If it quacks it must be a duck

I made a sheet of labels. Tongue-in-cheek, funny to probably no one but me. But this one made me laugh again today. Who am I kidding? My ducks are not in a row. They are so not in a row that it is highly unlikely they could even be called ducks. I was soooo looking forward to this weekend (hell, ANY weekend really.) I am all caught up with "requirements" and I have yarn and paper enough to stock a senior citizen center for months, yet I seem unable to do anything, commit to anything. I've pulled photos out at least three times, pushed them around half-assed. I've pulled out yarn and needles and cast on and ripped back out at least the same number of times. What is it? I know I perform better under stress. Have always known nothing gets me going, frees my mind, like a looming deadline. I can't even fool myself - tell my brain of some false due date. I think I need to be still for a bit and just try to accept this, that I can't be "on" all the time. and just be okay with it.
[ t ]

edit: a layout using these labels can be found here.

purty-ful things

Indy says "purty-ful" as in pretty + beautiful. Now WE say purtyful. She also used to say "lasterday" and "nexterday" for yesterday and tomorrow. So we used to say it to her in reference to time. She's 6 now and those two have dropped out of our collective vocabularies. This is why I scrapbook, to recall these things. I'll put it here for now and someday, it will be a page. Back to purtyful though. See that totally rockin, cute-as-a-button notebook? It came from my friend Lain, aka knit and prrl girl. I left the envelope so you could see how cool her handwriting is! I love it too and I love that she made it special for me. how sweet is she? how talented? <-----------------------this much sweet and talented---------------------------> I love it Lain!!!
The flowers are what I've been working on lately. Little bits 'o fluff that are so fun to make and are so versatile. My friend Stephanie pins them to her sweater to close it. I have one tied to my purse handle. My friend Tammy is putting them on a scarf. I made a little card that says "Yeah they're cute, but what can I do with them?" and then lists about a bazillion things I thought you could do. They'll be $5 ea. at the bazaars, hope they do well. Too much? Not enough? Love 'em? Hate em? Lookin for feedback here...
[ t ]

hee hee

Had a hankerin' for some (more) notepads that represent ME. Not corporate me, but me as I try to fit into the corporate world, but let a little me peek through. I am a doodler, and everyone who knows me at work knows I doodle as I'm sitting in meetings, or on the phone and it does NOT mean I am not paying attention. It's how I listen and keep my brain awake so I CAN listen. So I made notepads that look like I've already doodled on them, because they're a little subversive and NOT corporate and that makes me laugh. People I send notes to at work fall into two groups: people that laugh when they see them and those that say "uh, I got your, uh, note..." (and here their voice goes up a little and one eyebrow raises slightly.) I also made some sarcastic labels, but I'll save those for another day.
it's fun to let yourself show.
[ t ]

i invented something!

A recipe! Me, who-does-not-cook (although I do like to bake), wanted blueberry muffins but didn’t have a boxed mix on hand. I do have fresh blueberries from this summer (frozen, just waiting to be sacrificed for such a delicious cause), but am entirely too lazy (and hungry) to make “from scratch” muffins. So this is what I did:

2 c. Krusteaz Buttermilk Pancake mix
1 c. water
¾ c. sugar
1 egg
2 Tbs. oil

Stir just till mixed.
Fold in 1 c. fresh blueberries

Bake in an 8 mini-loaf pan @ 400 F for 13-15 mins with convection turned on (I have a convection oven, but without it, just cook yours a little longer). [edited: for regular muffins, don't use convection - it browned the tops too fast]

In like 20 mins from start to finish I was eating HOMEMADE blueberry muffins (OK, loaves) with melting butter and crumby goodness. I am now free to use this “recipe” with any mix-ins! Chocolate chips! Huckleberries! Raspberries and orange zest and diced apples and bananas (I love to spell b-a-n-a-n-a-s, it makes me laugh) and coconut and pineapple and pecans (oh gosh I LOVE pecans) and the list goes on…da-da-dant-da-dant-da-da (eminem fans will get it :)
Happy eats, my peeps! LOL, I slay me! [ t ]

[edited: I tried it and 1 c. chocolate chips was too much! Try 1/2 c. mini chips, unless you WANT death by chocolate]

Almost lost

My oldest daughter, Shade, 14, was almost lost to me forever yesterday. As in quite literally, the last time I saw her would have been the last time I saw her alive. She was walking to school with a friend, Kia, 16, and they were crossing the street right outside our house. They were at the intersection, in the crosswalk, following all "the rules". An oncoming car stopped to let them cross, however the car behind him, driven by a teenage boy who was trying to drop off his little sisters at the elementary school (where my youngest daughter also happens to go) did not stop. He plowed at full speed into the stopped car which was 4 feet from Shade and Kia. It was sent directly at them in what she describes as "mom it was like the whole world went into slow motion, but at the same time it was instant, like a second". They literally dove out of the way and were missed by a hair. The car that was hit was totalled, into a little ball (my DH saw the car only a few minutes later, never knowing that Shade had been there) and the passengers were carried away on stretchers, unconscious. I still do not know if they are OK. This happened in the morning and I didn't hear about it until some 9 hours later. And in the telling, we didn't even know that Shade was there, we just heard about the horrible accident outside our house. Wasn't until Carsey (middle kid) got home and gushed "how is Shade? I was so worried all day, is she OK?" Apparently it was all the talk at her middle school. She said she could "swear she had seen me come into the office and knew what it had to mean and felt sick inside" {luckily that was not the case!). In all of this there is the surreal feeling that it didn't happen, everything is as it has always been, she is fine, no harm done, no foul. But in my head, in the quiet, I keep hearing "Shade almost died today" and this morning "Shade almost died yesterday. almost died, almost died, ALMOST DIED......" I don't like the quiet right now, not good to be in my own head.
hugs, t