ha!

this isn't even a real post, in case you were wondering.  it's just been a crazy week and i'm too full of thoughts to even begin getting them down... that whole "nailing jello to a tree" analogy comes to mind.  so, instead, i'll just throw random bits of happy out and you can ignore or ponder them at your leisure...

county fairs and demolition derbys.  yes. i came. i saw. i sweated like a whore in church... and loved every damn minute of it!

running away from home?   head to louisville, but unless you're a huge fan, skip the urban bourbon tour. i have exactly one stamp in my bourbon passport, and i'm quite ashamed to say i dinna even drink the damn stuff.  had to leave the nasty, mulchy-smelling stuff there on the bar.  thank gawd for tequila... and irish whisky...

getting asked if you've recently undergone gastric-bypass surgery.  this happened to me at belly dance class last night, which in my brain is really still tonight (cuz i'm up typing in these wee hours of the morning, the sleep, she eludes me).  should this question thrill me so much?  hellz yeah!  i'm at my lowest weight in sixteen years.  sixteen.  years.  yeah, baby...
and my weight doesn't even start with a 'two' anymore.  i might faint from the thrill of it all.

moving into the girl-cave this week has been hot, miserable work, but the end is near... and there's cold beer in the fridge and the air-conditioning is cranked.  that first electric bill might make me swoon, but as an official resident of the girl-cave, i have to gird my loins (i just wanted to use the word loins... makes me feel all 'wild kingdom') for the shock of it.  also, i need to remember that hot air rises, so maybe winter won't be so bad... plus, that's what the handknits are for.  i iz knittah.  chillz?  bah!

little boys with fresh haircuts.  sleeping siamese cats on comfy chairs.  girls in glasses looking super-cute.  realizing that the world doesn't come screeching to a halt if you take a breather to collect your thoughts... or to bandy them about.  deciding not to decide about some things... only open-minded people think to mix their italian ices.  i might love that a little... okay... a lot.
lemon-blueberry, anyone?

enjoying the ride?

today is an 'out day'... i'm running on fumes, but the weekend is just a few days away. hang on and enjoy the ride... words to live by, for a few more days at least!

the girl cave...

okay, tomorrow is the last day of painting... the girl cave is nearly finished. yeah, there's the whole 'moving in' thing to get through. i keep forgetting about that part...

not much to see here. just walls and ladders. just preserving the memory of a nearly pristine workspace. the next time you see it, it'll be full of color and chaos... and quilts, if i get my arse moving.

the wonderous view of a brick wall out the back kitchen window. i'm embracing the whole 'city-apartment' feel... perhaps i'll sneak out for smoke-breaks. my bum fits the windowsill.
i checked already...

lil' bitty update

Today was a busy little day at Becher Haus...
these two had a birthday. Thirteen and fifteen. I'm pretty sure we just brought the wee girlie home, but now she's ready to learn to drive. I need a lie-down...

Knitting happened whilst I waited on getting the tires re-balanced... and yeah, I'm verrry into pirates right now. He's the perfect knitting companion. The baby socks are random bits of Opal sock yarn, and the goal is handsful of mis-matched 'thockies' for baby gifts. I just need scads more before October, when all the wee ones start making appearances.

First thing this morning... dermatologist appointment. Got a nice little speeding ticket on the way there, but the scary part was the NEEDLE full of lidocaine STUCK IN MY EYELID. Oh. Was I shouting? Sorry. It was a little harrowing. Even birthday cake dinna make it better. Tomorrow I expect to not look like a bruiser. I'll still have sock yarn in hand, though...

No 'show & tell' today

... but that just means it'll be all the better when I do finally fire up the camera.  Things seem to be cruising along pretty well lately.  The studio is a work-in-progress, but the ceilings are no longer in danger of dropping old plaster on anyone, and painting commences tomorrow.  I don't know what's up with the contractor for the haus, but there is that whole 'blinking voicemail' doogie on my phone... I'll have to check that out.  This weekend I'm letting my inner redneck out in a big way (sorry, mom!) and attending my first mud bog festival.  Oh, I'm sorry... did you just crack your head on the desk?  Ouch!  I shoulda warned you it was coming.  My predilection for shocking behavior should serve as a warning to y'all.  Now you know.  Anyway, right after mudding and hitting the honky tonk bars, I'm headed to Louisville, for a little respite from 'real life'.  Booked a room in a fancy hotel and I'm hauling the laptop with me for some remote blogging... the camera is all charged up.  No chores, no five chirruns wanting fed, no having to referee disputes over the Wii, or whose turn it is to haul out the trash.  Just peaceful nothingness on Egyptian cotton sheets and a 'hot brown' in my belly.  My goal- to get things squared away and maybe get a name and a mission statement hammered out in my brain about this new direction things are moving in.  I've got about six quilt designs to get sketched onto paper before I lose them, and am hoping to have a few started within a month. Thinking of selling kits for the smaller quilts, but that's far in future.  I have the submission guidelines in hand for creating a fabric collection... that's my 'must do before I die' project that keeps haunting me.  We'll see how that goes, though a local artist's work is the first thing I want to see translated into fabric; he's excited about the project, so hopefully Westminster/Free Spirit will see the edgy-genius of it as well.  More later, kittens.  I'm off to beautify and crash No-Amy's door with Starbucks in hand.  She escaped having to go camping and today her freedom ends... poor baby.  Is alright.  I fix. *mwah*

falling to pieces

So, it's been a hella couple of weeks since a whole tree fell on the haus.  In that span of time, I've closed the store, rented an apartment downtown to use as a design studio, called countless contractors for both the damaged haus and the daunting task of painting the interior of an apartment with 14 ft. ceilings.  The haus remains a wee bit of a wreck, but I think we've got a good guy to work on it.  My beautiful friend Phyl recommended him, so crossables crossed... and the painting guy seems more than capable.  The whole "design studio" concept was to create a space where I could work on quilts without interruption, but wouldn't you know it, as I've been waiting to get moved into the new space, the coolest idea for a line of fabrics has burrowed into my brain.  So... yeah.  Fabric design.  Just one of many new adventures in this life, post-Clementine.

In other random news, the evil bronchitis is nearly completely gone,  just re-inked the old tattoos the other night, started a new belly dance class last night, have taken up beer with a vengeance in this awful heat, and I'm at my lowest weight in 16 years.  Yep.  I was so shocked I bought myself a Calvin Klein dress... and it fits perfectly.  Of course, a pair of 6" stilettos also found their way home with me, along with other wardrobing accessories, but buying something off the rack in a size 14 thrilled this lil' big grrrl to pieces.  Things are finally feeling manageable, I'm knitting again, and life seems full of promise.  I never expected retail to suck the life out of me, but I suppose the last seven months were what did it.  Problem solved.  Now to get back some semblance of a life, though the new one may bear little resemblance to the previous one.  Still many loose ends to tie up, but I just wanted to check in with y'all...
don't worry.  This'll be mo' bettah, cheres...