Jessica & Thrift Store Finds...

First off, I want to thank you for your well wishes for Jessica. After a couple of hours on Friday she perked up a bit. She didn't eat too much at supper, but her attitude was good.  She had no fever. Went to bed fine and slept all night.

A little backstory for you: She's had a loose tooth for the better part of the week (her first) and she was quite excited about it. Apparently at lunch on Friday, it came out, but she didn't realize it. She thinks it went into the trash with the remains of her lunch. It upset her quite a bit as she thought the tooth fairy wouldn't come (awwwwww). So, I wondered if she worked herself up into such a tizzy that she gave herself an upset tummy. She didn't look good when I picked her up, but given she never did get sick, it made me wonder.

I told her that I thought something like this happens to a lot of kiddos and maybe if she wrote a note to the tooth fairy, she would understand. So she did (it was the sweetest little note). And the tooth fairy DID understand and left her a dollar! Whoo hooo! The smile on her face yesterday morning was precious!

All day yesterday she was fine, ate well, didn't complain about feeling bad, so I thought we were in the clear. We even had dinner at Sweet Tomatoes and she was a little chatterbox. However, at about 3am this morning she woke me up crying that her tummy hurt. I laid in bed with her for awhile, then she told me she was going to be sick. Thank goodness the trashcan was right by the bed! She's been up since then (and so have I) but after that incident she has felt a lot better. No fever, either. And she told me she was hungry. She's had a bowl of oatmeal and is currently playing Pollys with Amy as I type this. Kind of strange. Maybe something was upsetting her tummy and she finally got it out.

So, here's the little cutie with her first gap! Excuse the very dirty face. Someone didn't wash it off last night before going to bed. LOL

The adult tooth is already coming in. I'm so glad the baby tooth got out of the way! Now she thinks the tooth next to the gap is loose. Oh and she told me to put the first picture up because it has Polly and her ship in it. LOL These were taken just a few minutes ago. I think she's looking fine, don't you? *Ü*

My new Saturday morning routine is to hit up the Arc thrift stores as they have their 50% off sale on most items then. I have three I can visit that are pretty close. (lucky, I know) Actually Steve just told me about another one he's been to that I've not visited. I didn't make it yesterday, but most likely will soon!

I was specifically looking for items to decorate for Valentine's Day. While I didn't really find too much, I did get this:

For a dollar! The hearts are metal and they sound so pretty. It was a bit of a challenge untangling it after I got home and I noticed one of the white hearts is missing, but I don't think it's a big deal at all. This is hanging on our porch. I found a placemat too, but I will show that later, after I head to Joann's to pick up some things I've seen there that I like. They are going to be 50% off starting today. (yay)

I found these, too:

Grand total for both? $3 and change! Whoo hooo! I'm thinking of putting some knitting needles in the more open one. Not sure about the other one yet, but it sure appealed to me.

And the BEST score of the day????

Is this quilt I found!!! It's pretty big and hard to get it all in the shot. I was just wandering by and the colors caught my eye. Then I saw the butterflies and it was all over.

Even though it wasn't on sale, I knew I had to buy it, because something THIS cute wouldn't last another week for when it was on sale. So I snatched it up. How much do you think I paid for this? 

$20?

$15? 

$10?

Nope! 

How about...$5.99!!!! That's five dollars and ninety nine cents! For a handmade quilt!

Picture me doing the happy dance!

I got it for Jessica's bed and she LOVES it! She even said she loves it more than "blankie" her constant companion since she was a baby. She snuggled up in it all afternoon (after we washed it, of course) and couldn't wait to put it on her bed last night. And when she wasn't feeling well this morning and we went out to the couch, guess what came with us? LOL

Definitely worth a whopping $5.99!

So, I never did make it out to my craft room yesterday. And I'm not sure I will get out there today. One of the things I managed to do is finally go through my starred items in Reader (how I mark cards/projects/ideas that appeal to me for future reference) and un-star items from ohhhhhh  2 years ago! Yikes! There were over a thousand items! Yeah, no way I'll be getting to use those in my lifetime, so I got back to the first one (in December of 2007) and just unstarred all of 2008 without looking. Then I went through all of 2009 and kept some and unstarred most. I did get all inspired to create after seeing some of the projects, but like I said, I'm not sure if I'll make it out to the craft room today. I might just go back through and print out the ones I know I want to try, which is what I have to do since I don't have a computer in the craft room and it's highly unlikely I will ever have one out there. Then I can start from scratch and keep up better with doing the things that appeal to me. (one can hope, right?)

Have a good one! Thanks for stopping by and leaving such wonderful comments!

The Floor is Passable Now!

I took a quick trip to Goodwill just a bit ago with 5 trash bags full of stuff and a box full of books I no longer want (novels, not crafty), oh and a rolling cart. I then stopped by the school and dropped off the load of pattern paper to the before and after school program. I was told by two sweet ladies in the office that they would make good use of it and with budgets being the way they are, they could use any donation. I have about 5 large bags of trash as well. But I can walk in my room now! Yay!

See...

And I cleared out the area by my rolling chair.

Ahhhhhhh, blissful walking room.

And I cleared off my worktable...yay!

This is the stuff I still have to decide what to do with. Do I want to have some sort of sale? I dunno. I just boxed it up so I wouldn't trip over it anymore. *Ü*

Remember that jar of cut up sponges I showed you yesterday? Well, I thought I'd take a picture of how I store the ones in use.

Here are two craft boxes (can hold DMC floss, or beads) One is open and the other is closed.

I have all the CTMH stamp pad colors that were available at the time I was a consultant. They've since added some new ones (that I don't own) and most likely retired some of the colors I have.

I cut the round sponge into quarters and fit them in the craft box. I then used my label maker to add the color names to the top of the box.

I labeled the sides of the boxes too, so I could pull out the one that has the color I want to use.

I

This is one storage idea that I really am glad I took the time to do.

*Ü*

One more happy surprise (sometimes it is good to be a packrat) I have this somewhat smaller size notebook that I was going to use for contact information when I was a consultant. At least I think that is what I was going to use it for. Well, it's not needed for that function and I almost pitched to a Goodwill bag, but held off for a bit. This morning, it suddenly popped into my head that it might be the right size for those Cricut cartridges that don't come in a box. Well, not the actual little cartridge, but the key pad and cover. I was thrilled to see that I could slip the items into the sleeve and they fit great. I'm almost tempted to put all my keypads in there, but am not quite sure yet, if I really want to. It might be easier for me to get to the stuff I wanted if I did. If you have a Cricut and lots of cartridges, do you store them in the original boxes or what?

And for now, I am done. I went through the dresser and pulled out stuff I no longer wanted (mostly it was trash, sigh). I still have my stamp sets to go through, but at this point right now, I'm so done with the project I don't have the heart to go through them. I'd likely get rid of them all just because I am tired (and would totally regret it later). LOL So, I'm going to take a break from this before I completely burn myself out and avoid the room because I'm so tired of it! LOL

Now, I must close. I just heard the plaintive voice of Jessica, who came home sick from school a little while ago, asking me to sit with her. She doesn't have a fever, but she feels sick to her stomach. So, I'm going to  help her feel a little better by snuggling with her.

Found the Link!

This is the link to the idea for the rubber bands....http://triplethescraps.blogspot.com/2009/09/organizational-friday-6x6-paper.html

I found the link on Mel Stampz blog. She just posted a huge organization post yesterday filled with links (her before pictures make me feel a little less overwhelmed.)...
http://melstampz.blogspot.com/2010/01/missing-with-migraine-craft-room-before.html

Laurel's link to her craft space http://s110.photobucket.com/albums/n110/loveflowers1967/?action=view&current=038e638a.pbw

Thursday's Progress!

Can I just say, I wish I was D O N E with this? LOL Unfortunately, I'm not quite there yet, but I got a couple more things done today. Thank you SO much for the wonderful and encouraging comments you are leaving. They are helping me tremendously in staying motivated to see this massive project through. Although, if I don't start getting some of the stuff I don't want OUT, I might just hurt myself. I have little paths I can take, but I'm stepping over this and that and a couple of times I've almost lost my balance. That would not be a good thing! I have a feeling no one would be able to find me. LOL

 
First up is an idea I saw this morning thanks to Laurel. I'd asked her if she'd ever shared her space and she sent me the link to her photobucket page with pictures. They looked familiar to me, then I realized I'd seen the pictures before and had even left a comment. Yikes! My memory is horrible sometimes. And I'm a complete and total dork. I freely admit that!

Anyway, I really liked the picture where she has her embellishments from CTMH on a magnet board. And it got my brain to working overdrive. I had to pick up a couple of things from Walmart and checked out their cookie sheets, thinking I could use those. Then I had the most awesome D'oh moment! The door that leads out of the craft room is metal and magnets will stick to it!! The girls have hung their various pictures and markings up for a long time. I just took them all down the other day. So, first you see what I used for magnets...I bought two packages, just in case. I cut strips about 1/2 inch or so. And adhered them onto the backs of the My Accents jars I had.

Let me tell you, I had thoughts of sticking up all the little plastic holders I have in my cropper hopper cases, but I stopped myself. Having it all out means that hubby everyone can see just how much stuff I've accumulated over the years. And I really don't need to be reminded that I have too much stuff. I already know this! LOL

I worked on this unit, too. I really liked Tresa Black's idea of using PVC pipe for her reinkers, but that would mean I'd have to buy, cut and  glue the pieces together. I had these pink trays from the Dollar Tree in a stack and loaded up all my reinkers onto one tray and adjusted the shelves (meaning I took off the shelves that were one inch apart all the way down to the floor) to fit the trays. Some are still empty, but that's okay. I had some empty plastic bins too, and put my felt into one and the fabric I've collected into the other.

I found a bunch of circular sponges in my purging and decided to cut them up and put them in this jar I used to use for candy. I have plenty to use for all my ink colors. I keep the ones I'm currently using in craft boxes (like for DMC floss) labeled with each color. These are ready for use when one wears out. Yay!

I moved some of my papers into white bins. They fit the Basic Grey pads perfectly. The purple box is holding 8x8 pads and the white cardboard box is one I received in the mail from Erin G. It fits those DCWV packs perfectly! I was thrilled I hadn't thrown that box away! I just cut off the lid. I didn't take any measurements of the box, but all but two of my pads fit in one box. Yay!

Last, but not least is another idea I saw around the blogosphere, but I neglected to note where I found it. If I come across the post again, I'll add a link. Anyway this gal showed how she used tubs to hold her Basic Grey sized pads and to keep the scraps in the pads, she used these large rubber bands!

See what I mean? Oh so cool! 88 cents for a bag of rubber bands means a lot less headache for me in trying to keep track of the scrap pieces. Now this may be a no brainer for some of you, but me, I never would have thought to do this!








That's it from me today! Have a good one. The weekend will be here before you know it!

It's Overwhelming!

I'm sure by now you are sick to death of me talking about my purging, and you can just move along to your next blog if you like, because I'm gonna talk about it again. And show you the very sad state of my room at the moment. I didn't have as much time to work today as it is Wednesday, which is my volunteer day and early release day at school.

This is what it looks like as you stand at the door to go in right now (I just stood there and took this picture). I know. Oh. My. Gosh! Please remember I've been collecting scrapbooking since about 1994. And some of the stuff in here is THAT old. (hanging head in shame, but also keeping it real!)

On a happy note, I did empty the shelf unit that was on this dresser enough to REMOVE it from the space! I don't know if those black wire shelves are going to stay or not. The basket is a thrift store find.

I cleared this area off, too. I'm debating on whether to put shelves or a makeshift hanging grid thing to mimic a pegboard with some extra grid shelving I have. I still have to figure out the best way to hang said make-shift grid pegboard thingiemabob. I'll share if I get what I'm thinking to work. But for now...blessed empty space!

Today's job was to go through my magazines/books. I bought the majority of these while I was working and had the money to spend. I'd hung on to them for years and always felt kind of bad that I didn't USE them. So I purged and this is what's left. I still need to consolidate and relabel the holders. Still, seeing some empty spaces feels darn good. Too bad I'm tripping over the piles on the floor now. LOL

My sad, sad, sad worktable! You don't know how bad I want to sit down and create something. Which always happens when I am busy doing something else.

Took a picture of my butterfly hook with a pail on it. Oh and look above it on the shelf....more empty space! Whoo hooo! Dang, you can't hardly see it. If you look down below the pail on the table you can barely see my newest find...I saw it on that crafty storage blog, the one where the gal uses her garage. Anyway, she puts her Cuttlebug plates on a napkin holder! Omg...I about slapped myself with the duh moment I had. Why didn't I think of that? Because, very simply, my brain does not work that way. I went to the thrift store and found a nice wooden one for a couple of bucks. I could have waited until it went on sale, but sometimes, I just gotta satisfy the I want it NOW impulse. This was one of those times.

A couple of years ago, when I was dropping of some donations to the Goodwill donation truck, some guys were there unloading stuff as well. They GAVE me a box full of mason jars. I've used some and tucked some away. Today I pulled them out to consolidate my flowers. Holy crud...do you think I have enough flippin' flowers?? In my defense, a bunch were gifts from Archiver's. Some were from CTMH when I was a consultant and the other stuff was purchased at 40% off. Daggummit, I don't need to get another flower as long as I live! LOL I DO need to use them more!

And more mason jars that are holding the CTMH chipboard shapes from the other day. My hope is that by SEEING it, I'll remember to USE it!

So even though it looks like a wreck in the room, I AM making progress (right?)

Sigh...

Today's Progress in the Craft Room

I didn't get done quite as much as I'd hoped, but what I DID get done makes me smile.

I got this plastic pegboard system on clearance at Home Depot several years ago. They don't carry it anymore, which is a bummer, because I'd like to find some more hooks. For a very long time it held my old edger scissors. The ones that were all the rage back in the early 90s I think. Well, I'm being very tough this time around in my purging and asking myself if I've used something within the last year. Most of the scissors had been hung there, untouched for more than a couple of years. I decided it was time for them to go. Around the blogosphere I've seen several craft rooms where the punches were hung up using curtain rods. I liked the idea, except I wasn't sure where the curtain rods would fit in my space, or if they'd truly hold once I did put the punches on. When I stood in my space looking at the pegboard I thought....dowels! That might work...I have peg hooks that would hold a dowel. So, I headed over to Michaels and picked up four 1/2 inch by 36 inch long dowels. They were 99 cents, I think...the total was $4 and some change. My first thought was to cut them to fit the width of the pegboard, but I'm glad I didn't jump on that. I was able to fit quite a few of my punches. Yay! The few scissors I'm keeping are hung up as well as baggies filled with chipboard shapes. I don't know why I have so many, but I do. The white ones are CTMH ones, the rest I got on sale at Joann's a long time ago. I just popped them into baggies and punched a hole in the corner to be hung up.

And I finally tried this idea I've also seen around. Putting shelf liners in the drawers (well, I only had enough for one drawer out in the craft room) But I think it will work great to keep them  in place. And yes, I know I have a ton of punches! What can I say? I love my punches!

These are in the top two drawers of the file cabinet I picked up at the thrift store.

I also re-hung the butterfly hooks around the room and put a matching little pail on the hooks of some of them. They aren't filled yet, so I opted not to take a photo just yet. Well, you can see one of them next to the pegboard (minus a pail...they are good for hanging extra gift bags, too!).

I cleared out another file cabinet near the door of my room and put the pool chemicals in the bottom drawer (Steve always kept them on top of this file cabinet and now they are out of the way for now) and my big Xyron machine along with the cartridges in the top drawer. I never liked it hanging out on that shelf I had them on.

That's it for today, friends. Slow and steady progress will ensure I actually get this finished someday! *Ü*

Another Gal Who Uses Her Garage!

I completely forgot to mention this when I posted earlier. I found a crafter who uses her garage as her craft room! Oh my gosh...talk about inspiring! I love what she has done in there. You can check it out here. While my space may never look quite as together as hers, it's wonderful to know I'm not the only crafter who has taken over 1/2 of their garage. *Ü*

I found out about it through another blog I read called Crafty Storage. I've been subscribed to it for awhile, but posts were not very regular as the blogger was busy. She recently asked if there was anyone who would be interested in contributing to the blog and she got a terrific response. So, for the past week or so the posts have been pretty regular and it's so much fun to see all the different crafty spaces and storage ideas bloggers share. You might want to check it out.

Thanks, Shantaie, for sharing you lovely space!

It was a QUIET Weekend...yay!

I'm hopeful that the people behind us finally got the hint that letting their dogs bark is not a good thing. It appears they kept them inside over the weekend and while they've been out a bit today (and yes, barking) it's not been for prolonged periods of time. Yay!

Over the weekend we finally found a second hand dresser for Amy...another yay! It's a bit bigger than the one she was using and all her clothes fit, with room to spare. *Ü* She's happy with it and the fish in the tank are happy to be settled again. They don't NOT like being moved. LOL Speaking of the girls, I also managed to find the source of the beeping/alarm noise I've been hearing every night at about midnight. I thought I found the source last week, but I was woken up again the other night, so when we moved the dresser in, I told the girls they HAD to find the culprit. They looked only half heartedly (of course, because they slept right through it), and I managed to find it in a couple of minutes. For Christmas, Amy got a set of text messenger toys. One can text back and forth between them. Anyway, somehow the alarm got turned on one of them. I found the one where the alarm hadn't been turned on I guess. To ensure it wouldn't beep again, I took the batteries out. Whew! No wakey, wakey at midnight last night. Ahhhhhh....

Yesterday, while watching the playoff games, I worked on a beaded crochet bracelet I wanted to make for my friend's mom (who is "gram" to my girls). Her birthday is later this week. I was going to do a pattern with the beads at first, but decided to go totally random (gasp) because I liked how the beads looked all jumbled up in the bag they came it.

I got it sent off today and hope it arrives in time.

Thought I'd show it off for perspective. I used beads from Hobby Lobby and they are size 6. The robe is kind of stiff when I'm done, so I have to make it a bit larger than I'd like to get it to meet at the end for sewing it together. I was pleased to have been able to get it done in a day. Amy asks every day if I've worked on her giraffe. She was patient yesterday knowing I was making the bracelet for Gram. She even made up a birthday card for her while I was working on the bracelet.



I took Buster to be groomed the other day. Dang, I'm always amazed at how much smaller he looks when the bush is gone. Even the groom commented, "Who'd have known there was such a cute dog under all that hair!" LOL

Just love that face!

And I got a sweet, sweet surprise in the mail today....a card from Sparkle!!! I love it Sparks, and so do the girls! Thanks so much for thinking of me! If you've not been to Sparkle's blog, you are in for a real treat when you go. She is a MASTER with the Copics and color combinations. Her cards are just fabulous!

I made it out to the craft room today and worked some more on "the purge." I have some empty spaces now! Still not done, but making progress. My piles to leave the space are getting bigger. Oh my! But it feels good to finally make a decision on some of this stuff. Speaking of craft rooms, if you don't subscribe or visit Tresa's Fabulously Artsy blog...head on over, she posted a video tour of her studio today! It's terrific and inspiring!

Okay, I need to finish up dinner, so will close. Hope you've had a great day and terrific start to your week.

Happy Birthday, Christi!

Surprise! If you came here to see if I have posted anything, you're in luck, because I was asked by her mom to participate in Christi's Nifty Fifty Birthday Blog Hop! I was thrilled to say yes!


Christi has a blog called Blessings on Paper and it's so worth a look if you've never been. She is incredibly talented and creates gorgeous cards. I was tickled pink to be asked to participate in a blog hop to honor her 50th birthday.


I "met" Christi online while we were both consultants with Close To My Heart. We'd frequent the artwork boards for consultants and I remember a few years ago she asked if anyone lived near Denver. She was moving to the area with her family and wanted to ask some questions. I offered to help her in any way that I could. So, we emailed each other from time to time. 


I have thoroughly enjoyed Christi's artwork (and received a few of her absolutely gorgeous cards) and was so excited when she emailed me once that she'd be at our local Butterfly Pavilion and did I want to come and meet up with her? She is just as sweet and funny in person as she is on her blog. An absolute treat! We've also met up at a local (to me, not her) Archiver's and chatted our way shopping through the store. 


I'm so glad to have the opportunity to help her celebrate her 50th birthday. So, without further ado, 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRISTI!

This is a deceptively simple card. I say deceptively, because it took me a heck of a lot of time to get the focal piece done. I'm so excited to share this and it's sort of fitting, too, because I found what I used at Archiver's! 
And what did I use? The doily you see on the front is from  a limited edition Cricut Cartridge called Mother's Day 2010. There are 30 images on the cartridge and what sent me over the edge to buy it was the three doily images included. Isn't it stunning? 


It took me a while to find the right settings to cut this baby out. I tried using textured black cardstock several times, adjusting my settings, but I couldn't get it to cut fully no matter the depth I used on the blade (and there's a lot of stuff to pop out if they aren't fully cut). So, I switched over to CTMH black cardstock (which has a white core). That worked wonderfully. I took a sponge and carefully pounced black ink over the areas I didn't want to see white.


The oval piece is also from the same cartridge, and there's a layer piece that fits inside the neat black piece. Love it!


The Happy Birthday is from CTMH, Birthday Sentiments I think (probably retired). I inked it in versamark, then heat embossed it with black embossing powder. 


To add a bit of bling, I carefully placed pearls and a few little black rhinestones.


On the inside, I used the scrap pieces from another doily I cut out. Love it! The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Birthday Basics set.


And you noticed, I hope...I sewed on this card. LOL Not as nicely as Christi does on hers but I used my sewing machine nonetheless. The pattern paper is from DCWV's Latte and Creme pack (I think that's the name of it...it's outside and I'm inside and sorry, I'm not running out in the dark to check it out).


You might also noticed I crocheted a little bit for this card, too. I had to! The center was screaming for something and this seemed to fit. The center is a button from a "vintage button bag" I picked up somewhere. 


Thanks so much for stopping by. If you arrived here from June Houck's blog: http://simplyelegantpapercrafts.blogspot.com/  You are on the right track. If not, go there and follow along the hop. Help us wish Christi a fabulous 50th birthday! Some cards may not be posted yet, but will be by 11am Mountain Standard time.


Next up, head over to Barb's blog...http://thebuzzfromqueenb.blogspot.com




I'm second on the hop and here's the list of the other participants.


1.  June Houck http://simplyelegantpapercrafts.blogspot.com/
2.  Jeanne Tomshack http://tomshack.blogspot.com/ <-----that would be me! hee, hee
3.  Barb Walker http://thebuzzfromqueenb.blogspot.com/
4.  Stacy L  http://impressionsofaribbonaddict.blogspot.com/
5.  Christi Thorsen http://cici510.blogspot.com/
6.  Cammie (Carolyn King) http://myblogbycammie.blogspot.com/
7.  Marie Isom  http://isomcre8tions.blogspot.com/
8.  Mary Ellen Harrison  http://abeautifulscrapbook.blogspot.com/
9.  Sarah Masteller http://sarahspapertray.blogspot.com/
10.  Susan Roberts http://rainy.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
11.  Jeanette Fincher http://2redbananas.blogspot.com/
12.  Elise Durenberger http://mamacowcreations.blogspot.com/

Happy, Happy Birthday Christi!

Tired Human Feels Better

First of all, I must thank you so very much for your sympathies and very kind words about the whiny post I wrote yesterday. I truly appreciate the time you took to care.

I thought I'd give you an update.

After I posted, I actually got a call from an Animal Control officer. She had pulled up the complaints listed for the address and told me there were 5 of them (over the past two years), but they were all anonymous. This was also frustrating to me because I know I have called many more times and each time (except for the very first time) I called, I left my name and phone number, my address and the address of the house with the problem dogs. I realized though, they must have a sort of revolving door in the Animal Control department because each time I made contact with a real person, it was a different person than the time before. So, I'm sure many of the complaints fell through the cracks. The upshot is, the first few logged calls spanned over 6 months between them, so, according to the department, they have to start from scratch then. I didn't know this (and secretly wondered if some of my calls weren't getting logged so they wouldn't have to deal with it, you know?). And she told me because the calls were "anonymous," they could only leave a notice and not take any further action.

But, she noted that there were 2 calls within the last few months and my call the other night. She said they could ticket the owners if I was willing to write up a statement for the complaint. This is the FIRST time anyone has ever asked me to do something like this. Tired as I am of the whole situation, I agreed and wrote up a complaint for this last incident only (although I worked in that it was an ongoing situation into the complaint). She stopped by and picked up the complaint and told me that how I worded it was perfect (whew). That means the judge won't throw out the complaint. If the owners fight the ticket, I might have to go to court to testify, but she said it rarely gets to that point. The ticket means there is a fine involved. She said, basically, all they can do is ticket the owners, they can't take the dogs away or muzzle them or anything. But the tickets get progressively more expensive. So, maybe, just maybe this will let the owners know that there are consequences for having dogs that constantly bark.

I thought I'd let you know that these owners are renters in the house. They are young adult males, in their 20s, I think (this is also the house where they let the weeds grow as tall as our privacy fence). They work odd hours and the way our houses are situated, ours sits a little higher than theirs, so I can see pretty well into their back yard from my house. They occasionally have parties, but it's not a problem at all. They may play their music a bit loud, but it's never for a prolonged period of time. I honestly don't know why they have the dogs since it appears their lifestyle isn't conducive to giving them the love and attention they deserve. I suppose it's the fact that having a dog can help offset the potential for someone to break in...but I don't know how helpful that would be if someone actually got INTO the house, because the dogs are OUTSIDE the house, but whatever.

There are two dogs that live there. One was there first and isn't too much of a problem. They brought in a puppy, (to keep the other dog company) and it's THAT dog that is the main problem. He's been a barker from the get-go. Although sometimes he gets the other one riled up enough to do his barking thing.

I know the dogs are bored. There isn't anything really for them to do. And they don't bark ALL the time, but it's often enough that it is incredibly annoying when they get going. Given that I can generally see they aren't getting attention I know WHY they do it, and I feel terrible for them living such a sad life. I don't know that the other neighbors say anything, mostly because they are neighbors, or maybe they work a lot, too and simply aren't around to realize how often it happens. There is foliage on either side of the backyard and that could be muffling the sound so we alone get the full "benefit" of the noise. All these are guesses on my part.

And it's usually worse when the owners are gone from the house. If they are home, it's not much of an issue, although I can tell when they are home and they let the dogs bark endlessly (without coming outside to see what's up). If they are gone for the weekend, I know we are in for a noisy time.

I did get a much better night of sleep and feel much less like a zombie this morning. My perspective is returning and I think I can handle the annoyance of this situation much better. (They haven't barked as much since I called, thank goodness~that helps).

Thanks again for listening! I really appreciate it! Hope you have a great weekend! I'm gonna try really hard to enjoy mine!

Barking Dogs-1, Tired Human-0

It's about 9:15 in the morning as I type this and I've been awake pretty much since 2:30am, so up front I'm going to tell you I'm tired and this is going to be sort of a rant type post. If you don't want to listen to me whine, feel free to move along. But, I also want to get it out of my system and hopefully be done with it. I also want to note that I realize, in the grand scheme of life, this isn't some horrible thing, but on the other hand, it's incredibly frustrating.

By my post title, you may have an inkling as to why I've been awake since 2:30 am. Long time blog readers know we have had an ongoing (for, oh, about 2 years now) issue with the dogs that live at the house behind us. One more so than the other. The issue? Constant barking. Like for hours at a time. Not at the squirrels that roam our back yards. Not at someone who may be up to no good. Just barking because they are bored and neglected by their owners. When the owners are home, they don't bark, usually (but they've been known to bark when they are home). When the owners are gone, they generally bark, constantly. And yes, they are about 99% of the time, outdoor dogs. I sometimes see someone come out for a minute or two, then they go back inside, leaving the dogs outside. I have called our animal control department numerous times, talked to a real person, or left a message. I get a song and dance and nothing ever changes.

During the day when the dogs are barking, I have come to the point where I can pretty much tune it out and go about my day. At night, it's harder to do that. When you are awakened in the middle of the night by the barking (and in addition to just general barking, which is bad enough, they are adding a sort of howl to the mix), it's maddening. Especially when you call the non-emergency police number to report it and both the dispatcher AND the officer tell you...it's really an animal control issue and I should call them in the morning. It's overwhelmingly frustrating to be told by the officer you are speaking to that the ordinance for the city is written in such a way that says the dogs can bark at pretty much anything, a flick of dust flying by, a cloud floating across the sky, the streetlight...doesn't matter.

So, I was awake at 2:30 and couldn't go back to sleep. I looked at a few emails, then knit for a while and at about 4:30, I laid down to see if I could sleep. I dozed for awhile. But, I pretty much have come to the conclusion (after 2 years of this...you'd think I'd have picked up on this before now) that there isn't anything that is going to be done about these dogs and I'm tired of complaining about it to the city. So, I'm done, I will just tune it out as best I can.

After dozing I got up to start reading blogs and the computer is off. Yesssssssssssss....it's acting up again after about a week of working just fine. So, no blogs for me unless I go to the dinosaur computer (which I'm on right now). Amy isn't speaking nicely to Jessica, which doesn't help my mood, either. Such a happy morning!

Get the girls dropped off at school and head to Wally World for a few items then over to the city hall building to pay a utility bill. I must have looked dog tired as the gal commented and I started crying like a baby. I was so embarrassed, but that's what happens when I am overly tired and frustrated, I guess. They were really nice and even got the "community outreach" person to come out and talk to me. I told her what happened and she took the information and said she would follow up and work on getting the situation taken care of. Do I believe it? Heck no. I'm sure they were just trying to appease this wacked out woman crying over some dogs barking. Was she sympathetic, yes, most definitely. Will it help, most likely not.

I have a feeling I wouldn't have reacted this way had yesterday not been my mom's birthday. She would have been 74. And while I thought I was doing okay handling it, I think my (over emotional) reaction was a delayed response to dealing with my sadness and missing my mom. I went out clothes shopping yesterday and came away emptyhanded and down in the dumps because nothing ever fits me right. (Clothes shopping on a day when I'm a little blue to begin with isn't the best idea I've ever had, I'll admit that).

So, the barking dogs win. This human is tired of trying to get someone to care (other than me), so I'm done getting worked up over it and will ignore them as best I can.

Like I said, not the most earth shattering situation to deal with, but it was bugging me so I wanted to get it out. If you read this, thanks for putting up with my whining. I'm sure the next time I post, I'll be in a much better frame of mind. I think I'll go take a nap now.

Well...So Much For THAT Idea...

You aren't going to believe this, but the watch broke! Sigh...the pin came out.

Maybe I'm not destined to get a watch because, what I didn't say earlier is, I had picked out and bought the watch (and earrings) and went out to my car. I wanted to wear it right away and noticed at that time that the second hand wasn't moving~the battery was dead, so I trooped back into the store and got another one (they only had the two of this style). When we were at swim class this afternoon, I lifted my arm up to pull out more yarn for the giraffe I'm working on and the watch was barely hanging on my wrist. I hadn't pulled it on anything, the pin just fell out. This also explains why I didn't go back in when the earrings hurt, I didn't want to go back another time. Oh well, I'll return them and look around for something else. My hands still feel great, though, and my teeth ARE clean, so all is not lost. LOL