My Opinion Monday - Getting back to me.

As you faithful 19 blog followers know, I opened an Etsy shop last November. And then I stopped blogging. And then in the name of trying to create a brand, I moved all my "My Opinion Monday" posts to another blog - myopinionmonday.blogspot.com (oh you didn't notice that...well, I did). I didn't want people to not like my stuff because sometimes my opinion isn't the nicest or with the majority or very tactfully written.

Over the past 6 months I have not crafted my way to being a millionaire - or hundred-aire really - I'd like to think that I just NOW broke even (although adding up all the receipts that I've misplaced and refuse to try and find might tell me otherwise) and you know what, it's a lot of work. A lot of time. A lot of sacrifice. A lot of money. A lot of stress. And I knew it was going to be a lot of time, work and money when I went into it so blindly. But what I didn't realize is that it was going to be more  of all those things than I had expected. Oh you want to throw me a surprise birthday party? I need to go home after work and sew up a couple wine holders for a prize tomorrow for a show I just decided I'd be in! (No joke people, I screwed up my boyfriend and friends plan of throwing me a surprise 29th birthday party this year - I felt like a total loser...and the show was the day after a Wilson Phillips concert, so you can imagine how amazing I was feeling....). Shows are a lot of work. I only did 2. Mad props to the handmakers out there that do that every weekend!

To add to the level of stress, my sewing machine took a nose dive a few weeks ago. Not a colossal one, but enough for me to know that I should stop using it. My machine is from 1975 and it's a solid piece of metal. All the parts are metal - even the foot petal is metal - and when metal parts are not oiled and maintained as they should be for 38 years, they're bound to stop at some point. I felt like that point was a few weekends ago when I was in the middle of a large order for a bride - she had ordered 7 clutches for bridesmaids. I threw out a bunch of cuss words and borrowed my lovely friend Summer's machine and finished the order. Just in the nick of time for Etsy to tell me that I was right on time shipping it; thank gawd because I don't need another stat going in the red. Stress me out.

On top of this, I have a full time job. So after my day job, I'd come home and retreat to my basement where I'd taken over all but the laundry area and do work (son). It was miserable. Well, it was fine when it was snowing out but now that the weather is finally getting nicer and the sun is out and I'm lazy on Monday and  I'm playing volleyball on Tuesdays and I've got a standing date with Summer every Thursday and then it's Happy Hours on Friday...and Wednesday should be laundry night. So that left me with weekends to do work (son). Just what I wanted to do. Hole up in the basement for 7 long hours of work. eeeffffff!!

So where am I going with this? Well, when I'm at my day job and my computer shuts itself down for no reason (or because I have 100 files and screens open and haven't restarted in 19 days), I figure it's telling me it needs and break and I'll do some organizing of my desk and filing and maybe pick up some things in the main office area and tidy things up. So that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to let my sewing machine rest (and get it tuned up too). I'm going to organize some items in my craft room and make room for a bit of a man cave as the boyfriend has requested to use some of the space (I guess the entire upstairs is not enough for his lounging needs?? Who knows, it's technically his house so I feel like I need to oblige). I'm going to take a step back and figure out what I liked about doing so many orders and what I didn't like. I'm going to take an impromptu weekend trip without worrying about finishing orders on Sunday because I've procrastinated enough and need to ship something on Monday. I'm going to enjoy the weather and sit outside on our awesome deck and sip a cocktail. I might even get myself up for my 5AM workout (I have been telling myself that since February, perhaps writing it down will help).

Most importantly (as cheesy as this sounds), I'm going to get back to me. I love being creative and doing projects - I just don't know if I love doing it all the time and under certain deadlines and concerns the feedback isn't going to be what I want. Criticism gets me down and I take it so very personal and have a really hard time letting bad/rude comments/feedback go. One bad comment makes me forget that I had 20 good ones. It's just how I am. They say you have to give this business 100% and right now, I'm just not in it 100%. I want to be able to give it 100% because that's when I do my best work. I can't have a bunch of items out there with my cute little tags on them that only got 60% of me because I had other orders I had to finish at the same time. I don't to create a brand that way.

So here's what you can expect of me. I'll be importing my My Opinion Monday (or MOM as I so lovingly call them - because my Mom does read them - Hi Mom!! -..and because it's the acronym) posts back into this blog - because this is who I am. I'll be posting more MOM's because that is who I am. I'll be doing a few things here and there and posting them on the blog. I'll be working on getting organized because I know that will make me less stressed. And again, just working on getting back to me.

Thanks to everyone that has supported me, "liked" my Facebook page (which I'm keeping up and will post some projects from time to time) and helped me with this venture. As Arnold once said, "I'll be back!"

My Opinion Monday - On raising a fish.

A year ago,  boyfriend and I got a fish. A beta to be exact. We named him Ron. Boyfriend liked to refer to him as "master" beta -(get it??) he's 28 folks. Anyways, we took care of Ron really well in the beginning. Changed his water regularly, (over)fed him, and had him right on the mantle so everyone could see him.

Fast forward a few months. We got rid of the rocks that were in his bowl, and the other things too. They were just gross to clean out when we actually did that. And by we, I mean me. Boys don't know how to do everything you know.  And then he set on our desk. Which was in the back of the living room, making it harder to remember that we actually had a fish.

Then Tyler's niece discovered Ron. She always fed him when she came over and made sure he was entertained. She asked to take him out of the bowl many times to play with him. Bless her heart. Mya was the last one to feed Ron and realize he was actually alive. 2 weeks ago.

Last night after we came home from having a few drinks with some friends, I suddenly remembered we had a fish. And poor Ron. He was not floating, but he had sunk to the bottom of his poorly cleaned bowl. Tyler said he sank because he was a treasure (he'd had a few drinks). We said our good-bye's and sent him off to be with Nemo (meaning we flushed him).

So now we have 2 fish bowls (because I bought him a new, smaller one a few weeks ago, put water in it and set it next to him...obviously never getting around to actually moving him over to cleaner water) and some fish food leftover.

Here is the only picture we have of Ron. May he rest in peace.

Ron. 9/2011-9/2012. 

And may we re-evaluate the whole getting married to have kids thing.

My Opinion Monday - The padded sports bra

I should note that from the time I was in 6th grade (and on) was a very tramatic time for me (and my boobs). I was inducted into the IBTC (itty, bitty, titty committee) and called the "great plains" while my friend who was most likely only an A at the time was referred to as the "rocky mountains." In 8th grade I was dumped by a 6th grader for a girl that had a B-cup. No joke. And in high school  my volleyball coach made a comment about not having my sprots bra on. I spouted off about how it was unfair that everyone knows how small chested I was just by looking at me, while we could not tell just by looking at guys what they were packing (you know, down below). I'm sure I would have been suspended indefinitely for saying that these days.

mom, this is where you tell dad this blog, well, he probably doesn't want to read it. Just tell him my car is running just fine and I'll need an oil change this weekend. 

I'm 28 years old. I haven't worn a sports bra since I was in 6th grade. I didn't need one then and I don't need one now.

Well, I didn't need one until I gained 15 lbs in a 12 month span. Besides adding some extra inches to my stomach, hips and thighs, I managed to get some extra fat where I really wanted it - in the boobies!

Unfortunately, I can not keep all this weight. I have not put on a pair of pants (that I didn't buy this summer because I couldn't fit into old ones) since last fall/winter. With the time of year quickly approaching, I'm on a mission to lose some weight and get into shape so I can look fabulous in jeans and sweaters - which seems really dumb since I'd rather look great in a swimsuit but, this is how I do. I started running a few weeks ago to get in shape for the upcoming Color Run. And that's when I noticed that my little everyday training bra was not going to cut it if I was going to get serious about working on my fitness.

So yesterday after Val and I went and got our bodies measured up (my thighs are the same size as some peoples waists), we headed out on a shopping spree of sorts to get some new gear. We needed a yoga mat, some weights and a jump rope. The first two things I picked up where a sports bra and a new top. Par for the course when Val and I are shopping.

I guess I thought all sports bras were like those from 6th grade. You know the ones - white cotton with a one inch elastic band around the bottom, give you a glorious uniboob (or in my case, just letting everyone around me know that I do wear padded bras and am working with pretty much nothing in that area). They are not. I picked up a nice padded sports bra that yes, does indeed make me look as though I'm rocking a decent A cup, rather than some AAA that those of 6th grade would have made me look like.

Today was our first day of this FitCamp we're attending. We had to run a mile. I wore my new sports bra and oh.my.god. Life changing. Who knew?! It's just one less area of pudge giggling around reminding me how I shouldn't have eaten the 6 crab rangoons with my Chinese takeout all those times over the past 12 months. UGH.

My Opinion Monday - Always be prepared.

I wish I could say this was a guest post, but alas, this happened to me. Thanks to the in-laws for being such good sports about my lack of being prepared. 


My dad was a Boy Scout leader for what felt like my entire childhood. I remember many times going to these meetings as some sort of family outing - makes our last family trip to the John Deere factory and Cabela's look like Disneyland now that I think about it though! I would stand when they did their pledge, mimic their signs and pretend I knew what I was doing. I'm practically a Boy Scout - probably have my Eagle patch by now. In fact, I most likely would have had more badges from Boy Scouts than from my Girl Scout days (my troupe leader was a nut-so crazy lady). Two weeks ago over Easter weekend though, I would have totally had my "Prepardness Badge" removed.

It all started with the hurried packing I did for the weekend a mere 20 minutes before we left town for 2 days. I had thrown about 12 outfits in my bag  (I wore sweatpants for a good 24 hours though) because I had no idea what we'd be doing and what I thought to be about 6 pair of underwear. I generally overpack - as for underwear, I pack about 3 pair per day I'm going to be gone. I don't know why, but I do. I just reach into the  clothes basket of clean clothes that hasn't made it to the dresser drawer yet drawer and grab what I can, stuff it in my bag and call it done. Not this weekend though. That weekend I apparently neglected to get the handful of stuff into my bag.

In a fit of panic, I decided I'd just wash them in the sink, hang them to dry and they'd be all good by the time we were ready to go out. I was not about to just turn them inside out - I'd been in sweat pants for a good solid 24 hours, and well, you know how that is. The moment I threw them in the sink though, I knew I'd made a mistake. "Oh my god, what am I going to do? I'll just ask his sister if I can borrow a pair of hers. Okay, perfect, no one will ever know."

So that's what I did. I asked my boyfriend's sister if she had an extra pair. She has 3 kids and a husband, of course she packs extra everything right? Wrong.  You see where this is going right? 


I wasn't about to go without for the evening, so his mom offered me a pair and I asked that we not share that fact with him. I ended up telling him anyways because he'd seen my "freshly washed in the sink" pair that I'd draped over a fan in hopes of them drying before I put his mom's on. No dice. Oh, did I mention this was on our anniversary? I wore his mom's underwear on our 2 year anniversary. How did he get so lucky? Or how did I get so lucky that no one even blinked an eye when I asked to borrow such a thing!?

And after we'd all had a good laugh about that, his 3 year old niece found a green condom in my purse and proudly came running around the corner to show all of us, his parents included, her new finger puppet. Needless to say, that pretty much trumped the underwear fiasco and disqualified me from every getting my Preparedness Badge back.

Source

Anyone else have any embarrassing stories from visiting the in-laws they'd like to share?? What badge would you lose for sure?

My Opinion Monday - selling on Craigslist

I've been bitten by the Craigslist bug (no, not that one that requires an antibiotic, I stay out of the W4M section) recently and have come across some really annoying habits of people that post their items for sale. There's a way to sell items on Craigslist - it's called the cheap way. This is not the showroom at Homemakers furniture people, it's your garage so no one is going to pay what you paid 6 months ago. It's like buying a brand new car and driving it across the lot and expecting to get exactly what you paid for it, or more! Here are some pet peeves I've found in recent posts (my apologizes if these links don't work by the time this is posted or you get around to reading it...)

1. Big Daddy Chair - $325. This fella notes he doesn't have room for it and needs to sell for the space. My question - WHYDIDYOUBUYITIFYOUDONOTHAVEROOMFORITTHEN? Did you not think at the store, "hmm, this looks really big but I bet it won't fit in my house..." I imagine it went more like "hmm, this looks really big, I don't think it'll fit in my studio apartment but I've got $500 to burn so I'll take it! If it doesn't fit, I can always sell it on Craigslist." Good luck with that. PS I rotated the picture for you :)

2. Huge Mirror - $150 This poster notes it's "still in new condition" - um no it's not sweetie. Do you now why? Because you bought it, therefore making it new to you, second hand to anyone else that purchases it. And if you paid more than $150 for that mirror, you got robbed. You should go to Gordman's next time.

3. 3-piece bedroom set - $500 500 dollars? Are you serious? For a headboard, dresser and nightstand from 19whenever? I paid $10 for a headboard like that at the Salvation Army a few months ago. I'm going to cover it with fabric. I didn't buy it for looks, I bought it for the function. If I want to pay $500 for a bedroom set, I'll go spend twice that at a store and finance it for free. You'll be lucky to sell this for $125.

4. Custom Tile Fireplace -$250 Seller notes it's look great in any house. He's clearly not seen an updated, contemporary home that has a fireplace using tiles that cost more than the $0.54 ones that he's selling. Custom items are custom to you, not to anyone else purchasing them. No one will pay what you paid for custom. If they do, you better remember their name so you can sell them the rest of your stuff.

5. Comfy bamboo/wood furniture set - $450 I'm sorry, comfy and bamboo/wood just don't really belong in the same sentence. The couch posted has bamboo arms. I can tell you that does not look like a place I'd like to lay my head down and take a siesta (nap for all you that failed Spanish). I love The Golden Girls, but I don't want their furniture; I actually sit on mine for more than a few hours at a time while taping.

6. Television wall mount - $20 Ah yes, because everyone is mounting their giant tube TVs. If you paid $50 for it at Mendards, TAKE IT BACK! Don't people save receipts? Although, this is for an old school tube TV that pretty much only 3 year olds have now.

7. Hide-a-bed couch - $20 It's like a Where's Waldo in this picture. It really is hiding. I had no idea what I was even looking for. Thank goodness the seller apologizes for the pathetic photo. But if you recognize that it's a bad photo, TAKE ANOTHER ONE! If you don't have the option, just put it on the curb and put it in the free section.

8. Ethan Allen Sofa - $500 OMGOD I can't believe she paid $2600 for this sofa when it was new! The only person that likes this sofa is "beautiful" is my grandmother, and she doesn't have a computer. Therefore, she does not have the internet and can not contact you to purchase.

9. Potato Bin - $20 Much like the TV stand above, wondering if these things are still useful. Good to know that the top and drawer open though.

10. Every other post that does not include a picture. Include a picture. Even my dad has a phone that will take a quick picture. Do it. I bet your stuff gets more attention that way. I myself don't even look at posts without pictures. I like to see what I'm going to waste my time on.

My Opinion Monday - posting sweet nothings on hisFacebook

I'm going to offend someone in this post for sure, probably close friends that even read this blog but I'm doing it for your own good. Please take what I'm about to say to heart and change the way you tell your significant other that you love them and can't live without them. 

Facebook is not the place to do that. 

I've noticed a trend in seeing my friends posting sweet nothings on their significant others Facebook wall and it makes me cringe. I grew up getting cards telling me how much my parents love me (and to this day will get at least 4 per occasion...one for me from my mom, one from my dad, one from my dog, and one for Tyler and I from my parents) and although there are times I think it's overkill, I still enjoying getting those in the mail knowing that they took the time to actually go to a store, read through a bunch of cards, underline what they want to emphasize, put money in them, and mail them to me. It means something to me. I do the same for Tyler. Cards are a must for every holiday - he found out the hard way this past year on my birthday and hasn't  missed since!

When I see my friends posting on their husband's wall (because Facebook makes me) sweet nothings about how much they love each other, how they couldn't imagine life without them and how they can't wait to spend every single day together for the rest of their lives and have babies and grow old together and on and on and on...well, it sounds forced and in my opinion, cheapens the actual sentiment behind it. I mean, come on ladies (yes I'm talking to you, we all know most men aren't doing this), you LIVE with the guy and you're going to see him in 4 hours when you're off work. Can't you send him a text or give him a card if you can't say it to his face!? if you find that you can't actually say it to his face, you've got other issues. Getting hammered drunk might help though. You don't need all 400 Facebook friends to see how much you love each other via your Facebook wall posts. Unless you're trying to prove a point to someone that you know is going to see it...which makes it even less meaningful. 

I know that you love your husband (or boyfriend for that matter) - you're either MARRIED to him or living with him so I get it, I don't need to see it on Facebook. If you must show the Facebook world how much you love each other, do it with pictures (PG though, save the X-rated for another site) or your relationship status. 

It takes just as much effort if not more to login to Facebook, find their page, get to their wall, type the message and hit post. How about picking up the phone, hitting #2 for speed dial (your mom should be first) and telling that person how much you love them. Or go the extra mile and write an actual note, like on a piece of paper or grab a card the next time you're at Target. Then pick up some of his favorite candy to go with. He'll probably do the dishes that night for you. Doubt he does that after your Facebook post. 

So please friends,  think before you post next time. If it's something like "hey, forgot my phone today, can you grab some spaghetti on your way home? Love you!" that's one thing. But "Oh my god, you are the best thing to ever happen to me, I love you so much, I'm so happy we are together..." - wait until you get home and tell him face to face or shoot him a quick text message if you just can't stand not telling him for 4 hours..or 2 minutes since he's probably just in the bathroom and all. 

My Opinion Monday - renovation realities

They don't show this stuff on HGTV so I'm going to show it here on my blog -mostly so my mom - hi mom! - can see the disaster progress that has taken place.

We start with a seemly normal kitchen, the standard 1995 remodel - navy blue was in during the 90's for sure (my mom's kitchen has blue accents too and a floor very similar to this one - which we both hate - seriously manufacturers, white flooring in a KITCHEN??? really though WHITE FLOORING?? what are you thinking? and what are WE thinking for even considering that as a choice?? but I didn't pick this, the previous owners did. phew!)

So here are the BEFORE pictures of this accidental remodel:

It's clean now...but just wait

A whole bunch of wasted space in my opinion...

Then I bought a couple shelves from IKEA and that's where this all stems from:

New wall color, new panel color - obviously

Even though I'd like to blame it on this:

"This is easy babe!" Um yes I know this is the easy PART.
It all sucks from here. Remember how I've done this before?
I just realized I didn't post that remodel of the Jefferson casa.

I came home to this the other night after work. I was less than impressed...but look at how nicely his pants match his "Palin Stanzi 2012" shirt! Luckily his parents were coming the weekend to help out. I'd seen his painting skills...they were best left on the golf course tee markers and such. I am uber particular, as is his mom, so I was awaiting her help with painting the cabinets. 

In the meantime, this is what the place started to look like:

No worries - the booze has not left the kitchen. 

You only get one picture, it pretty much sums it up. 

Then I bought some cabinets off Craigslist and things started coming together with the help of his dad:

The 2 smaller cabinets are upper cabinets so they built
a base for those, complete with a toe kick area. 

But first we had to do this:

Which sucked since we'd JUST painted all that damn trim. It's still behind
the cabinets though...well, behind the smaller cabinets I should say. 

And this is what we had before our ambitious evening: 

I need the doors to be back on. The 'open shelf' concept
will not work in this kitchen...at least this side anyways.

And without the backsplash now:

Looks better already!

And this - except these have been painted with the charcoal gray color that you see on the frames above:

The punching bag has gotten a bit of use during this project...but only
because I kept bumping into it by accident. And yes, it's from Goodwill too.

So there you have it.  The stuff they don't show on HGTV that all of us who have been through a remodel before has experienced. 

And if none of that makes sense, here's the color palette:

Imagine concrete countertops, a mable slab on the accent cabinets wall and some new flooring....and none of the mess!

My Opinion Monday - Chris Brown and the Grammy Awards

(forgot to post on Monday!)

So I watched about 15 minutes of the Grammy's last night. The only 2 performances I wished I'd never saw were Chris Brown (with a whole bunch of other people) and Nicki Minaj. I'm only going to talk about Chris Brown because I have a lot to say about him...but I can sum it all up in what I posted on Facebook after his performance:

"wonder how excited the crowd would be if pictures of rhianna's beaten face flashed on the screens behind chris browns performance..."

If you want to see the picture of her face, you can click here and the read some really dumb Twitter updates (from really dumb girls) while he was performing. 

I just think it's absolutely ridiculous how he is still popular. I'm pretty sure I didn't care for his music in the first place (I wouldn't buy it if I had an ipod) but after he beat the crap out of Rhianna, I really dislike him. I'm just not sure how everyone still supports him and feels okay about it at the end of the day. 

I know that people make mistakes and bad decisions. But this decision deserves a consequence. Making him rich and famous is not a consequence. It only shows others what you can get away with. I just find it really sad and I do not and will not support him or his music. 

What I would say about Nicki Minaj pales in comparison to Chris Brown so I'll just leave it at that. 

My Opinion Monday - about Monday

It's here. The dreaded Monday. According to all my friends on Facebook, this is the most loathed day of the week. I wish I didn't agree. I wish Monday meant more than peeling yourself out of bed from the NyQuil induced coma you put yourself in a mere 8 hours before and throwing on something that looks remotely professional and getting to work on time - but still late. (I'm a late on-timer. Like I'm late everyday, but I'm on time everyday. 8:20(ish) is when I start - see, late but on time...maybe this only makes sense to me?).

On Monday I always feel like I'm coming down with something - a cold, strep throat, being pregnant (kidding) - and most of the time if I can just get myself out of bed, into the shower and off to work, I'm doing just fine by noon and can make it through the rest of the day knowing that my bed is awaiting me when I get home. Along with everything else I neglected to do over the weekend because I was too busy being 21 and drinking all day Saturday and then couldn't function on Sunday to do anything more than make chicken for dinner since we ate breakfast and lunch via fast food. Needless to say, I'm too old to be day drinking. 


But today I'm feeling like I really am getting strep. Strep and I have this long standing winter relationship that normally takes over about 3 times a year. Knock on wood - I've not had it this year. I really hope it's just a case of the Monday's and it's just a sore throat from the change in weather. Thanks to that stupid groundhog we got 5 inches of snow a couple days later. I feel like if it were Friday and I had awesome weekend plans (which I do have this weekend so I am hoping to goodness this is just a scratchy throat), I would be just fine. Monday just does something to all of us.

Monday makes  us cranky, irritated that the weekend is over so quickly, pissed that we didn't get what we wanted to get done in our mere 2 days of rest, tired because we have to get up 5 days in a row and be somewhere (late) on time, sluggish because we fell off the diet bandwagon, and completely not prepared for the week. Why is that? Am I the only one that feels this way? I know I'm not, it's all over Facebook - and even Pinterest, with all those catching "Monday Sucks" posters and such (I'm sure they exist, I can make one with black sharpie and copy paper if needed).

The only thing I look forward to on Monday is knowing that in 2 days, it's Wednesday and then in 2 days it's Friday. But sadly, 2 days from that is Monday. Oh the vicious cycle. I use to work with an older gentleman that would everyday remind me that it was not yet Friday. Picking up trash on Monday "It ain't Friday." Picking up trash on Tuesday "It ain't Friday." Seeing him in the hall on Wednesday "It ain't Friday." And then on Friday "It's Friday, but in two days it'll be Monday."  Are.you.freaking.serious.Shut.up.now.thanks.

Maybe someday we'll all learn to love Monday. I have a feeling we'll only do that when Monday is considered part of the weekend (because we're all only working 4 days a week at that point and we collectively decided that Monday should be on the weekend and not Friday because Friday already rocks).

In your best Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker from Sex in the City peeps) voice:  "Would we then loathe Tuesday as much as we loathe Monday now?"


Ponder that, or tell me how much you love Monday in the comments below. I'm off to take some NyQuil and wait for Tuesday.

My Opinion Monday - idiots at the gym

I'm going to preface this post by saying that it's awesome for anyone who starts a gym regime, congrats and go you. 

But what the fuck are you doing there in a class if you're not going to follow the simple instructions given by the instructor?? It's like a waste of your time, a waste of my energy watching you and a distraction to everyone else in the class. 

I went to a bodypump class tonight which consists of 1 hour of weight lifting. It's a full class and I ended up in the front. Which I thought was fine because then I would only have myself to look at in the mirror and not everyone else in front of me. Well I was wrong. Being in the front gave me free range to stare at anyone else. 2 people caught my eye tonight. 

First was the older lady behind me. She was buff, you could tell that she'd done this before. HOWEVER, she did NONE of the moves correctly and I'm afraid she's going to hurt herself is that's how she always does it. While everyone else is looking up at the instructor, her eyes and head are facing down doing lord knows what. I couldn't help but watch her behind me. She was taller than me and I had no choice; it's hard to watch yourself for an hour.

The second dipshit to catch my eye was the lady that first was on the treadmill while I was warming up before class on the elliptical behind her. I immediately judged her running form (I know, I'm not a pro either but you'd  think she'd never jogged before) and was annoyed at the fact that she had her purse on the treadmill with her. I throw mine in the trunk of my car, therefore I feel like everyone else should. There's nothing in your purse that you need while in the gym (that goes for you cell phone talkers too, get off the phone and workout). Well this lady happens to be in the bodypump class and has a hard time getting the 1-2-3-4 counts down. Instructor says "Okay we're going to do 4 down and 4 up" - idiot lady essentially does 1 count down, 1 count up and just stands there. And she does that again. and again. and then puts the instructors step away - which is another distriction during (class can't you all just wait to put your stuff away AFTER class like the rest of us??) And then she continues to do nothing but stand there and chomp her gum like it's her job. Continues to have a hard time with the simple 1-2-3-4 counting the instructor is doing. Puts more of the instructors equipment away. And then I follow her out and her butt crack is hanging out of her pants. Hot mess. Fix yourself lady. Please. 

I am beginning my fitness routine once again - so much harder the 4th time around - and am aware of what I'm going to see and how often. I just never understood those that come to class and don't follow the instructor or do anything but stand there. Telling everyone you went to bodypump doesn't count if you didn't  do anything. I'm not saying that I'm super amazing and am ready to be a certified instructor, but I have mastered how to count to 4 and can follow simple directions over the loud speaker for an hour. Seems simple enough to me. And to my friend Summer (who witnessed all this tonight as well). Summer says if  you can't handle it, go to Curves. 

My Opinion Monday: Voicemails and those that hang up AFTER the beep

I can’t be the only person that hates voicemails. There has got to be someone else out there that dislikes calling their voicemail box, entering their passcode (which 9 times out of 10 I’m told is wrong by the idiot lady recording – and by the way lady, it hasn’t changed in about 10 YEARS!), then listening to the callback number in the robotic tone, then the date and time of the call…and then….nothing. The dipshit hung-up. What the?? I just spent about 3 minutes going through the process to actually get to the voicemail only to hear that I’ve been hung up on. Good thing for caller ID (on cell phones, my office phone not so much) so I can be sure to not call that person back in a timely fashion.

For some reason, people still leave voicemails on my cell phone. I have a confession – I delete them before listening to them and I have no idea what you’ve said before I call you back. I just deleted 6 from a few months ago the other day on my way to Chicago because my cell phone was reminding me every 2 minutes of the 6 hour drive that I had messages (my phone is junk, it should have gone into the “reject” pile but somehow made it through US Cellular’s “rigorous testing” phase – that’s what they told me anyways). I always use to say that if something is important, someone will leave a message. Now I’m the mindset that if it’s important, they’ll send me a text message because they know I’m not going to listen to the voicemail, nor will I likely return the call. I’m immediately annoyed when someone leaves me a voicemail (am I really my mother’s daughter?? Sorry mom…) I think the voicemail lady now goes into a tirade saying, “If you don’t intend on leaving a message, hang up now.” I feel that’s a bit obvious and is similar to putting the warning label on the hair dryer noting you shouldn’t use that product in the shower. Duh.

We all know how cell phones work these days. I remember a time when my mom thought voicemail was the same as an answering machine. “Hi Trac, it’s your mom….pick up if you’re there….okay you must not be there….call me back when you get this…love you.” No worries, she has it figured out now.

My work phone is a little different. I am keeper of the general mailbox as well as my own. When someone (or an automated caller) listens to our recording and doesn’t select an extension, they’re dropped into a general mailbox and I get to check those messages. So many times I have gone through the process of entering my password, listening to the lady tell me I have voicemails, only to hear, “...(silence)…..(click).” What? Why? Who doesn’t know that if you’re not going to leave a message you hang up BEFORE the beep, not after!! Nowhere in any of my greetings have I ever said, “You’ve reached my voicemail, please hang on until the beep and then wait a few minutes to hang up. Thanks!”

I just don’t get it. If I get someone’s voicemail greeting, I hang up. Honestly, I probably hang up a few rings before their voicemail. If someone is going to answer your call, it’s going to be in the first few rings; not that many people don’t always have their phones with them. Although – in my defense – I misplace mine quite a bit. The other times I’m just usually in the craft room – the house dead zone for service considering the concrete walls and ceiling and all. And then there are times that I do have my phone, see the caller and silence. You’ve all done it too…(right? Haven’t you? Or am I admitting in this post I’m a cruel person?)

I would disable my voicemail all together, but I know how much my mom loves to hear my voice so I don’t. (Yes I could answer her every call, but she doesn't call me much - she's suppose to call me whenever she wants to talk...she's getting better at it). Even though I’m not only the narrator on my parents answering machine, I’m the only messages saved to the tape. Whoop whoop, go me! But she did just ask for a new house phone for Christmas…guess this means I’ll have to call and leave a few messages for her.

In conclusion, if you have my phone number and need to reach me and I don't answer your call, send me a text message. I'm either forgetting that my phone isn't where I thought it was or have crafted myself into a corner in my concrete cell office. If you must leave a voicemail, be warned that it will not be listened to fully unless you make the first 2 seconds amazing. And it shouldn't be time sensitive, I won't get around to it until a few weeks later either.

And for all you idiots that insist on hanging up AFTER the beep, go (beep) yourself. And have a nice day!

My Opinion Monday - too much info peeps

Hey there all my Facebook mom's and dad's - this is a shout-out to you all.

Can I just say there is nothing more gag-inducing than you talking about your "lil man" or "princess" pooping on the potty for the first, second, third....etc time? We all know that everyone poops, hell, there's a book for kids with that same title, but what we don't need to know is when they do it. I'm seriously going to contact Mark Zuckerburg and ask him to create and "Mombook" or "Dadbook" where all you can post that crap (bah, no pun intended) for all the other mom's and dad's that give a shit (ha, again) about your kids bowel movements.

I don't post when I get my period, change my tampon (see - that's gross isn't it? makes you cringe a little bit huh??) or take a crap because frankly, it's gross and WAY TO MUCH information for Facebook. It was enough to have to see pictures of you (or your wife, if you're a guy reading this) with your/her legs all up in the air while giving birth to said child, reading the inevitable countdown to when baby is coming and then reading the countup on how old said baby is now (did you not know that was going to happen by the way??), but now I have to read about their friggin pooping.

Just stop. Please. I don't want to read that and chances are the other friends who aren't parents don't either.

Think back before the time of Facebook - I know it's hard but it really was just like 6 years ago. How do you think parents communicated with other friends or their parents that their kid finally pooped in the potty?? I'm guessing the telephone.  I have realized that your kid not pooping in their pants anymore is big news, so if you could all just do us who don't want to hear about pooping a favor and pick up the phone and share the news, that would be much appreciated. It's just not something I need or want to know.

I know I'm not a mom so I probably don't understand, but I'll leave you with words of  the great Frank Giles: "TMI people, TMI."

My Opinion Monday - baby showers must provide booze.

Several of our friends are insisting on having babies. Yeah, they got married this summer and decided to kick the 'ol pill and make some babies. I am happy for them and was part of the planning committee for a double shower this past weekend. One is due at the beginning of February, the other at the end (and one of the other planners is due in June now - babies galore I tell you!)

Instead of having the traditional shower where it's only ladies (because that's how it SHOULD be, this couple showers crap annoys me...no man wants to sit through all of us ladies oohing and ahhhing over diapers and pacifiers - truth be told I don't want to either) we decided to throw in our annual Ugly Sweater Party, rent out the VFW and get a keg! The mommies-to-be were totally supportive of the idea (thanks so  much girls!) and it was a huge success - at least in the keg department...we drained it well before we thought we would. I'm going to blame it on the couple games we played. 

The first game was two people, full beer in one hand, while using the other hand to diaper, dress and place a stuffed doll comfortably onto a chair. When the baby was seated comfortably, you had to chug your beer. Tyler and I did pretty well....until the chugging. Kid is not a chugger or shot taker - so I finished mine and half of his. We lost. Darn.

Second game was for the guys. Picture flippy cup table with baby bottles and grown men chugging beer from said bottles - through nipples might I add. (see pictures below) One of the fathers-to-be was the last in line and literally squeezed the bottle as if it were a beer can. Nice work, you're ready for this. 

The third game was a good old fashioned game of flippy cup. Several rounds and we were all toast. Good job us. 

And like  I said, we were all in our ugly sweater garb. Doesn't get much better than that folks. 

So the next time you're suckered into asked to throw a baby shower - try it at a local VFW in ugly sweaters while the guys chug from baby bottles. I don't have any pictures of the festivities (besides everyone in front of the picture backdrop - we get fancy) because I was having too much fun. And my camera sucks, so you wouldn't want to see them anyways. 

Yes, that converted fridge to gun cabinet does have a sign that reads "Ready  to Fire"

UPDATE: Someone had my camera, there are pictures!

Nebraska fan in a Hawkeye hat...not happy about it. 

Betty from the VFW liked Tyler's stache I think

Iowa State fan in a Hawkeye hat

Still not happy about it

Just sipping from the bottle, nbd.

Get it!

Really bad chugger here.

Almost like Baywatch. almost.

Merry Christmas!

THE Jefferson Trifecta wishes you a Merry Christmas!

My Opinion Monday – on Black Friday shoppers….

You’re all crazy. Seriously, a riot over $2 waffle makers? That is just nuts. I’m pretty sure you can get an all-you-can eat waffle buffet for $2 somewhere…

Black Friday shopping has never appealed to me. My mom use to be a total diehard Black Friday shopper, I never went with her at the ungodly hours though – I had some serious sleep to catch up on. I have a couple aunts and cousins that make a plan and get all nutty about it at Thanksgiving dinner. I prefer to have some adult beverages and work my way out of a food coma. Black Friday shopping seems like work – and hello people – I was off for a 4 day weekend!

I actually tried to hit up Kohl’s at about 11AM for a black t-shirt (I’d forgotten mine and was thinking that would be a great outfit to wear for Ty’s side Christmas – which turned into a disaster of an outfit (after I got some at Kmart on Saturday) and I ended up wearing the same thing I wore to my side…) As I was walking toward the checkout, I realized that the line wrapped all the way to the back of the store. I did what I’ve never really done before (expect that one time at Wal-Mart when all the idiots were out in full force), I put my stuff back on the rack and walked out. No amount of discount would justify me standing in a line with a bunch of crazies that have been shopping for 12 hours already and were most likely on the verge of using pepper spray too.

I love shopping just like the rest of you (I have credit card statements to prove this), but shopping on Black Friday is just dumb and I think you're all insane. I hate Wal-Mart on any normal day, no way am I going to get trampled for something I can buy later. 

To make my point, I will include some pictures:

I wonder if she's using this picture on her holiday card?? (source)

If this is your Grandma, you should be ashamed of yourself for requesting such stupid gifts. (source)

I guarantee the lady in the M&M's jacket hasn't ran this fast in years. (source)

This is child abuse. DHS should take these kids away; they should be sleeping. (source)

The lady behind this guy has a box of photo coasters. PHOTO COASTERS? REALLY!?! I got a nice set of those at Goodwill for $4 and I didn't have to wait in a long line to purchase. And I just got 2 from a wedding reception. If you're going to go, at least get something awesome lady! Black Friday Fail. 

You should all just stop before you become the crazy Target lady...and not the funny SNL one.

(source)

My Opinion Monday - on me not blogging on Monday!

I'm so annoyed with myself right now. I started this catchy little "My Opinion Monday" thing and then what do I do for the past 4 weeks? Yeah, not blog on Monday. After taking 3 steady weeks to get some products built up for a show, I just didn't have the time at the end of the night to sit down and complain about anything. Last night was the same. Make 48 cupcakes for a co-worker for her grandkiddies for Thanksgiving and finished up some orders from last weeks open house. By the time I got that all done and the kitchen cleaned up - and then watched 2 Broke Girls it was time for bed! I've been battling a cold/sinus infection/whatever the fuck it is for the past week now. When I stop moving at the end of the day, I'm exhausted and normally go to bed with a headache. I told myself I was going to the doctor today, but I didn't. And no, I haven't had the flu shot. I never get one which may explain why I'm sick all the time? and I'm not pregnant - everyone else is doing that, I don't follow the trends - okay okay, except leggings and skinny jeans I guess.


So from here on out, I vow to keep up my bitching on Monday so you all have something to read instead of looking at my pretty pictures. We all know you're here for the stories, not the pictures (just like Playboy huh boys?)

For those of you that are here for the pictures, here's one of me after way too many hours of crafting last week:

This will someday be in one of those "celebs without makeup" albums I'm sure.

I will be back on Monday with some hilarious gripe about something - it's my mission to find that between now and then!

Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone! Thank you to all of you that read this, those that support my crafting venture and those who follow me - in the blogging world (if you're following me otherwise, stop.)

My Opinion Monday - although not really

Yeah, sorry for the disruption in my blogging. I wish I could blame it on unpaid bills, but this site is free and I only have my craft room to blame for me being MIA. You may remember me talking about displaying some items at a holiday open house coming up. Well, that's in like, 2 days. I've spent much of my free time in my craft room - thanks to the landlord for getting me a heater as an early bday present...just too bad I didn't get anything on the actual bday. Instead of boring you with lots of words, I'll just include some pictures...

Exhibit 1: owls

Notice the Hawkeye, Cyclones and Bears colors...this is at "team colors" as I'm going to get peeps. 

Exhibit 2: wine bottle holders - so that cheap bottle of wine you're planning on regifting looks better.

Drinking in moderation is fine. Don't go calling "Intervention" on me. 

Exhibit 3: Christmas stockings - because Santa isn't going to just put those gifts on floor with the rest of them.

Exhibit 4: messiest craft room ever!

And I've taken over the living room too...

Thank god my pillows have been hanging out since January. One less thing to worry about.

Thanks for hanging in there with me. I'm hopeful that the show on Thursday will go fantastically. If no one likes my stuff, well, ...I hope my family likes it because that's what they'll be getting for Christmas if no one else wants it!

My Opinion Monday - breaking and entering, to paint?

Yes, you read that right. I'm going to be breaking and entering an undiscolsed location this evening to paint. I'm not going all grafatti and spray paint or doing any "Occupy" supporting (which, why is everyone so up in arms about the richest 1%? Perhaps those Occupiers shoud go get a job, work hard and try to accomplish what those 1% have. Perhaps the world would be a better place then. I'm in the 99% because I made poor decisions, pretty sure many others are in the same boat. I have a job so I can work my way out of debt and go on vacations and save for retirement - but this is a story for another day...I clearly have opinions about that).

I'm simply taking a key from a key box, well - my friend is taking the key - from a key box in a place that she almost owns, opening the door and letting me get to work with a roller and a couple brushes.

All in the name of getting shit done.

Orginally suppose to close in July, it's now October and a (the 5th or 6th albeit) closing date has been set for 2 weeks. There is no time, or patience in fact, to reschedule the movers, appliances and drunken happy hours for another time.

So as I type what could possibly be evidence to a misdeamoner and laugh about text messages exchanged last night regarding the lack of a ladder (something about me on her shoulders as the cops busted in to arrest us - we have a ladder now), I'm feeling a little Jessie Spano right now. I'm the scared part, my friend is the excited part.

I've done a lot to statisy my need of painting, crafting and decorating  - skipped meals, overspent, lost sleep - I've never snuck around (and possibly broken laws, unless you count speeding to the craft store to get there before closing) to do it.


This should be interesting. If I don't update, it's because I'm in the clinker and need you to bail me out.
Oh well, as my newly designed tshirt says, sometimes you just have to "Get Rollin'"

UPDATE: I didn't get a chance to post this prior to painting but I'm happy to report that I am not in jail, we did not get caught and it looks like the only other condo with people home was the one directly below where we were. The place looks better than it did before...and the only tell tell is the blue painters tape around the kitchen cabinets. But boys are the ones that do the maintenance there, highly doubt they'll notice if they do a routine check out of the monthly routine.

My Opinion Monday - Open letter to my Facebook friends

Dear Facebook friends:

This letter comes at a time when Mark Zucherburg has just messed this up royally implemented some new changes to the look of Facebook. I have just one request for you at this time friends. Please stop posting all 1,000 pictures from your honeymoon/vacation/etc. I've always been annoyed by this, however, with the new changes to Facebook, I now see those pictures INDIVIDUALLY in my Photos option rather than in a nice, pretty little album - where I use to have the option to click on the album to view all 1,000 or not. Now, I do not have that choice. I am forced to scroll down through what feels like hundreds of pages to see pictures of people that I actually care about. 

Less is more my friends. I love the photogs that are doing the "sneak peeks" of their sessions. I enjoy this because I only see the best of the best. I don't need to see the "oops, dropped my camera off the bar and took this picture of the black sky" or "oh crap, that is really blurry, let's try this again...and again...and again..." photos. Nor do I need to see the same picture 100 times of the same beach/ocean/scenery/yougetmydrift. 

If I could figure out how to get the damn photos option back to showing me only the albums that were recently updated, I'd be a much happier Facebooker. Until then though, stop posting all your god damn photos. This is not the era of hosting slide show parties to show off your fancy photos  - I didn't RSVP on purpose to your party, Mark apparently did for me and is forcing me to sit through pages and pages of your photos. And seriously, don't the people that you really want to see your picture see them when you're out for dinner, over at their house, etc. Why must you subject all of your 1,500 friends to this? We just want to see your dumb status updates and go on with our day. Or at least that's what I want to do. 

So, please remember the saying "Keep it simple" or "Less is more" or my personal favorite "No one wants to see that, just stop while you're ahead." Happy picture posting!

Best Facebook Friends Forever,

Traci

My Opinion Monday - holiday decorating

Holiday decorating makes me cringe slightly. If you've seen anything I've done on here, you pretty much can get that I'm more of a contemporary style. My mom tends to get me little holiday items, which (sorry mom) have mostly ended up in a Rubbermaid container, never to make an appearance. I actually just came across a little pumpkin candle holder she probably got me in college...it was running around in my trunk. Eeh sorry again mom.

But now that I'm living with the bf in a house that he has no idea how to decorate, I decided that I needed just a little bit of holiday/seasonal stuff in here. I wanted to add a little personal touch I guess. Anyways, I came up with this:

Who says you have to put a picture in a picture frame?

I'm calling it the "holiday/seasonal frame." I found the straw wreath at, where else, Goodwill for $1.19. I then cut some felt into diamonds, glued those on and then wrapped some decorative string to mimic an argyle pattern. I hung it on the frame I also picked up at Goodwill for $3.99, then painted. I stepped back and thought, "hmmm, this needs something." And probably only because Tyler goes "is something else going on there?"  So I headed to the craft store, picked up some felt leaves and fake acorns, and tied those onto the same decorative string I used on the wreath. While in the checkout, I spied those little alphabet beads that we use to make bracelets with in about 6th grade. So I picked those up too. And then came up with this:

Yeah, I made this part on Sunday while watching football...that inspired the second sentiment. 

So this is my holiday/seasonal decorating. I'll switch out the wreath, garland, decorations for each holiday or season. I don't quite know exactly what I'll come up with for Christmas, but I have some ideas, which will most likely change between now and then.  I'm sure Tyler will be decorating the outside with something like this:

I'm cringing right now at the thought of the house looking like this on the outside....

I have no words. Other than "so help me God." Anyone else cringing at this???