NaBloPoMo = EPIC FAIL!

Yeah. That posting every day thing didn't work out for me.

Sickies. Again.

Well, after recovering from a horrible case of strep and mistakenly getting the live flu vaccine (don't ask), Henry has been hit by the sickies again. Poor kid can't catch a break. He has some weird side effect from the strep that is pretty much like a giant hive-y allergic reaction. From his face to his toes. It isn't contagious at all but the poor thing looks like he should be in quarantine. The best part? It could take up to 6 weeks to go away. Hooray.

Make Up.

What a busy day. And I'm ready for bed. I think this calls for bullet points.

* The meeting with Randy Jones from Home Depot couldn't have gone better. He made no promises but sounded confident that they could help us with making the playground a possibility. We'll know more in a few weeks, but until then I will be happy and optimistic!

* My folks are here! We stuffed our faces at Nona Mia and enjoyed each others' company. I am so happy to have them close by and am really looking forward to the weekend of gorgeous weather ahead! Tomorrow we are going to hit the West End Bakery, tae kwon do and the City Market for some local goodness. Also...

* I have heat! That means that this weekend marks moving day! I am going to start moving some furniture out to the studio tomorrow afternoon and hope to be totally moved in by the end of the week! I still need a couch. Thrifting will be in full effect very shortly.

* I am going to bed.

Aw, Man!

I already messed up my NaBloPoMo! I meant to post as soon as I opened up my mail yesterday and then promptly forgot.

I wanted to post about how awesome Mabel's Labels is! I met their rep at the Type A Mom Conference, filled out a little sample form and then forgot all about it. I got a sweet little package yesterday filled with Mabel-y goodness! There were 3 different sized labels with Henry's name on them along with 2 personalized dog tag style name tags for his backpack and... something else.
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These are perfect for us because there is another Henry (Hank) in Henry's class and they get each others' stuff all the time. I can't wait to take them for a test drive!

I will try to post again later in the day to make up for yesterday's slack. It shouldn't be hard to find something to write about. This morning we are meeting with a higher up in the Home Depot chain to look at the space we want to expand the playground into and "see what they can do to help". After that I am putting together a playground forum so we can get this thing BUILT! It's pajama day at school and Henry is rocking his flannel Crankypants Sea Monkey lounge set. And... my folks are coming into town!!! WaHooooooooo!

Inside Joke.

I am surprised by how completely and utterly tickled I am that Henry and I have our own little inside joke. It is short and simple and truly reflects out geeky nature.

Henry: I drew on the car in the wet. [referring to the dew on the windshield in the morning] I wrote H + A = love. Like Henry is H and Amy is A. And we equal love.

Me: I saw that! Awwwww....

Henry: If you saw me write it, why did it take you so long to say "awwwwwww". Why didn't you say it right away.

Me: Well, when I saw you writing it I thought you were going to write "H + A = HA!"

Henry: [laughs hysterically for about 700 hours] And next time I'm going to write "A + H = AH!" [laughs for another 700 hours]

Now I have to make him a heart shaped pillow with "H + A = HA" on it for Christmas.

I love having a kid who thinks language is fun. I love having a kid whose favorite shows are Wheel of Fortune. I love having a kid that thought the best part of Bunnicula was when Chester the cat tried to stab Bunnicula with a 'steak' instead of a 'stake' and yells "HOMOPHONE" every time here hears one. I love having a kid that will try out big words and awkward phrases over and over until he figures out how they work. Love, indeed.

Bean.

Yesterday when I was out trying to get some photos of a pair of longies I am stocking with Venus Vanguard on Thursday (more on that later) Henry decided that it would be fun to come out and stick his hand and/or foot in front of the camera each time I clicked the button. Finally I just gave him a shove in front of the camera and told him to dance or something if he was so anxious to have his picture taken.






Now the pictures I meant to take:




These medium sized organic "Berries and Chocolate" Monster Booty longies are stocking at the Venus Vanguard's Munchies themed stocking this Thursday night at 8EST along with a bunch of other delicious goodies!

Dias de los Muertos

Yesterday Henry and I went on down to Short Street Cakes and painted sugar skulls for Los Dias de los Muertos. Henry ate a triple chocolate ganache cupcake bigger than his head while I thought about my Memere and painted a sugar skull in her honor and put her picture up on the altar. If you are in Asheville, the celebration is still going on until the end of the day, so stop by and paint a skull, have some cake and blow my Memere a kiss.

Hello November!

November is an action packed month here at Crankypants World HQ! We have the yearly festivities of my birthday, my bestie's birthday, my mom's birthday and my folks' anniversary and Thanksgiving! This year I am also doing NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) which means I am going to try to update the blog every single day for 30 days. If anyone wants to join me let me know! If there is a little bunch of us I will start a blog roll over there on the sidebar.

There should be plenty for me to blog about, too. We'll be installing an interior door and finishing up the trim on the studio which means that November is move in month! Henry is doing his first Tae Kwon Do belt testing to move up to a white/yellow belt. My folks are coming to visit this week!!!

The first event of November, however, starts this morning. Get your custom requests in, Crankyphiles, between 10am and noon EST! Don't forget that you were supposed to turn your clocks back last night! If you don't snag a custom through the monthly lottery, three auctions will run starting tomorrow morning in the HC shop. I am also hoping to have a couple of special new things up for grabs, so keep checking back!

Happy November!

Bye Bye October!

I have no idea where you went, but whooosh, there you go!

No one could say that October wasn't eventful. The studio is *thisclose* to being ready for me to move into it. We finally got heat yesterday and I hope to be in by the end of the week. I will be scouring the local thrift scene trying to find some pieces of furniture so I don't have to completely pillage the office.

We also survived a revolving door of ickiness, the worst being the strep that knocked Henry out of commission for almost a week.

And, of course, Halloween! Henry went back and forth about what he wanted to be, but when he caught sight of the giant sword that went with the ninja outfit he was sold. When I saw that I wouldn't have to sped 2 weeks making a costume only to have him change his mind at the last minute and want to be a pirate using dress up clothes we had lying around, I was sold as well. Bring on the ninja sword.


In West Asheville, the place to be on Halloween is Vermont Ave. They go crazy with graveyards, ghosties galore, movie screens and anything else you can imagine. We have friends who live there who spend hundreds on candy each year. It was a little rainy and chilly last night, but it still looked straight out of a movie with the yellow leaves falling and kids running all over the super decorated lawns. We did a quick loop and finished just as the rain picked up. As we were hopping out of the car in the driveway we heard a gasp from the back seat. While finishing up the first piece of Halloween candy of the year, Henry lost his first tooth!


I think he saw a ghost. Or his mother told him to stop sqinching his eyes to I could get a decent shot. One or the other. He is having a blast putting juice box straws through the little hole and whatnot. I made him a monster-y tooth pillow and he woke up to three whole dollar bills tucked into its little monster heart this morning. At 5:30. *yawn*

Friday night I did wear a little costume to the Blog Asheville social media party "Spookyblogapaloozananny", held in the Phil Mechanic studio down in the River Arts District. Unfortunately, I was a little too 'clever' for my own good and no one knew what the heck was going on. I was up for Best Craft Blog, so I wanted to do a play on how I am made of craftiness. I sewed a zipper into my shirt with a false back. I unzipped the zipper and had gobs of yarn pouring out. On top of all of my yarn entrails, I made 2 small pillows- one shaped like a < and one shaped like a 3 (the 2 keystrokes that you use to make a heart shape on Facebook and Twitter). I skewered them together on a set of bamboo double pointed needles. It was meant to be like someone zipped open my chest and I was stuffed with yarn and this little pillow "heart" was being ripped out. I thought I was being soooooo clever using the keystrokes instead of an actual heart, since it was a social media event and surely everyone would get it and chuckle. Um...no. I got a couple of "what's going on there?"s and a "why do you have a yarn vagina on your chest". Costume FAIL!!! The good news is that I did indeed win Best Craft Blog, so thanks to all who voted for me! If I can track down some pictures I will surely post them.

I hope everyone had a fabulous Halloween and are enjoying a nice balanced candy breakfast. Mmmmm...Snickers at 7am...