August 8, 2011

What's shakin' bacon?

I like to rhyme.  A lot.  I do it so much that almost every name I call my dogs ends up rhyming or ending in Mc(something)erton or (something)pants...such as "idiot bidiot" "barky mcbarkerton" "stinky mcstinker pants."  I'd say it's a problem. I rarely call my dogs the same name twice (unless it is a swear word...one of their more "beloved" nicknames is s***head...yes-gasp-I swear).

Anywho... I have realized, now that I have been unemployed for over a month, that I absolutely despise spending all this time at home.  Here I was thinking that I would be able to get a million things done, such as making and putting things on etsy, exercising every day (HAHAHAHAHA what a joke), keeping the house clean (an even funnier joke), working on units and lessons for student teaching (this really is not funny), and other tiny things I really really wanted to do but can't think of anymore.  I imagined my days full of structure and accomplishment; each hour of the day set aside for one thing or another.  Instead, I am L.A.Z.Y.

I wake up around 9 (on a good day) and then haul my butt downstairs to the couch where I proceed to watch about 3-4 hours of HGTV.  I've watched so much of that channel that I'm starting to run into re-runs which I think is kind of hard to do with HGTV.  Then around 1, 2, or 3 I come out of my television coma to shower and put normal clothes on before going back down to sit on the couch.  Sometimes I will take a look around my house and will be shaken out of my zombie state by the horror of how disarrayed it is.  It is at this point that I will pick up the 3-4 dog toys from the living room floor, fluff the couch pillows, and push the larger dust bunnies under the couch with my foot in an attempt to make it look like I did not sit around on my butt all day.

Also during my hours of lethargy, I am prompted once or twice or at least a dozen times to yell at my two terrible monsterific ratty wonderful and obedient dogs to stop wrestling on top of me because they are disrupting my goal of making a permanent butt-groove in the couch.  I then have to move to the other couch and it does not have my butt-groove so obviously I am not comfortable.  I really thought I loved dogs until I spent every freaking hour of the day with them for over a month!!!  And I do really really really really love my pup-children, but there is only so much one Mama MonsterRat can take and she's had it!!

Okay, so I hope that some of you realize that I was being hyperbolic with my laziness (kind of).  I like to exaggerate because I am Irish and because it's fun!  I have been mildly productive, especially in the creating things for my etsy shop.  I've actually worked very diligently this week to get some things made.  So far I have 3 paintings and 7 clutches made.  I've also added something to my fold-over clutches that really make them fabulous!!  Now I just need to finish them and take pictures to put online.

I have gotten a bit further on creating a unit for student teaching this fall.  The unit is on To Kill a Mockingbird.  I'm excited, nervous, frightened, overwhelmed and excited about creating this, but my overwhelmedness (is that a word?) is making me procrastinate.  You see, when I really really really should do something (like write in this blog more often) my body reacts in the most opposite way by rejecting having anything to do with working on creating a unit (or writing in a blog regularly).  Don't ask me why, I probably understand myself least out of everyone.

Anyway (I dropped the 's' because apparently "anyways" is not a word...way to go future English teacher), I am going to leave it there for now.  My posts are always a little too long and ranty, so I'll sign off for the day (or month)!!

June 22, 2011

Elephants...finally!

I'm not going to write much for this post (ahahahahaha, let's see if I can actually do that), instead I'm just going to post some of our elephant pics!  We I took a ton of photos because, well, duh, they're elephants so I had to take a ton of photos!

Enjoy!























The End (hahaha, I amuse myself)!!

June 14, 2011

Upcoming (regular) posts (hopefully)!!!

I am very thankful my blog is not a sentient being (but who am I to make assumptions about computers and the internet)...because my blog would be starved to death by now.  But that's all about to change!!

Why you ask?  Because yesterday I gave my two weeks notice at work (more like 17 days) and come June 30 I will be a free woman who has a very exciting summer ahead of her!

I'm mostly happy to just have the cat out of the bag and be openly excited at work about student teaching in fall.

So here is a schedule for my work-free summer:
-July 1-5: Second honeymoon in Washington, D.C.  (This was the husband's pick and I will neither deny or confirm that he chose it more for the cubs playing the nationals on July 4 than he did for wanting to be in D.C. over the nation's birthday)

-July 7-10: I will be going to Madison on July 7 to drop off my parent's dog, Jasper (we are watching him while my parents are in Greece/Italy...feel bad for them, really) But on July 8 I will drive up to Appleton to spend the weekend with my BFFFFFFFFFFF (that's Best Friends Forever Forever Forever...etc).  We've been friends for over 15 years so it's kind of a big deal.  And we will be going to see the Josh Groban concert (whom we've been in love with for a decade...wow we're old).  We'll also probably be staying up late and talking a lot, watching movies, painting our nails, putting makeup on, going shopping, talking about boys, and doing other girly things. (I'm serious, that is NOT me being sarcastic because we tend to revert to our 15 year old selves when we're together...it's pretty much the Awesomest thing ever!)

-July 11-15ish (whenever really): I will be at home, hanging out with my wonderful mom (who just bought me a surger...she's so great!) and my grandma and my dad (if he's home, not sure of his work schedule) and just be chillin' like a non-working or school-going villain!

-July 15ish: go home to my hubs and the bubs (my nickname for the pups)!!

-July 17: I take my Minnesota License Teacher's Exam in my content area...SOOOOOO Nervous, but will take deep breaths.

-End of July sometime: Warrior Dash!  It's 3 mile obstacle course that I am doing with my sister, her husband, and her friend.  I'm kind of out of shape (and that's putting it mildly) but it will be fun and I will get muddy and fun should be had by all (plus, FREE BEER when you finish).

After that the summer is pretty open and will go by fairly fast in anticipation of being a "Candidate Teacher" (aka Student Teaching).  My high school supervisor just emailed me and asked me to create a 2-3 week unit on "To Kill a Mockingbird" so I am excited and terrified by that!

I also intend to sew some more and stuff and put it on etsy and try to update this blog more.  I know I still have a lot of posts to put up here:

-Like my one tu-to-ru from months ago
-ELEPHANTS!!!! (seriously, why have I not done this yet?!?)
-Pics of the purse I made for my mom for her trip to Greece and Italy (it's gorgeous!!)
-Just general updating of what's been going on!

So stay tuned (my three readers) and I'll hopefully have more for you!!

May 13, 2011

First Order!

I am {finally} mailing out my first order today--WOOT!!  I'm so excited!!  I made cute little business cards to go in them that have my blog and shop address on them.

The order I am sending out is for my sister's friend (though I've known her since I was little).  She wanted three clutches and three makeup bags that she will give as gifts!!  She left the fabric choices and colors all up to me, so I hope she loves what I chose.  Unfortunately I made the {rookie} mistake of NOT taking any pictures of them before sending---whoops!  Mostly because I don't have my sister's fabulous camera anymore {frowny face}.

But, that's okay.  I will make more once my sister's wedding is over and post them on etsy {another finally here}.  I also included extra business cards in my package to her (because she asked for them) so hopefully I can get some stuff posted soon in case I actually get {a little} business from word of mouth!

Anyways, here are some pictures of my packaging.  Nothing special, just tissue and some embroidery thread, and of course my brand-spanking-new business card (the deets on my blog and shop are on the back--didn't take a picture of that either--duh {slaps hand on forehead}!).

Also, I took these pictures with my phone, which isn't one of those fancy everything-but-the-kitchen-sink-phones, so the clarity is pretty awful!!


Pretty {crumpled} tissue paper.  It's crumpled because I had it all packed up to ship but then took it out to add my fancy business card!


"creations for a happy life!" My little tagline for my shop. I'm sure it is being used in multiple other places, but as far as I can remember I haven't plagiarized!!  Plus I think it sums up what I do: CREATE.  And people will just have to go online if they want to find out just what kind of things I "create!"

That's all for today!!

Oh... and a little shameless blog plugging for my husband.  He has his own blog (he actually started before I did {gasp}) and his blog address is: www.cheaperthanink.blogspot.com.

It's really about sports, movies, tv, anything on his mind, a little politics, not so much religion, but just about anything (but really, sports and movie heavy).  I think he's hilarious though {I swear I'm not biased}!!

Okay, goodbye for good (I'll try to post elephant pictures soon!!)

I lied!!  Wrigley is at work with me again today and she says, "Woof!" (which means "hi!").


Or not because she looked away!!  But she's still cute, even in side profile!!

Okay--BYE!

May 10, 2011

I should be arrested...

....for neglect.

Hello, again, my little neglected blog.  Hmm... perhaps I should change your name to that, "The Little Neglected Blog."  I like how that sounds, but we'll stay with what we know.

Sorry I've been gone for so long... school is winding down (not really), which means it is insanely busy in the world of Kristi.  Oh, and the sister gets married in less than two weeks so there's that.  Oh, and I am quitting my job soon so there are things I have to tie up at work.

Let's just say, June 30 can't come soon enough because this lady needs a break!

But let's talk about what has happened in the past month or so that I've been absent...

I crafted stuff that I actually sold, or am in the process of selling, but it wasn't done through etsy (once I'm done with my job in June I figure I will start crafting and putting stuff up for sale there!).  Nevertheless, I'm excited to sell my first little clutches and makeup bags.  I'm also in the midst of sewing an awesome purse for my mom that she is taking with her on her Greece/Italy trip at the end of June!!  I will put pictures up of that later.

Also, the sister's wedding is coming up and I have things I need to craft like crazy.  I made her chair signs (but I'm not done... EEP!) and I am making these cute picture blocks that have pictures of her and her soon-to-be-hubs on them and they each contain a letter that spells out "MR & MRS HENKE."  I'm finishing those this weekend (cross my fingers!).  I also have to craft what will be the most amazing, awesome, fabulous speech EVER!  (or what might possibly be the worst, horrible, unfunny, speech ever, but we'll see.)

Also (I say that A LOT), ELEPHANTS!!  We got back from elephants a week ago and OHMYGAWRSH it was AWESOME!!  I shall post pictures soon because they pretty much rock my face off!!

And that's all.  Sorry, no pics, but I believe imagination is stronger than visual cues anyways!!

April 13, 2011

Mystical White Winter

Today's post is kind of a sad one and I want to start it by saying that my family takes its dogs very seriously.  They aren't just pets, they are family members and are treated and loved as such.

Well, yesterday my family experienced a loss of one of our family members.  We lost our loyal and beautiful pup, Mystical White Winter (Misty for short). We named her Mystical because the breeder was called Mystical Sams, and we wanted to honor that side of her.  She got White from our first Samoyed, White Lightning Storm (aka Lightning) and Winter from our second Samoyed, Stormy Winter Angel (aka Stormy).  (It was a weather and white theme for some reason, and as one person pointed out to us, the weather got better as we went on: Lightning-Stormy-Misty).


She was a great dog.  Throughout my childhood we had two other Samoyeds, but Misty was the best of them.  Not that we didn't love the other ones, because we did, but Misty was special somehow.  She was so well-behaved and gentle and friendly.  She was also extremely beautiful, if you can't tell from the above picture.  And her fur was the softest, silkiest fur in the world.  Especially the tips of her ears, on her nose and on top of her head.  She also gave great doggy kisses and I had a little saying whenever she gave me one, "Kisses from Misty for Kristi" or I would say the opposite when I kissed her head, "Kisses for Misty from Kristi".  It's kind of silly, but now I'm sad that I will never be able to get those Misty kisses again.

Misty-Kristi Kisses in action!  (It's a picture of a picture so it's kind of poor quality)

We got Misty when I was a junior in high school.  She came from a purebred family of Samoyeds and her father was even a champion of some sort and featured in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade one year.  When we first got her it was sort of confusing for her to learn her name, because, hello, Kristi and Misty sort of more than rhyme.  For awhile, I would answer when my dad or mom had actually said "Misty" and sometimes Misty would respond to my parents calling "Kristi."  It was quite funny.

When we got Misty we still had another Samoyed, Stormy, who was a great dog as well and she was around 6 at the time.  They lived well together and would play like dogs do, and Stormy would put Misty in her place when needed.  I was the only child at home, my sister being off at college, so the dogs would often sleep in my (messy) room.  It was nice to know I had two big, furry guard dogs at the side of my bed in case of any intruders!  Misty also liked to sleep with her head underneath my bed but her body protruding, I never really understood that part.

I went off to college when Misty was almost two, and about six months later Stormy had to be put down because her hips wouldn't work.  I was heartbroken to not be there to say goodbye, but it was comforting to know that Misty was still at home and that I could cuddle with her when I came home on the weekends and for holidays.  It was during this time that my parents kept reciting the phrase, "This will be our last dog, we don't want anymore after this."

For the next three years Misty got used to being an only dog, and I think she really liked it.  It was during this time that she really bonded with my mom, who was her human.  You see, my dad is a pilot so he's often gone for extended periods of time, and with her two children off at school, my mom always came home to Misty, and Misty was always waiting at home for my mom.  Sure, my mom may have lamented about the trouble of having a big dog every once in awhile, but in spite of that she loved Misty and Misty loved her back.  And I think they were both grateful for the companionship.

Then I got Chico, my little monster, and Misty was no longer the only dog, at least not when I would go home for the weekends with Chico.  But I think Misty liked Chico.  They actually lived together at my parents house for two months while I was away in Greece.  I remember my mom sending me emails talking about how Misty and Chico would "help" her in the garden and that Chico looked like a pigpen because he was so dirty.  The emails I received from my mother during this time were hilarious because it was like Chico could do no wrong.  Here's an example of one of those emails (verbatim--copy and pasted; it's written by my mom):

"Last night I was working on the computer and the dogs were upstairs.  Your Dad was finishing his packing for his trip.  I went upstairs and ran my bath.  When I walked back out into the hallway I walked into a puddle!  I cleaned it up and then I got Chico--he growled at me.  I told him no and then put him in his kennel.  I also told him he is to never pee in my house again.  Then I went upstairs and had my bath.  I admit that I did yell at him.  Well... when I got done in the tub here is Chico on the bed with Dad.  Apparently Dad went down and had a 'chat' with him.  He lets him get away with murder almost."

The line in italics is probably the funniest part of it all and shows how even my tough pops is a dog-lover, but I digress (it's genetic, just ask my dad!).  This is about Misty, not Chico, and Chico loved playing with Misty; they would wrestle, with Chico up on his hind legs, front paws on her face, while she just stood there, mouthing him.  Since she was so big and Chico so small in comparison, it was always more work for Chico to play with her, while she would either just sit down or stand and not really move.  They were a cute pair and I believe they legitimately liked each other.

Misty and Chico (see, he's tiny compared to her)!
And for awhile it was the two of them until my parents' pestering about them keeping Chico and my continual refusal lead them into thinking of getting their own small dog (they really loved Chico).  Of course, this was after years of saying that they weren't going to get anymore dogs, but I think Chico kind of changed that for everyone.  So, one weekend when my parents came to visit my sister and me in Minneapolis, I helped them search for a small dog online.  I had actually had my eye on one dog on petfinder.com whose name was Jasper and who was a poodle-bichon mix.  He looked like Chico, but was a bit taller and bigger, and the description of him was that he was very gentle and a great companion dog (everything my mother wanted in a dog).

I convinced them to apply for that dog and one other while they were there and even helped them fill out the application material.  About a week or two later they brought Jasper home to be their companion dog.

Misty and Jasper got along very well (Misty was a really chill dog and not much bothered her).  And in the summers it was Misty, Jasper and my mom gardening together.  They were a good pair and my mom would tell me stories of how Misty and Jasper would play with each other.  Jasper also took to barking at Misty if she was chewing the one bone he wanted, even if there were five other ones scattered throughout the house.  I have a sneaking suspicion that Misty was smart enough to do this on purpose, as if taunting him.

Misty and Jasper
About a year after getting Jasper, my sister adopted a dog herself, a little Shih-Tzu called Georgie.  And our ever expanding family of pups grew!  At this point, my parents started to call Chico and Georgie their grandpups and they were proud and happy grandhumans!  Holidays were always fun with the three little dogs running around and wrestling and Misty occasionally stepping in as referee (she often barked at them while they were playing as if to say, "Cut it out!").  I think all the other dogs knew that Misty was the undisputed Alpha female, and she definitely took pride in that fact.

Misty and Georgie (he always looks that concerned).
 Here's a picture of the entire pack together:

The Pack: Georgie, Misty, Jasper and Chico
About three months ago my husband and I rescued a dog which we named Wrigley.  She was a novelty to the group because she was female.  And unfortunately she did not get to spend too much time with Misty.  She met Misty about two weeks ago, and Misty of course was unfazed by another little ankle-biter in the group.

And even two weeks ago Misty was fairly healthy.  She was being treated for this chronic itch that had left her with a little fur loss on her belly, but the doctor thought it was under control.  When she died yesterday, it was definitely unexpected, but my mom was luckily there to help her pass onto wherever we go after we die.  I think this is the way Misty wanted it because my mom was her human and the person she cared most about in the entire world (she was always a little neurotic when my mom left for extended periods of time, just ask my husband about that messy and smelly story!).  And even though she was only 8 1/2 years old, and probably should have lived for many more years, her years here were very good, if not fantastic.  My parents took great care of her and I always made a point to spend some time showering her with love whenever I came home.

We all loved Misty, she was our girl and she will be sorely missed not only by us humans but by the little pups as well.  My mom says that Jasper is already a little confused as to where she went.  And I'm sure Chico might be perplexed the next time he goes home and can't find Misty.  Her death has definitely left a hole in our family that can never be replaced, but she's at peace now and our many memories of her will sustain us!

Doesn't she have a great smile?!?

Love you, Misty!

April 11, 2011

Monday Madness!

I don't have a lot to say today!  I didn't do my IWIWT-Friday post, and instead of doing it right now, I'll wait until this Friday and have an AWESOME one (hopefully).

Not much is really new, I started a new term for school which means I am super busy... again!  One of my assignments is to grade 143 AP Literature papers by the end of the month.  Our teacher calculated it and if we spent ten minutes on each paper, it will take us 24 hours.  I told him not to calculate it because that would depress me, but he didn't listen.  So now I have 142 (we did one in class together) to grade which should be eye opening, oh well, that's the price of wanting to be an English teacher.

Other than that, I'm trying to set weekly goals for making things.  Two items per week that I can put in my etsy shop.  And I'm waiting until I have about ten items made before posting them.  That way, I can post a new item a day for about a week (if I start by posting three or four items).  And the items I am going to be offering (to begin with) are: my fold over clutches, small-zipped pouches, zipper jewelry, and mixed media canvases (small to begin with).  So this week I think I am going to make two small zipped pouches and two canvases.  I know, I know, I said I was going to do two items per week, but I'm a little behind, so I'll catch up this week.  I most likely will do them this weekend when the hubs is out of town!

I'm very excited though, to get my shop up and running. I think this is going to be more of a hobby than anything else, but we'll see where it goes.  I've been finding that pricing things is a little difficult because the finishing on my sewed items isn't the greatest, and that's only because my sewing machine is so old that the stitching underneath is all wonky, so I try not to make things that don't require you to see the stitching at all.  To better explain the problem... so you know on sewing machines you can usually sew at 4 different lengths (well on my old one you can) and the highest stitch means that it is the longest, well, my sewing machine won't even move if it's on the lowest stitch (which is a one or zero on my machine, really can't recall), so I have to keep it at a four, but even then the stitching is very tiny and does not stitch very straight or even (the size of each stitch kind of varies between small and very small and they're all a little wonky).  Well, I'm guessing this is due to my machine being ancient. 

I plan on buying a new one, once I have the money (but I also want a nice camera as well).  I'll be quitting my job soon, so that I can student teach in the fall, which means money will be tight, but it's already tight as is, so essentially I will be using this machine until I win the lottery or die... or until there's a holiday where my hubs can buy one for me (please!).  So I will have to make do with what I have and because of that I'm not going to price my items too much.  By the way, it's not that the items are crappily made, that's not it at all.  It's just that I don't think it looks as pretty as it could be.  But that's just in the teeny tiny details of a product.  Overall they are very nice!

Well, I am really not the best person to market my items since now all of my millions of readers think my items are shottily made... I should hire someone to be my cheerleader, instead of me!

In other news, my husband and I discovered how wonderful a dog park is when you have two very rambunctious pups!  It's like puppy xanax, and for that I thank the universe!

P.S.  Sorry for no pictures, my sister has her fancy camera and our digital camera is kind of turrible (misspelling intentional).  In other news, I have a fun TU-TO-RU to bring you later this week!  I'll give you a sneak peek (in words only) it involves yarn and glue and vaseline... maybe that sounds just a little too weird...

Happy day to you!