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Saturday, October 30, 2010

Happy Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween guys and ghouls!  I know I’m a little early, but we had our trick-or-treat today due to making the church folks happy.  Do you know they don’t have Halloween parties in school anymore?  They call them Fall/Autumn festival.  The kids can dress up, they crave pumpkins, there’s candy, but it’s not Halloween.  Umm, wha???  Oh well, whatever makes them happy I suppose.

Here is my layout for Halloween.  I figured put it up now to be festive.  I haven’t worked on the one for Thanksgiving yet.  Smile  I’ve been either busy sewing, gaming, or being sick.  Meh.  So now I have to work on that tomorrow.  Tonight I am going to work on my novel outline that I didn’t finish either.  The Sims have kept most of my attention.  It’s addictive, what can I say?  LOL!  But yeah that’s what has been keeping me busy as of late.  I hope I can finish the Thanksgiving layout before tomorrow night.  Fingers crossed.

I had a fun night tonight.  I had my friends over to celebrate, even though it didn’t go according to plan.  We missed out on some thing but we are so having a do-over.  I got to see my friend Robin’s kids all together for the first time.  It was so much fun seeing her oldest that I knew back when I was a teenager and telling her how me and her mom were back in the day.  She was picking on her baby sister likes to rip her clothes off whenever Robin dresses her, and I surprised her letting her know she was a little stripper herself back in the day.  LOL!  It was fun.  Did some karaoke, had WAYYYY to much sugar, and now I am crashing hard, but I wanted to make a quick post to say hi to everyone and wish you all a happy and safe Halloween.  And save some candy for me!  Smile  Ok peeps, I’m off.  I’m tired, I need to set a tape for a movie I wanted to watch tonight, and then maybe crash the rest of the night.   I’ll be playing catch up later on blogs, comments, and email.  Yep let it slip some again, but I will be catching up on those tomorrow.  Bye for now peeps and peepettes.  Smile

Loves ya,
Mouse

Monday, October 25, 2010

Where I’ll be.

Hey ladies and gents, I thought I’d pop on here real quick to let you know I’m still here, still working behind the scenes on something, and while doing that I am also back to playing video games.  LOL!  I was a big gamer when I was a little younger, and well I guess it’s still there but I try to repress it…says the girl who’s own mother is a bigger gamer than her.   Geez.  So I am play Saboteur while I wait for my sister to finish her shift at work.  She just left for a 2 hour shift at work.  She’s working the midnight release of a game I always get on console.  I know I mentioned it, but just in case you forget, watch the ad.  Smile

Heck yeah!!!  The Sims 3 for Console.  I’ll be playing on PS3.  My sister got a sweet discount at work and I get some perks for my preordering.  Eeeeee!!!  I paid it off on Friday so I now I must wait for roughly 2 and a half hours to get my little hands on my new precious.  So I may not be around for a few days.  BUT I will be around on Halloween.  I have a post already set for that day, so look forward to that.  Also, anyone doing Nanowrimo this year?  If so let me know so I can add your as a writing buddy on there.  I can’t wait…omg…I never finished my novel outline!!!  Omg!!!  I was going to work on that today!!!  But I was playing Saboteur and…omg!!!  Ok, gotta jet.  So much to do so little time.  I’m planning a get together for Saturday.  Not sure about other places, but they’ve recently started having trick-or-treating on Saturday if Halloween falls on a Sunday.  So we want to watch scary movies and give out candy.  Do I plan to dress up?  Yep.  As what?  Myself…dressed up.  Lame I know, but I’m looking forward to it.  Ok, jetting, now, bye kids.  Smile

Loves ya,
Mouse

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Working on something.

Sorry I haven’t been around peeps.  I’ve been working on something behind the scenes again and I want to reveal it very soon so I am busy with it.  I’ll be updating about it within the next few posts, promise.  Until then I’ll leave you with something fun.

Love this band.  This song I could listen to all day…and umm I actually have.  Yep, I’m weird.  Smile  Later kids.

Loves ya,
Mouse

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Littlest Pet Shop and Blythe 2

Hey all, while surfing the web today I was on the Plastic Paradise forum, which by the way if you didn’t read already it will be “closing”; but I will tell you more on that later, and on the forum I saw a post about the new LPS and Blythe sets coming out and learned some interesting stuff about it.

First of all there are 6 sets out right now instead of the 5 I originally posted about.  The 6th set is called Pinwheels and Daisies.  It’s also a very cute set.  Have a look below.

I also have close-ups of the 4 sets that I only have box pictures for.

Playfully Plaid

Fabulously Vintage

 
Cool Winter Cutie

Buttons and Bows

I love all the sets.  Oh I found out that the animal in Buttons and Bows is indeed a mouse.  Love that one even more.  So some other info I learned about these sets is that they were at first thought to be an America only release, but people from the UK and Australia have been finding them.  So your chance of getting these are pretty good.

I really wanted to get one of these sets for a few reasons I’ll explain in a bit.  I actually thought about eventually getting all these  sets and having the whole collection…that is until I read this forum post.  It seems that the Scooter doll I liked was number 15 where the other were 1-5.  So people started to investigate this and found out that there will be future releases.  It seems they are being marketed as stocking stuffers this year so a lot of these should be coming out this year.  I personally like the bear one, very cute.

via: Xtineta on Flickr

Now something else I learned about these sets is that they are the same size as Takara Petite Blythe.  Hasbro’s PBs have a ball-joint in their neck while Takara doesn’t.  The eyes on the Takara PBs are better looking and eyes close when you lay them down.  The Hasbro PBs eyes aren’t as nice.  The lashes are glued to the eyeballs and the eyeballs have a weird swirling to them while the Takara ones are more human looking.  Both Petite Blythes can share clothing and head pieces.  Hasbro's PBs have removable shoes while the Takara ones have painted on shoes, or it seems most of them do.  I believe some of them don’t, but don’t quote me on that as I’ve never seen one in person.  Be sure to click on the picture to go to it’s page and to check out the rest of the set with more comparison pictures of the two.

Now the reasons I’d like to get these dolls are one, they are cute and I was always curious about them, and two, the attempt to make clothing for them and eventually sell them.  It seems a lot of Takara PB owners want the Hasbro PBs for the clothing since it’s hard to find clothing for them.  So this shows there is a small niche market out there for them.  So I thought, with these gals becoming mainstream that it wouldn’t hurt to try making clothes for them for profit.  Just a little fyi for those of you out there considering getting one and who likes to sew.  People want quality cute clothes for their PBs and may pay out some to get them.  Now don’t go crazy charging 10 bucks for a little dress that took you a few minutes to slap together.  Try to be reasonable if you try it doing this and who knows maybe the small niche will grow.

People are wondering however if this means Blythe will be hitting the shelves again in 1/6th scale.  They are worried she will become mainstream.  I look at it this way, Takaras are still the coveted Blythe and Hasbro would just put out ADG quality Blythes that most collectors don’t like.  I’d buy them because I think they are cute and for the price it wouldn’t kill me if I experimented on them.  But I really doubt they will become mainstream like that.  They may try it in the future if these LPS deals take off, but for the most part I think they are just a new theme to the LPS collection and may be gone come next season.  Only time will tell.  I am kind of bummed I don’t have a little girl to buy some of the LPS sets for.  It would be so cute to share my love of collecting cute things and Blythe with her.  But knowing my luck my little girl will be into GI Joes instead.  LOL!  Oh well, it’s still collecting so I’m cool.  ;-)

Ok, so that’s really all I wanted to talk about in this post.  I need to head back to sewing.  I really need to change my needle I think.  My stitches look a little off.  Not sure if it’s because of me changing the stitches or what.  They are still secure, just looks off a bit.  Guess I need to play with the dials again.  Ok, talk to you all soon.  Bye for now.  :-)

Oh wait, I almost forgot, the owner of Plastic Paradise is getting out of the hobby so she is stepping down from PP.  She is leaving it up as kind of like an archive, but she has given the ownership of the “forum” to two of her mods.  They are in turn getting a new domain and will be opening a newly themed forum.  It will be more kings, queens, and knights related.  It is called Blythe Kingdom and I guess they are working on it now and we will be told when they are open for business.  I can’t remember the email to well but I believe that will be happening in November.  Don’t quote me on that though.  But I hear they are coming up with some great new ideas for us and the owner of PP will be a mod there so that’s pretty cool.  So if you are on PP or TIB I hope you make the move over to BK when it’s open.  :-)  Ok, now I’m seriously off.  Bye for now.  :-)

Loves ya,
Mouse

Just and FYI peeps.

Holt and Ghoulia !!!!!!
via: loomy_59

So I’m not sure how many of you are waiting for Ghoulia and Holt to come out.  I surely am.  Well it seems so are many little girls of the world.  Monster High dolls are considered one of the hot toys of the Christmas season this year.  Which is good and bad.  Good because stores are putting their hot ticket items out early to start making money.  Bad because they are flying off the shelves.  *sigh*  So if you are wanting these two peeps get them asap.  I’ve been hearing that they have been showing up at Target.  If I wasn’t buying The Sims 3 for PS3 this month I’d snatch them up, but my Sims addiction must come first.  ;-)  Hopefully next month I will be able to.  Click to the picture to go to it’s page and see the other pictures of these two.  I personally love the picture of Ghoulia and Frankie together.  I think after I get G&H I will be done with the line.  So, anyone thinking of getting them?  Or not really interested?

Loves ya,
Mouse

Monday, October 18, 2010

42% to 0%.

That is what my email inbox is now currently using.  It has 4 little emails in it that I have already read and just wanted to hold on to for now.  But in truth I could just delete them and be completely empty, but nah, I’ll keep them.  So nice to finally be caught up on email.  I won’t let it will try not to let it get that way again.  Same goes for my comments.  So much nicer to be on top of things now.  Now if I can get my bookmarks in a nice order so I can find all the links I want to go to every day I will be on top of the world!  So I am going to attempt the bookmarks today.  Ugh!  wish me luck.  :-)

Loves ya,
Mouse

Odd, but pretty.

Hey guys and gals, I am still in the process of checking my email, and one of the emails I get is from Etsy.  Well in the one email I just opened it had a link to a very unique item of jewelry.

Looks like fancy bangles right?  Look again.  They are teacups.  Teacups that have been formed into bangles/bracelets.  Abigail MaryRose Clark of Stay Gold MaryRose on Etsy forms your regular teacup into a wearable form of art.  You can either purchase one she has already made or send in your teacup to her and she will make it into a bracelet.  It’s kind of cool, but also kind of odd.  I know I could never own one of them.  I’d break it in a heartbeat.  I’m one of those buffalos in a china store kind of gals.  I do wonder what kind of woman is delicate enough and has the kind of life that they can wear something so fine around their wrist.  This isn’t trying to insult anyone, just really curious.  I couldn’t do.  That sucker would break in no time.  Unless something is put on it to make it strong, but it doesn’t look like it.  Hummm. Click on the picture if you’d like to be taken to the sale page.  Well I just wanted to share that with you.  Back to my email.  It worked itself up from 26 to 246.  It’s gonna take a while.  :-)

Loves ya,
Mouse

Omg!

I’m all caught up on comments!!!  Yes!!!  I’m so happy I could dance!!!  You know what…I think I will…with Kevin Kline.  *evil side grin*  Warning: For those of you who haven't seen the movie and dirty word or two is in this video and so is a dirty gesture or two.  Just in case you didn't know.  Enjoy.  :-)
There, now I feel even better.  :-)  Now I’m off to attack those emails I owe.  Then I will be working on bookmarks for a while.  The bookmarks are the worst part.   *nibbles fingernails*  If you don’t hear from me in a couple of days send reinforcements!!!  The bookmarks tumbled over on top of me!!!
Loves ya,
Mouse

One down, one to go!!!

One blog finished on comment responses and one more to go.  I got a lot of great responses and advice and wish I had responded sooner to them.  So Livejournal comments on done finally.  Now Blogger comments.  I wonder how many there will be on there?  Only one way to find out.

And a slight update on my tummy and health, I have gotten some great advice on to really look into the corn allergy thing.  It isn’t just corn itself, it’s cornstarch, cornmeal, corn syrup.  This will severely limit what I can eat and that is why I am dragging my heels on testing it out.  But I think I will try it out.  It’s just that today and yesterday I had M&Ms because it was candy I could have that I knew didn’t have gluten.  But after eating it I got so sick both yesterday and today.  And I did have a reaction of some sort.  :-(  I don’t know what I will do if I do have an allergy to corn.  I guess just deal with it and avoid corn.  That’s all I can do.  I couldn’t cross a street today because my stomach hurt so bad.  So I really think I need to leave corn alone.  Yesterday, before I ate the candy, I was terrific.  No sooner I ate the candy I started feeling bad.  But I just thought it was the acid.  Now I’m not so sure.  Guess I need to research about that.

I wonder if I need to get rid of all grains from my diet?  So much to think about.  Just gotta take it one day at a time I suppose.  Ok. gonna hit Blogger comments and then email and then I think am done working on my list for today.  Started working on my bookmarks last night so I can finally start hitting the blogs I am following and comment on them.  I have so many bookmarked I need to clean up and so I can pull out the ones I want to visit.  So umm, is it bad that I have over 4 thousand bookmarks?  Don’t judge me!!!  LOL!  Ok, comments and emails, bye for now.

Loves ya,
Mouse

Sunday, October 17, 2010

I have no words.

I just sat down to respond to comments and saw that on my Livejournal cross-post blog alone I hadn’t responded to comments since July.  O_O  July people!!!  I’m so terrible!!!  I’m so sorry for those of you who left comments for me unanswered.  I’m getting ready to respond to them now.  I know most people don’t stress over comments but I do because you took the time to comment and I love that you did that and I want to take the time to read and respond.  Oh goodness, this is going to take some time and I’m on my way out the door to drop my sister off at work.  But that will take about 20-30 minutes and then I’m on it.  So if you get emails notifying you to comment responses that’s just me finally getting back to you.  ;-)

Loves ya,
Mouse

Joanne Fluke, quick author review.

So a couple of years ago I discovered a book I found interesting called “Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder”.  It was a reprinting of it I believe.  Well upon skimming I thought this book would be the kind I find interesting so I bought it.  It was a murder mystery starting Hannah Swensen.  I soon found other books in the series and began to buy them, although I hadn’t read them yet.  I just knew I would like to read them.  Fast forward a few years and I finally break out the first book I bought and began to read it.  It was a pretty good book until I got to a certain point that put me off.

At a party scene in the book the main character talked about a full figured woman like she was a circus freak.  Heck, now that I think about it, she described her clothing to look like a circus tent.  This really put me off.  Being a fuller gal I took offense to the author writing about the fuller woman this way.  She passes off her main character to be mostly a sweet person, but I wouldn’t want to surround myself with such a person and this just off-putting to me.  I really like the novel and want to keep getting the rest of them, but not if full women are going to be continued to be insulted and used as jokes in each one.  I thought well maybe this just a one off.  Not so.

At the end of the book, after you finish the main story, there is a novella that the author wrote about a runaway girl.  I decided to read it today and finish the book to move on to the next one in the series I own.  Well I just read another rude comment the main character’s sister made about a full size woman how she shouldn’t wear certain clothing.  So this makes me wonder, is she going to pick on full size women in all her novels?  Does she have a hatred for full size women?  Does she not realize the US alone is over half overweight and that means most of the women, who is her target market, buying her book are either overweight or obese?  Heck, even she is plump herself, so what gives with the rude comments about fuller women?  I could have handled a one off in the first novel, but then in the novella in the same book that was not related to the first story having another “fat joke”, it just rubs me the wrong way.

I was planning to buy some of the books I don’t own yet in the series, but if in the next novel I read she insults full figured women again I don’t think I will.  Honestly, to me, it’s almost as bad as making a racial joke.  It’s insulting and hurtful.  Maybe you feel I am over thinking this, and heck maybe I am.  But it’s kind of like this, you’d think I was mad to hang around a person who constantly makes fat jokes that I get insulted by, so why wouldn’t you think the same about reading an author who makes fat jokes or rude fat comments.  It does nothing to add to the story, it just does more to add to the prejudice against full figured people.  I know that this is just her character’s personality and how she things and was raised, but I don’t know if I can invest time and money into “someone who dislikes me so much based on what size I am”.  Am I making sense with that?  I hope so.  I guess she is just going by what she’s heard all her life growing up, the character not the author, but it just still irks me.  I just really really hope it won’t show up in every novel.  I’m seriously prepared to take money out of my wallet and place it into hers, so I really hope Joanne doesn’t continue to disappoint.  *heavy sigh*  Oh well, I’ve got to get dressed now.  Going to the mall in a few with my sister and mom.  I’ll post more later.  Bye for now.

Loves ya,
Mouse

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Guys!!!

Why is it I make plans to do so many things and I never see them through?!?  Ok, so I still need to catch up on so many things that I said I was going to do the other day and something always happens to keep me from doing it.  I need to make a to do list for tomorrow and knock every item off the list no matter what.  Humm, yep, making the list in this post right now.

1. Respond to emails.  Yes, I know I still have yet to do this but tomorrow it is getting done.  Ugh!!!  I’m such a bitch to not have done this sooner!!!  But if you all can’t tell I’m feeling so much better as of late and I’m ready to get cracking on things I put on the back burner.

2. Respond to comments.  Every single last one of them!!!  Hopefully once I am caught up I will NEVER get behind again.

3. Pentagon stuff.  More of a personal thing for me to list that I won’t get into here.  But it’s some family stuff I help out with that needs to get done tomorrow.  Well it doesn’t “need” to get done but I am getting it done.

4. Go with my sister to Babbages.  She wants a game there and gets lost in the mall easily.  We don’t go there much.  So I will take her so she doesn’t get lost.

5. Go to Barnes and Nobel and see about using my gift card there on something.  I was thinking a doll magazine but I think I changed my mind to get a young adult book.  Not sure which one yet.  I haven’t read young adult in forever and I want to write for young adults so I need to do some “research”.

6. Work on logo for shop.  I have made several but I hate them.  I need to work on something cute.  I am going to borrow my sister’s tablet and see if I can come up with something.  I’m not an artist by any means but I think I could come up with something cute.  I at least want to come up with an idea tomorrow.  Fingers crossed I can do it.

7. Merge blogs.  I finally decided to do it for good.  It’s getting hard having several blogs when I all I want to do is focus on this one and the one I cross-post on.  Eventually I will get a domain and just have both blogs redirect to it so I just want to get things focused.  I never should have done the multi-blog thing in the first place, but I was in my foggy-headed mind and just thought I was making things easier on myself and my readers.  Nope.  I just made more work for myself and would ignore this blog while blogging on other blogs.  So I am merging them all, hopefully seamlessly.  Toes crossed that I can do it.  ;-)

8. Come up with November 1st layout design.  At least get an idea about it.  I have the Halloween one ready which I am sure will change some up to the day I post it.  But I don’t have one for after Halloween.  I’ll think of something, just need to decide if I want it seasonal or more permanent.  I think will do seasonal until New Years and then pick a more permanent one…that is until it’s Valentine’s day.  Maybe I will have a permanent one and then switch it out for holidays and then switch back when I am done.  Ok, talking out loud here now.  Blah.

Humm, I think that is it.  Those will all take several hours to do…so I need to go to bed soon so I can get up early.  But umm, I’m wired from chocolate I ate today.  I can eat M&Ms and while I didn’t down a whole bag the little bit I did down has me wiredddd!!!  Ahhhhh!!!  I barely ate today so I am wiredddd!!!  I need to force some cereal down my throat so I will something of substance in me.  But I’m not hungry.  It’s weird, since going gluten-free I’m not hungry any more.  I don’t mind it, but I have to remember to eat.  And while my stomach still has a dull ache it’s feeling amazing!!!  Ok, I’m too hyper, going to go eat and relax.  I may try to hit my list tonight, but don’t hold me to it for tonight.  If I do then woo hoo I’m full of coolness, and if not, well there’s always tomorrow. ;-)

But I can’t leave you with nothing, so I leave you with one of my favorite songs from the play/movie “Rent”.  “The Tango Maureen” made me decide that when I lose some more weight I want to take up tango.  I hope with the boyfriend.  He seems into it.  Fingers crossed.  I doubt he’ll like seeing me dance with anyone else, so hehe.  :-)  I’ll be dancing with the cutest guy in the room.  ;-)  Oh warning, this song drops the f-bomb a few times.  Yeah I realized the other day I put up some videos that did that.  While I don’t mind it because my mind literally glazes over when swear words are dropped because they just don’t bother me, I know it may bother my readers.  So I will give fair warning when I remember if something has some strong language.  So consider yourself warned.  F-bombs ahead!  BOOM!  Enjoy and talk to you guys tomorrow.

Loves ya,
Mouse

Friday, October 15, 2010

Gluten-free Bisquick review.

Hello ladies and gents, and welcome to a segment of the blog I will now lovingly refer to as “Adventures in Gluten-free Cooking”.  Let me catch you up  a little before I go into this week’s adventure.

My first adventure into gluten-free cooking was breakfast on day one.  I’d decided that two fried eggs and two small microwavable sausages would fit the bill.  Except one problem…I didn’t know how to fry an egg.  Yes, I’ll admit it, I don’t know how to cook.  I always figured that if I needed to do it one day that I’d just google the directions and do it.  Umm…yeah…about that…well let’s just say right after waking up looking up a recipe is the last thing I want to go.  So I asked for suggestions in the household on it, and got several points of view, but mostly to just spray the pan, break the egg, when the white gets firm flip it, when the yoke is how you want it take it out.  But you see I like my yoke runny.  But I surely didn’t want it raw and I didn’t know how long I should leave it in before it started to get solid.

Everyone kept telling me to take it out but I didn’t because it still looked “raw”.  Finally I took it out and the eggs were barely runny.  :-(  Next time I’ll listen to advice given and I will look up a recipe to see how long I should leave it.  No one here really gave me a time to wait they just said wait a few seconds.  Nope people, I need a time darn it.   Well after the eggs I thought the sausages would go better.  I mean all you do is nuke them right?  Wrong.  It gave me varying times and I just left it in for the full amount.  Yep I ended up with barely runny eggs and almost miniature brinks for sausages.  :-(  Yeah, let’s move on to dinner.

So for dinner I felt that homemade mashed potatoes and fish would be nice.  I’ve mentioned it here before about that.  While the potato cooking went ok, the mushing was subpar.  I still have lumps, but just barely.  It’s the fish that was a mess.  I didn’t want to bake it because it would take 20 minutes.  But it would only take 9 in the microwave.  So into Mikey…my mom’s name for the microwave, it went.  But once again the package gave varying times.  5-9 minutes…umm…I’ll try 5.  At 5 it just didn’t seem done so I figure I’ll leave it in for 9 then.  Yeah let’s just say at 9 I still didn’t think it looked done even thought the plate was browned with the juices that had cooked out and the fish looked very very veryyyy dry.  Humm.

So I asked when fish was done and was told when it was flakey.  Well mine wasn’t flakey, it was…well I don’t know what it was.  I was told it was done so I decided to try a bite.  Gummie Bears have nothing on the fish I’d just pulled out of the microwave.  Like seriously, it was chewy and just not good.  *sigh*  Oh well, it filled the empty spot I suppose.

So finally, on to today’s food, Gluten-free Bisquick.  So first off when I opened the very small box I noticed that the powered inside looked very much like corn starch.  Pouring it out of the package you could tell it was very light.  The powder flew around like crazy.  You have about two uses out of the box.  To make pancakes you needed to use a cup and it looks like there are about two cups in the package.  At 5 dollars a box roughly this kind of sucks, but you really have no choice if you want to eat gluten-free which totally sucks.

Anyway, so once I got everything mixed which was an adventure.  I must have used 3 or 4 bowls to mix the 4 ingredients called for.  I wasn’t sure if one measuring cup was right so I had to pour it into a big one to see, but then I had another measuring cup I wasn’t sure was right so I had to pour the one thing into another bowl so I could pour the other item into it to see if that measuring cup was right.  They both were.  *sigh*  At least I know for next time, right?  Well, once I got that all ready to go I got to the skillet and realized I didn’t know how to use it really.  Well not for pancakes.  So I asked how high to turn it up and got the response well just turn it up some and when it gets hot turn it down.  Umm, if I don’t turn it up high enough it won’t get hot enough to cook the dough so how high do I turn it up?  Response?  I don’t know, just turn it up.  Grrrrr!!!

Finally I got the help needed, but I STILL don’t know how high I was suppose to turn it up.  People, if you don’t know how to cook, learn now because it won’t get easier later.  *sigh*  So ok, the pan is hot, but how do I know it’s ready to cook on?  LOL!  Yes, I am this bad.  I need minute details people.  I was told to just pour some on and see if it sizzled.  It sizzled, thank everything.  So I poured on four round blobs and waited.  I had an idea how to know if it was cooked but I just didn’t trust myself so of course I went searching for help again.  I’m so pathetic by now.  LOL!  It’s freaking pancakes people!!!  Ughhhh!!!  Well after the first batch I caught on.  But it’s funny, I have actually made pancakes before, but this time it just seemed different.  I was worried I wouldn’t do it right and would be eating raw dough or something.  But I pressed on.

I had trouble flipping for some reason.  I am left-handed and just couldn’t flip with my hand.  Everyone here is right-handed and kept telling me I was doing it with the wrong hand.  I quickly corrected them in letting them know I was left-handed.  Me and my brother were the only lefties in a rightie family, which I was told is rare to happen so I’m thinking one of my rents is really a leftie that was forced into rightiehood.  But I digress.  So getting fed up with getting dough everywhere when I flipped I tried with my right hand.  It flipped perfectly.  This is the point where I made an evil slit-eyed face at the pancakes.  But I pressed on.

I finished cooking them and grabbed a couple to eat with Log Cabin organic syrup that I found out is gluten-free.  Woo hoo!!!  So on first taste it was ok.  Kind of reminded me of butter cookies my mom makes for some reason.  It wasn’t bad, just tasted kind of salty, which I am guessing came from the baking soda or baking powder.  By the time I’d finished two I felt kind of icky but I wanted to eat a little more because since going gluten-free I have not felt hungry any more so I will go the whole day and not eat at all.   So in case I don’t eat tonight at least I ate something.  By the time I was done I didn’t feel so good.  I don’t know if it will take getting used to the taste or if I simply can’t handle it.  I’ve heard other people love it so don’t go completely by my thought.

I’m going to see if there is enough left to try biscuits tomorrow or maybe tonight and save them for tomorrow.  I have pancakes left over for tomorrow’s breakfast as well.  My family thought they tasted good.  Different from the original for sure, but good.  The main thing is that it’s been an hour and I don’t feel bad and it filled the empty spot.  I think it caused a wee bit of acid, but that I can deal with.  So hopefully I will get used to the taste and it can remain a mainstay in my diet.  I’m not really seeing food as enjoyable any more but as fuel and that’s ok because it’ll be better for me and my weight loss in the end.  After eating the pancakes today I thought to myself that I don’t really miss bread/breaded food any more.  So that’s good.  On occassion bread would be nice but I don’t need it as a bulk item in my diet any more.  This coming from a girl who LOVED bread, cakes, cookies, and crackers.  I’m sure I still love them but I don’t crave them as much as I did.  Now I still love chocolate, and found out M&Ms are gluten-free, so I can still be a little naughty.  :-)

So yeah, that was my adventure for this week.  I tend to not worry about cooking much, because like I said, I’m just not hungry any more.  I eat frozen yogurt like crazy though, which I need to stop doing.  I’m not sure if that or the Sprite caused the serious acid attack from last night.  I’m sure it was a mix of both and it caused me so much pain and stress last night.  But I woke up feeling all better so it’s all good I suppose.  I hope to try these cooking experiments once a week and post about it.  Next week’s post won’t be as drawn out, I promise.  I have no idea what to try next week.  I have some pasta that gluten-free I’ve yet to try.  Maybe I will try that.  If I try it sooner than next week then I will just do next week’s post sooner than expected.  LOL!  Ok, I’m off people.  I’m going to do some sewing before I get busy online doing some things I still have yet to do.  Talk to you all soon.  Bye for now.  :-)

Loves ya,
Mouse

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Which of you remember the Jetsons?

I was looking around Etsy the other day and I found my into a shop that was selling a very interesting item.

For the super duper low price of $1,500 you could own your very own Jeteson’s replica space car.

As you can see it’s resemblance is quite remarkable.  Now it doesn’t move on it’s on.  Meaning no motor, no pedals, no nothing.  You’d have to have someone push you around.  So it’s really pointless to have because the joy of having bragging rights that you own the Jetson’s car.  But hey, that’s worth the price of admission right there, am I right?  :-)  It’s amazing what you can find on Etsy these days.  It makes me wonder what other interesting things I may find on there.  You can learn about a lot of interesting things on Regretsy, but it’s usually stuff that they deem bad…and well I have to admit, they aren’t wrong on over half the stuff.  You should really check the site out.  Warning, some of the stuff on there is adult.  When I looked this morning there was a cap with an adult toy screen printed on it.  So umm…yeah.  This may not be a site to look at around the kids or at work.  But enjoy and be sure to share if you find anything cool on there.  Talk to you later.

Loves ya,
Mouse

Blythe and Littlest Pet Shop, the perfect match.

Scooter

So have you guys heard about the cute Littlest Pet Shop sets that have come out that have Blythe dolls?  They are super cute.  Take a look.

Buckles And Bows
So one of the first ones I fell in love with was this one called Scooter.  It’s the most expensive out of the set and I don’t think that the retail stores have this one.  The Blythe is such a cuties and so is her cute pet.

Playfully Plaid
The next one I like is this cute one called Playfully Plaid with a horse.  I think the plaid outfit is so cute and I love the hair and eye combination.

Cold Winter Cute
The next cute one is this one called Cold Winter Cute.  The little pet is super cute and the Blythe is pretty with her cool blue eyes and brown hair.

Scooter 2
The next set I like is this one called Buckles and Bows with what looks like either a mouse or a hamster.  Either way it has the cute round ears.  Now before you get excited, those clothes are cardboard.  I know, bummer.  :-(  But still a cute set.

Fabulously Vintage
And the last cute set is this one called Fabulously Vintage.  The cute pet is a spider.  The Blythe is so prime and proper while still being super duper cute.
 
I have always wanted a petite Blythe and from what I read these Blythes are put on the first petite Blythe bodies.  The cool thing about these Blythes are they fit Polly Pocket plastic clothing which is also sometimes clothe and some free patterns exist online for them as they become more and more popular.  And now that they are popping up in stores their popularity show grow.  I think I want to get Scooter and Plaid the most.  But I think if it comes down to just getting one since I can’t really do much with them I would like Scooter.  I love her hair and her outfit and her pet so Scooter may have to come home if I can find her cheaper somewhere.  25 bucks just seems like a lot for such a small set.  Granted you do get  a lot more than the other sets, but not over 12 dollars worth of stuff.  If anything I could see 20 for the set but now 25.  So I hope Walmart or Target get the set.  She reminds me of Miss Retro Mama.  I wanted to have her so bad but couldn’t afford her at the time and now she’s gone up in price.  Having a mini Mama would work for now.  :-)
 
So what do you guys think?  Cute?  A must-have?  Let me know if you will be adding one or all of these beauties to your collection?  I’m off to go back to sewing.  I was letting some No-Sew dry.  Bye for now.
 
Loves ya,
Mouse

Shopping online just got more awesome.

QVC 1

So I know this post will be going up next week, but I had to create the post now.  It’s 4 A.M. Saturday morning and I wanted to watch the Christmas Shoppe on QVC, I love watching home shopping networks around the holidays.  The segments just seem jollier and I love seeing all the things you never knew you needed.  :-)

But being so late/earlier in the morning I didn’t feel like sitting in front of the tv to watch it.  To my surprised I learned that you can watch QVC from your computer.  Now, I thought that was cool enough until I looked at the window that the player was in.  On the side of the player the item that is currently being talked about is listed and if you want it there is a “Add To Cart Button” right there on the page.  I think that is just so awesome.  It’s so convenient.  Now I have never shopped from QVC or HSN, but with this ease of use and purchase I could easily see myself doing so one day.  You will need to check it out one day.  Just go to the QVC website and click on the “Watch Live TV” button and there you go.  They also have a tv schedule if you want to see what’s on, what is on next, and will be coming on later on in the day or later on in the week.  Pretty cool.

HSN also has a live show you can see from their website with the same concept.  It does not come out in a pop up like QVC, but it also has the current item that is being talked about listed, and if you like what you see you just click on the “Shop Now” button.  The one thing I don’t like about the HSN site is that their live show needs to buffer a lot, so you are missing a lot.  So HSN may be more fun to watch on tv instead.  Edit: Actually I am watching it again now and it’s not buffering like crazy.  I think it did the buffering because I had both QVC and HSN streaming at the same time.  So just stream one network at a time.  :-)  Check it out.

QVC 2

QVC 3

And just for fun, here’s my favorite item of the hour.  I was thisclose to purchasing it, but decided against it because I have other plans to make a fleece blanket with an old flannel sheet on the underside.  I will need the moolah for nice thick fleece instead.   Oh well.  Maybe I can make one of those Santa cuddle blankets next year.  :-)

Ok, so I just have to have my dork moment there.  I just thought that was so cool and had to mention it.  Who knows, maybe someone out there will find this cool too.  LOL!  Ok, talk to you all later.

Loves ya,
Mouse

Wasted!

No, not me, my fabric.  I wasted a good hunk of fabric because I didn’t read some directions before I started cutting the fabric for the dresses.  Ugh!!!  Now I am waiting for Fray Check to dry because I had to cut out new pieces of fabric in the right size.  Ughhhh!!!  Oh well.  Hopefully it should be dried soon.  I’m off to see if it’s done.  Bye for now.

Loves ya,
Mouse

Irony is my best friend.

Hey guys, sorry I bailed on you all yesterday and didn’t do anything I said I would.  But I have a good excuse…I think.  LOL!

It’s kind of funny.  No sooner I send  off the post telling you guys “I’m cured!!!” did I start to feel symptoms of a reaction coming on.  I waited it out and by early morning I was in full on reaction mode.  :-(  Seems that I might have an allergy to corn as well as wheat.  I had one of my “reactions” the night before last and the feeling stuck with me all day.  I felt horrible and tried to figure out what caused me to feel sick.  I didn’t eat much at all, and the things I did eat I had had before.  Now I did drink some Sobe water and in the past it has made me as sick as a dog.  I thought that maybe that was all in my head but perhaps that is what made me sick.  There is not gluten in the water, but one of them was sweetened by artificial sweeteners.  Those always make me feel bad.  The other one had sugar.  So I guess I will only drink the ones with sugar from now on.

But I’m not 100% sure it was the water that made me sick.  I had some soup as well that my mom and I made.  It was just plain veggies from the can and plain unseasoned chicken and some peeled and cut carrots and potatoes.  No salt or anything added.  It was really good.  But as I ate it I kept wondering about the corn.  I want to experiment and try eating corn one morning to see if I have a reaction, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it today since I feel decent today and I haven’t had many of these days in a long time.  Felt kind of sick this morning but I think that is due to drinking Sprite last night, which is gluten-free, but it caused acid.  I still have the horrible acid problem and so I have to try to remember to either watch what I eat or take something when I do.  I knew the Sprite would cause acid but I am trying to cut back on the Tums I take and since I figured I could just go to sleep I did and thought nothing of it.  But this morning I felt pain and pressure in the chest area and it caused some anxiety so I really regret not popping some Tums before bed.  But it’s passed now so all is good.

But with me feeling a little better each day it makes me want to craft more and I have been working on sewing again.  It’s a little tedious this time because I have decided to cut out all the pieces for several dresses.  Which means I have to cut about three pieces per dress then fray check them all and then sew them together.  I am ready to start the sewing together part today.  I think I need to change my needle.  No, I know I need to change my needle on my machine.  It’s still the same needle it came with.  I know!  I know!  I should have changed that puppy a long time ago, but it still worked fine so I didn’t bother.  I am a little nervous about doing it which is silly.  I took the machine apart to oil it but a simple unscrew a bolt and replace the pointy thing then screw the bolt tight again scares me.  LOL!  I’ll do it after I finish these dresses.  I think my stitches are a tiny bit looser due to the needle, but it could be my knobs need adjusting. 

So yeah, I’m off to sew some and then hopefully will have energy to post some blog posts I’ve had waiting for a few days, do comment responses, and email responses.  Speaking of my blog, I’ve been working on a testing blog and tinkering with layouts and whatnot since I don’t like how my current one is so cramped.  I have adjusted things and will unveil a new one day layout on Halloween that will be replaced by a new one on Thanksgiving.  The Halloween one is ready to roll, I now need to work on the one for Thanksgiving.  I have an idea for it, but once again I need to test it first.  Oh and for those you on my crosspost blog on Livejournal, the new layout will only be put on my Blogger blog.  Messing with the Livejournal layout is honestly no fun.  Sorry guys, but feel free to come over to my Blogger blog to see the layout on Halloween.

Humm, what else, what else?  Well, I need to hit a store soon.  I need to see if i can find some Thanksgiving fabric for a project I have in mind.  Just not sure where to look.  I guess anywhere really.  I hope that I can find some in scale fabric.  Although since the fabric will be for Blythe dolls it wouldn’t matter really if the scale were a little big but in scale fabric would be cuter.  I’ll have to start looking around.  Ok, I need to stop blabbering and go get working on sewing.  I’ve been meaning to since I woke up this morning around 8.  I just felt bad this morning and spent it in bed.  But it’s almost 4 in the afternoon now so I need to hop to it.  No previews yet of what I am making since I will be starting the sewing process and will want to show the finished work, but you guys will be the first to know when I am done.  Ok, I’m off.  Bye for now guys.

Loves ya,
Mouse

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Have you guys seen this?

A father and son team sent a camera up into the air and they caught film of the Earth with that is pretty amazing.

Homemade Spacecraft from Luke Geissbuhler on Vimeo.

Video from a camera attached to a weather balloon that rose into the

I thought this video was so cool.  It did make me a little dizzy…still dealing being lethargic here.  But that didn’t keep me from watching it full screen.  Enjoy.  :-)

Loves ya,
Mouse

Let’s enter a giveaway! :-)

Hey guys, I’m off searching the web and found my way onto one of my new favorite blogs Cute Sew.  And she is holding a giveaway for Modes4u.  If you win you get some very cute and might I add sweet stuff.  So head on over and enter.  You never know, Lady Luck might be on your side for this one.  ;-)

Loves ya,
Mouse

Guess what I’m doing.

I’m playing a game of “catch up”.  Get it?  Ketchup.  Catch up.  Get it?  Eh?  Eh?  *elbow nudge*  :-D *listens to sounds of crickets*  Oh where’s your sense of humor people?!?  *sigh*  Oh well.  But yes, I am going to be trying to catch up on all my comments, emails, and blog posts over the next two days.  Once I am back on track with that then it’s time to start working on a blog overhaul.  I don’t like the way sides are set up and there are a few other things I want to work out.  So yes the blog will be being tweaked so if you come back and see something new there it’s just me futzing behind the scenes.  Ok, I’m off.  I need to get off this sore stomach for a bit, but expect more things from me.  Oh how I have missed blogging.  :-)

Loves ya,
Mouse

Gluten-free, it’s how it has to be.

Ok guys, so as I stated in my last post, I strongly believe I had celiac disease which is basically an intolerance to gluten.  I have been gluten-free for a week today and I feel so much better than I did a week ago.  The only thing is that going gluten-free has been a challenge and it’s not easy.  I am so thankful for General Mills because a lot of their products are gluten-free.  And I can have all veggies and fruits, but I am thinking corn may have to go off that list.  I had a reaction tonight to something and the only thing different I had was corn in a soup that was made last night.  And when I eat corn Chex I think I have a reaction.  So I may need to get rid of corn.  I am going to try a test tomorrow and see if I have a reaction to corn.  If so then I won’t be having corn any more.  That will be so weird since I love corn and have always had it.  But for my health I will do it.

I had a LONG post typed out and decided that I really didn’t want to get into statistics about this and all that I have been going through.  Celiac disease is not a nice thing and I have all the horrid symptoms that go with it.  I will try to get tested for it next year, but until then I will be cutting gluten out of my life.  I have a long way to go on this, but I think I finally found out what was wrong with me.  Fingers crossed for me that I have.  I used to think gluten was a man-made chemical put into food to make it taste better like Red No. 40, so I was shocked to find out it’s a protein found in plants such as wheat, barely, and rye that is basically used to help food stick together.  Foods that I thought were healthy for me were potentially slowly killing me.   I’m still testing the waters, but so far so good.

How I came to thinking I had celiac disease is because last week after two days of eating a lot of bready products I felt horribly sick.  One night as I laid in bed feel retched I researched gluten allergy and found out so much information like this disease is genetic, 2 million Americans have it and most people don’t know, and just because you may not have it now does not mean you won’t get it later.  So much info out there.  But once I found out about this I started researching and so many people have talked about what they went through and I could relate to all of them.  It was so weird.  It was like someone opened a window in an extremely dark room that I was in and shined some light in.  Now while the room is still dark, I can now see a little bit and I’m not bumping into things all the time.  I will keep researching until I am able to open a  few more windows and turn on the light switch.  So I will keep you updated on my progress.

But I can already tell my personality is slowly changing back to the way it was with a slight change.  I can tell I am a different person.  I think this will affect my relationships with people.  It will make me braver to create new friendships as well as letting go of old ones that don’t benefit me.  That sounds kind of bad, but what I mean is if I am not getting a giving and receiving friendship out of the situation then one of two things are going to happen.  I will either pull away completely or limit the person’s access to me.  Many of my relationships have changed due to me being sick and not leaving the house much and that has just changed me.  I look forward to exploring this new me and hopefully new life.  But in trying not to put the cart before the horse, I will focus on healing and getting better and learning how to cook for myself and becoming better acquainted with my new lifestyle.  One good thing at least came from giving up my beloved breads and such.  I have lost some weight and I feel that number will continue to go down as I cut back on the sweets, salts, fats, etc.  I will be tracking my progress on that here as well with a weight loss ticker and maybe some weekly updates.  If anything I will have the ticker.

And well, I guess that’s it.  I’m starting my slow climb back to the top of the ladder and I so thankful to you who come to my blog to see what I am up to.  Thank you so much for being there.  I plan to bring more to this blog.  I want to start showing you more about myself.  I want to start posting more personal pictures…not like that people get your mind out of the gutter, I just want to make this a more about me since it is a blog after all.  I want to share more of my doll hobby, my crafting, my writing, and eventually cooking side.  I’m sure that if I make a gluten-free recipe that works that someone will want to snatch it since gluten-free cooking is not easy.  At least not now.  One thing I learned about myself, while I can bake the hell out of anything that comes out of a box and has directions, I can’t cook to save my life…not even if there are directions.  Let me just say that microwave cooking is not my friend.  After you eat a cardboard sausage and gummy fish fillet you kind of figure that out.  I guess I will have to do it completely the old fashion way. *sigh*  And I’m not that good at that either.  Oh well…let the journey begin.

Loves ya,
Mouse

While you are waiting.

Still working on the post.  So while you are waiting, here is something funny that just started today.  If you are a fan of “The Guild” you will love it, but even if you aren’t  a fan you will like it.  It starts off a bit slow but it picks up.  Enjoy.

Loves ya,
Mouse

Isn’t that ironic…don’t you think?

 

This month is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Bringing attention to breast cancer is very important to me because my grandmother died from complications from it and it means I need to be more so aware of my body and start taking the precautions to protect myself from getting it or to catch it early with month breast exams.  But this month is also another awareness month.

October is also National Celiac Disease Awareness Month.  This also rings a big note for me as well.  I feel this is what I have been dealing with for the past couple of years of my life.  I  find it ironic that I think this is what I’ve been dealing with and then I find out later that October is it’s awareness month.  Weird, no?  I am working on a longer post for you all to explain it to you and that will be coming up in a little while.  I have been gluten-free for a week now, but still trying to see what I have bad reactions to.  I currently think I am having a reaction to either the chicken or corn that was in my soup tonight so I am not sure if the post will go up tonight or tomorrow.  Depends on if my reaction gets worse.  Right now it’s tolerable but if it gets worse I will be laying down soon and leave the post for later on when I feel better or for tomorrow.  Fingers crossed that it’s tonight.  I really want to update you all on what’s been going on.  Look for that post coming up very soon.

Loves ya,
Mouse

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Jan. 5, 1977-Oct. 12, 1999

Looking at those dates makes me think of my brother’s gravestone.  He actually has two gravestones.  The first one when they made it they messed up on the date and had him listed as passing on the 21st instead of the 12th.  At first my mom didn’t want to bother mentioning it, but I told her this is his last personal belonging it should say the right date.  So she told them and in no time he had the proper gravestone.  Over the years the stone has faded from exposure to the elements but you can still see clearly the saying we came up with to put on it.  “Beloved son and brother.”  And is just what he was and still and forever will be.

My boyfriend and I were talking this morning before he went off to work and I mentioned how it was today that he passed away.  I asked him if he could believe it was 11 years ago.  He was shocked and mentioned how time just flies.  Honestly it still feels like it was yesterday.  I dearly wish that things didn’t feel like yesterday for us.  I mean I still feel like that shy girl from high school.  Sometimes I feel like I am forever 18.  Maybe that’s because that was a fun time in life for me.  I was out of high school and I had a lot more freedom just to be me.  My brother and I constantly had our friends over or we’d go out to hang with them and it was just a good time.  I think back fondly on those days and wish dearly that they were still here.

But when my mom came to check on me, because she hadn’t seen me all morning, I told her how I felt uncomfortable today and sad and she said don’t be sad and that he wouldn’t want me to be sad.  That if he saw me being sad he’d come in and say “Hey Butternose!”  LOL!  He used to call me that and “Granny”.  LOL!  Butternose came from “Fraggle Rock”.  I believe the king giant called his queen Butternose.  Granny I can’t remember where it came from but he always called me that.  Then my mom mentioned some other things that was a very memorable thing that he liked or did and it made me feel a lot better.  We’ve come a long way where we can talk about him and not be sad but be so happy he choose us as family and so happy to have known him for the short time we had him in our lives.

So in honor of my brother Larry I’d like to make a top 15…it was 10 but I thought about 5 too many… list of things he loved.  :-)  Here we go in no certain order.

1.

Wrestling

He loved wrestling.  He wanted to become a wrestler so bad.  I remember how him and another friend would go out into the front yard and wrestle each other.  They both wanted to be wrestlers and they thought they were so good.  Granted they didn’t know what they were doing, but it was always entertaining to watch them try.  LOL!

2.

Spaghetti

He LOVED spaghetti.  He’d pack his plate full with a big mound and go off and eat then when he was done he’d come back for a second plate.  LOVED spaghetti.  LOL!  We were always shocked by the amount he could put away.  I wasn’t a fan of it, I wasn’t much of a fan of anything back when I was a kid, but he loved it so much.

3.

Video Games

He had a dream of creating a video game museum.  He had every system out there.  He would constantly be playing games and beating them.  I remember one thing that always makes me giggle.  We had a game based on “The Little Mermaid” and I beat the game and I believe my sister beat the game too, but my brother hadn’t and he couldn’t let us beat the game and him not.  So he played the game until he beat it.  He eventually did but it was so funny how he couldn’t stop playing it until he beat it and got a little irritated when he’d mess up.  I guess he figured he couldn’t let his little sisters beat him.  LOL!   We still have all his gaming systems and games.  Not sure what we will do with them.  I guess keep them and use them.  We’ve got some old school systems here too so it will be fun to look back to when games were “good”.  ;-)

4.

Heavy Metal Music

Now my brother loved all kinds of music, but the music I could recall him listening to the most was heavy metal.  I think this went along with his love of wrestling.  The intro songs tended to be heavy metal.  I often remember that you could hear him coming down the street before he got home.  You’d hear this loud heavy metal music and then all of it sudden it would cut off suddenly then a minute later he’d walk through the front door.  It’s funny now to think about it.  I didn’t really like his choice in music, I was a pop girl myself, but now I’m glad he did like that because I can remember it so vividly now.  I don’t know if I would have remembered it so well if he’d played all the stuff I liked.

5.

Pretty Blondes

My brother loved the ladies.  But he loved the blonde ladies a little more.  LOL!  One of the earliest blondes I can remember hearing of that he liked was Jessica in his 1st grade class.  His teacher told our mom that he had a crush on her and when my mom asked him about he said in a dreamy voice “She’s pretty.”  LOL!  Now one of his celeb crushes that was more recent was Melissa Joan Heart and Sarah Michelle Gellar.

But with Sarah Michelle Gellar I am kind of cheating because he liked her back during her “Swans Crossing” time before other soaps and before Buffy when she was a dark auburn.  So hummm, can I really include her now?  Meh, my list my rules.  ;-)

6.

His Car

I don’t even remember the color of his car.  I want to say it was a dark grey color but it could have been red for all I know.  I do know he had a Steve Austin tag on the front of it, it had these rain protectors on the window that made me feel claustrophobic, and the car was a damn lemon.  But when he passed I wanted to keep it so much because it was his car, but it was very problematic so it was traded in for another vehicle that we could use without problems down the line.  He was proud of his car.  His first big responsibility.  :-)  Now this car pictured isn’t what his car looked like I just picked out a car I thought he would like to own now.  I could see him behind the wheel of this.  :-)

7.

His Blue Sheet

Now this one is kind of an inside family joke.  My brother and I both had these blue sheets when we were kids.  He became attached to his and would take it everywhere.  Mine just kind of hung out in my closet…where it actually still is right now.  LOL!  His got tattered and torn but he still kept it.  We still have it and my mom has asked that we place it in her coffin when she passes away many many many many many years from now.

8.

Dino’s Pizza

My brother loved Dino’s Pizza for many reasons.  For one reason, he worked there.  He loved his job and the people he worked with and for.  But he also love Dino’s for the perks.  He got to have meals that were cancelled and I believe he either got free food or seriously discounted food.  Two of the things he’d bring home from Dino’s were their overly greasy pizzas and breadsticks.  Yes they were so far from healthy, but damn they were good.  LOL!

9.

Jalapeno Peppers

This was a new development with him.  He would love to get a jalapeno pepper or two and would just chow down into one and eat it straight up!  OMG!!!  I would sit there in disgust, shock, and awe as I watched him eat it like the sucker was chocolate.  Umm…wow.  It was surely a sight to see.

10.

Animals

My brother loved animals.  He loved to play with the many animals that have come through our zoo.  I remember how he’d pretend that he was going to eat my guinea pig Baby.  She was this fat plump hairy thing, and he would grab her little plump leg and act like he was chowing down.  LOL!  He loved playing with her and all our pets.  I know he’d love the animals we have now. He never got to meet a single one of them.  He would have loved playing with them all.  :-)

11.

Movies

My brother loved watching movies at home or in theater.  I went with him several times to the movies and we had a good time.  Two movies I remember were one of the Batman movies and one of the Rush Hour movies.  We had fun watching them together.  One movie I remember not so fondly was Romeo and Juliet.  We went with my friend and boyfriend at the time and somehow someone got in a fight so he left, then my boyfriend left, and by that time my friend and I had missed so much of the movie that we left too.  Thank goodness it was free due to my friend working at the movies and I believe we went back just her and me to see it at another time.  I don’t remember why the two boys got mad, but it was actually funny later because it was over something silly.  Teens, what I can say, we were dramatic back then.

12.

The Holidays

My brother loved all the holidays, but he loved Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas the most.  Oh and his birthday, but I suppose that’s a personal holiday and didn’t it rock for him to have it right after Christmas.  He had Halloween in October, Thanksgiving in November, Christmas in December, and his birthday in January.  But you want to hear something cool?  He wasn’t the only one who lucked out that way.  My mom was lucky like that too.  They share the exact same birthday.  It’s actually kind of weird the amount of people I met that had a birthday on January 5th. My mom, brother, a little girl that lived next door to us years ago, and one of my best friends.  Weird huh?  Well one of the holidays that my brother really liked was Halloween, I think it ran a close second to Christmas, and so we like to do something to celebrate it each year.  Not sure what we will do this year.  I have an idea, but I doubt it will happen.  Meh, something will come to me.  :-)

13.

Jingle Bell Rock

My brother had this love for the song “Jingle Bell Rock” when he was a kid and he kept that love for the song throughout his life.  To this day I still smile and sing along when I hear it.  And um, do you like the image I found for this?  It’s jingle bells…on a rock….with a mouse.  Omg, what’s not to love about this?  LOL!  I would so love to own this.  So cute and perfect for me.  Oddly enough it’s a part of the “Charming Tails” collection that fell in love with a long time ago.  I wanted to buy every single piece they came out with.  I wonder if it’s still possible to buy this one piece?  It’s truly so prefect for me.

14.

Traveling

Every summer since he was a kid my brother became and honorary truck driver.  He’d go out on the road with my dad during the summer.  Oh I hated that.  Not only did I want to go and couldn’t due to me being a girl and it being mostly a man’s world out there on the road and no place for young girl, but I would also be alone during the summer.  It was just me and my mom until my sister was born then it was me, my mom, and my sister.  But still she was a baby so I still didn’t have anyone to play with.  :-(  So when the end of the summer came I was glad because my play partner was back but it would be time to go back to school so that defeated the purpose.  But I’m glad he got to go out on the road.  He got to see so many things and experience life some.

15.

His Family

Though we drove him crazy sometimes I know he loved us dearly.  He worried about us and he’d go out of his way to help us in any way he could.  Him and I were very close and I felt less alone growing up because no matter what he was there to lean on.  When he passed I felt a big chunk was missing in me, still do at times, and I suddenly became the “oldest” and well that status has never sat well with me and never will.  I still want to be the middle child.  It’s funny I hated being the middle child when I was younger but now I want nothing more to be the middle child again.  I suppose I still am but to the world I’m not.  But the important people know the real story and that’s all that matter.  Yes my lovely readers you are among the important ones.  :-)

So there you have it.  My brother’s top 15.  There is so much more I could have said about him, but this post would go on much longer than it already has so I will close on this next note.  I know it sounds cliché, but honestly everyone, hug your family and friends.  Let them know you love them.  Let them know they are so important to you because you never know when you have to say good bye way before you are ready.  Sure I know we are never ready to truly say good bye, but when a person is sick or old it’s a tiny bit easier to handle their passing knowing they lived a nice long life or they were sick and now they no longer hurt.  Of course it will still hurt that they are gone but it’s a little easier to accept than suddenly finding out someone you cared about is suddenly gone and they were kids or in their 20s, 30s, 40s, etc.  So just make sure that they know you love them and would be lost without them.  I hope my brother knows that I love him and miss him dearly and since his passing I make sure to tell my family I love them every night before bed no matter what.  Even if we are angry at each other, I want them to know that I love them now and when the anger passes as well.  So do it people. Do it now.  Send a text, give them a call, go give them a hug, give them a kiss, and say you love them today and every day from now on.  Ok?  Ok.

Thanks to whoever made it this far.  For you I have a special picture to bring a big smile to your face.  Proceed for your gift.

Awesome right?  Smiling right?  Sweet.  :-)  You’re welcome.  ;-)  Ok I’m going to close now so I can get to work on the big post for today.  Yes, I have not worked on it yet because I am still trying to figure out how to word it so it’s informative but not boring.  Expect that post soon.  Be good until then.  :-)

Loves ya,
Mouse