Archive for July, 2008

Hi, bloggy buds. I asked Morgan of LaVogue and morgansilk on Etsy to write a guest post about how her cute little buddy named Chippie entered her life. He’s such a doll! I hope you enjoy reading about him as much as I did. *grin*

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I couldn’t do anything, hadn’t been able to walk, or paint, or do anything since November, and now it was February. It was even getting hard to push the buttons on the remote. I had had two surgeries on my knee, one aborted, and all kinds of misery that I didn’t understand. Finally, the orthopedic surgeon took the dang thing out and put in an oversize titanium one, but by that time the real problem was my hands. They hurt. The hair follicles hurt. My orthopedic surgeon thought I was an hysteric and my friends couldn’t stand to be around me. My husband had to put food out for me when he left for work in the mornings because I couldn’t pick up a pitcher or open a jar. I lost 25 pounds because I couldn’t feed myself and didn’t want to admit it.

I woke up in the hospital after the knee replacement and a new doctor was in my room. He took my hand, felt it gently, and asked me a few questions, then turned to the surgeon I deeply hated, and said, “She has rheumatoid arthritis”. I was too messed up to pay any attention, but I did promise to make an appointment with that new doctor, and by February the medications were finally kicking in and I was beginning to feel more human. That month, my husband came in from working in the yard with a tiny little pink wormy thing the size of my (enlarged) thumb and told me he had found it under a leaf. What was it? We were familiar with baby squirrels, and this little thing was too small, so we decided that it was either a mouse or a chipmunk. He put it in a cardboard box lined with an old towel, filled an empty mayonnaise jar with hot water and wrapped that in a towel, and I emailed my veterinarian niece for advice. This little chipmunk was my constant companion until September when I was finally able to go back to work teaching high school. We bonded, and he has never tolerated anyone or anything else but me.

Laura told us to get some puppy formula at the local vet, and he grew and grew until he was a sweet little striped chippie. I would sit in the living room, doing my range-of-motion pedaling, and hold him in my lap. His tiny little eyes were closed and his ears were flat against his head, until one Friday night when one eye opened with a pop, then the other eye, then both ears perked up and he was off and running like a shot! Sometimes he’s friendly, sometimes he’s combative, and sometimes he couldn’t care less. He wants to be left alone most of the winter, and has been known to attack people he does not like and remember them the next time. He would rather have chocolate than nuts or seeds, but it is dangerous food for little guys like him. He took off with a piece of oreo cookie one day and it took the two of us the better part of an hour to get it back. He chewed holes in my clothes, my purse, and hid seeds and nuts in our shoes. He even escaped the house for a whole day; just as I was trying to convince myself he would be okay he appeared in the driveway, looking around cluelessly. He would NOT be alright! I ran out there and he practically jumped into my arms. Squirrels will devour little chipmunks, hawks swoop on the them, cats will torment them; I have no idea how long they can live without predators, but he is more than six years old now.

What will I do when he is gone? I can never have a little friend like this again; you cannot capture a chipmunk and if you did it would never love you. It has to smell you and hear you and feel you long before it can see you or know that you are not of the same species. I have read that wild animals can make attachments with only one person, and although I do not know if this is true in general, it has been so in our case.

Find more videos like this on We Love Etsy

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Awww, animals sure have a way of warming our hearts. We all hope Chippie gives you many more good times, Morgan! Be sure to stop by and visit Morgan at LaVogue and Morgan’s Silk Scarves where you will find a wide variety of fabulous items from vintage housewares to hand-died silk scarves. You can also visit her on We Love Etsy.

Thanks for being a part of my little space in the world wide web, Morgan! *grin*

**Do you have something interesting or informative to share and would like to be a guest blogger here at The Song of My Soul? Shoot me an email and we’ll chat!**

Or, not so much.

I’m a bit miffed at Google at the moment. For some reason, my blog had a page rank of 4/10, and now it is 0/10. What the yahoo?! I thought it was a fluke at first, but it’s been like this for a couple weeks now. I don’t think I have been blacklisted, because, I mean, why? I haven’t done anything Google-illegal.

My pages are still indexed. So… Google, not liking you too much right now. With those stats, I might as well start over with a whole new blog and my own domain. I was thinking about it and the main thing keeping me from it is losing my Google pagerank that took me two friggin years to get. *growl*

The one good thing Google is good for right now is a laugh. I use their Analytics thingamabop to track information on my blog and website. It comes in quite handy. I can see where people are from, what websites referred them here, and how long they stayed. But none of this is quite so entertaining as looking up the keyword searches that bring some people here.

“i hate teeth” - yeah? Me too! Or at least I hate my teeth. Though I must admit they do come in handy.

“easy mac white powder” - I have a feeling that this person was looking for confirmation that the white powder in his/her easy mac was not anthrax. Sorry I can neither confirm nor deny such matters. I can confirm, however, that easy mac is gross and not fit for human consumption, and that Annie’s Mac & Cheese is the good stuff.

“funny description of tiny bathroom” - Oookay.

“i am a popular cheerleader” – Not so much!

“i fumble my words when i speak” – I, umm, uhh, errrr… but, you know… it’s umm… yeah.

“how to choose my song before singing” – Glad to be of service!

“because you was a part of me because you was a part of my sole” – *blink, blink*

“acupuncture bruise afterwards” – Been there, done that.

“guess earrings” – Is Guess even still around? That is oh, so 90′s.

“i call my soul” – I hope she answered.

“i gave you my soul, find song” – Find it, Google, find it now!

“i love my birthmark but the mole may be cancerous” – My blog can neither confirm nor deny this. Please seek medical attention.

“is ripping off moles safe” – My blog can neither confirm nor deny this. Please seek medical attention. And maybe some psychological help would be a good idea too.

“is it cool to have two earrings” – Why, yes. Yes it is. And you’re in luck. My earrings come in pairs! Woo!

“meaning of a white elephant as a lawn ornament” - It means the British are coming. One if by land, two if by sea. Come on, people, watch your HGTV.

“soul is a four letter word” - Thank you, Mr. Obvious.

“crystal” – That’s me!

My blog attracts some interesting attention. Eat that, Google, and shove it up your PageRank. (That sounds so nasty, yet makes so little sense.)

What interesting things have brought people to your site or blog?

Whoops! Crystal found a new meme to try out. I used to do memes a lot, then life got in the way, and now I’m just sort of lazy. *grin* However, I want to spruce up my blog which I feel has gotten a wee bit boring lately because half the time I don’t know what to talk about anymore, so I’m going to try a few new things, including perhaps trying a new (or old) meme or two. (And maybe add some more run-on sentences as well because goshdarnit, they are so much fun.)

I’ll also be featuring some guest bloggers in the very near future. From funny and heart-touching stories to informative articles and maybe a little in between, it should be interesting. *grin* Look for the first one (hopefully) sometime next week!

Now onto the Fill-In!

1. Oh, I can’t wait until I have a child.

2. Coca cola is the first thing I see when I open my refrigerator.

3. I never leave home without my cellphone.

4. If I were a condiment, I would be ketchup because it too has red hair. Or something.

5. People who act like they’re better than everyone else are really high up on my list of pet peeves.

6. The last thing I thought of before I went to bed was I gotta get up in five hours.
Ugggggh.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to hanging out with the hubbs, tomorrow my plans include flooring, flooring, flooring and Sunday, I want to get some jewelry business done!

Tell me, what could be more cute?

Not much, bloggy friends. Not much.

After being married for almost eight years, I just learned that my husband was a member of a bell choir when he was a teen. Yes, a bell choir. You know, those people that ring bells. White gloves and all. I said that bell choirs have got to be the cheesiest of all “musicians”. (Love you hon!) He played the huge ones. The ones that go “bong!” rather than “ding” or “dong“. He said it’s not easy playing those big bells. I said it’s a wee bit, I don’t know, wimpy? Now lest you think my man is a “musician” rather than a musician, let me set you straight. The man’s got talent. He can play acoustic guitar, bass guitar, drums, a little piano, and can sing (and DJ). These are all hawt qualities in a man.

Bell choir? Not so much.

But here’s the kicker, people. He joined this bell choir… for a girl.

Ah yes, because nothing says “Do you love me? Check yes or no!” quite so effectively as cheesy white gloves and big brass bells that go “bong!“.

Last year I learned that he can throw pottery (strangely, also hawt).

Three years ago, he finally told me he does not like turkey lunch meat after the poor man ate countless turkey lunch meat sandwiches I made for him (and still does, bless his soul).

While we were watching America’s Got Talent last week, I learned that he knows entirely way too much about Riverdance. Riverdance! I still don’t know why. I’m not sure I want to.

We’re proof positive that even when you’ve been married almost a decade and know each other better than you know yourselves, marriage can still be interesting.

Now I really want a kiln and pottery wheel.

“Bong!”

I don’t have much to say lately.

My life has been consumed with flooring, saw dust, dogs in bandannas, business stuff, allergies and more saw dust.

It took five days to finish the flooring in the hall. Five days, people. Lots of trial and error. Heavy on the error. But it looks pretty and we’re now about 1/2 done with the nursery, and maybe 1/5 done with the master. After that, we have all the closets and the office. Then I can breathe again.

Sometime this month, I might finally get to schedule our homestudy interviews. I’m a little annoyed that they have not been scheduled yet, but also a little relieved since “ooooh hiiii… please ignore all the sawdust… it’s not a danger to a baby… really…” probably isn’t a good way to introduce myself to the person conducting the interview.

The dogs slip and slide on the new floor. It’s quite funny. Dustin loves to scare Molly and watch her run in place, trying to get away from him. He’s so mean. No wonder the dog has issues.

I’ve been talking to a few shop owners who may be interested in carrying some of our product line. I’m really hoping this works out. A few wholesale accounts would really help to grow our business in good ways.

I’m trying to dry socks but the dryer just turned itself off after being on for only a few minutes. The door is broken and pops open at random intervals. It’s quite annoying and I want to throw it out the window. But I don’t think it would fit.

I think I might become a “please remove your shoes at the door” person. Don’t hate me because my floor is beautiful.

I’m pondering the idea of a chair rail in the nursery. Maybe white bead board. Maybe that would be a little too “kountry with a k”.

I’ve had a table saw in my kitchen (not being used in there, just stored in there at night and when it rains) for over a week. I think I might be a redneck.

That is all. Good night!

That’s where I’m living right now. A couple weeks ago, we tore the carpet out of our house in preparation for the new flooring we have been talking about laying for two years. That was nasty, people. Nasty. Now let me say that I try to vacuum well, but underneath the carpet and carpet padding was dirt and dirt and dirt. Oh, and a little more dirt with some dirt on top. NASTY. No wonder my allergies hate me. After seeing what lies beneath, I will never ever ever willingly live with carpet again. Nasty, nasty stuff that carpet. So we have been living on concrete since then… until this week.

Saturday, we (my dad and I) started laying the flooring and we’ve been working at it ever since. I’m tired, people. TIRED. It’s hard work. It also has a steep learning curve.

I’m sore. My legs are sooo bruised. But my floor looks purdy. The part that has been completed, anyway. We’ve done the living room and part of the hall and still have the rest of the hall and three bedrooms to go.

Here’s a sneak peak:

No, Jessica, the green isn’t part of the decor. I know you’re disappointed. (But you will be happy to know that we’re using lots of tape. RED tape this time.)

In other news, I drove my baby SUV to Lowe’s all by myself. I even parked it quite nicely (waaaaay in the back, far far from civilization). I deserve a friggin’ award!