The Mysterious Garage Spider

So there's a desert recluse that hangs out in my garage.  He's a pretty good sized one.  His body is about a half inch (that's as big as they get, I think) but his LEGS, oh my God.  The legs are what always creep me out.

This particular recluse only appears to me for some reason.  He'll be on the banister or the wall and by the time my husband comes down to kill him, he's gone.  He's mysterious.  He's also the only recluse I've ever seen before.  I just hope he stays in my garage and doesn't try to come into the house.  I hate spiders.

Wish Us Luck

About a year ago, I adopted a dog from someone on post.  When I adopted her, she was broken.  She was skittish, she peed any time anyone was near her, she was terrified of anything and everything that moved, she wasn't housebroken, she was never trained, she was terribly underweight, and she ate as if she was afraid that it would be her last time.

Now, she is housebroken, she has much more energy, she's exactly where she needs to be in weight, she still eats as if she is afraid it'll be her last time (she's got a nubby bowl to help slow her down a bit), and she hasn't submissive peed in over a month.  So now that her work seems to be done, she's being allowed to wander the house freely instead of being confined to just the tiled areas.

So far, she's been exceptional.  I am so glad that we got this wonderful girl because who knows what would have happened to her if someone who has no patience ended up with her.

Here she is trying to clean up the juice my son spilled on the floor this morning at breakfast:

The other dog is my Fatsticks (yes, that's really his name).  We've been trying to have him lead by example for her because he has been fully trained since he was a puppy.  I am so glad our hard work paid off.

Wish us luck that she continues on this path of recovery!

Fun Times With Aquadoodle

My son has an Aquadoodle mat.  It's basically a mess free kind of drawing mat.  It uses water instead of markers and you draw on a thin fabric with colored fabric behind it (that's how the colors show up).  It's fun because you draw on it, then when it dries you draw something else.  Both kids like to play with it (my kids are 1 & 2).

Today, my two year old and I were learning letters.  I would draw a letter randomly and he would tell me what it was.  Eventually we were spelling words.  He can now recognize the words "Mommy" and "Daddy", though I expect him to forget them by tomorrow.  We'll see, he seems to be picking things up pretty quick now.  He really enjoys saying the letters when they're written out.

Last part of my brag:  He actually wrote a couple letters today as well :)  Easy ones, of course, like "O" and "M".

Well, I'm off to go play some more with my little ones.

Loot Crate March 2014

It's that time of month!  No, not that time, but the Loot Crate time!  This month's theme was "Attack on Titanfall."  I recently watched Attack on Titan, so I was excited for this month.  I still haven't played Titanfall because I don't have an Xbox One.  Which I want.  Badly.  Really badly.

SO, without further adieu, here's this month's Lootcrate!

No, but seriously, that was what I found in my mailbox this afternoon.  Or rather, my husband did.  I opened it up and this is what it looked like!

Forgive the flash...and my fat hand in the picture.  I was very pleased with this crate, and HERE is the haul!

The list of items are:  The monthly button, a Titanfall shirt (doesn't fit over my chest...........), the first Attack on Titan manga, a Titanfall C101 Lanyard (which I stuck my two LootCrate buttons and my keys on already), an Attack on Titan Scouting Regiment wristband, an Attack on Titanfall magnet, and then a Titanfall video Strategy Guide download.  I already wore the wristband while I was out and about today.  I'm going to read the manga tonight before bed.

I have already informed my husband that because I have the first manga, I will need the rest of them.  I can't wear my Titanfall shirt yet.  I'm working on losing my weight because I'm a bit chunky still (you know, had a baby, got complacent...that ol' thing).

Alrighty, off to work on my stitching!  Happy stitching and if you want to sign up for Loot Crate (roughly $15 dollars a month depending on the package you sign up for), the link is http://mbsy.co/lootcrate/2096843.  The link will open in a new window :)

Jak II WIP

Well, I mentioned my son identifying the letters of the Starbucks logo yesterday.  It's not just him randomly saying letters!  We were watching Sesame Street today and the letter of the day was M.  Before Murray Monster said what it was, my son pointed and shouted, "M!"  So I guess he really has learned!  I guess I'm happy because I worried that my son was behind because all the other kids his age are saying full sentences and my son still jabbers.

Anyway...off of that subject.

So I've started my square for the SpriteStitch charity quilt!  This is what I have so far!

I'm expecting to be working on it tonight for a bit when the little ones go to bed.  Hopefully I can breeze through this.  Alrighty, off to go watch Glee with my son.  Happy stitching, everyone!

S-T-U-K-Q-C-E

I had a moment today when I thought that I might cry from happiness.  My kids and I went to Subway to have a lunch date with my husband because he got two hours for lunch today.  The Subway here has a little set up of tables outside.  Where we were sitting, my son was facing the Starbucks logo on the building.

He says, "Look, Mama," so I looked.  Then he says, "S," while pointing at the logo.  A little shocked, I asked my husband if he heard what Vincent had just said.  So I said, "Yes, Honey, that is an 's'."  Then he said, "T."  Shocked again, I said, "Yes, Baby, that IS a 't'."  He told me the letter "u" and the the letter "k".  I think he said the letter "Q" because he gets it confused with "O".

Who knows?  I didn't even know he knew the letters to begin with!  I guess all that reading and playing word games pays off.

Sorry, had to Mommy Brag for a minute!

Do You Have a Catchphrase?

This is going to be a kind of open post.  A very odd thing happens when people shower:  They tend to have conversations (or arguments) with themselves.  You see the memes and random posts about them all the time, so I know that I'm not the only one who does this.  You know, memes like this:

So, here's the argument I had in my head last night.  I don't know how it popped into my head.  It was not, nor has it ever been, a previous conversation I've had with someone.  Both sides of the argument battled it out in my head, for the entire shower (around  20 minutes), so here's the skinny of it.  Would you be more comfortable being Prosecution or Defense?

For my prosecution argument, my mind yelled, "PUTTING AWAY CRIMINALS!"  But as a prosecutor, it's your job to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that someone is guilty.  Including those who may not be.  As a prosecutor, could you live with the idea that the person that is on death row may be innocent?

For my defense argument, my mind yelled, "KEEPING INNOCENTS INNOCENT!"  Basically making sure that the ones who are genuinely innocent stay innocent and out of prison.  The flip side of that is that you could be defending someone that is guilty and you are paid to get them off scott free, or with lesser charges/sentencing.  Scary thought!

I definitely think I could sleep better at night as a prosecutor rather than defense.  Simply for the fact that I couldn't live with ever keeping a criminal from facing his justice.

Here's the second thing that went through my head.  Do I have a catch phrase?  I thought for a while on the people I know who say certain phrases a lot.  My friend says, "Dude, man, NO!" when she's excited.  My husband says, "...and stuff," after pretty much anything he says.  My father in law says, "...and stuff," also so I know where my husband got it from.  My sister says something, but I can't quite remember what it is.  I have settled that my phrase is, "Do you know what I mean?"  I say that a LOT.  A whole lot.

Random post is random.  Off to stitch my Jak II picture (update later, maybe?). Happy stitching and debating in the shower, everyone!

Stresses, Stresses, and More Stresses

Okay, so I've been away again---I've been very stressed, panic attacks and the like (YAY NEW MEDICINE!...ugh...)---and I don't know if I ever updated on my son's birth record, but it's finished.

I've also started on my daughter's birth record and my charity quilt square.  Right now my square is priority because...well, I have this feeling if I don't do it now, I won't get to it at all.  Then once that's done, I'm going to do my other square and then mail them off.  

I figure a poster tube is the easiest route because I can't find any envelopes in this middle of nowhere place.

Okay, off of my topic, here's something that makes me feel like a total douche and a half!  I let my dogs out for their last potty break around 2000 last night.  I said out loud to my dogs, "Wow, someone's fire smells amazing!"  

That fire?  Yeah.......my husband's coworker's house burned down.  I was enjoying the smell of his house burning down and didn't know it.  The poor guy lost everything including his pets.  So sad :(   At least it seems the nasties in Fort Irwin are all putting their differences aside to help this poor guy.  We're cooking for him so he has hot food every night.  

I feel sooooooo bad about enjoying that smell :(

Sometimes You Get Hit Back...

So that heavy bag is fantastic.  That being said, have you ever had a moment when you injured yourself and thought, "Yep, I deserved that."  So...here's my story about my moment tonight.

After I finish with the bag, I play with the dogs.  It's good for them, and we use the time to train as well.  Tonight we played.  Well, while I was playing with my dogs, I whipped around to chase Mia and smacked the bag with my hand by accident.  Now...when I say smacked, I really mean that I hit it HARD.  So hard in fact that it bounced off the back bar of my stand, swung back, and when I went to stop it, it crunched my pinky.  Had I not tried to stop it swinging, which I only do out of habit, my finger would probably be fine.

If it had hit any harder, I probably would have dislocated it (or worse).  Right now it's nice and swollen and the joint is very, very tight.  I can still bend it with only a little pain.  Most of the pain is if I touch it or stretch it to use the "enter" button while typing (you know, that sideways stretch).

It should be better in a couple days, I'm sure.

Now, excuse me while I go watch the episode of Malcolm in the Middle where Hal starts playing Jump Jump Dance Party...I miss playing Dance Dance Revolution with my friends...........

Happy stitching, everyone!

P.S. I still haven't finished my son's birth record, sadly.