Orange you Glad?

When I was around 19 or 20 years old my friend L gave me this book...

I really didn't like emotions and feelings.  The big ones are still hard for me.  Sadness and anger.

L would make fun of me because I never spoke about how I was feeling about stuff.  She'd always say something along the lines of, "It's okay for Jill to have feelings too."  And I would respond with, "We're not going to go around the table making I feel... statements, are we?"  Pretty stunted.

So today, let's put it all out on the proverbial table...

The groovaru is in the shop, which is going to cost moolah.

It's been a rough week at work.

My brother is on his way here!

3-day weekend!

So, how are you peeling today?

A couple of years ago I went to a 3-piece class on Judaism at a local Reform temple.  I loved it.  So much so, that I began taking conversion classes for a couple of years.

I haven’t converted.  I still think about it though.

A rabbi once said to me,

“God doesn’t make trash.  So you shouldn’t treat yourself that way.”

Pretty thought, isn’t it?

hip-haps

Boy, it's been a busy week and a half. 

My job gets hectic in September and stays that way until May.  I like being busy during the winter months, it seems to help ward off those dang doldrums.  Plus, I like my job.  We also had a staff day and went to see a Rockies baseball game.  Or as I like to call it, "mandatory socialize with your coworkers day."  Awkward.

I still need to show you my finished clothespin project, it turned out lovely.

Bobaloo and I are looking forward to some visitors in the next couple of weeks.  My little brother is coming to town on Friday and Bobaloo's folks are visiting shortly thereafter.  We've been fortunate to have quite a few family and friends visit this year.  Also, a good reason to keep the house semi-clean.

I have been able to catch up on some reading recently.  My reading goal for 2013 is 45 books.  I like setting this goal rather than making a resolution for the new year.  I didn't read a whole lot over the summer so I am only at 13 books so far, better get cracking!  A friend gave me Neil Young's Waging Heavy Peace: A Hippie Dream to read.  Love that Neil.  There are a couple of books I have started but am not too terribly interested in.  What do you do?  Do you read the whole thing or give the book a certain amount of pages to catch your interest?

On Sunday, it was our one year Nik-a-versary!  She got a new bed to celebrate the occasion.

September 13

Bobaloo and I are doing just fine and keeping dry.  We have been getting so, so much rain which is very strange for September.  The flooding is around us but we are in a pocket of the metro that doesn't have any creeks or rivers and the roads are fine.  The rain isn't supposed to let up until Monday so I hope everyone can hunker down and stay safe.

On Labor Day we went to the duck races at one of the bars we like to hang out at.  Here is the creek then...

My friend (Hi Eric!) took this photo yesterday...

Yikes!

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Today's topic is A self portrait.  I found this 1989 gem in a scrapbook.  I would probably draw myself the same way today, without such a liberal use of tongue.  And I might add some hands and feet.

.

   

I also found a lovely Mother's Day card I made.

 

PS - I was crying on camera because she wouldn't let me watch The Cosby Show

What a kid.
Happy Friday the 13th and Happy Weekend! 

September 11

It is such a gloomy week here in Colorado.  Give me sunshine!  I am still on this Blogtember bandwagon, so here goes.

Share links to your favorite online shops, preferably with a few photos of your favorite items in each shop.

My favorite place to buy tees is Threadless, especially when they have their $5 clearance.  I bought a few a couple of months ago.  This is my favorite one:


It's called "Group Hug."

Otherwise, most of my online shopping is at Etsy.  Below are some of my favorite purchases with links to the shops.

 

Icehouse Picture / Rainbow Scarf / Darwin Pendant

Rainbow Necklace / Fonzie Print / Rainbow Necklace

Rainbow Shoes / Nintendo Scarf / Nintendo Necklace

 

I collect rainbows.  Because as our gal Dolly says,

 

 

 

Do you collect anything?

September 10

Describe a distinct moment when your life took a turn.

Tough topic.  Gee whiz.  Here we go. 

I moved from Minnesota to Colorado in 2005.  I had never lived away from my family before (except that time I went to college for a week).  We were moving to Boulder and while I had been to Colorado once, I had never been to Boulder before. 

So at 22, I moved 1,000 miles away from the only home I’d known with a boyfriend (Bobaloo) whom I had never lived with before to a city I had never been to.

The day before the move, I remember stacking boxes in my parents’ garage in preparation for the U-Haul.  And while I was excited and ready for my next chapter, I was a little nervous too.

My Pops came out to the garage to check how things were coming along and said something like,

“Well Jillie, I’m jealous that you’re going to make it out there before I do.”

And in that moment, there was something about the look in his eyes and the tone of his voice that was so encouraging.  He knew and trusted that I was going to be okay.

There was a clear finality to that sentence; we both knew I wasn’t coming back.

Pops & I at Red Rocks for Neil Young & Crazy Horse - August 2012.

September 09

Well, a great weekend was had.  Yesterday we went to our local Chicago bar to drink some beer and watch the Bears have their first victory of the season.  It was very nice to sit on the sunny patio while watching football.  I will long for these warm days come February, I am sure of it.  

I also got down with my crafty self.

 

I painted 85 clothespins.  I'll show you the entire project when I have finished.

And back to the challenge...

Take this personality test and respond to your results.

ISFP

Introvert (78%) - a strong preference of introversion over extraversion
Sensing (12%) - a slight preference of sensing over intuition
Feeling (12%) - a slight preference of feeling over thinking
Perceiving (11%) - a slight preference of perceiving over judging

I have heard of this test but have never taken it.  I went to this page for more information about my type.  There were a lot of things that were very spot on.

• you deal with things according to how you feel about them, or how they fit into your value system
  

• ISFPs tend to be quiet and reserved, and difficult to get to know well

• they're likely to be animal lovers, and to have a true appreciation for the beauties of nature 

• need to have personal space

• they have an unusually deep well of caring for those who are close to them, and are likely to show their love through actions, rather than words

• ISFPs have no desire to lead or control others, just as they have no desire to be led or controlled by others
    

Basically, ISFP folks are a pretty "live and let live" kind of people and I think that's true about me.


What type of personality are you?  What is your favorite trait about your personality type? 

 

September 06

A story about a time you were very afraid.

I am a scaredy-cat; definitely not someone you would want to be in a haunted house with.  Since I am working hard on not dwelling on my anxious thoughts, I think I'll take a different spin on today's topic and tell you what I am not afraid of.

Although I am a bit scared of a lot of things, I am not superstitious.  In one week it's Friday the Thirteenth.  I love Friday the Thirteenth!

There is a neat article on Mental Floss about the Thirteen Club.  The gist is that in 1882 thirteen guys got together to prove thirteen wasn't unlucky.  Dinners were held where the gents did things like walk under ladders, open umbrellas indoors, break glass, etc.  All the unlucky stuff.

I want to throw a Thirteen Club party one of these days but worry people wouldn't show.  A lot of folks still hang onto these superstitions, don't they?

Are you superstitious?  Would you brave a Thirteen Club dinner or is that just tempting fate?

Bring on the black cats and have a great weekend!

September 05

Pass on some useful advice or information you learned and always remembered.

This is a tricky one.  Hmmm...

I don't know how useful this advice is but my Pops likes to say,

"Don't smoke any wooden nickels."

 

Truth be told I am not sure exactly what that means.  He always says it in the same tone as, "stay out of trouble."

And now I turn to the internet.  The closest meaning I can find is for the slightly different phrase, "don't take any wooden nickels."

Here's what I found from Suzanne Grubb, digital librarian on Quora: 
 

This is used as a silly "warning" or bit of folk advice -- particularly meant for country folks heading into the big, bad city. When you use this phrase, you're generally telling a person, "be careful and don't get scammed."

Around the turn of the century, when this phrase first came about, it was common enough for people to try to pass off wooden fakes of common objects. For example, peddlers as early as 1825 sold wooden nutmegs (which cost 1/4 a cent each to make) mixed in with real nutmegs (worth about 4 cents each). So it's understandable that the word "wooden" was generally linked with "counterfeit"/getting cheated. 

 

Well there's some sound advice for ya and we all learned something.  Have you ever heard this phrase?

 

Have a great day and for heaven's sake, don't smoke any wooden nickels!

September 04

If you could take three months off from your current life and do anything in the world, what would you do?

 

Three months?  That sounds like a dream.  

 

You know how I am a tad obsessed with alpacas?  Well, I am also really into puffins.  Yep, puffins.

via

And since Iceland is their breeding ground, I would pack up Bobaloo and the pup and spend three months hanging out in Iceland.  Chilling with the birds isn't all there is to do, here are some other ways I'd spend my time...

1.  Northern Lights / 2.  Blue Lagoon Geothermal Spa / 3.  Icelandic Horses / 4.  Glacier Tours / 5.  Whale Watching /
6.  Hiking in Landmannalaugar / 7.  Gullfoss (Golden Falls) / 8.  Capital City, Reykjavik


 If you had three months off, would you stay home or travel somewhere exciting?

 

September 03

Another month, another challenge...

Describe where or what you come from.  The people, the places, and/or the factors that make up who you are.

I come from...

 

There is a lot of water there.  And it is a very, very cold place to live in the winter.

 

The house I grew up in is very, very blue. 



My parents used to (maybe they still do) have a competition with the neighbors to see who would keep their Christmas wreath up the longest.  It wouldn't be weird for that wreath to still be hanging up in August.  I think I get my quirky sense of humor from them.

 

This is me with my family, pre-Kyle.  He came later.  Much, much later.



Nice 'stache Pops!


 
 

This is us last summer.  We don't all get together very often so when we do we try to take a family picture (even if it's at a funeral!). 

They are my very beginning.  They are who I come from.