Just say NO...

You need to virtually meet Brynn... Without a photo I would describe her as a firecracker. She quirky and giggly and definitely keeps you on your toes. I also need to add in that she's COMPLETELY amazing!!! I told her parents that I wanted to adopt her and they kind of just giggled and tried to pass of her siblings. No thank you, LOL.
So... today has been one of those overcast and everything brings you down kind of days. I just want to ditch teaching class tonite, turn off my cell, snuggle up with Cricket and watch a movie. Too bad there's not an easy button for that.
Anyhoo... The lovely Brynn asked me if I wanted to share her peanut butter M&Ms. Uhm... NO! You should have seen the look of horrified shock on her face! Can we say priceless?!?!?!
There's a story behind that. And you say... "Of course there is, Trina!"
Once upon a time, many moons ago, Trina and her sister, Channy, decided to make cookies. After much debate... sugar, oatmeal, peanut butter, chocolate chip... the two, not so bright teenagers decided upon peanut butter cookies. Oh, those peanut butter cookies were sooo amazingly delicious! Before you could blink an eye, the sisters ate the ENTIRE batch... 3 dozen cookies.
Because those cookies were sooo yummy, the sisters decided to make another batch. BUT! This time, the cookies never made it to the oven. You read that correctly... those two girls ate the ENTIRE next batch RAW out of the bowl.
You'd think that would have been enough. Oh, no. They then decided to eat the remainder of the peanut butter out of the jar.
Let me tell you... Trina was soooo sick that she tossed all of her cookies back up ALL NIGHT!
Just the smell of peanut butter for almost a decade made her bow to the porcelain goddess. It was some kind of horrible to say the very least. Now, Trina believes that Peanut Butter is the Devil. LOL.

Before I go, I finally remembered to bring that forgotten mini-stitch to the office. Take a look at the little Pop Dog I made for the lovely Brynn...

It's the cutest!
And remember... It's not a great idea to binge eat peanut butter!

Not a Great Blast from the Past

First, let me start by saying that my Fire Burn & Cauldron Bubble is almost complete! I'm going to try my hardest to have it finished in time for Halloween. Cross your fingers and knock on wood for me.
Sorry the picture is kind of shabby... sometimes natural light creates a funny photo effect.

I will make sure to use a filter on the final product. LOL

As usual, I leave you with some nutsy quip or story so here goes...

Last night I'm catching up with all the hustle and bustle on FB when I notice I have a message in the "other" inbox. YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE WHO IT WAS!!!! There in all his glory... Blue Panties Guy. (For the full background story, go to January 2014 and read about the dog's name not being
B!t#h) Yup... you read that right! Its been what? 4 years possibly, maybe. He said "I remember you" To which I responded with "Oh, really now and how did you find me?" hahaha. After his explanation, I COULD NOT RESIST asking if he still wore his panties.  LOL. He said yes. HAHA. So, I called bullsh!t and told him I wasn't biting. Needless to say, my sister thought I was losing my mind when I busted in a fit of hysterical laughing. And that was that.

On a side note, please don't think that I am all about degrading people.  I'm not. It's just that this story in particular was too random not to share.

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!

The Struggle is REAL

Everybody has crazy quirks. Some people pick their noses and eat their boogies while driving down the road... I've seen it happen, true story; some people are superstitious; some people are completely OCD.

I fall into the OCD category. I wasn't always this way. I think my tendencies have grown in massive proportions over the years as a coping mechanism for things that I cannot control.

OCD exhibit 1: Say hello to my staple collection. Yes, sitting on my desk is approximately 7.1 pounds of used staples. No, they don't stay there. I put them in a cup until the cup fills up and then store them in a Christmas Popcorn tin.

Moving on...

If I change one aspect/task of my morning routine, I ALWAYS forget my cell as a result. I think I need to submit this situation to be added to the list of eponymous laws. Seems perfectly logical to me... can't you just picture Trina's Law listed just beneath Murphy's Law?

So, as I was saying, I alter one task, and I forget my cell. This morning, I meant to place my mini-stitch from last night into my pocketbook to bring to the office. I sat it down right beside my pocketbook instead of in it b/c I remembered I needed to grab my cell. I grabbed my cell, and walked out the door leaving the mini-stitch. Ergo, no photo today. Just me ranting.

I have been employing my GOOGLE-ology skills in an effort to understand why things are the way they are... especially when it comes to the multitasking ability of my hamster to operate my brain. Stay with me, I am making it to my point for the day.

I always have a song playing in my head. I have previously just chalked it up to "there's a song for everything" in life. Usually it doesn't bother me... I can't say the same for my co-workers when I start singing something random... today has been the theme song to WKRP in Cincinnati and the theme song to Cheers... " Sometimes you want to go, where everybody knows your name"... sad but true... don't judge the decade of music... I am a Model 78 after all, and my brain likes all genres of music. Anyways, at other times, it can be utterly horrific... trying to sleep at night and my brain is singing "I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts...". 

Today I researched this phenomenon. Apparently, I suffer from music hallucinations or "earworms". And people who are slightly neurotic or OCD suffer from this the most. Isn't that just great! Don't believe me... go talk to GOOGLE. I'm telling you the struggle is real.

Scrambled Days

I know... it's been a day or two since I last posted.

I completely lost my gumption. Not just in the stitching department, but in everything related to life.

The trek back to "happiness" has been a long and arduous journey... at least it feels as though I have climbed Mt. Everest when I know I only hit a small hill in Appalachia.

My students are working on a happiness project in class. I have found that teaching them has helped me to open my eyes and mind to things I needed to take control/let go of. I'm constantly reminding myself to take a step back and breathe. My happiness project is a work in progress as it seems to keep expanding. I will give you details bit by bit, but not today.

 With that being said, I am happy to report that I feel my balance returning.

I did finish my Sunflower project!!! Woot Woot. I estimate that it took me 9 months and roughly 64,000 stitches. Now I just need to decide on a frame and she will be hanging gloriously on a wall.

I have also become the Yeti to The Girl's 4-legged fuzzy baby. Meet the newest member of the family: Meeko McStinky the Wonder Ferret...

Isn't he the cutest! He and Cricket just play and play. They are way too funny to watch.
Meeko is also a little nosey. He kept trying to take my scissors and marker... at least when he wasn't nibbling on my toes.

 Here he is trying to climb into my ORTS jar. He did his best, but gave up AFTER he dumped it completely out.

I think he will need a link titled "Meeko Mischief" placed besides the "Cricket Antics".

And just because Cricket doesn't want Meeko to receive all the attention, here she is.... the day she turned 9. It's hard to believe she's turning into an old gal. Seems like just yesterday she was small enough to fit in my coat pocket.

Before I go, I just need to say that I was saddened by the passing of SoCal Debbie. I only knew her by way of cyberspace, but I will miss her. Sending lots of hugs, light and prayers to her family and friends.
Be thankful for the time you have with your friends and family. The days may be long, but the years are short.
XOXO