Hmmmm,

I saw this meme/test on WildPeculiarJoy's blog tonight. My results seem pretty accurate. I love Ricky Gervais and Jon Stewart. Woody Allen squicks me out but I get the comparison as far as intelligent humor and all that.

Your Score: the Wit

(52% dark, 34% spontaneous, 31% vulgar)

your humor style:
CLEAN | COMPLEX | DARK


You like things edgy, subtle, and smart. I guess that means you're probably an intellectual, but don't take that to mean pretentious. You realize 'dumb' can be witty--after all isn't that the Simpsons' philosophy?--but rudeness for its own sake, 'gross-out' humor and most other things found in a fraternity leave you totally flat.

I guess you just have a more cerebral approach than most. You have the perfect mindset for a joke writer or staff writer.

Your sense of humor takes the most thought to appreciate, but it's also the best, in my opinion.


You probably loved the Office. If you don't know what I'm
talking about, check it out here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/theoffice/.


PEOPLE LIKE YOU: Jon Stewart - Woody Allen - Ricky Gervais






The 3-Variable Funny Test!
- it rules -



If you're interested, try my best friend's best test:
The Genghis Khan Genetic Fitness Masterpiece

Link: The 3 Variable Funny Test written by jason_bateman on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test View My Profile(jason_bateman)

Square One

I picked up my serger today.

No, it isn't repaired. The part he was waiting for still hadn't come in. So I took it and will now be just taking it to the Viking dealer in the JoAnn's Store like I should've done in the first place. Lesson learned.

Just because they say they can repair and service all makes and models doesn't mean they should. I only took it in there because I was already taking my Bernina in there anyway for a cleaning and I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone. I also wanted to give the business to a local small business owner rather than the big box store.

I just called the Viking people and they said it will probably be 2-3 weeks depending on how busy they are in the repair center. At least I can be pretty confident that they will have the part in stock, being the factory and all.

UPDATE
I took the serger into the Viking shop today after dropping E off at gymnastics. This experience was the Yin to the other joints' Yang.

I can not sing the praises of this dealership and the professional manner in which I was served high enough or loud enough. (And many of you know just how high and loud I can get!)

One of the original reasons I didn't go here originally was because the Viking dealer in the old JoAnn's where I bought this machine wasn't the greatest. I'd dealt with them a couple times and wasn't impressed. This is a totally different operation run by completely different people. And it is in no way affiliated with the JoAnn Fabric organization other than to lease space from them.

Not only was I treated in a friendly and professional manner but I may have also made a professional contact. I mentioned my business plans and was promptly handed a business card and told to get in touch with her when I was ready to go. She's willing to work out a deal where I can either buy (at a discount) machines from her for my shop and have the ability to sell them to my students/customers. We may even be able to work out a sub-dealership type deal where I sell machines in my space through her. We also briefly discussed a reciprocal referral system. If her customers want additional classes, she'll refer to me and if my customers want machines, I'll send them to her.

If you live in the western Chicago suburbs and are considering buying a sewing machine, I strongly recommend:
Terry Hutsell
Viking Sewing Gallery
Inside JoAnn Fabrics
714 Commons Dr.
Geneva, IL
630-232-4860

Further Clarification!
I emailed a link to this post to Terry at Viking Sewing Center and got a nice reply back. She wanted to be sure that I understood that she is an employee and not the dealer herself and she can't make any definite deals with me and my business. She meant that after I had my machines for a year or so I could possibly sell them as an individual to my customers at a discount. So as not to get her into any trouble with Viking USA, I thought it important to clarify.

Taking over the world.

This is Ozzy. He has really grown since we brought him home and his personality has really developed.

He is the cuddly cat that I've always wanted that's for sure. As I type this he is precariously perched on my left knee as I sit at the kitchen island. If I were on the couch he'd be draped across my chest like a mink stole. He sleeps across my chest or neck at night, practically suffocating me.

He has also used his charms to gain acceptance into the big cat fraternity with the Milk Brothers. They not only tolerate him but seem to enjoy playing with him and let him cuddle up next to them. I've even caught the three of them in a communal ear washing.

As far as the dogs are concerned he lives on a different plain of existence than they do. Heidi hardly notices the cats and vice versa. Shadow farts and moves over when the kitten wants to share the heat in front of the fire.

Life is good at the Mess Zoo.

Doing what I can.

We're still at somewhat of a loss as to how to help our friends, J & D. But one way I decided to help was to use my knitting talent to make some caps for her now that she has had another surgery and is undergoing chemo.

Last Friday I selected the softest DK weight yarns I could find at the LYS and decided on the Odessa pattern by Grumperina. I chose two colors of Rowan Cashsoft (the blue and the minty green) and one ball of Lavold Silky wool in pink. But when I got home and knit the blue one I decided that I needed a dark wintery-er color too so I stash raided for the elderberry left over from my Millennium Vest.



I had these iridescent sea glass colored beads in my stash that I got from Earth Faire sometime in the last year or so. They matched the light green yarn perfectly. If I can put my hands on the tube of pearlescent ones that I know I also bought at the same time, I'll use them with the pink silky wool.

This is a lovely pattern and knits up pretty quick. I also really like the fit. Best of all it is an economical knit, it took just under a 50g ball of DK weight yarn.

I am not amused.

Guess what shop I stopped in at today?

If you guessed the "Finely crafted Swiss Sewing Machine Shop" that is around the corner from my house that has been holding my serger hostage since late October, you'd be correct. I just happened to be driving through that particular parking lot on my way from Home Depot to Caputo's Italian Market and figured, "What the hell, maybe just for shits and giggles I'll stop in and see if there has been any progress made on getting this thing repaired and back to me." HAH!

First of all, the look on the sales-lady's face when I responded to her innocuous question, "How can I help you today?" was, "I'm just checking if by any chance that my machine that has been here since October might be done yet?" was truly priceless.

Secondly, no, it wasn't. Of course 'Joe' wasn't in today and left no notes on the actual machine as to its status or possible day of parole. It appeared that the parts that "He was waiting for and as soon as they came in he'd pop them in and give me a call" were in fact there but not anywhere near being "popped in".

The kind sales woman assured me that she would move my machine to his work bench and put a note on it that I'd been in (AGAIN!). I told her to add to the note that I would be back on Thursday to pick up my machine and if it wasn't done, I'd be taking it and the parts with me anyway and not paying a cent for their "services."

I wonder what kind of service I would have received if they had known that I was preparing to launch a local business catering to crafters. A business where in I would probably have sewing machines available for rent by the hour and offering sewing classes. A business that could potentially send referrals for new machine purchases and machine repairs their way. It's a shame too. I really prefer the brand of machine that they sell. It's making me wonder if maybe I should also look into becoming a machine dealer myself in conjunction with my other business plans. I hear Brother makes a nice machine that is pretty affordable.

Food for thought.

Working it

Now that the new year is officially begun, (The girls are back to school!) I need to get serious about getting this business idea off the ground.

One small thing that helps me out a lot is talking with my sister. She and I are both trying to do very similar things but are approaching it from different directions. We decided last summer to try to talk once a week or so about different ideas and to give each other encouragement and motivation. Today she called me for our post-holiday wrap up and so we could get each other going again for the new year. I really needed it because I totally lost focus this past month.

One small step I've been taking just to try to raise some funds and get my name out there is to work on my etsy shops a bit more. This month I've been focusing on my photography shop. I've been adding new images and trying to list and re-list regularly to keep my items at the top of the category.

Soon I will spend some time rephotographing some items for my other shop and updating my listings there and see if that helps at all.

I'm also going to look into buying some online advertising somewhere but I haven't done enough research in that direction yet.

In the mean time, to keep things cohesive, I've added two pages to this site featuring my etsy items and direct clickable image links to etsy. Look in the column on the right under 'Pages' for links to those pages. Feel free to browse, no pressure.

What winter was made for...

When one has run out of knitting steam and their serger is STILL in the shop (don't ask, seriously.)

READING!

Yesterday I picked up a book I bought for Little E this summer that she never read. London Calling by Edward Bloor. No, it isn't about The Clash! It is a young adult/youth category book. It entails time travel, history (WWII) and other good stuff. The time travel/historical stuff is set in 1940 London during the Blitz. It really brings that moment in history to life in a way that is both brutal and honest without being too much for kids to handle. (I would say the 8-10 crowd would be okay with this.) There is some unrealistic conflict resolution but I have to remember that this is a kids' book. I think I am going to check out some other work by this author, I've read great reviews on Tangerine.


Now on to a Book MeMe:

Open the book I am currently reading to page 161 and read the 5th sentence, and then tag 5 people...

Last night I picked up The Virgin's Lover by Philippa Gregory that has been lying around forever. I've read a few of her other Tutor Queen books and they were good. Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres. Anyway, on to the meme:

"God rest her soul," Will said.

I'm not going to tag anyone. If you read this blog, read books, and have a blog of your own, consider yourself tagged.

Is it over yet?

My holiday season wasn't what one would call cheery. At least inside my brain. At times I think I managed to pull off a semblance of festiveness and I didn't kill anyone, myself included. So on that note, I'd consider it a success.

I'm hesitant to go into dreary detail but I guess I should give some sort of recap for those of you at home keeping score.

Dec. 20th: Girls' last day of school.
Dec. 21st: Neighborhood Christmas House Walk. No problems, not too much to drink, and spirits in okay condition.
Dec. 22 & 23: Family arrives for our holiday festivities. All goes really well. I manage to not get all stressed out and am relaxed and having fun. We have a dinner for 18 people and it all goes off beautifully.
Dec. 24th: This where things start circling the bowl. I'm physically tired from the weekend. We make the decision to have our gift giving that afternoon so the girls can have more time with their "stuff" and to give us more time in the morning. We figured they were over the "magic" of Christmas morning. Sorry to say but this decision took any remaining wind out of my sails. So anti-climactic to open gifts at 3pm on Christmas Eve. Then we had to start getting ready for dinner and church service. We were scheduled to usher at the 8pm service. We were late and I was stressed out. It all went off without a hitch but it left me more than a little frazzled. Plus I got dissed AGAIN by our senior pastor. It feels at times like he compares me to a smelly fart and the fart wins.
Christmas Day: We get up and finish packing and loading the car for our trip to Michigan to the in-laws. Because we have more time I do get a lot of the garbage out to the garage and the house picked up and vacuumed before we leave which is nice. The weather is great and the drive goes fast. Mr Mess thought ahead and made breakfast sandwiches to eat in the car because McD's would be closed. We arrive in Traverse in record time and all is well.
Dec. 26 - 27: I'm exhausted now emotionally as well as physically.

E indicates that having gifts early wasn't as much fun as usual even though she liked having the new Wii to play with early.

MiniMe starts a campaign of teenage bitchiness that takes no prisoners. She knows all the buttons to push and nails them every time.

Mr. Mess and I barely speak to each other. Then right before the big family dinner is ready to be served I'm talking with my sister-in-laws and finally relaxing a little and feeling like a part of the family, and he drops a big ol' smack down on me that leaves me in tears and mute for the rest of the night. I manage to muster through dinner but as soon as I can escape I grab my new iPod, coat and boots and head out into the north woods night for a walk. After 20 minutes of P!nk, Kelly Clarkson, and Amy Lee getting all my pissed off emotions out for me in my ears, I return to the house and find a metaphorical corner to sit in.

MiniMe opts to stay at the house instead of returning to the hotel room of snoring and small, hard beds. Needless to say, the rest of us suffer through another night of hotel heating that is either too cold or too hot and dry and makes all of us snore like St. Bernards. I get very little sleep and my emotional tank is totally tapped at this point.

Thursday morning is a little better but not much. We escape to the mall so the girls can spend some of their Christmas gift cards and cash. Then we return to the house to gather the rest of our stuff and wait for Mr Mess to complete a conference call. Then we hit the road again. Drive was okay and we got home by 9:15pm.

Dec. 28- Jan. 1: The holiday week has taken its toll on my physically now. My digestive system is all out of whack. We got a snowfall on Friday so we shoveled the entire driveway (it's huge, long, and circular) and my arms, wrists, and back ached. Also, the four of us have been in almost constant contact for over a week. We're getting on eachother's nerves and we all need a little normal routine in our lives or something. On Sunday we do have our good friends over for dinner and games and have a great time. But even that doesn't end well.

Right before bed MiniMe says something to me that cuts to the quick and I go to bed and try to talk to Mr Mess about it but don't get much helpful feedback so I just roll over and cry myself to sleep. I must be grinding my teeth in my sleep too because I wake up with a jaw pain that only ice packs can relieve. I'm on emotional eggshells now too. In in one of those dark places that leaves me staring out at the snow and wishing I could run away. It takes a real physical effort to do just about anything. I'm keeping a very tight rein on everything because I don't want to crack or lash out at any of my family. Eventually I just go back to bed for 2-3 hours to try to refill my fuel tank enough to get to midnight.

MiniMe goes to a friends for the night and the rest of us stay home and eat reheated pizza and play Wii. Seeing Dick Clark at midnight depresses me even more. Because Little E doesn't like to sleep upstairs alone, I sleep with her in the queen bed in the guest room. I get a much needed full night's sleep.

New Year's Day: The sleep helped so much. We got dumped on with over a foot of snow and I'm inspired to go out with the dogs and go snow-shoeing. I take my camera and get some much needed exercise at the dog park. Heidi and Shadow loved it too. The rest of the day I was able to relax and slowly crawl out of the hole I had been in. I made clam chowder from scratch for dinner and worked on some new photos with some software our friends gave me.

Today the sun is out and my mood is up. Bonus that Mr Mess is back at the office this morning and the girls are still in bed. It almost feels like a normal day around here again.

This battle I'm fighting with depression is never ending. Even though this has been a really hard week, I don't want to go back to the medications I fought so hard to get off of a year ago. I've made it an entire calendar year with out them and with a few rough spots I've done okay. I wish there was something I could take only during those rough spots to get me over the hump but I don't think there is currently. Right now I think that getting enough sleep (even if that means hurting Mr Mess' feelings and sleeping in another room), moderate exercise (preferably outdoors), and eating and drinking sensibly seems to work as well as anything. Having people around me that understand what I'm going through and realize that it isn't about them or directed at them helps too. That part is out of my control and the toughest part of all of this. That's when running away starts to look good. But for today, I'm still here.