Happiness is....

Knowing that countdown you started months ago is nearly at a close....

...Saturday it comes to an end.....

...Texas here I come!

Happiness is....

Positive Outlooks....

I had a conversation yesterday with a gal about a package she just received from India. Talk about different perspectives..

Here I am: every time I get a package here in the office from another country I get a bit excited. Here is something from another part of the world....somewhere I have never seen. This package in particular had originated in India, however it was routed through France, then to Memphis, before making its way into my hands. FREAKING AWESOME. Seriously, the fact that a package can be halfway around the world one day and then two days later be in my hands completely astounds me. I used to think I could catch a faint whiff of exotic air coming from those little parcels, but mostly any scent I caught I am pretty sure was in my imagination.

I walked the package back to its intended recipient and her reaction??? "Ugh, foreign germs, disease, dirt..." (this is nothing intended towards the people of India, however, just her idea on packages coming from anywhere really.....this person has big issues with germs in general)

Talk about being a buzzkill though....

Happiness is....

(yes, this is my image this time!)

...finding a delicious single serve quiche in the freezer section for the days when you are too lazy to bake a whole thing for yourself.

Mmmmmm...love me some quiche.

No, I am not being paid by Nancy's to advertise their product.

Need. To. Get. A. Grip.

One of the pictures I uploaded to my Etsy store yesterday has been included in a Treasury (a grouping of items that someone pulls together as "suggestions" of the cool things they have found that somehow tie together). These Treasuries randomly pop up on the front page of Etsy, as well as go into a stockpile of lists for people to search through. You can see the listing for yourself here.

(mine is "Blue Window" by fiftytwo, far right, top row)

I feel soooooooo like Sally Field right now ("You like me, you really, really like me!)

Oh, and that gal emailed back this morning and is definitely interested in the 5 warehouse door/window prints I currently have listed in my shop (its a series, one of which is "Blue Window"). She wants to see the couple other shots I have from the same series and then wants me to create a special listing of 8 x 10s for her to purchase.... Hooray!!!!!!

I'd be up dancing a jig if it wasn't for my back, but I am definitely jumping up and down and squealing my head off on the inside!

Always look on the bright side.....

My car battery is dead....deader than disco, and that's saying a lot.

I hear some people have the "good fortune" to have advance warning about their upcoming battery failures: not me. My car worked fine on Sunday and then refused to do anything on Monday morning. No lights, no automatic door unlock....zip, nothing, nada.

Hmmmm....what could have caused a parasitic battery drain? I figured it was the cigarette lighter, since I had been using a car charger that disintegrated in there, forcing me to adapt a plastic straw into a pair of tweezers to pull out the pieces (stupid me first tried with a ball point pen and got quite the spark for my effort!) Turns out that wasn't the case, since pulling the fuse proved that I had blown it when I had my in-auto fireworks display.

Regardless, my roommate came to the rescue and hauled my pathetic butt to work and then back again. My sweet home teacher came over, gave my car a jump start and we went for an impromptu drive down to the lake and back to be sure it wasn't an alternator issue. The car drove wonderfully (once it got a bit of a charge back into it) until I parked it back at the house, turned off the ignition and then tried to fire it back up again.

Nope. As the song says, it was really most sincerely dead.

So this morning found me making calls around town for a replacement battery. I have quotes (not cheap, but not so expensive that I am passing out). Sadly, the only place that has it currently in-stock is an auto dealership who, while not charging the most, are not the cheapest either. The best pricing (WallyWorld) should have them back in stock by Thursday...if not, I'll just go through the dealership.

So I am sitting here at the office today. The day has been fairly quiet and both bosses are out of town so there is no one available to run errands. I clear it with boss #1 to take the work truck to deliver a battery order to a customer and to drop a load of packages off at the post office. I turn the office over to our part-time gal and drive off in our big bruising diesel rig, happy to be behind the wheel again. Stop #1 is about 5 miles from the office. I deliver them to our customer, head back to the truck and turn the key.

A sick sounding choking comes from under the hood, followed by a "you have got to be kidding" from me.

I wait a moment and try again. Weaker choke this time.

I pull out my cell phone and call Boss #1 (Boss #2 was unavailable at a trade show in Texas).

Boss #1: Yes?

Me: I think the battery on Boss #2's truck is dead.

Boss #1: (silent pause)

Me: This is not a joke.

Boss #1: (sigh) Turn the key and hold out your phone.

Me: (turning key) Hear that? And all the dashboard lights are lit up and flickering like crazy.

Boss #1: (sighs again) Yeah, its dead. (pause). Do you know how long its going to take to charge that thing? (another pause). What is it with you and dead batteries this week?

Me: uh..............I didn't do it, its not my fault and you can't pin nothing on me copper! (okay, so that last line didn't happen, its just a flashback to some bad B-grade gangster film, but you get the idea).

I ended up having to call the part-time gal (thank goodness for cell phones!), get her to leave the office and come rescue me. Boss #2's truck is sitting abandoned until morning when Boss #1 can come into the office, get the keys and go jump start the monster. Apparently its too big of an engine for we girls to do with the part-timer's tiny car.

(Dear Santa, I need one of these!)

So where am I now? Sitting in the office after hours and waiting for my roommate to get off of work so I can go home. But my roomie/chauffeur did agree that tomorrow we could stop by Zuppas on the way home (hey teachinfourth...they just opened a Zuppas on my side of town!) If I ever had a night where I needed a bowl of restoring, soothing, comforting Chicken Enchilada Chili its tonight...but tomorrow will do just as well.

So, for the next day or so at least, I will have chauffeur service....which means I will be getting to work early and staying late. Oh well, I can catch up on my Photoshop edits. And at least it was just my battery and not the alternator or the starter. And I'll have a brand new, shiny, durable, rugged battery for this winter. And I had a funny story to post for you today. Oh, and Santa? Never mind on the Jump Starter; I can't wait so I'll just buy it for myself.

Sometimes all you can do is look on the bright side of life....it sure beats crying about it. So, in that vein, I was going to give you Monty Python's "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" but thought that might be a tad blasphemous for some readers..so I give you this one instead:

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.....

Woke up this morning to a deliciously gray morning with a hint of rain in the air....in fact we had a bit of a drizzle and I stood out by my car for a few minutes enjoying the weather change before heading in to work. I figured why not....I am not made of sugar, I won't melt and if my hair dries a little funny who cares? It was totally worth it just drinking that fresh rain-drenched earthy smell that filled the air.

Driving down to the office this morning I started thinking of all of the wonderful things the world has to offer that makes me smile and love this precious little planet all the more. I thought I'd share a few of them with you today. Yes, I am sure that I have done posts like this one before (I am much too lazy to actually check) and it probably happened the last time we got a good rain (so it makes me a bit contemplative....deal with it!)

Oh, and not to go all Julie Andrews/Rogers and Hammerstein on you but I really DO love raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens. Not that this is such a surprise....I think the whole family knows of my love for wool, rain, cats and how I dislike gold and rather love copper and silver instead. You'll probably also know most of the other things on this list.....but then again, maybe you will learn something new.

I still love dragonflies (man do we have a ton of them down here in Utah....except for winter you can't go a day down here without seeing at least a few of them zipping around....and we are talking BIG ones....not the cutesy tiny ones I usually saw up in Washington).

I also still love to watch crows and spend nights stargazing (though the stars are limited here in town.....I love going to my friend Cynthia's house because the light polution is much less and you can see so much more. I still can't see the Milky Way from her house though so I am looking forward to heading up to Dad's in October (if he still wants me!) and enjoying those dark skies!)

Here are a few other things:

I love quotes and poetry....and enjoy finding new ones. I stumbled upon a line of Robert Frost this morning that I don't remember reading before (funny since I have his complete works!) but found delightful: "My sorrow, when she's here with me, thinks these dark days of autumn rain are beautiful as days can be; she loves the bare, withered tree; she walks the sodden pasture lane". Funny how all of my favorite poetry pieces have to do with a love for Autumn....I really need to find time to start writing poetry again.

I love squids (not as sushi) but I find the science behind them fascinating. It ties into my love of oceanography and all things underwater but everytime I find a book on the giant squid it somehow finds its way into my shopping cart or gets hauled home from the library. I've also begun collecting some "squidy stuff" from Etsy.......bad, bad Etsy! Which reminds me I need to find someone with a boat who would be willing to take me out....I haven't been out on the water in ages and miss it. Driving out to the lake and sitting around just isn't the same thing as being out ON it...bummer its too polluted to swim in.

I love the maple tree outside my work window and the pines across the street that I can look at during the day. I miss having trees around me.... my little Norfolk pine and ficus trees are growing nicely though...for now they'll have to do. I look forward to maybe moving to Oregon someday where I can be within driving distance of the ocean and be surrounded by my beloved pines. I'm thinking about taking a "mini vacation" of just a few days in the spring and driving over to the Redwoods....if Dan and Bill can let me go for a few days that is, as our busy season starts April/May.

I love gloriously blue skies in the winter when the world is covered in a blanket of white. Typically those are your colder days but I love the contrast in colors....and its funny but the sky always seems to be the most vivid shades of blue in the winter.

Wood smoke....

The bright orange of a field full of ripening pumpkins....

The promise that Halloween (undoubtedly my favorite holiday) is just around the corner....

And with that the joy of knowing fall is nearly here!....

The taste of homemade pumpkin butter spread on my toast in the morning....

"Girls Night In" at Cynthia's house....

Finding inspiration for all new crafty designs....(finding the time to make them is another thing!)

8 Days...The Big Finale

Bet you thought I'd forgotten to post this, hadn't you?

Nope...not a chance.

Actually I spent some time today thinking about some of the things that make me happy.
Here are just a few of them....by no means is this all-inclusive.

"Here we go again" by Okay Go (aka the treadmill dance) this never fails to put a smile on my face.


Crows (see yesterday's blog)


Alaska has fascinated me for ever since I was 9 or 10 (yes Jason, a book is to blame) and I am excited to be taking a vacation there next year as a graduation present to myself.


Sirius. One wonderful thing about moving to Utah is that my favorite star is visible nearly all year here....in Washington it is visible late winter/early spring only and the sky was usually too cloudy to see it well at all. A few tidbits...Sirius was found to be a double star but some people believe that it may actually be 3 stars. As the brightest "star" in our skies Sirius has the sad placing to be part of the constellation Canis Major leading it to have the lousy nickname "Dog Star". It is also responsible for the phrase "the dog days of summer". In certain conditions you can see that baby in the daytime...now I love the night sky, but Sirius is my favorite. Another one of those weird "don't know why I love it but I do" things.


Cherry and Coke flavored Slurpees (yes you must mix the flavors). Yum!


Family....my sisters especially.


When I was little I saw the Disney cartoon "Cinderella"and fell in love with her blue ballgown. At night I would recite "starlight, starbright" and fervently wish that the dress would be under my bed the next morning. It never was. A few years ago I was at a yard sale with my grandmother and there, in a bin, was a little girl's Cinderella costume. I didn't even have the dime that the dress cost but oh how I wanted it but grandma noticed how much I kept looking at it and then wordlessly added it to her pile. It may have taken years, it certainly wasn't under my bed and it will certainly never fit me but I finally got my dress. I still have it today, currently hanging on my closet door. It still makes me happy every time I see it.


The fact that my favorite band when I was a teenager is still going strong, and still as hot as ever. Seriously, how many people can claim that about bands they loved in the 80's?


Gray, foggy days...torrential downpours...watching lightning flashes in a storm...endless mountain peaks fading into the distance covered with fragrant pines...bird calls...the feel of wool, soft and scratchy at the same time...the color of amber...sunlight sparkling on water...books that you can fall into time and again...the way a certain smell can trigger memories of times long gone...the smell of freshly cut grass...poetry and alliteration...blue jeans and tennis shoes...the joy of getting a fun catalog in the mail, like Sundance or Coldwater Creek...watching the snow drift down when you are safe and snug at home...the art of Maurice Sendak...fairy tales...fall leaves crunching underfoot...pumpkins (both as decoration and to eat)...

This is just a few of the things that make me happy.

8 Days....Day 8 has been rescheduled to respond to teachinfourth's blog "the crow"

Today I find myself at the end of my 8 days....and I am sad to see it go. I've really started noticing more and more things that delight me and I quickly found myself "out of time" so to speak, to list them all. Today was going to be a grand list of many things that make me happy.

That has been moved to a special Day 8 round-up post that will be listed tomorrow.

Why? Because of a blog by Teachinfourth that posted last night. In it he talks about one of my favorite creatures on the planet....one that definately was on my list of happy things....the crow.



I have loved crows for as long as I can remember. Sure they do not have the sleekness of the hawk, the beauty of bluejays and cardinals, nor the song of the sparrow...but something has always attracted me to them. Anyone who has ever seen a murder of crows soaring overhead has witnessed to their grace and majesty. Fallen feathers have shown a prism effect in their wings that I loved...a sort of hidden beauty in the depths.

Perhaps its because I was not attractive myself growing up...I was clumsy and awkward and felt out of place most of the time and was teased and ridiculed by my peers. Who know really; crows just always seemed to mean something...more. As I grew older and began to show interest in my heritage I found I am part Native American. Hmmmm...maybe some older, earthier part of myself had found its totem. I hid that secret thought deep inside for years thinking I was just being weird (as usual). Seriously, why in the world would someone want the crow as a totem anyway?

About 3 years ago I came across a reference in a book I was reading. It mentioned an old legend but didn't go into details...a passing mention more than anything in the narrative. It made me curious so I started looking into it. The story I found was amazing. I found myself thinking on it from time to time and it made my appreciation for the crow just that much more meaningful. Of course it is just a tale, but what a tale it was.

Why do I tell you this? Well, Teachinfourth's blog got me thinking (once again) of the mythology of how the crow came to be such a dark figure....a story I am sure many people have never heard, but always thrills me whenever I hear it. I am sharing that story today. Many different tribes have a variation of this story, passed down through storytellers throughout the generations...stories that are still told (and performed in dances) today. It is the story of the Rainbow Crow and this is my narrative.



Crow, you see, wasn't always such a dark and dismal figure. She was once celebrated among the People for her feathers of every color and her singing voice that was far sweeter than any songbird. She brought joy and lightness into the hearts of all that saw her soar and heard her soft song. Crow saw how her pressence eased the hearts of the People and strove to be near them. It was said that the Great Creator himself would turn his face to the world in order to hear her song clearer and to catch a glimpse of her beauty and the days were good.

One day the weather changed. Snow and ice began to fall from the sky, stirred by the winds. The snows piled deeper and deeper and the animals soon migrated away. The People were cold and starving, unable to leave their homes for fear they would not find them again in the drifting snows.

Crow heard the People's lament and knew she was not bound to the earth, blocked by mounds of snow. She decided she would fly until she found the Spirit of the Winds and ask him to stop stirring the snow and to blow warm winds to the lands again.

She set upon her journey and flew for days, sometimes just one wingbeat behind him, but not quite catching up, for the Spirit of the Winds was ever moving and never to be found in the same place for more than a few minutes. One morning luck was upon her for she found him swirling in an eddy in the corner of a valley and plead her case with him. The Spirit of the Winds was sorry but replied he could only work with what the Great Creator gave him. It was his job to blow the winds, regardless of what the winds brought. He suggested she speak to the Great Creator himself as it was he who had created the snows in the first place.

Tired from her journey, Crow nevertheless launched herself into the skies on her long journey to see the Great Creator. After endless days with no rest Crow reached the Great Creator and humbly gave her request. The Great Creator was touched by Crow's concern for the People but could not stop the snows. It was his way that what he thought of came into being and, once created, could not be unmade. Crow pleaded with the Great Creator, vowing to do anything he asked of her if he would only spare her People.

The Great Creator thought and then handed Crow a sacred stick. He told her the magic would not last, but if she was brave enough he would allow her to fly to the sun to bring fire back to the People. Crow thanked the Creator, took the stick and flew to the sun. Upon lighting the stick she turned on her journey homewards. In fear for her People, Crow flew as fast as she could...so fast that the smoke from the burning stick began to dull her wings and burn at the back of her throat.

Crow returned and presented the stick to the People who rejoiced at the warmth she brought. She tried to join in but was startled at the loud caw that issued from her throat. What had happened to her beautiful song, she wondered. She then looked down and saw how the soot and smoke had burnt her feathers and how they were black and singed. In shame she hid from the People and cried tears over her loss. She did not regret what she had done, but worried over the price she had paid. How would she be able to lift the people without her song and glorious plummage?

Crow then heard a voice calling her from the distance. It was the Great Creator himself, come to see Crow. Crow hid herself in a thicket, not wanting to be seen in such a condition, but the Creator found her and called her from her hiding place. He admonished Crow for hiding away from the world when the world was rejoicing in the warmth she had brought.

The Creator stretched forth a hand and began wiping away the soot and the blackened feathers took on new life. When he was finished he stepped back and gave Crow a hard look. Her sacrifice, he said, would not be in vain. While it was true that he could not restore her voice or her glorious coat of feathers to their original form, he could bestow upon her a gift. Look down, he said gently as the sun's rays pierced the clouds and settled around her. Crow did as he asked and was astounded to see that in her black wings all the colors of the rainbow sparkled in their depths.

This, said the Creator, is my gift to you. It will stand as a reminder to the People of what you sacrificed in order to save them. And the People came and sang her praises and from that time on, Crow has been loved by the People. Her song became myth and her beauty forgotten. The People loved Crow more than ever and still rejoice in the gift that she gave to them.

For those who look closely, the crow still does hold all of the colors of the rainbow in her wings...

8 Days....Day 7

Okay, we all know what a major movie buff I am. I am sure that at some point in this blog I have mentioned how excited I am for this year's summer lineup...after all it includes the origins of Wolverine (though I am more of a Cyclops fan personally). I am all but bouncing up and down in my seat for the Star Trek prequel (17 days left!)and lets not forget the new Terminator movie starring England's bad boy, Christian Bale. I am not as excited for the new Harry Potter...sure I'll go see it but the pushbacks in release date have left me wondering if it will really be worth all of the hype.

But how about next year's slate?

I am squealing over the news that a remake of Clash of the Titans will be in theaters next summer....not only that but Liam Neeson has just signed on as Zeus and he will be joined by the amazing Ralph Fiennes who will be playing Hades. The screenplay is by the ever excellent Lawrence Kasdan so I have high hopes for an amazing experience.

Movie geek? Me?

You betcha.

8 Days....Day 6

A lot of things made me happy today.

First, I was so refreshed from my weekend of "relaxation" that I got a lot done at work.

Second, the weather was so nice again that we were able to open the windows and the bay door of the warehouse so the office was filled with the scent of the crab apple blossoms outside the building behind ours.

Third, I came home and saw that Annie had asked a neighbor's son to come mow our lawn. The air coming in my room at this moment is amazing. Seriously, the smell of freshly cut lawn is so mmmmmmmmmmmm good.

Fourth, chicken salad sandwich for dinner and strawberries for dessert. Yum!

I guess more than anything yesterday and today's happiness was all about scents...so here are a few of my favorite scents:

Tabu powder (grandma used to wear it and it reminds me of her), freshly baked bread (especially when you know a hot slice of bread with butter will be coming your way), woodsmoke in the fall, freshly mown grass, that mix of oil and gas that comes from leaning over a hot engine, the earthy green scent of pines, freshly sawn logs, the smell of ink from a new magazine, the smell (and feel) of wool, the last breath of dying leaves in the fall, newly turned dirt in the garden, tomato plants when you brush up against them and sandalwood.

I could go on and on but that, for the most part, are the scents that I love the most.

8 Days....Day 5

What made me happy on Sunday was how beautiful the weather was. I sat in my room in my comfy chair, laptop at the ready (trying vainly to do homework) but just kept drifting off into daydreams. The air coming in through my window (which, conveniently, my chair sits right next to) was sweet and warm and the sky was so blue and the birds were singing that it made anything else hard to focus on. I kept breathing in that delicious air and looking forward to the joy of being able to keep my window open at night again.

The cats enjoyed it too....they kept running from open window to open window sniffing madly and going completely bezerk everytime a bird happened to fly past their perch.

Very relaxing....very soothing....very much needed.

It didn't hurt that I made a delicious quiche for dinner either......

8 Days....Day 4

This made me smile...although, as a cat lover, it shouldn't have.

How to wash a toilet

This was simply too much of a time saver not to share it with you.

1. Put both lids of the toilet up and add 1/8 cup of pet shampoo to the water in the bowl.

2. Pick up the cat and soothe him while you carry him towards the bathroom.

3. In one smooth movement, put the cat in the toilet and close the lid. You may need to stand on the lid.

4. The cat will self agitate and make ample suds. Never mind the noises that come from the toilet, the cat is actually enjoying this.

5. Flush the toilet three or four times. This provides a 'power-wash and rinse'.

6. Have someone open the front door of your home. Be sure that there are no people between the bathroom and the front door.

7. Stand behind the toilet as far as you can and quickly lift the lid.

8. The cat will rocket out of the toilet, streak through the bathroom, and run outside where he will dry himself off.

9. Both the commode and the cat will be sparkling clean.

8 Days....Day 3

What made me happy today was a 3-day weekend. With the hours I worked this last week I only had to use 3 hours of vacation time to make 40 hours.....so cool. The guys didn't call me once and I spent the day between watching movies, reading, cleaning up a bit around the house and making pot roast for dinner. After how many hours I worked the week before it was wonderful to have a day with no plans whatsoever in order to totally relax.

Today I still have movies playing but I am heating up soup made from last night's broth, baked potatoes and roast. Mmmmmmmmm. I am also catching up on the homework I fell behind on while modifying those European switches last week.

What's playing right now? A marvelous movie that I adore called "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". Strange little film, but I love Jim Carrey's dramatic roles. His comedy leaves me cold because he tends to go way overboard but he's a wonderful dramatic actor. Loved him in "The Truman Show" and "The Magestic". "Number 23" was good too....

8 Days....Day 2

Waking up in a winter wonderland.



Yesterday it snowed off and on....enough to stick to the car and create a white-out that you couldn't see more than 100 feet through...yet wasn't sticking to the roads. By the time I went to bed at 10 the snow had stopped though it was still clinging to the lawn.

This morning I woke up and the world was covered in white with a brilliant blue sky above. The neighbor's tree was covered in thick snow and bent to the ground....on our side of the fence! I grabbed my camera and ran out to snap some pictures. I didn't think to take standard shots...mostly I was focused on macro this morning but it was so beautiful (and amazingly warm out...it must've been in the low 40's at least). Sadly, an hour later and everything is melting fast. What was once 6" on my car this morning is pouring off the rooftops and the roads are wet and bare. I actually rolled my window down on the drive in because the air was warm and smelled amazing.

Wish I could be out playing in it this morning, rather than at work. It definately won't last...temperatures for this weekend are to be in the 60's and its going to be uber sunny.

Winter's one last laugh as if to say "Spring break? Don't think so!"

Eight Days....Day 1

My favorite author, Tanya Huff, posted a fun blog this morning where for 8 days straight you post things that make you happy. In a world where bad news is all we seem to hear lately it's nice to remember that there are plenty of good things out there. Maybe the good news isn't being shouted from the rooftops...but its still all around us.

My first happiness was found on Etsy. The site doesn't allow me to post the picture, but click on the link to find a truly delightful shop. For those not inclined to click the link, this gal features delicious earrings and pendants that look like plates of sushi, hot dogs, and the most mouth-watering desserts all guaranteed to add not an single ounce to your waistline.

While I may never purchase one of these items for myself, it certainly made me smile when I stumbled upon it this morning.