life like I think we all wish we could sometimes. Anyway, congratulations to one amazing woman and a true inspiration. Now I will try not to feel bad that I can't accomplish half the things she does and try to be content with what I can do.

In an effort to keep up with Amanda I am currently teaching the baby the steps to the Beyonce "Single Ladies" video with Kegal exercises and I expect that he or she will pop out with a black leotard and high heals.



From the kind of kicking and twisting that goes on in there I think he or she is getting it down pretty well.

I also created this creepy yet surprisingly effective turkey hat costume for a co-worker who felt he needed an edge in a local turkey calling contest. These are the things I get asked to do. How and why people think that I am the 'go to' person when it comes to strange costume and craft requests seems weird but I like it.



Until, next time... here's to craft season!

A good old fashioned blog post

Every time I think about sitting down to write this post I think about all the mothers who came before me and all the mothers who actually read this blog. It's a funny sort of thing this being pregnant. It's how we all get here, every single one of us, but it's also so totally strange and personal at the same time. I feel a bit like I'm telling you something you already know. But what I have discovered, and I knew this even before I got knocked up, people still want to hear about it. Weather it's reliving your own experience, comparing your story to another or just a curious and voyeuristic view into someones else's pregnancy. It's the stuff a that makes a million chat rooms thrive. So I figured I might as well just keep writing this post about my 'submerged wonder' (thank you Laisha) because hey, this is crazy shit!


Me in my "dress up clothes" thanks to a kind person who donated her maternity clothes to me

My jelly bean has grown way past jelly bean and is now something resembling a volley ball. A tight little round ball. The only difference is that this ball moves. The baby twists and stretches, swinging on the umbilical cord from one side of the womb to the other.

I was sitting in class listening to a lecture about logos and the baby started kicking me hard. I put my hand down to feel the kicks hoping that I would feel the sensation from both the inside and outside for the first time. Then, in an oddly rhythmic way, the baby kicked my right side and I "gasp" in the middle of the lecture. No one seemed to noticed but it was so exciting, if I would have been drinking water I would have spit it out all over the desk.

I'm always surprised by those moments of excitement. The first time we saw the baby at 11 weeks it was moving and I got excited. During the last ultrasound the baby was really moving. Rolling and flipping from stomach to back, moving limbs like a hyperactive cheerleader and I got excited. Now this, this amazing internal dancing thing that is hanging out with me 24/7.

I think that you could describe this time in the pregnancy so far as the "honeymoon" stage. I'm not really in any discomfort, my energy level is pretty good and so is my appetite. I even went so far as to say that I wish this would last longer than 9 months. What's that? I think I just heard a thousand eyebrows raise. Trust me, I may be kind of a late bloomer but I'm no dummy. Come March I know that 'get this thing out of me' might me my mantra. I think what makes me happy right now is that I know I will miss this and that means I'm making happy memories. Yes it's corny but true.

It's so easy to go on and on about baby, is it not? I went to a book club meeting last night. Which is kind of funny because I'm addicted to TV but I am trying to change - I need a reading for dummies book...on CD....anyway, we talked a lot about babies and a little about books - I was surprised to have input on both subjects but that baby talking can really get away from you if you're not careful. It's almost too much sometimes. Like I don't really want to hear the scary stories or about pain thresholds not being where you expected them to be. No no, give me happy easy or funny with a side of slightly crazy but hold the scary. The mind is powerful thing.

Our first book is The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - I've already seen the movie, that's funny to me.

In non-baby related news, I am happy to report that another Red Shoe Event has come and gone. This spring I resigned my position on the Ad Fed Board and my Chair position for this event. Which meant I was NOT in charge and it turns out, as I suspected, that was a very good thing.

The person who took over for me is a very experienced board member who garners more respect than I, which is apparently what you need when trying to get people to work for you. I still don't get why I couldn't get people to commit and then actually do the work but hey you can't be great at everything. I took a passive planning roll this year and I helped round up the furniture for the auction. At the event someone else had figured out how everything was going to go and I just followed directions and helped co-ordinate the volunteers, I think I've found my niche with the Red Shoe Event.

Here is my piece. It sold for $300. My future brother-in-law Matt created the furniture for me and I embellished it. Thanks Matt!



It's a kids play station, The top part can be removed to reveal a black board surface and there's a little pocket on the other side for all the game pieces and chalk.

Also, I am happy to say that I feel a little bit more legit because I designed a book cover.



Hopefully I'll get more projects like this. Feels good to be out of newsprint every once in a while.
I also recently completed a 24 page glossy magazine called 'Down to Earth'. If you're local you can find the magazine in all sorts of coffee shops and places that could be considered 'green'. You can also see the redesigned website, which I had a minor hand in too. OK Toot toot - tooting is over, that's all I got.

School is almost over - Dec 4th is the last class and boy are those final projects looming but I can see the end and then it's the big rest before everything changes!

Hope you are all well and give all your babies a squeeze for me.