Check it out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

.

All right, so. Guess what. I have a plan. A crafty* plan. I'm launching a little business for myself. And one of the first 'outside world' steps is complete - I've got a website!
.
It's called Dollybird Workshop, after Amoryn, of course (thank goodness I don't call her my little pork chop, eh?). You'll notice a new link over to the right in the sidebar, and a new header & caption on this blog.
.
The website is far from complete - I've really just set the rack up outside, now I have to set the ideas out in the sun to warm up & unfold. Still, it's a very important step that I'm very pleased with. Wander over, look through, & let me know what you think!**
.
http://www.dollybirdworkshop.com/
.
*Crafty, in both senses of the word.**Other than "Gee, Kourtney, there's not a lot really in there, is there?"

The Natural Dyes Class

Organic Dye Scarves June 08, originally uploaded by Kourtney_R.

(L-R: All on silk: something root with rust, um, some kind of bark & rust, madder, madder, & um, logwood. I think.)
.
It was interesting. It was surprisingly technical. I got some very pretty results & a trip to the crapyard out of it. And although I learned a lot & found myself very carried away by the instructor's enthusiasm, I doubt that I will ever set up the natural dye pots in my kitchen.
.
This is because I am a junky for color, & for fast results. Premordanting, dying, postmordanting, repeat? For not certain results? When I have a toddler & regular meals to try & work around? Not so likely.
.
I think I'm going to try the acid dyes some more - that's what the next post'll likley be about!

Look!

Enough hair for a barrette! Jul 08, originally uploaded by Kourtney_R.

July's pics are up, & Amoryn has enough hair for a barrette!
.
(And sometimes, she has enough patience to even wear the barrette for a couple minutes.)

On our way...

Making miles! June 08, originally uploaded by Kourtney_R.

I've got the photos from Apr, May & June uploaded into Flickr!
.
Now there's only July.
.
And the big surprise.
.
Stay tuned!

Wait For It!

So! I swears, I am going to be uploading new photos onto Flickr.
.
And I have something else exciting up my sleeve too.
.
(No. I am not pregnant. Why is that what everybody guesses? Amoryn is the only start we're planning to shine in our sky & scatter toast crumbs & happiness everywhere. The end.)
.
And you, my fine fabulous friend, will be finding out aaaaaaall about it by the end of today. Or maybe tomorrow. By the end of the weekend, I swear.
.
For now, however, Am & I are off to a Stampede Luncheon. My cowboy boots are giving me blisters & Am's are too big for her to wear, so don't anticipate any cheezy cowgirl photos, ok?

Stagger to the Left...

...and stagger to the right...

.

My dad enjoys Mel Brooks movies - or, more precisely, the humor that you find in Mel Brook's movies. Especially those circa "Blazing Saddles". Of course, in Blazing Saddles, I was introduced to the genius of Madeline Kahn.

.

I clearly remember a pirate movie where Madeline is following a treasure map, trying to find the secret location. "Stagger to the left.... stagger to the wight... crawl... crawl...". After some googling, I've only found one picture of Madeline dressed up as I remember her character in "Yellowbeard" (see above).

.

This is clearly a long & convoluted thought that must be going someplace, right? It should, shouldn't it? You know, when you try & find an image from the internet that references "stagger to the left" & "yellowbeard", this is one of the results:

.

Random, no? I mena, bully for Grahm & John & their Siamese cats & all, but still. Random.

.

All right, I'll get to the point.... I don't have any photos yet, but as of yesterday, Amoryn is walking! Or, staggering. She veers to the left pretty strongly... but she's taking steps all on her own! And since I've spent more time than I anticpated hunting through Google images, it's time to go & wake the little darling up!

The Swing Of Things

...And I almost mean that literally. Earlier today I very seriously flirted with buying a three person free standing swing that folds into a hammock. After much mulling, input from my associate L., & a realization of how big the jeep is, how strong I am, & the fact that I didn't pack tiedowns, I changed my plan of attack.
.
I got an umbrella for the upper deck, & an umbrella stand. I got a nifty zero gravity chair for the upper deck or the lower deck, or maybe the lake. And I got a little rattan two-seater swing that will hang from the upper deck. And some citronella mosquito bane stuff. And all for $60 less than the three person swing! I am content with all of it, or will be, once I get the man to hang the swing. (He is "In Charge" of screwing eyebolts into the deck. That is "Not My Job".) (There are very few things that are "Not My Job", so I feel okay about that. I don't need to "Do Everything", I just need to know who to get to do the things I "Don't Want To Do".) (In some cases - like changing manifolds in the Jeep - "Things I Don't Want To Do" coincide with "Things I Don't Know How To Do", & "Things That Completely Baffle Me".) As far as packing all of that into the Jeep, along with the stuff from the last CanTire run, & Am in her carseat, L. was my willing & able assistant. I think we were rather a side show for the people in the parking lot. Maybe it cheered up their day... they didn't get to the Stampede parade, but they did get to watch two women wrestle an amazing amount of stuff into a car.
.
We then zoomed home, I put Am down for her nap, & I rearranged the decks. I'm starting to feel more normal - I think the everyday routine helps. So does working in the yard, working with yarn, & hugs from Amoryn.
.
Things that don't help? My hitherto unsuspected method of dealing with grief - my subconscious opens up it's biggest, baddest cans of Bad Dreams. Nightmares make them sound a little too friendly, you know? Mares are nice creatures. These are bad dreams. Epic, ugly, horrible bad dreams. The kind that can haunt a person all day, into the next day, even. Oh well. I guess if my current gig ever falls apart, I could try to get a job screenwriting for Hollywood. Also, housework. I know housework counts as part of the regular routine, but I doubt vacuuming up the cathair that the three cats deposit will ever been a positive feeling. Bah. Anybody want a nice cat? Maybe two? Declawed?
.
Aaaaand speaking of my current gig, today, it's "Mom", so I'd better go & get my darlin' girl up from her nap. More later, with maybe some pics of my latest dye project!

Internet Asks: How Are You?

Um, yes. Hello there, Internet. It’s been a while. The last you heard, I was happily abusing my rental car. It was June 1st.
.
It’s been busy. First, & most happily, C had her baby! I got to be a labor coach, & it was a long & epic battle for her. It ended in a C-section, one stubborn & perfect little baby, and one doped up C. Babe & mama are both doing well – and my goodness the little wee cheeks on C’s babe! I wanted to eat them up this morning when Am & I went visiting. I didn’t though; the babe was asleep. And it’s rude to eat other people’s babies.
.
Less than a week after that sweet & high point, there was the low point. As I was driving home to Saskatchewan with Am to see Mom ‘n Hugh, & Mom’s friend Debbi, things worsened for Hugh. Our intended 4-day casual gab’n’chat changed. Am & I were down for a little over two weeks, and we went from vigil, to wake, to mourning. I think recovering is still a ways off.

.

(I don't believe that I'd mentioned in this blog what was happening. Hugh had been diagnosed with a serious cancer last summer; he responded well to chemo, then things sort of crashed in late May, with more cancer & sickness & hospital visits. I had hoped he was going to rally & recover, but he didn't. We lost him the evening of June 15th. He was at home, where he wanted to be.)
.
I know in my head it’s June, but my heart hasn’t signed up for the summer yet. It was beautiful & warm & sunny in Saskatchewan, but it seemed like a dream. It’s a beautiful & warm sunny day today here at home, but again, it just doesn’t seem real.
.
It feels like I lost June. I’m just treading water, trying to believe that June, & summer, & happiness are out there, but I feel like I’m mostly going through the motions. It’s a good face I’m painting on – even I buy it, sometimes, and with time it will settle in again, that it’s summer, & that good & happy things happen. Until then, I’m so thankful for Amoryn – mentally, I’m sure that the comfort I derive from her has to do with the evidence of life in the face of death, with life carrying on, etc etc. But really, I just love having her in my arms & having her little round head on my shoulder.
.
.
Mom, I feel so bad for your loss, for what you are enduring. I know what I’m feeling is nothing compared to the loss that you have; but me posting about where I am here in this blog makes me feel better. I think writing out the answer to the “How are you’s?” makes me feel stronger; and the answer here can be as long or complex as I need it to be.
.

So, how am I.... I guess I'm working through it. Talk to you later, Internet,

K.

Rental Car Abuse

So the Jeep now has 4 doors that all lock. Verrry exciting, especially if you recall that for about 6 weeks, one of the doors did not lock, courtesy of some criminals at Brentwood Station. (I'd call them hooligans or punks or somehting, but really, I don't mind a lot of hooligans & I'm quite fond of some punks. So I'm sticking with a simple descriptive term. Criminals.)
.
In order for the fix to occur, I had to leave the Jeep at the repair shop for a week. THis meant that I got to zoom about town in a rental; a Suzuki XL7, I think. It was gold for sure. And, similarily to that good old song, "3 Dressed Up As A 9", this was a minivan dressed up as an SUV.
.
Now, I did no lasting harm to the minivan; I just wasn't maybe the typical renter. There was the IKEA trip, followed by the scrapyard trip, followed by trying to get the mud off our steel-toes while fitting the rusty bits of metal in around the IKEA stuff. (Luckily, Amoryn was safe with Auntie C., or S. & I probably wouldn't have dared to try IKEA. And then there was the garden center... and the sand & the dirt from the garden center... and Costco... and Walmart... and Toys R Us... all of which involved large, unwieldy things being stuffed into the car.
.
All in all, I got the feeling that the Suzuki was more accustomed to less hauling. It did okay, & I liked the power sunroof. But all in all, I'm happy to have the Jeep back.
.
And now that I've told my story & established that the internet is working, I'm going to go & finish rearranging the basement. Wish me luck!

2 FO, OMG.

Yes, that's right. I've cast off on one of my many current knitting projects, verrrrry exciting. And today, one of my cost reports that I've been mashing my brain into mush over had it's first ever, on-time, perfectly correct release.* Amazing, eh?
.
Once I download the camera pics, I'll post a pic of FO #1 (FO=Finished Object). It's the shawl I started in the Bahamas, and finished here, mostly knitting at the train stop. I could get about 1-1.3 rows done in the trip from McMahon to downtown. I knew it was going to be light & airy, but soft & warm, & I find myself enchanted with it far more than I expected. To the point where the pics feature me wearing it, and also a fuschia t-shirt underneath. Fetching.
.
The cost thingy, well. I have learned a lot about databases & array formulas & MS Access & MS Excel, & while I don't know if it's made me a better person, in a while, when it finishes sifting to the bottom of my brain, that info is going to earn me more money. Provided I ever marshall my reserves & gird my loins & march in to my boss's cubicle & ask for a raise.
.
I know I should be earning more**, but ack, this whole business of asking for rate increases, it's hard. I've read studies suggesting that women are underpaid in comparison to men, solely because they find it so hard to ask for that any kind of recognition, let alone MONEY! ANd it's true, It's hard. I will ask. I know I will. It's just... blech.
.
In other news, I'm taking an evening class in natural dyes, which I'm enjoying, but is pretty much reinforcing what I thought about organic dyes to begin with. Pretty, interesting process, but probably too toxic & time consuming for my life/kitchen/personal hobby fetishes. BUt interesting, nonetheless. And surprisingly technical.
.
And in non-technical news, Amoryn is awake, & hungry, I bet! She's also very solidly into the 97th percentile for height & weight, which reall, no big suprise, right? And she was very brave at her shots, & very good during the last car trip.
.
*Let's not talk about the first three versions, which were more "cobbled", "makeshift", "in development", or "rickety".
**At least, for my position, seniority, & industry.

Bliss

Yes indeed. Sar, Cor, & I spent a lovely day at the spa. I had a hot stone massage, which was so relaxing that I actually thought that I'd melted & couldn't tell where the hot stones were anymore. It was lovely. Divine. Splendid. Verra nice & well worth the price.
.
There was also brunch to start, then hot-tubbing pre & post treatment*, a nice relaxing veg in the Serenity Room (really), and a rain shower where I think I used more water than some third world countries consume in a month. I'll tell them it was Oil & Gas that used all the water up if anyone asks.
.
When I got home, Amoryn was simply beside herself to see me. So gratifying. So lovely.
.
And that was my day. How was yours?




*-spa lingo.

Uunnnhhhhhgggghhhhhhh

When the alarm went off this morning, I groaned. And I sounded like Chewbaca. Yesterday, I almost chucked a bag of moldy cheese down the stairs & put the dishcloth in the garbage. Et cetera.
.
In other words, this head cold is not letting up. At all. And I have so much things to accomplish that my inability to process verbal talking out of my head plus the sneaky sinus headache that keeps flirting with a migraine is seriously screwing with me.
.
Yes. So of course I'm posting on my blog, knowing that teh Intarweb is sympathizing with me.
.
It's probably sympathizing with Amoryn too; although she is just a little crunchy, she doesn't seem to be as sick as I feel. I'm thinking that she would have progressed from crunchy to out & out bitchy if she had the sinus headahce. Or maybe she does, but her little skull is still soft enough that it flexes, instead of resisting the throb, thus creating the headache in adults but not infants? At any rate, I'm letting her sleep an extra hour this morning - she hasn't stirred & I think she really needs it, the regular sleep isn't letting her get ahead of her cold or her tooth.
.
Oh, & by the way? Breakfasts for sneezing babies are especially challenging when they consist of cream of wheat porridge & yogurt. *wipes glasses off. wipes tables off. wipes high chair off. wipes shirt off. rinse cloth & repeat.*
.
I'm off to wake my girl up, which is totally the high point of the day's current plans.

We’re Baaaaack!

Yes, we’ve returned from the Bahamas.

(View from our balcony of the pool & harbour.)

.
To this.

(View from the back door of the snow back on our deck.)

.
I know, but we’re still happy to be back.

(Happy child.)

.

I think the best parts of the vacation were a) unwinding & losing track of the days b) Amoryn getting so much mommy AND daddy time - I think she really loved that part of things c) hearing about the snow on our way out to the pool after one of Am's naps. But around all of that, it was lovely. It was idyllic. It was gorgeous the whole time we were there. There were beaches, and ocean, & blue sky galore. Amoryn as very good on the flights, she loved the water, and she ate pretty darn everything the first couple days, then mellowed out of her growth spurt & really concentrated on her love of cheese, yogurt, & fruit. I diligently (& constantly) applied 45SPF La Roche Posay sunscreen, because I had a theory that a sunburnt baby would be No Fun At All. I didn’t get to test my theory, thankfully, because of all the sunscreen**** application.

Would that I had been so keen on slathering myself – I burnt quite remarkably mid trip or so (maybe it was Wednesday? I don’t remember, we lost track of the days.) It wasn’t bad enough to really throw a kink in our style, but I did stay covered up for a day or so. (The man burnt too – a little wee bit, but it is all glorious tan now.) I’ve got tan lines now! And freckles*! Huzzah! (* Although not too many freckles, because I religiously wore my new Tilley hat. Which I lurve, lurve, lurve.)

(Although it may look like it, I am not looking at the man in the speedo exiting the ocean.)

.
And I peeled. I started peeling on the 2nd last day we were there, and I’m still peeling. I thought that I was all done peeling, until (disgusting alert! Don’t read if you’re squeamish or eating!) I was in the tub last night & noticed large-ish shreds of my skin floating by. Yecch. I’m glad the man wasn’t in town & was spared the actual indignity; he just gets to read about it. (Assuming he reads this. Do you read this? I don’t talk about you much here, you know. Maybe I should…)

(I'm peeling, in this shot.)
.

Along with the peeling & the dry skin, I hab a head code. Actually, I’m not that nasally, but my throat is pretty froggy & I sound like I;m trying to do an imitation of Sam Elliot. Of course, for the imitation to really be a hit, I’d need a mustache too. Did Sma Elliot ever do a Got Milk? Ad? He really should’ve, if he didn’t. (I just asked Google, a quick check makes me think that he hasn’t.)

.

Speaking of mustaches, some of my family visited over the weekend. (I know, that segue made no sense. It's late, I'm tired, & I've got a head cold.) I'm pretty sure that I made more sense when Mom, H, A, & Z were here. Even if I didn't, it wasn't really that big a deal; the real star of the show was, of course, my darlin' Amoryn, who loved the visist & all the attention. It was a lovely visit, but it wouldv'e been nice if the wweather let us go for a walk or a swing or something. That uncle sure has a lot of energy that he needs to burn off! I coulnd't get the photos to slideshow on tv, but I managed to show some of the trip videos via the tv.

.

I'm really am feeling like quite the technological Genius*** - tonite, I installed my new portable hard drive, hooked up two USD hubs, downloaded iTunes, and attached my DVD burner. Next up - downloading the videos, editing, compiling, & burning, then sending them off to family! Golly, what will the man say when he gets home & finds that my laptop has been so busy!** (**LAME computer joke. Really awful.)

.

Of course, this post is the last computer thing I'm doing tonite - I'm off to eat some cobbler & go to bed.

.

.

***- Wile. E. Coyote pronunciation, natch.

****-I originally typoed "sinscreen" - wouldn't that be handy in Vegas!

Yihooooooooo!

We is on vacation. The bags is packed, the flights is tomorrow, the living, it is good.

(Actually, I should say flight - direct to the Bahamas.)

We're taking lots of picutres, talk to you when we get back!

Love, us.


PS: Regarding the last post, it's actually "Gotta Skate", not "God of Skate". Which makes it not nearly so funny to me.

PPS: Amoryn's birthday party was awesome! She was great, even with the teething & the vaccination the day before & the strangers singing directly at her & everything! More on that later!

Unsuspected Source of Information

The man & I were watching the curling final yesterday afternoon. After catching part of one one particularily garish, spangled, fringed, figure-skated extravaganza of a commercial, I said, "Holy cow, are the ice capades coming to town or what?"
.
"No," the man says, "It's Kurt Browning's God of Skate Seven."
.
I burst into laughter. It was just such a ludicrous sentence to come out of his mouth. I may have got the number wrong, it could be Kurt Browning's God of Skate Four or Eight or something. I can't say for certain, and I'm loathe to ask Google. What would Google think of me? (google does keep track, you know.)
.
As well, the title - Kurt Browning's God of Skate Seven - makes me think of the Pay-Per-View Adult Entertainment titles - you know, Mistiii Raynes presents Hott (x-rated verb of choice) Action XVII.
.
And that was pretty much my Sunday afternoon. How was yours?

Easter!

Easter was busy.

I dyed a bunch of stuff.

Of varying types & colors.

And made a bunch of stuff.

And ate a bunch of stuff.
.
It was good.
.
(I also did a lot of bookkeeping, but that's not as exciting to photograph, so.)

.

(And yes, I did a bunch of stuff with the girl, & she was all adorable & stuff, but I'll put that in another post.)

Heh Mar 12

Heh Mar 12, originally uploaded by Kourtney_R.

You see that spoon? That purple spoon? It's no longer a token spoon, it is a spoon of action. If I load it with food, she successfully puts the spoon in her mouth & eats the food!

(As opposed to waving it around, smooshing it in her hair, dropping it on the floor...)

Trouble At The Playpen.

(Lest you think I'm being dramatic, "Trouble at the Henhouse", a Tragically Hip cd, croseed my mind as I eased out of Amoryn's room at 2:47am.)

.

But there was drama, never fear. I awoke to hear Amoryn fussing, & waited to see if she was going to soother herself back to sleep, which is what usually happens. Nope. Fussing gave way to crying. I even gave it an extra second, because the man is in Fort sMac. That means I have to go out into the cold dark world & there's no warm hot water bottle of a man waiting in bed. Anyways. As I'm pulling on my housecoat, I hear Amoryn's cry turn to a different tone, a downright scream.

.

"What on earth?", thinks I.

.

Well. Amoryn sleeps with a small menagerie of stuffies, there's a caterpillar, her bear (THE bear, as opposed to a bear), a singing bunny, a grey cat, & another bear (pink one, as opposed to pink two). The bunny looks like he's holding a star, & his arms are attached to each other, forming a smallish loop.

.

Amoryn had stuck one of her arms through the loop of the singing bunny somehow, and as I came into her room, was screaming at the absolute top of her lungs whilst flailing her arms about & clubbing herself in the face with rabbit, which just made it all worse.

.

It's ok that I've been laughing about it all day, because I didn't laugh at her then. I just extricated the bunny, soothed her, picked her up, dropped the bunny in the laundry (bad bunny! washing machine for you!), changed her bum, soothed her some more, and put her back to bed.

.

Then I laid in my bed, and listened to her talk the whole experience over with the bear. She went to sleep after 40 minutes. So I guess I'm also laughing because I'm a little sleep-deprived & sort of punch drunk. Heh.

Well, I'll be spatted.

It may be one of the signs of the Apolcalypse.

.

I was just surfing through patterns, on the hunt for a swimsuit coverup concept, & I found that you can upload photos of your own projects at Burda.

.

I'll gice you a second to see if your imagination can take you where apparently, a lot of Europeans go.

.

Give up?

.

How's about high heel spats:

This is the 2nd of two pairs; the first one was really ugly.

.

And there's Tinkerbell. Clap if you believe in fairies, children!

Amazing. A little overposed & overexposed, but still. Nicely done, but why?

.

And it goes on, & on, & on. There are some genuinely brilliant things, but there's also this:

Which is titled "Rückenansicht von Farbexplosion ". I don't think we need subtitles for that, do we? She does look totally hot, but really, that much red tulle? Farbexplosion, indeed.

.

The truly astounding thing is not that people made these things; but they made them from a pattern. (Or at least, started from a pattern.) That just blows my mind, man....

She's so happy!

Smiley girl Feb 24, originally uploaded by Kourtney_R.

She really is. Unless, of course, she's tired or hungry, or has just bonked her head. But hey, we all feel like that, right?
.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, is my first Tuesday going to the office while Heather watches my girl, which makes this the first two-office-day week. I think I'll miss my girl, but it'll be a relief to be able to get the Tuesday workload done so much easier, & I do enjoy going to the office & using a different corner of my brain.
.
And this is my last week of spinning class - mixed emotions - I really enjoy the class & learning & being around like minded (similarily obsessed) women, but I really really go through baby withdrawal - daddy puts her to bed, then I leave early the next morning before Am is awake, then when I get home she's usually having her afternoon nap. So it's almost 24 hours with no baby smooshing! Well, okay, it's more like 22 hours, but man, I miss her. I think it's worse because she's right there - just asleep, so I could wake her up & squeeze her....except I'm not that crazy. Well, maybe I am, but I do like my sleep, & respect her need for sleep too.
.
Speaking of sleep.....zzzzzzz