New in my Etsy Shop

I was so ashamed when I went to my etsy shop and found it EMPTY! Ack! How is that possible?! Well, I've been really focusing on my wholesale business lately, which is a good thing - but - etsy had taken a back burner for me and all my listings expired! Yikes! So, my etsy team - EtsyNJ, which is an etsy location based team for New Jersey has decided to run a weekend long sale during Thanksgiving Weekend, November 25-30. I of course want to participate, and nothing gets me moving like a deadline to get me motivated - so, I signed up.

Being the nit picker than I am, I needed to re-do my pictures since I haven't done that since I got my new camera, so I took all new pics of my Art Blocks before listing them.

Along my path of listing things and thinking OMG WHY WHY WHY isn't there a "c

opy" option on Etsy like there is on my wholesale site?! It would make things SO much faster! I started a search and found this site - etsyhacks - where, so long as you run firefox as a browser, you can install something that lets you copy your existing listings, and also I installed a feature that lets me add 5 photo's at once rather than select, upload, loading......... repeatx5. It's super handy, I listed pretty much everything in my shop today from scratch..woot!

So, now I am all set for the Thanksgiving Weekend Sale that EtsyNJ is hosting! Of course I still have other things I should / will / might list.... but, I'm happy my Art blocks are up!

In other, less interesting but odd news, as I'm typing this I'm sitting in the waiting room at my son's therapy doctor..... he's in therapy and I sit and wait, as usual... well, there's a dad in here waiting that was sitting a few seats over and ever since I brought out my laptop he started pacing around the room, now he's standing about 10 feet behind me to my left side, just.... standing there rocking back and forth on his feet... uh, wtf? If you're THAT interested in what I'm doing, maybe ask me, it's not all that magical and secretive! WHACKO! Hahaha... maybe the caps are big enough he can read them from across the room ahhahaha.

Halloween

I haven't been blogging much lately, I've just been busy with some new projects, and, then I just plain did't feel like it. I've been in a bit of a funk lately, I'll post about all that later...... Anyway, my hubby couldn't decide on a halloween costume, so we went to Spirit Halloween. Yeah.... he found a costume there he liked - opened it and it was cheesy and polyester, nasty fabric. I could not have him dress up in that and pretend to be scary. So, we talked about sewing a costume, though, Halloween was less than a week away. I said I'd sew it.... now.. I can sew, but, I am quite novice at it. This was my first time following a pattern, and I altered it slightly because they wanted me to use a gauze-ish material and Sean wanted a heavier material so I used felt, which, I didn't realize would be an issue until they were telling me to hem, fold, sew, hem again bla bla... got a little bulky and I had to improvise a tad, but, it ended up coming out really nicely. I was quite proud of myself!

Here's some pics from Halloween, showing off my cute little "Woody" cowboy, and, of course my sewing handiwork on hubby's costume!

Must be the Season of the Witch

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year. I do love Christmas and all that good stuff but there is just nothing better than the weather and colors of fall.

I got inspired last week, as usual, when I have 10,000 other things to do I get inspired to do something that would be considered "wasting time" haha. It's always when my time is crunched that I get motivated to do other things, guess it's my stubborn inner child! Well, I listened this time and I created this "Season of the Witch" sign. It's about 5' long and it sparkles in black, which is another big kick for me, glitter, I just love it haha. The sign reads "Season of the Witch" in letters cut from different Halloween cardstock. Here I am holding my sign, in my custom handmade Witches had on my way to the Witches Ball, which was an awesome event, btw!

Sean and I also celebrated 10 years of being together on October 11th. We decided to celebrate the day doing one of our favorite past times, exploring the pines. Sean wrote this in the dirt on his car while I was out catching pics, it says "I Heart Abbie 10/11/99 10 years together!" He's such a sweety. I caught some pics, on my sweet new camera (thank you MIL & Sean!), of some of the fall foliage of the pines. Check out a few of my fav's, I think you should be able to click for a bigger view...

Big Steps!

I applied to a website that is going to help me wholesale my art across the country. It's not an easy site to get into, and not cheap but I think it' s going to take my business to a new level. The site is wholesalecrafts.com, you can't see much w/o a membership but it is a really awesome website.

Because I am a new seller, I am being featured on the home page all week! I hope it leads to a sale! Here's a screen cap... you can see my art block down there! This is the artblock that is being featured on teh front page!

Apple Juice

In the eyes of Neil, my 3 year old, every drinkable liquid is apple juice, or, as he says "apbull jews"

This AM I was doing a few chores around the house and I have the ultimate lazy method of filling the dogs dish. It's directly behind the sink on the kitchen island, so, I can spin the faucet around, put it on a slow stream and it fills the bowl up. It's a bonus because usually Fiona, our dog, loves to drink the stream of water so she usually comes and drinks as it's filling.

Being the ultimate multi-tasker, I was also swiffering the other end of the kitchen where Fiona had made a mess (gotta love little dogs). So I finish up, get her some dog food and I called her "Fionnnnaaaaa" and Neil, who is always only 2 steps behind me yells "Nona.... apbull jews!". He was calling her to come get her apple juice haha.

I thought it was too funny that he thinks that not only is whatever I'm drinking "apple juice" but - apparently the dog drinks it as well. Just a little glimpse of perspective that reminds me how little he really is, and how adorable that is!


P.S. I finally cut his hair yesterday! He can see again! See the Before & After shot of the little guy!

Memories of My Life

My friend Kecia, from Lemoncholy's Studio here in NJ made me an amazing bracelet. I had helped her w/ some techie stuff, getting her website setup, etc and she had said she would make me a piece of jewelry for my help, which, of course was not necessary but, saying no to a beautiful piece of her work is nearly impossible! So, a few months went by and she asked for pics, etc, and I felt badly about asking for something, so I hemmed and hawed over pics to use, couldn't find the right one, one that was "perfect" haha.

So, in July @ an art show, Om Baby - Kecia stopped by to say hello and she had this awesome bracelet on, I fell in love! So, she created one special for me. It's called "Souvenirs de ma Vie" (Memories of my life). She asked me for a few words that I wanted on the bracelet, I chose Neil, Sean, Peace, Pray, Create (I think I chose Create? I can't remember hah!) And I gave her a few little things I'd had laying around in the jewelry box - broken pieces of jewelry, little doo-dads, etc that she encorporated into it. She created an amazing bracelet from these items. I had a sneak preview of it about a week before it was finished, and was in love as it was but she took it 10,000x better than I could have imagined!

I can't wait to wear it! If you are interested, she does these bracelets as a custom order as well! You can pick a few words, Send a few things you would want included and let her at it! The way to get the best work out of Kecia is to let her run wild with it rather than asking for specifics - so that is my suggestion - I have been a happy customer that way before!

You can contact Kecia @ keeshagirl@aol.com - or - here's her blog!
or check out her blog post here for more info about ordering! These bracelets take 3-5 weeks so order early for Christmas. Wouldn't this be a fab idea for a mom/grandmom? You could have the kid's names on the charms! Or, a bracelet for your wife - use your wedding date or the date you met, the city you honeymooned/married in, a nickname - you could really score brownie points with something like that!

Paper Source

My little sister, Neil & I decided to take a little trip into Princeton today. We stopped by Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and said hi to Sean, he was working today and we got the "10cent tour" then we headed over to downtown Princeton for some shopping.

I was dying to check out the new Paper Source store, I always drool over their website/catalog, so their store was like the holy grail! I bought some goodies, would have bought more if it wasn't raining so hard - I was worried about the paper getting ruined on the way home.

One of my favorite things I got was these stickers called INANIMATE they're all eye balls and mouths - and you put them on inanimate objects to bring them to life hehehe. I have them on my cell phone, my sketch pad, my car stereo..... and probably more as I find more hehehe. I love them!

I am dying to go back. This time, I will check the weather so I don't have a 5 block walk in torrential downpour/flash flood to the car, and, I will bring lots of quarters to feed the meter!

Neil's Favorite Babies

Anyone who has seen Neil recently, knows that he's always got his three little comrades with him - Chaucer, Elephant, and little old Ming Ming. Sometimes he's got a little blanket with him too... they've all become quite a part of him! One night he brought me the camera, he loves getting his pictures taken..... and he showed me all his babies for photo's. These will go in the scrapbook for sure!

Chaucer is Neil's absolute favorite. So much so - that we actually bought a "backup" that we now have named "Bizarro Chaucer". We were in Borders w/ Neil, waiting in a long Christmas line and Neil saw Bizarro Chaucer and said "MINE! Dauder (how he says chaucer)" so, Sean and I decided to buy a "just incase" because at that point, without Chaucer there would be no sleep, there would be no peace.... it would be a bad thing! We've used him only once, and that was for a Teddy Bear Picnic that Neil had in school. I didn't want anything to happen to Chaucer in school, so we sent the stand-in Bizarro Chaucer. Ahh the things you worry about when you're a parent! But - yes, Chaucer is his most favorite, most loved teddy ever. He carries him with him nearly everywhere. He's well loved, fur isn't quite as fluffy and the stuffing isn't where it used to be.... you can tell he carries this bear in somewhat of a head lock, as the stuffing from the neck is totally gone! Once school starts, I can do some "surgery" on him and restuff him... but I think that would be too much for Neil to handle now!

The other two babies are Elephant, a little beanie baby sized elephant that plays "twinkle twinkle little star" when you push his belly. My cousin, Neil's Godmother - Bridget, gave it to me @ my baby shower. About a year ago Neil rediscovered it with some other baby items I was putting away, and hasn't let it go since.
Last, but not least, is Ming Ming, a chickadee. Now this one tickles me, because he's the teeniest little thing, about the size of Neil's hand - like a real chick! SO easy to loose. I can't tell you how often we are looking for this little guy. The Easter Bunny put him in Neil's basket. Neil named him "Ming Ming" all on his own, as this is the name of the duck in Wonder Pets, one of Neil's fav shows... I guess he thinks it's the same thing! I do think it's hysterical to hear him look for Ming Ming though, he goes around the house and says "Ming Ming....wear ahhh youuuu??" so cute.

The Blanket is a little more interchangeable. We have tons of those little flannel receiving blankets from when Neil was an infant. He has about 10 that he rotates through as his fav's to sleep and snuggle with.

Ahh, a boy and his teddy! You can click the pics for bigger versions!

Getting Stuck in the Woods

Sean & I frequently went out exploring in the pines when we were dating. And, since we've been together for nearly 10 years (10 years on October 11!) we've seen a lot of the ruins and roads of the pines. It's one of our favorite things to do. We did take a hiatus when Neil was born, partly because of his fragile infant state, and the chaos of his club foot, etc - and - partly because we were driving a minivan and a camry, not exactly off road vehicles. We had to sell our old 87' Bronco, which was loyal car and got us through many tough roads of the pines. The backseat didn't exactly connect to the car properly.... only half way.... so, without sufficient weight (like an adult) it would sort of bounce up and down. Not sufficient for a car seat.... not even close.

Well we have a good off roading car now, since last summer when we got Sean's Trailblazer. So, we've gotten back to our old selves and we go out exploring pretty often. Sean knows the roads back there very well. Even I'm somewhat familiar with the roads - which says a lot, considering I am extremely geographically challenged.
East Stokes Road - a road we have been on hundreds of times.... always good for some mud puddles, nothing awful though. We head out last weekend into the woods and E. Stokes is particularly muddy. No big deal. Well, about 95% of the way we hit a particularly long puddle, and since there is a "go around" already cut through the woods we take it..... BAD idea. The trailblazer quickly gets sucked into "bog mire" which, is pretty much a quicksand of the pines. Have you ever walked barefoot in deep mud or a muddy lake? You know how when you pull your foot up, there is a bit of suction almost like the mud is sucking you back? Imagine that - just on the entire car. Yeah... it was great fun.

Sean managed to get a cell signal, so we called our friend Cramer who had access to a jeep. He made it out to us and we began the recovery efforts. We had tow straps, chains, shovel, rope, come-a-long - you name it. It just wasn't cutting it. We tried from the front, tried from the back - nothing. I put out a facebook SOS through my phone (in the 2 min I actually found a signal) and our friends Jim & Angela were headed our way too. What a wonderful world facebook has created! We were literally digging the mud out from under the car, trying to give us some leverage.

After 3 hours, on our last ditch effort, we had decided we would try once more and then wait for the others that were coming. We thought the TB was too heavy for the jeep to pull, esp with the mud sucking it back. So we said - one more time - and miraculously, it worked! The TB came out of the mud with a pop (think uncorking a wine bottle). Ahh joy! I was beginning to panic a bit, but trying to stay calm!

<-- I call this pic "False Advertising"

We were able to drive home, the car unharmed (but very, very dirty). We went to the firehouse to hose the car off before the car wash.... you know your car got muddy when simply hosing it off isn't sufficient. The guys had to bring out the power washer to get it cleaned.... and even then... saying it was clean was a stretch!

Well, I think for 10 years of 4 wheeling, getting stuck once isn't a bad track record!

New Creations

In spite of the chaos of the Handmade Faire, I'm happy to say that I've been able to break away time for some new creations. Over the past spring I created some new wall art that I'm calling "Art Blocks Originals". Now, the originals will go for around $250 a pop, but of course in this economy, people aren't really spending on Art at that price.

I spoke w/ Julie, the owner of Creative Genius Art Gallery, an awesome contemporary art gallery where I have some of my art. She suggested creating the Art Block Originals in a way that I could sell them in a $20 range, and said that was a comfortable price that people will be ok with spending. I have to agree, my tee's are $20 and I do well selling them at art shows and online. It was a little difficult for me to "simplify" things to the extent that would put it in the $20 for my art, but I have done it!


Along with helpful idea's from Julie and my friend Holly I've created Art Blocks! They're little aprox 5x5 painted wooden blocks with prints of my originals mounted onto them. I am extremely happy with the way they came out, I even sold a bunch at the last two shows I did! I have to go get some more wood this week so I can create more to bring to Julie in the Gallery. Here's a pic of what I've been up to lately, along with a close up of one of my fav's. I think they look great alone, or grouped up in a big geometric style. Not all of them are of birds, but, yeah - most of them are. I was on a bird kick, what can I say! I have a few idea's for a new character beside the bird to introduce, but I'm still debating. If you have any idea's,let me know! Always looking for inspiration!

Tonight we're going to Atlantic City with some friends to see Harry Potter on IMAX. I do occassionally completely geek out and love Harry Potter... I'm still debating wearing my "Tonks" hat :) I got it last Halloween off Etsy.... wore it for the Halloween Party @ Crissy's (btw, sorry for posting this pic Sean, but you really shouldn't let me take pics when you've got beer in you!) haven't worn it since.... tempting, but, probably won't.

Art Shows

I am way overdue on updates, and I apologize! It is mainly thanks to the chaos of organizing the Handmade Faire: Summer of Love Edition which was more time consuming than the previous shows. The show ended up going fantastic, we had aprox 8000 shoppers come through over the day - we had 100 goodie bags to give away to the first 100 shoppers, and I was a stickler about not giving them out before 10:00 - even though people were arriving by 9! At 10:00, we began giving out the goodie bags and they were gone in about 20 minutes. We gave one per "group" so if a family of 4 came, they got one - seemed fair. So, the community support was fantastic. Now if only I could get the township's support! Check out more pics from the Handmade Faire here! (Click on the mosaic for a bigger image too1)


I also participated in another show this summer, EtsyNJ @ Om Baby in Point Pleasant,NJ. Had a fun time at that show too - it was all EtsyNJ gals, which generally is a really friendly, happy, supportive group! Kim from beachchikdesigns organizes this show, she does a great job. Her friend, Christine from Sweet Life Photography was there to take some awesome pics. The one to the left is one of my fav's that Christine took. It's actually sent me on a whole "I hate my photo's" spree because looking at this pic, and then looking at the pics I take, well, the colors are just so much truer in this photo than in mine. It's not that I don't like my actual photography, I just don't like what the camera is giving me. So, first after this picture, then after spending a day with my friend Heather from Heather James Photography who suggested the Canon Rebel for me, I am officially lusting after a new camera. So. IDK. Hubby and I do have our anniversary coming up in October, the 11th is 10 years of being together! That seems like such a long time! Maybe that will be my anniversary present :) If I can wait that long! I am not very patient when it comes to things like this haha.
Well, I am still in the middle of reorganizing the house and moving things around a bit, (read: the house is a disaster area right now) so, I better get back to that!

Not exactly a real update but..

this convo was too funny not to post. I'm like a month and a half past my last update, but - this made me laugh!

ABA Therapy, and stabbing myself in the eyes.

My son Neil, is 3, he's been in the twp's preschool disabled program since February (started on his 3rd bday), has been receiving private Occupational Therapy/Speech Therapy 1 hour a week (each) since February as well.

He started receiving Early Intervention in our home 2 hours a week last September, which ended when he turned 3 in Feb and started school.

He is in these programs primarily for a speech delay. He does talk now, and since we began everything his speech, socialization, motor planning has drastically improved. He still needs assistance in speech and OT and like any kid he's got his good and bad days - but all in all, having only 4 months of these services we have seen an amazing improvement.

So, we went for his IEP and they suggested next year he receives the same preschool program, and suggest adding ABA Therapy for 2.5 hours a day (lunch is included in this time) This would bring his day from a typical 8:45-11:45, to a longer 8:45-2:45. This seems like a tremendous amount of time to spend in school, working. We agreed to it initially, and now having spoken w/ his private therapists, his pediatrician, and other valued opinions - we are second guessing ABA. We agree with them, and they all say the same thing - why so soon? He's only been in school for 4 months, and he's got another 2 years of school before Kindergarden - why do we need to push him hard, so soon?

For what it's worth, my son has not been diagnosed to be on the autism spectrum. I think, being in NJ where we have the highest rate of kids that are "on the spectrum" and of them, 4 our ot 5 are boys - I think that is what the school is assuming. The therapists that spend 1 on 1 time with him refer to him as a "mystery kid" and do not think he is on the spectrum.

For those of you who don't know what ABA is exactly, well, first, welcome to my world haha. Here is what I've learned about it from books, internet research, and other therapists. It stands for "Applied Behavioral Analysis" and generally, it is a lot of repetition - rewarding, and "programming". It is compared to the way you train a dog. You want your dog to sit? You tell it to sit over and over and over, and each time it does, you give it a treat. Same thing with ABA kids - you want them to say Hello? You prompt them to say it over and over, and each time they do they get an M&M. It is very by the books, very structured, very routine. I can see how this would work for some kids, kids that you can't "reach" in other means -but Neil? We are reaching him already. And frankly, in the real world we don't get "verbal prompts" and we don't get an M&M each time we do something we are supposed to. I am afraid of turning my smiling, laughing, creative and independent little boy into a robot.

Part of me thinks, hey, if the school is suggesting it - he must need it. Then I did research, parents in other districts FIGHT for ABA. We happen to have a fantastic district, and they just offered it to us. I....... Well, frankly I'm having a hard time finding unbiased parental opinions on this matter since the kids that are getting it had to fight for it, ya know?

I never knew parenthood would include having to make so many of these heavy, life changing decisions..... at least not so many of them, so fast. It sucks!

59* in May....what?

As soon as Neil got on the bus this AM I headed out for a ride. I stayed local..... I'll probably do that for a while. I like the local ride here, it's pretty, there's no cars to worry about for most of it, and there are a lot of options if I want to keep going.

Yesterday it was aprox. 90* out. This AM we woke up - and I was sending Neil to school in long pants, a tee shirt and a sweatshirt over that! It's 59* outside! WTF? It's MAY 26TH! I mean, I am a lover of cool weather - I really am.... but this is just weird!

The weather says it's supposed to storm off and on all day, so, since it wasn't raining when Neil got on the bus I went out. The sky was spitting here and there but nothing constant so I kept going. I could have gone more but it really started to come down heavier and I didn't want to have to ride home in the rain and get my bike wet & stuff so I headed back. I ended with 30 minutes and 4 miles - not too shabby! It's still 464 calories burned.... which is good cause I'm making London Broil tonight. It's been marinating in the fridge since Friday...gotta cook that baby today!

I guess because it's 60* out I didn't sweat as much as I normally would have in 90* typical May weather.....I actually came home with cold hands and a cold nose! The lack of sweat is making me feel like I cheated.... ya know?

On my way into the neighborhood I saw in someone's driveway leftovers from yesterday's yard sale with a sign that said "FREE TOYS TO A GOOD HOME" Among the pile was a little toddler bike with a handle on the back for me to hold onto/push. I passed it at first and then went back and grabbed it after my ride cause I figured, hey, it's free.... he needs to learn to pedal & stuff and it could be fun! So, yep. He'll have a surprise waiting on the porch when he gets home. Of course it'll probably be raining when he gets home but...... maybe tomorrow.

One day coming up I want to take my camera with me and grab some pics of my ride too. I need to get pics of Freedom Park anyway for the Handmade Faire, so, double duty :)

Medford's Bike Pat

I found a whole other side of Medford's bike trail today that I didn't know existed. From my house to the end there is 1.9 miles, so that's 4 miles round trip aprox. I wish it were longer but the good news is there's lots of quiet streets to explore around there. I did the bike path, doubled back, went through the elementary school's parking lot and picked up another part of the path and went around. Then I headed back through Freedom Park, did that loop again and headed home. Once I got to my neighborhood I circled through the Catholic School and up to the firehouse which pushed me up to 6 miles! It took me 42 minutes, though I had a few breathers in there.

It's good though - I don't feel disgusting and sweaty until I stop and am at home..... I guess cause when you're moving you are creating your own breeze so even though it was 89* and I was sweating like crazy, I had a breeze. That goes a long way with me because I hate FEELING disgusting and sweaty. It keeps me from stopping for too long also hehe.

I like this trail though, there's a stream, some woodland.... and a nice paved path. It's not a straight line, there's some twists and turns but, I like it, and it's working for me. When Neil goes to school (he's off today for the holiday) it will be nice because I am still very local and could pedal home in 10 minutes from pretty much any part of it if I hauled butt enough.

There's also a canoe/kayak launch where I pass - I really would love to go canoeing one day! I love water related activities, and I love exploring the pine barrens and I think I could really fall in love with exploring the pine's in a canoe! I think that might be a treat for me when I get to some milestone of weight loss. We'll see. I gotta see how realistic that is, I have no clue how much canoe's cost and what's involved in taking them out!

Today's Stats:

42 Min

Trip: 6 Miles

Odometer: 18 Miles

Average Speed: 8.6 mph

Max Speed: 16 mph

Cadence: 60-75ish...though it did get higher. I have to guage this myself kind of and find an average, so I am estimating low.

Cycling

Today was my fourth day out riding. I found a route that I like - farm land, quiet rode - a few spots were a little rough/gravely but they ended quickly and went back to nice pavement.

Stats:

30.09 Min

Distance: 5 Miles

Odometer: 12

10.2mph Average Speed

15.4mph Max Speed

I noticed my cadence hovered between 75 and 89.

It was pretty nice riding. There are farm houses on one side and fields of wheat to the other side. It smells great out there!

I ended up doing 4 miles, getting back to the car (parked @ WaWa) and then decided since it had only been about 25 minutes, I wanted to push it to 5 miles. That's 1 mile more than I did yesterday (but yesterday was on and off road, and I was exploring the local area a bit to find a good way).

It says I burned 494 calories! Sweeeeeet! I'm trying to go for 30 minutes. I'm pushing myself hard but not so hard that I am going to make myself dread it....I don't want to end up with a headache, or feeling crappy afterwards. It was 93 degrees today, and I swear, they call it "Oak Shade Road" but I couldn't find an ounce of shade where I was! Plus, I had to fight the wind coming home which was not so fun....those swaying feilds of wheat get REAL OLD when there's nothing breaking the wind from you!

We are Penny Killers

Last week Holly and I got together and decided to play with some power tools. The general idea was to drill holes in pennies, so that we could use these wheat pennies for various craft idea's that we both have.

Neither of us have 100% figured out the creations we'll make with these, just a general idea - so that's a whole other blog post hehe.


These pennies didn't come out of the jar looking as great as they do now. They were all dull, boring, and well.....they looked like pennies. It took us a little trial and error but finally the eco friendly housewife that I am came out and I remembered my green brass polishing combo - lemons and salt.
We had tried some other combo's that were quite exciting - like white vinegar and baking soda, a personal favorite of mine! But, alas, the salt and lemon juice worked best! Scrubbed those pennies right up!

Then we drilled the pennies, which, also required a lot of trial, error, and makeshift protective eye wear (sunglasses, I'm such a diva lol)

We were finally able to get some good pennies with nice sized holes drilled, but - not without a few casualties. Here is the obligatory "In Memorial" pic of the drill bits and pennies that were harmed in the creation process.....


if you want to see some more pics, or Holly's blog on these pennies - check it out!
More pics on Holly's flickr
Holly's Blog about the Pennies

Four Wheeling in the Pines

The forest is as beautiful as ever now that Spring is just around the corner (although I'd say the same thing about Fall, I absolutely love the pines in the fall...really, when don't I love the pines?)
So hubby, Neil & I have been going out on many weekends and exploring the pines.
A few weekends ago we entered on East Stokes Road, and ended up around Batsto Village. It was a long way (even on main roads it's a good 40-50 minute drive) But it was a great drive! We found lots of great stuff, some awesome swimming holes that we marked on our GPS to return to in warmer weather, and some beautiful scenery! Here's some pics, they are from two different days...

View over the Batso River, a much wider part of it than we usually find!

Exploring a river bed we came across..... Neil's favorite!

View over the Batsto River

The caravan :)


We came across this, we didn't put it this way and we were pretty deep in the forest:

only thing we can guess is the forest fire service must have done it, because it looked as if there was a fresh brush burn within the last few week. It was still pretty creepy though haha. It made for a good pic! Maybe it was a geocache too....sometimes you see things like that as hints. I'll have to post about our adventures in geocaching, we have a blast doing that!

more pics on my flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/abbieroad/

Creative Recycling

So, last Saturday my girl Holly & I did a "Creative Recycling" demonstration at the Waretown Branch of the Ocean County Library. We had all sorts of creative recycled items.

All mostly made from old, broken, or would be trashed items. We had a great time. The OC Library put a cute blog up about us too. The work showcased that day was mostly made by:

Original Abbie Artwork (me)
Leafpile.org/ Creating in Slippers (Holly )
Sue Bee Buzz
Creations by Robin
Lemoncholy's Flight of Fancy
and
The Enchanted Cupboard

more pics @ my Flickr!

We had a good time. Not a huge turnout, I think the great weather sent people to the beach and not to us! Also, I think the requirement to preregister probably hurt too, I know I hate to preregister for stuff incase I end up not making it.....and even if I end up with time to go the day of, if it said to preregister and I didn't, I figure I can't go. So, IMHO that probably hurt the turnout too! It was fun though, and Holly & I not only scored some great books to decoupage with at the booksale that day, but we got to go to Sonic for lunch. I love Sonic haha....probably because I have been watching the commercials for years and had never actually ever seen a Sonic in NJ. Well, they opened one in Waretown and there are rumors of one opening in Mount Holly on 38 this summer, so, we'll see!

Another fantastic bonus - on the way home we stopped by a totally amazing yard sale. The guy used to have an antique store, so he had some amazing finds. He was a little bit of a high pressure salesman and when he asked what I was looking for (which, I rarely ever know WHAT I'm looking for, it's more like it finds me haha) I jokingly said "how about some skeleton keys?" cause I didn't see any out, at all. Well - he ran in the house and came back out with a giant coffee can full of them. I bought about half the can, Holly bought some, and we left some less than great ones behind. I ended up with aprox. 75 of them for $20, which I thought was a pretty great price! Now I can finally make more of my necklaces. I had only about 5 keys before, and.....well, I was hording them lol. I made necklaces and kept them for me lol. Now I finally have some I can make and sell.......though right now the keys are in a vintage cut glass bowl that was Sean's grandmother's, and they are looking mighty stellar. I love to just sit and look at them haha, I've yet to do anything great with them yet, other than just look. Today I did take some pics, so...that's sort of productive, right?

The Columbine Tragedy

Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of the Columbine massacre. I was a junior in high school when this happened, and I remember watching the news coverage, the coverage of the kids funerals, interviews with other students, friends, etc and just crying and crying. This is the first story I really remember gripping me and affecting me so much. I suppose I really related to the story because these kids were the same age as me. It was something that could have happened anywhere, to any school. It still frightens me to this day, the idea that people this young are capable of such inhuman acts.

I'm not sure what else I really want to say on the subject, just that I remember, and I pray for the families and friends that lost loved ones in this tragedy.

The State

I am overly excited about this:
http://www.michaelianblack.net/blog/2009/04/big-news.html

The State is FINALLY being released on DVD! For those who don't know, it was a sketch comedy show in the 90's. The show was hysterical, I loved this show! Now all I need is for "You Can't Do That On Television" to come out on DVD, and all will be well with the world.

How about that? I'm dormant on this blog for like, a month - and now bam, two posts in one day. I guess I finally have something to say haha.

God's (Microsoft) Word

I haven't updated in a while, but, I don't really have time for a full on update. This was just too funny to not post about.

So, a few months ago we gave my grandmother (those who know me, know her as Gommy) our Blue iMac so she can go online, type letters, email, etc. She's still getting used to it. Today she called me and sounded concerned - "Where's Sean?" and I said....he's at work....why? She says that she has been on the computer typing out a plan and a story to read to her bible school kids (she teaches bible school a few days a week in Northern Jersey) so - she's typing out her story & plan, and she says three times now "Sean Galie" has popped up on the screen. She got worried, and said some prayers for him. When it happened a third time she called me, concerned. She worries about him because he's a firefighter, plus, she's very religious so, she thought it was some kind of sign that she had to pray for him. So, she calls me and tells me this.

I asked her, "are you signed into Gmail?" thinking maybe Sean was checking his email and signing in through google messenger or something....but no, she wasn't signed in.

So, I said - well, what were you typing? She says it's the story of Moses parting the Red Sea. Well - here is where I figure it out. Word remembers the things and tries to anticipate what you are writing - so every time Gommy types "Red Sea" the "Sea" brings up "Sean Galie" hahaha. Ahh I had a good laugh with that one, after I explained it to her, and told her that God's not speaking to her through Microsoft Word - this time :)

I do exist!

I guess I just got busy, or in a funk. But I'm here and I'm alive. I told myself I was going to blog today and get back into the swing of things. Well, I also told myself that after I got Neil on the bus I'd go back to sleep, cause I'm exhausted but....at least one of those things is coming true haha. I say that every morning, to myself. Like a little deal I make with myself to get myself out of bed haha. Never once has it actually happened, but, whatever works, right?

I've been scrapbooking a lot. I'm not one that ever thought I'd be into scrapbooking, it never really made sense to me but - then I had Neil. The premade babybooks I found didn't have options to add the info I wanted to add, very structured and regemented "place photo here" kind of thing. I just couldn't get into it. So, I did my own scrapbook for him. I'm about as far as his second birthday...not too bad. I have plans for everything else up to current. I'm probably digging my own hole here if we ever have a second child, because I'll have to do all this insane detail keeping for them too. I have everything in his scrapbook - even his umbillical cord, the candle from his first bday cake, clippings from his first haircut....you name it. I took photo's of the pages, you can see them here.... on my facebook
http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php?ref=logo#/album.php?aid=97340&id=636057467

We've got some exciting things in the works, a tentative Handmade Faire in June or July - working on sorting out some details there, picking a theme, hammering out the details. As soon as I know for sure, so will all of you :) Here's a hint for you - coconut bra's. Haha, jk...maybe.

Abbie

My personality...

ENFP - "Journalist". Uncanny sense of the motivations of others. Life is an exciting drama. 8.1% of total population.

Free Jung Personality Test (similar to Myers-Briggs/MBTI)

Extroverted (E) 51.61% Introverted (I) 48.39%
Intuitive (N) 54.05% Sensing (S) 45.95%
Feeling (F) 72.97% Thinking (T) 27.03%
Perceiving (P) 72.22% Judging (J) 27.78%

take your own here: http://similarminds.com/cgi-bin/newmb.pl

What my Birthday says about me:

took this from Danielle of Collective Elements :)

www.paulsadowski.com/birthday.asp

Your date of conception was on or about 24 June 1981 which was a Wednesday.

You were born on a Wednesday
under the astrological sign Pisces.
Your Life path number is 4.

Your fortune cookie reads:
The days you work are the best days.

Life Path Compatibility:
You are most compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 2, 4, 8, 11 & 22.
You should get along well with those with the Life Path numbers 6 & 7.
You are least compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 1, 3, 5 & 9.

The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2445045.5.
The golden number for 1982 is 7.
The epact number for 1982 is 5.
The year 1982 was not a leap year.

Your birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 1/25/1982 and ending 2/12/1983.
You were born in the Chinese year of the Dog.

Your Native American Zodiac sign is Wolf; your plant is Plantain.

You were born in the Egyptian month of Pachons, the first month of the season of Shomu (Harvest).

Your date of birth on the Hebrew calendar is 22 AdarI 5742.
Or if you were born after sundown then the date is 23 AdarI 5742.

The Mayan Calendar long count date of your birthday is 12.18.8.14.1 which is
12 baktun 18 katun 8 tun 14 uinal 1 kin

The Hijra (Islamic Calendar) date of your birth is Wednsday, 21 Jumadiyu'l-Avval 1402 (1402-5-21).

The date of Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 11 April 1982.
The date of Orthodox Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 18 April 1982.
The date of Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent) on your birth year was Wednesday 24 February 1982.
The date of Whitsun (Pentecost Sunday) in the year of your birth was Sunday 30 May 1982.
The date of Whisuntide in the year of your birth was Sunday 6 June 1982.
The date of Rosh Hashanah in the year of your birth was Saturday, 18 September 1982.
The date of Passover in the year of your birth was Thursday, 8 April 1982.
The date of Mardi Gras on your birth year was Tuesday 23 February 1982.

As of 2/12/2009 3:46:57 PM EST
You are 26 years old.
You are 323 months old.
You are 1,404 weeks old.
You are 9,829 days old.
You are 235,911 hours old.
You are 14,154,706 minutes old.
You are 849,282,417 seconds old.

Celebrities who share your birthday:

Caroline Corr (1973)	Mia Hamm (1972)	Rob Lowe (1964)
Arye Gross (1960)	Gary Sinise (1955)	Kurt Russell (1951)
Patrick Duffy (1949)	John Sebastian (1944)	Paul Kantner (1941)
Rudolf Nureyev (1938)	Nat 'King' Cole (1919)	Mercedes McCambridge (1918)
Bobby Jones (1902)	Shemp Howard (1895)

Top songs of 1982

I Love Rock `n' Roll by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts	Eye of the Tiger by Survivor
Ebony and Ivory by Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder	Centerfold by J. Geils Band
Maneater by Daryl Hall & John Oates	Jack & Diane by John Cougar
Don't You Want Me by Human League	Up Where We Belong by Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes
Abracadabra by Steve Miller Band	Hard to Say I'm Sorry by Chicago

Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 3.84696673189824 years old. (Life's just a big chewy bone for you!)

Your lucky day is Thursday.
Your lucky number is 3 & 7.
Your ruling planet(s) is Jupiter & Neptune.
Your lucky dates are 1st, 10th, 19th, 28th.
Your opposition sign is Virgo.
Your opposition number(s) is 5.

Today is one of your lucky days!

There are 33 days till your next birthday
on which your cake will have 27 candles.

Those 27 candles produce 27 BTUs,
or 6,804 calories of heat (that's only 6.8040 food Calories!) .
You can boil 3.09 US ounces of water with that many candles.

In 1982 there were approximately 3.6 million births in the US.
In 1982 the US population was approximately 226,545,805 people, 64.0 persons per square mile.
In 1982 in the US there were 2,495,000 marriages (10.8%) and 1,180,000 divorces (5.1%)
In 1982 in the US there were approximately 1,990,000 deaths (8.8 per 1000)
In the US a new person is born approximately every 8 seconds.
In the US one person dies approximately every 12 seconds.

In 1982 the population of Australia was approximately 15,288,891.
In 1982 there were approximately 239,903 births in Australia.
In 1982 in Australia there were approximately 117,274 marriages and 44,088 divorces.
In 1982 in Australia there were approximately 114,771 deaths.


Your birthstone is Aquamarine

The Mystical properties of Aquamarine

Aquamarine is often used to experience love and mercy. It is said to help ease depression and grief.

Some lists consider these stones to be your birthstone. (Birthstone lists come from Jewelers, Tibet, Ayurvedic Indian medicine, and other sources)

Jade, Rock Crystal, Bloodstone

Your birth tree is

Lime Tree, the Doubt

Accepts what life dishes out in a composed way, hates fighting, stress and labour, tends to laziness and idleness, soft and relenting, makes sacrifices for friends, many talents but not tenacious enough to make them blossom, often wailing and complaining, very jealous, loyal.

There are 316 days till Christmas 2009!
There are 329 days till Orthodox Christmas!

The moon's phase on the day you were
born was in its last quarter.

Me Lost Me Cookie at the Disco

well i should finish cleaning up but I need a little break and there's no better way to waste time than online surveys, right? This is another gem from facebook, it's fun so why not. Feel free to repost.

1. Put your iTunes on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag 10 friends who might enjoy doing the game as well as the person you got the note from.

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY??
When Will I Be Loved - Linda Ronstadt

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
I Can See Clearly Now (The Rain is Gone) B.J Thomas

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Caterpillar - Janis Joplin

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Blue Monday - Orgy

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
No Scrubs - TLC (LOL!)

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Like It Or Not - Frank Zappa & The Mothers

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Jealousy - Natalie Merchant

WHAT IS 2+2?
Jewish Princess - Frank Zappa

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIENDS?
Your Southern Can is Mine - White Stripes

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Summer of 69 - Bryan Adams

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Paddle Out - Sublime

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Fortunate Son - Drop Kick Murphy's version

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Say You Love Me - Fleetwood Mac (not even lying, that's what came up I swear!)

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Anyone Else But You - Moldy Peaches (that's awful!)

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
It's Too Bad - Jimi Hendrix hahaaa good thing I already am married!

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
My Old Friend - Tim McGraw (boy that's kinda depressing....)

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Livin' on a Prayer - Bon Jovi - (aren't I always?)

WHAT IS THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Rumors are Flying - The Andrew Sisters

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Honey Bee - Tom Petty

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
For What it's Worth - Buffalo Springfield

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - The Beatles

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
San Francisco Bay Blues - Tom Rush

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
Love Me Tender - Elvis Presley

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
It's Raining Men - The Pointer Sisters

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
Ode to Billy Joe - Bobby Gentry

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Gone for Good - Morphine

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
Hey Porter - Johnny Cash

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Me Lost Me Cookie At The Disco - Cookie Monster & The Girls / Sesame Street Disco
hah, now I absolutely have to repost this!

Fun Fact about Sticky Glue Fly Traps

Quick little fun fact ...... You know those disgusting fly strips that people can can pull out of that little tube capsule, stretch it out and it hangs from the ceiling? It is great for catching stray fly's, etc.....like the one pictured to the left (not my pic, found it online)?

Guess what gets the nasty sticky worse than honey & molasses mixed together glue out of your HAIR when it falls onto your head? EW!

Well, the answer is rubbing alcohol.

I was taking laundry into the basement and it fell onto my head, I guess I must've brushed past it or something, I don't know. The minute I went past it I thought, oh shit...did I? And then I feel behind my head and OMG sticky. My hair might as well have mated with this freaking fly trap it was so stuck in there! I FREAKED OUT. Of course, if you know me you know how calm and cool headed I can be in situations involving bugs (NOT) so I immediately started pulling it out of my hair and screaming "OH MY GOD" progressivly faster and louder. Once I pulled it all the way out of my hair I tried to isolate the part that was sticky and ran upstairs to the bathroom, still screaming OH MY GODDDDDDDDDD

I did freak out and panic, and cut some of it out, I had to, it was one of those situations you hear of in wars and movies, where you have to sacrefice one life to save many. It was just like that haha - for the greater good. I decided I needed to get the glue off my hands before attempting anymore hair removal. Soap.....no dice. liquid soap...no dice. Shampoo? Nope.......Apricot scrub? (don't ask me why I tried this?) umm...no, not that either.

Finally, an epiphany....RUBBING ALCOHOL! YES! I soaked a baby wipe in rubbing alcohol and rubbed the glue off my hands. Then my hair...then the thought...wait, is this going to make my hair bleached out? Well.....I guess I didn't care. I continued to scrub and thank God it came out.

Then a shampoo and all seems to be normal except for the massive headache I have from yanking that thing out of my hair while screaming at the top of my lungs!

So - for all you unlucky saps who may be frantically searching something like "remove sticky glue fly trap from hair" well, the answer is rubbing alcohol! I hope you never have to use this information!

Two Hour Delay

Neil's third day of school brings lots of snow! We have a two hour delayed opening today. It was pretty cool because last night I signed up for text alerts for school delays/closings through 6abc - so when his school updates the news/radio stations of delay/closings -it texts me for his school only! How cool is that? Here's a view of our front porch, the snow really piled on last night!


I had a feeling there might be a delay/closing today because the snow was coming down pretty good last night. Sure enough, 4:49am I got a text message that said school was delayed 2 hours! It was really handy, I gotta admit!


Sean was home with us today so we are having a nice morning. Sean and Neil played Connect 4, we got this for Neil for his bday. He really likes this game and is surprisingly great about not dumping the pieces all over.

We haven't gotten him a whole lot for his bday, we're going to wait until after his party on Sunday because it's just easier that way, no duplicates!

We are thinking of renewing his membership to the Franklin Institute which is what we gave him last year - and we've been over there quite a bit. It's a really awesome place and he has a ton of fun there - and learns a lot, I gotta admit that we have a lot of fun there too!

The teacher says that Neil is following the routines of the day very nicely and seems to really be enjoying school. This makes me so happy! I'm glad that it's a good fit. The bus driver reported that yesterday he found his seat on his own (they have assigned seats as they are in car seats) and climbed up into it. Of course the driver/aid buckles them in but I thought that was pretty good, especially since it's only day 2!

He came home from school yesterday, climbed onto the sofa to take off his shoes & socks and said "off" for each shoe and sock. That's pretty good, probably doesn't seem like much to most moms of toddlers but it's good for Neil since he's in the class due to his lack of vocal abilities.


This was yesterday - Neil's 2nd day of school. I didn't cry when he got on the bus this time hehe. I figure I should at least be as emotionally strong as a 3 year old, right?

There really isn't anything else to say

Neil's First Day at School

Today is Neil's Third Birthday! It's also another huge landmark day in Neil's childhood - his first day of school! Here's Neil 3 years ago, just about (he was a few days old in this pic)

I have been really emotional about sending Neil to school, but it's going to be good for him so we gotta do it. It's a preschool program through our district. The bus drives him and everything, it's all big boy stuff!

He did great today. The school bus was really late picking him up so things didn't go as smoothly as I'd have hoped, but he got to school just fine and with no tears. He got onto the bus with a little hesitation, then the drivers buckled him in and he was all set to go. I was a mess, crying. I tried to hold it together until I was out of sight though.

Then my mom and I promptly jumped into the car and followed/chased the bus, I had to make sure he got off the bus and into school today and I wanted to make sure he wasn't crying. I knew that if he wasn't crying I'd feel better.

He was totally fine. The teacher's aid called to let me know that he was having a good day, no tears! He turned out to be a lot more brave than I was haha. Mom & I went to breakfast and Target, and then got home in time for the bus! He looks like such a big boy on the school bus. Here's to no tears tomorrow from me :)

Before School -


No makeup, I'd just cry it off anyway


Waiting for the bus...


Sitting on the bus!



Getting home from school - look at his little bookbag! So official :)



I'm going to stop writing before I start crying again!