Onward and upward, success and happiness

So I was online looking at the Conway Area Humane Society site checking out doggies that were available (because we don't have enough dogs around here)since the little pup we were waiting for happily turned out to be a girl (If it turned out to be a girl Kim will have her be a wonderful show dog, if it was a boy she was going to place it and we asked if we could get him). Anyhoo, I saw this little "poodle" girl listed and man, was she cute. But there was also a Chihua puppy/baby up for adoption along with a couple of other chihuas. Upon arival at the shelter the little girl dog was on a leash walking and playing with two guys that I know from the Fryeburg area. I figured they were adopting her, but when I went to pet her she jumped into my arms and started snuggling with me. From what the staff said the guys are regulars there but don't adopt (they have a little poodle at home). So after finding out that the shelter lost my application that I sent last summer, I filled out another one, got approved and brought the little princess home.
Issabelle is wonderful. From what we can figure she is either a poodle/bichon or a poodle/maltese. Either way she is such a good little dog. Izzy is two and a half years old, weighs about 3 or 4 pounds and is a total love bug. She is totally housebroken, only one tiny accident, she knows her commands, and obeys them. She already knows some tricks and she is sweet with the big dogs, they were a bit aprehensive about her at first but... Kelly has tried to roll her out in the snow, Jazz thinks she is a squeeky toy and Sophie, well, is Sophie. She snuggles and sleeps on the back of the sofa. We have her in Jazz's old crate at night and she is quiet and good. I think we hit the doggie jackpot with this little girl. : ) Obviously someone loved her and spent a LOT of time with her and trained her well. The story at the shelter was that she was a beloved family dog and then they had a baby. Izzy didn't like the baby. They tried for 8 months and sadly (I'm sure) took her to the shelter. So sad for them as I'm sure they are missing her very badly, but happy for us as I am so won over by her sweet ways and cute face. She loves to go in the car and is very good. JACKPOT! And the best part is; I don't have to house train a puppy! Booyah!

On another note; we went to get an internet card at Verizon, similar to what Tran has. Got home, it wouldn't work. Damn! Took it back, they said it should work something went wrong with the installation. So home again and re install, it worked, then it wouldn't. Finally figured it out; put the card in AFTER starting Vzam. Duh. Now it works like a charm and I am loving having internet access. So, spread the word, these little things work out here and now I can dump the satelite internet thing that is so expensive and works intermittently. Yay! Onward and upward!

The book buying saga

So I figured it was a fairly straight forward thing, I am taking such and such class so I need such and such book. Right? Go to the bookstore in Gorham, well, they have one of the books, or I guess I should say book bundles I need. The math class is taught at Gorham. BUT the psych class is taught in Portland and I had to go to the Portland campus bookstore to get that book. Plus there is more than one Psy 101J class and the teacher for each class decides which book will be used in that class. I guess I lucked out, I only needed a $40 book instead of the$120 book AND the $40 book. The bookstores are tiny all a jumble and I had to ask for help in each of them. They list Physics AND Psychology under Phy, oh good, no confusion there. The guy kept trying to find Phy 101J at the Gorham campus and I could see that he was looking at physics books. Holy Crap on a cracker! If HE was confused what are the rest of us supposed to do?
The good news is I got a used set of books for the math class but they look brand new, score! The bad news is it isn't PRE algebra as the class title is, NO, it is beginning algebra and intermediate algebra. Don't know if I am splitting hairs or if these titles coincide with the reality of Pre and beginning... maybe I just don't know enough about either to know the difference. I am so afraid I am going to go in and sit down and be totally LOST for the whole semester. That is my usual procedure. I guess I have to have faith in the USM system of testing and that I am in the RIGHT class for MY abilities... after all they have everything else together, right? Right?

I'm screwed.

Welcome to Monday...

Went looking for some stuff on Ebay for my booth and found some awesome Pashminas for incredible prices. I LOVE these things and what's not to love, cashmere, soft, fine, warm, beautiful. Some of them are even in animal print. Does it get any better? This is a great start to the week and bodes well for the remainder.

On a different note...
Has anyone out there heard about the Tear Drop 9/11 monument given to this country by a Russian artist and the Russian people? You can see it at this link;

http://www.snopes.com/rumors/tributes/teardrop.asp

It is a truely beautiful work and an incredible gift. I can't believe I NEVER heard of it before. Check it out, it is beautiful.

Now I am trying to convince myself that running at 9 at night is a wonderful idea. It is taking a LOT of persuasion BUT I think I may have won. Gotta go put on the shorts, shoes etc. guess I'm gonna run... yay.

...and we ALL had fun.

Took our youngest to a sledding party today. They made icecream and went sledding, they even got snow mobile rides up the hill. So much fun. Well, my good friend, Jen and I high tailed it to Sacopee Valley House O Pizza and had some lunch. We eventually found something to talk about (LOL) and got back to pick up the kids around 2:30. oops. It was nice to have a quiet relaxing time together as we only get to see each other every week day and hardly ever on the weekends.
While we were out Roy got to watch the football on tv and Jerry caught up on his sleep from his all night shift at work, so you can reference the title to this entry. : )

Tran, Sam and Mr. Piggy made an appearance downstairs today and helped me to take down the Christmas tree. Thanks Tran and Sam, That was really nice, the only discouraging word was Tran fussing at Mr Pig for peeing under the tree. BUT, Holy Cow! We got the tree down before the end of January! before February! before July! Before 2011! Its gonna be a good year.

Mobile Post

I just found this app and want to see if I can do it without messing it up. This is try # 3. lol

--
Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".

Roy and Julie Yarbrough
kickthemoonfarm@gmail.com
kick-the-moon-farm.com

Time well spent, well, sort of.

So, after sliding back and forth between facebook and gmail for about an hour I realized NOTHING new was going to come through, except for the receipt for my silk painting supplies. So I decided to get up and participate in a life well lived. I scrubbed the bathroom to within an inch of its life. Satisfaction with small things is all part of becoming a happy person... that is what I am telling myself with the smell of organic, biodegradable cleaner hanging in the air.

Speaking of blessings, I read somewhere that each of us should list 5 things each day for which we are thankful. This is such a great idea I gave it a go and stuck with it for a whole week. Then I forgot to list. Does that make me a bad person? An ungrateful person who takes her good fortune for granted as though I really deserve it all and more? Hmmm. Well, I think what it makes me is forgetful. Which, by the way, a good memory is NOT on my list. lol

Prepping for summer

I spent the bulk of the day getting ready for my summer workshops. I am, for sure, teaching silk painting at two different workshops. One at Pleasant Mountain Fiber Arts and the other at Saco Valley Fiber Arts/Shearbrooke Farm. I will most likely teach needle felting at Shearbrook Farm also, not sure about PMFA.

The first workshop is held in June the second in July. Both workshops have a number of different classes, mostly fiber related. For more information on either check with the associated web site which will be updated as the dates draw closer. I'm sure I will be writing more about each of these and any more that come into the mix as time goes by.

I had hoped to teach workshops here at my home but that space has been spoken for so that will be on hold indefinately. Plus, now that I'm going back to school I'm not sure WHAT I will be able to accomplish teaching wise. Summer should be ok though, we'll see.

Ok so you may be wondering why I am prepping for summer stuff now, in January. Does time ever slip up on you catching you unawares? It happens to me EVERY time I have something planned months in advance, I keep thinking it is way in the future even when it is only a little time away. So I figure if I get ready WAY ahead of time I will for sure be ready when the event actually does approach and then I'm not caught trying to collect all I need at the last minute. Always thinking, well, sometimes anyway. : )

Another day another plan

This is the latest addition to my web site offering. It is a Goddess mug made of stoneware clay glazed with unleaded glaze fired to cone 6. It is dishwasher and microwave safe.

This is from a line of different works I have made to honor Burkana, the Goddess. These mugs celebrate womanhood and the joys of femininity. Each one is hand thrown and sculpted and is therefore a unique one of a kind creation. Some are slimmer, some more voluptuous, I wll post them as I fire them and they are ready to go.

A New Year a New Thing

Today is January 4, 2010. Ok, raise your hand if ANY one out there thought we would still be around in 2010. My hand isn't raised. It isn't that I am a doom and gloomer, not at all. It is just that I am NOT a forward thinker nor a math person (duh) and didn't fathom still being alive into this century. Back when I was a kid people from the previous century were really, really OLD or dead. My grandparents were from the 1800's for christ's sake.
Anyhoo... This week marks the beginning of my return to college. Orientation is on Wednesday, I go for a math placement test tomorrow then school starts on the 19th. Holy Crap on a cracker, I am pretty scared about it all but realize it is Do-able as long as I don't get ahead of myself, if I stay calm and keep breathing etc. Hopefully I will be able to keep up with these entries and therefore have a record of my journey. Here goes...

Freaky Deaky Friday (musings of a tired mind)

OK, so I didn't make it back the next day, but I'm here now and boy have I been and done with the college thing. I went for my Math placement test and it was HARD. BUT, I passed the arithmetic part with an 83, yay ME! It was ALL fractions and percentages of fractions and percentages... I wasn't sure if I remembered all of that but I must have remembered something cuz I passed. The mathematics part was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay harder, I got a 38 on that... I didn't even recognize what they were asking me to do for the most part : (. I picked the answers that were the prettiest. LOL! BUT I did get at least one out of the 16 correct so... I am signed up for college readiness math which is pre-algebra/algebra and then I will be able to go on to statistics etc. of course that is IF I can pass the ding dong course. I'll keep you posted. la la la la la.

Oh, and I got a LAP TOP! My first. I figure that it is time for the next really big technological LEAP to come now that I have a laptop. Oh, I don't know, something that beams directly to your eyes or brain and runs on air current power, I'm NOT dissing laptops but, If I have one they must be on par with sticks and rocks, don't ya know!

The NCS skii program started today, it was so much fun! The kids are such good skiiers and they were ALL over that mountain. The adults sat in the lodge, drank coffee/cocoa and watched the kids go up on the lift and come down on the slopes. Well, Jerry skiied with the kids, he is a good skiier and a brave soul. They were all done by 12:30 and we had lunch and headed out. It was great. Who knows maybe I will brave the slopes at least once this winter... or maybe not. Yoga is more my speed, but I did notice today the road is clear enough to run outside : ), and snow shoeing is right up my alley. Cheers!