'Tis The Season

I'm not really sure what I want to say about my opinions of the Holidays. I don't really care for Christmas. I'm not christian, therefore I do not celebrate the religious aspect of it. And as I've gotten older I really don't see the sense in attempting to buy gifts for everyone you know at one time and for one single day. Somehow the specialness of receiving a gift that you already know is coming to you seems to be diminished somehow. A lot of people even already know what they are receiving, having made a shopping list (cleverly deemed a "Christmas list") which states exactly what they want. I see nothing special in that. There's no surprise.
I find buying or making a gift for someone and giving it to them at a totally random, unexpected time holds so much more meaning. They had no idea it was coming, and the look of total shock on their face is so priceless. It holds so much more meaning to me. That person was singled out among everyone and thought of in a personal way. It's very special.
Mind you, everything I've mentioned so far is my opinion alone. I see nothing wrong with gift giving at the holidays, I just don't understand the whole concept of it all. But what I'm about to speak of, I hope all of you share my opinion...and if you don't then I highly suggest you seek some sort of council, because you are one fucked up individual.
What I speak of is a man making an honest living working retail. A man who had the unfortunate luck to be scheduled to work on Black Friday. A man who was TRAMPLED TO DEATH buy a bunch of so called human beings trying to save a few measly bucks. What is wrong with this picture? I thought the holidays were supposed to be about kindness and the spirit of giving. Not acting like a bunch of jackals on a feeding frenzy. NO toy or dvd is worth killing a man. Those people who literally ran this man over to go shopping have his blood on their hands. And no one has owned up to this horrible act. They get to go home and have their little holiday parties and open their presents while this man's family is left heartbroken.
There was a full on brawl at our Walmart yesterday over a piece of merchandise. I don't get it. Is it REALLY that necessary to assault another person over a gift? What the hell? The holidays have become so ugly and materialistic and warped and it's just getting worse every year. I used to work retail, and you learn way too much about human nature around the holidays. I watched an 80 year old woman snatch a toy out of a kid's hands and run off with it because it was the last one. It's amazing how nasty people can be at a time where kindness is supposed to shine through. It makes me sick. These people who find an inanimate object more important than a human life are seriously fucked up and need some serious help. And to them I give the royal finger.
To all of you who see how wrong this all is and really do give your heart out at the holidays, I wish you a lovely holiday season.

Cheers

So behind....crap...

I hate it when almost a month goes by without me posting anything. I feel so overwhelmed by the time I finally sit down to write. I feel there is so much to cover...I mean..what a month so far. Between juggling my time with my job and craft projects to the most amazing presidential election in perhaps history...

I've got a few projects lined up and will hopefully have them done within the next week or so. One completed I'll have pics up and get them into the shop. And speaking of the shop...I had my first official sale today!!!! I know it's such a small feat. Especially when I see some amazing individuals who have thousands of sales on Etsy. But I feel really really accomplished nonetheless. This chronic back pain I suffer from, along with the depression makes even little tasks seem very daunting and difficult to complete. So to have actually gotten the ball rolling on my Etsy shop and now starting to make some sales...I feel so good about it.

Pat and I just spent a lovely 2 days in Mystic CT. What a quaint, darling little town. We did some shopping and ate some awesome seafood and took pictures of lots of boats and the water. The aquarium was so much fun too. I got to hold a star fish and pet the sting rays. Anything to do with animals and I'm the happiest kid in the world. Pat and I have been together for 2 years next month and this was our first get away together...so it was special for us. Just time to ourselves with no interruptions.

All and all...it's been a good few weeks. And I'm going to make a hardest effort to post a few times a week here at least. I swear my fingers are not crossed.

Workspace taken over by angry butterflies!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been a bit busy the past week with work. One of our gals was away for 2 weeks to Hawaii...grrrrr....so the schedule was a bit wonky. I spent any of my precious free time working on a few projects and doing a little thrifting for myself and for the Shop. I found some pretty good stuff this week. I kept most of it, of course...but there are a few good things I just updated to Etsy. I also added the completed work that resulted from this disaster....





Can we say...Federal Disaster Area. I was up late last night putting the room back together before Pat's head exploded. I think some of my stuff was creeping onto his half of the room. But anyway...this is what I was making...

ANGRY BUTTERFLY PINCUSHIONS!!! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!






They're up in the shop now for sale...they need a new home...because, to be rather frank...i can't control them. They're so temperamental...

Other than that..it's just work work and more work...but I see I have 3 days off next week from the diner so I'm going to definitely utilize that time for some more projects I have bouncing around in my noggin. I just collected a beautiful pile of autumn leaves this morning and I must find something to do with them.

Shop Update

I've added a few things up in the shop a couple days ago and realized I forgot to announce that here....DOH!!! It's been a long week and a half at work with one of our girls on vacation and my brain is shot. But anyhew...some vintage pieces are up and a few original hand knits...so go take a peek-a-boo if you like.

Nite nite....

BOOM!!!

Um...yeah...I keep hearing really loud booming off in the distance...either they're having random fire works in the rain at the fair grounds...or the British are coming...

on a completely unrelated note...here's a new cap i knitted...WOOT

This was a classic newsboy cap pattern with a few tweeks here and there. I used Sensations Angel Hair Stripes yarn which is a bit bulkier than the preferred worsted weight. Perfect for tucking up thick hair or dreds...WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

I love the Salvation Army

So I just spent a wonderful 5 days with my best friend, Karly. She flew in from Seattle to spend a some time with me. It's been a year since we've seen each other. Her wedding actually...where she married a guy I used to date...GAH!!! I always knew they'd be perfect for each other. I love being right.

The week went by WAY too fast. It didn't help that I woke up Monday morning (the day we were picking her up at the airport) sick. I've been fighting this damn cold for almost 2 weeks now. But there was a lot of thrifting throughout the week.

We went to the Salvation Army in Oneonta and I found the most adorable ukulele with little roses painted on it. It rattled a bit when I picked it up, but I figured it was just a bit of broken off wood inside. Upon further inspection, however, Pat and I discovered that it was NOT a bit of broken wood...but rather a half-eaten, somewhat petrified donut hole....

*sigh*

Karly's words of optimism....

"At least it wasn't a dead bird.."

Family Infostructure

I've been rather preoccupied lately. My sister has been diagnosed with cervical cancer and I've been thinking of her a lot. My relationship with my family is distant at best. My parents divorced when I was 10 and my mom took me from Florida to upstate NY. Since I graduated high school 10 years ago, I've only returned to Florida a handful of times to visit. I don't feel very close to any of my family, partially because of the distance, but also I never felt close to them when I was little either. I've always felt like the black sheep of the bunch.

Since my sister has been diagnosed, however, I've been reevaluating my relationship with my family. Time suddenly feels very fleeting and precious. I feel I should make more of an effort to be closer to them. But that natural instinct just isn't within me. I only find myself able to bond with others who share similar interests with me (which I've found very few) and my family and me are like night and day. My father is probably the most similar in disposition to myself, but the years apart have still left this awkward gap between us.

I see how Pat is so close to his relatives and it boggles my mind. In turn the lack of bonding with my own family produces the same sort of confusion with him. Pat calls his mom, or vise versa several times a day. His dad, several times a week. His mom only lives a few blocks away and the thought of moving to a different town is out of the question to him.

I guess it's partly the product of different upbringings that have produced such different family dynamics for us both. Whatever it is, I'm striving to improve mine, but it's hard. I just hope my sister is going to be okay.