well, i've just spent a couple of hours reading a rambling of various posts about Etsy shop tips, pimping my shop, promoting my shop, and photographing my wares. it has been ages since i joined the now-infamous flickr, and way back when you could have only a handful of photos without paying for the pimped version. so i didnt really bother. now, however, i have learned the woes of my ways and am jumping back in.
i updated my flickr account with the photos available on my laptop. given the fact that few photos are on my little wand i couldnt put in much. someday soon i will add additional photos of randomness, but seeing as how it is very cold in the room where my desktop is.. it will be a day not like this one.
so for now, here is the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sullenmonarch/
i've also added it to my facebook, which can be found here: Facebook me!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
the sweet spot
so i'm sucker for any song with some sort of ba-da-ba or la-la-la or do-dee-da... or anything of the sort. my new addctions:
blue or gray by jaymay
Thursday, December 18, 2008
panda much?
what started out as a little joke has now defined our lives. when we were just dating, i was driving him home during rush hour one day, stop and go, stop and go... we passed a Panda Express, and in his i've-had-three-red-bulls-in-the-last-20-minutes crazy state, he broke into angry chinaman voice and started ranting about us 'round-eye' always trying to eat panda. .. at the moment, it was hilarious, and i laughed so hard i had tears rolling down my cheeks and was mostly unable to drive.
by far, his angry chinaman voice is my favorite, and has continued to make me laugh throughout these last couple of years. we've enjoyed it so much, in fact, that we've started collecting little panda bits here and there, and he even plans to make his next tattoo some sort of panda. i found panda glasses for the kitchen, panda picture frames, t-shirts, and plush toys. "who's my panda?" "you're my panda" "love panda" .. well, you get the idea!
a few weekends ago, we found the ultimate panda - a real one. well, we didnt 'find' it per se, it was at the zoo, but we got to watch it for a while, take some pictures..
and now i'm obsessed with panda art. i've decided that i want to begin a small collection to support a few of my favorite things: pandas, my love, and handmade art.
so i've found a dozen or so panda art pieces on Etsy that I'm in love with, and think would make a wonderful wall of our home. and being so close to christmas and my birthday, i've so innocently and in no way intending to hint-hint, posted a few of them here :)
Panda Ball by blandysnorhal
Panda Girl by atwhim
Becky by aurelia27
Cheeky Panda by moonkooki
This is, by far, a short list, but you can find all of the prints I've hearted in my favorites on Etsy. (wink wink nudge nudge)
A few of them are ACEO's and I think this is a great way to start an ACEO collection. I have one, non-panda related, and would love to purchase more. ACEO's are like artist trading cards. Artist make small little cards (multimedia, prints of their original work, something off-the-wall), something to define them. sort of like a baseball card for artists. They are small, approx 2.5x3.5 and are an inexpensive way to collect original art by artists around the world.
find more at Etsy.com, just search for 'ACEO'
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
Monday, December 15, 2008
so lemme tell ya about my day...
The Plan:
Wake up early. Drink coffee. Get dressed.
Go to school. Make an appt for new student orientation. Visit the job center.
Go to Otay Ranch Town and Country and put in some applications.
Go to Plaza Bonita and put in some applications.
Go to Horton Plaza and put in some applications.
Go home. Finish candles. Make dinner. Eat garlic bread. Watch a movie with the hubbs and then go to bed, feeling accomplished and warm.
What really happened:
Woke up to the biscuit calling my name, lifting my head only to bash him in the nose as he was leaning down to kiss me goodbye, and sent him to school cussing.
Lay in bed for what felt like ten minutes, staring at the ceiling, getting my head straight, only to realize it had really been an hour and already I was behind schedule.
Get up to near-horizontal rain and wind that looked like it would break the trees outside.
Decide not to go to Horton Plaza or Town and Country because they are outdoor shopping centers. F that. Its cold.
Decide to call the school to make an appt instead of trying to rush there in the rain, but have to wait to 8am.
Check email... Oh shit, its 815am. Behind schedule again.
Call the school, make an appt for today at 1pm. Sweet! i dont have to leave, and i'm not going to 2 of the plazas, so I can take my time and leave at 1130 (early enough to leave plenty of time to drive slow in the rain and still make my appt by 1pm, go me for planning ahead!) I can then go to Plaza Bonita after school then finish the day as planned.
Get dressed. Put on make-up, feel good.
Check a billion websites and gather a bunch of interesting job postings from the SWC job center site so I have an idea what to talk about when I get to school. Get really frustrated because most of these jobs are for security guards or require you to be bilingual... Oh shit.. its 1140 and I havnt eaten anything. Behind schedule again.
Gather up all my paperwork for registration, organize my purse and find a bracelet I thought I had lost.
Get to the bottom of the stairs only to realize the dog has shit on the floor for the third time this week. Argh! WTF is her problem this week?! Clean it up and rush to the kitchen to make breakfast.
Bustle to warm up a cup of coffee, make a bagel and gather my coat, hat, scarf, etc and get ready to go. Its noon and I am going to be SO late.
Head to the stairs to head down into the garage, take a big step, miss my footing and fall down. Hands full, unable to catch myself, I spill coffee all over my coat and pants and land right on my ass four steps down, losing the breath in my chest and jarring my spine. My neck and back are throbbing. My jaw is now throbbing. Ok, still have my bagel, didnt drop my coffee. Cat get away from me!
Stand up. Slowly. Cant cancel, have to register for school.. Gather most of the things I did drop and head to the garage. Open the car door and toss things inside. Slowly walk back to the stairs to get the rest of the things I dropped. Open the door and goddammit cat get back inside! Chase Ellis behind the dryer. Yell at the top of my lungs. Throw the cat back inside. Toss the rest of the things into my car.
Insert key. zzzzzziiiiiiiiiiipppppppp. try again. zzzzzzzzzzziiiiiiiiiiippppppppppp. a third time. zzzzzzzzzziiiiiiiiiiipppppppppppp. car wont start. it somehow thinks its the pit crew at nascar and is making that tire-changing-sound.
grab purse and coffee and half eaten bagel. go back inside. yell at cat. call school to reschedule. send message to hubbs about car. phone fail. dammit i am not in mexico, let my f'ing signal go thru! stand nose-to-glass in front of the door and try again once i get a wittle itty bitty bar of service.
go upstairs. call mom. vent. hubbs calls. vent. cry. spend the next two hours searching for warranty information and service records, and the internet to find possible causes of pitcrew sound.
spend 45 minutes arguing with insurance guy. totally unrelated to the car, by the way.
search for more jobs.
then hubbs comes home. the sight of him makes me cry, though not his fault of course, and he hugs me and shakes a brand new fat plush panda in my face. then he takes me to change my battery. buys me dinner, including root beer and a cookie. and fixes my car.
biscuit love makes the day all better. sweetest guy ever.
we'll try again tomorrow :)
Wake up early. Drink coffee. Get dressed.
Go to school. Make an appt for new student orientation. Visit the job center.
Go to Otay Ranch Town and Country and put in some applications.
Go to Plaza Bonita and put in some applications.
Go to Horton Plaza and put in some applications.
Go home. Finish candles. Make dinner. Eat garlic bread. Watch a movie with the hubbs and then go to bed, feeling accomplished and warm.
What really happened:
Woke up to the biscuit calling my name, lifting my head only to bash him in the nose as he was leaning down to kiss me goodbye, and sent him to school cussing.
Lay in bed for what felt like ten minutes, staring at the ceiling, getting my head straight, only to realize it had really been an hour and already I was behind schedule.
Get up to near-horizontal rain and wind that looked like it would break the trees outside.
Decide not to go to Horton Plaza or Town and Country because they are outdoor shopping centers. F that. Its cold.
Decide to call the school to make an appt instead of trying to rush there in the rain, but have to wait to 8am.
Check email... Oh shit, its 815am. Behind schedule again.
Call the school, make an appt for today at 1pm. Sweet! i dont have to leave, and i'm not going to 2 of the plazas, so I can take my time and leave at 1130 (early enough to leave plenty of time to drive slow in the rain and still make my appt by 1pm, go me for planning ahead!) I can then go to Plaza Bonita after school then finish the day as planned.
Get dressed. Put on make-up, feel good.
Check a billion websites and gather a bunch of interesting job postings from the SWC job center site so I have an idea what to talk about when I get to school. Get really frustrated because most of these jobs are for security guards or require you to be bilingual... Oh shit.. its 1140 and I havnt eaten anything. Behind schedule again.
Gather up all my paperwork for registration, organize my purse and find a bracelet I thought I had lost.
Get to the bottom of the stairs only to realize the dog has shit on the floor for the third time this week. Argh! WTF is her problem this week?! Clean it up and rush to the kitchen to make breakfast.
Bustle to warm up a cup of coffee, make a bagel and gather my coat, hat, scarf, etc and get ready to go. Its noon and I am going to be SO late.
Head to the stairs to head down into the garage, take a big step, miss my footing and fall down. Hands full, unable to catch myself, I spill coffee all over my coat and pants and land right on my ass four steps down, losing the breath in my chest and jarring my spine. My neck and back are throbbing. My jaw is now throbbing. Ok, still have my bagel, didnt drop my coffee. Cat get away from me!
Stand up. Slowly. Cant cancel, have to register for school.. Gather most of the things I did drop and head to the garage. Open the car door and toss things inside. Slowly walk back to the stairs to get the rest of the things I dropped. Open the door and goddammit cat get back inside! Chase Ellis behind the dryer. Yell at the top of my lungs. Throw the cat back inside. Toss the rest of the things into my car.
Insert key. zzzzzziiiiiiiiiiipppppppp. try again. zzzzzzzzzzziiiiiiiiiiippppppppppp. a third time. zzzzzzzzzziiiiiiiiiiipppppppppppp. car wont start. it somehow thinks its the pit crew at nascar and is making that tire-changing-sound.
grab purse and coffee and half eaten bagel. go back inside. yell at cat. call school to reschedule. send message to hubbs about car. phone fail. dammit i am not in mexico, let my f'ing signal go thru! stand nose-to-glass in front of the door and try again once i get a wittle itty bitty bar of service.
go upstairs. call mom. vent. hubbs calls. vent. cry. spend the next two hours searching for warranty information and service records, and the internet to find possible causes of pitcrew sound.
spend 45 minutes arguing with insurance guy. totally unrelated to the car, by the way.
search for more jobs.
then hubbs comes home. the sight of him makes me cry, though not his fault of course, and he hugs me and shakes a brand new fat plush panda in my face. then he takes me to change my battery. buys me dinner, including root beer and a cookie. and fixes my car.
biscuit love makes the day all better. sweetest guy ever.
we'll try again tomorrow :)
Thursday, December 11, 2008
catch up...
well thanksgiving was very nice. we went to Sacramento and spent a few days with the hubb's clan. first time meeting everyone but his parents, and it was a lot of fun. big family with a contagious trend of three children each, we all had a good time. a lovely dinner, a talent show for the kids, and then Friday was followed up with a day in Old Sacramento shopping and another family dinner. the mole was excellent and we played games and had a good time. traffic home was not as horrid as it was on the way there, and the dog was filthy and exhausted when we picked her up which meant she had a good time too. she finally made some friends.
the last couple of weeks have been spent making candles and doing random bits around the house. i attended an orientation for a military spouse program and am getting funding for school for the next two years. which means i am going back to school full time and am now trying to find a part-time job. again, this is proving to be difficult. i put in several applications at the mall on Tuesday and plan to go to Horton plaza sometime soon. i am 'this close' to going to McDonald's and that scares me.
here's some pics from the holidays.
I wasn't expecting that...
Jon-Marks 'official' invitation to participate in the talent show with his 8yr old cousin.
The hubbs wrangling some kids.
Old Sacramento.
the last couple of weeks have been spent making candles and doing random bits around the house. i attended an orientation for a military spouse program and am getting funding for school for the next two years. which means i am going back to school full time and am now trying to find a part-time job. again, this is proving to be difficult. i put in several applications at the mall on Tuesday and plan to go to Horton plaza sometime soon. i am 'this close' to going to McDonald's and that scares me.
here's some pics from the holidays.
I wasn't expecting that...
Jon-Marks 'official' invitation to participate in the talent show with his 8yr old cousin.
The hubbs wrangling some kids.
Old Sacramento.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
11/24/08
we witnessed the most spectacular sunset last night
was lucky enough to find a boarding facility for grainne for thanksgiving and i am super excited that she will get to play with other dogs. she doesnt seem to care.
Monday, November 24, 2008
new new new
new pics added to snapfish... see link in older post
new items added to new etsy shop.. check em out here
new id card this morning with my grover scarf and a stupid half smile makes me look like a marshmellow.
cold and cloudy today. preparing for rain. my feet have been numb all day. gonna be hella cold in sacramento this thanksgiving. not sure if I'm looking forward to that.
the dog is asleep.
a jet flew over a bit ago from the base nearby (in imperial beach - the air station) and holy cow it made the whole neighborhood shake. crazy feeling. like an earthquake that originated in the sky.
so far i've spent all day working on my shop. still have a ton of things to list. not sure i should wait until tomorrow.. cross your fingers and send me some good sales-vibes. :)
new items added to new etsy shop.. check em out here
new id card this morning with my grover scarf and a stupid half smile makes me look like a marshmellow.
cold and cloudy today. preparing for rain. my feet have been numb all day. gonna be hella cold in sacramento this thanksgiving. not sure if I'm looking forward to that.
the dog is asleep.
a jet flew over a bit ago from the base nearby (in imperial beach - the air station) and holy cow it made the whole neighborhood shake. crazy feeling. like an earthquake that originated in the sky.
so far i've spent all day working on my shop. still have a ton of things to list. not sure i should wait until tomorrow.. cross your fingers and send me some good sales-vibes. :)
Thursday, November 20, 2008
what a fine line.
tis almost the end of week four. i cannot believe i have been here so long already. next week is thanksgiving. unbelievable.
still... no job. no leads. no interviews. i'm getting a bit down about it really.
17 days without a cigarette. not so hard. no job, no one to take smoke breaks with.
azreal fell off the balcony the other night. we didnt even know he had gotten outside. just heard a cat screaming, looked outside, and there he was, on the ground, low to the grass with his ears flat and his eyes large and wild. i had to go downstairs (which also means around the whole the building) to get him and carry him back up.
we can see and hear navy seal training from here. sounded like world war three, yet no one was screaming. could see the flares and smoke and everything. really bizarre.
gizmo is getting depressed, i think. since petrie is gone, he hardly swims around anymore. just hangs out in the same spot at the back of the tank.
grainne is good. she got a little overzealous with her toy the other night and somehow got her leg stuck under the ottoman (that we currently use as a coffee table) when she tried to roll over and lifted up one end of the ottoman, sending our drinks to the floor. we kinda laughed but gave her the 'awe..grainne..' sort of sigh. she ran to her box, but didnt quite know if she was in trouble or not, so she stood there, half in and half out... looking at us through the window with her bum hanging out the door waiting for a conviction.
trying to make the best of this situation. its giving me a lot of time at home, but i seem to be incapable of getting anything done. i cant really work on my candle shop because i am out of wax, and without a job cant justify investing $200 into an order. (wax has gone way up with the gas price inflation this year. hoping it will come down really soon...) working on some other things but glass is proving very hard to photograph. saw a woman reccomend that you spray your items with hairspray first so they are not so reflective... gonna give that one a try today i believe.
in fact i should do that now. and i may give in and buy wax too. dont have the money to invest, but cant use it to make money if i dont invest in it.. here's to hoping that shop takes off and i can work from home making candles every day. that would be a dream come true.
still... no job. no leads. no interviews. i'm getting a bit down about it really.
17 days without a cigarette. not so hard. no job, no one to take smoke breaks with.
azreal fell off the balcony the other night. we didnt even know he had gotten outside. just heard a cat screaming, looked outside, and there he was, on the ground, low to the grass with his ears flat and his eyes large and wild. i had to go downstairs (which also means around the whole the building) to get him and carry him back up.
we can see and hear navy seal training from here. sounded like world war three, yet no one was screaming. could see the flares and smoke and everything. really bizarre.
gizmo is getting depressed, i think. since petrie is gone, he hardly swims around anymore. just hangs out in the same spot at the back of the tank.
grainne is good. she got a little overzealous with her toy the other night and somehow got her leg stuck under the ottoman (that we currently use as a coffee table) when she tried to roll over and lifted up one end of the ottoman, sending our drinks to the floor. we kinda laughed but gave her the 'awe..grainne..' sort of sigh. she ran to her box, but didnt quite know if she was in trouble or not, so she stood there, half in and half out... looking at us through the window with her bum hanging out the door waiting for a conviction.
trying to make the best of this situation. its giving me a lot of time at home, but i seem to be incapable of getting anything done. i cant really work on my candle shop because i am out of wax, and without a job cant justify investing $200 into an order. (wax has gone way up with the gas price inflation this year. hoping it will come down really soon...) working on some other things but glass is proving very hard to photograph. saw a woman reccomend that you spray your items with hairspray first so they are not so reflective... gonna give that one a try today i believe.
in fact i should do that now. and i may give in and buy wax too. dont have the money to invest, but cant use it to make money if i dont invest in it.. here's to hoping that shop takes off and i can work from home making candles every day. that would be a dream come true.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
beach dog, take 2
we took Grainne to the beach again saturday morning... oh how funny. she has decided that she doesnt like the edge of the water lapping up onto her feet. she either runs away from it, or jumps over the foamy edge. apparently its not the water she fears, for some reason just the approaching edge of it.
she loves seaweed. It was high tide this weekend, and there were gobs of it washed up all over the beaches. at any given chance she ran right into them:
I cant even begin to tell you how much I love these next two pictures. (for the record, I think I caught her in the middle of a sneeze, she really was not trying to eat me.. hmmm.. "I can haz fotografer?"..haha)
spending the day getting things sorted. trying once and for all to set up a functional craft space. spent a ton of time listing items in my new shop CurioBoudoir.etsy.com .. check it out :)
she loves seaweed. It was high tide this weekend, and there were gobs of it washed up all over the beaches. at any given chance she ran right into them:
I cant even begin to tell you how much I love these next two pictures. (for the record, I think I caught her in the middle of a sneeze, she really was not trying to eat me.. hmmm.. "I can haz fotografer?"..haha)
spending the day getting things sorted. trying once and for all to set up a functional craft space. spent a ton of time listing items in my new shop CurioBoudoir.etsy.com .. check it out :)
Friday, November 14, 2008
sunset
we walked along the beach right in front of our place. it was foggy. first pic without flash, second pic with flash - looks like two different days. took some pics and a little video:
stupid video wont load. i'll try again tomorrow..
stupid video wont load. i'll try again tomorrow..
Thursday, November 13, 2008
shamu and some things
I regret to inform you that Sea World seems to have become a victim of shrinkage. It once was a vast land of life size aquariums, sea mammals, humor and shows... now it is a cracker jack box with a handfull of fishes. Alright so maybe I've just gotten older and things seem so much smaller than i remember from my childhood. It could also be that its November and the winter schedule is less active than the schedule i remember from summer vacations.
Shamu appears twice a day. Their 'Believe' show is .. inspiring, I suppose. They failed to introduce the whales, accept for Corky, the mother hen. They failed to really give much information about the whales, except during a silly 'kids ask the darndest questions' sort of video. There were few tricks, a couple of jumps and lots of splashing. Twenty minutes at most, and mostly video, it was really more about driving the 'follow your dreams' message than the whales or even conservataion efforts.
The dolphin show is a few jumps and mostly splashing. all the trainers are, coincidentally, blonde. no idea why that is important, but the hubbs and I both noticed it. I tried to pet the dolphins in the feeding tank, however, some lady pushed her daughter in front of me and wouldnt leave. i wanted to choke her with her chanel purse and string her up for the seagulls to eat her. met a cool bird though.
The sea lion and otter show was actually the best. It was humorous, and full of showmanship. Thats what I was looking for I guess. Except they began to spray water down from the back of the stadium, just to catch those who try to stay dry. Cheating.
We had a characture done, which was a lot of fun. I'll take a picture of it and post it soon. oh and the manatees.. oh that was my favorite.
Went to another job fair today - got lost, damn this city. streets are not straight, nor flat, so you cant even try to see whats coming ahead. sometimes the street exits are on the right, sometimes on the left. you never know with enough time to get over. you cannot get on the freeway at the same place you get off, in most cases. half of the damn onramps are in residentional neighborhoods and you have to know where to find a sign in order to get there. and dont even mention the bumpity bumpity of the roads. i accidentally found ikea, so i guess its not all lost.
signs here are weird. jack in the box is touting anew look, i'll get picture as soon as i can find another location. and some shops just leave no room for confusion:
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
note 1
well, yesterday was a day of firsts:
- i met with a staffing agency and may be a temp for the first time in my life. i drove thirty miles to get there, north to La Jolla, that was a first.
- i went to ross to try to find something nice to wear for an interview and couldnt even find one single thing to buy - definately a first.
- tried making curry using only the can of the madras curry powder and directions on the can... didnt turn out so great. (but we tried to turn pita bread into garlic naan, it wasn't so bad)
in my head it seemed like more firsts...
anyway, the hubbs is off today for some goverment holiday that never meant anything to me before now, cuz i've never had those random days off. he promised we could go to sea world, he says we get in free for being military. WOO HOO the perks are finally coming in! haha. so excited i feel like i'm six. pics will be posted later.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
loverly weekend
yesterday was a beautiful day. the hubbs had muster at 715, so he left early. grainne started whining at 730 so i got up to take her out. the details of the morning are a little fuzzy. i know there was coffee involved. i had been trying to photograph some of my new goodies, but its proven difficult to photograph glass without getting too much glare. (tips are greatly appreciated)
the hubbs came home and we decided to walk the dog, since the morning was so beautiful. it was warm and sunny, a perfect day. so we grabbed the dog, some coffee, and out the door we went. decided to walk to the end of Seacoast drive that we had not yet explored... apparently there is a children's Camp Surf at the end of the block, fenced off, with brightly painted beachy bungalows scattered on the beach. very cute, but we couldn't see much.
so we turned around and headed down an alley that headed west. the alleyway went straight to the beach, and also branched off to the left between two rows of homes/apartments/condos. the hubbs noticed on the sign before the beach entrance that 'dogs allowed on leash only' .. sweet!
so we rolled up our pants, threw off our shoes, and took the barka to the beach for the very first time. she was hilarious. at first, she didn't quite know what that sand-stuff was.. and it took her a minute to get her bearings walking through it. once we hit the harder, wet sand she went a little crazy, running in circles, back and forth.. smelling all the seaweed that had washed up on shore. it was like someone had lit a firecracker in her bum.
then we got closer to the water line, and she was OK, until the waves lapped up onto the sand, and then like a little kid she ran backwards as fast as she could to get away from the water. if you know dogs, they dint maneuver backwards very well ,so that in itself was a sight.
i finally had to hold onto her collar and trick her into the water. which was...ok.. for a bit. then i realized that if i ran toward the water, she would run with me. so i hiked up my pant rolls above my knees, and charging into the water we went. once she got out to about her chest-high in the water she just kind of stood there with a look of terror on her face. my only thought is that she had flashbacks to the bathtub where i keep telling her to stand still... it was like she bounded out there and then as soon as she realized she was wet she frozen solid.
anyway, we played for quite a while there. then we took her down the street to the park area where there are beach showers and we washed her off. and since i don't enjoy wet dog, we walked for a little while longer to give her time to air dry. it was a good walk for her, a couple hours at the very least, a busy busy morning. and we were home by 1030...
so, we potted the plants we bought last weekend and swept the porch. noon came and we got hungry so we walked next door to Thai food restaurant and had lunch. the hubbs had to go back to base for muster at 3 so we went home for a quick nap. he woke and left about 230 and i slept for an hour longer. the afternoon is after-nap fuzzy, but i think i watched some tv. tried photographing my goodies again.
the hubbs came home and convinced me to go for a walk again. we walked across the street to the coffee shop and got mochas, then walked to the end of the pier to watch the sunset. there were pelicans dive-bombing the waters all around us and a few otters swimming below us. the horizon was cloudy so the sunset wasn't spectacular but the reflection on the waters and the silhouettes of the birds in the rust colored sky was beautiful.
the hubbs came home and we decided to walk the dog, since the morning was so beautiful. it was warm and sunny, a perfect day. so we grabbed the dog, some coffee, and out the door we went. decided to walk to the end of Seacoast drive that we had not yet explored... apparently there is a children's Camp Surf at the end of the block, fenced off, with brightly painted beachy bungalows scattered on the beach. very cute, but we couldn't see much.
so we turned around and headed down an alley that headed west. the alleyway went straight to the beach, and also branched off to the left between two rows of homes/apartments/condos. the hubbs noticed on the sign before the beach entrance that 'dogs allowed on leash only' .. sweet!
so we rolled up our pants, threw off our shoes, and took the barka to the beach for the very first time. she was hilarious. at first, she didn't quite know what that sand-stuff was.. and it took her a minute to get her bearings walking through it. once we hit the harder, wet sand she went a little crazy, running in circles, back and forth.. smelling all the seaweed that had washed up on shore. it was like someone had lit a firecracker in her bum.
then we got closer to the water line, and she was OK, until the waves lapped up onto the sand, and then like a little kid she ran backwards as fast as she could to get away from the water. if you know dogs, they dint maneuver backwards very well ,so that in itself was a sight.
i finally had to hold onto her collar and trick her into the water. which was...ok.. for a bit. then i realized that if i ran toward the water, she would run with me. so i hiked up my pant rolls above my knees, and charging into the water we went. once she got out to about her chest-high in the water she just kind of stood there with a look of terror on her face. my only thought is that she had flashbacks to the bathtub where i keep telling her to stand still... it was like she bounded out there and then as soon as she realized she was wet she frozen solid.
anyway, we played for quite a while there. then we took her down the street to the park area where there are beach showers and we washed her off. and since i don't enjoy wet dog, we walked for a little while longer to give her time to air dry. it was a good walk for her, a couple hours at the very least, a busy busy morning. and we were home by 1030...
so, we potted the plants we bought last weekend and swept the porch. noon came and we got hungry so we walked next door to Thai food restaurant and had lunch. the hubbs had to go back to base for muster at 3 so we went home for a quick nap. he woke and left about 230 and i slept for an hour longer. the afternoon is after-nap fuzzy, but i think i watched some tv. tried photographing my goodies again.
the hubbs came home and convinced me to go for a walk again. we walked across the street to the coffee shop and got mochas, then walked to the end of the pier to watch the sunset. there were pelicans dive-bombing the waters all around us and a few otters swimming below us. the horizon was cloudy so the sunset wasn't spectacular but the reflection on the waters and the silhouettes of the birds in the rust colored sky was beautiful.
on our way home we walked through the shell shop that is down the street - disappointing. it is small, dirty, smelly, and jumbled. its like a head shop without any paraphernalia. mixes of shells, fairies, dragons, tiki masks, little ugly things from china... i was sad. the guy who owns it looks like a .. well, he was creepy, lets leave it at that. no use in calling people names.
then we walked through the little gift shop that the real estate lady owns... she's the main real estate lady (and her husband too i guess) in Imperial Beach. If you want to live here, you better talk to them, kinda thing. talked to the gal working there about the potential of putting candles there. could be good. we'll see. apparently the lady that runs that place is obsessed with primary colors - everything she owns, including the building, is red blue and yellow. gross. like preschool threw up all over this town.
then we went into the surf shop across the street. the building is misleading, that store is F'ing huge. cute dresses :) lots of surfboards, wet suits, skateboards, etc etc etc...
then came home. walked the dog a bit more, and by that time it was getting late. ate some leftovers, watched a movie or two, searched for a new wax supplier and to bed we went.
today we are supposed to be cleaning, but the hubbs is upstairs reading LOLs and i'm here blogging... so you can tell how this day is going... haha.
will put up pictures soon.
xoxo
Friday, November 7, 2008
hungry hungry hamster houdini
i've been spending my last couple of days in the second bedroom trying to sort out all of my candle and craft stuff and set up a decent workspace. this room will double as the guest room so i'm trying to make it 'pretty' as well as functional. well you know me, this has proven to be quite the task, taking a long time.
anyway, yesterday i noticed that harvey had created a stuffing bowl on the bottom level of his pink castle next to the tube that leads to his tower. last week jm had taken the tape off of his wheel so he's been keeping us up at night while he runs... i figured he just decided to make his bed elsewhere so he could run at will. i peeked in on him and noticed that his wheel now also doubles as his potty spot and the damn thing was disgusting. so i pulled his wheel off and washed it. snce this place is so humid i set it out on the balcony to dry, and put the little pink stopper in place of the wheel hole... and then forgot to put his wheel back on.
this morning i go in to work some more and realize the stopper is gone and so is harvey. i start calling for him, looking for the stopper.. neither could be found. i figured he was under the couch, which is beside the table where he escaped. no biggie, i'll clean the room and he'll come out when he's hungry. so about my business i go. eventually i found the stopper in a box beside the tabe where his castle is... but no harvey.
a couple hours later, on the other side of the room i stood still for a few minutes trying to figure out where to put the clock. i heard crunching coming from the boxes below the clock. lo and behold, i had put all of his food in that box. there are holes in the side of the box for handles and he must have climbed in. so i took the lid off the box expecting to see him there munching away on something. no harvey.
i took everything out of the box. no harvey. i put everything back in the box. still no harvey. so i picked everything up and shook it. no harvey. so i started looking in every bag... and i found him inside the tall box of peanut butter dog biscuits, curled up in a ball, sleeping. so he had crawled all the way across the room, hopped into the big food box, and then into the biscuit box, munched on a biscuit and went to sleep. it was the cutest f'ing thing.
anyway, yesterday i noticed that harvey had created a stuffing bowl on the bottom level of his pink castle next to the tube that leads to his tower. last week jm had taken the tape off of his wheel so he's been keeping us up at night while he runs... i figured he just decided to make his bed elsewhere so he could run at will. i peeked in on him and noticed that his wheel now also doubles as his potty spot and the damn thing was disgusting. so i pulled his wheel off and washed it. snce this place is so humid i set it out on the balcony to dry, and put the little pink stopper in place of the wheel hole... and then forgot to put his wheel back on.
this morning i go in to work some more and realize the stopper is gone and so is harvey. i start calling for him, looking for the stopper.. neither could be found. i figured he was under the couch, which is beside the table where he escaped. no biggie, i'll clean the room and he'll come out when he's hungry. so about my business i go. eventually i found the stopper in a box beside the tabe where his castle is... but no harvey.
a couple hours later, on the other side of the room i stood still for a few minutes trying to figure out where to put the clock. i heard crunching coming from the boxes below the clock. lo and behold, i had put all of his food in that box. there are holes in the side of the box for handles and he must have climbed in. so i took the lid off the box expecting to see him there munching away on something. no harvey.
i took everything out of the box. no harvey. i put everything back in the box. still no harvey. so i picked everything up and shook it. no harvey. so i started looking in every bag... and i found him inside the tall box of peanut butter dog biscuits, curled up in a ball, sleeping. so he had crawled all the way across the room, hopped into the big food box, and then into the biscuit box, munched on a biscuit and went to sleep. it was the cutest f'ing thing.
Monday, November 3, 2008
the move... a recap.
friday 10/24: well, the truck wasnt big enough. packed to the brim, but still missing furntiture and oddities. thanks to everyone who stopped by to help. i fell asleep on the floor. begging to leave by 1130. begging him not to put the car onto the trailer yet...
saturday 10/25: couldnt sleep with 2 adults on a twin bed. i kept falling off. me and the dog woke early and walked to the apt to start loading the car. which was put on the trailer. whose doors wouldnt open... loaded everything through the hatchback. fishies in a bucket... lets leave the cats behind. i'll come home tuesday to get the rest... the drive wasnt bad, made good time. hit downtown san diego by accdent, got lost. petrie doesnt look good... home at 7, set up fishtank, petrie really doesnt look good... dont feel like unloading the truck. hungry. get thai food and walk dog. cold. really tired..
sunday 10/26: woke early. walked dog in fog to coffee shop across the street. got coffee and muffins for the biscuit. 2 friends come to help. they kicked ass. pizza. nap. gizmo is pushing petrie around trying to get him to swim. very sad.
monday - dont remember. unpacking the kitchen mostly. oh- i drove to coronado island base to get decals and smog check. had lunch, killed my stomach. went shopping at commissary for the first time.
tuesday - drove to phoenix. got everything out of the apt. thanks again to mom tiff and shane for lots of help. to aunt doris' for bday cake. said farewells to family.
wednesday - finally got the drill. drove home to IB. finaly got to say goodbye to that godaweful city in the desert. petrie didnt make it.
thursday 10/30: more unpacking. evening - we took petrie in a bucket out onto the pier and dropped him into the ocean. bye bye petrie. i'm sorry you didnt make it. gizmo misses you.
friday 10/31: dinner at applebees for cheeseburger and spinach dip. got coffee. walked. pushed candy on kids that were walking the street.
saturday 11/1: early turnover. went with biscuit to base. had breakfast. went to home depot. got plants. got ouce cream.
sunday 11/2: chorizo. dont remember anything else.
monday 11/3: a day of unpacking, then in the evening the hubbs and i went to the beach for the first time. my feet got so cold my legs went numb to my knees, and it actually hurt to walk. it was the weirdest senstation the water wasnt even that cold! lots of seashells to hunt here. lots of ideas floating in my head about making sand candles. cant wait for the sand castle contest in the summer time.
tuesday 11/4: unpacking.
wednesday 11/5: job fair. bust. got ran over by someone in parking lot of wallys. breakdown. discouraged. biscuit smiles.
thursday and friday - more unpacking. movie watching. cooking. i made banana bread frm scratch at some point this week. it was good. i am super suzy homemaker.
pictures to come...
saturday 10/25: couldnt sleep with 2 adults on a twin bed. i kept falling off. me and the dog woke early and walked to the apt to start loading the car. which was put on the trailer. whose doors wouldnt open... loaded everything through the hatchback. fishies in a bucket... lets leave the cats behind. i'll come home tuesday to get the rest... the drive wasnt bad, made good time. hit downtown san diego by accdent, got lost. petrie doesnt look good... home at 7, set up fishtank, petrie really doesnt look good... dont feel like unloading the truck. hungry. get thai food and walk dog. cold. really tired..
sunday 10/26: woke early. walked dog in fog to coffee shop across the street. got coffee and muffins for the biscuit. 2 friends come to help. they kicked ass. pizza. nap. gizmo is pushing petrie around trying to get him to swim. very sad.
monday - dont remember. unpacking the kitchen mostly. oh- i drove to coronado island base to get decals and smog check. had lunch, killed my stomach. went shopping at commissary for the first time.
tuesday - drove to phoenix. got everything out of the apt. thanks again to mom tiff and shane for lots of help. to aunt doris' for bday cake. said farewells to family.
wednesday - finally got the drill. drove home to IB. finaly got to say goodbye to that godaweful city in the desert. petrie didnt make it.
thursday 10/30: more unpacking. evening - we took petrie in a bucket out onto the pier and dropped him into the ocean. bye bye petrie. i'm sorry you didnt make it. gizmo misses you.
friday 10/31: dinner at applebees for cheeseburger and spinach dip. got coffee. walked. pushed candy on kids that were walking the street.
saturday 11/1: early turnover. went with biscuit to base. had breakfast. went to home depot. got plants. got ouce cream.
sunday 11/2: chorizo. dont remember anything else.
monday 11/3: a day of unpacking, then in the evening the hubbs and i went to the beach for the first time. my feet got so cold my legs went numb to my knees, and it actually hurt to walk. it was the weirdest senstation the water wasnt even that cold! lots of seashells to hunt here. lots of ideas floating in my head about making sand candles. cant wait for the sand castle contest in the summer time.
tuesday 11/4: unpacking.
wednesday 11/5: job fair. bust. got ran over by someone in parking lot of wallys. breakdown. discouraged. biscuit smiles.
thursday and friday - more unpacking. movie watching. cooking. i made banana bread frm scratch at some point this week. it was good. i am super suzy homemaker.
pictures to come...
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