Would like your opion

This post is a consumer survey of sorts. Over the past few years, I've made all kinds of things as gifts for others, or for myself. As always, my entrepreneurial mind is working, and I'm wondering if I could make the things I enjoy making, and actually make money off of them. I've compiled a list of the things I've made (or could/plan to make). I'm putting up photos of each of these, and I'd like you to state A) How much you would expect to see this run for in a specialty gift shop, and B) How much you would actually pay for it. I've already put together a list of guesses (my B is always much lower than A, so don't feel bad if you're a cheapskate, too), but I thought I would poll the audience for your thoughts, as well. If you've seen things similar in gift shops, and remember those prices, that would be helpful, too.

I figure the A price is a good price to start, and the B price would serve as a sale/special price. I also realize the venue makes a huge difference. At the moment, I'm still undecided what a good venue would actually be. Because of the eclectic nature of these things, I've considered a place like Canton (where prices might be expected to be lower), but a specialty gift shop like Spice would also work (where prices would be expected to be higher).

So here they are. I'll number them, then you can fill out your comment as follows:

1 a) 10.00 b) 7.50
2 a) 12.00 b) 8.00

I'm afraid some of them don't justify the production cost and time, so they would never make it, but I'm interested to see what you think!

1. Topiaries: ready-made, with many options to choose from

2. Cat beds: special-ordered with your choice of fabric

3. Frosted Glasses: ready-made, set of 4

4. T-shirts

5. Magnets: ready-made, set of 7

6. Coasters: set of 6

7. Embroidery kits: customized with your choice of fabric/ribbon

8. Family Trees: special order with your choice of frame and color scheme

9. Draft stoppers: customized, your choice of fabric (the things that you put at the bottoms of windows and doors to keep cold air from coming in). I haven't made this, so no photo

10. Aprons: customized, your choice of fabric, and maybe even design. I haven't made this, either.

I have lots of customized things, and Leanna (my business partner in crime) suggested we have a "Custom Creations" section. We could also just make a variety of styles, and not offer customization on anything but the family tree. So there you go! It's really a huge help to me to know what you think, so I appreciate your comments! Thanks!!

Photo Blog

Because I haven't come up with anything good to post in forever, I'm just posting photos today.

First, a slideshow of the world's biggest yawn.

Next, a photo of little Sophie. She's starting to crawl, and I got to babysit her last weekend!

We had a new bird come to our feeders! I just added suet to the menu, and evidently this Downy Woodpecker likes it! (I thought it was a Hairy Woodpecker, but the beak seems too small...still a funny name, though.)

And in case you didn't see enough of Friday....

Go away Spammers!

Due to a large amount of spam coming to my blog, I've enabled word verification. If you have a blog, I don't think you'll have to use it, but I don't know. It's a pain, and I hate it, but maybe it will keep the spam off. I've deleted so many in the past few days, it's ridiculous! It's weird, because I've had this almost two years, with no word verification, and have just started getting spam. Maybe it's the New Blogger. Argh.

Anyway, happy Friday! Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I'm working on one right now that hopefully I'll have up by the end of the day.

Goings on in my day

Well, today has been a different day for me. It started at 5:30am, getting ready to go to the hospital. Holly's baby, Sophia, was getting tubes put in her ears. I was going along for moral support, and, it turns out, to hold things as we went from room to room. Anyway, I felt very important with my arm band that identified me as One Who Could Enter the Recovery Room.

Sophie was not a happy girl. She hasn't been for some time, hence the tubes, but she was particularly unhappy for several reasons.

1. Her ears hurt.
2. All the medicine to make her ears better made her throw up (I was covered in green bean goo last night–another first for me).
3. She couldn't eat anything this morning, and anything she had eaten last night (the aforementioned green beans) had been thrown up. So she was pretty hungry.
4. She hadn't slept since 2 this morning, so she was pretty tired, too.
   
5. Doctors have scary snake things hanging around their necks, which they kept touching her with. (Also known as stethoscopes, but she didn't know that).

Then...she went into surgery (we were thankful she had been cleared, even though she was sick) and came out about 15 minutes later. We headed to the recovery room, where lots of little babies were being comforted by their mothers. Sophia was even less happy than before. Now, her ears felt better, but according to the doctor, everything would sound like a scream to her. She has been virtually deaf because of all the gunk in her ears, and every noise would be a rude awakening. Kind of like after your ears finally pop, only probably ten times worse.

Finally in the car, she fell asleep on the way home. I dropped she and Holly off on their side of the duplex, so they could make up for all the lost sleep last night, before heading to mine to start work for the day. Supposedly, Sophie will wake up a whole new kid, happy and pain-free. I can't wait to go visit this evening.

I also bought the Big-E Pak of Eclipse gum. That was actually last night, on a late night trip to Walgreens for Pedialyte, but it was still exciting. It has 60 pieces of gum in it. I thought it would fit in a cup holder in a car, and it will, but it's still sort of small. So "big" is relative. I still like it, though. Does anyone else buy a product for the package? Reminds me of the time my mother-in-law bought this great milk for me in Kansas City, just because I fell in love with the way it looked. It was in a glass bottle, with a really clean design. Very cool. I still have it, and use it to hold water when I'm painting. It was from a dairy farm in Missouri.

Speaking of dairy farms, did you know you can buy your own dairy farm? Don't tell me you're not tempted! Fresh (and warm...ew...) milk every day!

In regards to farming, my little seedlings are starting to take a turn for the worse. Several that had looked so healthy are starting to droop and die. There's just the right amount of water, so I'm wondering if it's the amount of light, or if it's too cold in the house, or what. Needless to say, I'm starting to look for coupons to our local nursery. Maybe I just wasn't meant to grow plants from seed.

Ah! That reminds me! You might know that my birthday is coming up. Last year I asked for things for my garden. I feel like it is pretty well-established (unless, of course, I go buy plants from a nursery), so I have another item on my birthday list. It is a handy dandy camcorder! A lot of you have seen videos of Friday; I've even put one up here before. But, my little digital camera has only so much it can do. And, it's starting to get lines running through the video, which just won't do. Anyway, I've picked out a nice camcorder (left), which is, of course, very expensive. However, I'm hoping to save up for it, and if that doesn't work out, I'll get the one right below this one in quality (and almost $300 less!). Or wait until a good price comes up on this one at eBay. All that to say, if you want to help with the Lydia Wants To Be Spielberg Fund, just cash would be great, instead of gift cards to any certain place.

However, if you feel like you want to give something else, I've decided to start utilizing the Amazon Wish List. (Link to the right.) It has some limitations, but it should give a general idea of things I think are fun, if you're ever stuck for an idea. For example, I would like a reclining chair for my back yard. At Amazon.com, the cheapest one I could find was almost $70. That's ridiculous, and if you see one for $10 at Big Lots, I'd be perfectly fine with that. However, when you see the H180 Holton Farkas Double French Horn with Fixed Bell, that is exactly what I want. :) Oh, and I also put a lot of accessories for the camcorder I like, but if I end up getting the cheaper one, then none of those accessories would work, so you might as well stick to the other stuff.

Whew, so much explanation for how to give me stuff! So silly, too. Any one of you could come spend a day with me, and I would be a happy girl. Of course, if you came with an indoor/outdoor weather station, that would be really great! Haha! :) I'll try to update my list, and add some more stuff, mostly because it's fun to "shop." Karen N mentioned the other day that she appreciated that her brother had an Amazon wish list, so I thought that maybe it would be a helpful thing for people. Of course, I notice she doesn't have one of her own.... :)

Friday has his own little medical drama over the past couple of days. He got his yearly round of vaccinations on Tuesday, and he got pretty sick, probably worse than Sophia, in proportion. I was glad he hadn't had any green beans, and that we were able to keep him on the tile. Poor kitty. Anyway, we ran him back to the vet for a shot to calm his stomach, and to make a note to give him medicine before his vaccinations next year, so it won't happen again. He's been kinda puny since then, but started playing a little this afternoon, and eating a few bites. He's resilient, and he'll make it. His eye is looking pretty good now, and I think it's all healed up. It still waters a bit, but the vet thinks that is a side effect we'll have to live with because of scarring in his tear duct.

So, I guess that's about the last few days in review. Our lives seem pretty busy right now, and March isn't looking very calm either. But, I guess that's life. Might as well live it instead of sitting at home!

Which is what I'm doing right now....

The Tale of the Crazy Hair Lady

As I went into the process of getting a short cut, I struggled with the decision of who would cut my hair. I am a very frugal person, and have been known to trim my own hair to avoid paying for it. I knew this cut was beyond my limited ability, so a stylist was a must. But which one?

There's my stylist, Lynn. I've been to her twice, which is a sign of loyalty from me. It's only $10.95 for a haircut (add on $10 for actually fixing it), so that's been my choice for haircuts, if needed. But then again, would I get a good cut for $10.95? I was a little skeptical. Plus, English is not her native language. Would she understand, "Pixie cut, but longer in the back because of this weird cowlick thing I have"?

Then there was the nicer salon with a more expensive stylist. Jen was $35, but she would also have a consultation about what haircut fit my face and hair type the best. I liked that idea, but wondered if it would cost extra. Then there was the problem of trims later on. I certainly wasn't going to spend $35 every time I got a trim! So I would have Lynn trim it, but if I couldn't trust her with the initial haircut, could I trust her with the trim?

I finally remembered that my mom, who keeps her hair quite short, has gotten her hair cut by Lynn, and really liked it, so I shouldn't worry. I promptly made an appointment with Lynn, though it took a while to understand that "Twa" was not two, it was not ten, it was twelve. And that's when my appointment would be.

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I arrive at noon, armed with photos and a friend, Margie, who vows to stay by my side and make sure my hair does not come to ruin. It turns out that "twelve" is just a general term, and we finally make it to the chair at 12:30. My first hint at danger should be the chunks of hair still on the floor, but I decide to ignore it. Lynn is in such a hurry, she does not bother to sweep her previous customer's hair up. Even my own hair grosses me out once it's left my head! And now I am stepping on salt-and-pepper locks, and it's crunching under my shoes. "It's only $10.95, it's only $10.95...."

I hand Lynn the photos; she looks at me and laughs, "Are you sure??" Yes, I am!

Lynn makes quick work of my haircut. About three minutes after she starts, it has transformed into a cute bob with those long bangs that are in style now. Lynn reaches for the hairdryer, and it is then that I realize she thinks she's done.

"Wait! This is too long!"

"No, you don't want it that short. This is good for your face!"

"But I don't want a bob. I want a pixie!" (I realize I'm sounding a little like the whiny six-year-old in the waiting area.)

Lynn leaves for a moment, evidently to wax someone's eyebrows. She's been quite distracted the whole time, and Margie is pretty sure she's never even glanced at the photos I brought. I start to worry that the growing number of people flipping through hair books in the waiting area is causing Lynn to think more about the clock than my hair. "It's only $10.95, it's only $10.95...."

Lynn returns, and without a word begins working on my hair again. And again, three minutes later, she reaches for the blowdryer.

"Wait! Is it finished?"

With an exasperated sigh, Lynn hands me a mirror to inspect before she fixes it. It's all wet and stuck to my head, but it seems like it might be okay. I hand the mirror back, and she finishes drying my hair. At this point, I can't see the mirror, but Margie is looking at me as though to say, "Something is horribly wrong with your hair." Her eyes go from the reference photos to my haircut, and she says to Lynn, "It might be a little long still on top...."

Lynn flips the chair around so I'm finally facing the mirror. Ignoring Margie, she grabs some pomade and begins to work it into my hair.

"Wait!!" I stare at my hair, and the fluff ball it has become. I might actually resemble a Q-tip, if my hair were white.

Lynn, with her goop-laden hands suspended above my head, says, "You have to let me fix it! It will look good! You don't want it as short as you think!"

At which point, definitely crossing the whiny-baby line, I ask Margie to get out the photo I had of me when I had a pixie a few years ago. "See? I've done it before! I like short hair, and I want it really short!!"

I take a breath, knowing I was in dangerous territory to cross the one holding the scissors.

"Maybe just another half inch? I think that's what I'd like...."

She wipes her hands and picks up some scissors, quickly snipping off a little more off the top. It looks much better to me. But now the sides are a little long....

"I have to give you a whole new haircut! I have to cut it all over again!"

At which point she stomps off to do someone else's eyebrows. I notice that she's dropped her scissors on the floor.

During the small reprieve, Margie reminds me that I should not make the hair lady mad. Yet on the other hand, my hair did not look right the way it was. Somehow, I had to balance between keeping Lynn happy, and getting a haircut I wouldn't have to cover with a hat for the next month. Ambassadors have had easier jobs than this!

Lynn returns, seemingly a little calmer. I feel sorry for the eyebrows that took the brunt of her anger. She says, "I'll have to cut the sides really short so it won't cover your ears, and shave the back of your neck, which you didn't want."

Forgetting Margie's warnings, I say, "But the picture has longer hair in the back. I really don't want you to shave anything! And a little hair over my ears is fine."

At which point, Lynn jams a finger at the photo and says, "But you want it to look like the picture! See?? Her hair is not covering her ears! You SAID you want it like that!!"

Margie and I look at each other in horror. I am going to be bald when I leave the salon, and we both know it.

So, swallowing my hopes of a cute haircut, and settling for any hair at all, I say, "You know what will look good. Do whatever you think is best."

Triumphant, she begins looking for her scissors. I don't tell her about the ones on the floor, because each time she dropped her comb, she got a new one from the sterile box. I was sure she would do the same here. But after several minutes, she asks, "Have you seen my scissors?" I point to the scissors on the floor, half-hidden in masses of salt-and-pepper, and now my own brown, hair. She picks them up, flicks off the debris, and starts back in on my hair. $10.95 starts to sound exorbitant for what I'm getting.

Again in control, Lynn finishes my hair, saying, "Your hair looks cute! This makes your face look pretty! This is a good cut." I have no idea why the turnaround, but she is right. Finally, my hair looks like the hair in the picture. Margie smiles in approval to let me know Lynn hasn't hacked away at parts I can't see.

Knowing that I would be coming back (after all, $10.95 is $10.95), I decide to give Lynn a peace offering in the form of a large tip. Altogether, between the cut, the fix, and the tip, my ten dollar haircut costs almost thirty. But that's okay.

Frankly, I'm glad to be alive.

Before and After!

Here it is! The tale of the crazy hair lady to come!

It's time, once again

The skies are blue, the birds are chirping, little green shoots of life peer up from the earth. It's time. Time to cast off the old, bring on the new, refresh, renew. It's time for change, for fresh air, for new things.

It's time for the Spring Haircut.

My hair fluctuates from long to short. It doesn't happen annually, but there is a pattern. Usually, I cut it short once, then don't want to go back to get another hair cut, so I start growing it out, until it feels heavy and long and untameable, then I go and chop it all off again.

I seldom do more than blow-dry my hair. That's usually sufficient, but lately, it still hasn't looked "fixed," and I feel frumpy. I'm thinking (and this could change, of course) that it's time for a short cut, and this time I might stick to it for awhile. Which means, I have to pick the perfect one. Let's go through a series of images now....

Here is my first extreme haircut. It worked out really well, primarily because my hair was used to having a lot of weight on it, so it bounced up with lots of volume. The cons are that it eventually got used to not as much weight, and it flattened back down. Also, the back doesn't really look fixed to me.

Plus, this is basically what it would look like on a bad day (this wasn't the same haircut, but similar):

On my next short cut, I decided to take it to the extreme--the pixie.

The pros to this are that it's extremely easy to take care of. Sure, it still needs some kind of product in it, but usually just run through with my fingers, and no blow-drying. I could probably do that, even on a bad day. The cons are that I didn't, so there were days that I looked like a boy. Plus, the back was so short, it felt kind of weird. That was the only time I've had someone shave my neck. That was odd. It was at this point that I decided to grow out my hair again, which I did until after our wedding.

Spring came, and I again had the desire to cut my hair, but this time I went for a more fun, casual cut, that flipped out in the back.

I loved this cut, and felt it fit my personality very well. However, the cons are that it won't flip out about three weeks after the cut, and if I don't flip it out, it doesn't look too great. Also, I was putting about four different products in my hair, which seemed kind of ridiculous. To add on top of that, I was cutting it myself to save on salon costs, which worked out okay, but you can tell I can't cut bangs.

Looking at old photos today, it turns out I'd had that cut before, only I didn't work nearly as hard at it....

Back to present times, I kept that for awhile, and then started growing it out again. Here's what it looks like growing out:

It's really not so bad, and I wouldn't mind going back to that, but I think I want something a little more different than what I have now. The pros to that cut are that it didn't take any product, just blow-drying it out well. The cons are that this is the longest cut here, and it takes longer to blow-dry.

So it seems like the best one is the pixie, because it takes the least amount of work and product (discounting the longer cut). But I have to find a way to make it feel more feminine, with longer length in the back. Would that end up looking like a mullet? Ooh...scary....

Here is a picture I found probably a couple of years ago, and saved for that day (today) when I decided to chop all my hair off again.

It does have a little more length in the back, but I'm not sure it's exactly right. For example, I think the longer area around the ears might make my face look longer than it already is. And I have lovely cowlicks at the nape of my neck, so I might need even a little more length on the back than this photo suggests, to keep things laying properly. Then again, I'm wanting it to flip out, so maybe I should just run with it! :)

Anyway, now you know my dilemma. Basically, I want my hair to fix itself, and look fabulous the minute I get out of bed. Is that too much to ask? All I really ask is that I never have hair like this again:

Talk about out-of-bed beauty!!

To my Knight in Shining Armor

Happy Birthday Jon!!

I love you!!

Sunny and 62!

There might be a hint of Spring today! If the weatherman is wrong, I'm going to cry.

As a side note, I have been spamless for probably a year now, but this morning some spammer has hit quite of a few of my old posts. I've tried to delete them as quickly as they came up, but I apologize if I've missed any!

Tada!!

The booth and banners came in! I set them up, almost all by myself, on the receptionist's floor at the office yesterday. That way, we could see how it all goes together, plus that's where the break room is, so everyone coming by would notice it. It turned out so great! John came by, and he was very complimentary of it, which meant more to me than my boss liking it. (Brothers don't worry as much about making you feel good, so they'll tell the truth. Plus, John has a good eye for things.) He took a picture of me in front of the booth.


And here it is with the banners and everything. It's a lot bigger than I had imagined!


I sat in a chair nearby for about 30 minutes, listening and explaining as people came by. It was so much fun. I missed seeing the president when he saw it for the first time, but I was there when he wanted his picture taken with it, so he could send it on to his president at MetLife. I guess he wanted to show it off, too. :)

In other Tada news, here's a picture of my little plants.


Since I planted extra seeds to every pot, I've had to pull quite a few little seedlings. But I've been strong, and I've done it! The tall ones in the back are the morning glories. Those are an experiment going directly in the ground by the columns of my front porch, so I hope they work. It looks like I may need to start giving them a stake to grow up on already!

Gardening Experiment, Year 2

Well, last year was my first year to try my hand at gardening. It was quite exciting for the first few weeks, then it turned into a miserable failure. My Grandma saved me mid-summer with beautiful potted plants that lasted me all the way to November.

I learned a few things from last year's experiment:

1. Vegetables aren't good potted plants. They need tons more soil than a pot can provide.
2. April is too late to plant things from seed.
3. Pots should be filled to the top with soil, not a few inches down. The more soil, the better!
4. Putting all the seeds from the packet into the soil doesn't guarantee success; it just means all the more seedlings you have to pull out, which turns out is hard for me to do
5. Seedlings really DO have to be pulled out to let others get big and strong.
   

So, I have made a few adjustments to this year's plan.

1. I bought seeds of the same flowers Grandma gave me mid-summer: zinnias and marigolds, plus a few other things (including my one "success"--peppers)
   
2. I've already started them in little seedling pots indoors, and they'll be big enough to go outside after the first frost!
3. When it's time, I'll fill the pots to the brim with soil
4. I've only planted enough seedlings for my pots, and no more, except for a few that I can give to people who would like to have them for their own garden
5. I will do my best to pull the weaker seedlings and save the stronger ones. It will be hard, but I will do it.

So here is what I have, a pallet of peat pots (what alliteration!) filled with:

• Flowers: Marigolds, zinnias, baby's breath, and morning glories (for the front porch columns, hopefully)
• Herbs: Basil, Chives, Cilantro
• Vegetables: Jalapenos and Anaheim chilis

The crepe myrtles are still outside, and I think they're making it through the winter. The potato vines are also still in the soil, so I'm wondering if they'll make it, too. If not, I guess I'll go buy those when it's time to work outside.

I'm so excited! I realize Experiment #2 may prove just as miserable as #1, but I feel like I learned from last year, and I'll learn this year, too. I'm sure I'll give you updates!

Things I do to amuse myself

Yesterday I did not have a good day. It seemed like it took me forever to drive in to work. I honestly thought, "I've been driving so long, I must have passed it up altogether!" But no, it just felt long. Then, I got to work and realized that my lunch plans had been canceled, and I would be eating lunch by myself. "Fine," I thought. "I'll just catch up on blogs during lunch."

But no, my internet wasn't working. Apparently my floor's wireless internet decided not to let me play. So, unless I spent the entire day in my brother's office on another floor (where the wireless did work), I would have no internet. "Fine," I thought. "I've got the desktop computer that stays in my cubicle. I'll just use that for internet." But no, that computer decided to commit suicide before my very eyes. I've never seen it happen before, but there it was. Everything was lost, and it took the entire day just to restore the operating system. No internet there, either.

"Fine," I thought. "I'll just call Jon during lunch, and maybe he won't be busy, and we'll have a good conversation." But no. A misunderstanding led to a frustrating and much-abbreviated phonecall. So by the time I hung up, I decided I was having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

So, instead of moving to Australia (click link above to understand), I decided to vent with some creativity. And it really did make me feel better. It wasted about 30 minutes, but I figure it was time well-wasted to get my attitude back where it should be.

Without the internet, I couldn't search through stock photography for the perfect photo for our next magazine ad. The theme for it would be, "Working with Texas Life is as easy as..." and my assignment was to find something that denoted "easy." I had decided on, "Working with Texas Life is a walk in the park." To really catch attention, I wanted the park walker to be something unique. Without the ability to search for photography, I decided to do what I haven't done in a long time--sketch the idea out.

Here is the setting:

And here are my different park inhabitants:

I cut each of them out, and placed them in the park. My favorite is the elephant. One, because it's the only one that really fits proportionally, and two, because I just like elephants.
Although the skipping penguin really makes me laugh, too.

The idea didn't go over so well with the rest of the team. They decided it was creative and funny, but not in the normal vein of Texas Life's ads. We decided on something more sedate, most likely, "Working with Texas Life is as easy as child's play" with a photo of children playing. No, it won't catch people's attention as much, but it won't be vastly different from the previous ads, either.

But that's okay. The therapeutic value of these drawings vastly outweighs my coworkers opinion of them. And my day turned out just fine.

Innovation #14

Situation: The cars ahead of you on the road are kicking up lots of dirty water, which is instantly drying on your car windshield, obscuring your view.

Problem: Your windshield wiper fluid seems to be frozen, or empty, or something. At any rate, it's not coming out to clean your windshield.

Solution: Get behind the vehicle kicking up the most water (in my case, a semi), and use that water to clean your windshield. Yeah, it's still dirty, but it's enough liquid for your wipers to work with to get the rest of the dirt off.

I know. I'm a genius.

A Texas Winter Innovation

*Well, I'm making a habit of writing time-specific posts and not posting them. Here is a post I wrote yesterday in regards to the crazy weather.
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Today was a snow day! The office was closed, so I had a day off, and Jon's work is also closed this evening! What a great day!

I was especially excited because I had a new recipe I was going to try today, and it was perfect for such a cold day. I invited my neighbor over for lunch, then busied myself with preparations. I put in Garlic and Herb bread into our bread machine (yummy!) and then proceeded to cut the items necessary for my new recipe: Golden Potato Soup. Then I realized I had no potatoes.

Well, that would not do. I needed potatoes. I had forgotten I told Jon to throw out the ones we had before we left for our trip. They were getting a little questionable, and who knows how they would have fared over our week away. However, I had forgotten all that, and in my mind, there were six perfect potatoes in the fridge. In reality, there were none.

Jon, my knight in shining armor, volunteered to brave the roads to Kroger. Elated, I set out to ready the car for his mission. I opened the house door, and was met with a sea of snow. Hm...I've never needed a snow shovel before, but it sure would be handy.

*light bulb!*

Ah ha! I could use a cutting board! I have several flexible cutting boards from IKEA. I use two for food, and two are for craft projects. I grabbed one from my craft pile, snatched my hat from my closet, pulled on my mittens, and was ready to go...still in my pyjamas and robe, but quite toasty warm.

So there I was, bent over at the waist, scooping a path out of the snow from our door to the car door, and to my neighbor's house, since she would need to walk over for lunch. Then I scooped all the snow off the car, which was pretty exciting. That was a lot of snow. And it turns out my car doesn't look very white next to snow. More of a grey. Kinda sad, really.

With that accomplished (quite quickly, I might add), I dropped my hat, mittens, and house shoes, all now quite soaked with melting snow, into the washing machine and proceeded to get ready for the day. By the time I was done, Jon was back with my potatoes! On with the soup-making!

My friend, Teresa, recently posted about allrecipes.com. My recipe today is from there. One of the greatest things about the site is all the reviews. If you're ever interested in a certain recipe, be sure and read the reviews. Because of them, I adjusted the original soup recipe to use 1/2 and 1/2, and chicken broth, as many others had done. I also didn't use any meat, when it calls for ham.

Teresa's blog also brought up a conversation of protecting recipe cards. Some people use page protectors, some have special recipe holders with guards on them. I use a clothes pin. I simply take my recipe page and pin it up to my cabinet. It's at eye-level, well above all the action, and easy to read. Anyway, it works if you don't have protectors handy, and you're more of a spontaneous, not-so-organized person like me. (If you look closely at the picture, you'll get my mom's recipe for roast!)

Anyway, the soup recipe turned out great. I would highly recommend it. I doubled the recipe, and I'm glad I did. Now we have leftovers for tonight! It took about an hour to prepare and cook (not counting the trip to Kroger), and was very simple. Paired with the herb bread, lunch was excellent.

Then Holly and I spent the rest of the afternoon playing Phase 10. What a great game.

All in all, a wonderful snow day! The sun's going down now, and it's starting to get really chilly again. We'll see what tomorrow brings us!

Creative Resolutions

*Note: I wrote this on January 2nd, but completely forgot about it. I don't know why I didn't just post it...maybe I had something very deep and meaningful to add to it? Couldn't tell ya. So, here it is now.
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I am trying to avoid resolutions this year, because I usually forget them after the first week. Not because I decide not to follow them; I really forget them. And writing it down doesn't help if you never go back and look at it. I suppose I could write them all on my bathroom mirror, but...nah...

However, there is a list of good resolutions from CreativePro.com. It's geared toward freelancing graphic designers, but you can all read them and adjust them to your situation. Here's their list.

Cruisin'

We made it back! Jon and I had a great time on our cruise. The first evening and day was a little questionable. One, because people were trying to see how drunk they could get, and that wasn't very fun for us sober ones. And two, because the water was pretty rough, and we were realizing a little what it must feel like to be drunk; we could not walk in a straight line for the life of us.

However, after that, I think most people with hangovers swore off alcohol for the rest of their lives...or at least until the free wine tasting the next night...and we got more used to the rocking of the ship. We enjoyed reading on the beach and on the boat. I went through two books (reviews in posts to come). We also met some neat people and relaxed as much as we could. Our motto wasn't to do everything we could, but just to do what we wanted, and no more. So we never made it to a smoky disco to dance into the wee hours of the morning, and we never made it to a single midnight buffet (though we were awake for most of them). We enjoyed working out (thought it's hard to keep one's balance in a rocky boat) and roaming the ship.

We took the stairs everywhere we went, not counting the night I was wearing heels, and when we were carrying luggage off the boat. Taking the stairs averaged about 120 stairs from our deck to wherever we wanted to go, and then 120 stairs back down. Needless to say, I don't feel bad about my daily ice cream cone. :)

We've come home rested and relaxed. Jon is ready for classes, and I'm ready to face whatever challenge my work has for me next.

The odd thing I had not expected: We now feel the rocking of the ship back home. We're pretty off-balance, kind of like after you've taken roller skates off, and you still want to slide across the floor. We still want to compensate for the rolling of the ship, I guess. I wonder if Dramamine would help.... :)

Click the photo below for our trip pictures!

Cruise 2007

More new things

Today I'm working on something I've never done before. I'm designing a booth and accompanying banners for my company. Up until now, the largest thing I've designed for work has been an 11x17 poster. The booth is 10ft wide, and about 7ft tall. The banners are 3ftx8ft. This has been a challenge, to say the least, for several reasons.

My first challenge is that I'm very used to InDesign, and these should be set up in Photoshop. I actually set them up first in InDesign, because I couldn't figure it out in Pshop. My mind just wouldn't switch over to the different program. However, the printer wants it in a Pshop file, so I've spent the entire day re-setting it up in Pshop. Yet, somehow I still think I saved time by doing it in InDesign first.

I've also done more math than I've done in a long time. First, the file in ID was 1"=1' to keep the file from being huge. And because I figured I would have to redo it, I wanted a small file that would be easy to work with. In Photoshop, I'm setting the file at half the size it needs to be, with twice the resolution. That way, the file is smaller (at least relative to the full size), and all the printer has to do is blow it up times two, and it's the right size at the right resolution. So, the dilemma is that I have to convert my ID measurements to actual size (1"=1'), then divide by two (1'=1/2'), then convert to inches, because Pshop doesn't deal in feet (1/2'=6"). That works fine when dealing with a simple measurement like 1 inch, but when it's 3.125 inches, it gets difficult and my eyes start to cross. I was an Art Major, people!

My final challenge is trying to visualize it at full size. Will the logo look too large at 2ft wide? I've never seen it 2ft wide. Will the people pictures be overwhelming as large as they are? How large are they in relation to real people? Is this a design that people will want to look at? This challenge is the hardest, because I won't know for sure until it's done, and that's a mighty big risk (because it's a mighty big check to pay for it). But there's no other way. I've actually tried, by cutting the banners out and holding them up in front of doors or other things to give me the illusion of the right size. And it looked okay, but I'm not sure if that really gives me an accurate picture.

So, this new assignment has been quite a challenge, but I'm almost finished, and nothing's blown up, yet. Here's a picture of what it looked like last week. It's changed quite a bit since then, but I had to mock it up to show my boss. It took way too long for me to do it again, unless I have to. If I have to, I'll post the latest version some other time. :)

New things in the new year

It's a new year, time to reflect on the previous year, and look to the next.

In the past year, I've made new friends, accomplished things at work I've never done before, gotten into a fairly regular excercise routine, came out pretty even as far as weight gain/loss, grown my hair out, waxed my eyebrows for the first time, bought a coffee maker, and put Christmas lights up on the house. What accomplishments! :) Haha! You know I'm easily entertained when you read THAT list!

To start the new year off, Jon and I are going to do something we haven't done since our honeymoon (four years ago); we're going to go on a vacation all by ourselves! In one week, we'll be headed to the coast for a cruise! Can you believe it?? I'm pretty proud of us, because it's not like us to do that.

Jon's still skeptical about the cruise life. Our conversation went like this:

Jon: So, do we just sit on the ship?
Me: Oh, no! There's tons of stuff to do! There's times to dress up, go dancing, watch Vegas-like shows, play games, and when the boat gets to a port, we get off and shop for souvenirs!
Jon: . . .
Me: Oh, you don't like any of that, do you.... Well, I plan to sit on the deck and read the whole time.
Jon: Now that, I can do. :)

So that's where we'll be next week: on the deck of a big big boat, in the middle of the big big ocean, reading and relaxing. It's going to be great.

Jon's already stocked up on Shelby Foot's three volume account of the Civil War, so he's good to go. Meanwhile, I'm not sure what to take. Anyone have suggestions for good books? Has anyone read anything by Francine Rivers? She was recommended to me, but I haven't gone to the library, yet. Any other suggestions would be appreciated!

Just a post between posts

Well, there's one final Early Works to come, but before that I wanted to post a quick post to say that Christmas was great! It was great to see family and friends that I haven't seen in awhile. It was great to have Christmas music on at all times. It was great that I hosted, yet somehow only had to warm the turkey and make cranberry relish and fruit salad. It was great that Friday got used to the strangers and constant coming and going, and by Christmas Day was quite the ham, in the middle of everyone's presents (especially the tissue paper and ribbons part). It was just great. Everything was wonderful. Tomorrow I put away decorations and begin planning for next year. ;)

Another year under our belt!

Well, folks, we did it. We got another year of marriage under our belt. We're practically pros by this time. In the past four years we've finished college, enjoyed a year with two incomes, went back to college, paid off two vehicles, moved only once, learned the joys of yardwork, expanded our group of friends, butted heads, cooked together, cleaned together, grown together, surprised each other, and fallen in love more and more each day.

I love you, Jon!