I Do Make Stuff

Halloween. We finished the costumes for Scully and Skye last night. But not before we had to break up a dog fight (apparently the 2nd one for the day). Not sure what's going on, but poor Scully had a bad day with Skye, ending up in her mouth again or shoved under the couch trying to hide from her. Skye can be mean sometimes.

But they looked so cute all dressed up! Scully loves Justin dressing her. Perhaps it's just her loving him paying attention to her? Who knows, but she just loves it.

Skye knows how to take the hat off. I'll have to make it tighter.

Justin actually did some hand sewing last night. That's how serious we are about Halloween people. Justin sewing.

I've got my costume cut out but not sewn. I suck, I know. The party is tomorrow, so I'll be up late sewing. I can't imagine it taking me long mostly because, it's a Halloween costume, I'm not going make it fancy and follow directions. It's not daily wear, it's not fashion. It's just an ugly dress (supposed to be ugly). I need to put more effort into my hair than this dress.

Photos of all Halloween participants coming soon.

Heather, I haven't forgotten about your prize. One half is done and ready to mail. The other half (the "I have to make it vegan?") is still in the works.
raspberry

Undecided

Sometimes, I want to click the "easy" button. I think life would be so much easier, don't you? This election, I definitely need the easy button. I don't favor one over the other. I get frustrated during debates with all their circle talking. I'm tired of all the campaigning. Back and forth. If only there were something that would help me pick a candidate. Something where I could see which candidate shares my views. Hmmmm.

Oh, wait.

I think I found something.

I love me some Public Radio! (booo, to all you who hate it)

If you need help deciding (cause we've only got like 2 weeks left), check this out. It's what I needed. Thanks MPR.

I'm not going to tell you which candidate shared my views. That's my right as an American not to tell. But you're welcome to tell me.

Four Canadian's

David Sedaris was awesome, as expected. The line to have my book signed, however, wasn't. Neither were the EXTREMELY annoying girls (probably my age, but so irritating like teens) in front of us for the ENTIRE 80 minutes. I only had one outlet for my frustration, a post-it note with my name on it which a woman gave me so David would know how to spell my name.

My post-it said:

Dear Lord! The people in front of me are FUCKING annoying! Please be my slave monkey and bitch slap them!

Monkey slave = a story he read that night.

He kept my post-it for his diary. No hitting on Justin this time. No witty comments. Maybe he felt really sorry for me because he had just met the super annoying girls. He only had to deal with them for 55 seconds. I had them for over 80 minutes.

One husband was short and fat and wore a 40x28 and apparently no pants are made for his size. They miss CBC. "I'm SOOOO going to tell David that you took one of his books back cause you didn't like it." "Echh, that's gross." "Ok, I've been standing here long enough to use my lip balm 4 times!"

And their laughs. Hideous, screeching, echoing, cat-like screaming. Oh the headache just thinking of it.

He did say something about people trying to be comedians after seeing one.

He started writing this in my book before we even spoke: "Dear Jessi, your story touched my heart. David Sedaris."

Maybe he knew. Probably not.

Embrace the Cold

People ask me all the time if I miss Las Vegas. I say no. But actually, I do miss the mountains. Well, more like the green mountains of Northern Utah. But still, seeing mountains daily was awesome.

It's cold here. Silly Car hates it. I'm sure the steering belt is about to snap off any day (at least that's what I think it is cause it's LOUD when I turn). I can see my breath in the morning and at night. Scully doesn't stay out too long and when she comes in, she's shivering. Skye, with her fur coat, no shivering at all.

Justin's car hated it too. But we gave it a new sweater and sent it on its way. (sweater=battery)

I think I've embraced the cold as best as I can by requesting a camping trip, like, NOW. Before it gets even COLDER. To camp up north, where it's super cold compared to down here. But really, isn't fall about camping? Sitting around a campfire, cuddling, stuffing your face with marshmallows and chocolate, eating cheese dogs?

Justin said no, it's too cold for him (THE Minnesotan). So we are going to build our own outdoor fire and do all the above. And when it gets too cold out that cuddling won't suffice, I'll head inside and jump into my heated bed and have Scully lick the marshmallows off my face.

Hot Tip #6 Recycling

(It's been a while since my last Hot Tip but Justin and I are in full force recycling.)

There are many ways you can incorporate recycling into your life. And it's not just plastics and pop cans, there are many other ways to recycle. Here are some of the easy one's that we've done.

First, see if your local waste management company (your garbage peeps) offer recycling bins for weekly pick-up. Most cities now have them for free. Some offer just one bin. Others will give you different bins for different items (one for paper, one for glass, one for aluminum) to make sorting easier.

Paper - We read the newspaper every day. We get junk mail, bills, and magazine every day. This stuff piles up, seriously. Create a designated place to collect the paper. In Las Vegas, we got bins from Ikea and they fit perfectly in our pantry. Here in Minnesota, we've got what looks like a cedar chest (but isn't) with a lid. It looks like a piece of furniture (and sometimes we use it as such) but it holds 2 weeks worth of recycling.

Don't forget you can recycle your shredded bills and important documents (shred them first).

Plastics - All plastics have a designated number on the bottom of them. In Las Vegas and here, they only recycle numbers one and two. Anything else we have to throw away. But you don't have to just toss them. You can reuse them for simple storage ideas (hair ties, sewing supplies, yo-yo parts, etc.). Water bottles will take up less space if they are collapsed. Always remove the lids when recycling them. Or better yet, just stop using plastic water bottles all together. Get one of these. Just make sure it's BPA free. Oh, and not buying cases of bottled water will save you money too. Don't forget that!

Aluminum - Or known up here as "pop cans" or in Texas "coke cans". Whatever you call it, cans are the easiest thing to recycle. Just crush them up and toss them... into a designated box, bag (paper works great), or bin. Some recycling centers take soup cans too. Las Vegas did, Minnesota doesn't. Too bad. If your area does, just make sure you rinse out your smelly tuna cans.

Once a month we have used motor oil pick up and once a year they pick up left-over household cleaners and solvents that you really shouldn't dump down drains. Don't do it. Just set them out in the garage for that pick up day.

Ok, those are the easy and obvious ones. There are other ways to recycle. Buy second hand instead of something new. Stores like Savers, Goodwill, Salvation Army, and Deseret Industries all get gently used clothing. A store like Savers is a "for profit" so some of their stuff is actually from department stores. Justin and I have scored some great fall clothes there. Jeans, pants, sweaters all for $30. Seriously.

Zip top bags can be replaced with fabric bags with velcro closures (for food storage). A great way to use up small fabric pieces and use less zip top bags.

Another way to use of fabric is to make a grocery tote. (which I've actually made).

There are many other ways to recycle and it might save you money too. Let me know what you are doing to recycle or if there's anything I've missed that you are doing.

And the Winner is...

The top 4 ideas were:
Bride and Groom
Black and Tan
Chocolate and Peanut Butter
Remember the Alamo


The winning costume is:

Remember the Alamo!! Scully as a Mexican Soldier and Skye as Davie Crocket.


Due to the need for Skye's parents to participate in the voting process (since they wanted say of what their dog was going to dress as), we decided to award the 2nd place the prize. So the winner is:



Heather!

Thanks to everyone who participated. Now off to Remember the Alamo!!

He's Back!

My man, Strongbad's back!



He still likes you, even though you haven't voted, he loves toys, airplane rides, great ideas, cheese curds, segways, queens and farms.

He hates liars, clutter, working, WalMart, disco, and imagery.

Now, get voting and help the little dogs out!