This is how to make these cute crochet mofits, that can be put together to make one big project or added to something simple to spice it up!

1. Chain five- make a loop. Chain one
2. Put 12 single stitches inside the loop.
Slip stitch to first chain.
3. Follow this pattern fro next row, chain three and single stitch into every other stitch- this will give you six loops around.
4. For next row this pattern- in each loop, put 2 single stitches, chain 3 then 2 more single stitches.
5. Finish off- Slip stitch and pull through, weave excess through adjacent stitches.

Dirty Schenectady Juice

1 cup crushed pineapple
1cup orange juice
Dash of lemon juice
Dash of lime juice
3 cup crushed ice
1/2 cup dark rum
Teaspoon brown sugar
Blend, add fancy garnish – you know cause it’s from Schenectady that Che Che town! Drink! It’s called dirty juice cause it dark rum- which looks dirty, and is juxtapose to Schenectady which is sparkly

Another example you say…. My doctor told me I had to exercise, I did and ended up in a foot brace for a month.

Now in all honesty, I can’t really complain. Nothing is really that tragic- just wholly annoying little “trip me up’s”.

Anyway, thank the cosmos I have a closet full of old apple gear and I was able to pull out an older keyboard on which I am now typing. This one looks like it had a run in with a can of soda at some point…. but it works, except you have to hit the “B” button really hard….. again not tragic.

Anyway I am revamping my website and will finally get some painting, photo and illustrator lessons up…. AS THE COSMOS AS MY WITNESSES- I will battle mediocrity and win, I say WIN!!!!

Sows Ear Studio! So much fun! Com’on down!

They carry a lot of exclusive ienjoysoup items; cards, paintings, crochet, etc. stuff you can only get here. They also have the work of over 20 local artists and crafts people. it’s truly a unique place!

Sow’s Ear Studio
1597 Union Street
Schenectady, NY 12309
For more info call 518.370.2042

Hours: 10:30am-5pm Mon-Sat

*Murals, Faux Finishes,
Custom Handpainted Furniture
*Retail Shop of Handcrafted Work by Local Artists
*Gallery of Solo and Group Shows Featuring Area Artists
*Workshops- Family Friendly Fun!

Joe has his own website! Very exciting!
click here to visit it

My day has been non-stop making breakfast, making lunches, making coffee… Driving the boy to school, coming home, making graphics, working on blog, and then another…. Eating lunch, then out the door to get the boy from school. And what to my wondering eyes should appear but a dead squirrel in our almost drained bladder pool.

It’s always good to start with the, Who, What, Where, Why and When…..

Who: Any organization can ask for an in-kind donation, but you will be more successful if your organization has a 501(c)(3) with the IRS.

What: What in the world is an in-kind donation? It is a donation given in goods, commodities, or services instead of money.

Where: Ok…… maybe we can skip this one.

Why: Why would you want to ask for in-kind donations rather then writing a grant for money? Normally, Grants require a lot of work and information, usually you would write a grant for a large scale project, i.e. playground equipment, audio/visual equipment, etc. It wouldn’t be appropriate to write a grant to get the ice cream for an ice cream social donated. That’s where a in-kind donation comes in….. so I guess we do have a where.

When: You want to initiate the process of getting a donation as soon as you have a date locked down. At least two month in advance of when what you need with actually be used.

Once you have figured out what you need, research companies in your area that offer those goods and services. Figure out which company is most likely to give. Large chains, like Walmart and Target, and many chain supermarkets authorize there managers some funds each month for in-kind goods and services. Whether the company is larger or small it’s best to find the appropriate contact person and address your letter to the person who is authorized to make donations. You can find the managers name by calling and asking.

If you are successful in getting a donation make sure that you do the following:

1. Document everything so that the person who is running the program the year after your children have left the school, can continue getting the donation the following year. Also so that you don’t over tax your donors.
2. Send a thank you letter that clearly states the cash value of what was donated. This is what the donor will use as a recipe when they do their taxes.
3. a. Give a genuine heartfelt thank you.
   b. Have kids write thank you letters.
   c. Buy stuff from that store, or use there service, talk them up to your friends and relatives: spread the love baby!

We went through a few different Doctors until we found the right guy, I’ll call him Dr. S. for this to protect his identity.

My due date was set for August 29th. Which came and went. My sisters birthday is September 11th, and Dr. S joked, “Well, that’s the day you’re going to have him!” He was right, on September 10 we went to the hospital in Albany NY. I was two weeks overdue, which means it’s time to get the baby out one way or another. That night they started the “Get the baby out” process, which is a 2 stage process. Basically is medicine that starts labor.

We were put into a very small room, basically a walk in closet with a bed and a very small window. The very snarly and unhappy night nurse gave me stage 1. Labor started immediately. However the baby monitor she put on me was broken, so I was really the only one who was quiet sure labor had begun. She turned off the light and told my husband and I to get some sleep. I spent the evening wide awake in pain silently gripping the bed, so my husband could actually try to get some sleep either on the cold floor under the tiny blanket he had to beg the mean nurse for.

Despite the bad hospital accommodations, I was happy that he was going to be born on my sisters birthday….. after all she had had her son on my and my fathers birthday. I remember looking out the very small window in the very small hospital room, seeing the beautiful blue sky, I thought, “It’s a good day to be born.”

We got through the night, and at 7am in the morning we met the day Nurse, who I’ll call Linda. Linda was a good nurse, in charge and on top of any situation. The first thing she noticed was the the IV was in my hand instead of my arm, the second thing she noticed was that the monitor that was on me was broken. She couldn’t change the IV but she did get a working monitor and declared that in fact, I was in labor. I told that I knew that, and that I had been watching how close the contractions where to one another all night. At that point, they were coming about a minute apart. She gave me a quizzical look but then timed it and confirmed that, in fact, I was correct. She left to get the doctor saying that they may not have to give the second labor inducing medication after all.

After about a half an hour the Doctor rushed in quickly, He checked me out and smiled. “Well, you’re having contracts but you have a long way to go! I’ll come back and check you again in a few hours. Everything is moving along!” It was about quarter after 8, so we refocused on the Today Show.

The Today Show had the typical fair, fall fashions, actors and authors. It was pretty boring. Then Katie said, “We have a breaking news story to tell you about, a small plane has crashed into the world trade center….” At the same moment my husband said, “Come on this is just boring stuff, lets watch a movie.” I came out of my contraction and said,”Wait, a plane just flew into the World Trade Center…” He turned on the VCR, and popped in Austin Powers. and added, “It’s probably just a Cessna. Lets watch some happy stuff.” We watched the credits, and then Linda came in and looked up at the TV and said, “You’re not watching the news?” Before my husband could object I said, “Put on the news!”

As the news of the day unfolded so did my labor. I remember hearing every detail as my pain got worst and worst. I heard Linda talking to a parametric in the hall outside my room, she was asking them if they were going to Medivac some of the survivors to Albany, he replied, “There aren’t any survivors.” Thank god he was wrong! Lots of people got out alive!

My husband was crying thought out my labor, reluctantly telling me each piece of horrible news. Somewhere along the way, my sister-in-law arrived. Which helped me focus, because I no longer had to worry about my husband, she would take care of him. Shortly after she arrived, Joe was born at 1:36 pm. He was fine, but I was not. I made it through thanks to Dr. S. Apparently, 9/11 caused lots of pregnant women to go into labor, because the almost empty maternity ward was full by the end of the day. The nursery was full of tiny babies and one GIANT 9.6 lbs boy, who, I was told, wouldn’t stop screaming.

So that’s it, that’s what I was doing on 9/11. I had a dream when my son was about 3 or 4. I was in NY and this man, who was just some random dream person brought me down to the subway system. We stood on the platform and as two trains went by passing each other, he pointed and said, “It’s like your son, the two trains moving pass one another. They are going different places, but as they pass one another, they meet at this one point in time. Otherwise, they have nothing to do with each other.”

Today is Joe’s 10th Birthday! Happy Birthday to my Beautiful BOY!

Irene……. Irene hit the east coast HARD. Lots of places had major flooding and there are people who scarcely got out of there house with the clothes on their back. Now, a few days later, they are getting to go back to their mud covered houses to salvage what they can. The first thing that most of them look for is, a photo album. Sadly, often times it coated in mud and silt.

Here are a few tips to salvage those photos. If you can’t get to this within 2 days, put all your photos in the freezer. Sounds crazy? Yes, but it will prevent mold growth. You want to prevent mold growth. You need to dry stuff out in a dry room that is about 68 degrees, with good airflow and low light, not dark. Too much sun will fade an already compromised photo.

Traditional loose photographs: (anything printed over 10 years ago). Get a large pan and fill it with clean room temperature water. Let them sit for 5 minutes to rinse of surface dirt. If there is still dirt on the photo, put the pan in the sink and run room temperature water in the pan, not directly hitting the surface of the photograph. Don’t touch the surface of the photo, as you could accidentally scratch off the emulsion. When the photo is clear, or as clear as you can get it, lay it on a cookie drying rack face up to dry. Make sure you don’t have photos touching one another, because they can stick together. Don’t blow dry your photo’s. This maybe all you need to save these photos, if you still have dirt. Let it dry in an area with good air flow and then take it to a professional to be digitally restored.

Negatives: If they are loose raise them as instructed above. But be extra careful not to touch the emulsion.

Digital photographs: Find the file and reprint it. If you can’t do that, take it to a professional to be digitally restored. They may not be able to do much, but it’s worth a shot!

Photos in albums: This can get dicey! Anything that had a plastic covering, or is in a plastic sleeve, Clean off the plastic covering the photo and set it out to dry. Basically, the next step is to take it to a professional to be restored.

Photographs in frames: If the photo looks like it’s sticking to the glass, it probably is and you will rip it to pieces if you take it out of the frame. Leave it in the frame and take it as is to a professional photographer. Only take it out of the frame if it appears to be loose from the frames glass. Then follow the instructions above. If your not sure, leave it in the frame.

You will have to at least touch base with a professional photographer. Here is a link you may find useful: http://www.operationphotorescue.org

When looking for a professional photographer to restore your photo’s be sure that they have processed photos chemically. For about the last 10 to 15 years, photography has gone digital and there are a lot of professionals out that that have never entered a darkroom. You want someone who has printed chemically, so that they know how your photos are made and how to treat your photographs. You also want someone who is an expert in Photoshop. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, and if you don’t like the answer, find someone else.

If you have any questions, or need more guidance on what to do, feel free to contact me, or respond to this post.

This is a more detailed article on Consumer Reports website.

I love this book, I have read it over and over. It’s a comic book that is written very cleverly and shows the futility of evil. My son is a bright kid, he could read on a 9th grade level in kindergarten. I gave him this book to read for the first time when he was 7. He didn’t understand a lot of the concepts, but he loved the drawing and he walked away with the simple lesson: fighting = bad- being nice = good. Good = better life for everybody.

This summer my son is about to turn 10. He was reading a book that came to a sad verse, I don’t know why so many novels for children include a parent dieing! I gave him Peace for Beginners to read again. This time he has had a richer experience reading it. After reading the Chapter on religion he said, “I think I’m a Buddhist.” Which is a big change for him, because for quiet some time he has told me he is an Atheists. It also covered the teachings of Christ and he is coming away with a much better opinion of him. Which makes me happy, cause after all…. Christ was a pretty good guy.

Karma Visually Explained

The illustrations are what make it fun! It’s and easy read for a breezy summer afternoon, or any time.

The book was published by Writers and Readers in 1984 and is now out of print. But used copies are available on Amazon. It’s worth owning. Click here if you want to buy a copy.

Writers and Readers has changed it’s name to For Beginners and they’re distributed by Random House. There new books are available on Amazon.