Let's Craft Something!

Ugh, we finally got out router problem fixed.  We tried using a few other routers from my tech-savvy uncle, but no dice.  We did discover it wasn't the modem, which kind of sucks because then it would have been our power company's issue since we technically rent it from them.  But anyway, one huge headache and a new router later, I have internet again.


Unfortunately, the router issue isn't the only bummer we've had.  Our outside dog of 9 or so years, Harley, had to make an emergency vet visit.  He just wouldn't get up last Saturday.  The vet said he apparently had a stroke; he didn't think he would be able to get back up because he's such a big dog.  (He's a Border Collie/Great Pyrenees mix.)  That wasn't his only issue, but it was the most life-threatening.  The vet called the next morning to say that he wasn't getting up, but about fifteen minutes later, he called back saying that he did get up.  We brought him home on Monday and have been keeping an eye on him for any signs that he needs to go back.

We know with so many issues, it's just a matter of time, but he's still there.  If he had a vacant or pained look in his eyes, it would be an easier decision.  But that's not the case.  He still looks like a puppy -- just happy and loving in his eyes.  He looks like he's not ready to go.

Anyway, let's get off of these depressing topics...

Did you guys get to check out the meteor shower on the 10th through 13th?  I got two good nights of star gazing out of it; it was pretty cloudy the rest of the time.  We saw some that were so big that they looked like missiles!  Huge orange comet-like tail and everything!  I was so amazed.


Remember my huge upgrade from the Droid R2D2 to the Galaxy S4?  My mom just made an even bigger upgrade due to dropping her phone in a pool.  (The bag of rice trick didn't work.  I guess it had been too long or it was just beyond repair.)  She went from the Samsung Alias to the Droid Razr M.  Holy crap, Batman.  I tried to take care of as much of the initial setup as I could.  Zach said, "Aw, isn't that sweet of you!"  There's a fine line between "sweet" and "selfish."  I did it to save the headache of walking her through doing it.  She's adjusting.  It's taking a while for her to get the right touch for the touch screen, for some reason, but it's coming right along.

I've mentioned before that I'm reading the A Song of Ice and Fire series, right?  (The Game of Thrones television series, if you're more familiar with it that way.)  I made it to the second book, where things start to differ from the television series.  As you may know, the second book is called A Clash of Kings; however, I've renamed it to "A Crash of Kings" because every time I try to read it, I struggle to stay awake.  I don't know why.  So, I decided it may be a good idea to get the audio book so that I could listen to it while I was on the treadmill or something.  Such a great idea.  In one day I listened to about four chapters.  It usually works out where I'm on the treadmill for about one chapter.  I'm over halfway done with the book now.

Speaking of being on the treadmill, when we last talked, I said I was trying to lose weight.  During my absence, I've lost about 10 pounds!  Yep, about 5 pounds a week.  Not too bad, if I do say so myself.  I've been dieting and walking on the treadmill to build stamina before I start running.  I started doing half a mile each day, then a mile.  Next week, I'll do a mile and a half.  Of course, right now, I'm just walking; I'm afraid I'll hurt my legs if I start off trying to run.


Last matter of business: I had considered adding a blog post per week mentioning some of the things I had pinned or saw on Pinterest.  What do you guys think about that?  Just like a little highlight of a few pins, nothing too extravagant or anything.  It was just something I had been toying around with while I was only able to surf the internet through my phone.

Alright, sorry for the huge wall of text!  I had to catch you all up with what had been going on while I was semi-off-the-grid.

 

Alright guys, let me just start off with something I just noticed before I go into my weekend.  Holy crap where did those almost 400 pageviews come from the other day?  I usually schedule my posts in advance (when I'm not writing them last minute, which is a common trend as of late), so I don't always see my pageviews.  To be honest, I hadn't looked since maybe Wednesday, so when I jumped from 1,000 to 1,358 in a week, I was surprised.  I had a spike of almost 200 on Thursday.  So, woah, holy crap where did these pageviews come from out of the blue?! 

I hope you liked it and decided to stay!  Please do comment and feel free to follow on social media. :)

As far as the blog goes, I'm planning on doing a post toward the end of the month on my experiences with going poo-free.  I've been taking periodic pictures of my hair to show my transitions.  Don't worry.  I'm not going to make you sit through a vacation slideshow photo presentation of my hair or anything.  Besides, it will only be one month.

I've also decided a little bit on an upcoming project.  A few friends and I are doing a group costume for this year's Anime Weekend Atlanta.  I just hate to spoil the surprise before it comes together!  I'll hopefully be helping Zach with his, too.  It's going to mostly involve sewing, but also a little imagination and construction, as well as a little sculpting and painting.  What on earth could it be?!



Remember me posting about sewing patterns last Monday?  Well, between Zach and my grandmother I think I've decided to at least give it a shot at making the steampunk dress I bought a pattern for.  Now, I'm planning on buying the cheapest non-tulle fabric I can to give a practice run.  I really don't want to spend a lot of money on fabric just to give up in the middle of it or to mess it up.  I'll definitely keep you posted on that!


Sometimes, I feel like I have a million things going at once.  Of course I want to spend time with Zach, Benni, and my little Booger.  I want to play video games.  I want to craft.  I want to play Dungeons and Dragons.  I want to read.  I want to craft.  I want to blog.  Ugh, all these things I want to do!  I have them almost all going at the same time, but I feel like I get nowhere with them.  Sacrifices, I guess.  (Enjoy the silly collage.  If you want, it enlarges when you click it.)

Now, on to the sadder news.  Zach and I received news late last week that one of our friends' mom passed away.  This was a friend that we spent almost every day with during last summer and had been friends with since high school.  We were all very shocked because, although we knew she wasn't in the best of health, she was still relatively young.  He is an only child, his father passed away some years ago, and only really has his grandmother, aunts and uncles.

I'm not saying this to be depressing.  He has always been a bit of a loner and will deal with it in his own time.  He has all of us and his girlfriend who has helped him tremendously throughout this whole ordeal.  We just don't think he's dealt with his feelings yet or gained closure.  If you have a spare moment, send your thoughts, prayers, well-wishes, good vibes, or whatever it is you do to this little family in Alabama.

I hate to leave you on such a sad note, so here's a picture that always makes me laugh:


See you guys soon.

I finally decided on a new phone.  I went to pick a few things up from Walmart and it just to happens that our Verizon store is located in front of Walmart.  I sighed and thought, "Well, since I'm here..."  I went in, talked to one of the people there, gave them my three choices (Droid DNA, Nokia Lumia, or Samsung Galaxy S4).  The Lumia was quickly knocked from the list  -- nothing against it!  Then it was narrowed down to the DNA or S4.  Finally, she pointed out that they were the same price.  She held a DNA and took my name so that she could reserve an S4 when the shipment got in and I would be able to make up my mind overnight.  The next day, I got a Galaxy S4.



If you haven't heard about all the neat features, here is a link to a Cnet review.  It's the one with the neat little sensor on the front so that you can gesture and it will scroll.  It also has smart scroll so when you're reading, it will move the page automatically.  It has the neat photobomber eraser option, too.  Of course, I'm still loving the simple upgrades like the 13 megapixel camera and a front camera.  I haven't upgraded in that long.

The same night, I also participated in what I call, "the most redneck thing I have done in my entire life."  You see, I'm from Alabama -- the home of the rednecks.  I also like to think that I am not a redneck and generally try to steer clear of things that are thought of as such.  I went crawfishing.  And, no, that doesn't entail sitting with a fishing pole or anything of the sort, for those who are unfamiliar with the concept.  I mean, strapped on mud-boots and waded around through a drained lake at night armed with a glove, flashlight, and bucket. Am I afraid to get dirty?  No.  It's just that the mud, at points, was practically as deep as the too-big mud-boots I was wearing.  I kept getting suction stuck!  The glove was because I am a chicken and didn't want the little things grabbing onto my skin.

All-in-all, was it fun?  Yes.  I only caught one or two -- the people we went with told us it wasn't an ideal time to go, despite them getting about a bucket full of crawfish.  They're planning a few more trips out, I think, before they have their annual crawfish boil.  They said they probably needed at least three more bucketfuls.  I told them that anything I catch is pure profit for them -- I'm a vegetarian.

Unfortunately for me, Zach left on Sunday for a trip down to the beach.  He and his younger brother are going to visit their cousin for a few days.  I apparently have until Wednesday by myself.  (Well, not technically by myself, but you know what I mean.)  Maybe I'll be productive... At least that's what I keep telling myself.


It's probably just going to be more of this.  That blood dragon scared me.  I paused to heal and noticed this beautiful -- yet scary -- screenshot.  Seriously, if you haven't played Skyrim, you should.

Well, it has been a week so far of me sticking with my blogging.  I feel like that's one small victory to celebrate, at least. Unfortunately, though, I haven't been keeping up with my crochet plarn bag as well as I should have.  I partially blame not feeling well, but for the most part, I blame Skyrim.  Yes, the video game that came out two years ago.

Zach and I are pretty big gamers, you see.  We had finally gotten back into Guild Wars 2, but it lacks the storyline that Zach craves.  To fix that, he started playing Skyrim again, and I sat around and watched for a while which was my biggest mistake.  I realized I had never beaten the game and that I had honestly not played very much of it due to school at the time.  I booted up my copy and lost four and a half hours the first night.  It pretty much continued sucking up my time.

Not that I spent my entire week playing Skyrim, though!  I've been having phone difficulties for longer than I would like to admit.  My phone is about three years old, so I can see why.  They're up to the what, Droid 4?  I'm still using the Droid R2D2, which is a special edition version of the Droid 2.  I've been eligible for upgrade for a while, but I absolutely hate shopping for cell phones these days!  After spending some time on the Verizon website, I narrowed it down to two phones: Nokia Lumia or the Droid DNA.  (Not that I didn't take time to consider the Galaxy S4 and its amazing features!)  Honestly, I'm leaning towards the DNA because I'm comfortable with Droid.  I don't know though...

I remembered how much of a love/hate relationship I have with Pinterest.  I love it because I find so many neat things on there; however, I hate it for the same reason.  I can waste so much time on there pinning things I will probably never make or use.  That's okay, though, because it's inspiration none the less!  Besides, who knows when you'll nee that recipe for air dried porcelain?  (Since I haven't progressed much on my bag, I may post some inspiration on Wednesday instead...)

While I was working on my bag at Zach's house, his twelve-year-old sister wandered upstairs to see what we were doing.  Being another who loves crafts, she saw my explosion of plastic bags as I was making more plarn and was fascinated.  She asked about the bag, how I was making it, and commented that she always thought things like that were neat.  I knew she was one of the only people that I could teach (because we are both left-handed) and took time out of working on my bag to teach her simple crochet.  I promised I would bring her a hook and a small skein of yarn for her to practice with.  In my opinion, that was better than working on the bag.

That's pretty much what you missed since last Monday.  See?  I promised I wouldn't write a novel just because it was free writing!  Be sure to check back for WIP Wednesday.