Purses and sock monkeys at the youth club....

I have a crafting blog but I'm going to slowly move everything over here and delete that blog... Crafting is a huge part of my life so why not have it with my everyday babble?

We've been busy at the youth club making purses and sock monkeys. I'm trying to steer the kids away from easy 5 minute projects and trying to get them to spend some time and effort in what they are making. But that means that the project has to be so cool that it will hold their attention for a longer period of time. The purses and sock monkeys have been a huge success.

Whenever I try something new with the kids, I have to first make a demo - so they'll know what it looks like when it's done and so I know exactly how to make it in order to explain it to them. After spending hours on the internet, looking for good ideas and tutorials, I get to work and then cross my fingers that that particular idea catches at least a couple of the kid's attention.

I love my new purse and the kids love making it. It's easy enough for them to make but it requires time and a commitment. I used my new purse for the first time going out last Saturday to the Pub and I was surprised over how many strangers noticed it - in a good way. (I'll admit it, that felt awesome!)

Wrapping paper with tape - around 250 pieces folded together. 

Added a "porno" red zipper to add some color. 

LS came up with the good idea to add pieces of silver (chip bag) in order to break up the black and white a bit. 

The sock monkeys have been a HUGE success. The kids have been busy and I have new socks everyday to cut up and start. I found this tutorial on the internet and after getting my new computer, I lost the link. Which really sucks because that person deserves all the credit. I think I found it via craftster.org and will try to find it again when I have a little more time. I made a monkey for LS (private joke) and when I gave it to her at her bday party, the other guests showed lots of interest. (Again, awesome feeling!)

One of the girls at the club made this monkey. It was quite large and now she had made 4 of them!

We always give them names and a background so they are all very unique. 

LS's new sock monkey. His name is Pablo and is a gay Italian. 

Sorry for the bad quality pictures - I had to use my phone camera since I didn't have a camera on me at the time.

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Thursday babble - even though it's Wednesday.....

My shifts this week at the youth club were changed a bit so instead of opening the club today, I have my Thursday shift today and then the opening shift tomorrow. Confused?

I "behaved" myself last Friday night. I did NOT go out and instead spent a nice and quiet evening at home. Hell has not frozen over and pigs still can't fly. I don't remember the last time I spent a quiet Friday night at home and just.... relaxed. I read a book. I soaked my feet. I surfed the Net. I basically spent the entire evening curled up on my couch and it was wonderful. And that meant that I was awake and ready to do laundry and cleaning Saturday morning-ish and was the responsible adult that I am sometimes supposed to be.

Saturday night... well, that's another story. I went over to a friend's place for dinner and drinks. Then we went to the Pub for more drinks. And dancing. The time flew by and before we knew it, it was 5am and the Pub was closing. We were not ready to go home. So after all the guests had left the building, us Pub people continued on with our party.... it was so much fun. I am very rarely at the morning parties (because I'm old-ish) but I stuck around for this one and I'm glad I did. I was home at 11am and trust me, I was tired! (and slightly tipsy....) Lots of laughs and just a really good time.

M.'s dog - such a cute puppy. 

Morning party - somehow, I got wound up in tape and decorated. 

Sunday was made for relaxing. And I did just that. Skyped it out with my parents and ordered take-out.

And now it's Wednesday and I'm ready for a good day. I slept in - couldn't get my ass out of bed when my alarm clock rang but that's nothing new. I'm drinking coffee and listening to music and soon will take a shower so I'm ready to take over the world. Or at least the creative workshop at the youth club. Tomorrow is my last day at my "real" job before the xmas holidays and then it'll be nice to have some days off.

Ohhhh - I almost forgot. At the youth club, we all have our own café day where we make a late lunch for the kids. Usually I have Wednesdays. But I swapped with my boss (the reason why I'm working tonight) and got stuck with his food day on Monday..... To tell you a secret - I'm not that great in the kitchen. My dad's the greatest cook in the world so growing up, I never had to think about food. He was always able to whip something up in no time which is why I never cooked. Ever. Then I move to DK alone and am forced to fend for myself. I can cook the basics. I love cooking for myself (then if it goes wrong, I only wreck my own dinner) but when I started working at the youth club, almost 5 years ago, I started cooking for the kids every Wednesday. I had no choice. They need to eat so I need to make something. So to play it safe, I always stick to the dishes I know how to cook. Dishes that I just can't screw up.

But.... Monday was a change for me. I was forced to cook up a roast with brown sugar potatoes and gravy. My boss and other co-workers thought it was hilarious because they knew I was freaking out. But!! I had a long talk with my dad on Skype Sunday night and got step-by-step instructions and decided to take up the challenge brought upon me. Fuck it, if it went wrong, then I'd buy pizza for the kids.

It went great! YAY! Not as good as if my dad had made it but definitely great for me. My first time making gravy and sugar potatoes and the kids loved it. A tiny bit too salty but nothing that ruined the meal.

Cooking up the sugar potatoes. I have the stupidest smile but I was concentrating on my food. 

The pork roast!

Gravy with no lumps!

I made way too much food. We couldn't eat it all but we definitely tried. 

 I took the challenge and I kicked ass.

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Thursday babble

Coffee - check. Music - check. Slept in - check. Enjoying a quiet Thursday - check.

Laundry - nope. Cleaning - nope. Shower - nope (yet). Guilty conscience - nope (yet).

Yeah, so it's Thursday again. I haven't done anything yet this wonderful morning and I don't even feel bad about it. I should be doing stuff - I have loads of things I need to be doing but I haven't gotten my shit together just yet. I took my time in waking up, pressing snooze probably a million times before I crawled out of bed. Then I had sorted my laundry while the coffee was brewing but realized that both the machines were already taken. So back upstairs - with dirty laundry - and it's now dumped in my hallway. But now I'm drinking coffee, the music is blaring and I decided to just go with the flow.

Yesterday was a intense day at work. My co-worker celebrated his 25 yrs of working in Vejle Kommune and decided to have a kiddie party with adult stuff afterwards. Free hotdogs, pop and icecream to all the kids, plus games and prizes and lots of fun. Then old co-workers and old members of the youth club came to celebrate him with wine, tapas, speeches and good memories. It was a good day - kids were happy. Over 100 hotdogs were given away and that was tense. I know now that if my childcare career falls apart, I can survive a hotdog stand.

But J. was happy and the kids were happy. We put a lot of work into yesterday and even though it was over in a few hours, it was a long day. I spent last night doing.... nothing. I read. I talked to LS. I read some more. Then I slept. And slept in.

Okay, I should seriously get my shit together now. Now the guilty feelings of being too lazy are starting to emerge. I still have a couple of hours before I have to work so I should become an adult now and start crossing things off my to-do list. It's a long list. I've been super lazy the past few days and now it's starting to bite me in the ass.

Loud music and a duster - here I come!

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Quiet time... interrupted by loud music.

Tuesdays are nice. I'm off work early and I usually have the evening to myself, to do whatever I please. So I did some grocery shopping - avoided too many impulse items and stuck to my mental list. Then I started to make dinner when S. came over to store some of her moving boxes and she ended up staying to dinner. Nice to have someone to eat with for a change and even nicer that she had plans to do things afterwards so I could carry on with my Tuesday night plans. Now it's coffee and loud music - Marilyn Manson - and then it'll be a cleaning evening before I crash on my couch with hopefully a good book.

Things are okay here. Not super good but not bad either. I don't know why but I've been feeling slightly meh-ish the last couple of days. Don't ask why because I really don't know. Just meh.

And I've been super tired. But that's because I had a crazy party weekend (again) and I may have pushed it just a little too hard. I have to soon realize that I'm no longer 20 years old. I don't recover as quick anymore. Not because I was hungover but I didn't sleep too much and had two really late nights. Next weekend won't be as bad, I don't think. My plan is to stay home Friday night but go out Saturday.... that might be a long night.

Time to start cleaning.

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The Story of Canada 2011 - Chapter 3 - The Wedding

This past summer, I was back in Canada to spend time with my family. The months up to my trip were hard. My Mormor died in June - just a bit over a month before I was supposed to visit her. Losing her reminded me that family is important. No matter how far I am from them, they are my family. No matter how crazy and screwed up we can be, we are family. When Cydney and Tyson got married, we celebrated life and happiness and Mormor was there in spirit - she was the sunshine looking down at us. 

My family is split up all over the world and that means I don't see them as often as I would like to. My aunt - mom's sister - lives in the States with her kids and grandkids. I hadn't seen them for years, especially my youngest cousin, Cydney. She was unable to attend the last family reunion which meant we hadn't seen each other since I was around 15 years old. So you can only imagine how awesome and amazing it was to see everyone at Cyd and Tyson's wedding. It was a gorgeous day. The sun was shining and people were happy. It was a great feeling being a part of the family again and not just relying on emails and pictures. 

Mom, checking out the wedding site as things were getting set up. The weather was just gorgeous for an outdoor wedding. 

Cydney and Tyson. He is a nice guy and is crazy enough to be a part of our little family. 

My baby cousin grew up into a beautiful woman. 

A private moment between the bride and groom. 

The things you do to avoid grass stains!

My family!

Wedding ceremony. Dad was taking all these amazing pictures. 

"You are now husband and wife. You may now... eat the cake." 

Christin - crazy bridesmaid. Mom. Katie - my cousin's wife.   

Cydney and Mom.

Thank you for letting me be a part of your day.

Dad is pretty talented behind the camera lens. It was hard to pick and choose which pictures to use on this post - I have so many! 

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New Computer!

I'm in heaven right now.

I use my computer everyday - and I mean EVERYDAY - and I don't know what I would do without one. I mean, I don't have a tv and I'm fine with that. I actually Like not having a TV. But my computer.... all hell would break loose if I didn't have one. My Dell wasn't doing too well and I was ready to say goodbye to the trusty machine that had served me well for many years.

And say hello to a brand new Toshiba. We'll call her Miss T. - she's definitely a girl computer because of all the fine details and wonderful surprises. Our relationship is a new one but I already love her. She's a gorgeous machine.

So my life the last couple of days have revolved around Miss T., getting her setup and personalized and I think I'm finally done. I still need to gather my internet links but that'll come. I know we'll have many years together and I don't want to rush things. One day at a time, right?

Haha, yes, I'm not normal. Neither is my family. We like to name things like our cars and computers. Deal with it.

Drinking coffee, doing laundry, listening to music and playing on Miss. T. Life is good. And my Thursday morning hasn't failed me today - it's been a good morning.

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Thursday Babble....

I mentioned it before and I'll do it again - I love my Thursdays! I can sleep in, I can putter around here at home and do what even I want before I go to work and spend my day with kids in our crafting room. LOVE THURSDAYS! And sometimes, when I'm on my way home from work after 10pm, I drop by the Pub to say hi - usually have a coffee or whatever.

Today is of no exception! I slept in - loved it! Had my coffee (damn - no milk!!) and am now surfing the net while listening to loud music. The apartments next door are being renovated so I have music to drown out the hammering and loud noises from next door. So far so good. I updated my blog with a new Canada 2011 chapter and while I was going through the pictures, I just realized something. I LOVE TAKING PICTURES!! And I think I'm actually pretty good at it. So I'm going to recharge my camera batteries and start dragging that little baby around with me.

Thursday plan - I still have a little while before I have to work so I think I'm going to be responsible and clean up. Empty the dishwasher, air the place out and clean the bathroom. I have 2 friends staying here Sunday to Monday so I want the place to be somewhat decent.

I hope you all have a great day!

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The Story of Canada 2011 - Chapter 2 - G&N, Dad and Biksen

Canada 2011 - a wonderful summer. One evening, I was at Glenda's place and we were talking about my dad's boat.... after a short chat, we called up my dad and arranged a day for Glenda and Nathan to come with us for a short trip on Biksen. My dad loves those two so it didn't take any time to convince him that they should come with us when we move the boat back to Hidden Harbour. What a perfect day - the sun was shining, we ate lunch on the boat and just had a really good day. The only downside was that we didn't have much wind and we didn't have all day to putter around in the ocean. But a wonderful few hours with some of my favourite people in the world.

Glenda and Nathan, waiting for Biksen to be put back into the water.

Biksen is being put back into the water, while Glenda and Nathan keep an eye out on things.

Glenda! One of the coolest people on earth!

Captain Nathan - Love this picture!!

Taking a break from being the captain and enjoying the quiet up front.

Teehee, sorry dad, couln't resist. Love this picture too!

Nathan - I hope he had a good day!

Nathan and Glenda - thanks for a great day!

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Work weekend...

It's around 4:30 pm here. I can honestly say.... I haven't done anything interesting today!! I didn't even get up until way past lunch time. It's a work weekend for me, which means I was at the Pub working last night and then again tonight. So I don't even feel guilty about getting some sleep! And now I will get some coffee...

Mmmm - coffee.... (and loud music!!)

Work last night was good. A decent warm-up for a rockin' night tonight - I have a feeling it's going to be super busy. It's the first real "Julefrokost" night for the Danes and that always includes a trip to a bar. Julefrokost is basically just a Christmas party with lots of food and lots of alcohol. So that means every weekend from now to Christmas will be busy at the Pub. But I would much rather it be busy than too quiet!

I'm almost done with LS's late bday present. It just needs a zipper.... I made her one of those weaved magazine purses - black and white with speck of silver using wrapping paper, backside of a chips bag and clear packing tape. I'm quite pleased with the result so far and it will be nice to finally get it done. I also had made her a sock monkey (joke gift) and that turned into a big hit... which means that I might have to make more. The kids at the club have gone all crazy about the purses and the sock dolls so we've been busy in the art room. Pretty cool when something works out, eh?

Other than work, nothing new here. I've been busy at the youth club with kids, teenagers and meetings. And whenever I do have some quiet time to myself, I just drowned myself in a good book and escaped reality. I have the munchies right now - craving foods that I just don't have in my kitchen. Well, actually, I don't have anything in my kitchen other than soup and frozen meat.... nothing all that interesting. Meh.

Off to sew in the zipper so LS can come home from work tomorrow to a little extra surprise. I think I will update my blog (and my creative blog) with pictures instead of too much writing. I just like to write. Maybe I should start working on a book.... Do I have the time for that?? Not at the moment.....

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Yes.....

I'm still around and still plan on keeping up my blog. I know, I know - I KNOW - it's been a good while since I last posted and I'M SORRY! A thing called life, responsibilities and stuff like that just keep getting in the way of my blogging madness. And the frusterating part of it, is that I still WANT to blog. And babble. All in random order.

But I'm back today and I'm not sure what I want to write about. What has happened the past few months? I still have loads of pictures to show from my summer trip and that'll come. One day. I actually want to go through all my pictures and print some out, get some cool frames and hang them up on my walls but the actual step of getting them printed out and hanging on my wall is a big step. Big step!

I had a birthday last week - 32 years old. And I'm embracing it. 32 baby! The only downer about being in my 30's is that people keep asking me "Don't you think it's time to settle down with a man - have babies, get a house, get a dog and grow up...." Hmmm, well, easy enough for you to say and I will get there, one day. When I finally meet a guy that doesn't break my heart, want to change who I am or isn't a jerk. Call me picky but whatever. I haven't met that guy yet so that means that I'm a 32 year old single woman, just enjoying my life the way it is right now. But I had a kick-ass wonderful birthday with good friends and I enjoyed the entire day. I was spoiled rotten with greetings, songs, hugs, kisses, dances, presents - all done with style. I was actually very overwhelmed and had to take time to myself to regain my composure - my friends are super awesome and they should be told that every day. YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME! Thank you for such an amazing day.

Work is going good. I still have jobs that I love very much and that's what counts. I don't make loads of money but I'm happy. I have two jobs now, instead of four.... the whole plan of cutting back the other 2 (still great places to work) was because I couldn't keep up the pace. I worked every day of the week, always running back and forth from one place to another, trying to keep the energy at a max the entire time. I couldn't keep up. So I quit the two of my fantastic jobs and have decided to just focus on my main job at the youth club and the weekend fun job at the bar - I'm still running around like a chicken with no head but I'm able to manage my time and energy slightly better. But just slightly.

Speaking of work - I actually took a weekend off work. Seriously. I have the ENTIRE weekend off from the pub and I'm in a state of shock. I mean, it's Saturday morning-ish, and I'm awake! I slept Friday night! I actually have already had a cup of coffee, a load of laundry is in the machine and I'm.... AWAKE! WOW! (Is it scary to think that I miss the pub..... one freaking weekend off and I already miss the old place.)

Plans for today - other than laundry and bathing..... Bday presents for LS, cleaning and taking a nap before I head out the door to celebrate LS. She doesn't read this blog so I'm not worried about her seeing me talk about her bday - which is on Monday. We're celebrating it tonight with drinks and loud music and I'm ready. I'm ready to put on nice clothes, make myself look gorgeous, dance and laugh the night away. I'm in a creative mood so all of her gifts have been handmade..... and I'm not even close to being done. (Typical me, I have lots to finish and here I am - babbling about how I need to finish it all intead of actually doing it!!) But in my defence, I have until Monday.

Have I mentioned lately that men suck? Not all men - I know several guys who are just wonderful people and I love them dearly but..... but...... ARGH! Yes, that is a sign of frusteration!! I meet people every weekend - I smile, nod, wave and hug, flirting and dancing at the pub and basically meet men every weekend but they end up being jerks. Or too drunk. Or they smell gross. Or they are cheating bastards (Amazing to see how many cheat on their partner in drunken states). Or they can't dance. And when I do finally meet someone I'm slightly interested in, I'm too damn shy to say anything. Yes, I work at a pub, am very out-going and fun but... I'm shy and nervous. It's all an act. I can be anyone I want to be when I'm behind the bar - fun and games - but when it comes to the real deal, I can't do it. Nope. Not a hell.

Anyways, there is a reason to my rant.... I met someone a few weekends ago while working at the local October beerfest. A great night. I felt good. I looked hot. I had a blast. And I met a guy working there too and we totally hit it off. People could sense our chemistry and I thought - holy shit, there is definite potential here. He's cute. He's my age. He can flirt. He has tattoos. He can smile. He can joke around and have fun. So when he asked for my number, I gave it to him. (I don't usually do that, so it was a big step for me....). We texted back and forth the entire week - every day and all day. He did drop a big bomb about having children - 4 to be exact!! and being divorced. But he still seemed super cool so I decided to take that chance and meet up with him - we made plans to have a couple of drinks at the pub, the night before my bday. So I'm at the pub with friends, meanwhile having nervous flutters every time someone walks in the door - he's late. I had to work later that night so I got changed and put on my pub-party face and did my thing. HE STOOD ME UP. Seriously. I basically got stood up on my fucking bday. (And he knew it was my bday.....)

And he didn't have the balls or consideration to text or call until I confronted him via text msg Sunday evening. His excuse? He got called in and had to work. Fair enough..... but didn't the thought of texting me and letting me know strife his mind? HRMF. Then he called me up a couple of days later and says that he's looking forward to seeing me soon.....? WTF!? Needless to say, I haven't made any efforts to contact him and that flirt is definitely history. I'm not needy - a text msg saying he couldn't make it would have been okay. But nope, not even that....

Wow, I'm totally in babbling mode. Random thoughts - fits with my random music play-list. One second, heavy metal Rammstein, then U2 and now Nephew..... I'm all wired up on coffee now so I'm going to use some of the jitterness for productive things around my little home - vacumn? Wash floors? Fold laundry?

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