Farewell 08'

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before? spent a night away from Neil. Hubby & I went to Baltimore for my girl Dawn's wedding, and Neil slept over his grandma's house.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I want to learn to sew this year, but, that's been a resolution for a while haha.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? nobody that I know personally, but internet friends did!

4. Did anyone close to you die? my Tante Jeannette passed. She would have been 99 yesterday. She passed in early November, lived a really good life.

5. What countries did you visit? just the US.....NJ/PA/MD/DE

6. What would you like to have had in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? peace of mind....Neil speaking typically, etc. Just leave me alone with my baby!

7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Well, January of 2008 Neil really started walking on his own, and September of 2008 Sean got his job as a professional firefighter.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? probably the Handmade Faire Spring & Halloween Editions.

9. What was your biggest failure? oh gee lets not even go there, mmmk?

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? nothing serious

11. What was the best thing you bought? we got a new car this year, and screen printing equipment, and just recently a plasma tv.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Sean, he's been working like crazy and he got a great job with amazing benefits!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? I'm sure there are many candidates, but I tend not to give a shit.

14. Where did most of your money go? mortgage?

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Sean's new job, Neil walking..

16. What song will always remind you of 2008? Gee...not sure. I'm not one to really listen to new music haha. Maybe........ah, I got nothing.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? hmm, well, last year I was stressed because Neil wasn't walking yet. Now I'm stressed because Neil isn't talking yet. I'd say it's about even.
ii. thinner or fatter? About the same
iii. richer or poorer? Richer

18. What do you wish you'd done more of? reading

19. What do you wish you'd done less of? doctor's appointments.

20. How will you be spending Christmas? Spent it @ my parents. Sean had to work :(

22. Did you fall in love in 2008? yep, 3 bunnies named Hendrix, Cash, & Elvis.

23. How many one-night stands? oh, too many to count haha, wtf?

24. What was your favorite TV program? mmmm.....damn, tie between True Blood, Dexter, & Tudors.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Nah, again, I tend not to give a shit about people who are questionable like that, it's a waste of energy to hate them.

26. What was the best book you read? ahhhh I am ADDICTED to the Twilight series.

27. What was your biggest musical discovery? um....that "Jizzed in my Pants" song haha, I love a funny parody song lol.

28. What did you want and get? Sean to get a firefighting job!

29. What did you want and not get? Neil to talk

30. What was your favorite film of this year? did Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix come out this year? Idk, I liked that one.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 26, and I can't remember. Someone asked me how old I was yesterday and I said 28, birthdays have officially become obsolete.

32. Whats one thing that would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? if Neil was talking and more on the "typical" scale as far as kids go. I really hate going to all these doctors and poking and prodding and pushing.....UGH!

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? well, I'm sporting a lot more of my own screen printed designs, so that's something. Other than that, pretty much the same.

34. What kept you sane? having many creative outlets

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Colin Farrell?

36. What political issue stirred you the most? the annoying ones. oh wait, that's all of it.

37. Who did you miss? Sean! Haha, still adjusting to him working 24 hour shifts.

38. Who was the best new person you met? hmm, I met lots of crafty people through the Handmade Faire that I formerly only knew online. There are quite a few really bitchin' gals in that group!

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008: *I* know my baby better than doctors do. Maybe it's one I'm still learning, but, yeah, it's a valid one.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
" I like cold beverage yeah"

New Moon & Eclipse

I finished reading book 3 of the Twilight Saga last night. Eclipse. I really love this series. The more I read the more I love it. The connection that is built to these characters is really amazing. I find myself stalling reading book 4, Breaking Dawn. As much as I want to read the book and find out the end of the story, I don't want the story to end. I get silly like this with the end of other things too, I felt the same way about the Harry Potter series. I read all but the last two chapters of Deathly Hollows and I stalled a few days, not wanting the series to be over.

I don't think I ever posted about New Moon, the second book. I did enjoy this book, though it wasn't my favorite of the three, because I am totally in love with Edward's character, this book left me missing Edward quite a bit. In reading book three though, I see how all the events of New Moon were completely necessary. It's great how it all came together, really. It really developed Jacob Black's character, and I do love that character as well. The two really great characters, I'm glad it's not my choice which she ends up with haha. I mean, I'd definitely choose Edward, but, it would still be a heartbreaking choice! Haha.





Eclipse, on the other hand, was right up my alley. It may not have had all the action that Twilight did, but after New Moon I was really wanting the love story to come out more, and it certainly did. I mean, don't get me wrong, there was a good share of mystery and action, I think the movie will be amazing (they should get the Harry Potter team to work on these movies, so they're more true to the book). So, I was up until 4am last night finishing this book heh, I wonder where these dedicated reading skills were when I was a kid and it took me weeks to finish a book! The name of this book fits best of all, too. I mean, the other two names are great, but this one fits really well. You'll see when you read it. I'm happy I bought the hardcover version of New Moon & Eclipse, I'm going to get hardcover of Breaking Dawn, too. The Twilight book I bought is the "movie cover" so it's got the cast of characters on the soft cover. Ah, I didn't pick it out, the girl from Border's did, made me feel a little like a 12 year old girl, seeing as it came with a poster haha, but, my sister liked the poster so it worked out. It was nice having a pic of the Cullen family on the front though, to reference to while reading the book. A lot of times I make characters in my head and then I'm not pleased by the actors that play them in the movie's, the pics helped make it easier.

So, I'll probably pickup Breaking Dawn today, unless they're sold out. I am going to need another vampire series to read after this...so if anybody has suggestions, I'm all ears. I know there is a series that follows one of my fav shows, True Blood. The Sookie Stackhouse Series, I believe. I'm afraid to read those books and ruin the show though, so I'm torn there. Maybe I'll read book 1 and see what I think, since I've already watched the series. I'm not sure. I'm keeping my eye on Laurell Hamilton, her series might appeal to me a bit.

Gotta go, Neil's spotten the Thomas toys we bought for his friends for Christmas and is trying to pull a fast one!

Abbie

Last week, I saw a film if I recall it was.....

these two vid's are absolutely worth watching, I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes.

don't blame me if you're singing this song later, it's really obnoxiously catchy


and, for you Twilight Lovers (like me )


And, for those of you that loved both videos:

My family...

My Dad comes from a big family, 7 kids. He's the second youngest. My Uncle Mark sent me this little Elf Yourself thingy, it's just hysterical. It's missing my Aunt Marian, she lives in Colorado, and it's missing my Uncle Jimmy, he's passed, but this Elf Yourself is especially hysterical.

I never noticed how much they look alike until now haha. Though my Uncle Mike looks completely sinister haha, I guess it's fitting lol!

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/NfOa0RGzjx2mRyav

So, what do you think, see a family resemblance? Here's my family's version, complete with Fiona, our Pomeranian, and Hendrix, our Angora bunny :)

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Playboy

Normally I am fine with embarrassing myself, I really have no filter most the time and I am totally fine with laughing at myself, but today was an exception.

Christie, our Speech Therapist was here from Early Intervention, working with Neil. Sean was home because he's covering a late shift at Princeton. The mailman came, and Sean went out to get the mail. He came back in, shuffled through the mail, and pulled out a Playboy magazine!

Apparently they decided to send him a promotional copy because he's listed as a business owner, and they are trying to sell subscriptions/advertising.

Wow, what fun when Sean pulls it out of the pile of mail and casually explains how he must have gotten it as a promotion. It's true, but it sounded like such a load of crap. He might as well have said "oh, I read it for the articles" because it sounded like such a line! So yay, our EI gal probably thinks he's a perv haha.

Merry Christmas to ME! Yay!

The store "Steve & Barry's" is going out of business, having a huge sale with "Nothing Held Back"

I jokingly asked the worker there how much for the mannequin, she said "$40" It's a nice one on wheels, foam filled and in much better shape than the vintage one that was my Nanny's that I've been using.

So I'm walking through the store w/ all the clothes we picked out in a cart, AND wheeling a naked mannequin around behind us.














On the way out we saw empty T stands for clothing, they told me they were $30 - I said, hell yes!














They also had wooden hangers - 20 for $1














and Cherry Wood sign stands that are nice and tall, great for my sign and price list, $10 each or 3 for $15 (someone must have been bad at math!) we bought 3!

Well, the cashier rang us up, we got about 6 pairs of pants, 4 pairs of shorts for my hubby next summer, some t shirts, the mannequin, the metal T-Stand, 3 cherry wood signs, and about 80 wooden hangers - $66!!!!!!


I couldn't believe it. They ended up only ringing the Mannequin up at $20, the T-stand at $10, and the signs at $1 each!


Merry Christmas to ME!!!! These are going to be great for my display at shows. Figures I don't have another show booked for....months! Now I'm really hankering for a show!

A useless precog?

The last few weeks things have been happening a little differently. I'll be doing something quiet, where my mind will have a chance to think. Something random will pop into my head, example - today, on the way to the Pediatrician's office Bacon Lip Balm popped into my head. I thought about that thread on Etsy where it was discovered and everyone went crazy over it, the girl sold like 20 tubes in an hour or so.
I wondered what everyone thought about it, decided I would probably not like it, had a gross visual of someone putting leftover bacon grease on their lips, and then I arrived at my destination. I didn't think much of it honestly.

Well I came home, checked my blog roll and a friend of mine posted something this morning about - of course - Bacon Lip Balm. It wasn't the Etsy version, it was a commercial version, but still, how random?

The precog's are not always THAT useless. I'll have a thought like, "oh, I have to make a logo for Buy Hand Traditionally" and then a few hours later I'll get an IM from my MIL asking me to make a logo.

I'll think something seemingly meaningless, and a few hours later it comes back to me somehow. IT's happened more than a dozen times in the last few weeks.

Nothing has been extraordinarily useful. I mean, do I really need to know that sometime during my day, Bacon Lip Balm is going to be a topic? No. It's funny and interesting, but it's kind of random.

Maybe this is the start of useful precognition. Wouldn't that be nice? I could definitely see the benefits of a useful little ability like that.

Movie vs Book

We went and saw the movie on Friday. I am 100% certain that if I had not read the book, I would have absolutely swooned over the movie. The movie was good, but it was nothing in comparison to the book.

The connection that the characters Bella & Edward have in the book is so immensely strong and romantic, I guess there was just no way to put that same magic across the silver screen. That's one thing you can't fake with computer graphics!

So I've read New Moon and that was OK. I wasn't big on the whole Jacob thing. I mean, he's a great character, but eh, I want to read about vampires. I found myself scanning ahead looking for the character names that are vampires hehe.

Eclipse is good so far too. Though I've only been reading a chapter a nigh because it's about all I can stay awake for before the Nyquil kicks in. I've got some major congestion or allergies happening. No fever or anything, just achy and congested. A little soar throat too. It usually subsides throughout the day, so that's something at least. It's not contagious, it's allergies. I've gotten the same thing around this time of year for as long as I can remember.

Twilight

I am almost embarrassed to admit that I was curious about the Twilight Series. I picked up the book about a month ago, read about 50 pages and thought "eh". I already knew the basic idea, he's a vampire she's a human...forbidden love, yadda yadda yadda...it took a while to get there in the book and I was impatient.

Then all the craziness happened with Neil's appointment at Children's Specialized with the Autism Screening and I dove into a ton of Autism books, Twilight took the back of the book shelf.

Well I took back to the book and decided to give it another go. I finally (it was like, page 150 or so) got to the part where he admits he's a vampire and WOW. I'm hooked! I gotta admit, just a few weeks ago I was laughing at these little tween girls on the news, screaming that they want to have Rob Pattenson (whoever plays Edward)'s baby. I remember laughing and saying sarcastically "have they even had their first period yet?!" but yeah....I can see it now haha. I'm such a loser lol, but I love the book. I'm a little concerned though, from the previews I've seen of the movie it seems they've taken some creative liberties....that scares me a tad. She seems a little more frightened in the movie than she comes off as in the book. We'll see though. I think we're going to see it on Friday night. Hopefully we're not the oldest ones in the audience hah.

I'll be picking up the next book soon. I'll probably finish Twilight tonight when I go to bed.