Don't have to feel like a plastic bag

I changed the name of my blog. Why? Because I didn't like the title. I never did. I changed it on a whim after I got here and it ended up being that for over a year. And I never liked it. Plus, I don't think it really fit the content of this here blog.

This blog if random, filled with very random things because I am random. I would have called it Random Thoughts, but that was the title of my blog in college. (Well, Random Thoughts of a Relic...but whatever.)

I found my camera charger.

Guess where it was?

I bet you won't believe me when I tell you.

No, it wasn't in a drawer I had looked in all ready.

No, it was not in the downstairs pantry where we just shove things that are not food.

No, it wasn't in the sewing room in the file cabinet which doesn't open.

It was in a closet.

But not any closet I'd think it'd be in.

I found it in the walk in closet in the master bedroom.

Mixed in with my pjs.

Yeah. It was burried in the little shelf where I store all my pjs. I found it yesterday when I cleared out the closet, which was depressing. Mostly because I pulled out the shorts I bought when I lived in the Dirt Hole and just looking at them I knew I was way too large to fit into them.

When I bought them I thought I was big.

I was mostly sad because last summer they fit still...well, after I lost five pounds while Pilot Boy was off and away.

But they and a bunch of other things I will never again fit into all went into bags. I still clung to certain items...the jeans I got at Top Shop in Glasgow I refuse to part with...a few of the VS shirts I got I still seem to think I can manage to cram myself into at some point...I kept all sweaters my grandma had given me even if I hadn't worn them all winter...I kept a few work related thing that kind of don't really fit, but they might cut it in an emergency. (I cannot foresee needing work clothing for any reason, but you NEVER KNOW.)

I felt so crappy after cleaning the closet out, I sat on the couch and drank a huge class of hot water and then ate four oatmeal cookies. Then I spent the afternoon feeling even more crappy. I feel asleep like five times and woke up with a huge sinus headache. Which did not go away till this AM. I did not work out this morning, as my clock played a mean joke on me, then Pilot Boy came and left. I figure I'll do the relaxing yoga thing from Netflix this afternoon. Since I found the charger, I decided to take the pictures my dad and I had spoken about weeks ago, as I want to revamp my purse site with new pictures that are more uniform. So, since I had found the charger in the pjs, I decided to do that and then take pictures of my favorite shoes to use as a banner for my blog.

After taking the pictures, I realized my weak chin is about ten times worse than I had originally thought and from the side I look like I have a double chin now. It was horrible, so I cropped my head off right away. The lower half of my body looked fine, so it got to stay without too much cropping. (my dad suggested I model the purse to give people an idea of how it was worn and looks on a human being. Tragically, I'm the only one here to do this job. And I hate looking at pictures of myself...which is why I never did that before, as when I tried it out in the Dirt Hole, I spent more time staring at me than the purse and the pictures were trashed.) Now I just need to get these puppies on flickr and see what Dad thinks...I didn't do all the pictures I wanted, as I wanted to see if I was even doing it right and not getting a ton of blurry pics. Some of the shoe shoes I tried didn't go well. A few of the body pics the purse was blurry. Hopefully, soon, you'll see some new photos as I redo the site!

Operation Jeans Day Two

Workout did not occur as early as I wanted because...I....lost...a...button. And had to go to the dentist to get a new one.

Does that sound like an odd sentence? If not, read it again: I lost a button and had to go to the dentist to get a new one.

And by button I mean this little thing that holds my Invisalign braces to my teeth.

Anyways, since I forgot the things I needed to run errands as I ran out the door with my curly, frizzy hair in a pony tail and minimal makeup on, I came back and I did another mile with Leslie. Today went much as it went yesterday. Only I don't feel as...worky outy.

I ate okay yesterday. No snacks and only one oatmeal cookies. Tragically, I think the TARDIS cookie jar makes my cookies...kinda stale soft. Total sad face. :(

Well, that is it for Operation Jeans Day Two.

In other news, they plowed our street so its more than one lane again. The whole things seems so wide...its kind of crazy. I forgot how wide the street was in the first place. And someday, there might be a sidewalk again!

In Purse News: Got some brightly colored denim. Totally excited for bright, spring colors! I almost burst when I came home and was like NOW WHAT DO MAKE! I've been trying to decide if I should break into new designs, but decided to just use the ones I have and just make them cross body. Simple.

Also, thinking about doing a giveaway. With gently used purses, as I don't know what to do with the ones I test out. I have like a million purses that I've used like maybe two or three times at test purses. They are in good shape, but have a small flaw or something. I don't know anyone to give them away to, as they are FINE. Except the one I tired the magnet on the first time. It fell apart. But the one I was carrying these past few weeks has nothing wrong other than the snap is on backwards. I bet no one can tell except me.

Well, there is your news. Come back tomorrow. As it'll look the same (if I remember to update. It will be Saturday...)

Doggy Smell in my Nose

Basil just emerged from her crate, so she smells very strongly of...dog. I do not know how to cease the doggy smell about her, as I clean her, her crate and everything around it, but no matter what, within an hour or two, she smells like a dog again. Due to the fact I have a sinus headache and have since last night, her doggy smells is highly annoying. She is not, her smell is.

We figured out why she was shedding up a storm: she was dry.

Like her skin was dry, not she was dry from lack of water to drink. Anyways, we started her on these Doggy shed control vitamins and try to brush her more, and she is softer and less of a shedding wonder than she was before. She loves her Doggy Vitamins too...sometimes that is all she will eat for the first hour or so she is up. I am sure my dog would eat anything I put in her bowl as long as its flavored with something. She loves her heart worm meds and when she had worms, she loved the pill I gave her for that to. She was so pleased with herself after she ate it...it didn't work, but as far as she could tell, she had just gotten a really special treat for no reason!

We had a "warm spell" these few past days (or weeks, time blends into one big blur at times) and the snow melted, reminding me why I hate spring: it is ugly. When the snow melts, this place isn't pretty any more, it is just dirty and gross. I like it when snow clings to the trees. I like when there is so much snow it doesn't look black. When it melts, everything you've forgotten about shows up. Like dog poop.

The only positive thing this has led to, is that Basil Bea poops in the same area now all of a sudden: under the tree. We can only hope it remains this way, as this makes for easier pick up when one must mow the lawn.

Also, we have confirmation that the large hole in our front yard's snow drift was indeed a moose. As the snow melted, we found a pile of moose poop in our front yard. Again. So a moose did decide to take a nap in our front yard at some point. And eat my dead flowers. that were poking through the snow. Hopefully they will grow back, because that was one of those annuals I paid big bucks for at Lowes.

In shop news, I'm trying to figure out what bags to make for spring still. The bags I made in the winter are winter/fall bags, so I decided I won't fight with the sun and my house to photograph them for the shop till this summer. So, since the new year, I've only been renewing items. I still can't figure out if its worth it to renew the paper items, as I think I have renewed them to the point where I am paying someone to take them away from me (which would be fine, as I need to get rid of them.) I did discover a tragic flaw in the paper bags which I must fix. The ones I made with glue fall apart. Well, the bag doesn't fall apart, the paper I stuck to the front falls off when an item is in the bag. Totally lame. I knew there was a reason I did not like glue.

Your Face is on a Billboard

Oh  god. What the hell happened to Decemeber? I was so organized and early and ready for it and now its like 11 days till Christmas and I still have all my cards (in envelopes, ready to go...just lacking postage). I still have all the presents in their flat rate boxes, just not packed to ship anywhere.

AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I went to Fairbanks for a few days last week. Word of advice: Fairbanks is COLD. (Insert choice word) COLD. And kinda boring. I had heard from some people it was kinda lame in Fairbanks, but I figured I'd give it a chance, but it was pretty lame. Frozen, lame and kinda unfriendly. Pilot boy's parents are here and his step mom kept commenting she thought Alaskans were really unfriendly. I had not put much thought into it, as me myself am kinda unfriendly while out and about. But, I guess compared to what she is used to in the Midwest, us Alaskans are kinda unfriendly. (I say "us" because I'm an Alaskan with  brown eyes now.) I don't really notice when people are unfriendly verse friendly because when I'm out and about I'd rather be left alone in all honesty. But, the people of Fairbanks, were kinda not very friendly, especially at the post office. I think (with the exception of the lovely lady at the Midtown post office here) post office works are made cranky here in Alaska. I have yet to meet a friendly one (besides the Midtown lady, hence why I usually drive all the way up to Midtown to mail boxes and things that need postage.)

Well, I think that is it mostly. I haven't gotten anything done because my in laws have been here. I realized on Saturday when I attempted to keep up with Pilot boy's step mom while shopping, I wanted to scream because I suddenly realized how behind I had fallen. When they arrived at the start of December, I was a head. Now I am behind. I guess its okay that my holiday season has been so damn slow. I honestly thought by this point I'd be up to 50 sales. I'm only at 25. Blarg.

In other news, we've gone to either REI or the grocery store every day since the in-laws arrived. I am serious. I'm not sure why, but one of us has gone to one of those stores (or both) since December started. Our fridge is PACKED with left overs, which no one seems to be eating or willing to eat. I HATE leftovers. When I cook for myself, I almost never make enough for left overs because I hate left overs. They are just boring. The first night they were here, the step mom made the WHOLE BOX of newly opened angel hair pasta. No one, even she, could figure out why she did this. Then, we had stew, and Pilot boy's dad told him to mix it in with the left over pasta. And no one ate it. Its still in there. Then Pilot boy made brisket and no one ate the left overs from the night before.

I hate left overs.

Pilot boy did realize that his standards for eating out here are way too high as every place we've taken his parents, they have loved. He admitted his standards might be too high. I told him that was right. To hold all places to the standards of Charlie Gittos in St. Louis is just stupid.

Well, it is almost 10.30 and I have the whole house to myself the first time in....12 days!!!!!! Well, I have a dog with me, as no one took her with them this morning, but I am on my own! I am a total loner. Seriously. The step mom was surprised how well I do being left on my own while Pilot Boy flies around the world over and over. I told her I do not need much attention, which I do not. I've always been fine on my own for the most part. I was on my own as a child a lot (talking to myself constantly and playing with screw drivers) and as an adult, I've been on my own a lot (still talking to myself, but pretending I'm actually speaking to the dog).

Pilot Boy hates Christmas Carols. We do not get along at Christmas time because I LOVE CHRISTMAS MUSIC. Yesterday, he left the room because I was singing, "Basil Dog is coming to town." Over and Over. I add my own lyrics in. So sue me.

Oh, we had another earthquake the other day. It claimed it was only a 3 point something, but I swear it was a strong as the one we had over the summer.

I should be running...

Things that have happened since I last posted:

1. It snowed. A lot.
2. Basil threw up.
3. Pilot Boy smoked a turkey for Thanksgiving.
4. I saw Harry Potter and it was the best movie yet. They should have split all the movies in two.
5. They would make more money that way. I bet they didn't think of that till the end. They suck.
6. Pilot Boy helped me put the tree up the day after Thanksgiving. Or the day after our Thanksgiving. We celebrated at day late because he got lost.
7. I then went to Target on my own and have a Christmas decoration over load.
8. I can light my house inside by Christmas lights becasue I put them all inside and not outside.
9. Have you been outside? It is cold. I'm not hanging lights out there.
10. Basil ruined my Christmas sweater. She and I were no longer friends.
11. I can listen to Christmas music and no one can tell me its too early.
12. All my christmas presents are wrapped. Except one. Which I haven't bought yet.
13. Oh, wait, Pilot Boys presents are still at the store. Don't tell him that.
14. The windows are always forsty when I get up. Its kinda cool. Or cold.
15. I made another batch of Martha cookies. They still do not look like her cookies. I'm not sure how she gets her cookies so flat. Magic?
16. I had a custom order for a purse! It was totally awesome. Even though I had a fight with the purse. I won, btw.
17. Basil loves snow. She has carved out paths to walk in. And poop in. I'm pretty sure she's not clear on the concept of having one spot to poop in.
18. I watched the leak footage of Craig Ferguson's song to the original "Doctor Who" theme. It was AWESOME.
19. Relatives invade tomorrow. I have to clean the house today. For some unknown reason I thought it was Wednesday. Not sure why. Its not like I didn't turn the calender. I did find a clock I forgot to turn back. Hence why I didn't feed Basil or myself till way after seven. I thought it was only after six, people.
20. The sun doesn't fully rise till after 10 am here. Then it is i annoying. Super annoying.

Businessy Post

I've been working to re-write the copy on some of my gift bags and card sets. I'm not getting many hits on the site. I keep telling myself I am going to "advertise" and "market" myself, but then I do nothing because, well, I have no clue where to start. It is one of those drive things again.

Last holiday season, I had a "rush" of sorts. I actually was steadily selling a purse a week from late November till December. I think I sold one more purse before I closed up shop to move to Alaska. I felt "busy" during this time and I spent a lot of time driving my little Volvo to the post office. I never had to really stand in line when mailing off purses, because the boxes fit into the drop box.


This years I got my holiday items up early. I thought maybe I would have done more sales if I had gotten going on my holiday bags before November. I actually made holiday bags as an afterthought in all honesty. I was walking through Hancock Fabrics and they had a 50% sale on their holiday prints. I was like, "OMG! Christmas BAGS!"

And that was when I began making the bags. I think I bought most of the material a few weeks before Thanksgiving. I do remember I was working on them before the actual "holiday" season began, so my mother didn't want to hear Christmas music while I was working on my holiday stuff.

This year, I have a stock pile of stuff. I have the bags I had left over from last year and the paper items I made in...late September - early October. I will tell you this: Christmas stuff is hard to come by in September. Or early October. Most of the paper stuff was geared at Halloween and the fall. I remember when I wanted that sort of thing (when I made my wedding scrapbook) I was hard pressed to find ANYTHING like that. I was in the dirt hole and only had Wally Martinos to shop at, but still. Last fall I desprately wanted to re-do the scarpbook with the fall theme colors I wanted.

I never redid it. Because I realized how much it'd cost me. Paper is expensive.

Which bring me to another issue I have had with my card sets: price.

The stickers I use on them are EXPENSIVE. Like four bucks a set for most of them. The paper I used all came in a set or cost 75 cents a sheet. I wanted to faint when I bought the supplies. Last year when I made the gift bags for my family, everything I got was on sale. Also, things are cheaper in the lower 48. So, I priced them a little higher than I wanted.

I didn't sell a thing. They even had low hits. I mean, the cards and bags never did get many hits (except the Love Bird Bag, which I didn't want to post because I felt it was kinda lame). I have actually only sold one gift bag. I don't know if the person got it because they were an international customer and they never left feedback. But the convo response I got after I sent out the notice I had mailed it, it sounded like the person was excited. But the cards and gift bags kind of seem to be a small bust.

Which I expected. If I needed that sort of thing, I'd just make it myself. I just like making those sort of things a lot. And, well, I had planned to make my own holiday cards, but one of Pilot Boy's relaitves got us cards to send out this year. Kinda of like last year when my mom appeared with Christmas cards last year. But god, those were cute. They had a picture of Basil Bea with a big red nose and hat. Well, the dog looked a lot like Basil Bea. Basil Bea wrote the holiday letter too. I think I'll do something like that again this year for our holiday cards. I guess I should be working on that too...

Well, that is all.

the dog days are gone

Summer has ended.

It snowed this morning. Also, the leaves have all turned various shades of brown and yellow and begun to topple to the ground. Most were helped to the ground my the massive amount of wind we had on Friday. Basil Bea blew away at one point. Off went the puppy into the backyard, carried by the wind.

Last weekend, we went hiking around a lake and I was amazed how fall like the world around me had become since i had stopped seeing it due to being encased in fog. I got excited to bring out my sweaters and comfy clothing. I've worn various light weight sweaters since that point in time, as the heavy duty ones aren't made for low 40s sort of weather. However, with fall, comes the annual cold. I feel it setting in and it kind of sucks. At least I finished my fall line for Ireland Scott. Now, I just need to start making Christmas cards. Hopefully I'll get out and get some Christmas stuff this week so I can get started. They won't sell and I don't need them, but I love making them anyways.

On the matter of the giveaway, I had kind of hoped more people would enter it...but alas, only four people entered. I let it run for two weeks to give myself time to remind people, but no one seemed to enter when I reminded. I might run another one after christmas to give rid of some Christmas stuff...I still have a lot left over from last Christmas.

And the Giveaway Winner is....

First, I wrote all entries twice on pieces of paper and stuck them in a Teagan Tote bag.
Second, I had Pilot Boy draw out a name.
And third, the name drawn was....




Please contact me at yesterday7@sbcglobal.net so I can send off your purse!

The Fall Giveaway

All right, I'm going to run my first giveaway. What do you get? A new purse. Which one do you get? Your choice. You might want this one.

What do you need to do? Read on. I'll list it out.

1. Become a fan on Facebook or follow me on Twitter. Its your choice. If you all ready do this, you're one step closer to being entered. (You can do both if you want.)

2. Step two, go to Ireland Scott Designs and pick out your purse. Return to this blog and in the comments tell me why you want the purse. Also tell me if you follow me on Twitter or Facebook.

3. On September 21st, 2010 at 9 pm my time (Alaskan), I will choose at random one of the comments to be the winner. I'll announce the winner on this blog September 22, 2010 by 3 pm my time (Alaskan time).

The Continuing Adventures of Basil the Shedder

Basil sheds a lot. I spend a great deal of time vacuuming up after the fur that doesn't seem to like here and jumps off to hang out on the floor. I can't keep up, due to the fact the sun came out and it warmed up and thus the hair is leaping off the dog at leaps and bounds. I just looked in the bed she has taken to sleeping in, and there are huge clumps of hair in there and I just cleaned it out on Friday. A week later there is another dog worth of hair in there. It is like I'm in the dirt hole again.

Basil Bea and I have been enjoying the sun shine though, Basil more than me. I'm a rain and cloud gal, Basil is a sun puppy. She worships the sun. Its good she has fur, or she's go through gallons of sun screen.

In other news, to fix my teeth will cost some 5,000 bucks. Whoo hoo! I wish I had piles of money to toss around. Then maybe I'd feel better. The number freaked me out so much, I drove over to the fancy building the Anchorage School District is located in and got a sub packet. They totally mean business here. There are like 110 things I have to do and they want professional things too. I can't remember the last time I was professional. Oh, wait, I do. 2006. I don't think I can write a rec for myself, since I have been pretty much working for myself (admit badly) for the past three years. My husband pointed out I don't know how to make a profit or really have the head for business, I'm too nice. This is true. I am too nice, which was why after I spent a year telling everyone I was going to be the CEO of AT&T I realized that was stupid. I wasn't driven enough to be a CEO. Technically, I am a CEO and I'm not very good at it. Trust me, I know I am not good. I know, while running something like Ireland Scott, I need to be nice to a certain degree, as that is how you get loyal customers, but, well, customer service isn't a strong point at AT&T. They are a large, greedy corporation, thus they make the big bucks while I loose tiny bucks. I don't really care, as I am mostly doing ISD to amuse myself and be able to share something with people. I love purses, but I only have two shoulders.

That is it. Other than Basil Bea is sleeping in her won hair, as I didn't clean the bed out after I noticed it was caked in fur. No wonder she smells. That and she licks herself all the time.

A New Direction

Recently, I have been feeling listless and bored. Last time I felt this way, I launched Ireland Scott Designs. Seeing I cannot "relaunch" Ireland Scott Designs, I decided to just add to what Ireland Scott had to offer (har har har). I decided to launch a...gift bag line. Why gift bags?

Because I like "scrap booking." I put those in quotes because what they call "scrap booking" these days does not strike me as "scrap booking." The first scrap book I made (WHICH THE MOVERS RUINED WHEN THEY MOVED IT OUT OF THE DIRT HOLE) is a scarp book because I used scraps to make it. I used odds and ends. It was during this time I really discovered the world of scrap booking and for the life of me, I could not figure out why someone would take a class or only put one picture on a page. Those are the "scrap books" that confound me. There is one picture on the page and about 20 dollars worth of paper and other random things.

I love the random things though. I am a sucker for that kinds of stuff. And I love paper. And pens. I love everything the scrap book world has to offer. I just hate using it in an actual "scrap book" because then the pages never lay flat. I loved my Scotland scrap book because it was stuff I had picked up while over there. Receipts, tea bag holders, coins, cards, etc. (The receipts are gone now, as they are faded and ruined. This pisses me off greatly, but we'll save that for another day.)

Last fall I was standing in Hobby Lobby, as I so often did while I was living back in Chicagoland. I was in the scrap book section. I should not have been in the scrap book section for many reasons, but there I was, lusting after paper. I did not need any paper as the Dirt Hole scrap book was put on hold while I wanted for the internet to work again so I could upload more pictures to have printed (which never happened, well the internet began working again, but I got distracted so I never finished the Dirt Hole book).

As I lusted after the printed paper, it hit me: I could make gift bags and cards for Christmas! I was actually going to see people for Christmas that year, so I did not have to mail any thing off. I could use gift bags and MAKE THEM!

So I bought paper, stickers and plain paper bags. And proceeded to have a total ball making the bags. I had a few left over, and I posted them on Ireland Scott. I think I posted them too late, as they didn't move. I figured they wouldn't move. Then I moved.

I was lying on the bed staring at the ceiling earlier this week. I knew I needed to do something constructive, so I said to Basil Bea, "I think I will make more bags. Like bigger ones. And cards. How does that sound?"

She stared at me blankly, but I left the house, bought what I needed, spent two days working and now am beginning to post. I have a feeling all the time and money I spent will be wasted, and the gift bags and cards will never move, but at least I gave it a shot. And man was it fun making those bags. I love doing that sort of thing.

Maybe I should finally get my butt in gear and fix my Scotland scrap book?

let the sun shine down

Today, it was sunny. Thank god. Even though I had a minor sinus headache almost all day, it wasn't so bad due to the fact the sun was out.

Basil Bea was happy.
We even went outside to play. Then she drank water to fast and threw up.

The major highlight of the day was setting up the wireless router. My father, located three time zones behind me, aided in this endeavor. After three hours, and many reboots later, I am wire free for the time being. We will see how long this lasts. Last wireless router I bought was faulty and never worked wireless. It worked as a router. But I was always wired in. So far today I've totted the laptop to three different rooms and it was not nice having a 90 foot cord following after me. Now, in the winter when I am freezing, I can move to the room that is the warmest in the house.

I posted a new purse today (irelandscott.etsy.com). It is wonderful and a Teagan tote. I've been trying to figure out which purses I should make more of. Hobo bags seem to be rather popular. In the winter, the Hillhead Satchel sold well too. I want to create a new style. I did see one on "Glee" tonight that I think I could swing making. Its kinda funny, I see handbags now and I see patterns I can make. I made a clutch today, still not up to the standards I want...but I'll try to sell it anyways, as its got a lot in it. Plus, I bet its just me being hard on myself. I'm almost done with the batch I want to make to send R for the fest she's going to in September. She offered to hawk them in her booth for me. I doubt any will sell, but hey, I gotta get my name out there some how right? I'm thinking of getting some MOO cards printed up as coupons. Or just printing some out on my own now that I've got the printer working.

Dude, I could make the printer wireless!

Tomorrow I plan to run all the errands I've been putting off all week. (OMG, the week is like gone...) I hate going out in the weekends around here, with all the various roads that are closed/congested/etc. Its just safer to remain in the house on the weekends.

I'll sew and make new purses. The purse I was most proud of turned out to have a little iron boo boo on it, so now I can't sell it. I guess I'll carry it. Its really cute.

Gloomy weather coming at ya

for the past few days its been rather gloomy here. Currently, it is 57 degrees outside and not much warmer in the house. Instead of turning the heat on, I put more clothes on. I am dressed...for winter. I am serious. I am wearing my ski socks, a sweater and jeans. A very familiar outfit, as I wore it a lot during the winter. I had a sweater jacket on till Basil Bea spilled tea on me. I am not sure why she felt the need to do this, but she really wanted the tea and nothing but me getting angry stopped her.

Anyways, I am freezing. My fingers are frozen and I feel so lackadaisical. I want nothing more than to curl up in bed and watch "Doctor Who" till the sun shines again. I had to force myself to go buy milk and I managed not to buy too much junk when I was at the store.

Basil is staring at me.

Purse making has been going very slowly as of late. Nothing seems to be going right. I broke a needle again and now don't have the right needle for sewing. I think that is part of my issue, I need to buy new needles.

My mom sent me a box today. It was full of random objects she had found while cleaning out my grandma's belongings. I have two full manicure kits now, plus a piece of paper I wrote my name all over when I was in kindergarten. Least to say, I did not know how to spell my name, nor did I write the letters the right way. For some unknown reason, my grandma felt the need to save this piece of paper and my attempts to write my name. It is a wee bit odd, as it was in a bunch of stuff that was mine. Like letters and stuff that were mine. From her, but she had sent them to me. I know for a fact she never sent me a random post it I wrote my name on. Or tried to write my name.

I wonder how I will survive the winter here? A few days of clouds and I'm all cloudy and cold. It was hard to get me out of bed this morning because the room was so cold and the bed was so warm.

I FINALLY got to see "Bourne Ultimatum" today. I tapped it off of USA when they ran it without commercials on Sunday. I love the Bourne series. Usually I cannot stand to watch Matt Damon because he looks like an ex-boyfriend I had long ago, but in the Bourne series he doesn't have the right hair, so he just looks like Matt Damon, thank god...till they show that stupid picture the CIA uses of him. I can't stand that picture, but I digress. I love those movies, which aren't my usually taste in movies. I think it was one of those movies C rented off of Netflix when we were in college. I cannot for the life of me remember why she got it, but I do remember after watching it, I was in love with it. I bought the DVD. I bought the next one without any thought or seeing it. I thought it'd be one of those movies Pilot Boy and I could watch together, as we have very different tastes in movies. (He didn't care for it, even though it has all the things he enjoys in movies.) Anyways, I've been waiting for years to buy the Ultimatum. Years, I say, because I didn't want to pay 20 bucks for it. It always was 20 or above when I'd see it at stores. Then, it vanished from stores. I haven't seen it for awhile and had actually forgotten about it. Till I saw an ad for it when I was watching something else on USA. So I taped it and finally watched it today. I think the third one was pretty damn good. I realized there was not much dialogue in the movie. A lot of running and shooting and fighting and a car chase. However, I did find it highly amusing. I am not sure if they meant it to be funny, but I found it amusing.

I also have been watching a lot of old movies. Yesterday I watched "Bringing Up Baby" with Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn. It was HILARIOUS at parts and kinda slow at others. I think my favorite part was when they were eating dinner at the aunts house and Cary Grant's character was paying total attention to the dog, George, and was stalking George. he'd just following him around and out of the house in mid-conversation. I was laughing pretty hard.

I have also come to the conclusion I like Matt Smith's Doctor. I was a wee bit iffy at first, as I was one of those people who discovered Who only due to David Tennant and his crazy hair. I was a little upset when they cast Matt Smith, but after getting this far into the season, I have realized I like him. Quite a bit actually. I mean, he's no David Tennant, but there is a lot less spitting now. Also, this doctor doesn't seem to get upset as often. I am totally fascinated by the crack in the wall thing too. I went and bought the iTunes season pass for the 5th season. Mostly so I could watch them on my own time and not have to fast forward through the commericals and nit pick.

Anyways, for some unknown reason its brighter outside than its been all day. It is almost seven pm. I almost want to just go to bed and be done with the day. I hate Mondays and I have no reason to hate Mondays because its just another day in my world.

In the Land of Midnight Sun

Its cloudy.

It is the longest day of the year and it is CLOUDY.It was brilliantly sunny all day. I woke up at 5 am this morning and thought it was 9 am.

But, not it is cloudy. No sun. There is just something wrong with that. One's first Alaskan first day of summer is supposed to be sunny.
Instead I get this:Not the best picture, but at least you can see the camera in the window.
Oh well. The sun just stayed out long enough to heat my house up, though now that it is gone, the air should cool down so I can blow some cold in before I go to bed.

Living here in the summer is just odd. I'm not sure how to really explain it, but you never know what time it is, because the sun never sets and it always looks like the middle of the day most of the day. I did not fully understand this till I went six hours without a clock. I was in a building for 6 hours without a clock and when I left I thought it was maybe nine pm at night. I got in the car and it was almost midnight. MIDNIGHT.
After our heat wave (when I last updated) it cooled down a lot and I had to TURN ON THE HEAT. It was a few days before I realized I was freezing to death in my own home. In June.

Today, I got a logo for Ireland Scott Designs. It hit me rather randomly (like most things) while I was looking at stamps. I was searching for a purse stamp to add to the business cards I got for free off of Moo when I saw it: a Scottie stamp. A DOG! It was perfect. So I added the stamp to the business cards and then the new labels I made. Then I revamped all the other images. I, however, never did finish the purse I have been attempting to finish for the past two days. I was going to do it tonight, thinking the sun would be at full force until at least 11, but alas, it is not because it is cloudy. I sat with the shade closed all day to keep the heat out of the room, and now I open it for some light and all I get is a cloudy sky. Oi. There, some sunlight over that way. I know that sun is still out.

Baking in Alaska

A heat wave has hit Alaska, and Basil Bea and I have been baking in our own home, which does not have a/c, because who needs a/c in Alaska? Well, the sun is totally intense, so I have been shut into the house for almost a week now. Yesterday it finally rained and was cool enough for me to really get to work in the sewing room. In a few days I will go out and buy a new camera, so new purses will begin to appear in the shop.

I have been working on clutches. Yesterday's did not go too well. I wanted to make a small draw string bag like the one the tank tops I ordered from Victoria Secret came in. The first two tries did not work in the least, so today I might try again or just work on purses I know will work. I still have to figure out where to take pictures. Now that I am in my own home, I can use the wonderful kitchen table again. Though, I am totally in love with the purple wall in the sewing room. Not sure where to use the purple wall, as the sewing room is always a mess. Total mess.

Well, that is all. The dog and I just went for a walk and I did some yoga. I am starving but its only 11 am. For some odd reason I feel that is too early to eat lunch.

Allergic to Cockroaches

Today, I went to the allergist. I have been having massive sinus headaches for years now and it has gotten to be too much. So, the doctor and I figured we should figure out what I am allergic to, so I went to see a different doctor.

I'm allergic to mold and cockroaches. Two things that aren't really prevalent in Alaska.

They tested me for 45 things, and I only really reacted to mold. My reaction to cockroaches was minor, while the mold was major. So, seeing I am not allergic to anything "out of the ordinary" the doctor figures I need a cat scan to figure out my sinus issues.

The shop is reopen and getting hits. I finally finished making a purse and tried my hand at making my own labels. The first batch didn't go too well. I need some liquid seam stuff. I left my bottle at my parents house.

This has been the longest week known to man.

I do not understand twitter. I'd leave if I didn't print it on my business cards. Oh well.

Well, I guess I should go let the dog inside. She's outside in all her glory. She's no longer afraid the back yard. She got bit by a icky bug and was rather timid about the whole back yard for awhile. She seems to have forgotten about it.

A true Spring Day

Today, it really feels like spring. It even smells like spring out there. At about 10.30 am I let Basil Bea outside and she promptly started sunbathing on the deck. So I decided that maybe today would be a good day to go on a big walk.

I have been putting off taking Basil Bea for a long walk down the street because of the mess. It was a combination of dust, mud, melting snow, and garbage. Basil was always a dirty, wet mess when we'd get home from the short walks around the block I'd take her on. But, today I figured the snow was mostly gone, the "Spring Clean Up" has been going on for awhile now (do not get me started on how stupid it is the town has to "clean itself up" for the tourists) so I figured it'd be safe.

IT was WONDERFUL out there. The sun was bright, the garbage wasn't too bad and most of the snow along the road is gone and melted away, so Basil Bea remained dry. I totally enjoyed our walk down the road and back.

I have been thinking about buying some toning shoes to talk Basil Bea walking. I really like the idea of the Reebok ones. Maybe tomorrow or this afternoon, I'll venture to get them. I don't know. I haven't decided yet.

In other news, I still have not gotten that stupid piece of paper to reopen the shop. April is almost over. The longer it takes, the less motivated I am to do anything about it. I figured today, I'd tape the living room off and start painting it. It is a huge wall and I haven't touch it since Thursday when Basil showed up doing her impersonation of a balloon.

The Earth is Moving

Felt a rather large earthquake this morning. I was in bed. It was a 4.6. I felt the house shake and things move. I heard things moving around. However, due to the nature of my sleep state, I simply thought the heater had turned on. Or Pilot Boy had built another fire...which was what woke me up yesterday. The loud popping of the fire place. I thought the house was exploding. My dog, Basil Bea, did not make any noise during this earthquake. Though, when I got up about a half hour later, she did not bolt out of her crate as she has been doing.

In other news, I have allergies. For a few years now, I have been trying for the life of me to figure out why I am forever purple under my eyes. When I was in college, I figured it was due to lack of sleep. However, since we moved to the Dirt Hole, I know for a fact I get enough sleep most nights. But the dark circles are still there. So, I began to try eye cream after eye cream. Nothing worked. I had tried DHC's Eye Bright, which honestly did nothing at all. I liked what the Q10 Eye Cream did, but the dark circles were still there. I then bought Burt's Bee's Radiance Eye Cream and used it for almost three months. Nothing. At all. Recently I have been using a sample of Ole Henricksen Visual Truth that I got with my Oily Skin Sample set I received with my last Sephora order. I like the fact it smooths that area of my eye and the little lines I have been noticing seem to be going away. But the dark circles are still there. I had tried everything I could think of, even using buying concealer to put on the dark spots.

But even using Boi-ing by Benefits (which I LOVE AND ADORE for covering up pimples and as an eye shadow base), they were still there. I know this because yesterday I went to see the doctor about my sinus issues and he announced, right away, he could tell I had sinus issues because of the dark spots under my eyes. Something about the blood vessels that are under there and their relationship to my messed up sinus passages.

Thus, I guess I should hold off on buying an eye cream until I get these allergies taken care of. I do have enough eye cream samples to hold me over a while. It is amazing how long I can eek out of a sample.

In shop news, I still have to fill out the form for the shop for Alaska. I have been trying to get back into sewing. So far almost all my projects have gone haywire. I have a feeling the universe is out of order or something.

Coffee House Meeting

I met with other wives this past week. As part of military life, one must randomly meet with strangers to obtain information on everyday life in a new place. Usually, these sort of meetings I dread and avoid at all costs.

Before we moved, I got a call from one of the wives. We chatted. Then we emailed. Then we met for coffee. And oddly, I did not dread it. I actually looked forward to it. It was almost like I was broken or something. Recently, I have just been doing things without much thought. Moving to Alaska, check. Not getting nervous or sick on the trip, check. Randomly driving across town on my own to meet with two people I have never met before, check. It was not very awkward either, which was surprising. I felt like a fool half the time, but I have come to accept this is perfectly normal.

Anyways, we met at a Kaladi Brothers Coffee. They wanted to introduce me to this great Alaskan thing, only I had been introduced to it in the Dirt Hole of all places. Seriously, some custard shop in Del Rio brews this stuff. Anyways, we had coffee and chatted then left. Next step will be to see if I will actually go to the wife club meeting or not.

I finally called Illinois and closed my business account there. Now I have to open one in Alaska and then Ireland Scott Designs will reopen! Whoo hoo!

I'm Here.

I have arrived at my final destination. Whoo. Hoo.

The trip up here was rather uneventful.
1. We did not die.
2. We did not drive off the road.
3. We did not freeze to death (it was "warm" most of the way).
4. There was no "weather" to speak of at all.
5. We arrived a whole day early.

So, I am here. We have a place to live, but can't move in for another month. During that time I can get my stuff together to launch the shop back up. I've been trying, via the slow internet, to research how to "close" the shop in Illinois (of course its not as clear as opening, or as clear as closing in Texas), so I will have to call them. This gives me a sinking feeling because, alas, Illinois can't do anything right it seems. Case in point, we're still waiting on plates for the new car. For two months. We have a temp plate, but seriously, why does it take so long to process and application for plates? It is not like I'm trying to transfer my pharmacy license. (I processed those applications at one point in my life.) Anyways, then I need to set myself up here. Fun will be had. Someday.

So, there is another mini update.