Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Come On In. I'm Open!

The shop is open, just in time for Halloween. Happy shopping.

Monday, September 28, 2009

I Couldn't Resist

I had thoughts of posting something else until I took these pictures. These are the reason I love digital cameras so much: instant gratification.


Doesn't he look like he's totally getting some eagerly anticipated information in that second picture? (Let's just ignore the upside-down-ness of the phone, shall we?)

Friday, September 25, 2009

Advice...Again

Rhett started nursery on Sunday. I was unprepared for this: I thought he'd have to wait until this Sunday because last Sunday was one day before his actual 18-month birthday (if there is such a thing). So I was really not ready. But not in the "my-baby's-growing-up-so-fast" not ready sense, rather the "uh, will you keep him until dinner time?" Rhett being my first child in nursery meant that I didn't know the routine. I felt proud that I knew where to go. That's where my knowledge stopped.

Please share with me your wisdom. I need it.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Candy Hierarchy

Last night as we talked each other to sleep, Chuck and I started discussing candy. I asserted that gummi bears (Chuck's favorite candy) didn't even make my top 20. It was a glib statement, and I thought that I should work on seeing if it's true. So here's the list:

1. Hot Tamales. Easy.
2. Runts. Pink and red are my favorites, with green being the yuckiest, albeit still-eaten. The bananas used to be just underneath pink and red, but lately they have been surpassed by orange. I really like them orange ones!
3. Candy Corns. Brach's Candy Corns. I'm eating some (and by "some," I mean an entire bag) right now.
4. Cherry heads. Fun Fact: Once I ate a fairly large-sized bag of these (during one of three trips to the theater to see Titanic) and ended up with a mouth full of canker sores. Totally worth it.
5. Sour watermelons. These, too, have been retired. Some of you will say, "Oh erin, I saw them the other day!" But you didn't; trust me. You saw a cheap imitation. A part of me died when I learned that.
6. Skittles. Eaten in the following order: green, yellow, orange, purple, red. And when I have six reds left, I have to eat one, and then two at once, and then ALL THREE AT ONCE for the grand finale.
7. Lik-m-Aid (aka "Fun Dip"). I eat all three pouches with one stick and eat the other stick all by itself.
8. Twist 'n' Fill Twizzlers. Sadly, these are no longer made. Another small piece of happiness gone.
9. Regular Twizzlers. Best. Beach. Snack. Ever.
10. Smarties. I'm trying to get over the delusion that the different colors have a different taste. My therapist is helping. Until then, pink and yellow get eaten last; green first.
11. Almond Joy. My favorite piece of chocolate.
12. Butterfinger. Second favorite piece of chocolate.
13. Starburst. Once Chuck went to Hershey Park and brought me a bag of only pink and reds. It was heaven.
14. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. The little, individually-wrapped ones only please.
15. Swedish fish. But only the red ones.
16. Jolly Ranchers. When I have a sore throat, I contend that these are just as good for me as stupid sore throat lozenges.
17. Airheads. I love the white mystery flavor!
18. Carmels. But not good carmels. Carmels that are perfect cubes and sold in bulk. I'm sure to candy purists I'm breaking some rule. But you can't help what you like.
19. Nerds. These are great in a Dairy Queen Blizzard. Trust me.
20. Cinnamon bears. I eat the head first, then the legs, finally the torso.

An honorable mention has to go to SweetTarts just because of the game played between my sister, my mom, and me. You wouldn't get it.

There. I did it. I was right. Not even in my top 20.

(And now you maybe you understand why I have to run.)

Monday, September 21, 2009

Don't. Stop. Don't Stop. Seriously.

Do you ever have one of those days (or maybe, if you're lucky, two or three of those days) that are just perfect and even if you tried, you couldn't plan them any better? That was my weekend.

On Friday I relaxed at home working on this project. I didn't make two and I'm so angry at myself because of I didn't. I love it. Have I mentioned that I love Halloween? Because I do. L-O-V-E it. And that describes how I feel about this bunting.

When we woke up on Saturday (at 6:45 a.m---totally sleeping in for the little one!), we had perfect running weather. It was crisp and cool. I was able to get in a long-ish run and enjoy every second of it. When I came home, Chuck offered to let me have a morning alone. He took Rhett to his parents' house while I stayed home, showered, read the paper, ate breakfast, and wanted to cry at how great a husband I have for giving me that present. Honestly, I want to roll around naked in that morning, that's how great it was. Which is a slight step up from how I feel about Halloween.

When I was ready to return to my normal life, I joined Chuck at his parents' house where two out-of-town brothers (and families) were visiting. It is always fun to see his family and for Rhett to see his cousins. I got out of there for a small break to attend a baby shower where, happily for me, no baby shower games were played! Bonus. The above bunting was delivered and hopefully the gift will be used. I told her if she was unsure about putting a newborn in black, let me know and I'd take it back and make her anything she wanted. She kept it. Sigh.

When that was over, it was back to Chuck's parents' house for more family time and dinner. The weather was gorgeous and it was great being outside.

Sunday is pretty busy with meetings, but as the woman who brought these happy flowers had to leave early, I got to bring them home. What an end to my weekend, right? When do I get to do this again?

Friday, September 18, 2009

Exile Alternative

As much as Emily's eviction of Miles to Exile sounded like a pretty great place for my ultra-fussy eighteen-month-old, it took only one of these faces to make me reconsider.



P.S. Are you watching Glee? If not, you really really need to. It's on Fox on Wednesdays night, I think they're rerunning them on Fridays, and you can watch it here, right now. No excuses.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Things I Would Tweet if I Twittered

"I can't stop eating these hint of lime chips. This is not a good thing."

"I want my two nostrils! Dang this stupid cold."

"Why is there nothing good on the internet? How else am I supposed to waste my time?"

"I now have two tricks for killing crickets: throwing a book on them and vacuuming them. One more effective than the other."

And we should all bow our heads and say a prayer of gratitude that I don't use twitter.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Made by e: Latest Projects

Now that I'm back at home three days during the week, I can get back some crafting time during Rhett's naps. I've taken to doing everything in duplicate: one for me and one for Etsy. Since I noticed that pretty much everything that sold, sold during the months leading to Christmas, I thought I'd try opening the shop next month. But if it they don't sell, then, well, some of you might see these things next year in the form of gifts.

Sandwich wraps like these. The bottom two and middle one are destined for my Etsy shop. The other two were already given as gifts.

A Halloween banner. This is one of my most favorite things I've ever sewn. Candy corns are in the top three of my favorite candies list. Hurry up October!

Christmas Banner


Little girl's skirt fashioned from a friend's too-long-for-her dress.

Car seat strap covers. One for Chuck's car, one for a friend's soon-to-be-born baby, and another for the shop.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Quirkiness Revealed

Because I have a lot of quirks (ask me sometime about the way I eat Skittles), I find them endearing in others. Here are a couple of Rhett's quirks.

He doesn't like to keep hats on his head. But this plastic Orioles batting helmet (that we bought at a garage sale in Colorado, oddly enough), he wears all the time. And almost always it is backwards.


During a recent trip to the zoo, Rhett found this statue of a frog more interesting than most of the real animals we saw that day. I realize that this isn't quirk-ish, but it still made me laugh.


What you see here is a boy pointing at something. What you can't quite see is (1) that's he's quite upset and (2) he's pointing at the fire alarm. He HATES all things fire alarms. We had one sitting on the counter while we waited for a battery and he would start whining every time he saw it. And he still whines at those attached to the ceiling.


Again, looks harmless, right? Wrong. That sippy cup sitting in the upper-right hand corner of the tray MUST be in that upper-right hand corner of the tray. Try moving it to any other place on his tray and chaos will ensue. Out of all the quirks, this one makes me the most nervous. I have slight OCD tendencies and really really don't wish them on him.


Oh yeah, he also does this weird thing where he'll grab onto something and just hold it so tightly that his whole body tenses. Is that normal?

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Quick Rant and then It's Over

Generally, I don't like to talk politics. I feel like I'm not a great debater and don't always have enough facts to make intelligent arguments. However, something has come up this week and for some reason, I can't get it out of my head, and in fact, it's now coming out of my fingers.

On Tuesday, President Obama delivered this speech to our nation's youth. There were a lot of people who were very opposed to the President doing this. And yet, I can't figure out why.

Being a leader of youth at church, I definitely see some of the problems that the President addressed. The biggest of which is that they don't want to take responsibility for anything. If they can't learn math, it's the teacher's fault. If they are tired during school, it's because school starts too early. These kids just might have a bad teacher and school might start too early, but there are things that can be done about their problems. They can get a tutor, talk to their parents, get more sleep. But they need to take the initiative to actually do these things. It's tough, but life's tough.

Some people might disagree with a political figure talking to their kids. But why? Remember, he's the President of the United States of America (and remember that President Bush also did this during his tenure). Even after taking an extreme right-leaning eye to the document (and yes, I used only my right-leaning eye to read it; my left-leaning eye stayed closed), I had a hard time finding a problem with anything he said. I don't care if people agree with his politics or not. The man is not spouting health care reform to middle-schoolers. He's telling them to work hard! How is this partisan?

Certainly I'm not saying that just because he's President that people should all agree with what he believes, if they didn't before he was elected. But when it comes to issues where it seems like we should all get along (Drugs are bad! Kids should be educated!), why are we not getting along?

Sunday, September 6, 2009

This is Funny Because...

...today is actually someone's birthday. Two days ago, it was another someone's birthday. Two days from now, it will be another someone's birthday. And all of these someones are in this video. Happy REAL birthday all you someones!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

This One's for Daniel

There are things that I like about my neighborhood. This is not a post where that is discussed, however. This is a post in which I complain about the next door neighbor's yard. Actually, I don't really care. If I were trying to sell my house, I'm sure I'd feel differently. But I'm not. So I have to laugh instead. Even the kids walking to and from school laugh at this lawn.



If Chuck ever did a mow job like that, he'd be using those clippings as his quilt while he sleeps. Outside.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

The Finished Product

The Quiet Book Swap of '09 is officially a success! I can't even believe how well it went. First a thanks to all the lovely ladies who participated:
Emily
Megan
Lisa (private)
Mellissa
Angie
Natalie (private)
Deanna
Nicole
Becky

This project was only as successful as our weakest link and thank goodness that we had no weak links. These women did everything I asked them to do, and more. Thank you thank you thank you!

Would I do this again? Absolutely. I might change a couple of things, but for the most part, it ran really smoothly. I was able to get everything on my end finished before the other ladies' pages starting arriving. This meant that as they arrived, I could put them together and then the final product took no time at all. The biggest oops on my part was underestimating the cost of shipping, meaning I was in the red at the end. Also, I would have made the books smaller, maybe 9" x 9" instead of the 10.5" x 10". Why? The binding around the covers of the book needed slightly more fabric than one regularly-sized piece of cotton gives. This meant that I had to piece together each binding and that was a pain. Had I done them in a 9" x 9" size, the circumference would be 36", totally doable with a 42"-wide piece of fabric. When I think about what could have been (non-payers, horrible pages, etc.), I feel really lucky!

How could I not do it again? It was a fairly painless process with an absolutely-worth-it outcome. It's a no-brainer. I hope that the women who participated feel the same way.

Without further delay, the finished pages:




And all bound on the front and back by two identical pages looking like this: