A Comic for Comma

Dan and I have been caring for my sister's cat for the past two years while she teaches abroad in Turkey.  Comma came with all sorts of new things that took a bit of getting used to: a climbing tree, bath wash, 6 or 7 different types of brushes, a snazzy collar, and lady cat smells.  My boys, Baxter and Kodak, didn't really know what to make of her. 

Comma is a bit of a loner.  While my boys are more likely to be found on the back of the couch or in the middle of the bed sleeping, Comma would squeeze on to a bit of shelf above the washer and dryer, or scamper to the top of my pile of fabric.  She doesn't rough house or chase the ball around her track/scratch mat, but she was an ace with the lazer pointer, and will shed her shy disposition when ever it made an appearance.

Some changes have happened over this last year.  My sister and her husband are thinking ahead for what will be best for their combined futures abroad.  They made the hard decision to be apart for the next 18 months so Adam can equip himself with a teaching certificate, allowing more placement options and less boredom.

When Ciara flew back to Turkey this past August, instead of flying with her husband, she took her furry family instead.  Comma is back with her human, and we are back to a two cat household. 

I forget where I came across these post cards, but in cleaning out a pile today, I found one that make me think Comma.  

By: Jeffrey Brown

Comma loves to sit on the highest furniture possible, which is the kitchen counter in my house.  The above illustration is her idea of playing. 

We miss Comma, but if you'll recall from previous posts, I'm a huge proponent of feline adventures.  I'm sure she is happily soaking up some Turkish sunshine. 

Happy Halloween!

Instead of getting a costume, going out, and being a part of the Carbondale community last night, I watched (a little) of the Oregon v. USC game and read The Girl That Kicked the Hornet's Nest again. I sat in the chair with sun on it for as long as possible, then got into a pile with Kodak, Baxter, and yes, even Comma, for afternoon reading/napping. Not much going on - other than reliving the mental kung-fu Lisbeth pulls out on Sweeden's legal system.

Out of the blue, I got a call (I heard her voice!) from my sister in Turkey! She skype-dialed me and she told me all about her next mind-stretching project: NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month. I am excited to hear how it goes for her. It was a short call, but it was 11 pm where she was and sometimes that's just how it goes. I got to hear a bit from Adam too, as he piped up in the background. I miss you C!



I also received a phone call from my brother, Josh, and we talked details of our get together this week. I get to see both of my brothers! Josh and Krista are working in St. Louis this next weekend and they (as per usual) beat the truck with all the stuff so they get a few days to bum around. We'll meet in Bloomington, hang, go spend time with Miah, Jessie and the kiddos, and then on Wednesday I'll drive them back to St. Louis. I am really looking forward to meeting Krista and I don't see Josh near enough.

Whew!

It's been a roller coaster for me these last two days.

I just made a trip to Mailboxes Etc and sent off a special order to Neely in Tennessee.

This pillow finally got made after two days of misunderstandings and numerous color swatches. It was almost too much near the end! But, this is what she wanted and this is what was mailed. She will enjoy it, and I now have enough cut out pieces from the other swatches to make a pillow for my page :)

My projects board has two rows of contact information to check in with when I return from Alaska, and that feels pretty good. There are 9 people just waiting for pillows!

Ciara flew out to Turkey yesterday with Adam, and now that it's 5pm, they only have about two more hours of flights, and maybe 2 hours of car rides until their big travel day(s) are behind them.

I need to get ready for my own traveling. I took an adventure through my closet earlier to pull my rain gear and cold weather clothes out. My back pack in airing out. I am taking a little break from all of the rushing with the latest pillow before I tackle the actual packing.

Dan and I will drive up to Chicago tomorrow, with a stop in Bloomington to see my friends, Kristy, Trish, and Crissy for lunch. At the Garlic Press. I love the Garlic Press. And then early Saturday morning, I fly to Juneau through Seattle. I'll be there at 2:30 local time, which will be 5:30 Central time.

I'm excited to read books on the plane. Since my Etsy shop has opened, I haven't been able to focus when I read. I feel like I should be in "my studio" (that is how I reference it now. "I will be out of my studio from August 14th- September 30th...") working on orders. I have four books just waiting for some quality time.

Speaking of quality time, Dan and I are going out! Gotta go!

C leaves tomorrow - a dog in the house?

Hello lovelies -
Countdowns are always both exciting and a little scary. Mom's coming into the coffee shop have been giving me the countdown until their kids start school again, I've been giving Dan the countdown until Alaska, and in my brain I've been checking off the days until Ciara and Adam move to Turkey. Which is tomorrow. Holy cow.

I got to chat with C yesterday while she wondered through a bookstore, asking my opinion of some Neal Stephenson books. We hung up after a while and then I got sad: I won't chat with Ciara while she's wondering around a store/ or driving from Portland to Spokane/ or projecting/ or projecting for two years!

I need to get my Skype system working (ie: buy a webcam). *Sigh*

At the Johnson/Swift house yesterday, we had two guests. Kelly and her dog Sahara spend the night on their way from Memphis to St. Louis to Champaign to Chicago. Having a puppy in a small apartment with three cats could be horrible, but it wasn't. Sahara is a lab/corgie mix, and incredibly well behaved. And adorable!

Sahara the dog :)

Comma and Kodak kept a close eye on Sahara. The dog was more apprehensive of the cats than the other way around.

She is so cute and little! Short little corgi legs and a a body shaped like a lab. Awwwww.

In the Etsy newsletter

I found the spot where my pillow was featured on Etsy. Visit the page HERE. I'm part of a selection with the header of Rooftop Party. This newsletter goes out to thousands and thousands of people everyday. What great exposure!

Since Thursday I've been trying to keep everything straight and accomplish as much as I can.

Here are three orders in their wedge stacks with backing, waiting to be sewn together.
I had to come up with a easy way to see where all of the poufs were at in the process and keep sellers straight. I turned my tree sun window into my sticky-note bulletin board with headers for: Interested, Fabric Choice, Cut, Fill, Done, Ship, and Follow up. The sticky note then has the buyers name, item ordered, the status of their payment and any special instructions.

In amongst all of this sewing business, Dan's Friend Kelly will be coming to stay with us this coming Monday night, with a dog. I had a chance today to clean out "Dan's office" (which is really full of my stuff) and get it ready for company. That meant I needed a place to put my fabric and projects so we could set up the twin bed. Seeing it all heaped up on the ironing board before re-sorting it made me realize how much I've taken on! I have a lot of fabric!

I got to talk with Ciara today and hear how her moving countdown is going. She is busy getting organized and seeing her friends and family. Wednesday is going to come so fast.

Great news!

I just got word today that my wonderful sister is okay! There was a possibility that a spot on her brain, which was found when she was in the ICU for low sodium levels, could have been a type of cancer, but it's not! Hooray! We have been sitting with fingers twitching for a week but her doctors think is old scarring from some past head trauma (falling off a bike? Cheerleading? Having our brother use her for wrestling practice?) So, whew! It was great to her her voice on the phone today with a noticeable lack of stress and worry. This of course means she can get back to that other huge thing she was stressing about - moving to Turkey in 14 days!

Now that her brain is safe and sound in her noggin, I purchased my ticket to Juneau to make my own travel hopes a reality. On August 14th I'll be on my way back to beautiful Juneau, Alaska (it's 62 degrees there right now!). Yay! I'm so excited to see my friends, enjoy the scenery, be a part of that crazy tourism culture, and the beer. Holy cow, I miss Alaskan Brewery's beer. My boss had a taste of their Smoked Porter and their Oatmeal Stout when he was in Colorado a few weeks ago, and he made me promise to bring him back a bottle of each. How can I say no?!

I still don't know where I'm staying when I get there, but I'll bring my sleeping bag and camping pad, and I'm sure someone's floor will come available. :)

Sewing up a storm!

Hi friends! Now that I've dove into Etsy and opened up the shop, I've been having a great time putting projects together and feeling good about how they turn out. At the same time, I've had two custom apron orders to make for a Common Grounds customer. So much sewing!

To start the weekend, my machine kept malfunctioning (!) and I spent a good hour taking the thing apart (as best I could), cleaned and oiled it, and eventually found the one loose screw that was keeping my feeder foot from grabbing fabric to progress the stitch. I felt pretty good, I have to tell you. Dan got to see me skip two laps around the house singing a little ditty proclaiming how awesome I am for figuring it out. So here's what I made!


This is the double sided full apron for my CG customer. She wanted something with lots flowers, in mint green and light pink. This is what I came up with . The green side has one pocket (the white square), and the pink side has two pockets (the beehive pattern rectangle).



These two bags I made and put on my Etsy page. I really, really like these two fabrics. Both I found on my last stay in Chicago at The Needle Shop.


I made this, my second Kiss Clasp bag, and I wasn't happy with how it turned out. It is a bit too long, which makes it a bit awkward to use. It was good practice with making my own pattern to fit the frame, and also to make inner pockets.



I call this last one my Octopus apron. I made myself a slouch bag out of this material and love it more and more as I see it. The purple square is a pocket on this side, and below on the back side, both the orange flower square and the pink polka dot square are pockets. I really like how this project turned out.



And just now the mail man came! My sister sent me a care package with all sorts of wonderful things! I knew about the fabric, but she added some wonderful other things - take a look :

Jam (home-made and will be gone in three weeks, yes, that's one jar a week), the second book in the Flavia de Luce mystery series, Ciara's favorite Amy Butler pattern, buttons, a hand-made paper notebook, and wonderful sewing things: fabric, fabric, ribbon, and edging. I can't wait to use these wonderful treats!

Comma (Ciara's cute gray cat pictured below) was sniffing all of the contents as they came out of the box, I can only assume, because she recognized her momma smell. It was so sweet. And then after it was empty, she guarded the box from Baxter (who usually gets to take the first squat in all of the other boxes that come into the house). Aren't the cats super cute?!

Weekend sewing project - Pouf

My sister is in a pin cushion exchange. You can read about her creation here. I saw this tutorial a while back and decided to try my hand at it this weekend, thinking that it looked like a giant pin cushion!

I needed 24 swatches or 12 double swatches for the wedges. It took me a while to decide which to use, and I was a little disturbed by how much pink fabric I have.

After cutting out the 24 wedges and 24 backing strips out of muslin, I sat for a good 30 minutes rearranging their order to decide how they'd fit together best. I decided on the orientation above.

Cutting everything out was the longest step in the process (I'm not a good cutter). The sewing lasted through an episode and a half of Fresh Air, and the stuffing another 15 minutes. I threw a trip to JoAnn's in the middle to buy a 12'' upholstery needle for the tufting bit, and by last night all but the decorative button was in place.


This morning, a few stitches for the button and this was what I had! Comma slept on it last night, and this morning, both Kodak and Baxter found it to their liking. I really enjoyed this project, but would alter a few of the directions to be clearer (ie: sewing the points and tufting the washer in place).

Ta da!

New Camera!

I've been shopping and saving for a camera since last fall when mine was taken/lost while in Juneau. With all the fun trips I have coming up this summer, plus the creation of my Etsy store, I got determined while in Spokane to end the search.

I settled on a Canon Power Shot G11. I've been having fun with it, to say the least. Here are some shots from Spokane since it's purchase.

Spokane with family

I flew into Spokane on Saturday. It's warm and green, and I'm excited to be breathing air that doesn't have the weight of So.Ill's humidity. Mom and I had lunch in Brown's Addition, eating outside with an orange umbrella and pretty images refracting on the table from the sun through out water glasses. There is always so much to talk about when mom and I see each other!



Since then, Ciara, Josh, and I have been visiting and talking, at both Mom and Dad's respective houses. Dad grilled pork chops (super yum x2) and we sat on the back porch drinking beer and digesting. We got to hear some stories of Josh and Krista's time in Japan, and then a bit more about some of their plans for the next few years. I'm excited to meet this woman who obviously makes my brother so happy.



With mom and Martin, we five saw the Swedish film based on a book my Stieg Larson called The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Ciara and I are huge fans of this author/series and we tried to fill mom and Martin in on it's awesomeness.

I went with Josh and C to visit Grandma yesterday. I haven't seen her since Ciara's wedding, and the stories mom has shared are pretty right on: she's together sometimes, but for the most part, she's losing her memory. Dementia? Alzheimer's? At times she knew we were Renee's children, and a few minutes later she thought we were her friends from childhood - asking if we remember her mom's donuts cooling on the window sill. She looks good for being 91, but she's shrinking away, little by little.

And I got to visit with Rena last night. Rena, Rena, Rena! After such a draining experience with Grandma, it was wonderful to be around a friend who has been steady since we first were friends. I showed up, and a quick 6 hours later, we still had things to talk about. It will be good to see her again before I leave.

Ciara leaves tomorrow, so today I want to spend as much time with her as possible. I feel so fortunate that I like my family.

Flying to Spokane! Comma moving to Carbondale!

I bought tickets! I am so excited to see my family I'm about to burst! My brother Josh is coming back from Japan the same day, so we'll have all week together. Ciara will be coming out for the first half of the week, along with Comma (probably), and I might be meeting Krista (Josh's fiance, who is also returning from Japan) for the first time as well. The dates are May 15th-22nd. Yessssssss.


I spoke with C this morning about some concerns with Comma, and we came to an understanding. Our home here in Carbondale will be expanding by one, as a new cat will join us. It's sad that Comma won't be going to Turkey with Ciara and Adam, and it may be crazy for the next two years while they are gone, but I'm looking forward to having a furry reminder of my sister walking around the house and keeping Baxter and Kodak in line. Although Comma doesn't have any claws, she has the personality to whip the boys in shape. Yay! Kitties!

Painting

Man, this picture looks like crap, but here it is mom. The tree I was telling you about. I can share it, now that I gave it to my dear friend, Danny. I'm really bummed I didn't take a better picture. Oh well. I guess this is even more motivation to save my pennies for this. Recently, there have been many opportunities to use a camera, and I'm feeling sad that I haven't made it a priority to replace the camera that was taken in Juneau.

Other picture news, here is a recent one of Miah, me, and Ciara, while C was flying through on her whirlwind job finding adventure! We probably won't all be together again until Josh's wedding, and then all 4 will be together! (Miah and I used to be thought of as twins growing up. I think you can really see it in this pic.)

And I don't know why the font and size is all over the place. I promise, I'm not trying to shout at you.

Visit pics

Turns out I have less pictures than I imagined. Here are two great ones of Cecilia, Ben and Ciara. Isn't my family beautiful?

Ben is quite taken by flight. RC planes, helicopters, blimps, jets, you name it, he wants to talk about it and see pictures of them. You tube has been great. His reaction above is to an awesome video he and Ciara were watching - he just couldn't contain his joy! And Cecilia is getting big and strong. She is six months now, and loves her mom and dad. She is all smiles when they are around.

Home safe

I am home. Ciara is on a plane to Portland, and Violet is safe in the drive way. All is well.

The last 24 hours have been so busy! Driving, cleaning, and driving. The condo was left in wonderful shape, so instead of going over everything, Ciara and I went to work on details that I never seem to get around to like cleaning behind the refrigerator, replacing the furnace filter, deep scrubbing. Ciara tackled a project I've been avoiding since October of '07, when at my house warming party a candle dripped a huge puddle of wax on the carpet. Now it's gone! Ciara is amazing!

But now, I will rest. Getting up this morning and leaving the house at 1:30am to get her to St. Louis for her flight has taken it's toll. I'll post pictures of the kiddos and sister after a nap.

Violet Lives!

She just keeps going!

I got the very excellent news that the problems with Violet stopped once the radiator was replaced. That means no extra diagnostics, no transmission tuning, and the big one - no new transmission!

Ciara and I left Champaign yesterday about 1:30 headed back to C-dale, but unfortunately Ciara forgot some very important teaching things with Miah and Jessie, so this morning we are driving back up. We decided to take the extended trip over to Bloomington so I could get my keys back from the renters and clean the place. We'll take off from there tonight, headed for St. Louis, and Ciara will make her flight home tomorrow - unless some other mishaps presents it self.

My poor sister is traveling more than expected on this trip, but she continues to be in good spirits. Have I shared her newest adventure?

The original reason for her coming East was a International job expo in Boston. She had interviews with administrators from schools around the globe, and after the first day, she was hired to teach in Turkey! In August she'll be moving with husband to Tarsus for two years! Whoa!

More on that later when we have some idea of what it means.

Violet is ill.

My car is broken.

Dan and I drove to St. Louis yesterday to pick up my sister from the airport. There and back, there was no trouble. The day before I had taken it to get the oil changed and my guys looked it over for me. "Seems good!"

Ciara and I left C-dale this morning, headed to see more family up in Champaign. 15 miles before we reach our brother's house, I lose the ability to accelerate, and I see some smoke coming from the car. After stopping and popping the hood, I see there is some major fluid splatter in the right front, lower quadrant of the engine compartment and both green and red fluid, (coolant and radiator fluid) are dripping madly from the undercarriage. Awesome.

A tow from a dude named Justin and a ride from the bro later, I'm now waiting for 7am on Monday morning for the shop to open and diagnose the problem. I hope something is disconnected and they can put it all together with out much problem. What will probably happen is they discover the head gasket needs to be replaced, the water pump blew, and I have a cracked radiator.

All this means I cancelled the other events that were supposed to take place this weekend in BloNo, mainly collecting the keys from my renters and cleaning my condo. Now I'm piecing together the logistics of getting my sister back to St. Louis for her return flight.

I'm trying to stay positive and remember that this could be epically worse; I could have been in the middle of nowhere; I could have not had family that I can stay with for free while I wait for the shop to open; I could be required to be at work on Monday instead of having time off until Thursday; I could be dirt broke. When I see how bad it could be, I'm pretty happy about the situation.

And then I realize how much I rely on having mobility, and the idea of my car being broke beyond repair makes me want to cry. And so, I put out a call to the Universe:

Dear Universe,

I need my car to work. Please let the mechanic have time to diagnose the problem quickly and let that problem be small and inexpensive.

Super thanks for my awesome family.

Sincerely,
Ariel, Road Warrior

P.S. If you sent me renters soon, that would also be a gigantic relief.

Really, if the worst stuff ends up happening, I have wonderful people that will help make it right. But as Ciara and I were waiting for the tow truck to arrive, I realized (again) how much I hate needing help. I hate being an inconvenience. I, somehow, should have seen this coming and took steps to prevent it. All those times I said I was going to learn more about engines I should have actually done it instead of saying it, and maybe then I would understand what I could do to prevent things like this.

And then I think that I can't do everything by myself. That this is a perfect reminder that even with the many precautions I take to be independent and self sufficient, the world has a way of making people need other people.

Ciara in IL?! Indeed!

My sister is here!

ONE WEEK!

One week left! I leave on the ferry next Tuesday, at 8am.

I've been packing even more, cleaning out my car, and making a list of the last things I need to buy for the road trip. I have misplaced my camera, a huge bummer, and am hoping it pops back up before I leave. Last I had it, I was out at Allen Marine taking shots of the awesome clouds just before a storm. I put it in my bag, and then it vanished.

I have taken ill these past two days. The horrible lung muck that Carrie brought home with her from Boston has finally taken root in me. I asked to not do any tours if possible, as me talking/hacking does not make for a pleasant vacation story. I did helicopter transfers yesterday, but today I'm back to touring. I guess they don't care about what people think of the company with only two actual ship days left.

I made some super tasty tomato and basil soup last night with come crispy bread. Warm and filling. I drank a grove of orange juice, but still this morning, cough cough, wheeze wheeze...

Ciara had her second ablation surgery yesterday with unsuccessful results. She will be going in sometime to do some treadmill running tests to measure her heart rate and other body functions. Hopefully that will lead them in a new direction to help her arrhythmia. I'm glad I'll be down in Portland again so soon after seeing her in July. Just a few days. Hopefully I don't have any hang ups in driving so I can get all the time I planned with her.

She gave me the great idea of filing for unemployment after my job here ends. Something to help fill the gap between this Sunday, and the beginning of my new job. It never crossed my mind to file until she said something. I could fill everything out from here, but some of the papers I need are in the file I left at Dad's house, so It will have to wait for at least another week. It is such a relief to know I can keep going without sinking into financial stress. Will money always be stressful?

All this gets me thinking about jobs again, and renters, and all the things to do when I get home. A bright spot: Dan has been great about keeping me in the loop about the house. He seems to be excited about the changes. It feels good to know he wants me there and isn't just playing along with a whim from his silly girlfriend. I asked if we could carve pumpkins when I get there. "Sure" was all he said, then he laughed at me. I think we'll be good for each other.

It's all taking a toll

We're supposed to have The Storm of the Century up here today. Winds up to 40 mph - tours are precanceling and the tram is shut down. Lots of rain already. Again, I'm glad I have my rain pants.

I was cut from my duties, and base is kind enough to let me use the computer, so here I am, soggy and tired, happy to be going over to Paradise Cafe in a bit to have coffee and some quiet.

I was able to change my ferry ticket in time to get a refund for Lauren's spot, and I'm in the process of getting my money back for the virus software that did not work on my computer. Those are little sunny spots in the day. I work so hard for my money, I hate the idea of just throwing it away. But I'm sure most people don't like throwing their money away.

Jessie sent me a new photo of Cecilia in a cute little dress - she's starting to look like a person instead of a baby blob. Cute little cheeks and dark eyes. Mom is finishing up her visit with Miah and Jessie today, and Dad starts his road trip over there on Friday. I threw out the idea to Ciara to ride back to IL with me, but we'll see if that works out. I think it would be great to ride with her. Plus, she could see Cecilia and the family, and I'd make sure there was a Dan sighting on the visit too. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it works out.

I am beyond ready to be on my way home. Yesterday was a mess, to the point where I left the shuttle line 30 minutes early so I didn't explode on the tourists. I know it's the end of the season and my patience isn't what it used to be, but the herds are mean! Pushing on to my shuttle and tours, yelling at each other. I want to tell them they're acting worse than the first and second graders on my mom's school bus! Be nice. Keep your hands to yourself. I you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. Yes, I'm in the service industry. I am well aware that am answering questions and providing information in a friendly manner, but I'm still a human. More flys with honey...and all that. So I left the shuttle, came back to the yard, laid down on the floor in the office, and shut my eyes. The rest of my tours were fine.

I keep thinking about what it will be like back on the open road. Nothing around me but trees and mountains. No angry people upset that it's raining in the rain forest. No people upset because they didn't see a bear. No one telling me I'm not suited for my job because, obviously, if I'm driving the shuttle I'm on the driver second string. The road will be so kind to me. My Kodak will sit on my passenger seat and sleep. My book on tape will tell me about something wonderful, and I'll start to remember all of the good things about this summer.

Re-resolved

A girl can think about a lot of stuff when on an impromptu vacation. The first half of my week was taken up almost exclusively by family time: sister in the hospital, keeping in contact with the distant family, keeping up with how Jessie is doing, and keeping tabs on my mom and dad. The second half of the week was a bit more introspective.

With Ciara home, the evidence that she was doing better was measured in the amount of food she was able to eat, and the amount of time spent awake. Her more usual personality came back, with traces of pain sneaking through. She was tempted to be well enough on Saturday to meet up with a good friend and buy some shoes at the Nordstrom 1/2 yearly sale - a sure sign she was feeling better. We've been enjoying Portland's wonderful weather together by sitting at the pool, flower shopping, spending an evening with friends, and getting caught up with one of her favorite shows, Mad Men.

Since moving to Illinois, I've never been good at taking time off. Sitting back and relaxing is hard - my brain keeps moving around from one project to another. Since quitting my job last December, I've been slowly learning how to enjoy the present instead of always planning for what's next. Today. Here I am. Today.

I'm finding myself anticipating again. Dan is flying, right now, back from India, and I can't believe his time there is over. I am so excited to see him that if I think about it too much, I get unreasonable ideas popping up in my head to leave Juneau early and get this next part of Us started that much sooner. My reason usually returns after a few minutes, and I get re-resolved to finish the season, and wait patiently for September 27th (the last ship day) to arrive. A girl can only write "I miss you" so much. I'm feeling honest, but unoriginal.

I leave Portland on Tuesday morning, and I'm sad about that. There is no time warp button I can push to make these next two months go a bit faster. I'll go back to hoping for long hours, not just for the overtime, but for something to take up my schedule in such a way that I forget what day it is, and do nothing but drive, run, eat, and sleep.