Crappy Shelf Report

You know that shelf I was talking about the other day? Yeah, this pain in the ass...

First of all, if you see this Black & Decker bastard in a box in the hardware section at Walmart, don't buy it. Second thing, there were no instructions but pictures of the pieces printed on the side of the box and they don't make any sense. We ended up putting this all together backwards. The legs were all in upside down and there was extra slack on the top. I knew something was wrong but I couldn't get it apart to fix it. Third thing was that the top shelf was cracked where you could see it in the front. I exchanged that piece at Walmart, no problem. However, I got it apart and put the thing back together the right way and wacked at it a few times with a rubber mallet to get it evened out and broke 2 pieces off the bottom. One I superglued back in place and the other I couldn't find. Then I hit the top cover part and they cracked. They are now superglued too. Bahhhhhh!

And if that wasn't enough, I walked by and the son of a bitch and it SCRATCHED me!

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I was woken up this morning by Eric who called me from work. Everyone kept telling him that he smelled like a skunk. We have a skunk that keeps getting into the basement of our rental apartment. The landlord has known about it and continues to put mothballs around the house to keep it at bay. There must be a crack or a hole that it gets into but do you think he would bother to look for it? What if Pepe Le Pew is already in there and won't come out? The skunk smell as well as burnt rubber smell comes right into the apartments through the forced air heating vents. I hate the stench of mothballs and whenever he does that I can smell them in my room, my studio, and the bathroom.

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Not everything is stinky around here. Eric got me these nice roses on Friday.

Goodbye Sophie

Sophie, my Mom and Sister's kitty passed away on Friday. She wasn't even two years old. Last fall she went missing for a couple days. It was cold and rainy and she was found my a neighbor just in time. We believe she was hit by a car. She was paralyzed in the back legs, but seemed to be getting around ok and doing many of her normal activities. However, on Friday afternoon, my Mom found her in distress and took her to the Vet's office. Her lungs were filled with fluid and she had to be put down. The Vet thought that a blood clot could have traveled from her legs up to her lungs.Sophie was such a nice cat. She had a short life but was well loved. She will be missed.


Here she is with Otto who is now going crazy because he is the only animal left in the house.

Here she is as a kitten.

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I got the camera out to take pictures of the progress I have made organizing. I couldn't resist bothering Squeeky. I can never catch her doing anything good. Last week she got into the back bathtub but by the time I got the camera she had gotten out.
Don't you dare get up on that table, cat!

Squeeky coming in to admire her clean shitter.

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Look at all that I got done in my studio!

My table is clean!

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I got a shelf at Walmart to stack my clothes up on but after I had put it together I found the top shelf was cracked right in the front. I couldn't get the damn thing apart so the top shelf is going back to the crap emporium and they better let me take another shelf. Here is is topshelfless.

I got a really nice wool J.Crew sweater at the Open Door Mission thrift shop this week for cheap. I used one of those Dryel dry cleaning kits on it to freshen it up. It is fluffy and nice smelling now. See how the tag says XL? This sweater must be from the 90's when clothes actually fit. Now everything is so frickin small and loaded with lycra. This fits me great. Why can't clothes be like that again? Things at the Gap used to fit me. Now there is no chance of that. The Gap in the mall here just went out and I can honestly say that I don't really care.

Here is our kitchen. The counter space is very limited so I installed this shelf when we moved in. Then the shelf was cluttered so I bought these colorful containers at the dollar store and filled them with utensils, dish towels, and measuring cups. Lookin' good!

That is my update for the week. Adios!

Shopping, Sawing, Sewing, Snapping, and Searching.

It's been pretty busy around here lately... I had a nice three day weekend. ALL of the nitty gritty cleaning projects were neglected. We didn't do even one load of laundry. The weather was windy, snowy, and bone-chilling cold on Saturday and Sunday. After staying in the whole weekend and feeling about to go crazy, we ventured out on Monday afternoon to Saratoga Springs, New York to do some looking around and shopping. We stopped at the outlets in Lake George we went into Harry and David which was a new experience for me. Everything looked so good. We also went into Yankee Candle where they had many good deals. I got this delicious watermelon candle. I thought they stopped making these a few years ago... Maybe they did but they had a whole shelf full of them. A really funny thing happened while we were there. I was about to go up to the register to pay when we heard a giant, loud fart blast through the front of the store. Eric thought it was me but it was a goofy retarted man who was with his keeper at the counter. The woman turned him around to lead him out of the store and he was giggling and grinning like crazy. Needless to say, we backed off and looked around for a few more minutes.

I ended up spending a lot of time at A.C. Moore looking at craft supplies. I couldn't find what I was looking for but ended up with a few things anyway. We visited the Super Walmart where everything is pretty darn cheap. I got this mitre box and saw which are going to change my life. Seriously, I am going to use this ALL of the time!!!


About two weeks ago I found these neat bins at Big Lots. I have been using this one to carry my project to work to do in the afternoon. Also, I use it at home and feel pretty special.

That leads me to show and tell about these pin cushions and brooches I have been making all weekend. The pin cushions were inspired by Hillary at Wee Wonderfuls, which turned into making round and heart pins.


My sister gave me a roll of film to develop today. The pictures were mostly of Selby. Here are a couple of her and Sophie. Aren't they cute?


Finally, my boss announced on Friday that the photo lab will be closing on February 15th for good. I have worked there for four and a half years and business has been declining steadily for most of it. There are two things that have really killed it, which are as follows: Digital cameras have taken over. Everyone has one and a printer and can print their own pictures easily at home. The second thing is that there are photo labs at every drug store and department store around town. People don't realize that their photos look like crap and they could look better if someone who really cares is printing them. All day I have had to deal with regular customers asking "why?" and "What is poor Missy going to do?" That's the boss, and she has plenty of money so all we can do is laugh at that. I REALLY am going to have to find another job now, which is my least favorite thing in the world to do. Four weeks left. What in the heck am I going to do? Some good news for the day was that I got a check for $83 from Lowell Country Gifts in Benson where I have been selling some of my goods since the end of November. That was a nice surprise.

Zippers, Bland Food, Tourists, and Gum.

This has been a lucky zipper week. My mom and sister got me a pile of zippers at the ReStore in Montpelier this weekend.

Then this afternoon Eric found this bag of mystery zippers in our mailbox. Later on I got a call from the nice woman who had left them for me. She bought a zipper pin from me at the second to last craft sale I was at. Thank you! I can't wait to start working again!

I have had 3 other inquiries about the zipper pins within the last two weeks. I also heard about two craft sales in February which may be a possibility.
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On Saturday night Eric and I ventured up to Killington to eat at a place called "Baja Burrito" because we had an Entertainment book coupon. It was quite possibly the worst "Mexican" food I have ever had. First of all, you enter the restaurant into a lounge room with couches, a TV, and a few tables. In the main room there were lots of tables, a bar, and a big noisy crowd. We were seated in the lounge room. It was filled with tourists who were very into the football game on the TV. We had to sit next to an obnoxious family with a coughing, germ spewing man. Every time the door was opened we were hit with a blast of icy mountain air. When the food arrived it didn't look very good. The burritos were stuffed in an unbaked flour tortilla. Mine was stuffed with black beans and white rice coated with cheese that was similar to the gooey cheese sauce that comes in a packet with Velveeta or Kraft mac and cheese kits. It had absolutly no spice, flavor, or heat. It came with sour cream and lettuce as well as pico de gallo, and guacamole both heavy with white onions. After one bite the waitress offered hot sauce and we accepted. The tourists looked to be loving the food and the atmosphere but I could not wait to get out of there. I haven't felt so uncomfortable at a restaurant or been so disgusted with the food in a long time. Stay away from this horrible place if you ever visit Killington!!!

Killington is only ten or twelve miles from Rutland, but the funny thing about it is that it seems like a completely different planet. It is a bonafied tourist trap. Everything is extremely overpriced, such as gas and food. For example, we had to stop and get a jug of windshield fluid and it was $3. The same thing is $1.07 at Walmart in Rutland. The place is crawling with rich, snobby, asshole idiots from Massachusetts, New Jersey, Conneticut, and New York on vacation or skiing for the weekend. I can't stand them and it is annoying when they come down to Rutland, driving their huge gas guzzling SUV tanks with ski rack systems on the top. They drive like frickin idiots, cutting everyone off and getting in the way. I don't like snow and I don't like skiing tourists! Go home.
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I recently found this new trident gum. It is a crunchy pillow of chewy strawberry gum with a pocket of lime flavor in the center. The flavor lasts a long time and it is delicious.

Goodbye Selby

Our dog Selby passed away today. I think she just turned twelve years old. She joined our family during my last year of high school when she was a puppy. She was a good English Springer Spaniel who was always very happy and peaceful. She was well loved and will be missed very much. It's hard to believe she is gone. It is really sad. These photos were taken at home a few years ago.


I'm so sad, I can't stop crying. Baaaahhhhhhhhh!
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In other news:

I can't put down this friggin stupid SuDoku book!!! I got this on Monday when I got a haircut at the mall. They started putting the puzzles in the paper this week and I have been hooked ever since. Check out the book clip in action! I haven't gotten much else done. I can't do any projects until I organize this mess in the craft room.

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Here's something cool:
McCormick Peppercorn and Sea Salt grinders!

Eric bought the pepper one. We were out of peppercorns and I hadn't gotten to the Co-op to buy more. Eric's Mom had both of them at her house. Gimmicky but convenient. I have no idea how much they cost. The bottles say that they are disposable and not to refill. I think that is quite wasteful but that is what recycling is for. Still, they are cool and freshly ground pepper beats stale old pepper in a can any day. And sea salt is pretty special too.
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Check out this video of OK GO on WEQX 102.7. This song is just soooooo cool!
You can also listen live on the internet! Very cool.

Happy 2006!

It has been a busy past couple of days. Trish was here visiting on Friday afternoon. We had a very nice dinner at the Sirloin Saloon. It was delicious as always. However, it was mobbed! We had the loudest group of people behind us that I have ever heard. By the time we left there I had a ginormous headache. Trish and I had our yearly birthday/Christmas gift exchange. She always finds the neatest things. She gave me a pair of Croc Socks. I have never seen these before. They are soft and warm!

I am also the proud owner of Napoleon Dynamite socks and a really cool necklace/earring set from Danforth Pewters as well as treasure chest of many other neat things too.

I sure hope Trish liked her gifts. One was a zipper barrette.

Here is a picture of some of the neat things I either got for Christmas or bought for myself. The two bird pins were made by a Jill Listzwan, a Vermont artist. The barrette with the glass pieces was made by Eye and I Glass, another Vermont Artist. I bought the orange clip and the other one was given to me by my mom and sister. I bought the fused glass pin at a Craft sale.

Eric and I had a New Years dinner at the Panda Pavillion. It was delicious! I ate every bite on my plate. We went on a shopping excursion at Hannaford and the liquor store so that we could enjoy our yearly tradition of mixed drinks at home. There have been some good movies on TV lately. We watched Kate and Leopold. I snoozed on my bed and now I am up thinking I would like to go back to bed.
Have a happy and healthy new year! If you had time off, lucky you. Have fun going back to work. I didn't have a single extra day off because all of the holidays lately have fallen on Saturdays. Can you tell I am not happy about that? Hmmmmmmm...