I may be more than slightly neurotic.

To me, typos in books and other professionally printed pieces are like a steering wheel on a hermaphroditic *pixie* pirate's crotch.

It drives me nuts.

Sunday Dinners #5 (03.01.09)

salad, fried chicken breast tenders (from scratch),
and crash hot potatoes (a recipe I discovered here)

What I'm thankful for this week is an easy one. I'm thankful for having JQ in my life. Today we celebrate our sixth wedding anniversary and it amazes me that it has been that long already. The days with JQ and I go way, way back. We were friends long before we were a couple and he has been in my life for over 15 years now. That's almost half my life. There are plenty of days when we butt heads, but JQ is my best friend. Instead of being disgusted, he laughs when I fart. And I wouldn't want it any other way.

Button up

Buttoning our eyes in an effort to make myself forget that I missed Coraline in 3D. It seems to have worked. I want to button our eyes in every picture on the wall. Maybe I'll do that for Halloween. How cool would that be? Wanna button your eyes? You can do it here.

Just keep the fire extinguisher handy

Happy Birthday Mom!

Hope your day is full of good times, good company, and good chocolate.

Mardi Gras masks

Last week for one of our afternoon art projects JQ, G-tot, and I made Mardi Gras masks. I printed out some blank paper masks I found online and we went to town on them with markers, cut paper, stickers, and glitter glue.

When the glue had set I cut out the eyes and punched holes for the string. You know what came next right?

Pictures!




We had a blast. JQ's mask was the big hit. We all wore that one. How could you not want to put it on—with its cool yellow extension. Very fancy in a Roman Gladiator/Mexican Wrestler sort of way.

Sunday Dinners #4 (02.22.09)

Homemade tacos. One of our favorites. Salsa was made from tomatoes in our garden and canned by us back in August. We didn't have a packet of taco seasoning on hand so we whipped one up with a recipe pulled of the internet this afternoon. The beef is venison burger made by my dad and brought to us on their last visit. If the idea of that grosses you out, I would bet you wouldn't know the difference if you ate it this way. Seriously. It just tastes like what you would expect taco meat to taste like. Which is of course, yummy.




This week I'm thankful for the generosity of one of my blogger friends, Nobody. In the comments of my F.T.U.T.S.A. post earlier this week, I jokingly asked Nobody to convince my local PBS station to convert back to analog. It was the only channel we really watched—mainly for G-tot—and they made the digital switch back on the 17th. We have no cable, so that meant no PBS any longer. Yesterday in the mail we received a package from Nobody. In it, a digital converter box. We now get the best picture we have had in years and several additional channels—including two more PBS stations.

Thank you so much Nobody. You are awesome.

How about all of you? What are you thankful for this week?

Does it never end for us?

After being diagnosed with yet another ear infection on Monday, poor G-tot has been stricken with something that had him projectile vomiting this afternoon. He passed out on JQ after several rounds in the bathroom and we are hoping the nap means the puking is behind us.


If not, we've go a bucket handy.

Like your name in lights, only different

This morning was story time at the library for G-tot and I. We went through our weekly ritual of dropping of last week's books in the return bin and then headed toward the back of the library to the children's section. We barely made it twenty feet from the front desk when something caught my eye.

It was sitting on the bottom shelf of a movable cart that showcases new books. If I didn't feel like such a turd I would have pulled out my phone and taken of a picture of it. That's how excited I was. "G-tot, G-tot look!" I exclaimed. "This is the book that Mommy worked on! See! There's Mommy right there!"

G-tot could have cared less but I was so geeked to see the book I worked on showcasing the visual history of the college where I work sitting on the shelf of the public library. The spreads I worked so hard on designing, my name (and several photographs of me & JQ—that somebody else put in) in print, PUBLISHED, and sitting on the 'New Books' shelf for the public to peruse.

It was a pretty exciting moment for me.

Of course, I already have a copy of my own so I took a few shots with iPhoto so you could see the book. And…a few months ago the book won a Crystal Award for "excellence in communications in NW Ohio and SE Michigan". It's nice to be a part of something award winning that actually has your name on it. So much of design requires the designer to be invisible.

Ignore the scary looking woman in on the left and just look at the cover.

A portion of one of my spreads.

My name in print—the only woman that worked on the book

Why don't we get that last post title pushed down the page a bit

In my defense, I was quoting a movie.

Anyway, thanks for the kind words from all of you yesterday. I'm feeling much better now. Just getting my rage out through the written word helped immensely. You guys helped even more. Thanks for being a part of my craziness.

Enough with the sappiness, how about some pictures of Valentine's Day that I forgot to show you? Which may be sappy in their own right. More LOVE!

JQ made us heart shaped pancakes

colored pencils (we all wore the hearts sticker)

In the middle of a creative moment (you can see JQ's hearts sticker).

all done

Fuck them up their stupid asses

Forgive me if this seems harsh and drastic, but these are real emotions I'm feeling at this very moment. They aren't pretty, but they are honest.

When they haul me off to the local sanitarium this winter, you can blame Ohio Jobs and Family Services.

Seriously.

Dealing with them has done nothing but make me want to scream and cry. I'm not much of a screamer so I've done a lot of crying over the last three months. JQ was laid off back at the end of November as a result of this wonderful state the economy is in. In the beginning of December he applied for unemployment. Here it is now, the end of February and we have yet to receive a single penny from unemployment.

Which pretty much sucks ass when you cannot survive on one income.

Their rationale for denying him? He is going to school and "therefore unable to work the regularly scheduled hours for a job in his field". Excuse me? What about the fact that he was going to school when he still had a job?

What about the fact that he has worked his ass off for the last 15 years and never asked for a penny of government handout? How about the fact that he and his employers have paid into this bullshit for the last 15 fucking years?

FAIL—Ohio Jobs and Services. F.A.I.L.

Oh, and talking with a person on the phone? Nearly impossible. You have to do everything online. How fucking convenient. If you DO actually get a person on the phone? They aren't going to help you. They will just redirect you to the internet.

Lovely. Just fucking lovely.

In another month or two we won't be able to pay our bills. After that? Our house? Feeding our son?

Why bother even waking up in the morning? It just keeps pushing me further and further into a state of depression. I'd get some therapy, but we can't afford it.

Sunday Dinners #3 (02.15.09)

I forgot to take a picture of our dinner yesterday for my Sunday Dinners post. JQ and I went to a classic pianist recital and when we got home I was rushing around to make dinner and totally forgot about taking photographs. I didn't remember until we were finished and the dirty dishes were in the sink. Lucky for all of you I used my mad skills to render an incredibly realistic illustration of what we ate.

veal parmesean, garlic bread,
and whole wheat pasta with chunky mushroom sauce

Nice, huh? This week I'm thankful for the fact that I finished up my grades and turned them in before the weekend started. What a relief to not have that looming over me these past few days.

How about you? What are you thankful for this week?

Do you know what kind of day I'm having?

A jeans and sweatshirt, no work, kid at daycare, husband at school kind of day.
A day with few obligations.
A day to myself.


Too bad I'm still sort of sick.

It may not be Hallmark but we still care enough to send the very best

When it comes to picking out cards in a card shop I have a problem. I could stand in the aisles for hours chuckling at the clever graphics and witty phrases that adorn the rows and rows of perfectly folded card stock. I love picking out cards and get an odd kick out of putting that little gold crown sticker on the back of the envelope. I think mostly because it seems so pretentious—"Look at me! I've spent too much money on this card and I want you to be well aware of it!"

This year, for Valentine's day we are doing things a little different. This year we are spending as little money as possible. That doesn't mean the house isn't festively decorated and our table won't be piled with sentiments of love, it just means we are not heading out to Hallmark and dropping our hard earned cash on a card that expresses something we tell each other every day, "I love you."

To be perfectly honest with you? I think our way is going to kick commercialism's ass this year. Just look for yourself.

New flower arrangements crafted from the Groundhog's Day flowers I received almost two weeks ago. Aren't my flower arranging skills wicked awesome?

More dainty flower arrangements and a wonky paper heart chain.

A kick ass heart garland made from dozens of construction paper hearts cut out by JQ and me.

I love this little guy G-tot made at daycare. He just screams cuteness to me.

And last but not least, a "card making" basket I put together this evening for our V-day card making festivities tomorrow. In it is half a dozen blank cards, sheets of red and pink paper, crayons, markers, and sheets of stickers (stars from the desk drawer and v-day themed ones I made up and printed this afternoon). Making our own cards was JQ's idea and I can't wait to do this activity tomorrow!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Free association—it's like free love, only not so messy

The lovely Lisa decided to play a little free association word game over at her digs and I couldn't resist playing along. Here are the words Lisa left for me along with my answers.

1) laundry hamper: This reminds me of the chute that we have in our bathroom. It's leads down to a wooden laundry cage in the basement. I hated the idea of it when we bought the house (except for the novelty of what seems like a retro home design feature) but now I use it all the time.

2) rhubarb: This reminds me of the kid that lived across the street from my Gam when I was growing up. His mom grew rhubarb every year and made pies and such from it. I don't care for it but it has been years since I've actually tasted it, so who knows?

3) Ojibwe indian tribe: This is for the matryoshka dolls one I left you, isn't it? Um…I've got it. In the second or third grade I did a report on Native Americans and had various visual aids to accompany it. I made a diorama complete with indian corn and wove a basket out of reeds. That basket kicked ass. That association just reminded me of the time I wore a foam beard and stove pipe hat while doing a first person report on Abe Lincoln…but I digress.

4) "put some stank on it": Holy crap. What kind of baloney is this? I don't know. For some reason it reminds me of Nascar.

5) lighthouse: This one is easy. JQ and I lived right next door the a restaurant and bar called The Lighthouse. It was our first apartment together and was right on the river. We could walk across the grass and have a drink on the patio of the restaurant. During the weekend summer nights we could watch all the jackasses from OUR patio leaving the bar. We also lived within walking distance of the zoo—which hosts several concerts every summer. People would park at The Lighthouse and walk to the zoo to avoid the $5 parking fee. Oh man, those were the people to watch. Concerts started around 6 or 7 and it the summer that leaves plenty of light to see the folks that are heading to the Wierd Al, Alice Cooper, Moody Blues, and Doobie Brothers concerts. They are an entertaining bunch. And when you see them stumbling back three hours later? Even better.

Love and kisses

G-tot letting everybody know that he loves them. The best part starts about the 1:20 mark. If you make it that far you will not be disappointed.

If the video isn't loading below, click on one of the links at the bottom.


Love and Kisses from pixiestemple on Vimeo.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

This was a fantastic book. I had read just one other book by Gaiman prior to picking up The Graveyard Book. The book was American Gods and that was almost 6 years ago. I recommended it to everybody I knew and I am doing the exact same thing with The Graveyard Book.

After reading a synopsis of the book in late September—just prior to the books release—I marked it as a 'to-read' in my Good Reads book list. During one of our weekly trips to the library a couple of weeks ago, I picked The Graveyard Book for JQ to read. I thought he might enjoy it and I was reading Dead Until Dark at the time. He flew through it. I had no choice but to put DUD down and read TGB as soon as he was finished. I wanted to be able to talk about the book with him while it was still fresh for both of us. Right after I started the book I found out it was the named the 2009 Newbery Medal winner. Well deserved if you ask me.

Simple and brilliant. Written for teens but great for adults. JQ and I read it back-to-back in a handful of days. It's riveting and a must read for anyone with a lively imagination. Now if we could just get to the theater to see Coraline.

Sunday Dinners #2 (02.08.09)

green beans
parsley potatoes
bacon wrapped lemon garlic turkey tenderloin

This week I'm thankful for the kind words bestowed upon me by Lisa & RR regarding the purchases they made from my etsy shop. It is really validating to get positive feedback on your work of art (no matter what the medium). What are you thankful for this week?

When I opened the can of potatoes, there on top was a perfect heart shaped tater.

Behind the scenes

I've purchased a domain name.
I have a host.
As soon as I get Wordpress figured out I'll be launching a new site.

Stay tuned!

Honestly? I'm still doing this same list?

Finally finishing up the honest scraps meme. Enjoy.

7. To celebrate Groundhog's Day at work, we have a Groundhog Queen ceremony. It's all a lavish excuse for a party in the middle of a work day, but it is so much fun. The ladies on the court each get a small gift. Then the names of the runner up and queen are drawn. Each of those ladies get a bouquet of flowers and the queen gets a crown, a sash, and a basket full of goodies. I'm a good sport so I've signed up to be on the court the past couple of years. This year I was runner up!


8. We took the television out of our master bedroom a few days ago. I still catch phantom images of the tv out of the corner of my eye when I'm in bed online or reading. I'm not quite used to it yet but we really don't need it in there. We watch most of the programs online and we can watch movies on the laptop as well. Not falling asleep to the drone of late night television is going to take some getting used to—it was our boob tube lullaby.

9. I've been thinking about buying a domain name for a long time and have finally decided on one I like. A few of you already know what it is but SHHHH! I don't want to tell the internets until it is purchased and ready to launch. You all will follow or update your bookmarks won't you?

10. This is the side of my body just below the armpit after my shower today.

That giant welt? It's from a freakin' band-aid! Let me just say my raw skin was suffering big time last night after I pulled that sucker off. The other side looks just slightly better. I thought those things were meant to aid in healing not harming.

Sweet Coraline, bum, bum, bum

I cannot wait to see this! It looks amazing and I love the fact that it is going to be shown in 3D (at least in the beginning, I think). Here's HBO's First Look at Coraline. Check it out.