My Life as a Fish-Girl

sewing for school 4

2012-01-14T18:25:00.007-05:00

OK...so...where was i?

oh, yeah, electrons...and then attaching them to atoms - here is a preview of my carbon atom with only five valance electrons - you can see the snap where the other electron will go once it is attached to both the hydrogen (white [1proton/1electron]) and the carbon (black [6p/6n/2e interior/4e valence])

(note about colors: hydrogen is usually depicted as a white sphere, carbon as black, oxygen as red, chloride as green, and sodium as various colors - purple is the one i chose)

and the (almost) completed methane molecule (CH4 = one carbon and four hydrogen atoms)...

the hydrogen atoms (i wanted them to be more round, but now they just look like little white potatoes - sigh) without any indication on them yet...

water (H2O - one oxygen [8p/8n/8e total] and two hydrogen) indicating the protons and neutrons in the nucleus of the oxygen and indicating the covalent bonds that hold them together.

a close-up of the oxygen atom (there are six valence electrons and space for two more once the hydrogen get hooked up)

the chloride and sodium atoms stuck together in the ionic bond that forms after chloride steals the electron from the sodium... [17p/18n/17e @ nutral chloride] but becomes an anion --> 18e and negative one charge.

a close up of the sodium ion [11p/11n/10e --> positive one charge] showing where the 11th electron was before chloride was so rude as to steal it (smile) (up-side down = "above" the "P" you can see the snap piece).

so that was what i did over my holiday break...and i get to use them on tuesday - we shall see if it helps the students understand what the heck i am talking about...

peace

Fishtail Cottage: Gorgeous Bracelet Giveaway…

2012-01-07T14:41:00.000-05:00

Fishtail Cottage: Gorgeous Bracelet Giveaway…: “ From Our Hands to Your Home ” has offered to give away one of Fishtail Cottage’s followers a bracelet of your choice! Which one would yo...

sewing for school 3

2012-01-05T16:22:00.000-05:00

electrons, electrons everywhere!

from this mess of embryonic electrons:

i used the way to braid 4-strands from "http://www.thecheesethief.com/2011/11/how-to-weave-paper-ball-ornament.html"> to start the process of making electrons:

after a few rounds i added a bell (electrons are negatively charged and i think they must sound bright, like a bell...)

then...at the end, there are these tails...i ended up super gluing them to strand under it

now, here is the pile of embryonic electrons along with some of the completed ones...

now to attach the "female" part of the snap to the electrons and the "male" part to the atoms and i will have my bits!! (i still need to make four more electrons - sigh)

peace

sewing for school 2

2012-01-04T16:08:00.004-05:00

sew...i have made two chlorines (~7.5" square), five carbons (~5.5" square), two sodiums (~5.5" square), four oxygens (~5.5" square)...

now fluffed, with half of a hydrogen for size-comparison...

a pile of un-made hydrogens (~3.5" square)...

and a bunch of embryonic electrons:

more later : ). peace

sew IId...

2012-01-04T00:20:00.003-05:00

i made the 25-patch blocks (i decided to make it 8x7 = 56 blocks...and here they are - all 56! (i am glad i reduced the number)

looks like a mess, huh? but they are really all there, i swear : )

details of one block:

now: for the 9-patch blocks - i have 23 done of the 42 that i need and i still do not know what i will use for the between-the-blocks fabric...it has to be tone-on-tone or something subtle like that - i just have not taken the time to search the stash for something appropriate...gotta' finish the 9-patch blocks first : )

i still think the 2" squares are having "fun" and multiplying when i am not looking - i have decided to put them away for a bit and focus on school-related stuff for a while...on that note, check back tomorrow (or some time soon) and you will see the update on the sewing for school project...i have a few electrons to make still, but it is progressing well - but i need more *stuff* (bells and snaps) to make the additional atoms - but i will work on those later (like over the summer, if this works out the way i am hoping it will) i am just happy to have one set for now and we shall see... : )

oh! i went to see the girl with the dragon tattoo and it was *very* like the book - complete with uncomfortable sex-scenes that were hard to read about and very hard to see...glad i didn't go with my dad or someone like that - though they may enjoy the movie, too, it would have been very awkward to see that with them. if you have not seen it, i would recommend you go and see it while it is still in the big-screen and not wait until it comes out on DVD.

the only problem i had was that there was 20 minutes of advertising and previews before the movie began - it was supposed to start @1:50pm and it ran for ~2:45 - i had to go to the bathroom! and we didn't get out until almost 5:00. i was irritated by all the commercials before the movie (for TV shows, cars, Coke/Diet Coke, etc.). do we not get enough of that at home? i guess one captive audience is as good as another, huh? sigh. i guess that is something i have missed by being poor and not going to see the movies, huh? not missing too much, but i do enjoy seeing some movies in large-scale - Harry Potter would not be the same on my laptop or something like that.

ok! enough rambling - peace and happy new year!

sewing for school 1

2011-12-29T00:05:00.005-05:00

so...at about 3am a few days ago...i had an epiphany...you know how understanding how an atom is structured...protons and neutrons in the nucleus and electrons around the outside? well, i have had students just NOT GET IT. that may not be too surprising to some of my readers, but others are saying "what is a atom, if not the big bomb-thing?" well...i thought of a way to present the information in a hands-on way...

ok...so after i woke fonda up looking for a pen...i went out and wrote what you see in black...she looked at me funny in the morning and asked if it made sense to *me* and i said "yup!" and proceeded to explain my logic...and it all started with her sending me a link
"http://www.thecheesethief.com/2011/11/how-to-weave-paper-ball-ornament.html"> so, really it is all her fault. this is how i am going to make the electrons! with a bell inside and silver because *they are electrons!*

she just looked at me like i was crazy...but there will be more to come soon...i got the chickens atoms made and we just went out and bought the material for some electrons and the snaps and the bells...i am SO excited...more later!

peace! (yay! - sewing for school!!!!!)

sew IIc

2011-12-27T17:59:00.003-05:00

so...i made more 25-patch squares (total of 8x7 = 54) and now i have to make the 9-patches...while doing that...wren has made herself at home in my dark scrap box...

a bit later... (check out her nose-spot on the plastic-box)

and...a bit later...i wonder how she can breathe in this position...

so...that is what has been happening in our world...peace

sew...IIb

2011-12-21T15:05:00.001-05:00

so...i did the math, finally...

and i decided that a quilt that was larger than an king-size quilt, would probably be a bit big...i decided to change it a bit to a 7x6 (it might still be increased) and now would be the size of a twin-size quilt.

we shall see what happens when i get more and start laying it out...i have not decided what to use as the *between* color yet. i want it to be all one color and white would just be too white. i think black would be nice, but i also am thinking that Splash "Pool" would be nice, too (my favorite color of blue) - we bought a bolt of it last year (a 13 yard bolt), and i only have a few yards left...lori bought another bolt and put it out to sell because we really can't afford it at this point - maybe when i (finally) get a full-time job (oh, and we want a bolt of Kona Black)...just $150-$200 for both...so, not yet : )

i have a phone interview after the first of the year - we shall see : )

peace.

sew...II

2011-12-20T15:45:00.000-05:00

i was thinking about all the stupid scraps we have (a muck-bucket full)...so i started cutting them up - only got through three bags and got a wide variety of lights and darks

and

these are all 2" squares.

i then had to figure out what the heck to do with all these craps...and i saw in some magazine a quilt i really liked...a bunch of 25-patchs and 9-patches with some solids between. so, being the cheap poor PT professor - i chose to make it in my "glue book"

i decided that the above layout was going to be too small, so...the plan is to do it 10x8 squares of 25-patches (80 total 25-patches and 63 9-patches)

and trying to do the math:

so, then i started to make the 25-patches...

my helper supervisor: wren

finally - some things to iron - with the drink of champions (diet pepsi)

and the first few 25-patch blocks

this is just the first taste - more later as the progress continues : )

peace.

sew...

2011-12-19T15:25:00.000-05:00

i have not had the opportunity to sew much this last semester - teaching three classes is a challenge - but i think i did OK and had many students really say they enjoyed the class - and BIO 112 for spring semester is FULL! (apparently this has not happened for a long time)...yikes! (big smile).

so, next semester should be "easier" with only two classes and having taught them both this semester...so i hope to have a chance to sew some more...

over the last semester, i had the chance to finish up something that i started a few years ago without the final product in mind...taking mom-scraps and putting them together willy-nilly...with thanks to Lori Richardson at Cotton Fields in Washington, NC (man, i miss her and the store/friends since we moved), i followed her lead and started to square up my pieces and put them together. i do not have progress pictures for this, but i have a bad picture of the finished top:

this is an applique Mom started and i finished and then added to the quilt:

this is the opposite corner that was just fun for color and some more Mom test-blocks:

this quilt will be backed with a dark blue star-patterned piece and i have no idea what pattern will be used to quilt it. i do know that i would like to get this done soon - it will be a office quilt - our office is way cold - in any season. it is about a twin size.

now...for a place to do the basting...still searching : ) may try to use some places at school - gotta ask the security guards when i might be able to access some of the larger spaces.

i will post it again after it is quilted...better pictures and all that : )

peace for now

oh, and franklynn...

2011-12-18T18:35:00.003-05:00

his handlebar whiskers fell out soon after the last post of him with them featured...we were hoping they would grow back and it appears that they are; on his right is the longer one, the one on his left is growing back, too, but so far much shorter and not visible in this picture:

and a nod to the upcoming season - actually the picture was taken last year, but the idea is the same:

enjoy and peace...

reasons to be happy for the seasons

2011-12-18T15:23:00.003-05:00

heading home about a week ago...some time after 5pm on a tuesday or thursday - pretty sunset that i wanted to share:

peace.

reasons to get up at o'dark in the morning

2011-12-09T23:19:00.004-05:00

just wanted to share a photo with you-all...this is the only one i got after fussing about getting in the right place and right magnification, etc.

he flew away right after that...7am before an exam...

peace

thanksgiving...

2011-11-24T15:37:00.002-05:00

this is the easiest year so far...still miss mom, but not as hard this year as in the past few years. not sure why, maybe a change in home-location, maybe it is just distance-in-time. maybe it is that we have discussed plans for when we are a bit more settled and can invite the "strays" like we did with mom...we were invited to go to my dean's house, but we are staying home and having meatloaf tonight and being grateful that we are here and all seems to be going well in our world.

the semester is almost over (i can't believe it) and things are wrapping up and coming together, mostly as planned - i need to rearrange some things for next semester, but that is fine - first semester is the learning semester and then 2nd would be the refining semester - hope fully 3rd will be smoother (snile - tip'o the keyboard to mom).

hand has healed and the boy is fine - still, he wants to go outside and roll around and bully the other cats in the area...still some issues with range-of-motion with some of the more precise motions of my pinkie, but all seems to be well and progressing. typing is no longer painful, yay!

ankle is better, but not 100% - guess that happens as you get older...it will improve, just as the hand is improving.

overall, i am happy and glad to be here/now. grateful to my sweety, without whom i think i would not have gotten this far and had as much fun; grateful for my mom, though she can no longer be with us for a meal; grateful for my mom, dad, sisters, brother, brother-in-laws, and sister(in-law) without whom i would not be the woman i am; grateful for all my friends, old and new, near and far, without whom i would not have survived to this point.

peace and love to all and safe journey through the day and your lives.

...and then...

2011-11-05T16:55:00.003-04:00

so...my hand is getting better - still not 100%, but maybe 98% - having problems closing into a fist without pain, but i think it is a matter if using it, not permanent damage.

anyways...there i was, minding my own business - putting the gas into the shed for the guy who has been cutting our grass (LOVE HIM!) and then heading up to feed the neighbor's cats (she is having surgery and is not home) - like i said, i was minding my own business when "WHAM" and "CRACK" i fell flat on my face when the outside of my right foot went down much further than the inside and i heard it crack... flat out and clawing the ground at 6am, dew still around and cold and in my work clothes...i am sure i cursed very loud and colorfully and then had to assess my foot and see if i could go and feed the cats and then head out to work...man, that hurt. made it to the cats...not too bad...made it to school...OK...had a hard time driving home after standing on it for most of 8 hours... still not sure if i broke something, but it is better now than it was bruised and swelled up almost immediately, but i didn't take my shoe off, so it didn't have anywhere to go... one of my cohort told me that it is possible to break a "high" ankle bone (no clue, but he has more experience with anatomy than i do, so "whatever"). man, that was 5 days ago...still bruised and a bit sore.

fonda doesn't get how i just keep going...i am not sure how i keep going sometimes, but there is not much other options, so i do. if i don't work, i don't get paid. if i don't do it (whatever "it" may be), who will? no other options, i gotta do what i gotta do, and damn the pain that maybe along with it. so far, i have recovered fairly quickly and all has been well, so i will carry on with things the way the are going.

still looking for FT work...it will come when i am ready, i guess. i am getting ready to apply to about 10 or so positions along the east coast and back into the mid-west (sigh)...i would LOVE to stay down here! but...i will go to where the jobs are for now and see what happens from there. i think fonda is a bit homesick - we need to make arrangements for us/her to go up and see her mom and daughter...i wish she would feel able to go without me...she has much more flexibility with her time than i do. i understand not wanting to make that drive alone and all that, but i also understand the missing the family bits...oh, well no forcing the issue (not that she won't comment on this later [smile]) (lvoe you babe!)

anyways, here i am limping along and now i need to get back to school work so i can be ready for the last few weeks of school...not to mention it has been five years since mom died...but that is for another post (maybe).

peace for now.

recovering

2011-10-23T16:01:00.002-04:00

so...i am recovering - after i posted those pictures i went through the rest of the day...the pain got worse, as did the swelling, and it was starting to feel warm...this lead to a thursday night trip to the ER...tried to go to urgent care, but they had no x-ray (and it was time for them to go home) so, they sent us on to the ER, with the threat that there maybe i.v. antibiotics (add a few $$)...got there, quickly in and seen by a nurse. manipulated by a p.a. and x-rayed by someone else (both of the last two i wanted to sock, they hurt me as they manipulated my hand, but i guess it was for a good reason)...2 hours later, and no i.v. antibiotics (yay!), the p.a. and the nurse sent us home with a prescription for 2 wide-spectrum antibiotics and some hydrocodone for pain...three days later, the swelling is down, the pain is less and the cat is *still* purring...little shit! he makes up for it by being cute 95% of the time.

i have done no school-related work this weekend because it hurts to write and that is what i need to do...sigh. i guess i can type a bit (obviously) but even that is slower than it was - i have to move my left hand because my reach with my pinky is so restricted. guess the exam corrections will have to wait a bit longer (evil grin)...anyways...i am a lucky girl and glad i adheare to the idea of "better living through chemistry."

peace for now!

ow-y day

2011-10-20T13:20:00.003-04:00

franklynn decided to let himself out on a walk last night...cold, damp, dark, windy...

found him in the woods, about 5-10 feet in (beyond a small raspberry cane, with thorns, of course). he just stood there, howling and he waited for me to crash through and then to pick him up. he hissed at me, batted at me a bit and growled...i was aware, but not worried - he has bitched like this before.

got him - walking back home, about half way there, he decides that he doesn't like being held and that i am the awful monster that he has to bite to death...

notice all four fang marks (the long ones are from his top fangs ripping out of my hand)

now i am sore, swollen and crabby. blood was just *dripping* off my hand last night - he got some on his neck, from where i grabbed him. fonda brought a quilt and we wrapped him up and took him the rest of the way with me dripping and crying back to the house.

he is fine - obviously a bit freaked out last night, but he was OK enough to come and sit next to me on the couch while i cried...little shit. he was all purrs this morning and i am sore...don't want to feel this without some pain meds on board (naproxin - only)...very glad he is up-to-date on the rabies shot! i guess i need a tetnus shot - last one in 2007 (bummer)...

i will recover (back of hand to forehead and all that, with a dramatic sigh)...the cat is fine and will live to bite another day.

enough complaining - peace

busy girl

2011-10-17T08:50:00.003-04:00

so...i have been a busy girl...but, at school-stuff, not extracurricular. also, there have been two students from my first teaching experience who have died...right before classes started, one of my former students was shot in the back and died...no leads, as far as i know...very sad. he was a young father and had some good prospects towards basketball at a 4-year college in virginia. then, from the same class, another student was found to have killed himself just outside of his home - he was reported missing and then found a day or so later. he was a sweet kid who had just finished his first year at college. such a waste of life. i have heard people talking in the hall about "being gay is no reason for a 19-yo to take his life" but i am not sure if they were referring to that student or not - but it makes me want to be more out in class and be a role-model...i am just not sure how out i can be without jeopardizing my job/future jobs. it is a sad time when you cannot be yourself in a job for fear of losing that job. but, i also need to remember that i am in a fairly small-town county and i need to take it slowly. i hate not being able to talk about fonda openly - not like we haven't been together for 17+ years or anything like that. grrrr. frustrating that i am still talking about my "sweety" and not my "girlfriend" or my "wife" or just "fonda!" ok - enough bitching! i will do it as i may and be OK with it, eventually.

anyways - i finally took one day to sew and finished the main part of the scrappy quilt with mom's fabrics - it is a big conglomeration and is about 70x80 and it is likely to be an office quilt - we shall see - it needs a border and then, of course to be quilted...i need to find a good mom-fabric for the back. it has some good mom-fabrics and then some additional katie- and fonda-fabrics. i think she would have liked it. it is a sew and add and then add some more and then trim straight and then use the trimmed-off stuff for the base of the next piece...i think it will be a good office quilt (it is damn cold in the current office).

ok, i think it is time to start psyching myself up for teaching to a bunch of sleepy students, not all of whom want to be there, but they show up none-the-less because attendance is part of the grade : ) (evil that i can be). taking about meiosis and mitosis is hard - but easier than atoms, i think...i just asked doc how he does it (teaching, research, advising, personal life, sleep...) he hasn't gotten back to me yet - probably sleeping : )

peace for now.

so...here we are

2011-08-19T18:59:00.004-04:00

in leland, nc. f hates the house (because of issues, not space) and i like the house, even if there are issues (leak @ kitchen sink, tub and toilet in craft-area to name just the beginning of the list)...we have had such trauma getting settled here for some of the things - let alone the stealing of a box (150) of checks out of our new mailbox and someone having a good time spending our money with them...we have been here just over one week and just yesterday got internet access at the house (YAY!) and a phone (mixed). boxes are not where we wanted - things are scattered around the house, but all seems to have made it here in one piece. the cats are here and fonda and i are figuring out where things are, physically - we haven't ventured into Wilmington yet, but that is only a matter of time.

the movers were sneaky and ended up charging us almost twice what they had quoted - bass-turds. anyways - we lived through the experience and if you ever need to move get a "not to exceed" quote rather than an oral quote just to save yourself a bit of shock and anger - and the guys said they want us to give them another chance when we move out of here, yeah, right. that is not going to happen - i tell you this now - they will never get another chance to dick us over. the helpers were great, but the boss sucked - bud brooks - wanted fonda to sign for a brochure he never had for us (which explained the difference between the move he did for us and the "not to exceed" move) and said "my business card could be the brochure" and i just wanted to smack him. anyways - we are settling in and working out what goes where and moving a box 5+ times and still, we have "too much" room here - not that *i* am complaining (smile) - i am happy to have too much room, but i would like a bit more storage space in the kitchen and maybe some rods and/or doors on the closets...not that i am complaining (much)...

anyways - classes started on wednesday and i have "miss thing" in my class again - if i don't kick her butt by the end of the semester, i should get a metal. classes are PACKED not enough $$ to pay a teacher and allow another section to be opened, so...i have 34 students in a class that is supposed to have 32 (not too bad, unless they all stay until the end of the semester). i am teaching 3 classes and therefore have a total of about 65 students in BIO 111 and 16 students in BIO 112 - multiply that by four exams and one paper and 10 labs and 10 quizes per class and you begin to see what i am going to be doing this semester. i will live and i will (mostly) enjoy it and it is a great place to be (my co-workers are awesome). i have to keep in mind that this is a good/safe place to be teaching and learning the ropes.

ok - today is fonda's birthday and i am going to go and help her with her room so she can get some crafting done soon.

peace.

moving...

2011-08-02T01:04:00.004-04:00

wow, i do not like packing things to move to other places...and it just seems to never end...you know..."oh, don't forget to pack...(some thing you will not be able to fit into the car and you NEED on the other end)" and all that stuff...and then the cost to the movers (yeah, we are using movers, can't see me and fonda unloading the truck at the other end by ourselves) and the costs of the deposits and all that jazz to hook up things on the other end before we get the deposits back on this end...jez-e-cow! and then the cost to drug the kitties before we drag them 2.5 hrs and submit them to crazyness on the other end...wish we could make it easier for them...

and THEN...fonda wants to have a yard sale (which i love by the way (NOT!))...it will be good and may pay for cleaning the carpeting in two rooms and maybe pay the woman who has been cleaning for us (yes, we have someone clean the kitchen/floor/bathrooms - and i am VERY happy for this) - and she is coming to do a full clean of the house after all is moved out, YAY! but the people down here are CRAZY about yard sales - they gear up at like, 6am to start the tour - CRAZY! gotta remember to post "no early birds" but it will not stop them, i know it! sigh.

all i wanna do is teach, and this is crazy...but long-distance is crazier - besides the $$ for rent @ two places and the "fun" of roomies...sigh...(oh, and i have ALREADY heard from my "favorite" student, who will be in my 112 class - oh, joy - classes do not start for another 17 days and she emailed me a week ago or so - eye roll).

"...and all shall be well..." and "that which does not kill me only makes me stronger" (though sometimes it would be nice to have it kill you - smile).

peace for now - sleep and then dr. appts and errands tomorrow then MORE PACKING!!! yay! (not!) peace. enjoy the cat (franklynn) video... :)

wow, long time no postings

2011-07-28T21:02:00.002-04:00

wow, hard to believe it has been six weeks since my last posting...we have been busy little campers - packing to move 125 miles from Greenville to Leland, NC. i will be teaching at Brunswick Community College again this fall/spring. we are all moving - including the kitties and it has been a challenge to get things packed and ready to move. this is an expensive adventure ($2000 for moving, deposits at the "new" house, deposits at the utilities...) it never ends... well, i guess it will, eventually, but then we are likely to have to move again, as i will continue to apply for full-time positions around the SE. i am thinking that we may be keeping the boxes and packing supplies for the next move that i hope will be more permanent.

we can't believe that we have so much *stuff* AND WE GOT RID OF SO MUCH already! wow.

i have not been sleeping well with the worries about the moves and the new semester/classes. i will be teaching BIO 111 and 112 - i may have a second section of 111, but that is TBD still...i will welcome the money, but not necessarily the stress, but i also have to get "used" to the idea of teaching more than 1 or 2 classes concurrently...wow...ch-ch-ch-changes : )

more later, but likely not until after the move = august 10! we shall see.

peace.

2011 QWAC challenge quilt

2011-06-03T14:49:00.000-04:00

OK, so we had a challenge - using the first letter of both your first and last name, come up with two colors and use them as the dominant colors in a quilted object - what ever size you please, whatever form you please... due today (June 3, 2011). We had 3 months to come up with it and make it so...this is my answer:

Kumquat and Kiwi (orange and green) - about 32" square

and of course, there is a fish...

my plan is for this to hang in my office when, i get one... (i have another interview next week with yet another place...)

peace.

i finally got my blue hydrangea!

2011-06-02T13:36:00.003-04:00

YAY!

they start out white and go to blue...

well, no one loves me, i guess

2011-06-01T00:49:00.006-04:00

well, here i sit...waiting for news from all the plethra of applications i have submitted...i am waiting for up-thumb or down-thumb for the next step at Francis Marion University, but we shall see...then i need to make some kind of decision about *when* do i stop trying for this fall and just decide to go back to BCC and how do we do that (fonda, et al. moving down, or just renting again - but NOT with the old roomies) and by what date to i need to make these decisions - AND, if we make the decision to move down to brunswick, do we buy or rent? and what the heck do we do with all our *stuff*?

feeling a bit lost and like no one loves me...oh, well. it could always be worse, i guess. i just need to keep breathing...

and now for a bit of recent photos around the house...

we have some nice stinky flowers on the corners of the house - very attractive to bees - this kind and honey bees and, i think, maybe another kind of bee (and butterflies, but i haven't gotten photos yet)

a wasp has decided that one of our large snail shells makes a good place for a nest - i am not so sure...

and webster hiding in his "man-cave" (aka: my quilt into which he has burrowed)

enough for now...enjoy and peace.

skype

2011-05-24T16:40:00.002-04:00

ok, so i have joined the skype-gang. now i have talked with my sister (pi) and my dad...now, if we can just get fonda to hookup and andy/tracey too...then we would be in bussiness...and a job...i'm just saying...i have applied for several more jobs and still i wait...i really don't want to go back to living at sheri's and fred's i think they would make me crazy in another month or two - just want to be safe and sane and sober.

ok...enough rambling...peace.

well...yet another rejection (x2)

2011-05-15T19:02:00.003-04:00

well, i finally heard from polk college in winter haven, fl. of course i knew what the news was - thank you, but no thank you. now if they would just send the reembursement check...

another rejection letter came in the mail - also not too surprising...butt...i also have a phone interview scheduled for tomorrow (monday)! also, i am meeting up with terri to talk about the division of the paper into two...this has had us stumped for a while now...i am not sure how to ask her to reduce the amount of information she wants in this paper and maybe keeping it for the next one - soon?

we shall see what happens - i will report about the phone interview later. it is with francis marion university in florance, SC - about 3.5 hrs from here...sounds like a good place to be - it is a one-year contract, with the option to extend up to two more years - it would be a great "foot in the door" and it seems like a really neat group of people, too. more later.

peace.

a bit of disapointment

2011-05-02T22:24:00.002-04:00

sigh. i received a "down-thumb" from the as-close-to-dream-job (in PA) as i have found so far...they are keeping my application active until they make the final choice/choice is accepted...but i am disapointed.

not only would this have been the close-to-dream-job...but it also would have been closer to ohio and fonda's family - we do miss them and part of me (and fonda, too) would like to be closer to them. but it is also nice to live in NC and near the beach...

ok, so i am still waiting to hear from FL and i have sent out 5 more applications, so it is just a game of sit and wait, i guess...but i am getting tired of this and would really like to be settled, but you-all have heard this old song from me before, so i will shut up now.

peace. sigh.

on my way to work today...

2011-04-18T14:00:00.003-04:00

i saw this big bird (black vulture)... he was just hanging out and sunning himself on top top of the power poles...

he did look at me, but he was not concerned (he was too far away for me to be a threat)... but the power-company people were gearing up to go back to work on the lines in that area - glad he had a place to hang out and get warm

i am so happy that i had my camera with me!

peace

so...

2011-04-16T21:01:00.008-04:00

i had another phone interview - sounds like a great place to be, minus the fact that it will be much colder in the winter than here - potential bonuses: a job that is close to what i have been envisioning as my "ideal" job; closer to columbus-family; chance of a basement; and lilacs : )

we shall see - i will post an update as i hear - they suggested that i would hear thumbs-up or thumbs down within the next week or so...

so, we had a power outage for about an hour this evening with threat of huge storms - we didn't get much here in leland, but the loss of power - after the rain and during the power out sera went out to investigate her favorite part of the back yard and i got the picture of her "brains" =

we also had some WAY-COOL clouds going on:

and then as the light left (still before the power came back on) some cool moon pics:

enjoy the pics and keep looking for updates re: jobs : )

peace

and the newest quilt (6 years in the process)

2011-04-04T22:00:00.003-04:00

this is the quilt for donna - started while we still lived in ohio.

the fabric is more bright than it looks in this picture, but...this is the pattern "simply squares" that i got from quilt beginnings in ohio. and a mixture of fabric bought for the project and some fishy fabric.

i had to unquilt a bit - well, more than a bit - about half quilted but not well quilted by me. so i just unquilted the damn thing and then had to requilt it. i am still picking out some threads, but i decided to emphasize the squares and quilted it on the diagnal then went around the edge and then a few inches away from the edge. then used the backing fabric for the binding - matches - the fabric on the front. looks good, wonder if donna 1) still lives in ohio, 2) still wants the quilt 3) wants the $50 she gave us for the quilt 6 years ago...

i guess i need to contact her soon...will send a card and see what she has to say.

peace.

wating to hear...

2011-04-03T14:10:00.008-04:00

so, during spring break this february, i traveled down the winter haven, florida. this was not for Spring Break! - this was for a job interview...i flew in on thursday night and left on friday evening, but it was a ton of fun and i think it went well - i had a chance to look around town a bit and it really seems like a neat little town

and a very nice college (2-year).

i think i would have a ton of fun working there and maybe even setting up some limnology stuff there - they have a degree offering for ecology (limnology) but no limnology class (how crazy is that?) i would love to develop a limnology class for them, but i would have to learn more about alligators, too - i was told that there is at least one alligator per water body (and some cool water-type birds)...

i remembered to send them a thank you card (thank you to fonda for actually sending it to me so that i could send it to them - i am a dork and forgot to get it while i was at home [eye roll to self]). and then last week-monday i called them to see what the progress was...now i am just feeling impatient...i want to know thumb-up/thumb-down so i can continue my life...it has been frustrating because all i have gotten to date (minus this one) has been "thank you, but, no thank you" kind of letters and i am ready for some good news regarding a full-time job.

i know i can work at brunswick in the fall, but i really don't want to.
yes, i have been having a great time working there.
yes, it has been a tremendous learning experience.
yes, i have enjoyed the people i have been working with in terms of my new cohort of teachers and the great support staff...but - i really would like to have benefits, better pay (adjunct teachers aren't paid worth shit), and fonda and all the kitties together in the same place. i really miss living with fonda. just the normal everyday stuff.

i wish there were no sounds of NASCAR going on in the next room (god, save me!).
i wish the washer didn't smell like someones idea of "mountain fresh" (yuck).
i wish there was no dishwasher and the dishes were all clean to MY specifications (ewww).
i wish for no alcohol in the house again, unless it is for beer-batterd food (yum).
i wish for a sober roommate (god, save me!).

i want go home.
i want a full-time teaching job so that fonda and i can afford to live together again.
i want to go to CA to visit with the family and see Tracey graduate
i want fonda to go with me to CA
i want to hear from florida so i can make plans...

i need to keep breathing and relax. peace for now.

the newest addition to the quilt family

2011-03-28T18:28:00.011-04:00

the fish lasagna quilt: mixture of machine and hand-quilting - background is machine quilted - this quilt started as a fun quilt for lasagna and then i felt like it was just a good background...decided that because all of the fabrics were "asian" fabrics, that i needed a good "asian" theme - a koi and moon...

a bit closer to the head: you can see some of the hand-quilting

and the eye...i messed with the eye...using #8 Pearle cotton with some sparkly stuff with it woven (satin stitch) and then back-stitched to define the eye...if you know me, you might have expected to see two eyes on the same side of the head, but i just couldn't do it and make the fish still look more real...sigh.

around the bottom edge are hand-stitched symbols for "water" and "koi fish" and the elemental symbol for "water" (not pictured, but think of an upside-down triangle)

around the top edge are symbols for "air" and "wind" and then the elemental symbol for "air" (not pictured, but it is a triangle with a horizontal line through the top)

the following should be turned 90-degrees clockwise, but couldn't get it to happen at this point...oh, well, you get the idea

i am really happy with how this turned out and i am proud that this is my work.

peace.

link to simon's cat (C)

2011-03-23T19:15:00.003-04:00

I love this guy and his cat "simon's cat" on youtube!

easy to get caught up in his stuff - my total fav is:

have fun being brainless.

peace

so, ok...

2011-03-16T17:20:00.002-04:00

now i had "spring break" and that was busy, but different kind of busy.

i had a job interview in Winter Haven, FL - Polk State College. an up-and-coming community college that has had something close to 10% growth each year for the last few years and they are looking for (tenure track!) professors to start in August. i was excited by a phone interview...then they called about an in-person interview and i was over the moon...i was also lucky that it was spring break last week and i was able to fly down on thursday and then back on friday. they are reimbursing me for travel and so all is well. i am really excited, but i am trying not to obsess about it. there are a few other people who are also being interviewed for this position. i am hoping i made a good impression and indicated that i am really excited to jump in and get busy with the job. i am keeping some fingers crossed just in case.

i was also a dork because i forgot to send them a thank you card while i was home...fonda ended up sending me one and i just sent it out this morning. i, of course, didn't write it out before writing on the card and had to make a few changes to the card before it could go out...thank god i bought some cardstock. fonda made it and it is pretty and she did some edits to get it ready to go to them - like a "thanks so much" and a swirly to cover a blip...if she would have just waited until i got my hands on it, she wouldn't have been worried about a blip. : )

now i have to send out the receipts so that i can get some kind of reimbursement. i really do not know when they will make the decision, but i am going to remain on some kind of pin or needle until i hear thumb-up/thumb-down.

oh, i have made 2 quilts since i have been here - one for quilts for kids and one for my housemate's new grand-baby (to be born soon). they chose the fabric and i made it. want to make some kind of blankie for gma and ggma using the same fabric, but i haven't gotten to that point yet. also, i have my fish lasagna quilt-top done, sandwiched and envelope-stitched now it is pinned and i will be stitching the waves/wind soon...and i have donna's quilt picked and re-pinned to be sewen and sent to her...one of these days. i am happy about being able to quilt the darn things, mostly i have been doing straight-line quilting, but for the fish lasagna quilt it will be some free-form waves...maybe today...sigh...

i think i am ready for the next week's classes and lab so now it is all about getting things done so we stay ontime for the end of the class and not too rushed.

wanna quilt more than read for class, but i understand the process...also the stress about the job in FL. i have gotten so many rejections and then to have this interview and then that kind of stuff...anyways...all i really need to do at this point is keep breathing and there is nothing else i can do at this point, but keep wishing : )

peace and breathe...i will post pics of the baby quilt soon, forgot to take a photo of the quilt for kids quilt. and then the fish lasagna.

crazy busy

2011-02-13T01:17:00.006-05:00

i have been crazy-busy with school. trying to keep one chapter ahead of my students...i think i am actually about 3 ahead of most of them, but i need to make plans for the next chapter for the next class...actually now that i am thinking about it, it seems like a good time to finish the last chapter and do the next lab and then do the next chapter on thursday...hummm...sounds like a plan. i am having the best time teaching! i want to figure out different ways to get them into the plan, but i am having a bit of difficulty with that, as i think i am aiming too far above them, this is biology 111, and many of these people haven't had any kind of advanced biology classes, or at least not in the last 5 years or so...hard to know what to expect from them. i always thought i didn't want to teach little kids because i really have no idea where they should be (can they tie their shoes yet?) and now i am seeing something similar, but with "adults" - ranging in age from 18 - 55. i really would like to be able to take a few steps back and see if they are really struggling with the material or if they are just not applying themselves...who knows. but i am enjoying the teaching anyways - busy though i may be.

i miss being with fonda too, this long-distance stuff is for the birds - i hope to find a full-time job sometime soon and we can make plans to move (wherever) and get resettled into our lives. it will happen, just as the job will happen...i just need to remember to keep breathing and keep looking for good jobs : )

i so want to sew...i have gotten a quilt from "quilts for kids" and i have made the top, but i need to now pin it and quilt it. i don't have a good place for pinning yet, but i am heading to the floor of the living room...maybe tomorrow night or tuesday morning. so i have not been doing much but refreshing my memory on cell stuff and membrane stuff - crazy how the understanding of things have advanced in the last 15 years!

below is a picture of an egret i saw just as i arrived some evening. it was hanging out on a slough near the parking lot at school. it really didn't like me watching it and getting close, so the picture is not all that great, but it was chowing down on some tadpoles, i think. it hung out for a while.

fonda and i also went to southport, NC. really cute town, not too far from where i am living in leland. we found a neat old cemetery there and took some pictures...when ever i saw this stone all i could see was "...Jane...laughter..." i think mom was hanging out and snileing (nod to mom). i know it said "...Jane...daughter..." but i keep thinking of mom laughing. thought i would share the image.

and another taken in the same cemetery, but looking up at the live oaks (they are such cool trees!)

and one more from our trip the day before heading to southport - we went to wrightsville beach, just east of wilmington and saw some neat clouds, i guess i have been trying to keep looking around me and seeing what is happening in nature.

enjoy the pictures and i will (hopefully) be posting some quilt photos some time soon. peace for now.

neat clouds yesterday

2011-01-23T21:23:00.006-05:00

there were some neat clouds yesterday and i managed to have my camera with me (rareity)...

i was shopping for fonda and the temperatures were cold...20s...the day before had been in the 50s. grrr. but i had a good time and got more than what fonda wanted : ) so a good time was had by all (me).

also went to the beach and got snowed on:

really it was more like sleet - balls of snow-bits. some nice waves, but i didn't stay long...wishing for long underwear. but i had my hat, scarf and gloves on along with both pieces of my "3-in-1" winter coat that kept the wind off my body, but not my legs - burrrrr.

bought a space heater for me at the kitchen table (house is set @ 64F). love it! but my writing hand gets cold : ( i will figure it out soon and spring is only a month or two away, right? *fingers crossed*

like living here in Leland, NC. fred and shari are my roomies and sera will soon be joining us - i think they like the idea of having a pet without the bills required by having one. i will like having here around...i miss my kitties, still wish we had fewer, but that will likely happen through attrition (maybe - didn't work well when steve was eutanized, though).

peace for now, back to the school stuff. : )

classes start in a week...

2011-01-01T21:39:00.003-05:00

and i still don't have a place to stay...but i have a lead or two. i am going to contact a rental agency in holden beach and maybe i will be able to rent a vacation house for the spring. i think that the rent will quadruple after memorial day, but i am hoping that i can swing it for the semester at relatively cheap...this is not going to be a profit-making opportunity, but i am hoping this is not a loss-situation. i will be getting a lot of experience with the teaching "from scratch" there are no basic notes for the class, just that we need to go through about 25 chapters within 16-17 weeks (yikes!).

went to try to find a table today to take with me to use as a sewing table...the tables are very expensive...the five-foot table was almost $60! and then we found a six-foot table (folding-plastic) for $40, but that is too much for what i need. i will probably end up taking the three-foot-square wooden table that i was using as a desk in the middle room.

and this is near where i will be living...took the picture with fonda when we went down there last week (thursday). what fun!

OMG!! A job!

2010-12-13T13:29:00.002-05:00

well, i have accepted my first true teaching position...it is PT (2 classes, 6 hours/week each) and it is ~3 hours away, but i will be teaching for the whole semester! i go to meet the department chair on thursday (yay) and we will get classes set up and the paperwork done, etc. i am a bit excited - i have downloaded the official syllabus and after thursday i will be developing my own and starting to make the lectures, etc.... i am just a bit excited and f is sleeping...YAY!!

breathe - now i need to find a place to stay on the days i will be staying over - i do not enjoy the idea of a 3 hour commute/day so i need to find a place to stay...who knows - maybe this will be the foot in the door i need to stay in the area (actually it is closer to the ocean and near SC boarder) - still looking for a full-time position, but as doc suggested: this is a good way to see if this is really what i want to do and the other jobs will wait for me if they really want me...so here we go...classes start on january 7th, but my first class will not meet until the 10th (monday). YAY!

this picture just makes me happy - cowfish

peace!!!

"the power of ugly" taken from UglyOverload

2010-12-07T01:53:00.001-05:00

amazing what one eel can do! behold...the power of eel!

back in the loop (?)

2010-12-01T20:43:00.003-05:00

hay...and other stuff for horses (and their pals)...i was just hanging out and enjoying being out of the loop and then i realized that it is almost the end of the year. i have been feeling not so sad about this time of the year...Mom and all...this year has been different. graduating, looking for a job and life-perspective has had a bit to do with things. i still miss mom, but not as dramaticly as i have in the past. dramaticly isn't the right word, but close enough for now.

i have been looking for a job...(duh)...and i have been applying places i never thought i would go (northern IL?!), but i am still holding out hope for someplace closer to the warmer part of the atlantic ocean (read: southern). i have a cohort who will be moving to DC in january and a friend who just got a fishery job up in alaska and will be moving there in january (silly girl! [not really, she will have a great time, but...alaska?...january? - what is she thinking????}]) anyway...is it my turn yet? i know it will be, and thanks to mom, i am not freaking out about $ yet (THANKS MOM!!) and i just need to get out of the house and feel productive about working, etc. i have been "subbing" or "guest lecturing" for Dr. O and Dr. R this semester and that has been fun, but i want my own class that i can make the decisions and rip my hair out because of that...i have enjoyed the experience, but i am ready to go out on my own in those terms.

Ok, enough whining.., : ) below is a picture from National Geographic that i just love!! it is a mudskipper and one of my first "favorite fish"...there have been many over the years and there will be more to come, i am sure...but enjoy the picture of this, one of my favorite fish...from Africa and they can "walk" out of the water, hence: mudskipper with cheeks bulging with water to breathe :)

felted purses, take 2

2010-10-11T19:52:00.002-04:00

Ok, so the last purses were too short...so i determined that they shrank about half in height and only a bit in width...so i made them 20" long and the same width...

i like the way it turned out...now i want to make a fabric lining for this one and the other one i made.

follow up to purses

2010-08-14T13:45:00.008-04:00

purses were fleted...started out at 14" wide by 11" tall and the yellow strap was 27" long. the green strap was 24" long...ended up 5.5" tall by ~10" wide and the straps were yellow = 34" and green = 27"...i have no idea how the straps became *longer*. i am trying again and working to make it end up ~10X10"...means 14X20" inches before felting!

playing with the purses yielded (f asked me not to show her pic - so i will respect that (besides she was not really smiling), but the strap is much longer):

and:

The purple hats were fun and here they are in use:

and one more to show the pom-pom (a cousin of which can be seen in the "fun" pictures of the felted purses):

now what? quilting and knitting, oh MY

2010-08-10T12:42:00.007-04:00

well...i said i was going to show my stuff here when i got going...alice from poked me and said she had not seen my stuff yet...made me take phots of the cool way she showed me to make bags and hats - she was trying to find a nice way to make a flat scarf for her sweety - and this "double knit" idea just made sense and is *so much better* than trying to stitch one end closed after you are done (PIA!) so...i have made 2 hats so far:

with pom-poms on the one the right (girlfriend thought 2 poms would be nice) and the one on the left doesn't have the pom-pom yet...just bring the two "ends" to the center and then catch the center and voila:

like i said, i still need to add the pom-pom.

so, i also was thinking this method would make a great purse (felted)...so (pre-felted and in progress):

they will be the same but opposite and g-friend wants to put a fabric liner in them once they are felted. making two is because the first ever felted purse i made was for my sister in CA (it was an experiment) and the next one i made was better and then she said she wanted one for a friend and then she said she liked that one better and didn't want to give it to her friend, but she did. this time she will have a choice between the two and she can choose the one she like better and pass on the other to her friend and they will be the same but different. one problem i had with the purses is that they tended to flare out at the top...i am hoping that the ribbing at the top will help with this problem

...we shall see when i finish the other one and get to felting...

now...about the quilting...i made one full quilt top last week and made some borders for a quilt i posted about a while ago "spicy dish" but i will post pictures of these later as i have not yet taken any of these...man, i love this "down time," but i need a job to keep my sanity/days straight.

peace for now!

thumbs up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-07-26T13:00:00.003-04:00

well, thumbs up to me. YAY!! i am now the lucky recipient of a ph.d. well...i will not officially receive the document until december, but i succeeded in the summer deadline for stuff. i am so darn happy...found out last-week friday, but not until yesterday was i 100% sure...there was a slight SNAFU on the paper work where it listed this tome as a "thesis" and a "M.S. in Biology." but the thesis-guru at school has assured me that it is just a typo and can/will be corrected ASAP. the signature on the tome is appropriate for the document to be correctly submitted, etc. it is mearly a matter of paperwork. YAY!!!

now, if i can just find a job...but it will happen, i just hope it happens sooner rather than later...sigh.

peace

RELAX!

2010-07-21T00:25:00.003-04:00

i am taking a few days off from worrying about the dissertation related stuff. i have submitted everything they have asked for and now i just have to wait and see if i get an "up-thumb" or a "down-thumb" from the Powers That Be in the grad school...just hanging out and breathing and reading like a mad-woman and embroidering some antennae on some butterflies that i have been piecing for a friend-quilt...the bodies are being cheater-appliqued (read fusible + blanket stitch) on to the square and then i am going to have my friends write something (just their names or more, what ever they want) on the blank squares i have and i will be making a kind of memory quilt for the PhD-time...we shall see if i can get everyone to do it...just thinking that it would be nice to have that to remember ECU-people.

anyways...time for bed (0035) and i am ready to sleep and not get up with an alarm tomorrow (yay!).

peace

and a comic to pass the time "cats with hands" is the name of the comic strip

breathe

2010-07-18T14:27:00.002-04:00

Your secret from Jean-Sebastien Monzani on Vimeo.

a video to celebrate the submission of my dissertation...now i just need those pesky signatures (2 down, 3 to go).

peace!

you could win...

2010-07-14T17:57:00.005-04:00

lookie what you (i) could win!!

http://quiltwithus.connectingthreads.com/profiles/blogs/an-interview-with-anita?medid=BE100712&elink=2%3AKarens+Corner&media=BE100712&email=%7Bemail_address%7D

if you win after finding this through my blog, will you share?? the winner gets some fabric and a cool book to use with the fabric!

peace

8 days

2010-07-11T18:14:00.003-04:00

so yesterday i was talking to my sister, meg. and i had previously told her that the due date was the 19th...so there she goes saying, "so, you only haeve 9 days, huh?" and i freaked out a bit...but i got over it. today i sent the final chunk to the committee...now i just have to get on OK on the overall abstract and then put it all back together and then to the grad school by next monday, july 19th. we are celebrating a little tonight and ordering pizza we are feeling poor, but it is yummy pizza and will last for more than one meal.

now i just need to find a job and get my account "unfrozen" (read: give the university more $$) and then i can access my transcripts and get said job...i hate this part...feeling like no one wants me, but i don't know that for sure...

oh, well what will happen will happen and it will all work out in the end, right?

peace

20 days and counting

2010-06-30T12:32:00.003-04:00

got feedback for 2 chapters, message out to author of an article i am using heavily and have not heard back...want to get the stuff out and done...july 19 is the deadline to get things to the grad school with minimal(?) changes can be done after that...but i wanna be *done*

i wanna quilt and knit...just learned about a cool method of knitting-in-the-round on straight needles...knitting a hat/purse has just seemed to ease up...can't wait to try it, but gotta finish the stupid dissertation first, but keeping going until december is sounding better...there *is* a class i want to take, but i don't know if i can afford (money and time) to do that, but have not heard about pitt cc and a possible job...time is running short and i need to figure something out. school would be an option and i could get more $ from the feds...delay the re-payment of the loans, etc...frustrating..sigh. it will work out as they will i just need to let things happen and keep typing/thinking about the damn paper.

peace. sigh.
feeling a bit like the one on the treadmill...from comic "Speed Bump" on June 23, 2010.

re-re-re-writing

2010-06-26T13:44:00.002-04:00

boy, am i having fun! (NOT!!!). i find it hard to be motivated when i am getting no feedback from the two chapters i have re-submitted and i have no job prospects...sad but true. i am going to apply all over the stupid state, though i would prefer to stay around here...maybe something closer to VA or SC, but still nearer the coast than the mountains...we shall see. august is fast approaching and things are getting a bit scary in the job/$$ picture...i refuse to flip burgers, but who knows what may happen after all the kiddies go back to school in august/september...keeping my fingers crossed, but still applying to places...sigh

peace

the post grad let down

2010-05-12T18:04:00.003-04:00

i think it is on the same lines as post-partum...i know i have been taking my medications but i sm still a bit down. everyone has left and here we reamain. i can't seem to get back into the swing of the stupid dissertation now that i have been just hanging out. i *know* i need to get back into it, but i am finding it hard. i have begun to fill out an application to Craven Community College, they have a full-time prof position for biology...sounds good, would start in the middle of august. but i have to get it filled out and sent in and all that. it would be in new bern...about 45 min to an hr away...not too far and bigger than greenville and that much closer to the ocean...can't get my hope up too far, but it would be nice...now just to get the stuff filled out. guess that is all for now - once i get the application filled out, i guess i should just jump in...but i want to start with chapter 3 and everyone else seems to want me to start with chapter 2. i have started, but not gotten too far yet...sigh.

peace - heading for literary immortality:

family time

2010-05-04T21:45:00.003-04:00

well...the family starts to come tomorrow (wednesday)...we are having a party on friday and then heading to the beach on saturday...andy goes home on saturday and the others go home on sunday...

i really need to get on the edits and changes for my dissertation!

found a cool camera at best buy today...water proof to 5 m or another to 10 m. but ~$260.00 - a bit too rich for my budget at the moment...add it to the wish list, i guess.

gotta get cleaning again...peace.

ABD!!!

2010-04-18T13:39:00.003-04:00

hay! i am officially ABD (all but dissertation)...this means that i still need to finish writing, but i am done with all the defense stuff, now it is one-on-one with the committee and each chapter. AND submitting the three body chapters to journals to get published (yikes, but cool)

so, i have taken a bit of time to chill out and now it is back to the grindstone to get the writing done and published and find a job...still no stress, but it feels much lighter...we shall see what happens...

peace for now...and a comic (freerange) for fun, because i don't check my facebook page often, either.

so...it is offical...defense on monday

2010-04-07T18:41:00.004-04:00

monday looms large in my world right now...i defend the last 5 years of my life at school...no stress...no worries...yikes!

and my cap-gown-hood-tassel are in at the bookstore...can't wait to see what they put me in...sure it will be great (yeah, right).

fonda said she is going to collect all the quilts i have done during the last 5 years and show them off as my (real) dissertation-haha.

anyways...i guess i will say more on monday, or maybe sooner...we shall see.

peace

my dad...

2010-04-04T21:52:00.002-04:00

this is my dad...

please notice the handle-bar mustash, the matching yellow shirt and the chain around the neck holding his glasses...sigh...my dad, easter at the schenk's (sister-meg, hubby-rob, daughter-margo, and son-robbie). man, that would have been fun...i prob would have dressed as one of the bunnies because i might have fit into that costume...haha. enjoy, peace.

de-fense!

2010-04-03T20:51:00.003-04:00

april 12, no clue what time, but Monday, April 12. i have ~1.5 feet of articles and books to go through before that time...now, if i can only get motivated to do it...sigh

http://www.gocomics.com/theargylesweater is the link to get to this comic...what fun.

have fun...i am. peace

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (#2)

2010-03-27T14:15:00.003-04:00

it is sent to the committee, all 143 pages/3MB. without appendices. it is backed up on two thumb-drives and i will be heading over to both the other laptop and fonda's desk top to put copies on them as well. freaks me out! but i will live...gotta go feed the birds (smile).

peace.

details...

2010-03-26T23:46:00.002-04:00

damn details...got everything back from doc, now just working out the details before submitting the whole thing to the committee...at the moment, it stands at 143 pages, double spaced, etc. includes cover sheets, etc. i think it will gain at least one more as i still need to write an overall abstract...sigh...have an email out to doc to see about adding appendices to it before it is sent to the committee...that will require a bit more in terms of details...sigh...we shall see...more to come...

and i haven't gotten a chance to get photos of the quilts i have been working on while i wait...got two tops...one was the planned and the other was a last-minute addition. i like the addition better than the planned one..oh, well. got some excellent backing fabric for the small one and 30% off - yay! ok...bed time, my fingers are not cooperating...my nails are too long, too...sigh.

peace.

twiddling

2010-03-19T14:55:00.002-04:00

here i sit...drafts to doc...2 back and edited...3 still with him...his daughter gets married tomorrow...i have one quilt that i think still needs something...and one i wasn't even trying to make that is pretty much done, a small quilt for a baby or someone...i have nothing to edit...i am thinking about working on the powerpoint for my defence, but i am not sure it will happen if doc doesn't get things back to me soon...i still need to get it to the committee, defend and make changes and then submit to the grad school by ~april 11 (the requested a few days early, if possible for PhD students so they can cross all their "t"s and dot all their "i"s)...time is running out and i am a freaking out (quietly) and here i sit twiddling my damn thumbs...and slowly pulling all the brown hairs i have out to be replaced with gray...(maybe not, but feels like it might help)...and using way too many "..." things in this post...oh, well. get over it. i need a massage and a trip to the beach...maybe after the 16th? oh, and taxes haven't even been started...and f is still sick and has no voice...the list goes on, but i will end it here...breathe!

peace

finally

2010-03-15T09:05:00.002-04:00

hay! i finally got all my grading done...now i should get the draft back from doc this afternoon and all the pieces that i have been grading back to the students and the back to editing.

got to quilt a bit yesterday...found all my fabrics and then cut them up and put them back together in a different way...still in 20 pieces, but better than the 160 they were when i was finished cutting them up. pictures to follow, but now it is all about making them "random"...moving them around until they look like they weren't placed that way, you know "random." that is part of the 'fun' of quilting...why must i like more scrappy quilts and not just all the same block/fabric quilts? the curse of pretty fabric.

today is the first day for tevas! but it is still a bit chilly, but i have to take the students out in the field today and it will be wet, so better wet feet in tevas than wet feet in something else that won't dry as nicely...sigh...i just hope they stay warm, like they have in the past, as long as they stay on my body, my feet should be moderately warm, or at least not clammy...i hate wet socks.'

anyways...more to come in a while.

Peace.

so...now back to grading

2010-03-13T15:36:00.002-05:00

so...doc has all my chapters (yikes). he is reading mine, another graduate student, who defends on monday and then a grant proposal due on monday too. oh, and his daughter is getting married in a week. like he has no stress, either...but now i feel a bit less stressed...slept for ~12 hrs...now it is time to catch up on all the grading for my lab that i have been putting off...and look, here i am doing it again...smile.

grading can be fun, just requires a bit of focus...now that i have nothing due for the weekend, i am going to knock these out and then tomorrow, maybe take some time to sew!! i can't wait! bought some fabric yesterday for a project that has been on my brain for quite some time...requires 20 fat-quarters of different fabric and about the same of a green...i will post picts when i actually finish...but i also hope to have edits from doc on monday afternoon and then make those changes and then send it to the committee and then defend in the next two weeks or so...we shall see. OK enough scatter-brain...gotta grade these things so i can have fun.

Peace.

dissertations...

2010-03-09T23:29:00.005-05:00

i can truly understand the whole "ABD" (all but dissertation) thing about now...three chapters to doc and now what is left is the wrap-up (conclusion) and an over-all introduction. gotta chat with doc about how to approach the conclusion chapter...just a bit frustrated about how to start...i know kinda what i want to say...but it is going to be a conclusionary chapter, not a formal chapter and it is really kinda stumping me for a bit...maybe tonight/tomorrow will bring a brain-wave...one can only hope...sigh...

and i went to get my teeth cleaned today...all looks well, except that "crack" on one of my molars...got my first crown last fall...and a "bite-splint" to keep me from gritting my teeth at night...hope that helps to not make the crack worse...what fun? anyone have a place where i can teach when i am done...job search after conclusion chapter...more fun! i am hanging-in, just tired.

peace

still here

2010-03-07T16:56:00.002-05:00

hay, still here...just writing...no fun...wanna go to the beach...sigh...soon, soon!

peace!

OMG!!

2010-01-27T15:38:00.002-05:00

doc just told me that i actually have only until march 19 (50 days!) until he gets the entire final draft (OMG!!) i don't expect to post much in the next few week (unless i can't stand it - possible)...yikes!

that's all for now...back to data manipulation in Excel and trying to get things correlated (SPSS - statistics program)...no pressure/stress.

Breathe

Peace

YAY!

2010-01-21T23:24:00.002-05:00

i figured it out! nothing really new to say today, except that i had to "read" some html (?) and found the bit that made things centered and i was able to fix them - so there! - anyways...smile...working hard on the chapter, as you can see...actually i was, earlier.

chapter due tomorrow, meeting with teaching @9am and then supposed to go to QWACs...then back to chapter...it is coming together in my head, just not on paper yet. it will happen, that is all i know. woke up the other day with a huge light over my head and had to grab the pen and paper i put next to the bed months ago for just such an emergency...glad i did...by the time i got to the computer it would have been gone, but i had the paper and think i made some big leaps in the process and making sense of the data i was working on. anyways...time for bed so i can get up tomorrow and do it all again : )

Peace.

well...

2010-01-20T22:29:00.003-05:00

an up-date of the blog (check out the background/header link @ upper left). but can't figure out how to make it non-centered and how to move the heading down so that it is in the middle of the header...well, i will try again next time i need to be writing (all the time). i was doing this just before dinner...the TV was on, so i have a hard time writing...TV is usually off until ~5pm...tomorrow i am up by ~9am and then writing all day because i have a chapter due friday and then next week a draft to my lab group...really excited that things are coming together and i can see the end...scary but true...now i need to think about a job...even more scary (smile).

Peace

first katie-card of the year

2010-01-19T21:56:00.003-05:00

My first card of the year is being sent to my next-oldest sister...she and her husband took on the care of Mom's oldest cat - spunkin. they made the decision recently to euthanize her. she had a good life with them and probably more fun in the last few years than before...they figured out that she was likely allergic to the food she was eating and some other things...they had her on high doses of prednazone...she was good. i know it was a hard decision...she was Mom's cat and...there is not much more to say...she had a good life in CA.

done with our new (came in the mail today) "C is for cat" SU! set, and crushed curry and soft suede papers and crushed curry pen. and then a bit of glitter with the glitter pen to highlight the bell and lines in the "C."

i know they miss her. i do not look forward to the day we euthanize spot (Mom's middle cat)...i actually don't look forward to the day we euthanize anyone...but i firmly believe in quality over quantity.

Peace.

found funny photo

2010-01-19T14:57:00.003-05:00

found this photo on seattle pi (newspaper link) where i view some of my comics...

thought of me and my dissertation (87 days)...can't wait for the cats to try this!

must go and hand in the "application for graduation" today (due by Friday, but why wait?)...gotta find the right building, etc.

and...Howell is hot today...outside is ~60 and inside, prob ~80, had my shirt off for a while...smile...door was approprately closed, no worries.

Peace

so...anyways

2010-01-18T22:24:00.002-05:00

so...yesterday, after i wrote about my deadline (88 days, now), i got sick...don't know what happened, but started to get chilled and very cold and yucky guts/didn't feel good. took a bit of a nap on the couch, but still chills and v. cold...f finally made the bed and i crawled in and tried to get warm with my down comforter, quilt and red acrylic blanket (6 p.m.)...still shivery and chilled...woke up at 10 p.m. and felt better, too hot...went to the potty then read for a bit and then back to sleep (11:30 p.m.) and woke at ~7 a.m. to potty again then back to sleep until noon...damn.

feeling a bit better now. still chilled, but guts feel better - f has the temp down to be 72F in the kitchen - means ~60 in the hall - i am fully dressed and have socks and a jacket...want a hat and maybe some gloves...getting ready to head to bed again.

made a book for a friend of mine...she is in need of a new note-journal and so i found one in our stash and added some rub-ons and stickers and now it is ready to head to it's new home...probably no photos, but it was neat...a 6x6 book with a fun moon on the front and a spiral that is not really a spiral, you know, i think they are called "c-rings" what ever...i hope she likes it.

Peace

THE countdown

2010-01-17T14:48:00.002-05:00

well, i finally did it...i have counted the days until i must have my dissertation submitted to the graduate school...as of today...i have 89 days...no pressure.

the banquet was good, the speaker not so much so...but food and venue and turn-out was good, and we had plenty of posters, and fun people to hang out with...now on to other things. like painting tote bags and making quilts and, oh, writing my dissertation!

Peace

altering a bag

2010-01-16T20:27:00.009-05:00

hay...you know all those bags that are coming out that are woven recycled plastic bags/recyclable...you know that sometimes they are really ugly, but you feel like you *should* use them to shop, etc...well i just got one recently and it was advertising some apartment community off campus...decided that i would paint it.

i wasn't sure how to start out, but just found some pretty paint, what i have termed "really fancy paints" just because i was board when i labeled the box, and started to paint...

so, i ended up not really liking it, but it is done and i can't really change it much, but i specifically wanted to keep the columns, so i ended up dripping some paint on it and there were times that it was a bit think and wet, but i had a good time, trying not to get it all over myself and my girlfriend, etc.

so...because i didn't really like the front, i changed tactics...i decided that plants and then it went to fish (naturally) and a stupid looking seahorse...but i did it up-side-down, so i can't bitch too much.

this turned out better, but i think it is OK and then i needed to do something on the sides...so i decided that a peace sign would suffice, or at least a form of peace sign...

i have more of these bags, but not black...maybe i will paint them too, but we shall see...smile

see what happens when i don't quilt?

Peace

blog-a-versery

2010-01-04T11:26:00.004-05:00

Humm...October 1, 2007 was the "birth" of this blog...i guess it is beginning the 3rd year...wonder what will come next. supposed to be writing, had the TV on so can't write well...sewed...in 2 days, i came up with another quilt top...picture will follow.

i think my girlfriend is frustrated about the fact that i can come up with a quilt in 2 days, but she is struggling with some cool art...what she may not remember is that i have had this planned in my book for a while and then all it needed was for me to figure out how much fabric i needed and find it in the closet...this was all done with closet fabric (yay!!). i am proud. this is another pattern i have been thinking about for a while and just not taken the time to put it together...her art is coming right out of her head...mine has had time to stew and settle in the book and then i get to find the colors i want and make it happen (also only 1 media). she has all this stuff around (way cool stuff, i might add) and she has to figure out how to get it out of her brain and onto the paper that she is using...no wonder it takes her days to get it out...

i love her art-work, it is fun and neat and the things she combines make me smile and think "i would never have done that. Cool!"

anyways, about this blogaversery...guess we shall see how it evolves and changes and now i gotta take a picture of the quilt top and then get it downloaded...posted.

peace for now.

Here it is...it is called "spicy dish":

2010

2010-01-03T16:42:00.002-05:00

many changes comeing for this year...hope to graduate and then i have to get a job...no pressure. i have had a bummpersticker on my car for several years...it is fading and no one can read it at this point...i am the only one who knows what it says at this point and that is:

The Only Constant is Change

life is nothing but fun...huh? change can be fun, scary, overwhelming and neat, but also just fading away...leave a comment about change and consistancy. thanks.

Peace.

also for this

2009-11-27T15:01:00.004-05:00

i am happy to say that we survived another thanksgiving. it has now been four thanksgivings without Mom. on the first we were traveling home from her death...don't remember much of that, except there was no place to stop to eat dinner, not even mcdonalds! finally found a place in wva - a gas station that had opened it's "grill" to serve people on the road...it was a lucky find, i guess. you can find things open on christmas, why not thanksgiving? that was the first time i realized that i couldn't call Mom and tell her we got home safely and no deer found us...that made me cry (it still does). saw this comic today and it made me think of Mom - this is from the comic "speed bump":

anyways...the next year we went to a friend's house with her parents and our niece...hard. last year was odd, but we got honey-baked ham and turkey and had dinner at home...better. this year, no one could understand why we were not having the big to-do. i spent some of yesterday writing a piece of my dissertation and we had honeybaked ham and turkey sandwiches...maybe tonight i will make mashed potatoes and get f to make the pumpkin pie she offered...we even bought "koohwooo" you know, whipped cream in the can that the cats like (webster and sera).

thanks giving is just not the same...maybe in another few years...i want to make a tradition like Mom had in the last few years: invite all the "orphans" over to eat with us, we had a friend of mind from Korea one year for his first family thanksgiving, he had gone with another Korean friend the previous year to a community thanksgiving, but i think he enjoyed our more because it was more family, he brought this beautiful christmas cactus...it has been happy and still growing...started blooming this year a few days before the anniversary of Mom's death...i love it. we had also had other friends over for dinner that had no other place to go and so came to Mom's house to eat and be part of the family. i want that to be part of her legacy...to invite those who don't have other options, for whatever reason, to be part of our family, even if it is only for a day.

maybe that will begin next year, but until then...thanksgiving is sad for me...i think it may always have a hint of sadness, but also joy in sharing what was started with Mom.

Peace

for this (and more) i am thankful

2009-11-19T10:56:00.001-05:00

i am thankful that i am still alive and kicking. that i have a girlfriend who loves me and encourages me and friends that do so too. i am thankful to be working and able to do what ever i can. thank you.

peace to mom who died three years ago yesterday. i love and miss you and thank you for everything you did for me and it is alot because of you that i am doing what i am doing now. thanks.

peace.

Staffing the Arc

2009-11-11T14:01:00.008-05:00

hello world, we are here waiting for Ida to pass us by...but wait, she may re-organize and make a nor'wester...what fun. we lost a bit of siding today...it is sitting in the side yard looking up at us...have to call the landlord and get him to get the woman who does his handywork over here to replace it. he should have had her install it in the first place and maybe it wouldn't be flying off in the storms. oh, well. not my house, not my problem, i just get to report them.

anyways...it has been raining here for several hours and things are getting a bit soggy...it has been dry, but now the ground is getting saturated...glad to have more sandy soil than clay-y down here...in ohio this would feel worse, but we lived up a hill in ohio and didn't see much effect at home, but people down-river saw big effects when it rained this much. they are predicting 4-7 inches...wonder what the lake down the way looks like and i also wonder what greenmill run looks like...wonder if the "flood lot" has flooded yet, last time it rained hard they just closed the lot so no one could park there and then it didn't rain half as much as they predicted...

emailed my boss and told him we were staffing the Arc and he laughed...shame the cats are neutered (not!) but if we float away, i guess we can't start a new clowder...oh well, health before kittens, and i am sure there are some un-neutered kitties out there that are suffering the rain but will be able to re-populate the entire city, given a chance...stupid college students...NEUTER YOUR PETS, and DON'T JUST THROW THEM OUT WHEN YOU ARE GOING HOME, TAKE THEM WITH YOU, THEY ARE NOT DISPOSABLE!! anyways, enough of the ranting...peace for now.

the squirrel and our trip to the quilt retreat...moslty the squirrel

2009-10-25T16:48:00.001-04:00

well, there fonda and i sit, minding our own business - fonda smoking an me rocking in a rocking chair - and there sits a squirrel...quietly, as quiet as squirrels can be, checking out some acorns that had dropped on the deck of the place where we were staying...he was really working at an acorn and then he turned his butt towards us and low and behold...he had nuts...not the kind you are thinking, but cahoonas, gonads, balls, testicals...those kinds of nuts! "damn," i say*, "have you ever seen those on a squirrel?" and fonda replies..."damn, didn't know they got so big!" me: "i guess i have never seen a boy squirrel, only girls in Ohio..." fonda: "me too, humm..." we watch him for a while and marvel at the size of his gonads and discuss the relitive presence of girl squirrles in the state of ohio and wonder where all the new squirrels come from that there has never been a lack of squirrels in our neighborhoods when we were growing up or even later...if there were no boy squirrels...maybe they are parthanogenic and lesbians... ...anyways, well we go up to the class room and i mention about the squirrel and no one says anything...(bunch of prudes, i think)...and sigh, "oh, well..." later...sue (our friend from Nerk (newark), Ohio) comes and says "something, something...squirrel!" i look at her and say, "you saw that, too?" and now i feel relieved because fonda and i are not the only ones who have seen this. so we fall to discussing the anatomy of a certian squirrel and then along comes carolyn (from vermont (or somewhere up there), who happens to be rooming with sue) and the four of us continue talking about the nuts on the squirrel...i am sure that the other women all think we are nuts (no pun intended, really) but we have never seen a squirrel with nuts so big! anyways, that remains a small point of fun for the rest of the time we are there.

when fonda and i left, there was a woman sweeping the dropped acorns off the deck (don't see the point, really, more will fall) and feeding this boy peanuts...just made me wanna laugh.

*conversations are approximate, but \reflect the general thoughts/conversations while some (very small) bits have been made up just to make you laugh...fonda may have more to contribute, but maybe not, i think i covered it all.

Peace, KK

hovercat

2009-09-30T23:31:00.004-04:00

don't you just love the picture of the hovercat?? it makes me laugh just to see it...i have a printed copy on my desk in the lab...what fun.

i had always wondered what their feet looked like underneath, well now we know. i am always on the look-out for cool photos...i am happy to have gotten a smaller laptop and it has more memory!! which means that i can keep more photos on it...i have a folder called "cool pictures i didn't take" and it is ~1.44GB at this point...ok, so there are a few pictures i did take (the cats, duh) but it is mostly other people's stuff...i give credit when it is available, but it is not always so, like the hovercat. thank you to whomever took the photo. enjoy. and looking at things from a different perspective is always an option..."it is all about perspective"...and as dr. phil will tell you: "no matter how flat you make a pancake, it still has two sides!" as i said it is all about perspective : )

peace.

what was all the hoop-la about??

2009-09-29T14:46:00.002-04:00

so...the big day came and it went...i am now 40, but feel not much differnt. still in school, still not done, you know. everyone was nice about it and all went well. my brother was the only one to mention a hill, and he is seven years older than me, so i guess either he has room to talk, or not...i keep surprising people at school who either don't or can't believe that there might be someone still in college that is not a professor, but is this old...i guess i hang with a young crowd, and they rub off or something.

anyways...i survived and f made me a cake and we went out for dinner last night (yeah, a week late...oh, well--it was by common consent) and had a good time.

we shall see what the next year brings...peace

the count down

2009-09-10T13:19:00.003-04:00

OK, now there are just 12 days until i reach that fateful landmark of 40. what will the next decade bring me? i hope it brings graduation, a job and peace and good stuff for all my family and friends...graduation and a job and some peace would be OK too : )

*graduate (may??)
*a job teaching (sometime after may)
*peace--anytime

i am trying to keep my mind open to the prospect of work...i know i want to stay in the south, preferably nc, but willing to go almost anywhere...i want to teach where teaching is the main (only) focus and i will be able to take classes out in the field too...i know there are places that this could happen, i just need to begin my search and more-better focus my aim...just don't really know where to start...sigh...ok...i need to split for now (12 days!) and go to lab...hope all is well.

peace.

my birthday

2009-09-08T23:12:00.003-04:00

two weeks until my birthday!! i will be 40 this year, damn time flies

went to nashville, tn last week to present a bit of my data...it went well thanks to the bullying done by some of my cohorts two nights before the presentation. they mean well and i took it as such, but was still a bit frustrated by the event. anyways...it turned out well and seemed to be coherent and to the point...probably tomorrow i am going to begin to translate the powerpoint into the formal written document (chapter of my dissertation & hopefully a journal article).

below is a fun picture taken in downtown nashville--taken mainly for my girlfriend and her mom and brother...i will send them a copy later. : )

all went well, but i was very happy to be home...i remember my dad saying after i graduated with my AAS that he "liked the togetherness...but wanted to try non-togetherness for a while" i had my own apartment shortly after that and that was the way it seemed to be with us, it was nice, but to be together for so long was a bit much for all of us. it was a 12+ hr drive and they wanted to go on an hour-long "behind the scenes" tour of the grand ole opery (@11:30). i ended up sitting out in the courtyard and knitting/reading...what a pia. and noone asked if there was something i wanted to do (not that i would have taken them up on it...i wanted to go home)...by the time we got to ashvill, NC they were thinking that the tour sounded good at the time, but...i just shook my head...sigh...nothing we could do to change it.

well, we made it home and everyone was alive and well (sorta'-cc was sounding sick and milking it and saying that she was "hiding" being sick for the last two days-give me a break!). we all recovered and lived to tell the tale.

two weeks til my birthday

there is nothing happening for my birthday, except that i am getting older and i plan to make myself some cookies or cupcakes to share with the masses at school in celebration of my birthday...i can't wait!! i love my birthday...i just can't believe that i will be 40...damn.

ok, enough of that...time for bed (old lady)

[two weeks until my birthday]

peace
[birthday!!] hehehehehe

check in

2009-08-16T21:34:00.002-04:00

well, i spent some money and bought a netbook. it is an ASUS-EEE PC. it is a big change from my 17" dell! damn it is small, but the keyboard is almost as large as the other, but just a little closer...just enough that it is hard to go between them. i think i finally have them figured out now i just need to get them linked in some manner. i think it should be easy...the guy at school said it would be really hard to find the secret place where i could copy my favorites and transfer them to the new laptop, but it was WAY easy...don't know if i was just lucky or if they made it not so secret. we shall see about getting things from one laptop to the other which would make it easy to keep things updated between them.

i have been quilting...made three that were going to go to the estuarium, but only 2 will go. f will add some more things to it and then it will be good and another is ready and then another one is too big to go, but i really had a good time making it and used "big stitch" to quilt it...requires using pearle cotton and maybe 4-5 stitches per inch. compared to a "good" quilter might have 10-12 stitches per inch...that is after a lot of practice, etc. i had a good time and things went well...now i am looking for another hand project (knitting) to entertain myself on a trip to Nashville, TN in two weeks...sigh...that is likely to happen this week.

more later...peace

R.I.P. Steve

2009-07-09T17:53:00.003-04:00

today we euthanized steve. he was our gray-eyed-Athina's boy, our ridge-back boy, super-kittie, etc. we miss him terrably at this point, but know it will get better. he was a super kitty. he will be creamated and returned to us. we are not sure what we will do with his ashes yet, but that is ok. more later, i guess...the vet was sweet.

the cricket from hell

2009-07-05T22:59:00.006-04:00

hey...now that my feet are healing, and we got a good haul from the garden (2 full salads--lettuce, green pepper, cherry tomatoes, spinach, nasturtiums (leaves and flower))...NOW we have the cricket from hell in the ceiling of our bathroom off the middle room...the cats are scared, and it is REALLY LOUD! i wonder if we are going to be able to hear it in the other room? more later, i guess.

damn, that is annoying!

oh, picts are of the salads : ) top one is mine (has the flower) and bottom one is fonda's (has the tomatoes--yuck)

fire ants II

2009-07-04T15:02:00.003-04:00

still suffering-bohtf (back of hand to forehead)-with a suffering-heavy sigh. it is better, but still itchy...meanies. better with the rhul "cream" really just a gel form of alcohol, i think maybe with some aloe in it or something...

anyways...today is the 4th of july...we are doing nothing but waiting for the neighbors to start with their display tonight. it is always a surprise (sort of). we are almost 100% sure they will have fireworks, we are not sure if we will be able to see them and what the cats will do about it, or how long it will last and when it will end. so, hence the surprise. maybe we should drug the cats a bit...humm something to discuss with f.

more later, i guess.

Peace

fire ants

2009-07-01T11:42:00.002-04:00

i hate fire ants. that is the main purpose of this entry. my feet itch because of the stupid bitches...modified ovipositor...meanies...mowing in tall grass with only tevas for protection is nothing! but i have NO IDEA how to avoid them...i don't even see them, but they get me anyways...if i knew they were there, i would and do try to avoid them while i am mowing...what a pain in the ankle! but i am also glad that i am only wearing tevas...can you imagine what would happen if i had full shoes and socks on? i would be COVERED with them before i knew what was happening! it is a no-win situation...except for poison...we tried boiling water, with limited success...i have some poison, but i don't want to use it in our garden, what a p.i.a.

oh, and the farmer was using some kind of spray on the tobacco this morning...smelled yucky! so add insult to injury! man, i try to be good and this is the first morning that i have been up that early (~7am)...actually didn't sleep last night/today...now it is almost noon and time for lunch...i guess i will sleep tonight...i sure hope so.

peace...say a prayer for the damn fire ants...i hope they go away soon (without too much poison...i hate to use it)

blog candy, just not mine--click here to go there...

2009-05-11T14:50:00.003-04:00

hay, i just learned about a cool woman who is celebrating her birthday by cleaning up her craft area and posting some blog candy. please go to her website http://scrappinoutloud.blogspot.com/ and check out the posibilities...

i think she may have caught the cleaning bug that fonda has and now i am feeling inspired to clean my sewing area and maybe move the laptop back to where it lived a long time ago...in the Middle Room, where few have ventured and some have not returned...actually i just need to clean off all last-years tax stuff and my back pack(s) and stuff...just can't seem to get there and i also do not have a chair there right now.

we shall see what happens...later

sigh...

2009-03-16T14:10:00.003-04:00

i have nothing more to show for my spring break...fonda said she wants to see the most recent quilt bigger...that means that we have to get more fabric...that means that we have to go to jackson-ville and also to cotton fields so we have enough to make it larger (doubling, or more??). I wanted to get it done...i have been a bit obsessive over quilts, but now i need to go back to reality and get some dissertation stuff done...sigh...i also have to take amanda to new bern to prove that she is still blind, after 29 (?) years...they need recent medical documentation and i don't know what they are going to do to prove it, but she needs to go to new bern to do it...what a waste of time and energy. poor amanda...we've got to figure out how to get her employed again, or back in school with support. more later, i guess.

quilts...or what i did during spring break

2009-03-10T14:32:00.008-04:00

ok...i have managed to "waste" time and started and finished 4 quilts in the last 8 days...i cannot believe it, but i have the proof attached...

this one was to show the blocks, i do not think it is a pretty as it could have been. there are 4 blocks, 6 fabrics per block and 8 fabrics total...no one block has a color more than 1 time. (~3x4, or smaller)i wanted it to show the blocks and how they come together...could be better done...was strictly going for values (light/dark) and the colors are all nice, but it is not what i would have done otherwise.

same pattern, but more purpose-full placement of fabrics...4 blocks, 4 fabrics per block and 8 fabrics, total. (~3.5'x4.5') this one is going to go to my dad once it has been quilted...i think it may be sent near the end of the year, when i can actually quilt it myself, but we shall see what happens...i now have almost 10 quilts to be quilted and not enough money to send them to the quilter we usually use...sigh. ok, more quilts...

this one was really just an excercise that i decided to use some of the "to go" fabric (that we want to leave the house) and i just found colors that didn't bite me when i put them together...not too bad. but this is now a quilt "to go" it still doesn't strike me as a keeper. it will be donated to either a kid in foster/orphan care or to some of the wounded warriers, or a domestic care place...i have to investigate the place it will go, along with the first one on this post...this one is larger, maybe 4'X5' or a little bigger. i am thinking about doing this with some kitty print fabric that we got in february but we want to be able to see the cats more-better than if they were in a small block...the larger squares are 4.5" finished.

this is what we started on friday and i finished on sunday. no obsession here...not with any of the 4 quilts...never...this one was kind'a cool...it went together very easily and looks cool...it was done with 42 different pairs of 5" fabrics and 42 pairs of the green fabric. it will be fun to see the different fabrics that people came up with, put together...helen made hers all scrappy, with 2 different fabrics per pinwheel and a muslin (off white) and carolyn II used a green paisley for the background and a nice rose charm pack to get the other 5" squares. each of the pinwheels ends up being 8" finished...so it is ~4.5'x5.25' with the borders...we only had 1 yard, and i didn't want to use it all up on a wide border, so it will be bound (edged) with one of the fabrics in the quilt. the stripes around the edge actually are used in the quilt in 3 different pinwheels, but it is hard to figure out which ones it is, huh? smile.

ok, i think that maybe enough for now...i need to stop delaying on the damn dissertation stuff and crack down...fonda's computer should be back today or tomorrow and then the laptop will be 100% mine again and i won't have to share. i hate having to share when i want to do some work. frustrating...anyways...now i am killing time to post, but i promised...done. peace, out.

WhiteKnot.org - Marriage Equality

2009-02-02T16:30:00.002-05:00

WhiteKnot.org - Marriage Equality

Posted using ShareThis

All should have the right to equality under the law, no matter who you love (as long as those who are involved are of legal age)

We should not have to be afraid that our rights as a spouse could be terminated just because someone doesn't like our relationship. After 17 years of commitment, we should be on-par with everyone else with similar commitments, we are a loving couple and deserve the rights that a man and a woman have, even if they have been married only 1 minute! look at britney spears, a 50-hour wedding was more valid than our relationship of 17 years! no fair!!!!

Anyways, the ribbons are easy enough to make on your own, go to the link and check it out...there are diagrams.

EQUALITY MEANS EQUALITY! NOT SEPARATE, BUT EQUAL, IT DOESN'T WORK AS SHOWN BY OUR HISTORY!

check it out...fun

2009-01-28T12:18:00.006-05:00

check it out!! what fun, and not much of a time waster... : )

i turned out to be a "happy dabbler"

(copy and paste the following into your browser--i haven't figured out the web-link stuff yet).

http://youniverse.com/statement/module/ArtModule/Creative_youniverse

my trip to new oreleans

2009-01-22T21:34:00.014-05:00

what fun...new orleans. i went with some people from school for the meeting of the Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society. there were 11 of us, 10 students and one spouse (and parents, but we didn't meet them). We had a good time.

we went all over the french quarter

becky, chad and garry near Decatur.

water meter cover--neat art for general public--art on the street

the buildings are way neat, with nice iron work and neat hurricane doors, etc.

We stayed at a really ritzy hotel, the Royal Sonista right on Bourbon Street and complete with a doorman (in top-hat and cape) and concierge and over 500 rooms.

then on the second day, we went to the garden district by trolley and had fun...found 3 cats--one in a cemetery (below), and two in yards

neat tomb--they cannot bury people below ground because the water table is too high, so they have large cemeteries with tombs...some begin really old and some are more new or just with newer dates.

i even saw one with a bench for contemplation...then there are many really neat, pretty houses also with neat hurricane shutters, full door shutters, etc.

THEN on the third day, we went to the aquarium of the americas and i got to pet a penguin!!

how neat is that???

well, then we went to the meeting, which actually started on thursday--we had some people attend the meetings that we needed to and on friday we didn't win the student subunit award, like we thought we should have. NC state won. again. we have no idea what they did to earn the award, but they won. sigh. we did spend some time socializing with some other fish girls and boys.

finally, we got to meet pete the cat (petethecat.com) and becky got her picture taken with him...

Ok, that is probably enough for now...i do not think i have ever made such a large entry...we had a good time, but it is always nice to be home again!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T01:20:00.002-05:00

happy new year!

i can't believe that things start again next week, friday. the 10th banquet and the start of the new spring semester. i have a poster that i need to do and then also to take it to NO, LA. then at the end of the month is a seminar for school. i have finished my guts, and data entry and now the stats need to be run and then analysed and understood...it never ends, does it?

i also told my sister(-in-law) today that there was a reason that i was not responsive on thanksgiving...the fact that i went to mom's house for 15+ years for thanksgiving and cooked there, etc. that was always fun and we had the misfits over for the meal and some fun...i miss that. i told fonda that once we are more settled in a place, i would like to start that again...invite those who have no other options or just don't want to have other options for thanksgiving.

now, christmas, we truly succeeded in surprising fonda's mom for christmas! i was so happy that she didn't know that we were coming! i am glad we went, but it was hard to do the drive. we drove back to NC on christmas day, and there was next to nothing open for meals...what a pain. we ended up eating at a gas station, it was good food, but it just was not what we wanted, the choices were very limited. but we got home and all is well. the kitties missed us, though jen was watching them, they didn't have a lap to sit on and people to bother/be bothered by. we missed them too.

ok, good new year to all of you out there. hope all is well with you and yours...peace.

finally!

2008-12-08T23:09:00.003-05:00

this was what it looked like after i had run the sample through the seives (the copper things)...i think this is from a striped bass, but it could be a spot. i spent a lot of time running water through these things--what fun!
i have no idea what this is, but i have seen many of them in the guts of spot (a type of fish) and it is cool...i have called it a "itch ball" but i know i need to figure out what it really is...i have a vote for a sponge "spicule"--part of a sponge, but i am not sure...it is hard and fractures when you press it...they are kind'a large (relitively, visable to the naked eye [but not the clothed one]) too...

I have finally finished my guts (for now)!!! i hope to have all of it entered by the end of the week...maybe by wednesday or thursday. that would mean that i could start getting the data analysed next week and see if i have to do more guts (man, i hope not!) but if i do, i will (back of the hand to the forehead and heavy, dramatic sigh).

it snowed 2 weeks ago (slightly!) and that was when mom-cathy and gordon came to town again (it has been WAY TOO long since we saw them!). It was a treat to see them, but also sad, they came on the anniversary of mom's death, sigh...mom's birthday is the day after tomorrow, too. i was thinking about getting/making a small birthday cake in her memory, we shall see.

tomorrow will be a data-entry day, i am not sure if i will finish, it depends on if i stay home (cats, TV and fonda as distractions), or go out ($$) and work without the 3 previously named distractions, but the internet remains, no matter what...i love www.pandora.com--a part of the "music genome" project, it takes some suggestions and then comes up with other, related music then you can say +/- and it will change your preferences...it is fun, because there is NO commercials and if you don't want to hear christmas music, you do not have to! or country, regge, classic rock, what ever you don't like...mine started as a beatles station and has made some odd, but good variations...i am more likely to hit the "+" than the "-" but there are some times when i think "what the heck were they thinking?"

ok, i can't think of another thing at this point to talk about...it is late and i am tired. PEACE. K

the aftermath of TS hanna

2008-09-06T15:22:00.002-04:00

well, we survived...the power didn't even go off...sigh. i guess we just have to wait for the next one, huh? i am not really sad...but it feels like a build-up to a big winter storm that should close school and put people into isolation...and then there is just a skin of snow on the ground in the morning. oh, well. sometimes it is better to be disappointed. : )

i woke up ~3:00am and heard the rain and saw some of the trees being wiped around, but nothing really bad! more like a thunder storm, but without the thunder and lightning...it was kind'a boring...but like i said, it is sometimes better to be disappointed. ok, more later.

here she comes...tropical storm/hurricane hanna

2008-09-05T18:49:00.003-04:00

i have never been through a hurricane, this one is not supposed to be big, it may not even be a formal hurricane (74+ mph sustained winds)...we have already gotten some rain ~3/4 inch just in ~2-3 hours. they are predicting up to ~4 inches by tomorrow afternoon. tornado watch is also happening until ~5am ...peak of the storm "gusts 35-55 mph, rainfall 2-4 inches" what fun. and there is another one behind "her" ike may head to the gulf of mexico, but it could also take a right at the bahamas and head up here. that one has been a category 4 and is now a 3, but could get strong again (katrina was a 5) (5 is the maximum # they go to). the cars are in the back, the trash cans are laying down near the house and the glass-topped table is upside down near the house too. we are hoping that that is all we need to worry about.

i can't believe that almost all the bread and water and probably the milk is gone from the grocery stores! the other day, alot of bread was missing from the shelves, i thought that there was something wrong...this was WAY before hanna was a threat...i don't understand people. i understand that there is a chance that we might lose power and phone, but this is just weird. it is kind'a like in ohio when a huge snow is predicted! but this is different, too.

oh well. enough for now

time flies/boring life

2008-09-02T12:55:00.004-04:00

damn, i didn't know it had been so long since i posted! i have been working on guts and today is a DE day. i have more than 20 to enter and it takes so long...it is really boring work. gotta get back to work soon.

but, until then, i have been having some problems with my hips and knees...think it is because i am fat...we shall see...have a dr. appt to check things out. don't know why it would hit kinda' "out of the blue" oh well.

i am teaching this semester...so far it has been fun, but draining! i expect it to continue in this vein for the whole semester...and maybe next semester too. we shall see...there is nothing happening in my life except guts, DE and teaching....boring!

sigh. another cute picture of steve is attached...he is doing so much better with the prozac--very small dose and it seems to be making him OK with his lot in life and he is not peeing outside the box now (yay!) ok more later. peace

time for a small change/newsey stuff

2008-07-16T21:58:00.003-04:00

i finally finished one site, 3 more to go...i spent the last 2 days sorting and condensing. I have it down to ~9 boxes and ~500 guts...some of these are in excess, just to be sure that we have at least 5 full guts...sigh. today we had some kids (age8-10) into the lab to look at the stuff we do. we showed them fish, a conger eel, bowfin, etc. then we had some otaliths and scales and then a shark station with a spiny dogfish...way cool. then we also had an acoustic station that dr. joe tried to run, he didn't do a very good job...sigh. but we had fun and the kids had fun, poking fish, etc. the conger eel was way slimy and made me gag, yuck! but it is also a cool fish.

boss had surgery a few weeks ago (some sort of *plasty) that took the pain from his back. then 2 weeks ago, he went in for a disk-removal and spine fusing to help with some tingling/numbness in his feet...started the surgery and then stopped when he was having some heart problems. he had an angiogram on last monday...one of his arteries was ~99% blocked! the back surgery is on hold for a while...no use having a good back if your heart is not working, Huh? He was resolved and happy to have had the heart attack in the hospital where they could quickly ID it and give him good rx.

last i heard, he had to stay home until today (dr. at the hosp. said 8 weeks off) then his local dr. could make the next goal/or say OK, i guess. i haven't heard.

i made him a quilt, but it needs to be washed and then put somewhere where it won't start to smell like cigs again. i was worried about the quilting, but then got a hint from a woman who is going to teach me more-better about machine quilting...it worked like a charm...i will post a picture soon of this quilt. also i have been working on another quilt that is a challenge. thanks to f's color options, it looks great. i picked out 3 patterns--double friendship, ohio pride and north carolina star...they all have the same 3 colors, but one ended up being ~1.5" larger than the others (opps!) oh, well, again, f's choices helped and i made add-ons so they would be about the same size. it really is nice...more about this later, too.

really this is just newsy stuff...more and pictures later. peace

OMG!! IT IS HOT!

2008-06-09T09:33:00.002-04:00

omg!!! i can't believe how hot it is here...we broke a record yesterday of 101 F! the old record was 99 F. our front porch thermometer recorded a temp of 105! (in the shade!). i went out this morning to water the garden (wow, i have never felt 85 F this hot!)--i was sweating within ~5 minutes! holy cow! i was surprised that the plants weren't wilting...the tomatoes look great and the cucumber is doing well too. the flowers are OK, but the new clematis is not growing, just surviving. the compost pile seems to be thriving too. i need to get some support around it and define it a bit more...maybe later, when the weather breaks.

working on guts...have a few to enter and "massage" (manipulate). these need to be re-organized to accommodate all that i need to do with the statistics...i have been arranging the data in 2 formats, what a pain.

hey! my sister just graduated Suma Cum Laude! it took her a long time to finally finish her education, but she did it with a bang! Congratulations to Elizabeth! she is the second kid to graduate with a bachelors degree! YAY! she is now thinking about going back for a MSW--she wants to work in hospice--better her than me, i don't think i could do that...too hard.

time to enter more guts and then go in tonight when it cools down. thank god for air conditioning! but i might be skinnier if there was none...nah, i hate to be hot.

smile. k

la, la, la

2008-06-03T21:41:00.002-04:00

la, la, la...going through the guts...gonna' teach a group of people a pattern this friday and then i am helping at a wedding next friday and then teaching on saturday. i will be only teaching 1 person, at this point, but i am happy to do that too.

this past weekend fonda and i went to the John C. Campbell Folk School. what a crazy weekend. we went out on wednesday and stopped in greensboro then ashville and then to brasstown (near murphy, NC). we had a good time getting there. but the hotels were awful! the folk school was great, fun and the food was great! the problem was the craziness of a friday-sunday class. it was intense and crazy. i made a bear, i will show a photo later, once i find the $%^&# camera (smile). she is cute...everyone thinks she is a he, but i know better. she is the most expensive stuffed animal i have. she doesn't have a name yet, maybe soon. i hadn't thought about the cost, then i was talking to some of my cohorts and we talked about it and i didn't include the cost of the class and the room and board...you know.

learning how to make the bear was good, but the instructor left some things to be desired, as well as not including all the stuff needed, i could have saved $10+ by bringing some of the things she supplied and charged us for. i am pleased with the bear i made and i bought some more mohair too, so i could make a cat (i need to figure out how to make the tail and change the ears...anyways...

i miss mom...the folk school was a favorite place for her...no one i met knew her...sigh. oh, well.

more later...gotta think about the guts (smile).