Leopard Print Bedding

How'd ya like to wake up next to one of these...


In Jerusalem this weekend a man awoke when a wild leopard jumped through his open window and climbed into bed with him! He wrestled the leopard to the floor and held it for 20 minutes until help arrived.

His oh so astute observation post big-kitty-close-encounter: "This sort of thing doesn't happen every day!"

What are YOU doing this weekend?

Or, How I Like My Jack...

Well, there's the Wax Jack:


and the 18 inch Posable & Talking(!) Jack...
The Toon Chibi Jack:

Lego Jack:


Alien Jack (ew.):

and Oo-la-la, the 6 ft tall Cardboard Standup Jack:

After all... how wouldn't you take Jack?! Yum.

See you At World's End!

Hello, stranger

Wow, it's been a whole week! Where have I been?? Softball season is winding down, which means we're chasing our tails trying to squeeze in all the makeup games we missed from the deluge of rain this month. We have lakes in OK that are 10 feet over normal levels!! Yes, FEET. So on this upcoming holiday weekend, I hope that you lake-goers in my area will be safe on the water!

I'm also brain dead (daily dose of teenage hormones via my teaching job will do that to ya) as we've only 9 days left of school. (yes, those ARE new smile lines forming from the broad grin stupidly accompanying the rest of my face.)

In digital scrappy photo savvy news...a couple of pretties for you today!







"Ooooh, awwwww."(Gratuitous emo'ing from blog readers. At least in theory.) Oh, and ignore the fact that I forgot to shadow a couple of em. Hey, you can't be that picky. They're free!

For Madeline...

Finally, on a somber note, meet Madeline McCann. A beautiful baby girl from Great Britain who vanished while on vaction in Portugal a few weeks ago. A few days after her disappearance, her parents were forced to mark the passing of her 4th birthday without her, which breaks my heart. This is every parent's worst nightmare.

You can read her story here. You'll notice she has a very distinguised eye pigment as well. Perhaps this will help someone spot her!

Please, please take a moment to pray for Madeline's safe return.

Feelin Froggy?

Sorry, Shan, I couldn't resist :D
(and EW on the creepy bucket full o'frogs, huh?
Can we add multiple frogs to our Screamer list?)

Yes, my friend Shannon has finally bit the bullet and joined us in Blogville. You can visit her HERE at Frogs in a Bucket.

Fair warning...she sews and smocks circles around anyone I know. I mean seriously, you're going to be intimidated by her precise stitching. Er, well, I am.

But I love her anyway (mostly because she's a sci-fi-loving geek like yours truly. And really....there just aren't enough of us. )

(Are there?)

Braceface

The G-man & I have been to the orthodontist. He is now outfited with shiny (and I do mean SHINY) new teeth adornments. :D

In actual, honest-to-goodness jemima*bean news...this sweet set is ending Thursday:

Click Here to view the auction!

Toodles!

For all the Moms

I hope you all had a GREAT day today!!

Worse. WAY Worse.

So I'm chatting to my kids as we walk across the driveway tonight, coming home from a dentist appointment, and look down just in time to avoid THIS...



The fact that it was already dead did nothing to diminish my hysterical screaming. Trust me on this one.

Here's a headshot, because it was so my-worst-nightmare creepy and I gotta vent...



So here's a poll...Spider? Mouse? SNAKE??? Other? What's your biggest screamer?

a.

The Goodbye Girls

After 7 seasons, the Gilmore Girls will air its very last episode next Tuesday night.

I've shared countless hours with the Girls. I've laughed, cried and basically everything in between with them...usually while on the phone with one of my friends who share my passion for the lovable characters of Stars Hollow.

I'm sad, tonight, that all the fun ends in seven short days. So here are some of my favorite GG memories...

Rory the Debutante

In many ways she really was the daughter Emily & Richard never had.

The Townspeople of Stars Hollow

"Kookie" is probably being kind. Characters too hysterically weird to be real...and yet I want to live there. Or at least visit on holidays.

Sookie & Jackson

How can you not love Sookie? Shouldn't we all have a best friend like her? And was there ever anyone more perfect for her than Jackson?

Dinner with the Gilmores

Formal dinners with the stiff and stuffy Gilmore parents. Barely comfortable to watch, and yet...you can't look away. You know, like a train wreck.

"You Jump, I Jump Jack"

I had a love/hate relationship with all of the Huntzbergers. But man, I loved this episode.

Christopher. Second place never looked so good.


Luke & Lorelai. No explanation necessary.

So many other things...Chilton, Yale. Michel! The guitar playing guy. Kirk. Miss Patty and Babette. Paris! Lane!! And Mrs. Kim!

All I have to say is...God bless DVDs. And thanks for the memories, Girls.

a.

Totally Free. Like, totally.

You know what bugs me about digital art these days? Everyone's hung up on copyright. Yes, I completely understand about artist integrity and every person getting their due respect and accolades. Blah blah blahedy blah. But when you go to PURCHASE graphics for ebay template building (or web building or scrapbook making, etc etc) there's always a mile long Terms Of Use statement to plow through. And nine times out of ten, they all state...Not for Commercial use. Nu-uh. No way. No how. Period. Finito.

I even read one last week that went into explicit detail about all the ways you could NOT use her graphics, listing specifically you could not use them for websites, blogs, ebay auctions, templates OR for any other reason known to mankind where someone might actually SEE the graphic.

People. We're not ALL pirates! Furthermore, the good and decent people who want to buy your graphics to use on a webpage are actually PAYING you to do so! Now most times, there is also a commercial license. That is WAY more expensive than makes it worthwhile to purchase for a simple ebay auction template.


Sooo... Rather than comb through a billion TOU agreements, I got fed up and created my own. These 7 little "blings" were created in PSP X by me, using totally free tubes, photos, or scans. The jewels are in .png format to plop down on whatever you so choose. Auction template? Sure! Website?? You bet! Grab them below!

Red Flower Sequin
Hot Pink Flower Sequin
Yellow Flower Sequin
Orange Flower Sequin
Pink Pearl
White Pearl
Black Pearl

Oh, and one more...a Clear Crystal that I forgot to stick in the preview photo!

You: Wha... You mean they're free?

Always.

Well it ain't Mickey

So I go to feed the cats last night before bed...dip the cup into the kitty food bag under my sink, scoop up a cupful and feel a weird brush of "something" over the top of my hand. Probably just a string from the top of the bag, right?

I go back for the second scoop (Kitties are so selfish. They won't share a bowl!) and before I reach in it occurs to me (because I'm a sick and twisted whacko) IT COULD BE A TARANTULA!!!


Now why I thought "tarantula" and not "common house spider" or more aptly, "brown recluse" (eek), I'll never know. My overactive imagination maybe?

In any case, I had a sad, meowing kitty at my ankles crying because his bowl was still empty, while his fat brother paused in his chomping to smugly purr now and then. So I stand there staring at the bag, thinking..."Do tarantula's jump? And if so, how high?" I take a breath and open the sack, keeping my head a good distance from the bag opening.

It wasn't a tarantula.

Or a string.

It was this...
Still ew. I quickly clamped the bag shut (and I'll admit, briefly considered the broom and dustpan leaning against the cabinet beside me...seemed plausible until I envisioned MISSING and the little bugger running rampant around my kitchen while I haphazardly slapped thin air with my broom) and went out the back door. Opened the bag away from me and Mickey bounded across the yard. Free at last.

Did I mention this entire saga occurred while I was FEEDING THE BLOOMING CATS???

Geez Louise. Maybe I should feed them less. So I got out the aluminimum foil & that steel wool stuff and replugged all the cracks, etc under the sink. (Old house. I skimped on this over the winter because it's been forever since I had a mouse!) Guess I'll have to grab some sticky traps this weekend just to be on the safe side. And fewer kitty treats.

My Other Brother Daryl...

Lots of things to report on this Thursday evening. First...did I ever tell you I was psychic? No? Well, just tonight I rented one of these...
and then on CSI evidence from a steam cleaner solved the case!

And then! I've had this amazing soundtrack in my car playing all week...

most specifically the Ewan MacGregor/Nicole Kidman duet "Come What May" on repeat all day today. And I'm moseying through the boards tonight only to find the first message I read ends with the phrase "come what may..." (Cue Twilight Zone theme.)

Speaking of CSI, I read a internet rumor that a certain female lead may find herself in a bodybag come season finale time. That would seriously suck.


Ok, so after all that psychic-energy, you'd think I run over to the Jiffy-Stop and play Lotto or something, wouldn't you? Nope. I steam cleaned the carpets instead. They're so pretty now. A truly scary amount of dirty water was exchanged during this saga. Um, housekeeping's not my forte?

Oh, and for all you stay at home lurker mom's out there....This Article is a MUST READ! Didja have any idea your "worth" was 140K? Of course we all know a SAHM's real worth is priceless!! (Cue Mastercard theme.)

Finally, I leave you tonight with a story from my friend Jody's MySpace. Jody, I love you girlfriend. But I completely suck at MySpace. It's wrong, I tell you! Blogger Rules! :P ) Anyway, Jody's last blog entry will give you an insight to life in the middle of nowhere, USA. I'm totally plagiarizing her here:

Redneck entertainment!!
"The most ironic thing happened a little bit ago...a drunk driver hit a little powerbox utility thingy in front of my house. Here's the ironic part, I live directly across from the police station. So instead of the policemen walking over to check out the wreck, they peeled out of their parking lot with 4 squad cars, lights flashing, sirens blaring, and went 100 feet. No joke. How coincidental that the poor drunk crashed right in front of the police station!! I watched it all from a bedroom window...the sobriety test was quite entertaining. The police cuffed and stuffed the poor old woman...and then DROVE her back across the street to the police station!!"

Life in the boonies is better with friends! (Cue Bob Newhart theme.)

a.

Miss Match...a lot

Nobody hyperventilate, but we had a CELEBRITY in our midst this week! Holy cow, Jennifer Paganelli, creator of my FAVORITE fabric line Sis Boom popped in and left a sweet comment! Man I hope everything on this page was color-coordinated :P

In honor of Jennifer, I declare itat jemima bean!

And this is my favorite Sis Boom fabric...


I have 6 yards that I've hoarded for months and months because I can't bear to cut into it. I am such a dork (I admit this and you haven't even heard about my Battlestar Galactica addiciton. Well, until I just outed myself.)


Meanwhile, due to a somewhat odd (but totally me) combination of amateur digital art and sewing savvy, so far this week I've been named both a "genius" and a "goddess".

And it's only Tuesday!