Mindy Memories

Monday, October 29, 2007

Bummed about "Beowulf" the movie

I just read "Beowulf" for the first time this past summer and really liked the story. I heard a movie was coming out and thought it would be great. Then, I started seeing previews and realize it's that weird animation that looks almost real but isn't, kinda the way most video games these days look. I hate this kind of animation, it's creepy to me. I don't deny it takes a lot of skill, but it's not for me. So, I won't be seeing this movie.

I also heard that Grendel's mother has a much bigger role in the movie than in the book, that somehow she and Beowulf have some sort of history. Well, I guess if you get Angelina Jolie for a part, even animated, you have to make it into a big part.

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Friday, October 26, 2007

Minor rant

Not even a rant, more of an irritation.

I get so irritated when people post a story on a message board, ask for opinions, then get ticked when they get opinions that don't agree with theirs. I guess they are looking for validation and aren't expecting people to not agree, but if that's the case ask people you know will agree with you -- BAM! you're validated.

In this case, the OP didn't do that, but someone else told us we shouldn't judge the OP. Yeesh! Since when is it considered judgemental to not agree with a person? You know, I get along with most people and try hard to word things in a way that won't hurt feelings, unless someone has been particularly nasty to me already. If I post that I would have done something differently, it doesn't mean I'm judging anyone. C'mon people! How old are we, for cryin' out loud?

If you don't want people to disagree with you, don't ask for opinions. Heck, don't post at all, as you're going to always get opinions whether or not you ask for them.

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It's Friday!

Whew! This was a fun but tiring day. We had a breast cancer awareness day at the EARN Center today, and since it's one of my programs for PR/Communications I was part of the committee and helped out today. I have to say I was so thrilled with the turnout! This was for our clients (the EARN Center is basically a welfare-to-work program, with added benefits) and we had about 60-70 people there for most of it. We barely had room for them all, but figured it out. We had some nurses come out from the local hospital and talked about prevention and stressed how important it is to fight for yourself when it comes to doctors and not to wait for them to call you back if you find a lump -- you call them again, etc. I really liked that they stressed not only prevention and health but that you have to take responsibility for your own body when it comes to these things. The clients had a lot of questions and were really attentive, which was also great.

We had other activities throughout the day, and by the end of the day we had about half of clients left for some raffles, games, quizzes, and pink cake and pink lemonade. One of the women on our committee knew someone who works at Auntie Annie's and they gave us a huge discount on pretzels -- and shaped them into ribbons. How cool is that?

We are going to have one of these days every month, but the rest are only going to be in the morning because this one did get pretty long. It was our kick-off event, so that's OK. Next month will be diabetes. For the breast cancer event, everything was pink, everyone wore pink. Well, the color for diabetes awareness is grey -- not quite as exciting. So, were going to get silver and grey decoration, wear grey, and have a veggie tray with lowfat dip, fruit and maybe cheese and crackers. We thought we'd be sending mixed messages if we had a big sheet cake and cookies at a diabetes awareness seminar. :)

So, when I got home I pretty much chilled out on the couch for a few hours, but now I have my second wind back and am going to do some stitching. I'm working on a Mirabilia cherub for my coworker's baby shower at the end of November, and I really need to get cracking on it.

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Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Christmas trees

Why do some people think they are so much better than others because they get real Christmas trees? We were discussing white trees vs. green trees (and other colors) at one of the boards. When it comes to these discussions, a few people always feel the need to stress that they have REAL trees and they couldn't possibly have a fake tree, etc. If you get a real tree, fine, but don't act like you are somehow more Christian or something because of it, lol.

Some of us like our fake trees -- especially when we are allergic to pine and can barely walk by a Christmas tree lot without losing it.

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Friday, October 19, 2007

Orleans Tech had it's grand opening today!

Orleans Technical Institute is part of the organization where I work. This isn't one of my programs, but it's such a visible and large part of JEVS that our whole department was involved in the grand opening this morning and other activities over the weekend.

I am so proud to be working for such a fantastic organization. About one in three people who live in Philly are at the poverty level, and this school is there to help people learn trades so that they can end the cycle of poverty in their families. They moved into the new building at the Oscar Lasko Campus over the summer (they had been in a previous location for many years), and it's state-of-the-art and gorgeous! I still can't believe we broke ground on this building last September!

Anyway, here's the article in the Philadelphia Inquirer if you're interested.

I sometimes get frustrated and stressed at my job, but for the most part I really love it. Seeing things like this and how many people we help allows me to see that what I'm doing helps the direct care workers, counselors, instructors, etc. do their jobs.

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Friday, October 12, 2007

What Not to Wear

I'm no fan of reality shows, but I have to say that over the past year I've really become addicted to this show -- I love it! I like both British and American versions, but I don't catch the British one very often. I see Stacy and Clinton on all the time, though. I find them edgy and funny, and I love the faces and comments they make.

Like the show tonight -- the woman they made over was so thrilled after her hair and makeup was done that she just kept giggling after she saw herself in the mirror. I love that! I also liked the one I saw the other day where she came out in her new clothes and Clinton says, "Oh! I almost said a swear word."

They are all about making the most of a person's body, accentuating the positive. They also try to incorporate the person's style into what they buy. I admit that sometimes I cringe when I see them getting rid of all those clothes, wondering what articles of clothing in my closet they'd toss. However, I've done a lot of tossing myself lately, so there probably isn't as much to toss as there was a few months ago.

I just love what they do. I've realized lately that I really do feel better and more confident about myself when I think I look good in my clothes -- which means not wearing stuff that is way too big. I still sometimes wear clothes a little bigger than they probably should be, but I'm doing better. I don't look like a big blob anymore, anyway.

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Thursday, October 11, 2007

Halloween costume -- sorta

Most people where I work don't dress up, so I don't feel comfortable fully dressing up for Halloween. However, I will wear some Halloweeny stuff. I recently bought a Monty Python t-shirt (it arrived today, wahoo!), featuring the rabbit from the Holy Grail movie. I'm going to wear it with jeans, orange socks and my black wedge Mary Janes. It will be easy enough to wear a turtleneck under it for warmth, as I got it a size bigger than I usually get. It should get a few laughs, which I like. :)

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Silkweaver Showcase

Hey! Looking through my finishes I actually finished something on Silkweaver fabric this past year. I have some others in progress, but forgot that my Mermaid of the Pearls was stitched on Silkweaver's Jubilant. So, I'll actually have something to send in for the showcase this year. I need to iron her so she's not wrinkled and hopefully get a truer color -- that fabric is a bit more green than it shows in the photo. I think getting the color right will be the hard part.

Here's a picture. She's not framed yet, so I'm going to get a better picture of her to submit to Silkweaver. I always drool over their showcases, and I don't know how they make their decisions -- all the stitching looks so great.

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Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Well, that's better.

Today's weather still isn't October weather -- I think it got up to 77 -- but it's soooooo much better than it has been for the last week. The rain last night really helped. Today was a nice 77, as the humidity seemed pretty low. Yesterday and the day before were just disgustingly humid. It's going to get cooler and cooler this week, so that makes me happy. I saw that in the midwest they went from temps in the 80s to temps in the 40s and some places got snow. Now THAT'S some crazy weather.

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Monday, October 08, 2007

Stitching pics and general rambling

Finally, here are some pictures of recent finishes. I finished Christmas Elf Fairy back in August, and this is my current picture of Halloween Fairy. I'm almost done, but can you guess what happened by looking at the picture? Yup, ran out of Dandelion. I thought I had enough, but not quite. So, I contacted Hoffman and hope they will send me a little extra. As long as I can finish it by my Mirabilia BB contest deadline (Dec. 1, I think?) I'm fine. Christmas is stitched on Cherub and Halloween is stitched on Moonglow, both from Picture This Plus.

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In the meantime, I've finally started my yearly round of Christmas ornaments. I usually have them done by now, but just haven't been in the mood. It's OK, because once I design a few that I like I just copy them using different threads and beads. I can get one done in about an hour or two and only have about 7-10 to make. I have two stitched already, just have to add beads.

I'm also going to stitch something up for my coworker who is having a baby in late December. I already stitched a Dragon Dreams design for her. It's cute, but I think I'll save it for someone else. After stitching it, it just doesn't say "Jeanette" to me. So, I'm going to either stitch the Mirabilia cherub freebie with the baby or the 2000 L&L angel with the baby. They will both stitch up pretty quickly and seem to be a better fit, particularly the Mirabilia. I've also decided I'm going to get her a gift card for DSW Shoes. After babies are born, everything is about the kids and half the time moms get gifts for the baby instead of themselves. I think moms deserve to be a little pampered, too. Plus, she's very fashionable and hasn't been able to wear her heels while pregnant. She said she went to DSW the other day and left without buying anything because she didn't want to buy anything more that was flat. So, I figure this can help her once she is up to wearing heels again. It's funny though -- she still looks better almost 7 months pregnant than I do on most days, lol.

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Saturday, October 06, 2007

shoes, weather

I found out there's a Famous Footwear near where I live and decided to see what they have there. What a huge disappointment. It may just be that particular store, but I wasn't impressed. I guess after going to that HUGE DSW store, this one just couldn't compare. I guess I'll stick with DSW for my shoes. I find I have very good luck there and can buy good shoes for a reasonable price. Of course, I still love me some Payless shoes, but it's easier for me to find properly fitting shoes at DSW than at Payless.

Also, what the hell is up with this stinkin' weather? My head is pounding today because of this humidity and I'm annoyed. It's October, it shouldn't still be in the 80s. When I went out this morning I couldn't believe how hot and humid it was around Noon. This is the way it was in Florida in early October, it shouldn't be that way in PA. They say everything will go back to normal next week and I hope they're right. I want to wear my warmer clothes, dammit! LOL, my fall/winter clothes are just so much nicer and look so much better on my than my spring/summer clothes.

Edited to add: I really need to proof my posts before I publish them. I make some stupid typos and skip words.

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Thursday, October 04, 2007

Weight weirdness

This is so weird. I mentioned a while back that I had decided this is the body I will have and totally revamped my wardrobe. I like wearing cute clothes and just didn't feel like not wearing them until I lost weight, as that may never happen. Now that I'm not obsessing, I've lost weight -- about 10 pounds in the last 4 months or so.

While I'm happy about that, as usual I have lost it mostly below my waist. I notice that I no longer have to wear those shapers for my upper legs, unless I'm wearing clothes that are tight on my thighs. My dress pants are looser around my legs and hips so I don't have to worry about it. In fact I bought a pair of pinstriped pants a while back and when I wore them earlier this week they were just too baggy and I'll get them taken in.

So, while my legs are looking better, my gut has pretty much stayed the same -- especially my upper gut. I'm short and my legs tend to be long (at least, compared to the rest of me) so it doesn't take a huge amount of belly fat on me to be noticeable. Luckily, I have pretty broad shoulders so my general broadness helps a little.

The irritating thing is that, because my upper gut has stayed the same my hips and legs have gone down a little, I actually look FATTER! Everything kinda hits that part of me and then goes back in and it's obvious that I have a huge spare tire around my middle. I wear camisoles that help a little, as do high-waisted Spanx, but I don't like to wear that stuff every day, especially when it's still warm.

I'm working on just accepting it and getting more exercise (without obsessing about it), but it's difficult. Oh well, I guess I'm going in the right direction. I can picture me eventually having skinny legs with this big gut sitting on top of them, lol.

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Monday, October 01, 2007

Back from Hershey

Actually, I got back on Saturday but didn't feel like posting yesterday. Funny, after stitching most of the time at Hershey, all I wanted to do yesterday was stitch. I've made a lot of progress on Mirabilia's Halloween Fairy: one wing is completely done, the little bag is done, her head and hair are done (except for beads) and her dress is almost done. I finished the Christmas Fairy a few weeks ago but still haven't gotten the darn picture up. I have a lot of cleaning up to do around this blog, so I plan on updating my pictures and my blog lists this week.

Hershey was great! Sure, the market was small, but I spent most of my money at Picture This Plus, Mimi's shop and Stitch N' Stuff -- a huge chunk at PTP, actually. I met up with a lot of stitchers I hadn't met before and some I had. I'm bummed that it's the last one as I had so much fun this year, but Karri and I are tentatively planning to go to Celebration of Needlework in Nashua, NH in May. Here's my haul, or at least what I can remember without having my stash in front of me:

I bought a lot of canvaswork designs. I have a few others at home that I haven't started yet but one of my goals for the following year is to finish at least one. One of the ladies at the stitching lounge was working on "Reflecting Pools" by Laura (?) Perin, and that one is on my list to buy soon. I bought most of the following after seeing the models on display -- gorgeous! As usual, the photos don't do them justice.

Hot Stuff! from DebBee Designs
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Haunted Hardanger from Michelle Ink (I love the chart and will teach myself how to do the stinkin' hardanger)
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Evening Star by Nancy's Needle (I also bought the thread pack so now I only need the canvas and a bigger needle)
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Amish Trip Around the World by Nancy's Needle (The model shows the antique jewel tones, but I'm going to buy the brighter jewel tones)
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Watergarden by Chatelaine, will eventually buy the floss pack.
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Mirabilia's New Year's Eve Fairy, and bought some nicer PTP fabric for her -- can't remember the name but it's a purplish/light grey color.
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I don't have a picture of it, but I bought a small pink ribbon sampler done in one color of variegated floss. I'm stitching it in a teal variegated to make it an ovarian cancer memorial sampler, and may use other colors in the future. It's cute and will stitch up pretty quickly, I think. I also bought some nice light teal/grey fabric for it.

I also bought fabric for three Mirabilia mermaids at PTP. Oh, and I bought the latest JCS ornament issue.

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