...Ramblings of E

A fav book being made into a movie!

2010-05-24T19:19:00.012-05:00

So I've found out that the powers that be are currently shooting a movie based on one of my favorite books, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.

It's a love story between a young vet student, Jacob Jankowski and a beautiful circus performer, Marlene Rosenbluth set in the Depression era within a traveling train circus. The story is told by an elderly Jacob about his time with the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. I'm not much of a circus fan but this book got me interested in circus history and how circus folks lived back in the day. If you haven't read the book, I highly recommend it! :)

The movie actually started shooting this past Thursday in Filmore, CA. Rob Pattinson will star as the younger Jacob Jankowski, Reese Witherspoon is to play Marlena Rosenbluth & Christoph Waltz of Inglorious Basterds fame is to play Marlena's charming & cruel animal trainer husband, August Rosenbluth.

I'm excited that the book is being made into a movie but nervous as to how they will tweak the story for movie purposes. From all that I've read about current production, there doesn't seem to be an Uncle Al character or plot line nor anything about Camel... How could you leave those two characters out of the movie? They were pretty integral to Jacob's story...

The photos that are emerging from the shoot look very promising set/costume-wise! I think I'm going to love the period costumes & the set. The big steam Loco is awesome!

Have you read the book? Did you like it? What are your thoughts on the movie being shot at the moment?

Robin Hood

2010-05-22T21:37:00.003-05:00

I went to see Russell Crowe's latest film, Robin Hood this afternoon! It was a rollickin' good time! Director Ridley Scott and writer Brian Helgeland told the story from how/why Robin did the things he did. I liked it a lot and would recommend that y'all go see it if you haven't!

A new start!

2010-05-18T20:55:00.010-05:00

Where to begin??

I've since left Cincinnati and recently moved to the Dallas, TX area for a new job! Nick is actually still living in Cincy with his daddy because I'll be traveling a lot my first year or so for work. I'm still working with OnBase and I'll have a lot more responsibility which is nice, yet kind of nerve-wracking.

I'm loving living down here so far...my new digs are nice, comfortable, decently price and close to work but not too close. It's been fun exploring the city - finding quirky restaurants to try, the awesome farmers market downtown and the aquarium. I do get a little homesick for Ohio though sometimes, mostly I miss all my friends back in Ohio and I miss Bubba. :(

On the personal front, I met a new guy and he's awesome! He's got a really twisted sense of humor but that's the norm for folks in his profession. I love it though, lol. We've been dating for a little over 10 months now. He works in law enforcement (LE) and he's based out in DC. It's been an interesting, a little crazy, but awesome ride! Things have gotten pretty serious too. It's all good!

That's pretty much it for now...

2010-05-18T15:05:00.004-05:00

I'mmmm baaaccckkk! Man, it's been awhile, hasn't it? Over a year, eh? Lots of things have happened - opportunities have ended while others have opened...

More details to come!

Later, when I get home from work! :p

And so the journey begins...

2009-04-29T13:34:00.004-05:00

After a couple of days to think upon what has transpired in my life, I've identified some things that I need to work on. Mainly building self confidence. What is self confidence anyways? Whatever it is, I'd like to have bucketfuls of it, please.

I don't have much of it and I don't think I've ever had a whole lot of it. I guess some of that stems from how I grew up in the environment I grew up in. Now don't get me wrong as I'm not hating on my parents or anything like that. It is what it is.

I've been doing some reading on the Intrawebs on building self-confidence and stumbled upon this fabulous blog article on 25 killer actions to boost your self-confidence from Zenhabits. It's looking at the positives and having a belief in yourself that you can do whatever it is that you want to do.

Quite the attitude shift. Kind of daunting from a gal who had always focused on the negative. Thankfully, self confidence is something that can be learned/grown/cultivated/whatever. Baby steps.

Here's a quote that I came across yesterday that really resonated with me.

I don't want to leave any darkness behind me. I think we should all have a responsibility not to affect people in a negative way.

Untitled

2009-04-27T10:20:00.005-05:00

**Ultra personal journaling ahead for the next 5000 miles**

I don't even know how to start this...

Eric & I have split up. We've been split up for the past 3 weeks, but we're still living together because it's what works and honestly I can't afford to move out. It's effin complicated.

I've never been one to share with the world my inner dialogue. This along with a constantly waffling between wanting/not wanting to be a mommy and an outrageous addiction to shopping has caused me to hit abso-effing-lutely rock bottom. It has (or will) cost me tons not only in the $$ department but also in the relationship (or lack thereof) department. It all came to a head last night as he couldn't take it anymore. An ultimatum was given, essentially grow-up or GTFO! No where else to go but up, right?

So here I am, stressed out beyond belief, depressed as all get out and rambling on. I need to get this stuff out or I'm just going to shut down permanently. Journaling seemed like the best thing to do as I'm more comfortable writing all this stuff out instead of talking to someone about it. Logging my moods, inner monologue and the long hard road. So, Welcome to my effed up world. Pull up a chair and hold on, it's gonna be an ultra bumpy ride.

There is a plan in motion to pay off my debt, a la Dave Ramsey. Nobody believes that I'll do it. Fine, I get that. If you don't have anything nice/encouraging/supportive to say, then don't please don't say anything at all. I wanted to take care of this before tackling the other stuff but the gauntlet has been thrown down.

As for the ultimatum, I don't know what to do. I know I don't want to be alone. I've hurt Eric horribly, lost his trust, etc. Honestly, he is an amazing guy who stuck it out for 5+ years and in the end, trying to help in all the ways he knew how but couldn't take it anymore because it was killing him emotionally/physically. I really, really effed everything up. Seriously effed everything up. I was incredibly stupid. My parents think I'm incredibly stupid. His mom thinks I'm incredibly stupid.

I am scared shitless.

I've been neglecting my jewelery making & Etsy shop.

I haven't skated or played hockey in 3+ years.

My god, I need a beer. And a double shot of Tequila. Stat.

Eff Mondays.

Back from the dead! The Jackets are in!!

2009-04-09T10:01:00.003-05:00

Back from the dead! Been busy with the roller coaster that is life...good things & bad things. Such is life.

My boys have clinched a spot in the NHL Stanley Cup Play-offs!! After 8.5 years of ups & downs, the Columbus Blue Jackets have finally made it to the post season. And how sweet it is!

Our young captain, Rick Nash, scored the game tying goal last night to take the game against the Chicago Blackhawks into OT. Defenseman Fedor Tyutin scored the lone shootout goal to clinch the win and the play-off spot.

A picture is worth a thousand words...

Woohoo!!

A little Cincy Zoo love!

2009-03-07T19:27:00.010-06:00

Man, what a beautiful day today was and incredibly enough still is! The temps peaked at about 77 degrees and the sun was out and shining.

Nick and I spend the majority of the day at the Cincy Zoo. We had gotten there when the zoo opened and enjoyed ourselves imensly as there wasn't much of a crowd there yet.

We were fortunate to see the baby giraffe and the baby okapi. Nick got to hear on of the male white lions roar, which was very cool. The bird of prey nerd inside me was ecstatic because I got to see a pair of Stellar sea eagles. :)

Here are a few more pics from today. If you want to see the rest of my zoo pics, check out the set on my Flickr page!

Enjoy!

Asian elephant
A beautiful bloom that caught my eye while we were going through the Discovery Forest in the education building. I love the vibrant color!
Giraffe
A pair of Mexican wolves
Momma okpai. Her calf was also out in the yard with a keeper observing how the little one was doing.

Redtail Hawk stuck in SUV after being hit!

2009-03-05T10:21:00.003-06:00

Is there a full moon or something? Have planets aligned in a weird way out there in space?

Just read a story from KPTV out in Portland, OR about a redtail hawk that was hit by a SUV along I-5 and it survived. Somehow it managed to get stuck between the radiator and the front grill.

Crazy!

Read about the redtail hawk on their website.

Druzy love!

2009-03-05T07:33:00.004-06:00

Got a Google Alert this morning notifying me that my Etsy shop was mentioned in a blog somewhere on the 'net!

Leslie over at 315Thomas has written a lovely article spotlighting 8 wonderful jewelery artists whose beautiful druzy jewelery she found on Etsy. Yours truly was included! Woo!

Head on over to her awesome blog and check out the article!

One lucky Golden Eagle...

2009-03-04T20:52:00.006-06:00

Apparently out in Reno, NV a 15 pound golden eagle crashed through the windshield of a tractor trailer and survived! Luckily for the eagle, the truck was not moving as it was parked along the sleeper berm along the highway.

"I heard a loud thump like a brick or something coming through the glass," said Daryl Young of Miami, the co-driver who was dozing in the sleeper berth when it happened. "I woke up, and the windshield was all over me. Next thing I know there was a big bird lying on the floor."

Read about this lucky eagle in the Associated Press.

19 Days until Spring!

2009-03-02T14:00:00.005-06:00

I'm ready! Are you ready for Spring?

19 days until it is officially Spring! :)

It sure doesn't look nor feel like it here in the Southwestern corner of Ohio. We're still getting the typical dreary cloudy days of winter but the sun is making an effort here and there to shine! Temps this morning were in the teens. Looking ahead for the next couple of days, we'll peak at 60 degrees on Friday and then cool off in the low 40s by next Weds.

It's getting there though!

I love going hiking & camping during the spring, especially during the melt as the streams & rivers are gushing with melt water. There's still a little ice along the banks and you can see the little green buds of fresh growth peaking out from the ground and the surrounding trees. It's still a little nippy in the morning, but it's a refreshing kind of nippy. You know you have a little longer before the bugs show up...a little calm before the storm per se. :)

Actually, we've got a family trip planned in May to do a little camping down by Mammoth Caves in Kentucky. We've invited our parents and siblings! It should be a good time!

What do you like to do during the spring? Have anything fun planned?

Catching up with old friends!

2009-03-01T20:29:00.002-06:00

I had the wonderful opportunity today to catch up with some old friends of mine from the zoo. We spent time catching up on what everyone was up to nowadays as well as going back down memory lane and reminiscing about the good old days at the Columbus Zoo. :)

Perhaps a little background for y'all?

My mom had signed me up as a teenage volunteer at the Columbus Zoo when I was in high school. Little did she know what kind of monster she was unleashing...heh. I spent an awesome 4 years spending my summers at the zoo helping out in the depts I was assigned. You know all that fun stuff - cleaning, manning the yard at the children's zoo, cleaning, face painting, cleaning & more cleaning. It was not glamorous at all but I loved it! Soon I spent most of my time with the Shows department, cleaning out cages, cutting up produce, watching the hawk weathering yard and other small jobs. The end of my senior year, I had hit the age cap for being a Zooaide, but I didn't want to leave.

I eventually got hired on full time and spent my first 1 1/2 working the front gate & parking. Then I went to talk to the Shows supervisor. Sent in my resume and interviewed. Got hired on and spent the next couple of years working in the Shows dept. while going to school at Ohio State.

Man, were those days crazy & chaotic but unforgettable!

Good times!

A little morning Star Wars gangsta rap for you?

2009-02-28T08:10:00.000-06:00

Funny stuff!

Enjoy!

Changeover complete!

2009-02-27T22:42:00.002-06:00

Just put in the new template!

Looks much, much brighter in here. A lot more cheery as well, huh? :)

The other template was nice but it was bringing me down (and probably the rest of you all) with all its dark & broody color palette.

Been MIA!

2009-02-27T09:12:00.005-06:00

Sorry I've been away and not posting. I've just felt very uninspired and lazy these past days. The Etsy shop has been equally neglected as well. Haven't really made any new jewelery pieces for a couple weeks. I'm totally in a jewelery making rut...oy. How do you go about sparking the ol' creative juices again?

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Although I've gotta confess...I've been feeding my inner computer nerd and have been working on a new blog design. I didn't want to use one of those free templates that one can find on the web. I wanted to stretch the old noodle and make one from scratch. :) Learning about CSS and XML...

Here's a little preview of my new design...

Whatcha think?

I've been developing over at my test blog and I'm still tweaking things here and there, but it's almost done!

If you wanna try your hand at creating your own Blogger template, check out BloggerBuster! Amanda, the head chica over there, has written some fabulous & easy to follow tutorials on creating your own Blogger template as well as other great tips and tricks for you to use for your Blogger blog!

Weekend in New Hampshire!

2009-02-23T07:38:00.015-06:00

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Mine was filled with lots of driving, snow, wind, sun, sweat, tears & a large rock pile by the name of Mount Washington.

So we planned this trip out to Mount Washington out in New Hampshire. We drove out there Friday right after work but first we had to drop off the little one at my parents house up in Columbus. By the time we really got started driving, it was already around 9:30 at night. Driving in shifts, we drove straight through and got to the Joe Dodge Lodge at Pinkham Notch at about noonish Eastern Standard Time as the Lionshead trailhead starts behind the lodge. We did get to see an awesome sunrise in New York though! The weather on the drive out there wasn't too bad at all.

I think Eric totally miscalculated the miles we drove because we definitely did not expect to get there that late at all. We were counting on getting there much earlier, say around 8am. Oh well, right? We quickly got geared up in the basement prep room at the lodge and signed in at the register.

As you can see from the trail/topo map on the right, the first half of the hike takes you uphill on the Tuckerman Ravine trail through the beautiful forest that surrounds the mountain. It was quite the slog, but the weather was fantastic! The sun was shining, but you could tell it was going to be windy up past the treeline because you could hear it blowing and gusting in the treetops. Then you come to a T-junction where the Tucks trail goes off to the left and the Lionshead trail starts on the right. That's where the fun steep bits begin. Pinkham is at about 2100 ft above sea level and the Lionshead is at 5083 ft above sea level.

Because I'm not a fast hiker to begin with, it took us about 2.5 hours to get to where the Lionshead trail splits off of the Tuckerman Ravine trail. Because of the late, late start (as Eric had said when we first pulled into the parking lot, 'The latest alpine start evar.') Eric said that our turn around time would be a 5pm.

I actually felt much better on this trip, as opposed to the last time I was there, on the first stretch of the hike since I had been running at home. Big thanks go to my hairy mountainman as he was the one who keep hounding me to go running. Thanks love!:)

I do have to say that when we got to the steep bits of the Lionshead trail, I was intimidated as all get out! You know, the 'Oh shit' factor ;) We got out our crampons and put them on, lashed my trekking poles to my pack and got out our mountaineering axes. And up we went!

There was alot of sidestepping using our axes as canes, hooking trees and roots, a little front pointing and some doing what it took to get ourselves up that steep section.

As we were getting higher and higher, the trees were getting shorter and shorter. The wind was definately picking up. Good thing we were layered up and warm & toasty with our hardshell coats on. We would occasionally stop and admire the views which were beautiful and breathtaking. You could see everything below. We definately lucked out a little on the weather out there. There was a storm a couple days before we got there and another was supposed to move in on Sunday when we would already be on the road back home. Towards the end of the treeline, we had stop and put on our windproof balaclavas as our skin would freeze in the cold wind.

By the time we got out of the treeline, it was close to 5pm and quite frankly I was more than a little scared. I think a lot of that had to do with the wind, being exposed, not wanting to descend in the dark, etc. You know all that mental stuff, but I was feeling good physically.

Looking back at it now, I should have just pushed through that fear and kept on going. Eric wanted to push on up and tag the rocks at Lionshead before turning around to descend, but he was not willing to leave me behind to do it. It was either we both do it or we both turn around right there.

We ended up turning around. If you're looking at the map, the red dot indicates where we turned around at, a little above the green shading where the trail kinks to the left. I do have to say that there was one point where I was totally and utterly scared out of my mind. But to get back to our car, I had to sack up and do it. I did it, but not without some tears. Gah. Glissading partway down the Lionshead trail shaved off some descent time. There was already a bobsled like channel down where others had slid down on their butts. We got back to the lodge at around 7pm.

All in all, it was an ok trip. Lots of mixed feelings and all. It was definately a soul searching trip. I honestly don't know if I'd do it again. I don't know if this mountaineering thing is for me. This whole suffering for pleasure thing is...well crazy. Although, when I was in the groove slogging away I was actually enjoying myself, the scenery, etc. It really was beautiful. You really do have to have the gumption, that desire, the willingness to dig deep. All the prep in the world isn't going to get you up a mountain if you can't handle it mentally or you flake out, like I did.

Eric says that he felt that I could have gone all the way up to the summit. Physically, yeah I could have done it as I was feeling really good. Mentally, the trip was done as the mountain had already effed with my mind and that was really bad, disappointing. Really, really disappointing actually. Maybe I just needed to kick my fear in the balls and push through it.

He says that we're not going back until I'm ready again and we will go back and summit.

She'll be there. Waiting...

Nadya Suleman is looking to buy a multi-million dollar house...

2009-02-20T14:00:00.005-06:00

Wait...wut?!

How effed up is this?

From TMZ, apparently Nadya Suleman has shown interest in purchasing a $1.24 million dollar home in Whittier, CA.

Eh, ok...and how is she going to pay for all this? The shit that comes out of her arse?!

No job. On food stamps & on welfare. Relies on grandparents' help to raise her 6 other kids.

Wow. Just wow.

And there are people out there who feel for her and are going, 'Oh honey, I'll help you...here, have some $$'.

Wow.

Funny comic for today!

2009-02-20T10:29:00.003-06:00

Totally made me LOL at work. :)

From my favorite web comic site...Explosm.net

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

Nervous & excited!

2009-02-20T10:14:00.004-06:00

Sorry, I've been MIA the past few days...it's been a bit hectic around here with Mt. Washington prep/packing/bitching/etc going full steam ahead. Even my Etsy shop has been neglected!

I'm an equal opportunity neglector! :p

We leave for New Hampshire tonight after we get home from work. Gotta pack up Nick's stuff and drop him off at my mom's then we'll be on our way.

I'm slated to take the first driving shift as it's easier. Yay!

Totally a wee bit nervous but am excited too.

All this week, I've been keeping tabs on the weather out there by checking the Mt. Washington Observatory website and the Weather Channel website. They got hit with a storm last night & it'll continue today then taper off a bit tomorrow. Then supposedly, another round will hit them on Sunday.

Temps are slated to be around 5 degrees Fahrenheit on the summit Saturday with a 35 mph wind, so in reality, it'll be about 25-30 below zero up there! Woo! In North Conway, it'll be around 26 degrees.

I'll post a trip report with pics when I get back!

Random funny for the day!

2009-02-13T08:26:00.004-06:00

Just got this at work from a friend...enjoy!

Oh & don't try this at home! ;p

Dreaming Necklace featured on Etsy's Front Page!

2009-02-12T21:48:00.005-06:00

A lovely treasury that included my Dreaming necklace curated by pixiepaper that was chosen by Etsy admin for the front page at 6:34pm EST. Visit her shop for fabulous handmade cards, stamps & magnets!

I think I was busy making dinner for my boys! Ha!

Nadya Suleman and her octuplets...

2009-02-12T10:55:00.005-06:00

Yea, I'm pretty sure you heard, seen or discussed Nadya Suleman and her octuplets.

How can you not? News of their births have been in the news all over.

And you know what per an article on CNN.com, now she's had a website created so the general public can donate money to help her raise those kids...

When you are a single mom who's been let go from a job, buying food using food stamps and have 6 other children, what possesses you to go to a clinic to have more children?

Are you in it for the freebies and money? Because it sure looks that way. Is this your sick idea of getting your 'fifteen minutes of fame'? If so, you need more than a little help.

And what was the specialist who implanted those fertilized eggs thinking? I'm sure they knew she already had 6 other kids and that she was a single parent.

I heard somewhere that she says that she's gonna hold each child for 45 minutes each day.

What?! I can only shake my head...

What the hell is a matter with people these days?!

Meh.

12 days and counting...

2009-02-09T10:20:00.004-06:00

...until we leave for New Hampshire to slog up Mt. Washington. I hesitate to say climb any more with regards to this little mountain folks call The Rock. In reality it is more of a strenuous hike/slog, more so when done during the middle of winter. :)

I've been doing pretty good with the running and working out with free weights. I feel so much better since I've gotten back into doing something resembling exercise and physical exertion.

And with the trip coming up fast, I've begun running a mental tally of things that need to be packed and what technical clothing that need to be worn.

It's such a long drawn out process, I think about all of this during work as well as on my commute to and from. Eric will want all of it packed and ready to go by this weekend. That way if we need anything, we still have time to get it. We will go over all of it again next week to make sure we have absolutely everything we need for the slog.

A little sampling from this morning.

Things to pack in my pack
compass
Leatherman
emergency space blanket
hardshell pants
down jacket
crampons
trekking poles
extra socks
extra glove liners
extra wool hat
ski goggles
balaclava
water
snacks/food

Bus rides & shirtless doods

2009-02-05T13:28:00.007-06:00

What you say? No, there weren't any shirtless doods on the bus this morning...

Actually I was sitting next to a fella who was watching the recent re-make of Death Race 2000, Death Race with the lovely Jason Statham as Jensen Ames. Have you seen it?
I've seen this film and loved the action, explosions, crazy death scenes. It's a fun, don't-have-to-think movie. And I love the gratuitous shots of a shirtless Mr. Statham...hehe. :p There's a sequence where his character is in his prison cell doing pull-ups shirtless. Sure he could be doing those with his shirt on...

When I saw that, sitting on the couch next to my honey, my eyes bugged out a little, my jaw dropped and I was like "Whoa...(fans self) did it just get warm in here?..." Eric just looks over and rolls his eyes. Typical male response...

We've seen a lot of Mr. Statham's movies. Since Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels actually and he always ends up shirtless at some point. Not that that's a bad thing...

You know, there are films out there where there's lots of gratuitous shots of boobs, sex and the like for all the males in the world.

How about some love for the ladies, huh?

Yea, about time.

Thank you Jason Statham for going sans shirt in so many of your movies!

:)

Snowpocalypse Part II

2009-02-03T20:51:00.009-06:00

Ugh...I just spent 2 1/2 hours on the bus ride home.

It had started to spit snow around lunch and by the time I got off of work, it was coming down at a pretty good clip. Needless to say, the bus got to the bus stop about an hour late. Traffic had slowed down to a crawl and by the time we were close, everyone was tired of being on the bus.

Oy. And I think we're supposed to get another couple of inches tonight.

I wonder if Nick's daycare will be open tomorrow. Wonder if work will be closed.

And they say that we're gonna hit 50 this weekend?

By the way, here are the pics I had promised yesterday from our little Hocking Hills excursion.

The drive out to Hocking Hills. It was gonna be a beautiful day!

The ice cone at Ash Cave. Notice the people in the pic...

Eric & Nick at Ash Cave

Frozen waterfall at the climbing area by Conkles Hollow.

Nick & I trekking back to our car...

Crazy weekend - Hocking Hills, Jackets hockey and parenting woes...

2009-02-02T13:30:00.002-06:00

Hope everyone's weekend was delightful!

Ours started out great! Saturday morning, we went a little northeast to do a little winter hiking in the Hocking Hills region. We checked out Ash Cave and the climbing area up by Conkles Hollow. If it's been cold enough during the winter, a huge cone of ice forms at the bottom of the water fall at Ash Cave. It spits down from the top of the cave and ends in a small pool below. It'll freeze up like a faucet at top with the water dripping out over the ice cone below. It's pretty cool looking and very tempting to climb.

We haven't grabbed the pics off of our digital camera yet, so the pictures will be forthcoming this evening. ;)

There's a designated rock climbing/rappelling area in the park and we checked that out too. It's over by Conkles Hollow. There's a few waterfalls in that area too and they were nicely frozen. Although the big one was not quite ready...the top portion wasn't connected to the bottom part. It'll be another few weeks before it's climbable. With the unpredictable winters in Ohio, I wouldn't count on it coming in...

Later that night, I took Nick with me to the Blue Jackets game. The boys played hard but looked really discombobulated out there on the ice. Our goalie, Mase was pulled halfway through the first period. We ended up getting embarrassed, 7-3 by the Dallas Stars. Ugh.

It didn't help that Nick was not listening to me at all that night. He minds when Eric is around but when he's just with me...man, it's so frustrating. Needless to say we left early as Nick was getting cranky and mommy was getting super cranky. I don't know what it is but I've got to figure out my own way making him mind. Erg.

Like I said picture from our Hocking Hills excursion will be forthcoming so check back in later tonight!

Photos of the storm

2009-01-28T07:40:00.006-06:00

Took some pictures as promised during a brief lull. It prompt started back up after 5 minutes with those big fluffy flakes coming down at a pretty good clip!

Above taken out of our front window.
Check out the icicles hanging from the gutter!

The tree outside of the window next to my computer desk.

The Snowpocalypse is upon us!

2009-01-28T06:08:00.004-06:00

Checking in early this morning, 7 am, before I head back to bed...

Work is closed, day care is closed & more of the white death is falling (quite heavily I might add) outside.

Woo!

It's so funny that everyone freaks out around here. I was watching the Jackets game last night on the toob and Coach Hitchcock has a press conference after every game and some had mentioned the weather. Hitch just laughed and mentioned something about it not being a snow storm unless you have to fire up your block heater & it gets to 50+ below zero...

:)

I'll take some pictures later and post them up for all of your enjoyment!

Crazy weather day!

2009-01-27T22:28:00.011-06:00

What a crazy weather day!

Bucketfuls of snow this morning, about 8 inches. I ended up staying at home with Nicklaus as his daycare was closed for the day. I did log into work to check on things and everything was peachy keen.

I took a couple of pictures of our backyard this morning around 8am.

It would snow off and on all day then around 3:30pm it started to change over to sleet/freezing rain.

Eric had gone out a bit ago to carve out a snow tunnel/cave in the huge mound of snow that was piled up at the side of our driveway. It's pretty cool... :)

We just got in a few minutes ago from horsing around outside - pulling each other around on a sled, winding around the trees in the backyard & sliding down our uber icy driveway on a sled.

There's about a 1/4" of ice on everything outside and the cul-de-sac is just an ice rink. And it's still raining out there so tomorrow morning's commute is going to be a blast. :|

Aaahhh!

2009-01-26T15:47:00.003-06:00

You know it would be nice if people would tell you that things are broken so they can be looked at and fixed.

You know in a pro-active manner instead of in a reactive manner...

Why?!

Why?

Meh.

I need a beer.

Awards, awards, awards...

2009-01-23T07:57:00.005-06:00

I'm a little behind on these...whoops!

You get them, then you think, 'oh, I'll sit down and post about them when I get home from work' but that never really happens does it? Mommy mode kicks in and everything else goes out the door! :p

Sooo, I'm posting about them here...at work. Shhh... ;)

So without further adoo...

Tami at So Anyway... has given me the Proximidade Blog Award.

Proximidade is described as follows:

This blog invests and believes in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes for self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated.

Please give more attention to these writers!This blog award should be sent to your favorite eight bloggers and they, in turn should forward to eight of their favorites. You should include the text for Proximidade (above) in your announcement blog.

I'm actually pretty honored to get this award! Now I must pass this on to my fav blogs...

Reinventing Alice
The Empty Envelope
Confessions of a Bookworm
The Everyday Adventurers

Next...

Momma Young at Momma Young at Home has given me the Sisterhood Award. Thanks so much! :)

It is awarded to those whose blog shows great attitude and/or gratitude.

The rules for the Sisterhood Award:
Put the logo on your blog or post.
Nominate 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude(If you don't have 10, its ok.)
Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
Let them know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

Hmm, blogs that have a great attitude and/or gratitude...

Always Create Something
Streetnoodles
Pocketful of Colors

What a wild & wooly affair the Jackets game was...

2009-01-22T08:29:00.009-06:00

Man, the Blue Jackets game versus the Calgary Flames last night was crazy! The boys in blue lost a 1 point lead 4 times, but they dug in and forced the game into a shootout. You could just see how tired Mase (Steve Mason) was. He just wasn't as sharp as he usually is and was just a second slow here and there. R.J. Umberger was checked hard face first into the glass/boards in the first by Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf. Derek Dorsett was cross checked hard in the forehead by another Flames defenseman Robyn Regher. The good guys fell, 5-4, when Todd Bertuzzi scored on the lone shootout goal, but spirits were high in the locker room.

After tonight's loss, the CBJ are 2 points from 8th place in the West and 4 points from 5th. Not a bad place to be at this point of the season. :) It'll really come down to the wire when seeing who will advance to the Stanley Cup Play-offs and who will start booking their tee times come April...

Tonight's game was the last before the All-Star game so they'll get a couple days of rest to re-charge their batteries. They'll resume next Tuesday with a meeting with the Detroit Wings at home in Nationwide Arena.

Speaking of the NHL All-Star Game... Festivities are a go on this upcoming weekend, Jan 24th - 25th in Montreal. There's a Young Star's Game, a skills competition and then there's the actual All-Stars game. Both games are like a glorified scrimmage where checking is frowned upon. This weekend is all about showcasing the NHL's top talent. Fans vote for who gets to be on the All-Star rosters. Both games will be aired on the NHL Network. In addition, the skills competition and the All-Star game will also be shown on Versus.

Pardon the dust...changing the place up!

2009-01-21T10:22:00.001-06:00

Just a heads up folks as I'm working on changing the template to this lovely blog...

Look Ma, I'm ice climbing...

2009-01-19T11:52:00.005-06:00

...at night! :p There is a first time for everything!

With this extended cold snap here in Ohio, many of the waterfalls in central Ohio have frozen. Yay! :) We had gone up to Columbus over the weekend and scoped this sucker out during the day and seen that it was fat with ice.

So we planned to do some climbing later that night...

Why the black-ops night climbing? Because 'they' would probably frown upon it and we'd probably get fined or worse.

This baby was only about 20-30 feet but when you're jonesing for some ice love, it'll do. :)

Dig U2?

2009-01-19T09:59:00.005-06:00

Those four Irish lads are back at it again!

Their new album, No Line on the Horizon will be released in the UK on March 2nd and in the US on the 3rd. Their first single off of the new album has been released by the band to RTE, Ireland's state broadcasters according to Yahoo! as well as for free on the group's website, U2.com.

Check it out!

I love it! U2 is my favorite band in the world. They are the soundtrack to my life. :)

That new Clint Eastwood flick...

2009-01-19T09:03:00.006-06:00

Gran Torino is awesome! I recommend it highly although if you get easily offended by racial remarks, then this is definitely not a film for you. ;) But I think you should suck it up, ignore all those comments because it really is a great film...

It seems like a fairly formulaic with a crotchety old man, Eastwood who was a Korean vet who has just buried his beloved wife. His wife had made the local priest promise to look after her man and get him to confession. He still lives in the same neighborhood that has gone downhill a bit. He has a beautiful old Gran Torino that he babies. Something happens with his neighbors and spills over to his property and the story picks up from there. Things happen, people come around & change.

It is a story about changes in people, compassion and overcoming your inner demons.

And it was fabulous! Clint Eastwood in what may be his last acting role was brilliant!

It's been out a couple weeks now, but when Eric and I got to the local theater, it was packed & sold out!

Go now & see this film!

'Get off my lawn!'

Sore...

2009-01-15T10:04:00.006-06:00

So last night our plans for the Mt. Washington trip were finalized...

We head out from the Cincy area after work on Friday, 2/20 and head out towards New Hampshire. We'll be picking up our friends along the way. Get into North Conway Saturday (2/21) morning, grab some breakfast, maybe grab a nap, gear up and start our summit attempt. Then drive home Sunday, the 22nd.

The mission of this crazy trip is 'Get some winter mountaineering done safely without missing a day's work." :p

I'm sore from my workout last night. It's a good sore though. I need to get in shape. To get my endurance level up. It's what killed me the last time I attempted to summit Mt. Washington.

Since it was butt cold outside, I didn't go running. Instead I did 2 sets of 40 jumping jacks with 2 sets of 10 lunge jumps. I also worked in bicep curls, dumbbell rows, the plank and a couple other free weight exercises.

I've got a little over a month to get into some sort of decent shape!

Longshanks is dead!

2009-01-14T12:27:00.005-06:00

Emmy-winning Patrick McGoohan has passed away Tuesday in LA. He was 80.

Best known as Number Six in the 1960's British television show Prisoner. He also portrayed King Edward Longshanks in Mel Gibson's Oscar winning film, Braveheart.

He did a fantastic job! I hated his guts in that film.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his friends and family...

Featured in an Etsy Treasury!

2009-01-13T17:59:00.004-06:00

Woo! My first time! :p

A wonderful Etsian, cynmb has included my Ammonoidea necklace in her Treasury, Earthy & Worthy... :)

Please go check all the other fantastic artists in this lovely treasury!

Random Nerd Funny :)

2009-01-12T13:26:00.005-06:00

Just saw this as a signature pic in one of the many forums I frequent...

To all the IT nerds out there - enjoy! :)

Busy Weekend...

2009-01-12T09:26:00.003-06:00

Oh what a busy weekend! How was yours?

Originally Nick & I had planned to go up to Columbus to go to the Jackets game Saturday night, but the weather was gonna be bad so I decided to stay home. The Jackets are having a promo where when you buy 4 12 packs of any Pepsi product at any Columbus Giant Eagle, you'll get a voucher for 4 free tickets to any Jackets home game until March 3rd.

Got some cleaning done, some photos redone, made some jewelery, horsed around with Nick & watched some hockey on the toob. :)

Eric was down in Louisville helping his best friend Jon move into his new digs. Jon's wife Kat accepted a position with the orchestra down there so they needed to relocate from Ft. Wayne.

Then later that night, I remembered that I was invited to a my friend Sarah's housewarming party Sunday afternoon...ack! A quick text message to Eric letting him know that I had to drive up to Cbus the next morning.

The party was a good time and Sarah's new digs are awesome! Half of a double, spacious with nice hardwood floors throughout. :) Thanks for the invite Sarah!

The drive back was fun...the weather was turning. Snow and it was blowing all around. The roads were icing up and there were SUV's blowing by at like 80+ MPH.

WTF, people?!

Do you think that because you drive a SUV with or without 4WD that you are invincible to inclement weather?

*shakes head*

Meh.

Anyways, it's cold out today and it's supposed to snow. As the week goes on, it's only going to get colder and more snowy. Yay! Winter!

I think that's the only thing I dislike about living in Ohio...unless you live up in the northern portions by Lake Erie, you really don't get a proper winter with bucketfuls of snow. You just get drab grey skies, freezing, slushy crap rain and temps hovering between 32 and 40 degrees.

Bleck.

They're dropping like flies...

2009-01-09T15:12:00.007-06:00

Oy vey.

My boys in blue, the Columbus Blue Jackets, are dropping like flies from injuries. According to the Puckrakers blog, Mason is now 50-50 for tonight! :O

Our back-up goalie, Pascal Leclaire was put on IR yesterday and the Jackets called up Dan LaCosta from our farm team in Syracuse. And now he made be in between the pipes tonight against the high flying Capitals. Oy...

I'm not sure I want to watch, but the pull is too strong, you know?

It's like a car wreck by the side of the road & all the flashing lights of the emergency vehicles that pull you in...

You can't help but stare & gawk as you drive by...

OMG.

...

An assult on Mt. Washington...

2009-01-06T09:19:00.007-06:00

So I was thinking about Mt. Washington the other day. You may wonder why...

A few years back, Eric and I went on a guided trip with Appalachian Outfitters out there in New Hampshire for some ice climbing & a summit attempt. It's were I got bit by the ice climbing bug. :)

I decided to turn around at the bottom of Lions Head because I didn't feel like getting blown off of the mountain and Eric made it to about 700 feet of the summit. He's gone back every year since to climb her.

Here's Eric (on the right) on the decent on that first trip out there.
Arrr...got a little Captain in ya? ;)

The weather on Mt. Washington is notoriously bad. Winds have howled up to 200+ mph! There's an observatory at the summit where weather studies are conducted. If you feel adventurous, you can volunteer for a week! Lots of climbers climb her to prep for adverse weather found on Denali in Alaska.

You can see that Mt. Washington is completely engulfed in a storm...

Fast forward to now, Eric and his best friend Jon are planning on going back out there towards the end of Feb and I'm seriously thinking about joining them.

If I go for it, I'm going to have to ramp up the free weight workouts and start running after work. He's planning on a weekend jaunt so we won't be hauling camping gear, just the essentials in our packs.

This morning on the bus, I started to mentally tally all the gear and clothing layers I'd need...

I think subconsciously, I've decided on going. :p

Do you have any crazy adventures planned for the new year?

A picture says a thousand words...

2009-01-03T12:35:00.003-06:00

Columbus Blue Jackets 6, Colorado Avalanche 1

Jackets are now 8th seed in the West!

Let the wondrous play-off race begin...

That is all.

:)

Just looked at the NHL standings...

2009-01-02T14:50:00.006-06:00

The boys in blue play tonight in Denver at the Pepsi Center, home of the Colorado Avalanche.

In reading up on each teams' line-ups I noticed that the CBJ are currently the 9th seed in the West, tied with Minnesota with 38 points. Ironically, Colorado is the 8th seed with 39 points.

Tonight's game is big! This whole road trip is big as it'll pretty much determine where the guys will be for the rest of the season. There's still a ton of work to be done, don't get me wrong!

They shut out the Philly Flyers last Sat. They shut-out the LA Kings this past Monday. And they shut-out the Anaheim Ducks on Weds.

They'll take any and all points at this time... :p

And what do ya know, Mason has been named Rookie of the Month by the NHL for the month of December! Two months in a row!

Ride that hot 'tender! ;)

Go Jackets!

The 'Daily Brady'

2009-01-01T10:14:00.005-06:00

Thought I'd add a new photo feature here showcasing the antics of my crazy cat, Brady. The pics will be showcased on the right side under the Followers section.

I had decided on getting a cat about 5 years ago to keep me company. I started researching the different breeds on the web and came across a relatively new breed, the Savannah. They're a cross between an African Serval and a domestic.

I was looking at a couple different breeders and they're cats and decided to go with JoyKatz based out of Texas. Joy was great to work with, such a sweetheart! Since she was moving , Brady was shipped out at 6 weeks of age instead of the normal 8 weeks that would be normal for Joy.

I was amused when the guy at the airport gave me the meowing & rocking crate of kitty. :)

5 years later, Brady has mellowed out considerably but still gets moments of craziness time to time!

Brady @ 3 weeks

Happy New Year everyone!

2008-12-31T18:35:00.003-06:00

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

Those of you out there partying...be safe and have fun!

Eagles, Hawks & Vultures...Oh My!

2008-12-30T21:26:00.003-06:00

Dedicated to all the birds of prey & the peeps I worked with while employed at the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium...

My first treasury on Etsy!

Please be sure to check out all the amazing artists featured on Etsy!

The Monday after Christmas...

2008-12-29T09:12:00.006-06:00

I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas! Family, friends & good times. :)

First, a random funny for you all...

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

OK, onwards to your regularly scheduled program...

Our little one, Nicklaus, made out like a bandit again this year. I finally got off my lazy arse and cleaned out his toys. There are three boxes of toys sitting in the trunk of my car that I'll be dropping off at Goodwill after work today. Somewhere out there little boys will be made happy. :)

It's a good time of year to take stock on what's happened and think about the things that you'd like to do...

I hope to get out more, you know camping, hiking & climbing. I've been stupidly lax about it and it's actually been bumming me out. All my gear is sitting in bins in our closet gathering dust.
Starting a 'Daily Brady' feature here on January 1st. A new picture daily of my crazy cat's antics. Just to add a little spice to this place...
I think I'm going to look into selling my wares on 1000 Markets. I've checked the site out and signed up for an account. Just need to setup up shop. ;)
I'm also going to explore others ways to promote my shop. I've already listed my shop in a few directories, American Craft Guide's Directory of Handcrafters and Indie Artists & The Hand Made Product Shopping Directory.

How about you all? What have you got planned for the new year?

Speaking of the new year...got any fun plans for New Years?

We're headed out to Ft. Wayne to attend a friends New Years party. Speaking of, I have to call my mom to see if she can watch Bubba for us...

2 days until Christmas...

2008-12-23T09:22:00.005-06:00

Are ya ready?

We are! :) I'm excited to see everyone in a few days! All the yummy food & just hanging out with everyone.

Usually our holidays are drama free but we couldn't escape it this year.

All I'm going to say is that if you want us to be somewhere on a certain day then you need to let us know in advance that that's what you'd like. Not like 3 days in advance either... Sometimes we've already made plans with the 'other side' on that day you wish us to be present and when we made those other plans, we let you know immediately that that's what we're doing.

I'm sorry but, do not get pissed at us if your memory sucks!

Meh.

Hope yours are as drama-free as possible! ;)

Now let's balance out the drama induced rant with a funny story, ya? Ya.

Last Christmas, we were at my mom's having dinner. We all had finished the main meal and it was time for desert. For some reason, my mom decided to try to make this funky fruit-cake-esque sweet rice desert thing. You know, made a big show of it & all that good jazz...

Eric, being the good future son-in-law, went to spoon some into his plate. Jeff, my younger brother lent over towards him and desperately whispered under his breath, "go for the pie! the pie! go for the pie!" Eric glance at him and gave a little shake no and proceeded to spoon a rather large portion of the sweet rice concoction onto his plate. I, on the other hand, hearing Jeff's desperate warning plea and got a wee portion to try. Wow was all I could say to my mom. In my mind, other things like 'gah, that was horrible! oh, god, Eric got a huge portion of it!'

Poor mom. I know she meant well. You know, she hasn't made that funky desert since...

Later on that night, Jeff asked why Eric went for the rice thing and Eric said it wouldn't be proper to refuse and he didn't want to offend. Awww. God love him. :)

Now 'go for the pie' has become something of an inside joke between all of us...

Breaking News: Remains found are Caylee's...

2008-12-19T15:06:00.004-06:00

It's official...the remains that investigators found last week belong to Caylee Anthony, CNN reports.

The meter reader who found the remains had called 4 times before...

Even one of Casey Anthony's friends had mentioned the wooded area where the toddler's remains was found during an interview with police...

The grandparents are still siding with mom and her cracked up story...

What the hell?!

Someone I was talking with a few days back had said that nowadays it's becoming more and more common for young parents to use chloroform on their kids to knock them out if they want to go out & party, etc.

How sick is that?

Do they not realize that the world doesn't revolve around you any more? You know are responsible for someone else's life? I realize what a huge shift a child in your life brings. I still struggle with it myself some days, but I would never, never resort to doing anything like that. Call up your parents, grandparents and ask if they can watch the little one(s).

Meh.

People make me sick these days...

Do you remember that card game, BS?

2008-12-19T07:36:00.004-06:00

Well, you could hear all of Blue Jackets fandom yell out 'Bullsh!t' last night...

The boys in blue were in Dallas playing the Stars. It was a very hard fought game full of checks, goals, fights, cheap shots & horrible goaltending. The Jackets came back from 4-2 & 5-3 deficits to force overtime. 13 seconds in Manny Malholtra skates the puck into the offensive zone & fires a backhander at Stars goalie Marty Turco. Since Malholtra is so close to the blue paint of the goal crease & being checked from behind, he's skating by Turco on one foot. The puck bounces of of Turco and hits Manny's skate and into the net. The Stars ended up winning the game via the shootout.

Both refs on the ice motion & call it a goal, but the little light over the officials table in between the benches lights up. The video room in Toronto is reviewing the footage. What seems like 10 minutes later, they, Toronto, overrules the refs & waves the goal off saying because Manny made a distinct kicking motion and kicked the puck into the net.

What the f$#@k?! How?!

Here's a video posted on Youtube of the "goal".

He wasn't even looking for the puck. He was being backchecked by a Dallas player and he was trying not to kick/cut Turco on his way by. It seems like every time we have something review by Toronto, the CBJ get shafted. It was hard enough to get respect from other teams, but this is getting a bit ridiculous, no?

Here's the definition of a goal from the official NHL Rulebook...

49.2 Goals - Kicking the puck shall be permitted in all zones. A goal cannot be scored by an attacking player who uses a distinct kicking motion to propel the puck into the net. A goal cannot be scored by an attacking player who kicks a puck that deflects into the net off any player, goalkeeper or official.

A puck that deflects into the net off an attacking player’s skate who does not use a distinct kicking motion is a legitimate goal. A puck that is directed into the net by an attacking player’s skate shall be a legitimate goal as long as no distinct kicking motion is evident. The following should clarify deflections following a kicked puck that enters
the goal:

(i) A kicked puck that deflects off the body of any player of either team (including the goalkeeper) shall be ruled no goal.

(ii) A kicked puck that deflects off the stick of any player (excluding the goalkeeper’s stick) shall be ruled a good goal. Any time the puck has been kicked, makes contact with any stick, and then deflects off any player (excluding the goalkeeper) into the net, it will be ruled a good goal.

(iii) A goal will be allowed when an attacking player kicks the puck and the puck deflects off his own stick and then into the net. A goal cannot be scored by an attacking player who kicks any equipment (stick, glove, helmet, etc.) at the puck, including kicking the blade of his own stick, causing the puck to cross the goal line.

Stop the presses!

2008-12-16T18:13:00.003-06:00

Our 3 year old boy, Nicklaus has reached a milestone!

During dinner, my boyfriend Eric farted and excused himself. Then Nicklaus our 3 year old piped up, "Nuh-uh, Daddy. You didn't fart. I was just getting off of my chair like this..."

LOL!

:p

Man, you just never know what going to come out of his mouth...

It's snowing bucketfuls!

2008-12-16T12:53:00.002-06:00

I've been watching it snow here for the past 2 hours...

It started out with flurries then just let loose with the big flakes in bucketfuls!

Woo!

I wish I had a camera with me because it's so pretty out...

Pleasantly surprised!

2008-12-16T09:39:00.003-06:00

Got a crazy surprise this morning when I checked my email...Made 4 sales last night!

Needless to say I was a bit shocked. :) Then the happy dance kicked in!

In other news, I've been given an award by my fellow blogger, TMCPhoto. Her photos are amazing! Check out her Etsy shop.

Her blog, So Anyways is a great read and I always look forward to what she has to say.

Here are the rules
1. Post a copy on your blog.
2. Mention who gave you the award.
3. Pass the award on to 10 others.
4. Leave a message on their blog letting them know the honor has been bestowed upon them.

10 others, huh? I usually don't have time to read 10 blogs...how about 5? :)

The Awarded
1. The Empty Envelope
2. Four Dog Day
3. Baroness Bijoutery
4. The Neutral Zone Trap
5. The Lone Beader

My Chrstmas shopping is finished!

2008-12-15T11:31:00.002-06:00

Is yours?

I finally got all my Christmas shopping done over the weekend. It's such a relief! :)

I've got to make a necklace for my mom & load up some pics of my little one on this digital photo frame I got my dad then I'll be done done. :p

10 more days until Christmas!

Desire...

2008-12-12T08:06:00.004-06:00

I listed the double strand pearl necklace in my Etsy shop late last night! Thank you all for your kind words on it! It was fun to design and create. :)

Eric has some old, old books and I borrowed them to use as photo props.

In other news...my boys in blue won last night! They finally beat Nashville! Yay! :)

(Photo by Jamie Sabau)

Defenseman Mike Commodore tied it up with a goal in the third period & Jakub Voracek won it in the shootout. Our goalie Steve Mason made some fabulous saves throughout the game. It's so nice to finally win one against the Preds, although they didn't play like themselves. Eh, a win is a win is a win. :)

Next game is against the New York Islanders on Saturday night at home.

Cue up The Imperial March...

2008-12-11T09:19:00.003-06:00

From Star Wars...

The Jackets play the Nashville Predators tonight at home, Nationwide Arena.

Why that famous 'dun-dun-du-dun'?

Because our coach mentioned in an interview that Nashville was our 'Darth Vader'.

Because those Predators with their fugly baby-poo jerseys have our number, constantly kicking our butts on ice.

The Jackets are 5 points behind Nashville. This is definitely a big game as they are in the same division.

Since we played like crap on our most recent West Coast swing, losing all 3 games out there, we need all the points we can get. Meaning we need to win this game! This is considered a 4point game.

For those not savvy, when you win a game, you get 2 points. Lose a game, zero
points. Tie a game, 1 point. Win the game via shootout, get the other 1 point.

The top 8 teams in each conference (western & Eastern) make it into the Stanley Cup Play-offs. The Jackets play in the Western Conference. The current team in 8th place is Nashville with 30 points, so the boys in blue need to be above them in the
standings. Currently, we have 25 points. The lowest in our division.

So either way, it'll be a fun game to watch! These games have always been physical & chippy. :)

Go Jackets!

'Tis the season...for holiday parties!

2008-12-10T21:01:00.005-06:00

This upcoming Saturday night, Eric's work is having their Christmas party...

Last week, I had come up with a double strand pearl necklace design to create for said holiday party. Well I finally got it done tonight! It's made using faux pearls which were hand strung and knotted. The focal piece consists of two wire-wrapped hoops, one with garnets & the other with iolite, with a faux pearl in the center. A pretty olive organza bow finishes the look!

I think I might make my mom one of these for Christmas!

I thought about listing it in my shop too, but I dunno...

Whatcha think?

The Joys of Parenting...

2008-12-08T10:19:00.002-06:00

Or should I say the 'getting-the-stink-eye-from-the-MIL-because-she-so-disapproves-how-you're-raising-her-grand-child' ways of parenting...

Whew, what a mouthful. ;)

Over the weekend, we went up to Columbus and stayed with Eric's mom. You know she's a good woman and I love her to death, but sometimes she is just so overbearing and so ready to give the stink-eye. Especially over parenting matters.

Granted Eric & I are a young couple raising our first child together. I'd like to think we're doing the best that we can with raising Nicklaus and IMHO, we're doing a kick-ass job bringing Bubba up. :)

There was an incident yesterday where Eric and Nick were horsing around on the family room floor while the tv was on. Nick had stepped on the remote which was on the floor and changed the input on the tv so that it displayed a lovely shade of blue. Eric stopped and scolded Nick to remind him of minding where his feet were being placed and to be aware of his surroundings.

Eric's mom was sitting on the couch and she went off on Eric because he was being to silly as to reprimand Nick for it. And the whole time she would look to me to yell at Eric too. I wasn't going to join in and yell at my man.

I let her know that we had been reminding Nick since he was 2 to be aware of his surroundings no matter if he was playing or just lounging on the couch watching tv. Nick is 3.5 now and I truly believe that he is deftly aware of what goes on all around him. Sometimes he just decides to selectively ignore things here and there. :)

Totally got the stink-eye from her.

Meh.

Chipotle is open!

2008-12-05T12:03:00.001-06:00

Yay!

The Chipotle on Fountain Square is open today!

Yip, yip, hurray for horrendously huge burritos!

:)

That is all.

Craft Show Thoughts...

2008-12-05T07:59:00.004-06:00

So yesterday was a much better day, sales-wise at our little work craft show. I sold 3 necklaces and 2 pairs of earrings! You definitely have to be 'on' though.

It was a good time! My table neighbors were fun. :)

Not sure if I'll do any more shows this season, maybe next year. I'll have to work on my displaying my jewelery better.

All in all, 'twas a good learning experience.

Day One!

2008-12-03T13:26:00.003-06:00

So day one of our little craft fair at work went well!

Not a lot of buyers, which I kinda expected, but a lot of folks who stopped and checked out my jewelery. Got a lot of compliments, which is always nice. :) I met a lot of my co-workers and passed out a bunch of business cards so not all is lost.

I did sell a necklace! Yay! I had to extended the chain a bit, but a sale is a sale is a sale.

Hopefully tomorrow will bring a lot of sales!

Today is the day...

2008-12-03T08:48:00.003-06:00

Of my first craft show...dun, dun, DUN! :)

Thanks for all the well wishes folks! You know who you are...

I'm planning on heading down there around 10:30 to setup my table. I lugged all my stuff from home this morning on the bus. Got a few odd looks, heh.

Bag lady, watch out. Bag lady coming through! :p

A little nervous, but more excited than anything.

It runs 11am-2pm today and tomorrow.

A nice little intro show. Our table fees go to a local charity so all is good.

I'll let y'all know how it went later today!

Sorry about being MIA...

2008-12-02T12:11:00.002-06:00

It's busy here & I apologize for not blogging more!

It's cold as all get out now here in the Cincy area.

My first craft show is tomorrow & I've still got some prepping to do! Aaah!

There are also some pieces that I've made in the last few days that I'd like to photograph & list in my shop.

Trying to balance jewelery related stuff with home life is tough!

My boys in blue (the Blue Jackets if you were wondering :)) have been playing well and winning! They will head to West Coast for a couple games in a few days time.

Crazy!

I hope every one is having a great week so far!

Cheers!

Cheetahs, cameras & funky earrings...oh my!

2008-12-01T12:38:00.006-06:00

I hope everyone had a safe & wondrous Thanksgiving holiday! My younger brother Jeff came home and it was great spending time with him. :)

So this weekend, during a quick bit of free time I checked in on my Facebook page to see if anyone left me wall postings and such and noticed that my buddy Troy, who works at the Columbus Zoo changed his profile pic. He was holding a cheetah cub!

Here in Cincy, a pair of cheetahs at the Cincy Zoo's breeding facility had recently had 3 cubs. One of them was to stay at the zoo as an animal ambassador while the other 2 were to be shipped to the Columbus Zoo.

Lo & behold, Troy's department, Shows, got them! Woo! When I was in college, I used to work in that dept with Troy.

I think they're still in quarantine up at the hospital, but we'll have to stop by the Zoo when we're up in Columbus next to see those cuties. :)

In other news, we finally got our replacement LCD screen for our digi camera! Yay! I'm sooo excited & happy!

Over the weekend, I made a pair of funky earrings using some new supplies.

Check 'em out! I call them, "Cosmic Fool" & they're listed in my shop.

Whatcha think?

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T10:46:00.001-06:00

Happy Turkey Day everyone!

If you're traveling today, please be careful!

Free Shipping!

2008-11-26T12:48:00.004-06:00

Kind of spur of the moment...

I've decided to offer FREE SHIPPING on all purchases made in my Etsy Shop, Ladyhawke.Designs. This offer will run now, November 26 until Tuesday, December 2nd!

Etsy
Buy Handmade
ladyhawke34

The sickness is here...

2008-11-26T09:18:00.002-06:00

Eric is sick. I dunno if it's a cold or what but he didn't sleep very well last night as he was blowing his nose or hocking luggies every 15 mins or so... egh.

Didn't get much sleep last night either as he was waking me up. And the little one got up at quarter til 6 this morning and climbed up into bed with us.

I broke down this morning and got a large Chai Tea Latte on the way in to work.

Caffeine.

Must. Have. Caffeine.

But wait...it gets better! We get out of work early today! Yay! :)

Have a fabulous day all!

I've been tagged!

2008-11-25T09:18:00.003-06:00

My blogging friend, The Empty Envelope has tagged me!

The rules:
* Mention the rules on your blog.
* Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about yourself.
* Tag six others
* Go to each person’s blog and leave a comment that lets them know they are tagged.

Rules, schee-mules! I'm gonna break the rules and not tag anyone else! :p

But I'll tell 6 quirky, yet boring details about myself...

1. I don't wear makeup! All I'll put on is moisturizer & chapstick.

2. I love couture! Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Dolce & Gabana, Narciso Rodriguez & Carolina Herrera.

3. I used to play ice hockey. Pre-bambino, I played for 5 years on various rec league teams. When I first started playing, I played 3 days a week.

4. Clowns freak me the heck out! Eck. John Wayne Gacy, Poltergeist & Stephen King's It don't help out the utter evilness of clowns...

5. I've got a funky Midwestern accent. My 2 younger brothers & I were born in Marysville, OH and I'm the oldest. Eric yanks my chain when I say certain words - museum, anything ending in -tion, etc.

6. I've got a cool (but fading :( ) scar on my thumb from an Andean Condor.

A great flash of inspiration this weekend!

2008-11-24T09:11:00.005-06:00

So I was sitting at my moms this weekend watching some tv and got a crazy brainstorm!

Thankfully I had my jewelery making supplies with me and made a pair of awesome earrings.

Dig them!

What do you all think? Yay? Nay?

They've been listed in my shop.

I've been feverishly making extras of my stuff to take to that holiday craft show that my work is doing and I'm getting these flashes of creativity. I'm gonna need to get a notebook to record them all.

In other news...I totally got creeped out by some older dood on the bus this morning. I was just sitting there jamming to my tunes and I feel this slight caress on my shoulder. I glance at my shoulder and notice some dood had rested his arm along the back of the bench seating and was caressing my shoulder. Eh, yuck!

And so it begins...

2008-11-23T20:37:00.002-06:00

The holiday craziness, that is...

I was MIA this weekend as Eric's mom had here Thanksgiving festivities on Saturday. Good food, great company!

I felt like I had to be "on" all weekend though. That gets tiring after a while though. You know what I mean?

When I worked in the Shows dept at the Columbus Zoo, I had to be "on" because we were in the public eye all the time but once I got home, I was too pooped to do anything.

But I have to say that Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday. It's not commercialized like Christmas has become and it's all about stuffing yourself with great food & hanging out with family. Good times :)

I hope everyone has a fabulous Thanksgiving where ever you are!

Gobble,gobble :p

Newest earrings - Simply!

2008-11-21T09:22:00.005-06:00

I've listed a pair of new earrings, Simply, in my Etsy shop!

Whatcha think?

We've bought a replacement LCD screen for our digi cam! And now we wait...

I wish it could be put into a teleporter and whisked to us in a blink of an eye.:) We miss our digi cam!

Pineapple as a pizza topping...

2008-11-21T07:04:00.004-06:00

We ordered pizza from Papa John's last night for dinner since I didn't feel like cooking and neither did Eric so pizza it was!

We decided to go for the Hawaiian BBQ Chicken. I had never had pineapple as a pizza topping & Eric had had that particular flavor before & liked it.

Well, I loved it! I loved it so much that I had 4 slices! :O

In other news...we had an interesting convo this morning at breakfast. It went something like this....

Eric: "Did you kick me in the back last night?"
Me: "What? Really? I don't know if I kicked you."
Eric: "Well, my back is sore in one general area."
Me: "I'm sorry if I kicked you. I didn't know I kick when I'm asleep."

So needlessly to say, I felt really bad. Who knew?

Eh.

Have a great Friday everyone!

:)

Rented Tropic Thunder last night...

2008-11-20T10:08:00.005-06:00

And you know, I was a bit disappointed with it. It was funny, but there were parts of it that was just not funny, like they were trying to hard. And they always show the funniest bits in the trailers...and it wasn't just this movie but for all movies in general.

Robert Downey Jr. playing an Australian dood that plays an African American was funny as all get out though! The interaction between him and his castmate, Brandon T. Jackson was great!

Don't let my poo-pooing of the movie prevent you from renting it! The beginning of the film was hilarious! :)

We have Wall-E to watch tonight! We (Eric, Nick & I) saw it in the theaters when it came out & we loved it!

Awards & Project Wonderful!

2008-11-19T19:30:00.010-06:00

My blog friend, The Empty Envelope has given me a couple of awards! Woo!

I've got to pass them along to 5 other bloggers...

Meekiyu's Dream
Four Dog Day
Pickles on Pizza
Solace in Wonderland
Motif Design

I'll add Angela Michelle Dolls to the list!

Check out all these great blogs!

I found out about this great promotion website, Project Wonderful! It's where you can bid for ad space on all different types of websites. You can select which types of sites you want your ads run, how long you want to run them and you can also do campaigns. It's a great way to get some exposure for your blog, website or shop. :)

You can also sign up to be a publisher to run ads on your own site. I'm giving it a try here as you can see. There's a small ad space on the sidebar to the right and there's ad space along the footer of the posting area for button ads. If you're interested in ad space, just click on the '...your ad here...' links within the space.

I'm not really sure where to put the ad spaces and settled on where they are now as I don't want y'all to be inundated with ads when you're here...thoughts?

Thanks! :)

Business cards for my Etsy shop!

2008-11-19T07:59:00.004-06:00

Looky! I've created & ordered some business cards for my Etsy shop, Ladyhawke.Designs. :)

Whatcha think?

Thanks for the well wishes!

2008-11-19T07:21:00.003-06:00

I spent some time last night sorting out what I'd like to bring to the little craft extravaganza at work. Then I got to work making extras of those pieces...

Whoo-doggy! I only got some earrings done, but I'm thankful that I've got some time to prepare.

I completely forgot that the Blue Jackets were playing last night. And thankfully I did because they apparently played a real stinker of a game too losing 7-2 to the Edmonton Oilers. Oy. Reading the game recap at the Columbus Dispatch, it looks like our special teams play, power play & penalty kill, killed us. Our netminder letting in 4 goals in 11shots in the third period didn't help either...

I bet there will be a team meeting this morning and practice will be a toughie. They have 3 days including today to work on special teams as they fly down to Hotlanta to play the Thrashers on Saturday night.

Going to do my first arts & craft fair!

2008-11-18T15:46:00.002-06:00

So I just got an email here at work regarding the upcoming Holiday Arts & Craft fair on Dec 3rd & 4th and I think I'm gonna do it!

I just sent an email saying that I'm interested...

I'm so nervous and excited all at the same time! Aahhh!

What do I do? Which items do I want to bring? How much to bring?

I need business cards!

How am I gonna display my stuff? Oh geez...

Oy!

So many questions, so little time....

Aaaahhhh!

Unmotivated at work...

2008-11-18T13:33:00.003-06:00

Shh...don't tell anyone, but it's been a very un-motivating day here at work...

You know you get those days where all you want to do is stuff other than work.

I work on the computer all day too, sooo it's really easy to get distracted. ;)

All I'm thinking of doing is thinking of ways to take great pics of the jewelery that I've made the past couple of nights with a busted digital camera. Busted you say? Well, my boyfriend had it with him 2 weekends ago when it was broken. You can read about it here.

I did get a cool phone call from my mom asking for my Etsy shop addy. Apparently she wishes to buy some stuff to gift to her friends and to buy some pieces for herself. :)

I suppose I should get back to the grindstone, eh?

Cheers!

Mark Wahlberg & Top Gear...

2008-11-17T20:58:00.003-06:00

Watching the hugely popular British car show, Top Gear currently with my man, Eric. He's a huge fan of this show and downloads the most current episode weekly.

Mark Wahlberg was tonight's celebrity guest. He was there to promote his newest film, Max Payne. The guys always have their celebrity guest take a couple of laps in their reasonably priced car, usually an average 4 door sedan. He didn't do all that bad on his lap. And his interview was pretty funny. Mark talked about how during his stint in prison, he got tons of crap from the other inmates when his brother Donnie was performing on TV with the New Kids on the Block. He made a crack at Tom Cruise regarding the crazy one's affiliation with the Church of Scientology. Pretty funny stuff!

I'm not much of a gear head, but I love watching the show! The hosts (Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson & James May) test drive cars, are put to wacked out challenges, interview celebrities, etc. They aren't afraid to say if the car they're reviewing/test driving is utter crap. :)

The show is also on TV. Here in Cincy, it's on the BBC America channel, but the shows are about a season behind.

Snowing this morning!

2008-11-17T07:46:00.001-06:00

This morning, we finally got the snow that our weatherman predicted! I walked out the door to be hit with big heavy snowflakes falling out of the sky with abandon. :)

None of it was sticking of course because the ground is still too warm, but our first snow! Yay!

"Holy moly, whatta goalie!"

2008-11-15T10:21:00.005-06:00

In the exuberant words of Blue Jackets radio broadcaster George Matthews, "Holy moly, whatta goalie!"

Our number one goaltender, Pascal Leclaire, was back in the pipes last night for the Jackets 6-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres. The boys payed an excellent game and Leclaire showed no rust from his re-cupped ankle!

The game was not slated for viewing consumption on tv, so I was unable to watch it. I could have listened to the game online, but I was cleaning house.

According to the game wrap-up in the Columbus Dispatch today, the boys scored four goals on their first 8 shots on net. Crazy, but I love it! :)

Here's a cut & paste screenshot of the Yahoo! boxscore.

First snow expected tonight!

2008-11-15T09:09:00.005-06:00

Good Morning everyone!

It's so dreary this morning and rainy...

Temperatures will be dropping gradually today and we're supposed to be getting our first snow later tonight! Woohoo...bring it on!

We're actually headed to a dinner party tonight. Eric's office mate, Lan is hosting. Eric's mom is on her way down to watch Nick for us and will be staying the whole weekend. We'll probably be taking her to the crazy Scandinavian furniture store, Ikea that's not far from us, maybe 15 minutes away? :)

There's a cool model train place, EnterTRAINment Junction, by us too which we'll hit for a fun, family excursion. If you're local, check it out! It's very cool & everyone will love it! There's even a huge children's play area to wear the kiddos out. ;)

Working on my photography with a busted camera...

2008-11-14T22:06:00.009-06:00

After a crazy cleaning frenzy, I decided that I'd work on shooting better pics of the Rose Quartz bracelet that I made the other night. The ones I took didn't really show off the beautiful pink color of the quartz.

But wait! Let's take a picture of my corner in our living room... :)

Check it! Photoshop is showing on my monitor and my cat, Brady is asleep on the computer desk. :)

Alrighty, onwards with the bracelet photoshoot...

Thoughts?

More goalie love :)

2008-11-14T06:57:00.004-06:00

You remember my post about our goalie, Steve Mason? Our goalie, like he belongs to my friends & I...ha! The Blue Jackets rookie goaltender.

And I was going on about how I love profile shots of goalies. Well I found another profile shot of Mason. This time it's a 3/4 portrait. Love the intensity!

Courtesy of Kyle Robertson, the Columbus Dispatch

They play tonight in Buffalo against the Sabres! I hope Coach Hitchcock has lit a fire under their arses and they won't play like crap like they did this past Wednesday night.

Go Jackets!

New Etsy Listings!

2008-11-13T21:39:00.007-06:00

I've created a new pair of earrings and another bracelet!

It's been quite challenging photographing the pieces as our digital camera has a busted up LCD screen and it doesn't have a separate viewfinder. Trying to frame the photos before actually taking the pic has truly been hit or miss. I don't think my pics turned out all that bad though. Thank goodness for Photoshop! :p

Both are now listed in my Etsy shop, Ladyhawke.Designs.

So officials think they have found Caylee...

2008-11-13T14:14:00.005-06:00

MSNBC is reporting on their website.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Authorities are trying to determine if there's a link between items found by divers in an Orlando park's lake and the case of missing 3-year-old Caylee Anthony believed to have been killed.

Divers searching the area of Little Eonlockhatchee River found a plastic bag containing toys and small bones on Thursday, a bounty hunter told NBC News affiliate, WESH.com.

It was not clear if those were human remains or if they had any relation to Caylee. Inside the bag, weighted down by bricks, were two toys and bones the size of fingers and toes, Padilla said. There also was a shamrock, which bounty hunter Leonard Padilla said was a favorite symbol of Casey Anthony, WESH reported on its Web site.

I'm stunned to say the least...

It's not official, so we don't know if those are really bones.

I never did have a good feeling about finding Caylee alive. Just the fact that her mother waited a couple months before reporting her missing was the piece of straw that broke the camel's back...

On the bus again...

2008-11-13T07:29:00.002-06:00

I ride the bus to and from work everyday. When we were looking for places to live in the Cincy area, we chose where we live in West Chester because it was close to a park & ride. I work in downtown Cincy and Eric works in Mason.

You see and meet such a great variety of people everyday. Sitting on the bus this morning and listening to my tunes on my MP3 player, I just was thinking of how incredibly grateful I am of the diverse world we live in. It's still a little rough around its edges and we could definitely improve on some things but I wouldn't want it any way!

Bummer of a Jackets game... :(

2008-11-12T20:55:00.003-06:00

Man...bummer of a game tonight at Nationwide Arena. The Blue Jackets lost to the Phoenix Coyote, 5-2.

They played hard and scored 2 goals late in the third period, but it was too little too late. The 'Yotes played very well and their goalie was excellent!

But you know what? Rick Nash finally got out of his slump!

Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Voracek got hit inadvertently in the face by Jokinen's stick, but it should have been called. Jokinen did get called for cross checking but he should have also gotten another 4 minutes for hitting Voracek in the face with his stick and drawing blood!

Crap, I say. Utter crap!

Oh well...

The boys travel to Buffalo on Friday to play the Sabres in their barn. Hopefully they won't hang our goalie out to dry like they did tonight!

New Look!

2008-11-12T13:43:00.002-06:00

Found a snazzy new template for the blog!

I found this template while cruising the intrawebs and read an article, The Top 10 Blogger Template Resource Sites, on the BloggingTipps blog. Followed a link to Blogger Templates.

I'm still working out the kinks...

The little search feature up top doesn't work. Anyone know how to fix it? I'm not all that familiar with XML.

What do you think?

Prepping for Colorado

2008-11-11T13:41:00.007-06:00

A little background for y'all...

My boyfriend Eric loves to climb and his favorite playground to date is Rocky Mountain National Park. We were last there in August of 2004.

Nearing the summit of Longs Peak!

He's been out there on his own or with his best friend for the past couple of winters. I, myself love to hike, camp & ice climb. :) Now that our little one, Nicklaus is 3.5 years old, he would love to take him out there.

Fast forward to 2 months ago...

We're planning a trip out there the second week of March 2009. There's bumming around town, hiking, a night or two of camping & climbing on the agenda. I've invited my parents and both of my younger brothers. Al is a definate in while Jeff says that it's too far out to decide. Go figure!

There's quite the elevation change and I'm not in shape anymore. Pre-bambino, I played hockey regularly and that kept me in tip-top shape. Now that I haven't played in 3.5 years, I can't go up a flight of stairs without getting slightly winded. That's pretty bad. :(

So I gotta start running again or skating or something. They are putting the ice rink up on Fountain Square right now...that's a possibility! There are a bunch of folks here at work doing the 100 push-ups thing. It looks easy enough and it'll whip my core, arms, pecs and back into shape. Famous last words, eh? :)

Don't look now! Gratuitous shot of Eric in RMNP...my fav actually. :)

Berry influenced earrings

2008-11-11T13:34:00.006-06:00

Last night, I created two new pairs of earrings inspired by the blueberry and the cranberry.

Check them out below!

They've both been listed in my Etsy shop, Ladyhawke.Designs.

Some goalie love... :)

2008-11-11T07:42:00.006-06:00

How about that that kid, Mason, who's been in goal for the Blue Jackets?! He's been named one of the NHL players of the week! Congrats Steve!

Photo courtesy of AP Photo/Terry Gilliam

Over the summer, he had surgery on both of his knees and probably went through pretty painful and intense physical therapy to get back into working shape. He spent the rest of the summer getting into game shape. He wins the first 3 games of the season down in the Jacket's AHL affiliate Syracuse Crunch. Then he's called up to the big club and wins his first NHL game ever as well as the next 2 games.

He's been said to be THE top young goaltender prospect in the NHL.

Here's another shot of Mason courtesy of REUTERS/Matt Sullivan (UNITED STATES). I LOVE profile shots of goalies! You can just see the focus and concentration in their eyes...

Pretty sweet, eh?

:)

Thanks to all who has served in our armed forces and to all who are currently serving...

2008-11-11T07:38:00.003-06:00

A BIG thanks to all of you who have done your part or are currently doing your part to fight for our freedoms! For those of you that are currently stationed around the globe, I know it is extremely tough to be away from all of your loved ones but know that everyone back home supports you!

Thank you all so much!

Underground in a Cave & Cheering the Boys in Blue

2008-11-09T21:57:00.006-06:00

Did a little caving for the first time this weekend!

Saturday, my boyfriend, Eric wanted to do a little mapping of a cave up in the Columbus area so we headed up there this weekend. He had invited his best friend Jon and our mutual friend Adam to come check it out with us.

Pretty cool and a little claustrophobic. I only went about halfway as I got a little freaked out partway in. Still very cool none the less.

Here's a pic that Eric snapped of me before the camera got FUBAR'd. My expression is priceless...lol!

The only thing that didn't go so well is that our digital camera didn't fare too well...the LCD screen was smashed in a bit. :(

We'll have to see how much it'll cost to replace it. Preliminary findings on eBay aren't too bad. About $90 for a replacement LCD screen...

Later that night, Eric's sister & I went to the Blue Jackets game. The boys in blue won! 3-1 against the Calgary Flames! Go Jackets! It's so exciting to see the team jelling as the season goes on.

How about dem Blue Jackets, eh?!

2008-11-06T07:36:00.001-06:00

Crazzzy game last night at Nationwide Arena! Get the lead 2-0, lose it 4-2 & win 5-4 in regulation.

It's going to be a helluva ride this season!

Derrick Brassard scores another goal and he's recuperating from the flu still. Calder trophy! Give this guy that hunk of glorified metal.

Awesome!

I'm so jazzed for the Calgary game Saturday night! Woo!

On colds, Blue Jackets, the election & jewelery...

2008-11-04T22:46:00.005-06:00

Man...I hate being sick! It's oh so lovely when it's compounded with a constantly runny nose, sinus congestion and a slight headache. Oy. Maybe its not a cold at all but a sinus infection? Even better. :|

I left work a bit early today so I could vote. Seeing as this was probably the most important election in my lifetime, I though it be for the good of all to vote. :)It was very surprising to walk into my place of voting and see no line at all. Wow. no line at 5pm. I was expecting to wait for at least an hour. Guess I was wrong.

Preliminary reports coming from CNN are saying that Obama will be the next President but I'd rather wait until the official results are in. There are a lot of places that still have to report in.

How about them Blue Jackets, eh? They're working hard but they're not picking up all the points that they can. Working & playing hard but losing in OT or in the shoot-out. It's early in the season, I'm willing to see how the boys progress before I lambast them. How about Derick Brassard & Jake Vorcek? Our rookies are kicking some ass! At the pace that Brassard is picking up points, looks for him to be a Calder Trophy canidate. Go Brass!

I finally got around to photographing this awesome choker that I made a few days ago. I was inspired by Queen Elizabeth I and the Golden Age.

I've uploaded some pics to my Flickr account and listed it in my Etsy shop!

Gearing up for the climbing season!

2008-11-03T10:22:00.005-06:00

You know everyone is gearing up for the upcoming ice climbing season when the clinic emails start showing up in your inbox...:) That ol' ice climbing itch is coming back! Time to break out the gear and get it ready.

Just got one this morning from Sarah Hueniken.

Hello Ladies!

Hope everyone had a fabulous summer and fall and is now ready for WINTER!!
I hope to see you all at Chicks with Picks this year, as I know Kim has exciting events planned. Should be a blast...as usual:)

In case some of you have more of an itch to scratch..or more tool swinging desires, I am offering 2 ice courses up here in the Canadian Rockies. They are both 4 days and include lodging and food plus at least one day of Multi-pitch climbing...and that is in Canadian dollars (aka a good deal for you Americans right now!)
The first one will be on the Icefields Parkway February 20-23 and the other out of the Canmore area, March 6-9.
Please see attached flyer for more details and pass this on to anyone you think might be interested. Space is limited, and the February dates are already near full, so sign up soon!

Once again- hope everyone is doing well and looking forward to a great winter!

There was a flier attached to the email too. If anyone is interested let me know and I'll forward it on to ya.

Peace out yo!