Waaayyyy Beeeehind

Isn't this a pretty card? Much nicer than a dog's behind, I know. Speaking of behind, that would be me.

So....my bud Kay is moving on Saturday and I'm starting to become sad about that, even though I am happy for her because it's a brand new start. She will spend her last night in town here with us, and that will be nice.

I am not sure exactly how it happened, but our web site will be featured on PayPal's Merchant Network this Thursday. I am praying that exposure will bring new customers. They want a thumbnail size photo to accompany their article so I am sending one of my wedding pics. I avoid the camera, even more so than Miss Jessie. Then I figured I would put the thumbnail on my blog as it seems to be the thing to do. The photo makes it appear I am missing part of my upper teeth. But really, I am not. They are all there, bought and paid for and everything.

While I am strolling down Wedding Memory Lane, here is a photo I took the day I received my rings. I look at my finger at least once a day, and marvel at the fact this diehard "I will never get married again" man IS married, and to me.

Maybe I'm just odd that way. Because I often find myself looking at my son and being struck with this overwhelming feeling of: I am someone's mother! After 13 years it should have sunk in by now, but nope, still takes me by surprise.

I didn't have many people enter my last giveway, so what I am going to do is contact everyone who did enter, and send them their choice of the three downloads. I really and truly planned on having more to choose from in my etsy store. But as I said, I am waaaayyy beeeeehind.

Friendship

Aren't you grateful us humans don't have to greet each other this way? Anyway....these two are buds, pals, friends. They always have fun together, even when Miss Jessie purposely kicks Juneau's one front leg out from under him and then wraps her mouth around his neck.

Last Fall I was reunited with an old, OLD friend - someone I had not talked to in over 20 years. We were penpals at first (her in NC, me in CA) and eventually we each traveled to each other's homes and saw the sites, and laughed, and laughed, and laughed. Our lives took very different paths. She is the single career woman. I am the married WAHM. She is demure. Me? Not so much. She remembers things about me I had long forgotten, and it's probably better that way.

We talked on the phone today, and as usual, we had a great time. I am so blessed to have a close group of girlfriends who find the same things funny, who put up with all the trips my twisted little mind takes. Alas they are "close" only in spirit. Dora is still in NC, Kathryn is in GA, Sam is in CA, and soon Kay will be moving out of state.

I think the Lord orchestrated Dora's call today. These little near death experiences we have in life can be rather daunting. It's difficult to find a person who can relate to having a full size car travel about 70 feet through the air, after being hit by another car going 60 mph, all the while rolling, and finally landing on its side about a foot away from one's windshield. You tend to remember those kind of things, and they tend to mess with your mind.

Dora was the victim of a horrendous violent crime 12 years ago. Stabbed in her bed in the middle of the night, by a man high on drugs, looking for money. He took an eight inch knife from her kitchen and stabbed her 23 times in the upper body. Then he pulled her phone out of the wall and as he later told the police - he thought she was dead. It is impossible for me to wrap my mind around this kind of horror. To speak to someone who has survived this is a very humbling thing. It puts many things into perspective. The attack punctured one lung, but she survived because she had extra weight protecting her. The doctor told her "if you were skinny you'd be dead right now."

She no longer lives in the same place. The man who did this was released from prison last year. I ask: are you afraid he will try to find you? She answers: no, it's not going to happen again. 12 years later she has the flashbacks, the "what if he'd stabbed me two inches to the right?" conversations with herself. She told me she has become an expert at shutting those things down before they are able to take control. She reminded me we walk on faith, and we drive that way too.

Truly an amazing and inspirational woman. A blessing.

School's Out for Summer......

Is it just me, or do other people get the Alice Cooper School's Out song stuck in their heads too? School was officially over yesterday, and within two hours my offspring that hatched had been mohawked.

You have to choose your battles, and he did end 7th grade with a 3.6 GPA. He attends a private Christian school and their curriculum is challenging to say the least. Of course this type of haircut would not be allowed at school. I think of it as his summer fling. He's a good kid. Respectful and polite. A crusader for the underdog, his faith is rock solid.

I am proud of the young man he has become. I just don't understand how he grew up so quickly. My little premie baby is almost as tall as me!

Good Swappy Day

I recently discovered swap-bot and of course, I just HAD to sign up. I received my first two swaps today. The first was to take one item from your partner's profile and send it. Pretty simple, right? The unusual part is how partners are matched. The person you are sending to is not the person who sends to you. This swap, offically called "Quick Swap V," had a lot of international players. I sent packages to Belgium and the Czech Republic. I received this package today, from the UK. The other person sending to me is in the U.S.

Look at all the neat things she sent! And the swap only required her to send one item. The ribbons are gorgeous, and unlike any I have seen before. The Brixham booklet is full of B&W vintage photos.


I also received all these scrapbooking papers. I adore the English people. We send knobs across the pond quite frequently, and every customer I have dealt with has been wonderful. A lot of people long to visit France, but not me. I would much prefer seeing London and the surrounding countryside.

The second swap was an "extra scrapbooking papers" swap, where you were to send whatever you could fit into a business size envelope and mail for just one stamp. The pretty pink and blue papers pictured below came from a lady in Missouri.

If you haven't been to swap-bot you should definitely visit. Then again, the whole world probably knows about it. I tend to be the last to know. I didn't even know Stickles existed until a few months ago.

The Winner and a New Blog Giveaway

The winner of this week's blog giveaway (four ceramic knobs in her choice of design) is Jenny at Fated Follies Studio. Juneau was not in the mood to choose the winner, so my hubby drew the name. In reading Jenny's blog, she has been a very lucky girl lately!

Next Saturday's giveaway will be three collage downloads from my teeny tiny etsy shoppe. It will be a lot larger by next Saturday. I love collage, altered anything, mixed media and miniature things. Many of the people who read my blog do also. Have you noticed that people either "get" altered art, or they don't? No middle ground. My own mother didn't "get it," until I explained at length. She says she does now, but maybe she is just being polite.

So....three downloads of your choice. If you "get it," please leave a comment on this post before Saturday, June 14th at 6:00 pm.

Edgy Etsy Tags and Felt

Oh my, that etsy nut is a tough one to crack. I have experimented with "this and that," trying to find a groove. Something I can do (and like to do) and something etsy buyers will also like. My bud Kay over at The Rustic Cottage is an old pro on etsy. She says "go edgy." And since I don't like felt or felty things, my only other alternative is to "go weird." Lucky for me it's not a long journey.

Today I took the first step and listed this tag. It's tame compared to some of the ideas I have (for adults only dontcha know), but it's a start. I have this almost fanatical need for straight lines, perfect edges, and everything being centered. It was a huge effort for me to position that photo off-center. Unfortunately that attention to detail is not carried through to any other area of my life. I can mess up a room quicker than a group of pre-schoolers on a sugar high. It's truly amazing.

One Tag, Two Cards

This tag is very similar to one of the panels I made for the Birds and Bonnets Swap. It will be on the way soon to the "bestest" friend I've never met. Wouldn't it be incredible if the all the wonderful women of blogland could get together for a giant slumber party? We could have it at the Playboy Mansion, and banish Hef and the bunnies to Chuck E. Cheese for the evening.




Two ATC's....just because I haven't made any in a while.

Meatloaf

As I said yesterday, this is some good meatloaf. If you try it, please let me know what you think.

The Loaf

1-1/2 lbs. lean ground beef
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup cracker crumbs (or bread crumbs - any kinda crumbs)
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup milk (not that gross soy milk - hi Beth)

The Sauce

4 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. white vinegar
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup catsup
1/4 cup finely chopped onion

The Directions

Mix meat, onion, eggs, salt, pepper, crumbs and milk. Shape into loaf pan. This recipe originally calls for pouring all the sauce over the meat and then baking it. Personally I am not a fan of grease or fat, especially if I can see it. Even if you use super lean beef you will still have that gooey congealed stuff around the sides and top of the loaf (insert gag here). So I put about two teaspoons of the sauce on top and call it good. That way the sauce can season the loaf a bit. When it's done cooking, I drain the you know what off as best I can, and I've even been known to blot the meat on paper towels. I save most of the sauce to serve on the side. This is particularly important for those leftover meatloaf sandwiches.

So....once you have made your sauce decision, place Mr. Loaf in a 350 degree oven and cover with foil. Bake for about one hour. I check it at 45 minutes and remove the foil so the top can brown a bit.

What's for Dinner? Not this.....

My intention was to post a truly incredible meatloaf recipe. I think it figured strongly into my husband's decision to marry me. Really, it's that good. While looking for the recipe I came across this clipping from 1971. I forgot about meatloaf and began to take a trip down Memory Lane. This is more interesting than the meatloaf recipe, although I admit it's not as useful.

Just click on the image to see a larger view.



I lived in this house with my father and mother and sister, from 1967 to 1976. I don't know for sure if Jean Harlow had lived there. Maybe the author of this article was wrong. I do know that tour buses stopped in front quite often. I remember my dad searching the attic, looking for clues. He never found any.

It was a beautiful old house with a huge yard and redwood deck. My sister and I had our rooms upstairs, and my parents slept downstairs. Part of the roof was flat and there was a door at the top of the stairs which led out to this flat roof. Strangely enough, the strongest memory I have is of my closet. It was huge! The size of a lot bathrooms. It had built in drawers and a window!

Across the street was the back portion of the North Course of the LA Country Club. Our neighbor to the right was a stock broker. To the left, a sweet retired couple. Jean Stapleton (AKA Edith Bunker) lived two houses down and drove in the neighborhood carpool. Two houses down the other way was the home of Arthur Hill. There was a retired Army general and his wife. At the end of the block lived a woman named Fanny who was so obsessed with her lawn she was known to patrol every square foot with a pair of manicure scissors.

We had moved to California from Illinois when I was seven. My father went from being a dentist in a small town to being a Beverly Hills dentist. He had many celebrity patients, joined the country club, and was never the same again. I took Clark Gable's dentures to school for show and tell. Freddie Prinze committed suicide at a hotel on Wilshire just blocks away. Halloween meant hot chocolate or cider and homemade cookies from the neighbors. My mother tried to keep the family together. In the end my parents divorced and the house was sold. Mom had saved the article all these years, and recently sent it to me.

I will post the meatloaf recipe tomorrow......