279: movie week

movies we've watched recently:


Going to School in India: a well-made documentary about children who live in various locations in India and the interesting places and ways they school.

English and several Indian languages. English subtitles


Kamikaze Girls: a comedy-drama about a teen-aged Japanese girl who lives in her own world. she loves the Rococo era and dresses in a style the Japanese refer to as Lolita. she accidentally takes up with a biker chick and chaos ensues.

Japanese with English subtitles


Private Fears in Public Places: a weirdly romantic drama about people who can't connect in meaningful ways. i liked the cinematography and the way the characters' lives intertwined.

French with English subtitles


Raise the Red Lantern: period piece set in 1920s China. four wives (each referred to as "mistress" and a number that tells which wife they are. i.e. first mistress, third mistress) compete with each other for their husband's attention with tragic results. beautiful imagery especially the costumes.

Mandarin Chinese with English (and other) subtitles

278: craft madness

hey y'all.

baby bliss and i have been crocheting like mad hens over here.

she's making a neck muff for her godmommy. (i don't think she reads my blog so i guess it's okay that i told.)

i'm working on two scarves for no one in particular tho i do have an idea who i might give each one to. i'm almost done with one. the other i just started.

i'm also working on a basket for the church holiday craft bazaar. which might not get finished cuz we're sposed to take stuff up there tomorrow and i'm not done. maybe halfway...

that brings me to my dilemma: i have lots of rings and a few other pieces of jewelry all done. even a few dog leashes. but i haven't labeled or packaged anything yet. grrrrr!

and i've been toying with the idea of donating all the stuff for the silent auction and kid's booth sales instead of doing a booth myself.

i've also been asked to help vendors set up the night before and act as auctioneer on saturday.

uh oh.

i don't have a clue what i'll be doing. it's a silent auction and that makes me feel a bit better but i'm still wondering. i'll have more info by this time tomorrow.

277: The Hindi-Bindi Club - a review

I will start with this disclaimer: this is my own unbiased opinion of a novel I read this summer. I was not compensated in any way for this review nor do I expect to be. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it to those who love learning about other cultures.

* * *

This is a book about love, marriage, family, food, and relationships.

Monica Pradhan did a great job of explaining the subtle layers of Indian culture for me.

In The Hindi-Bindi Club, three young-ish Indian-American women learn through their relationships with their moms that living up to the expectations of their families can allow room for their own individuality.

I learned many things from this book. For example:

- If I choose to cook more, I can try the yummy-sounding Indian recipes found through out this book.

- People are basically the same when it comes to family. Most of us want what's best for our families. Sometimes we're pushy but hey, it's what we know. :-)

- Maybe arranged marriages aren't so bad. Marriage can be difficult at times. Having two families willing to invest in the survival of one's marriage can be a good thing.

- Tradition and ritual can be good things too. Sometimes it's helpful to know what one is expected to do and then do it. Other times, maybe not. ;o)

- I really really want to visit India. As many regions as possible. I want to experience it live and in person.

Thank you Monica Pradhan for sharing this book with us. I reallllllly want to see this one on the big screen. Hopefully soon.

* * *

Christmas is coming y'all. If you're looking for stocking stuffers or you're making out your wish list, this one is a definite good read. :-)


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276: how cool is this?

hey y'all.

i almost forgot to tell y'all this.

i belong to a couple of online reading groups/book clubs where you can create an account, list your favorite books, rate them, and write reviews (if you want).

about a week or so, i got a nice e-mail from the author of my favorite summer read, Monica Pradhan, author of The Hindi-Bindi Club.

she'd seen my rating of her book and thanked me for rating it so well . i think it was absolutely wonderful of her to take time to do that and i told her so.

i thought it was so nice in fact, that i decided to write a full review on Hindi-Bindi Club. i did and i'm gonna blog it in a separate post.

i'm also thinking about posting on amazon.com. (if i can remember my login info...)


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275: get an elf

hey y'all.

a friend just sent me an e-mail with a link to her elf self.

well, i couldn't pull her up but i'm making my own elves right now.

it's funny and goofy. of course i haven't made any with my face. only baby and mr. bliss. LOL

if you wanna make your own elves, go here: ElfYourself.

you'll need to be able to upload photos from your own 'puter or else you'll have to do random elves.

have fun!

274: new stuff

hey y'all.

i was determined not to get caught up in the Black Friday hype. just cuz i never do.

but i couldn't resist taking a peek at online specials.

then i remembered that i really did need to buy some stuff. like business supplies so i could offset some business income.

so i ordered a case of paper from office depot. it was less than $20.

then i made the mistake of going to walmart.com. and i saw a digital cam on sale for less than $70. it came with a 1GB memory card and something called XtraDrive, a little device that turns my extra SD/MMC memory cards into USB thumb drives.

i thought, "wow. what a deal."

i wanted a new camera but couldn't justify (to myself) spending $100 or so on a new one when i already had one. i also needed a flash drive but couldn't decide which one to get. i also didn't want to pay a lot for one because as tech savvy as i am, i didn't really understand how they worked.

the paper i ordered came yesterday but we weren't home. mr. bliss had to get it from the office this morning. whoever packed it wasn't the brightest bulb in the bunch. there were 9 packages in one box and one package in another box all by itself. and some of the packages had split. thank God none of the paper was damaged.

the camera, memory card, and XtraDrive came today. in a big ole box with the giant bubble packs. the merchandise was slam on the bottom of the box and the bubbles were on top.

baby bliss inherited my old camera and she's happy as can be.

i'm also expecting a new printer i ordered from walmart.com. i'll have to pick that one up from the store cuz i wanted the free shipping. it's one of the all-in-one fax/scan/print/copy models. i'm hoping i like cuz it will save me from having to leave home to send and receive faxes.

i won't be using the new printer right away. (but i will hook it up to make sure it works.) i got the printer for a lot less than the $99 i'd previously seen it for.

i still have ink for the old one so i'll keep using it until the ink is gone. but once the ink is done, i'll be donating it to Goodwill.

if baby bliss gets a laptop for Christmas (as she's hoping), we can get rid of the old desktop 'puter in our office. that's going to Goodwill too.

my printers and cameras are all HPs. i've not had any problems with my HP products ever. i should have bitten the bullet and gotten the HP laptop. this Gateway has given me a few problems and i've barely had it for 6 months. it's still under warranty tho so anything major and i'll be sending it back for a full refund.

gotta run y'all. baby bliss is forcing me to take her to the gym. '-)


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273: i was gonna vent...

about my grandma but changed my mind.

it's not that my thoughts were uncharitable. i was just gonna complain about her attitude.

but i think i'll pray about it instead. '-)

so what did y'all do for the holidays?

we were busy.

on wednesday, baby bliss and i drove to get a friend so he could go with us to T-day dinner at our church. he treated us to lunch at his job then we all hit the mall where he picked up a few uber-expensive (for my budget) pieces of clothing at ultra-trendy shops.

some time ago he had promised baby bliss a top and he told her it was her day to collect. i could not in good conscious allow her to pick out anything in the stores he got his stuff from. he's a good friend and all but i don't want baby bliss to get a taste of that kind of lifestyle.

not that our friend makes a million bucks or anything. but he's waitstaff at a popular restaurant and i'm pretty sure his weekly tips are substantial.

i steered baby bliss to a store that was more reasonably priced and let her loose. i tend to like clothes that appear classic but she's a trendy gal. she tried on a few tops in styles that are all the rage nowadays. she ended up with one in her favorite color and a few matching accessories. everyone was happy and we skedaddled on back to the pad.

(our friend is young enough to be my son if i'd had him at the same age my mom was when she had me. (we met him thru another young friend.) he loves to get his shop on and i'm not sure he understands the concept of "spend some, save some". good mommy/big sister/friend that i am, i did tell him that our friendly gov'ment will want their cut of his cash come tax time. but i'm not sure the message sunk in and he is an adult so i didn't belabor the point.)

so back to turkey day.

baby bliss grabbed the cake she baked, i grabbed a box of graham crackers, and we three headed to the church for grub.

about 25 people showed up and everyone brought something to eat. we stayed for about two hours, eating and socializing. one of baby bliss's friends showed up and they played with the puppy. (one of our members has a new puppy that she brought in with her.)

when we left church, we went to eat again at another friend's house. we stayed there for a few hours as well. friend #2 rode with us to take friend #1 home (a one-hour drive, round trip.)

baby bliss and i didn't make it to grandma's, our usual holiday haunt. the family was disappointed.

i think that was what led to the "church invasion" on sunday. LOL

my relatives have never approved of my choice(s) of spiritual practice and they still don't.

saturday, #1 auntie told me she wanted to visit my church one day. then she said she wanted to visit "tomorrow". okaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy...

sunday morning, baby bliss and i overslept. but thanks to a phone call from #1 auntie, we still made it to church on time. it involved a lot of fancy footwork, but we did it.

mr. bliss was on his way in as we were leaving. i asked him to go to church with us, since #1 auntie was going. he said no because he'd heard that #1 auntie was taking her daughter and #2 auntie as well.

i'm thinking mr. bliss thought there might be some kind of family altercation of biblical proportions, one he had no intentions of referee-ing.

two aunties and a cousin? as we headed for church, i wondered what they had up their sleeves.

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272: if you're looking for a date...

try your local library.

we're still here.

baby bliss is on the PC and i'm on my laptop.

there's a young(er) man sitting at the table across from me. he's a cutie. dark, smooth skin, pleasant face, nice smile.

maybe it's my imagination, but i think he's watching me.

not that i'm paying attention. okay, i am. but only cuz i watch everyone around me. so i can feel safe.

if i was single and childless, it might be a hook up.

if...

271: last night we watched...

hey y'all.

it's been movie mania at our house. which is kinda good. network t.v. has gotten to be too predictable for me.

i still like "House" tho.

last night we watched "The Method": several job applicants were left in a room to psyche each other out as a means of eliminating the competition. things get heated, etc.

i liked the concept but not the execution. there wasn't enough tension or drama for me, for the type of movie i thought it would be.

Spanish with English subtitles.

* * *

"The Taste of Tea" was pretty good. it was funny and real despite its surreal-ness. it was the story of an unconventional Japanese family going about their every day lives. they all did normal stuff but always seemed to be in the middle of abnormal goings on.

Japanese with English subtitles.

* * *

"Separate Lies" was a British thriller about the horrid occurrences that resulted from a wife's affair with a dashing neighbor.

this one was worth watching again. it starred Emily Watson (of "Red Dragon" and "Gosford Park") and Tom Wilkinson (who has played in lots of movies including "Shakespeare in Love" and "The Full Monty").

we have more at home to watch and some i'm picking up today (we're at the library now). i hope i can find at least one more that's as funny as "Keeping Mum".

270: curse of the golden flower and more

we watched Curse of the Golden Flower (Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia) last night.

it as a chinese martial arts film starring Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li.

the story: the story of an emperor's family life during the Tang dynasty. drama, betrayal, tragedy and more drama in the palace in the Forbidden City. beautiful imagery. don't expect Jackie Chan-style stunts.

in Chinese with subtitles.

* * *

Strangers with Candy, starring Amy Sedaris, was an all out nut-fest.

a 40-something ex-convict/ex-trixie/ex-addict goes back to high school in hopes of waking her daddy from a coma.

not for the little ones.

* * *

Hijas de su madre: Las Buenrostro

this one was funny. dark humor.

set in Mexico. a family of women who married for money. and made sure they outlived their husbands to reap the rewards.

in Spanish with subtitles.

269: good vibrations

hey y'all.

thanks to everyone who send healing energy, prayers, and other forms of positivity my way. i'm feeling a lot better and have been taking every possible moment to relax.

i wanted to share an interesting tidbit with y'all.

remember i said i had an ugly bruise on my arm from the i.v.? well, it got uglier as the days went on. friday it was about the size of my palm (and i have big hands) and it was a dark maroon color. saturday it looked about the same.

saturday, baby bliss and i went to yoga.

a few hours later, i noticed that the bruise looked a lot better. a lot better.

yesterday i forgot to look at it.

today, you can't even tell it was there.

amazing.

i'm guessing the asanas got my circulation going really good.

i know it got my muscles all stretched out. my body was ache-y in weired places when i got up sunday morning.

today i felt good tho. like i want to do more yoga this week. :-)

any way, now i'm wondering if anyone else has ever experienced a "yoga cure".

if so, i'd like to hear about it.

thanks y'all.

268: my seven

hey y'all.

i'm late with this but i guess it's cool right? "-)

thanks to Mama Loves Baby for tagging me for this one.

here are the rules:

• Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
• Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
• Tag 7 random people at the end of the post and include links to their blogs.
• Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

here are my 7.

1. i used to have a gap in the middle of my teeth (front top)
2. when i was in high school, i bit my thumb nail too much and it got infected. my momma took me to the doc and he "lanced" it. lanced = cut me with a razor blade-looking thing then squeezed all the blood and pus out.
3. i thought my toes were ugly and i wore socks with sandals until i graduated from high school.
4. when i was in elementary school, i used to lick the dirt off my grandma's venetian blinds
5. i won a book as a prize in a dance contest when i was in 1st grade.
6. mr. bliss and i grew up in the same neighborhood, know a lot of the same people, and i dated one of his distant relatives (distant by kin and miles) when i was 18. but he and i didn't meet until i was in my late 20s.
7. i learned how to drive when i was 27.

now i'm tagging...

lemme think about it and get back to ya. '-)

267: movies at our house

y'all know we make the most of our wonderful county library system. and i've written before about all the great movies we've been checking out.

we've been checking out lots and i've been forgetting to tell y'all about them.

my apologies.

yesterday we watched "Shirley Valentine", a British movie about a woman who took a vacation and found a new life. it was a comedy of sorts.

it got me thinking about my own life and all the things i plan to do as soon as baby bliss flies the coop. :)

now we're watching a "bollywood" movie called "Picture Perfect". it's in english and one of the indian languages. i'm thinking punjabi but i'll have to find out for sure.

i don't like subtitles cuz i have to read them. which is hard to do while i'm blogging. but i love foreign films and a lot of them don't have the "english version" option. but even when they do, it's kinda weird.

even baby bliss has to admit that listening to english when you know the people on the screen are speaking some other language is weird.

"Boca a Boca" was good too. it was a comic drama about an aspiring actor who takes a sexy job and ended up in the middle of some other people's mess.

266: stress kills (a long one)

but not me cuz i'm still here.

hallelujah!

i've missed it here. but i've been taking a break.

it's not that any one thing was more hectic than any other thing at our house.

it was a combination of things actually: stress in months past, weird electrical happenings all around that seemed to be signaling me to take action of some sort, mr. bliss's subtle badgering (yeah, i know it sounds like an oxymoron) for me to perform my wifely duties, baby bliss being so mouthy (thanks to my mother for being the fairy godmother who bestowed that gift upon us), me wanting to do more crafty stuff and feeling like there was no time between doing laundry/home schooling/washing dishes/working from home/vacuuming/cleaning the tub/keeping up with routine maintenance on the car/making sure all the bills are paid on time...

in other words, there was a lot to do and only one of me.

last week, my body/mind/spirit said "enough!"

i had a small flutter of chest pain tuesday night. wednesday, as i was bending down to retrieve something from the floor, i had a HUGE pain. but it was in my back, closer to the middle, by my shoulder blade.

it felt like someone had stabbed me in the back with a dull, ginormous knife. it took my breath away. all i could do was cry. i tried to hold it in because baby bliss and i were home alone.

but i couldn't.

she looked at me and i saw my pain reflected in her face when she said, "mommy are you alright?"

i shook my head. then i snapped back to mommy mode. i asked her to hand me the wintergreen essential oil. cuz i thought it might help.

well, it didn't. so i asked for the arnica gel. that didn't help either.

i got online and looked up the symptoms of heart attack in women. cuz ya know, sometimes they differ from men's symptoms.

and sure nuff, there was something about pain between the shoulder blades.

and i was like, "oh shyt. i could be croaking here. let me get my tail to the doc." yes, my common sense said "hospital". but my heart said "doc's office".

my doctor's office is less than half a mile from us. and he's a great doctor. and i love his calm demeanor and the fact that he's holistic and an M.D.

i figured he could do an EKG in his office and give me a shot of something. cuz that pain was sooooo bad, i figured if i survived, surely there was something my doc could do right in his office that would make my body act like it was 'sposed to.

sometimes real life goes just the way we want. other times it only happens in movies and fairy tales.

sadly, there was no magic wand waiting at my doc's office.

he was sitting at the front desk on the phone when i got there. (thank you father-mother God.)

i told him i needed an EKG and bless him, he managed to talk to me and the person on the phone at the same time: his EKG machine was broken but he could examine me and if necessary transfer me to the hospital.

to make a long story short, when i heard the medics from the ambulance and fire truck coming
thru the door, my heart began galloping in escape-from-Freddy-Kruger mode.

in the ambulance, the young EMT said she needed to take blood and i almost stroked out. i don't like needles and for good reason. my veins are small and they like to party. my blood pressure sky rocketed. the EMT changed her mind. she decided to drive and let the older EMT (a very soothing man) take her place in the back with me.

he gave me baby aspirin and a nitroglycerin tablet. that nitro tablet is one very good argument for keeping your heart fully functional. my prayers go out to those who must take them. seriously.

when he said he still needed blood, i felt betrayed. i know it's his job but why on God's green earth would anyone think it a good idea to stick needles in a distressed person while riding in a moving vehicle?

i just don't get it. but i did get with the program. i convinced myself that it would hurt less if i gave myself a reiki treatment and called on God to personally get on the stretcher with me.

and it worked. God wrapped me in reiki's healing energy while i sang one of my favorite songs from church, "Blessing to the World" by Karen Drucker.

thankfully there was no pain. but that didn't stop my overworked brain from recalling every movie i've ever seen where the ambulance crashes on the way to the hospital.

the other drivers on the road seemed to be in another dimension. i could see them laughing and talking, celling while driving, seemingly paying no attention to the emergency vehicle as it passed. that we we were on a street that sees a huge number of accidents daily only added to my paranoia.

i was appalled. i always stop for emergency vehicles, even if there is a median in the road.

the paramedic couldn't get a vein to sit still after several sticks including one in the back of my hand.

after the looooooong two-mile drive, we arrived at the hospital. as i was being wheeled into the E.R., i saw mr. bliss rounding the corner in his hunk of junk. i was relieved to know that baby bliss wasn't still sitting in the doc's office waiting and afraid.

now pay very close attention to this part y'all. this is stuff i didn't know and wish i had.

the nurse who was able to get my blood started an i.v. (something i didn't know would happen.)

they hooked me up to all the bells and whistles to monitor my heart. aside from a plethora of irregular rhythms, PVCs, and drops in heart rate, everything seemed okay.

after the preliminary blood work checked out, the doc said he was ordering a CT scan.

oh. okay...

so we waited a while. then my arm began hurting at the i.v. site. the nurse said he couldn't take it out cuz i needed it for the CT scan.

huh?

i was too afraid to ask and i wanted it to be over so i could go home and sleep.

at some point, the nurse asked if i was allergic to anything (food, medicine, etc.). i told him my food allergies and he asked what kind of reactions i got. i forgot to mention my allergy to crabs (but not shrimp) and he didn't say that the dye they would inject for the CT is iodine-based.

i was tired and i'd been answering questions for about an hour. what was his excuse?

a different nurse took me to get the scan. she dropped me off in the hallway outside the door without so much as a "see ya later".

the guy who retrieved me (the scan tech?) was nice. and kinda cute. too young for me. if i was single, i mean.

he explained the procedure and told me the dye would make my arm feel "a little warm" and said i might feel like i had wet myself. he said i would hear a voice that would tell me to take breath and hold it but that it should be a shallow breath. etc. etc.

wellllllllllllllllll, if you are allergic to shellfish, be sure to tell it from the mountaintop. in light of what happened, i'm pondering a medic alert bracelet that says i'm allergic to shellfish.

the dye was not warm. it was hot. like i'd stuck my hand and arm in the oven. and i got nauseated and my breathing became, as they say, labored. and i thought i was gonna die right there. i felt like i was gonna pass out and choke on my vomit. seriously.

i couldn't call out and i couldn't keep still when the voice told me to hold my breath.

i thought they would notice. (they didn't.)

a different tech put me back on my bed and the cutie came out to wheel me back to the E.R. the first tech noticed my teeth chattering and offered to get me a blanket. cutie said, "i'll get it". and he did.

as he was wheeling me back to my E.R. cubby, he called me "mami". mmmmm... sexy... if i hadn't been so out of it, i would have gotten his number.

then we got back to the E.R. and there were baby and mr. bliss.

oops! ahem. yes, i had a family waiting for me. cutie greeted them with the utmost professionalism and bid me a compassionate farewell.

in my absence, my E.R. doc had been replaced by his replacement. she came in later to tell us that the scans looked okay. she followed with all the usual stuff about following up with my own doc, etc. then she left and the nurse who'd dumped me in the hall outside the CT door came in with discharge instructions.

she also removed my i.v.

OUCH!

30 minutes later (at lunch), my arm seemed sorer than it should be. i took off the bandage and ewwww. there was a small ugly egg growing on my arm. and it was starting to bruise.

at home, i sprang into recovery mode. i downed a glass of spirulina-laden juice to help remove the radiation (?) from my body. later i took arnica to help with the bruising and vitamin C to help with general healing. i also took some B after i checked online to see what might be going on with my arm.

can anyone say "phlebitis" and "thrombosis"? seems the two are commom after problems with i.v. and after i.v. removal. i also used warm compresses to keep the blood moving.

now, a week later, my arm is still bruised. it looks a lot worse but feels a lot better.

i did follow up with my doc. he saw me the next day. he said all the hard facts on my blood work haven't come back yet. he also said he's gonna schedule me for a stress test. (that's the treadmill one.) i've done that before but it's been years.

so that's what i've been up to y'all. it was kind of a nightmare while it was going on. but now it's over and i (almost) feel like it didn't really happen.

except that i know it did. and that's part of why i wrote about it here. so i won't ever forget that my physical health really does rely on my mental health.

sometimes i forget.

264: a crafty challenge

hey all y'all blogging moms, mamas, mommas, and mommies.

i have a crafty challenge for y'all.

i'm thinking this will be a fun one. hoping. praying. :-)

for everyone who said they want to take up a hobby, do it!

something fun with a low learning curve.

like the baskets. LOL

it took a few tries for me to get a decent one but you do get a basket (of sorts) on your first go. if you stick with it.

and it can be a small one.

any way, learn something that will generate an item or two. then you can proudly display your stuff on your blog and your window sill. or bedroom dresser. or give them as holiday gifts.

and no, making snowflakes with the kidddies doesn't count.

our library has all kinds of instructional DVDs. maybe your's does too. (oooh, speaking of the library, i've got a few overdue items. not good.)


so get at it y'all and show us some pictures!

263: thanks y'all (and a "challenge")

howdy y'all.

i see that folks have been checking out the crafty posts. :-)

thanks for all your comments, ideas, suggestions, pats on the back, and requests to buy things.

it feels good when people show appreciation for my crafts. especially because i am thinking about selling my stuff online.

i mean, it's one thing when family likes your stuff. you expect them to say nice things. ;-)

y'all have really touched my heart at a time when i need it. (i'll tell y'all more about that later.)

now for the fun part. the challenge: coming soon to a blog near you.

262: bliss crafts - baskets

i started making the baskets after we moved south.

i hadn't crocheted much in a while but i still had a big stash of yarn. and somehow it began mysteriously multiplying while mr. bliss wasn't looking.

i knew i had to do something with it or risk mr. bliss noticing the ever-increasing volumes of brightly-colored balls of fluff.

so i got online and searched a gazillion websites for yarn crafts and crochet patterns.

one of the things i found was a how-to for baskets. of course mine didn't come out like the ones in the picture. (it never does...)

but i didn't give up.

i began experimenting with color and materials. i learned something interesting: the baskets already know what they're gonna look like when i start. i'm just a vessel for bringing them into view. '-)

261: bliss crafts - earrings, part 2

some of them are no-brainers. meaning i didn't have to come up with a design. i just saw a nice charm and hooked it on.

but there are still some things to consider, like weight and color.

you can't put a heavy charm on a light-weight ear wire. and i'm not too fond of silver ear wires with gold-tone head pins.

more...

260: bliss crafts - earrings, part 1

i'm thinking this might be better in 2 parts cuz i do have quite a few pics.

making the earrings is still a work in progress. i gave up before i perfected the technique that makes a nice round connection from ear wire (the part that goes in the ear) to head (or eye) pin (the part that holds the actual earring i.e. beads, shells, etc.)

i said i wasn't gonna make any more earrings then i got inspired to make a few special pair. i don't have pics of those (yet). the pics are all earrings i made about 2 years ago.

these are some i've sold and/or given away:

259: saturday stuff

hey y'all.

how's the weekend so far?

mine has been relaxing. baby and mr. bliss got up early for a trip to the mall. he promised her a new pair of boots and she went to collect.

she and i talked about new boots. we even went online and checked out the pair she liked and an alternate (that i suggested).

so tell me why my husband brings her back in here with a pair of suede boots with a 3 inch platform?

i'm guessing he thought it was okay cuz most of our flip flops are the platform ones. they're just more comfy somehow.

but i think there's a big difference in a tween wearing wedgie flip flops and one wearing suede platform boots.

yeah, she can walk in 'em. but i just don't like it.

i guess i'm really shocked that mr. bliss--the daddy who monitors skirt lengths, amount of lip gloss, tightness of pants and tops--thinks the boots are just fine.
.
.

258: movies

hey y'all.

mr. bliss got home on time for once. so we watched a few movies.

the first was The Painted Veil, with Ed Norton. it was okay but not what i expected. the scenery was what i liked best, it think. i can't believe it was still a rental from the library. :-(

then we watched Hotel Rwanda. horrifying. great acting tho. even Nick Nolte was believable.

now i'm watching Boca a Boca. it's hilarious so far.

last night baby bliss and i watched Babette's Feast. we both really liked it but she hates subtitles and i can't read them and do other stuff (like blog) at the same time. so i only got bits and pieces of the story until close to the end.

257: we're making snowflakes

did y'all see my post last year about the snowflakes?

you can make them at this website Popular Front.

last year each snowflake donated to charity. this year i'm not sure cuz i didn't see anything relating to it.

but it's fun y'all. take the chaps (that's "children" for those of y'all who don't speak southern) and let them make snowflakes. it will keep them outta your hair for a few hours. guaranteed.

but i warn y'all: it's addictive. if you only have one computer in the house and you'll need your's that day, you've gotta have something really spectacular planned to get it back.
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256: high tea

5:29 p.m.

while i was drafting this, baby bliss and i were watching Brief Encounter, an old B & W movie about a British woman who had an "affair" with a doctor she met.

it's an old movie so there's no real hanky-panky shown. just some kissing and a lot of talk.

but it was good and gossipy. the woman lived in a small village and she and her paramour were spotted around a few times by women she knew. all the woman's ducking, hiding, and narrative soul searching turned what could have been a boring movie into relatively high drama.

baby bliss and i noted -- and remarked on -- how much tea was drunk by the characters and what they ate with their tea.

that led me to thoughts of "high tea" and we researched it online.

we learned that what most people think of as "high tea" isn't what most people think.

we also learned other interesting tidbits about afternoon tea.

then we decided we're gonna do our own afternoon teas.

every day.

okay y'all. stop laughing.

i know it's not gonna happen every day. not 'round here.

but i'll try my best.

we discussed going to our local thrift stores to buy pretty tea cups and saucers. i said i'd even get us a silver tray and a tea cart. (only if i can find them in the thrift y'all.)

today we had cookies with our tea. and we wore our red summer straw hats.

i'm sure our teas will get more elaborate as time allows. baby bliss is a drama queen.

255: arts-and-crafty bliss

here are the links to previous posts with photos of crafty bliss.

some of it will be sold.

i really do have a ton more stuff in here, some that's been photo'd and some that's waiting for its 15 minutes of fame.

i promise the next crafts post will have pics in it. i didn't want this one to get too long. and also it's after 11:30 p.m. and i've got an early bell tomorrow.

for those of you who haven't seen them before, enjoy. if you have seen 'em, oooh and ahhh like it's your first time laying eyes on 'em.

many thanks to the mommy who inspired this post (and the one coming). you have my sincere gratitude. :0)

the bracelet

i call it the "Fertility Bracelet". it's explained in the post...


the rings

• fall - red and gold (i'm gonna add a small dangling charm to this one but only if i find something that complements it perfectly)
• winter - blue and white (this one won't be for sale)
  

baskets

• Sunni Daze - my first
• Luv Handle - one of the Fuzzies; the only one with a handle
  

the scarf

summer weight, 100 % cotton

i actually made two. the other is navy blue and missing. (thank you baby bliss. mommy still loves you.)
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254: coming soon...

more photos of my crafty stuff.

lest y'all think i'm tooting my own horn, i've had a request from one of my blog sisters (mommy to the cuter-than-cute Stella and Thomas).

i've posted photos here before but it's nice to have someone ask...

i'll also link to the previous post(s).

note: i'm really writing this to myself as a reminder. otherwise i'll forget.

carry on.