As you may have guessed, all crafting has slowed to a stop lately here. My craft room was taken over by furniture and tools. I got the tools out at least so now there is room to craft again and i can access my supplies. Our kitchen has a microwave, stove, sink, dishwasher, one wall cabinet and a silverware cabinet. The rest of the kitchen finds itself in random places. Once we are done removing the drywall, lights, and ceiling, then its just a waiting game for when the contractor can fit us in. Not ideal living for one such as myself, but now I can lock myself away in the craft room at least:)

I made curtains today – they dont hold up under close inspection, but they do their jobs respectfully so I like them. I still would like to add ribbon to them like i mentioned here. Some day maybe.

My favorite scrapbooking store is going out of business. This really bums me out but they have *everything* on sale for 50% off so thats pretty spectacular, eh? Lets just say i brought home lots of goodies. Which means that I plan on returning to scrapping in the near future. Ooh la la!

I did start a project to test something I read on the internet, but I decided to postpone it for now so this is all i got. I dont recall where i heard it, but the idea was that you can use a lazer jet printer and an iron to make a transferable image. I would suggest only using the very basic images (more plain than what you see here on the carebear) but it turns out to be true!

For all you mac users, boy found me this sweet program that keeps any window you want to stay on top while you poke around other windows: Afloat.

Around this time of year, you may see lots of donation options. Theres a million, I know – how do you choose? I dunno myself, but here are some I know like:

http://ibol.wordpress.com/ <— Iraqi Bundles of Love

http://www.heifer.org/ <— Animals for families to sustain a future (I participate through the World Builders Team Page which matches my donation, the mastermind work of Patrick Rothfuss)

http://www.wikipedia.org/ <— Knowledge for all – read about it and donate here.

http://ww5.komen.org/ <— I add this one in memory of one of my undergraduate teachers who recently passed away from breast cancer. She worked with me to gain admittance for the bioarchaeological field school in Peru. She really showed me how to write at a more professional level in just a few days (i had it in me, but hadnt learned how to hone it yet), staying late after her class with me or being available on the phone – even though we had never met before then. Later, she taught me about forensic anthropology in an adult education class. She also was a very enthusiastic member of our Anthropology Club. I will always remember her.

But at their last visit, we talked more about it and he told me that really if i could just get the toothpaste shoved up in there between the gums and cheek, that would be ok. So my plan of attack was much the same as when they need their nails clipped: My girls are completely different beings when you get them while they are napping. Usually I do this before getting out of bed in the morning so I dont disturb them to the point of really waking them up. While they are comfy and warm and drowsy from sleeping, i can get every single nail clipped without a hitch. So let me tell you, using this technique and a q-tip to shove this stuff all around their gums was way more easier than i had thought.

My girls even like the stuff and will lick it straight out of the bottle! I was amazed at the difference since the last time i tried actually brushing their teeth.

But seriously the results are amazing. Just within a few days I can already see a difference. In fact her gingivitis in the back of her mouth is almost completely treated, and now I am focusing on the harder to get spots just above her canines and in the front of her mouth. If your pet is a gingivitis sufferer, i highly recommend this product!!

Ok so, computers. I recently got the new MacBook Pro 15″ and heart it wholely. Its so much better than my old 13″ macbook. And cats are not allowed on it as before (not that they were every truly “allowed” on it but now it is no longer considered cute when i come in the room and find them using it like a lawn chair).

That doesnt really have anything to do with what i did want to share with you though (i am merely super happy i finally have the new machine! oh and aperture 3 is cool too!). I wanted to share that I had to finally get a new cellphone, as mine apparently was from the dark ages. Did you know that new phones charge with USB cables? And that its a two-button-press to start messaging instead of 8 buttons through countless menus? Did you know you can have your text history displayed in conversation style so when you get a delayed text you dont have to go through your entire sent box to figure out what the heck their reply is referring to? Did you know it new phones can hold more than 50 messages? With all that said and more, Ive been thrilled to be the new owner of a LG EnV 3 VX 9200 in a pretty blue color.

It wasnt all amazing though, as I couldnt get my own ringtones on it. My older phone (the original EnV which was a hand-me-down from Boy when i needed to finally trade up my orginal Kyocera Slyder which i miss til this day) didnt have ringtones but I never looked at it like it was my permanent phone (although i have used it for years now…). It was meant to be the inbetween until i found my new phone (which i did try at one time and hated the new phone so much that i returned it and went back to the crappy EnV). But this is my third phone and I wanted it to be *cool*.

So i googled and came up with BitPim and Im very impressed. Its not the prettiest of software but its open-source and that would make boy happy. It was super duper easy to use and now when you call me, it plays my theme song (Super Mario!). Texting gives me coins, and voicemails give me 1-ups. Just like my old Kyocera use to – maybe i wont miss it anymore!

]]> http://www.thecrafties.com/2010/04/of-cats-and-computers/feed/ 0