It's FINALLY DONE!

Here's the preview of Scoochie's new comic, starring ME as a superhero! Click on the comic to see the rest of this installment on his Stolen Cheese blog.

No School Day

Another blog you HAVE to check out!

Everyone you know is doin' it
Doin' it
Writin' a blog
and chewin' it
Chewin' it.

My sister has finally visited blogland and decided to stay awhile. She's set up her own blog all about her new business, her thoughts, musings, and whatnot. Check it out, and leave her a comment saying you got to her blog from my SUPER COOL blog!
http://newviewhypnotherapy.blogspot.com/

And just in case you forgot to look, Scoochie's blog... which will soon have a new comic starring us as the superheroes we are. The amazing adventures of Super Scooch and The Tash, coming soon! Don't forget to LEAVE COMMENTS! That's all we ask, us bloggers. No payment, just a little adulation once in awhile. So PLEASE, leave Scoochie some comments. He works super hard on this stuff!
http://stolencheese.blogspot.com/

Oh the Whomanity!

It's been the busiest of weeks in a very busy month, which is my excuse for the lapse in communication this time. So much to report to bring everyone up to date, but the easiest way will just be to spit it all out, and details will be provided for those needing them. The overall feeling is that even the things that have seemed bad have had some good come out of them, so everything is still looking up. And who can complain about that?

• Scoochie's brother-in-law ended up needing emergency surgery in the Big City, which left his sister marooned at the hospital for about a week. The good news? Spending a day with Sonja and learning what kind of kid Scoochie was. Overall report? Good kid, well meaning, but prone to accidents with fire and Starburst fruit chews.
  
• Scoochie's amazing and wonderful daughter Brittany finally got an answer to why she was always feeling run down. The answer is that she has the Type 1 Diabetes (or "The Sugars" for those from the south), which means lots of fun with shots and math and counting of the carbs, but not-so-fun waking up at 3am to check the blood sugar. Brittany stayed with us this week for her mid-winter break, but never kept her promise to be combative at some point so Scoochie and I could try and force sugar into her mouth against her will. Maybe next time.
  
• After the family enjoyed a wonderful shopping expedition the week before last for laughing monkey heads and wind-up nuns, a man on a motorcycle chose our car to run into after we backed out of our parking space. Fortunately none of us were hurt, but the man suffered a broken leg, which made us feel very very bad. Scoochie's new car has been in the shop for 10 days now awaiting parts to fix it, which is when we got to make the first payment. The positive side of all of this is that the car would have been getting a TON of miles on it this week as we drove around on several important missions, like searching for chili pepper lights and low carb cheesecake. Now Scoochie's car will remain in near-pristine condition, with low miles, and a new, shinier bumper.
  
• During Brittany's stay with us this week on the ONE NIGHT I had to be out of town for work, Scoochie ended up sitting in the emergency room with all three kids until 4 am, while I lay in a hotel room in Beaverton, oblivious. The lesson is that "sharp, stabbing pain in the stomach" in a 15 year old is an emergency room golden ticket, and that for some unknown reason, throwing up in the emergency room can be very funny indeed, to both nurse AND patient.
  
• Getting your first new grown up brand new bed when you are 34 years old is made a hundred times better when you adore the person you bought it with.
  
• Having your 7 year old throw up in his bed in the middle of the night is made better when you have a king size bed to bring him into, instead of a full size futon with two adults and two dogs. And you can realize (as if you didn't already) that you have the absolute best, most amazing, wonderful, fantastic person ever to share your life with, when as you cuddle your sick little boy in bed, your boyfriend goes into the puke-filled bedroom and takes the Iron Man comforter off the bunk that's 6 feet in the air, and shakes the big puke chunks off into the backyard, and then puts it in the washer. And then, just to make your eyes tear up with gratitude that your life couldn't be more perfect, he lays back in bed and reaches around you to ruffle the sweaty hair of the sick little boy to tell him that he loves him and that he's sorry he's feeling sick.


• Archie McPhee's is the coolest store ever, because every bathroom wall needs a pair of squirrel underpants, and every diabetic girl should get to keep her poking supplies in a tin that held band-aids with pictures of cupcakes on them.

And lastly, I FINALLY finished organizing the art room, and actually spent yesterday sewing. The best part of all, is that Scoochie's drawing table is also in the art room, and so for the first time in my life I have someone in there with me, working while I work. We are mostly quiet as we are both concentrators, but just having him there left me with that feeling of happiness and contentment that makes one think of cute and fuzzy bunnies and teddy bears dancing in verdant meadows. And that's an awfully good thing, indeed.

Blahbity Blah

With Scoochie's blog up and running, I was feeling a bit at a loss for something to talk about. But then I remembered! I never showed the pictures of us at my good friend Sara's Bond-themed birthday party for her husband, Martin. The trick was that you had to dress up as your favorite Bond character, only Scoochie and I are both pretty sure we've never seen an entire James Bond movie. So, going a little off the beaten path after what seemed like WEEKS of research, we ended up looking like this:
Which is not too shabby, if I do say so myself. I am Tracy Bond, who was married all too briefly to James Bond before being killed in a drive by shooting that oddly enough resulted in one bullet wound in the center of her forehead. Scoochie dressed as Emile Largo, a Bond villain who appears in a few different Bond movies. I think we make a pretty hot couple, don't you?

The Beat Goes On

I don't really have much to report these days; the art room still hasn't been organized, so for myself there have been no new projects. Scoochie has been a busy little bee though, and is working steadily at putting together his own exciting blog for the world to see his brilliance. I expect the blog to be up any day now, but mark the address now in your favorites: http://stolencheese.blogspot.com. I promise you will not be disappointed, and you may even see a few more glimpses into the daily goings-on of our lives.

Change the Subject already!

I feel it necessary to admit right here for all the world to see, that I made only three gifts for Christmas this year. And since I'm feeling a little bit guilty about only making three gifts and how you, Dear Reader(s) might have your opinion of me affected by that admission (isn't this supposed to be a craft blog? you say), I thought I might redeem myself by posting the link here for one of the projects. Doesn't that give me more craft blog credibility? So here you are, the pictures of the illusion knit scarf I made for Scottie Doo, along with the instructions here. Do not be afraid to try this, it's not nearly as daunting as it looks. Just take it ONE STEP AT A TIME, and you will be super excited about what you end up with!

And just for fun, here's what I did with Scottie Doo's little ziploc baggie of Berlin Wall. If one is so excited about a ziploc baggie of Berlin Wall Bits, one surely must want everyone to see his Berlin Wall Bits displayed, yes?


The third project was a wallhanging that I made for my sister but never quite took a picture of. For starters, I was trying to be creative here in this room, which has still not yet been unpacked. Organizing this room is the first big task on the calendar for the new year, and I promise to show you all the end result.

Until next time (which I hope not to be too long from now), I hope you and yours are doing well. I'm as good as can be now that my kiddos are home, Scottie Doo has started work on the masterpiece he's making for me (can't WAIT to show you!), and the new year has kicked off in earnest. I think this is truly shaping up to be the best year ever.

-Tasha


*** A note about the Christmas cards this year... I had a stack, of which I had enough stamps for about half. I sent the ones I had stamps for, and then mislaid the remaining cards before they made it to the mail. Not having any idea which cards had actually been mailed, I'm afraid I actually look like a horrible friend to a handfull of people. My apologies to anyone who didn't receive a card but should have!

How life can be SO busy, yet not...

First there was the White Christmas which started a week ahead of schedule that I didn't so much mind about, except that it gave me some extra headaches to make sure everything was covered at the day job. Then the kids went off to Alaska for three whole weeks, making me feel a little bit lost without them. Now we have flooding to contend with, and though I know I shouldn't complain because MY house isn't flooded, this is what the entrance ramp for me to get to work looks like.

This is a house about a mile down from ours on the same street...Some random marooned cows...Scoochie surveying the scenery.Are we done yet?

Happy New Year!

I vow the following:

• Create
• Love
• Laugh
• Live

And that's all I have to say about that. Make it the best, because that's all that's worth your time!

Tis the Season

Some messy snow days and a harried 2:30 am trip to the airport to see the kids off to Alaska yesterday, and the Bah Humbugs are starting to creep back in. As always happens at this time of the year, I realize that the number of projects that need to be done far outweighs the number of hours left before Christmas. And so, needing some instant cheering and needing it quick, I decided to take another look at this year's Christmas card.

The humbugs have melted away as I look at this card and recognize just how great the things that I have to be grateful for really are. Scottie Doo drew this one night in what I hope could be called a collaborative effort. First he drew the people, and, after I looked over his shoulder and remarked that we needed to look Christmassy, he took my suggestion to draw himself wearing a reindeer sweater. He didn't even cringe when I remarked that the space behind Solstice would be perfect for a snowman, and after the snowman was drawn, was completely patient when I insisted then that something needed to be added next to me "for balance".

Him: What do you think should go there?
Me: I don't know, something completely random.
Him: Like what?
Me: Well, like C3PO.

And it was done. And so this picture reminds me how wonderful life is; I have two adorable and smiley children, a man who will draw himself into a reindeer sweater because he knows it's the right thing to do, and an instant boob job for me, at least on paper. (Be careful what you wish for... "draw my boobs a little bigger so my hips don't look so big" can end up making you look even bigger.)

In case I don't get back to the blog before Christmas, I wish you an amazing and magical day, and hope you can find a way to keep the magic going throughout the year!

Napability

I can't believe it has been two full weeks since I blogged last, but I promise you, dear reader(s), that this time has not been spent in an idle manner. I've been busy box unpacking, Christmas decorating, recipe and grocery list coordinating, and yes, a little bit of panicking; all for this weekend's Christmas party for Scottie Doo's co-workers. I'm happy to report that the big event happened on Friday, and as of yet we've had no reports of food poisoning from the attendees. A merry time seemed to be had by all, and our living room has been proclaimed "highly napable". I take that as a compliment.

I was too busy the night of the party to take any pictures, so hopefully you can get a small taste of how our little home here in Perfect Town is coming together for the Christmas season. I feel fortunate that things seem to be working themselves out, and the combining of two lives is going quite well most days.

The front of the house, showing off the collection of vintage tablecloths-used-as-curtains.

Nothing says Christmas quite like a skull and crossbones lit from the inside. And with some delicious yarns inside for good measure, it's the perfect combination of his and her tastes. You put your chocolate in my peanut butter! NO, you got your peanut butter on my chocolate!

The view from the living room into the dining room. The table is the one that Scott has been busy making for the past month, and it turned out beautifully. We found the wood in a pile outside at the ReStore in Seattle, and the legs were taken from an end table we found on Craigslist.

The Seahawks tree, which I've already confirmed will be our theme for next year also...

The wreath on the door of the art room. I got the idea last year from Tif's blog, and lucky for us she's been good enough to re-post the instructions again this year, so I don't have to hunt for the post. Yeay for Tif!

Even a wall of broken instruments needs a guardian Santa Elf to look over them...

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Because if your dollhouse is on fire and you have to call in Engine No. 7, it helps if there is a Christmas tree in the back...

Standing next to the tree is a helpful squirrel with a nice little bauble for decorating...

And in this corner... the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree and a helpful monkey with another ornament, hoping for some sparkle. The Santa in the frame is a Christmas card from my mom a few years ago, and she painted it herself!

Ignore the treadmill, which was too big to move. Is that the COOLEST gigantic John Belushi portrait painted the night before a Christmas party that you've EVER SEEN?! Scottie Doo is magic. Those of you who have followed my blog for awhile may remember that I started this as a 'craft' blog, because I actually used to have time to make things. So in the spirit of reminding myself that I am actually a knitter most years at this time (I'm a knitter... I KNIT), I included this lovely little garland at the dining room window. Nope, I didn't knit any of the stuff on the garland(although last year I did knit some sweater ornaments from this pattern), the ornaments you see here were all bought from one of my favorite stores, World Market.

Doesn't everyone decorate their bathroom? And yes, I want to remark that I got a great compliment on my choice of shower curtain for the main bathroom, which you can see here reflected in the bathroom mirror. And don't forget to notice the pine scented hand soap. Scottie has voted that we keep the colored lights up year-round.

My Christmas fish ornament, naturally.

And finally... even the great cinematic serial killers of our time like to get jolly around the holidays.

Gobble Gobble!

The Saturday Thanksgiving went off mostly without a hitch, provided you consider a minimum of 4 "emergency" trips to the grocery store for missing ingredients normal (I do). Having Thanksgiving on Saturday means that every store is open regular hours, so there is no need to drive miles and miles on the off chance that Bob's Mini Mart might carry Cool Whip (as happened during the Christmas of 2006). Everyone knows you can't have pie without Cool Whip.

And so it's back to the grind of normal life, spent unpacking boxes (yes STILL), decorating for the December 12th Christmas party, and trying not to think about this being the first Christmas I'll be spending without my beloved kiddos, who will be flying off to The Alaska to visit their Dad. Ugh. Double ugh. Triple, quadruple, pentuple ugh.

And that's all I have to say about that. The goal is to get the studio unpacked and put together by then, so Scottie Doo and Tashie can paint and sew her blues away. Oh me oh my.