last of the books

154 - Flesh Circus, by Lilith Saintcrow
155 - Magic in the Shadows, by Devon Monk

And now I'm off to drink Strongbow, watch movies with my Sweetie, and have nom nom nom steak and crab for dinner

Hugs and hoping for a fantastic New Year for everyone!

It's all gravy now

152 - Copper, by Kazu Kibishi
153 - Redemption Alley, by Lillith Saintcrow

Goal has been reached!

Book 150 has been read :)

150 - The Better Part of Darkness by Kelly Gay
151 - Hunter's Prayer by Lilith Saintcrow

Books and stuff

Yeah, still need to write something about Orycon and the fabulous time we had seeing everyone and all the fun stuff we did.  But instead I'm going to post some books.

140 - Friday Night Bites - Chloe Neill
141 - Lucky Star vol 2
142 - No Rest for the Wiccan - Madelyn Alt
143 - Soulless - OMG SO GOOD, All steam punky paranormal romance with mad science - Gail Carriger
144 - Nice Girls Don't Date Dead Men - Molly Harper
145 - The Stepsister Scheme - ALSO OMG SO GOOD - Jim C. Hines
146 - The Mermaid's Madness - totally awesome - see above - Jim C. Hines
147 - Magic in the Blood - Devon Monk
148 - Magic to the Bone - Devon Monk
149 - Night Shift - Lilith Saintcrow

Yay Holidays!

The tree is up and the house is decorated. Have books to post and should say something about the Ory-Con trip but for now I shall drink more Strongbow and watch the first season of Feasting on Asphalt.

Books Ahoy

Pretty much all Manga and Graphics this time. I have now learned the valuable lesson of not switching between unflipped manga and regular graphics, had such an headache and I think my eyes might of had whiplash.

132 - Jack Frost, vol. 2 by JinHo Ko
133 - Tactics, vol. 5-7 by Sakura Kinoshita and Kaxuko Higashiyama
134 - The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, vol. 4 by Gaku Tsugano and Nararu Tanigawa
135 - Wonton Soup, vol. 2 by James Stoke
136 - Nightschool, vol. 2 by Svetlana Chmakova
137 - Yotsuba, vol. 6 by Kiyohiko Azuma
138 - The Goon - Calamity of Conscience by Eric Powell
139 - GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class, vol. 2 by Satoko Kiyuduki

Book Time

123 - Must Love Hellhounds - Anthology
124 - Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire
125 - Salt and Silver by Anna Katherine
126 - Children at Play: A Cul de Sac Collection by Richard Thompson
127 - The Unnatural Inquirer by Simon R. Green
128 - On the Edge by IIona Andrews
129 - Just Another Judgement Day by Simon R. Green
130 - Bite Marks by Jennifer Rardin
131 - Strip Mauled - Anthology edited by Esther Friesner

Happy Puppies

All of a sudden the lab, Freya, thinks she's a lap dog.  While this is nice I'm going to need a bigger chair if this continues.  She's been super extra snuggly for the past day which is really nice, except when she tries to nap on the laptop.  Esme, the giant pony dog, has been happily snoring away in her favorite chair with her ears sticking out in random directions.

Catching Up

MileHiCon was good, it was the first relaxing time I've had in years.  I had no responsibilities this year which was wonderful.  Loved seeing friends from far away and making new ones.  Tentative plans were made for friends from not so horribly far away to visit in the spring.  I really hope that happens.

Now I'm looking forward to Ory-con.  Need to put together some anime DVDs for Jane.  I'm thinking she needs to see Magical Witch Punie-Chan.

Backlog of books to post, keep wanting to finish one more book before I do.

Went to the thrift store yesterday with Sweetie.  Found a rare Terry Pratchett Science of Discworld vol 2 book.  So happy - they were never released in the states so it's an import from the UK or Canada.  Also got a nice copy of "Don't Eat the Daisies" and a Jeri-Smith Ready book so it was a productive trip.  Much more was dropped off than came home.

Trick or Treating was a bust - only 3 kids :(  I think we were the only house on the entire block giving out candy. Our neighbors are slackers.  So much time was spent playing the City of Heroes Halloween event.  Got my main character up to 2 levels and started a new one late in the evening and got her up to level 7 today so I'm happy.  The holiday event continues until the 10th so I still have plenty of time to smash zombies and go trick or treating in game.

How green is my kitchen?

Fantastically tart apple green!

Cover Montage

114 - Destined for an Early Grave by Jeaniene Frost

115 - The Goon vol 7 & 8 by Eric Powell

116 - Vanished by Kat Richardson

117 - Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei, vol. 3

118 - Skin Deep by Mark Del Franco

119 - Amulet 2, The Stone Keepers Curse by Kazu Kibuishi

120 - Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs

121 - Unbound by Kim Harrison, etc.

122 - Vicious Circle by Linda Robertson

Minor Pic Spam!

Sweetie enjoying a twisted tater after the corn maze



A cute picture of Esme!

More Little Green Guy

Found another picture of the little green guy on my phone and just had to share.

I love taking pictures of that little green dude

So much going on and I keep forgetting to update.

The last weekend in August I worked at the Denver Modernism Show for my friends Dana and Thea. Dana is the hostess with the mostest who organizes the entire shebang and T is her right hand woman. My role at any Dana events I work is to be T's trusty sidekick. Which is always a blast, T and I think a lot alike so we work together really well. The show was awesome, Dana had live bands almost all weekend, the artist guest of honor was SHAG which rocks and the vendors were super cool and ranged from super high end to affordable kitsch. The Charlie Harper Studio had a booth and Sweetie and I gave each other framed prints as anniversary gifts. Sweetie also bought me a set of Stetson/Marcrest Alpine Chalet dishes because he is SUPER AWESOME! I also picked up a cocktail ring with a giant princess cut blue stone - might be glass not sure I don't care because I adore it in all it's over the top coolness.

Now that I have a wicked cool set of dished I've started trolling ebay for add on pieces, I'd like to get up to at least 12 place settings and score as many serving pieces as I can. The list to the right has been added so I can easily track what I've bought and can access it from anywhere on my phone.

Spent Labor Day weekend relaxing with my Sweetie, we had fun at the corn maze on day and just hung out for the rest. Sweetie did some yard work and I did a bunch of reading, all told it was a lovely and quiet holiday weekend.

Saturday I hung out with some girlfriends, we had Indian food for lunch, hit up a thrift where I found some Marimekko sheets, went to a really nice lingerie shop where I got professionally fitted and bought two incredibly awesome bras, and then celebrated with bubble tea. Today I saw 9 with Sweetie - really liked it, it's nice to see a good quality animated film from a studio other than Pixar. Not a classic I don't think but a lot of fun none the less. After the movie Sweetie bought us new iPhones. Yeah, I know - we totally didn't need the upgrade, but Sweetie treated me to the new phone because he is awesome.

So eventually I'll get caught up on the book list - did read the new Patty Briggs book with Anna and Charles and I loved it! She is just awesome and the books in this series and her Mercy Thompson series just keep getting better. Also read the new Kat Richardson which is also super cool and dark and gritty, I'm hoping to eventually talk sweetie in to trying both series.

Unicycle! 2

Sweetie and I were in Boulder on Sat and saw a busker on an insanely tall unicycle juggling flaming torches. Apparently my weekend has a theme

Ponyo and books

Sweetie and I went to see the new Miyazaki film, Ponyo, last night. It was a lot of fun, it's definitely more of a kid's movie than some of his other work, and the plot was a bit non-existent, but it was beautiful and fun and really what more do you want on a late summer afternoon.

Onto the books

98 - Tsubasa, Those With Wings vol 2 by Natsuki Takaya

99 - Monster by A.Lee Martinez

100 - Flight vol 6

101 - 104 - Tactics vol. 1-4 by Sakura Kinoshita and Kazuko Higashiyama

105 - Hex Marks the Spot by Madelyn Alt

106 - Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris

107 - Gakuen Alice vol. 7 & 8 by Tachibana Higuchi

108 - Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman

109 - The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba

110 - 111 - Hibiki's Magic vol. 1 & 2 by Jun Maeda and Rei Idumi

112 - Pearls Sells Out by Stephan Pastis

113 - Nabari No Ou by Yuhki Kamata

Unicycle!

On my way to Savers this morning to drop off a box and do a bit of browsing I saw someone riding a unicycle, very cool!

titles = ears --->

Book 95 - Never Been Witched by Annette Blair

Book 96 - Armed and Magical by Lisa Shearin

Book 97 - The Trouble with Demons by Lisa Shearin

I'm thinking I don't read nearly enough ;)

Book 86 - Tsubasa Those with Wings by Natsuki Takaya

Book 87 - Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya

Book 88 - Strange Brew edited by PN Elrod

Book 89 - Japan Ai by Aimee Major Steinberger

Book 90 - Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs - by Molly Harper

Book 91 - The Wild's Call by Jeri Smith-Ready

Book 92 - Witch Fire by Anya Bast

Book 93 - The Enchantment Emporium by Tanya Huff

Book 94 - Empowered Vol 5. by Adam Warren

Moar Books

Book 78 - Magic Lost, Trouble Found by Lisa Shearin

Book 79 - Zombie Loan, vol 1. by Peach Pit

Book 80 - Jack Frost, vol 1. by JinHo Ko

Book 81 - Owly, vol 3 by Andy Runton

Book 82 - The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, vol. 3

Book 83 - Kamisama Kazoku, vol 1. by Tapari and Yoshikazu Kuwashima

Book 84 - Lucky Star, vol 1. by Kagami Yoshimizu

Book 85 - Faeries Gone Wild by MaryJanice Davidson, etc.

falling behind again

Ins and outs are on hold for a while, enjoyed a lovely stay-cation with my Sweetie and forgot to keep track and haven't done much shopping since - though I did hit a sale at Borders and picked up 4 new books the other day.   Like my to-be-read pile needed and bolstering.  It's sad, I'm in the midst of a serious reading jag and there is no threat of running out of unread books any time soon.  Actually, I could probably not buy any new books for the rest of the year and not run out of new things to read - and I wouldn't even have to start going through Sweetie's shelves.   

I'm hoping to have some pictures from our trip to the botanic gardens posted soon along with a pic of the chair Sweetie bought for me - it's the single most awesome chair in the entire universe :)

So Many Books :)

Book 62 - Scary Godmother, Spooktackular Stories - Jill Thompson

Book 63 - Welcome to Hoxford - Ben Templesmith

Book 64 - Street Magic - Caitlin Kittredge

Book 65 - Magic Strikes - Ilona Andrews

Book 66 - Witch Way to the Mall - edited by Esther Friesner

Book 67 - Patrick the Wolfboy, vol 3 - by Art Baltazar

Book 68 - Real Vampires Don't Diet - Gerry Bartlett

Book 69 - Tiny Titans - Art Baltazar

Book 70 - Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei, vol. 2 - Koji Kumeta

Book 71 - Suzunari, vol. 2 - Shoko Iwami

Book 72 - The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers - by Angie Fox

Book 73 - At Grave's End - Jeaniene Frost

Book 74 - Halfway to the Grave - Jeaniene Frost

Book 75 - One Foot in the Grave - Jeaniene Frost

Book 76 - Sins & Shadows - Lyn Benedict

Book 77 - Hipira - Satsohiro Otomo and Shinji Kimura

Loved loved loved Street Magic, it's dark and edgy, the main character is tough without being stupid and there is believable character development.  I cannot wait for the sequel to come out. 

Book 61:  Some Girls Bite:  A Chicagoland Vampires Novel, by Chloe Neill

First in a series, picked it up for the Kindle on a whim and really enjoyed it, am looking forward to the next book in October.

Hooray new sofa!

(photo from Craigslist post - it's darker in person)

Well new to us sofa anyways.  Our ugly piece of junk cheapest sofa we could find at the local furniture discount barn finally gave up the ghost this week.  The frame is warped, the dogs were having a hard time not getting sucked into the cushions, and it was giving Sweetie a back ache.  Sweetie did a bunch of research online and decided that a leather sofa would be best with all the hair that Esme sheds.

So once we decided on leather we both started surfing the furniture sites and on a whim I fired up Craigslist where we found a fantastic espresso/chocolate brown leather sofa in a classic/modern design at a really good price for the quality.  One insanely long trip involving going to Golden to borrow a pickup and a brother in law we were off to the far north side of Broomfield (it took about 2 hours all told).  And now we have an awesome new sofa. 

Yesterday we went looking for accent chairs and a new recliner for me.  We liked some bright red chairs at Cost Plus.  The price is reasonable and they are actually comfortable.  The recliner was another story - everything I liked in leather was insanely expensive.  And I wasn't even checking the price tag until after I tried sitting in them.  So we're going to check a few more stores - but not until next weekend, I'm so over looking at furniture right now it's not even funny.

But I'm kinda confused about what color to get for my chair.  If I get leather do I go brown to match the sofa, red to go with the chairs?  Or do I go for a red brown fabric print?   Or should I skip the red chairs and find something else completely?  Given our eclectic art collection I really can go pretty much any direction.

Catch Up Time

From Collages

Books:

56 - 58:  Mamotte Lollipop Volumes 5, 6, & 7

59:  Deader Still by Anton Strout

60:  The Devil You Know by Jenna Black

Out:  32

20 Shirts

1 pair of pants

4 manky bottles of lotion

3 desk toys

1 icky bath mat

1 broken head band

1 set of headphones - dog ate

1 bag for said headphones - dog ate to get to headphones :P

In:  58

Thrift:

5 dansk flower pots

jammies

asian jacket for Sweetie

2 pillow cases

3 jars 

3 pairs of pants

5 shirts

1 sweater

1 potholder

1 Noren - Japanese doorway curtain - looks brand new!

2 lamps - thrift

1 wok cover - thrift

1 glass - thrift

1 makeup bag - thrift

New:

Exacto Knife

10 books

magazine

Set of Kromex spice jars - ebay

1 shirt - sale + coupon at Penny's

1 dvd of TED Talks

3 Seasons of TV on DVD:  Last Exile, 2 Jeeves and Wooster

Postcard

Gama Go Stickers

2 notebooks

2 blind box toys

2 dresses

1 new pouch for yet to be purchased headphones

3 lampshades - 1 new 2 thrift

--Probably missing stuff, will add things later if I think of it

total slacking here

I am way behind on my ins-and-outs posting, thankfully I've been taking notes.  A book purge is in process and that should really boost the outs. 

Last Friday we met up with a group of friends and went to the Denver Art Museum, they have an exhibit of psychedelic concert posters from San Francisco 65 - 71 on display that was interesting.   My favorite piece was "Fox Games" by Sandy Skolgund, I've seen pictures of her work and really enjoyed it so seeing an installation was awesome.

The rest of the weekend was spent reading, relaxing and hanging out with the pups.  

We did make a brief foray out to JC Penney's because Sweetie was in desperate need of new socks and we had a $10 off a $10 purchase coupon.  I found an awesome blouse for work at a really good sale price and was extremely pleased that it fit, since it wasn't plus sized.  Tried on several shirts that fit, but only bought my absolute favorite.  Also tried on a pair of size 16 jeans, and I'm only 5 - 10 pounds away from wearing non-plus size 16 - o__O  So happy!  

 

Books 43 & 44:  Mamotte Lollipop volumes 3 and 4

Book 45:  The Rogue Hunter, by Lynsay Sands

Book 46: The Immortal Hunter, by Lynsay Sands 

Book 47:  Turn Coat by Jim Butcher

Book 48:  Blue Diablo by Ann Aguirre

Book 49:  Shoulder-A-Coffin Kuro, vol. 2, by Satoko Kiyuduki

Book 50:  GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class, vol. 1, by Satoko Kiyuduki

Books 51 - 54:  Gakuen Alice, vol 3-6

Book 55:  Curse the Dawn, by Karen Chance

Books read in April

 

Book 28:  Revamped, by J.F. Lewis

Book 29:  White Witch, Black Curse, by Kim Harrison

Book 30:  The Devil Inside, by Jenna Black

Book 31:  Sunshine Sketch, vol 3, by Ume Aoki

Book 32:  The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, vol. 1, by Gaku Tsugano and Nagaru Tanigawa

Book 33:  The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, vol. 2

Book 34:  Tokyo Babylon, vol. 1, by Clamp

Book 35:  The Legend of Chun Hyang, vol. 1, by Clamp

Book 36:  Gakuen Alice, vol. 1, by Tachibana Higuchi

Book 37:  Gakuen Alice, vol. 2

Book 38:  Stealing Magic, by Tanya Huff

Book 39:  Mamotte Lollipop, vol. 1, by Michiyo Kikuta

Book 40:  Mamotte Lollipop, vol 2

Book 41:  Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensi, vol. 1, by Koji Kumeta

Book 42:  A Charmed Death, by Madelyn Alt

Peanut Butter!

Our crazy dogs love peanut butter - in the winter time we'll fill up their kongs with a combination of peanut butter and dog food, it's one of their favorite things in the universe, it's probably even higher in the list of doggy things of awesome than sleeping on the sofa or shedding all over Sweetie's black wool coat.

This morning I decide to switch up the normal breakfast of non-fat yogurt and kashi bar for a peanut butter sandwich.  I've been hungry for peanut butter for a while and finally broke down and bought a jar last night.   My morning routine is also all out of whack as I was working from home.  So I make my sandwich and start working on getting my laptop setup and on the network so I can VPN into the office.  Apparently I was sorely needing caffeine  as I left my sandwich unattended while I wandered off to get a part necessary to connect my non-wireless laptop to our wireless network.  Where I came back Freya was quickly mowing down my sandwich!  And this is the good dog!  Who had just been given her food!

Into the kitchen I go to make sandwich number 2, this time I'm "smart", I leave my sandwich on the counter as I go to get my water glass from the living room, where I am immediately pulled into troubleshooting my laptop's network connection after a few minutes I hear snorfling noises from the kitchen and large dog feet hitting the floor, I turn to look and here Esme wanders into the living room quickly devouring sandwich number 2!

I finally got to eat sandwich number 3... 

Ins-and-Outs for the past 2 weeks

In:  27

2 DVDs

15 books - yes it's a sickness

1 piggy bank - on clearance at target, Porcoino by Umbra

1 CD - Lady Sovereign 

Thrifted:

1 Muumuu - for the wonderfully bright fabric - shown under the piggy

6 t-shirts - Mainly for use as jammies but I did find an awesome Vera Wang shirt from her collection at Kohls that I love

1 belt for Sweetie

Another piggy bank, this one has a blue bird on it's head

Out:  37

6 books

bathroom scale

network switch

laptop bag

12 cds

flashlight

2 bookmark

2 duckies

2 notebooks

shoehorn

poster

picture frame

toy skateboard

yoyo

box of chalk

chalk/white board combo

eraser

Songs that make me lunge to change the station when they come on the radio

Lightning Crashes by Live

Yuck, yuck, yuck. It's the line about a placenta hitting the floor that just squicks me out.

My Name is Luca by Suzanne Vega

Overly earnest, preachy and I really just am not a fan of that type of singer/songwriter

Anything ever done by Creed

Annoying, hackneyed, talentless Pearl Jam rip off. 

Books-a-go-go

March:

Book 26:  Kasumi, vol 2 by Surt Lim and Hirofumi Sugimoto 

                        

Book 27:  Staked by J. F. Lewis - First book in a series by a new author, was a bit shakey at the start but picked up pretty well.  I really enjoyed the idea of a vampire with severe memory problems due to being embalmed before he rose from the dead.  Picked up the second in the series for the Kindle and will start that as soon as I'm done with this! 

March Totals

Last Week

In:  11

6 books

1 awesome spring jacked and 1 t-shirt - from Old Navy

1 Magazine

3 Gadget Cases from SmileRecipe on Etsy.com

Out:  2

2 books - p.b.s.

Shake-it-all-about!

March Totals

In: 72

Out:  204

132 Net Items Out

Year to Date

In:  312

Out:  737

425 Net Items Out

'Dead to Me' so funny!

The overworked and under funded bureaucracy that is the Department of Extraordinary affairs and their love of training pamphlets is OMG funny. There are zombies and evil cultists and surrealists stirring the pot, plus a bookshelf runs amok.

Books I've read in 09 - Part 1

So up to just recently my livejournal was pretty much used only for tracking the books I read in the course of a year. It seems silly to have a separate page just to track that stuff so I'm thinking of consolidating that here. After searching in vain for a widget or gadget that does just what I want it to without maintaining the list at some third party site I'm going to do it this way. Occasionally there may be Amazon links for these, but it was to much of a pain to do that tonight.

March:
Book 22 - Unquiet Dreams by Mark Del Franco
Book 23- Unfallen Dead by Mark Del Franco
Book 24 - Dead to Me by Anton Strout
Book 25 - Fruits Basket, Vol. 22 by Natsuki Takaya

February:
Book 6 - One More Bite by Jennifer Rardin
Book 7 - Fanged and Fabulous by Michelle Rowen
Book 8 - Sunshine Sketch by Ume Aoki
Book 9 - Genshiken Official Book by Kio Shimoku
Book 10 - Tangled Up in You by Rachel Gibson
Book 11 - See Jane Score by Rachel Gibson - Love this!
Book 12 - It Must be Love - also by Rachel Gibson - apparently I'm on a roll
Book 13 - I'm in no Mood for Love - by Rachel Gibson, yep definitely on a roll.
Book 14 - True Confessions by Rachel Gibson
Book 15 - S.S. Astro - By Negi Banno
Book 16 - Shoulder-A-Coffin Kuro - by Satoko Kiyuduki
Book 17 - Sunshine Sketch, vol 2 - by Ume Aoki
Book 18 - Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs
Book 19 - Midnight's Daughter - Karen Chance
Book 20 - Blue Pills, a positive love story - by Frederik Peeters
Book 21 - Jellaby - by Kean Soo

January:
Book 1 - Suzunari! by Shoko Iwami
Book 2 - Silver Master by Jayne Castle
Book 3 - Unusual Suspects edited by Dana Stabenow
Book 4 - The Runaways, vol. 1 by Brian K Vaughan, Adrian Alphona, and Takeshi Miyazawa
Book 5 - Mean Streets by Jim Butcher, Kat Richarson, Simon R. Green and Thomas E. Sniegoski

Minor PicSpam

The kindle, passport and gadget cases I ordered from SmileRecipe on Etsy arrived in the mail today and they are fabulous!  The Kindle fits perfectly into it's case and they are all extremely well made.  In a little bit I'm tossing the kindle in my purse and heading out to get some fresh air and hit up a coffee shop and do a little reading

And as promised here are pictures of the super cool wooden baker that came home from the thrift store last weekend.  Every time I see him in the kitchen window it makes me smile.

 

 

March in Denver

Denver in March is always so weird with it's unpredictable crazy weather.  One week ago it was in the 70's, yesterday work closed down an hour after I got in due to a blizzard that went nuts minutes after I got to work.  We got about 4-6 inches at our house with drifting up to over a foot.  Work was closed again today, and now the sun is shining brightly again and the snow has started melting though the drive in this morning would of been awful.

So I've been puttering around the house, playing COH and watching anime.  The wonder pups have been getting lots of attention and are currently sprawled in a chair and on the sofa napping away.

Lovely Weekend

We had spectacular weather last weekend, it was all sunny and bright mid 70's spring weather.  So of course it's been chilly and in the 40-50s the last two days.

Sweetie and I did a burst of housework Sat. morning.  He was fabulous we got everything done zippy quick.  He then took a nap while I ran errands and went thrifting where I found an awesome german baker figurine that is still waiting for better light so I can take a picture.  Saturday afternoon our friend L. brought her misbehaving computer over for Sweetie and we hung out for a bit before I ran off to spend the evening with S.

On Sunday Sweetie did a bit of work and then we went to the zoo.  Which was very fun even if it was crowded and I heard a woman tell her kids that a one humped camel wasn't actually a camel, it may have been a cow or a horse and that the storing water in their hump business was just an urban legend.  I'm really hoping she was joking and not really that crazy.

Weekly Roundup

In: 14

2 plush easter Domo-Kuns from Target

1 Easter Dinosaur - gift from my Sweetie

3 books - 1 new 2 thrift

1 Magazine

1 Plastic container - Container Store - it's going in the fridge

1 ceramic canister - Urban Outfitters

1 Glass jar - Target - fridge storage

2 cds - thrift

1 Wooden Baker figure of AWESOME!  - thrift - Pics will be posted when there is light

1 pillow case - thrift

2 - baseball caps - zoo

Out:  63

2 magazines - recycled

Charity:

1 toothbrush holder 

8 tea towels - charity

1 wreath

2 candles

1 spool of kite string

2 mugs

1 magazine rack

1 sweater

5 books

1 cord bag

Friends:

34 books

2 shirts

2 pairs of slacks

<---- Random image from my favorite rest stop in Southern CO.  We always stop there on the way to Santa Fe because I love the weird beaver. 

Nothing really exciting to report.  The week has been twisty and weird because of changes at both mine and Sweetie's jobs.  We both still like where we work and everything is still okay for both of us.  However, it's unsettling when everything gets thrown up in the air like it has been.  The fact that I really enjoy what I do and the people I work with makes the crazy easier, but still there is just so much uncertainty I can take!

In other news I'm anxiously awaiting the custom Kindle case, accessory case and passport cover I ordered from SmileRecipe on Etsy.  I have one of her DS Lite cases and love the fun fabrics she uses and quality of construction is just fantastic!

Thinking of Etsy, I'm currently sorely tempted to order a sugar skull and sakura blossom drawing for the weird little niche in our hallway, additional temptation comes from a plaster sugar skull decorated with sakura blossoms

Kindle!

For the longest time I thought eReaders were kinda silly.  For someone suffering from an extreme case of booklust in my mind there wasn't any way an electronic gizmo would ever replace the experience of reading off of dead trees.  As a serious gadget/computer freak it was a strange disconnect, normally I'm about nifty computery things - it's one of the reasons I work in IT.  

We'd talk about eReaders on occasion at work, and I'd scoff and make comments about single use gadgets, buying books twice, and waiting for a couple more generations to work out all the kinks before anyone should really buy one.  In my defense the Kindle v1 was hella ugly and the competitors are more expensive and most likely I'd have problems getting them to play nicely with the Macs we use at home.  I swore up, down, and sideways that I wouldn't even think about getting one until there were color displays and larger screens.  I'd used eReader apps on my iPhone and thought the screen was to small and buying books was seriously annoying - sync issues and poorly designed confusing websites.

But Amazon was tricky, they released an eReader app for the iPhone,  for free.  And well there was a sequel to a series I wasn't to sure if I was hooked on yet, and Sweetie was out of town, and I was bored, and Amazon makes it so easy to shop...  I read 2 books on my phone in 2 days, it was fabulous even if the screen is tiny.  But it sucked the battery life hard, so I started reading reviews of the Kindle - still convinced that I didn't need one, but travelling can be a pain because I either bring the wrong books, not enough books or too many books, and I wanted to read in the office during lunch without having any of the guys give me funny looks about the romance or urban fantasy that I was reading (I'm a weird geek, I am not a fan of hard science fiction and that just breaks a couple of my co-workers), and I'm running out of bookshelf space yet again, and I've lost 35 pounds and deserved a treat and well... I'm just a sucker for gadgets and books and the only surprise is that I didn't get one sooner - no that's not quite true - the kindle v1 was really fugly.

 

Weekly Roundup

In: 11

2 pairs of Pants

2 Shirts

1 Belt

3 books

1 vintage Fire King ramekin

1 big jar of buttons

1 Kindle v2 which is awesome!

Out: 18

3 books - p.b.s.

3 planters

1 shirt

10 pairs of jeans

1 Shower Curtain

Not even Eddie could save it

We watched Igor last night, and thankfully it was a netflix rental and not a purchase as it was AWFUL. The animation was pretty, and Eddie Izzard and John Cleese were fabulous as expected but the writing was bad, the story was stupid, several of the side characters were beyond annoying, and Jon Cusack was seriously miscast as Igor. There was an awful song about loving fat women and it ended with a group of blind orphans wandering around a community theatre stage - yes it ends with community theatre - singing the "I can see clearly now the rain is gone".

Pants pants pants

A friend lent me 3 pairs of pants as most of mine are insanely baggy and we're both to cheap to justify buying all sorts of new pants while losing weight.  By the time she's had her baby and can fit into them again I will be into a smaller size.  Add them to the one pair that I have that still fit and a pair I picked up at the thrift and I can clean out another pile of pants in my closet!

Weekly totals

In:  35

Thrifted:  30

Duvet cover with 2 matching shams

2 pillowcases for hero capes - one has space ships and planets on it, the other is fuzzy purple

Kokeshi Doll

6 planters - Death to the metal planters that I'm beyond sick of

Book for A.

Pair of jeans

2 shower curtains - lovely and 100% cotton, eventually they'll be cut up and used for the fabric

toothbrush holder

2 magazines

Mug from Starbucks in Seattle

5 books

1 towel - it has little green crocodiles on it and I'm planning on making a stuffed bird out of it

   

Fabric Store:

Bits to make play tutu for a friends little girl

Book Store and Amazon:   5

2 Books

3 Magazines

Out:  125  

Donated with a few things given to a friend

5 books

Dress - to friend

5 Shirts - to friend

Garden Sign

6 Candles

5 Candle holders

28 pieces of clothing

6 small rugs

24 vhs tapes

2 lace table runners

hunk of fabric

reusable bag

step stool

4 mugs

3 plates

4 bowls

Kitchen curtain

2 books on tape

22 christmas decorations

Tossed: 2

Manky tool box

Duster

Given to a friend's little girl:  1

Homemade fairy tutu 

Weird week - Doodz

Okay, due to all sorts of weirdness at work me and a bunch of other people got 4 days off this week.  The weather was lovely and I spent time with a friend, figured out how to make really cool play tutus for kids with the help of youtube, had lunch with Sweetie, and in general had a lovely time.  It was kinda sad when I got the call last night asking if I would be able to report back to work this morning.

While I was off my friend A. got me hooked on the TED conference videos, and one afternoon was spent enjoying the sunlight in my office with the kitty watching all sorts of cool videos.   I totally want DVD sets of all the conferences now.

Also had a chance to get my Anime groove on this week and watched all 13 episodes of Disgaea - which was cool.  I just love anime like this and Space Pirate Mito that about 2/3 of the way in have a totally off the wall plot twist with a completely bizarre ending.  It was silly and goofy and totally kid friendly - even if I'm now saying Doodz all the time, just like the Prinnys.

Sweetie is off at a very small con that one of our friends puts on every spring.  Since participation is mandatory and the events include improv it's not really high on my list of things to do.  So while he's gone I'm spending a weekend at home with the wonder pups.

Lovely Saturday

Did some cleanup on in the storage pit that is our basement, have a TON of stuff ready to go to the thrift, and I've hardly made a dent in it all.

Sweetie and I took the wonder pups for a walk in an open space area in the Stapleton development area.  We saw a beaver dam and possibly even saw a beaver swimming in the stream.  It was super fun.  Next time we go I'll bring the good camera and take lots of pictures.

Got off work early yesterday, spent a bunch of time cleaning up the pit that is our back yard.  Still have a bunch more to do, but hopefully tomorrow will be a nice sunny day.

Monthly and Year to Date

5 more in's this week:

4 books - 3 are from paperback swap and the 4th is the new Kim Harrison book

2 DVDs - Lucky Star #4 and Beowulf

Shake it all about

February totals:

In:  147

Out:  206

59 net items out

Year to Date:

In:  240

Out:  533

293 Net items out

Weekly Roundup

I'll do the monthly and year-to-date totals on Friday.

Out:  37

2 - Paperback swap books

17 shirts - 14 to a friend 3 to thrift

1 pair of shoes to a friend - they were totally cute sketchers slipons in white with a strawberry print and green gingham accents but they were a smidge to small.

12 magnets - thrift

mini crock pot - thrift

package of paper lunch bags

2 potholders - they are the silicon kind and Sweetie loathes them

1 salad spinner

In:  13

Lite brite and extra pegs, the pegs were from the thrift and inspired the LB purchase later at Target

Paperback Swap book for Sweetie

Candle from S.H.

Thrift: 8

japanese handkerchief / furoshiki

cable management thing for Sweetie

Owl salt and pepper shakers

Cookbook - the Peg Bracken I Hate to Cook Almanac

Dark grey sweater

Brown top

Awesome Planter

Basket

Lazy Sunday

Skipped the zoo, it was all weird and overcast today.  While it did warm up the skies kept looking like something was brewing so decided to clean the kitchen.  Sorted through the spices and tossed everything that smelled like sawdust.

Of course once that was done I immediately started cooking and made a new mess *sigh*.  On the bright side I made up 2 casseroles for dinner and lunches this week - going to try freezing some too.

food food food

Went shopping today with S.H. and her little boy A.  Hit Penzey's for nummy spices, 3 thrift shops and Sunflower Market for a huge pile of veggies.  

Made Pav Bhaji with a goodly amount of those veggies tonight.  It was really tasty, though next time I think I'm going to cut back a bit on the tomato sauce and add some fresh tomato.  I do need to go to an ethnic grocery to see if I can find any Pav Bhaji masala - the Garam Masala I used was good but I'd like to try the real thing.

Now I want to try my hand at a green curry dish, maybe with tofu or shrimp.  I'm sure the Internet will provide many options.   Though next I want to try a Japanese dish - Oyako Donburi.  I have everything I need and may try it for dinner tomorrow night.  

Tomorrow morning I'm helping S.H. organize A's closet.  Once that's done if the weather cooperates a trip to the zoo sounds like a fabulous thing.

Treats!

Boy oh boy it's treat time!

Another work desk picture

Pucca and Garu are souvenirs from our trip to Vancouver last year

The Century of the Fruitbat meets Walken

finally entering the century of the fruitbat

Working out posting from the iPhone. Enjoying the sunshine at a sandwich shop.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

*Edited to Add*  

And of course about an hour later I discover that it's so much easier to post by mail from my phone and that I way I can also include pictures.  Shakes head, for someone who works in IT I'm always behind the curve on this stuff.  Probably because I get sick of it after being around it all day.

In's and out's for the last week

Ins:  36

8 - new books - Manga, manga, manga and a few paranormals

1 - Manga zine

1 - book - paperbackswap

From the Thrift

6 - Used books - replacement copies for beaten up paperbacks

1 - ceramic planter

1 - large glass jar

8 - tops

3 - cds - two are asian music and the other is the soundtrack for A Mighty Wind

3 - used books for a future SIL gift

3 - used books for the reading and most likely eventual paperback swapping

1 - Knitting loom

Out:  49

30 ish Naruto capsule toys - donated to thrift

1 - HK figurine - donated to thrift

5 - Usagi Yojimbo figure and accessories - damn dog!

4 - Paperback Swap books

2 - tea towels - thrift

4 - tops - thrift

2 - old watches - thrift

1 - pocket flashlight - thrift

Office!

 

Finally got pictures of the new desk and the fabulous Hoosier cabinet that Sweetie bought me a few weeks ago.  It's completely loaded with fabrics and sewing machines.  I'm just so very pleased.  

The desk is Elfa from the Container Store - gotta love the yearly 30% off sale, plus an additional 20% off of the desk top because one corner is banged up.  Having enough space for both computers is just fantastic and I'm loving having drawers.  None of my computer desks at home has ever had drawers, and boy howdy does it make a huge difference for me in keeping the top cleaned off.

My office is almost done, Sweetie was fantastic and helped me put together my new desk.  Which required channelling our inner blacksmiths.  That Elfa stuff is STURDY.  All of my junk has been put away (don't look in the closet - it needs work but I'm not sure what the final plan is).  The art around the sewing cabinet needs to be rearranged, will have to go through the box of pictures in the closet.

Pictures will come tomorrow, art or no art - unless there is no sun.

Just a bit of shopping today

In:  9

3 magazines

2 packs of tea towels

set of 4x4" frames

2 foam swords

rug to cover the chest in the bedroom

Out: 7

4 old tea towels

2 pairs of jeans

huge pile of junkmail - shredded

Just came home from another birthday party, this one a tropical themed game night.  Which gave me an excuse to pick up a very cute and comfy shirt at the thrift.  While no tropical games were played there were plenty of leis and fruit.  Got to chat with friends I haven't seen much of since before the holidays and left just as the poorly socialized sci-fi fan pontificating began in earnest.

In:  6

2 cds for Timmy - thrifted - One was a Decemberists cd/dvd combo and the other was Stabbing Westward

1 fab batik looking top also thrifted

Package of pretty file folders

Bits and bobs for my desk - corner bumpers and rubber feet for the metal drawer part

And I almost forgot the best thing that arrived this week.  Patricia Briggs new book Bone Crossed is out!  Now I just need to find the time to read it.

Out:  29

28 items from the coat closet - dropped off at the Thrift

1 falling apart in a non-repairable way jacket - bin

The Coat Closet is Done!

Hooray!

Sweetie's bike gear and dog stuff live on the awesome thrifted shelves.  Seriously I think I spent like 2 bucks on them and they perfect.

 Many coats were weeded out.  Sweetie even joined in and went through his, because he is AWESOME!

 

The floor is visible and there is now room for these little shelves which are a great home for my purse.

 

The rack that is pictured below used to hang on the door, but it ended up being a dumping ground for odds and ends and everything important would just get burried.  I'm much happier with the shoe thing, we can see where everything is at a glance.

 

Pile of stuff going to the thrift later on today.  I'll post a count later one once everything's been bagged up.

Sweetie has offered to put the legs on my new desk for me today while I'm out running errands.  So hopefully I'll get my office put back together soon and post pics of that too!

 

Yeah, that's my Sweetie - isn't he CUTE!

(This is what I get when I threaten to post him on the internets)

 

And this is what I get after a quick wifely glare.  So cute - though I do really love the first picture.  It's very Sweetie.

Such a soft touch, we stopped in a consignment kids store with S and her little one who fell in love with the t-ball set.  Sweetie decided the little one couldn't live without it and bought it for the little fella.  Who then demanded that we go straight home and drop him off with Dad so he could start playing.  First hit went over a fence, Sweetie retrieve the ball.  Then there were several misses until the 8th one which hit Sweetie smack dab in the middle of his chest.  It was fantastically funny.