Texting Gloves?

I bought these in Florida, believe it or not, and they're SUPER soft! They're convertible, so they have a pop-top that buttons in the back and folds over to keep my fingertips warm when I need. Anyway, their tag says "texting gloves" and I like them because I can free a finger to use my iPhone when I'm walking in the frigid fury of the Minnesota winter. HOWEVER - I text with my thumbs. Who doesn't text with their thumbs? Everyone texts with their thumbs. They're not texting gloves at all! Don't get me wrong, I still think they're awesome. But why wouldn't someone, ANYONE have pointed out the fact that people text with their thumbs before the tags were printed? Why don't people notice these things? Why am I afflicted with these questions in my head?

Gelli plates?

OK, I'm confused about the Gelli plate thing. Seriously, what's the point? So far I haven't seen anyone use it for something that you couldn't just do with a brayer right on the paper. But I spent an hour or so watching videos about it yesterday and it made me want to paint! So I did. Just mostly slapped paint around, put it on bubble wrap and smashed it on my pages. I spent less than ten minutes painting, but it felt good anyway!

Then when I have the pages at this point, I get stuck. What next? White? Face? Trees? I just don't know.

A new stamp!!

OK, so I took this picture of packaging or something at Starbucks a couple of weeks ago because it was cool and I wanted to make it into a stamp. But it was hard to decide - positive or negative?

I decided to go negative first, so I'm carving AWAY the lines that I drew on the rubber.

It took for freaking EVER, and it was impossible to get smooth, clean cuts, so I was really disappointed. 

But I finished it and here it is:

And here's how it stamps:

Not too bad, I guess. I haven't really used it for anything yet, but I think it will be cool over stuff. Maybe ATCs? I need an exchange to test it out on! Anyone want an ATC? 

PISSED!

OK, bloggy people. I need your help. I fucking hate blenders. I hate them. But I love smoothies. So for YEARS I've fought with the damn things. Everyone says the reason my fucking blenders never work the way I want them to is because I'm cheap. It's true - I am cheap. Why pay hundreds of dollars when I can get the same thing for $20? I don't like to cook. I just want to make smoothies in the damn thing. I got an off-brand version of the magic bullet - it sucked. I finally gave in and spent $50 on a Black and Decker - it fucking SUCKS. I'm over it. If there is a blender out there that I can just put crap in and it will blend ALL BY ITSELF, I wanna know about it.

Hear me out - I do NOT want to EVER have to stop it, open the top, and stir. NEVER. Just like when I'm asking about white pens and people say "Oh, if you go over it a couple of times, it's totally opaque." I don't WANT to do that. I want to write ONE TIME and have it work the way I want it to. Same with the blender. No stirring. I want to put frozen fruit, almond milk, and a shitload of ice in the goddamn thing and have it make a freaking smoothie. NO STIRRING. Would a margarita maker work better? I'm throwing my blender out, that way I won't keep having the urge to make smoothies. Fuck trying to be healthy. I'm just going to sit here and drink my coffee while I wait for my bacon to cook.

Lists and flaws

Yesterday I went to Starbucks to finish my homework and get some coffee before work. I really wanted to work on Project Orange, but I keep getting all stuck on "What is it? What am I going to do with it? Is that good enough to write in my journal?" and blah, blah, blah. So I decided to just keep things simple. That's what I need more of in my life right now, simplicity.  I tend to get overloaded, panicky about everything I need to get done and how I don't have time to do it all - even though I DO have time to do it. So yesterday I sat at Starbucks and drew a girl and made lists.

Gratitude: I am tired because of all the blessings in my life.

* School - I love ITT Tech and I am excited about the work I will be able to do when I'm finished.

* Family - nothing is better than having my little son to love

* Friends - I would rather Skype and text with Kelly, Ajae, and Suzi than get enough sleep

* Work - in a shitty economy, I am lucky to have a job at all. I work with nice people in a nice place.

Finding my Calm:

* It's Friday, October 26, 2012 (I'm obsessed with always knowing the EXACT date and time)

* I'm dressed and ready for work

* I have the car so I can be on time

* I have tonight's homework done

* I will get off work in plenty of time to get to school early

* I do not have to get up early tomorrow or be anywhere or do anything

Today I would like to:

* get all the coming week's homework done

* Art Zine for class tonight

* get movie night snacks

* get a pumpkin for Liam

* make some pasta salad

* find a body for Kelly, a head for me, a heart for Ajae

* write up PO for YSM? 

To get these things done, I need:

* to go home from work and make pasta

* to get all of my books and vocab sheets and take them to school

* talk to K&A about zine & PO/YSM

* go to Target after work for snacks AND pumpkin

* look up head/body/heart

I know it probably seems silly and simple to some of you, but these little steps being written down helps me focus and not panic. What is there to even panic about? Nothing, it's totally irrational. But if all I remember is that I need to go to Target, and I forget WHY I need to go to Target, I walk out with nothing and then remember days later when I can't go because I don't have the car. It's super silly, but for me, having a list makes a HUGE difference. If I put on the list: do dishes, then the dishes get done. They always get done eventually, anyway, but this way they get done when I really want them to. I don't know why I can't just DO them, why I have to write it down to get it done. But I think part of what I wish more people would do is EMBRACE what you know about yourselves. Don't think of things as flaws or quirks At my new job, I'm a host. The next step is waitress. I will NEVER be a waitress. I have no desire to be one. I think I would be horrible at it. That isn't a flaw, it's just knowing myself. As the host, I have first contact with EVERYONE - the people who walk in, the ones who call, the brass when they come. But I don't have to see to anyone's needs. I'm not responsible for their restaurant experience. I don't like taking care of people, trying to make people happy. It's not something I'm good at. I'm not good at remembering toilet paper if it's not on the grocery list, no matter how many times I've had to use paper towels in the bathroom. This isn't a flaw, it's just me. 

How many things about you do you think "I wish I wasn't like that, didn't do that, hadn't said that". I think it's SO much more important to just KNOW things about yourself and learn how to live with them. I set an alarm to get my son on the bus and off the bus. I set one to remember to take my Prilosec. Should I be able to remember these things? Who are you to judge? Who am I to judge? The important thing is that I DON'T remember these things and on the days when it's Tim getting Liam off the bus, and an alarm is going off for no reason, I just explain what it is and let it go. I don't care, I CAN'T care if someone else thinks it's dumb. It works for me. Like wearing my shoes in the house if I want to get housework done. It's not a flaw, it's just something that WORKS for me. OK, rant over. For now!

Project Orange

So, as you all know (or at least most of you), my peeps and I use the word "Indigo" instead of "sad" or "blah" or "depressed". We say we're feeling Indigo, because that sounds more artistic than "blue", right? We think it does. For me, Indigo steals my joy, my patience, my energy. He makes me feel heavy. My limbs are heavy, my eyelids heavy. It's hard to just function through the day and get done what I need to, never mind things that I want to do. (Although, he makes me feel like I don't want to do anything.)

Since Indigo is our arch-nemesis, we're starting a project to fight back and we're calling it Project Orange. Orange is the opposite of Indigo. PO is going to help bring us back to center when we're feeling overwhelmed and overworked and scattered. I feel pulled in a zillion directions lately and I have no idea what to do about it. So I'm going to take steps.

PS Blogging break is over! It probably sounds silly but this thing helps me feel connected.

Blogtober

Hi, bloggie people. I hate cutsey names like "blogtober". I guess it means people are blogging every day in October? Silliness. I think you should blog whenever you feel like blogging. Not when other people think you should blog. So, anyway, I think I'm going to take a break from blogging for a while. Not because something happened or anything like that. I started a new job today, and I have to figure out to to balance my school, Liam's school, work, hubby's work, and not having a car. That's the hardest part! I get off work at 4pm, Liam gets off the bus at 4:12pm, and it's a 19 minute walk (VERY fast walk!) from work to home.

Anyway, I think I'm going to take the opposite approach to October - take the month off from blogging and see how I feel about it in November. Maybe I'll see you then?