Zombie baby showers!

I am so blessed to have friends with kooky senses of humor just like me. And even those who do not, at least they are so understanding of my interests and quirks. "She wants what for a baby shower? Well ok!"

I had two showers to try to accommodate everyone's schedules. I was really hoping my mother in law could be there for one of them, but it was not meant to be. We will get her here for the birth though and that is what really counts.

The first shower was last month and the theme was "Mommy's Little Monster." Awww so cute! Here are some photos of that.

The invitation

Party favors!

The decorations. As an aside, look! My house is clean!

Blood spattered umbrellas. Perfect!

My good friend Katie and her hubby did this cake! I've mentioned her awesomeness before. They run Brody's Bakery. The cake was vegan and gluten-free which was really important so two of my guests could eat this! And yep, they know about the spelling error but in all fairness, they are so dang busy. I'm in awe that they had time to do this at all! So cute! NOM NOM!

There are a few more pictures at my Flickr.

The second party was held just last Saturday at a friend's house. I again requested a zombie theme which my friends were already thinking about. What's cuter than Plants vs. Zombies? If you haven't played this game, do it. It's so addicting and silly. The premise is, you plant super awesome plants in your yard to thwart a zombie invasion. The zombies munch through your plants and try to attack the house. You collect sun beams to buy more plants. Here are some images from that day!

One friend knows how to make balloon animals and she made some of the characters from the game. How freakin' cool!

Another balloon.

Anyone remember the Pac Man anniversary cake I had last Feb?
The same talented gal made this cake. Can you believe it? You can find out more about her amazing cakes by visiting her website HERE. The top tier was pumpkin and the bottom was chocolate. It was as delicious as it was cute!

Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaake. To see more details on this cake, see my other Flickr set.

You have to cut a zombie cake with a giant murder knife!

Erin and I. Erin is not only the maker of this cake, she is also my friend whom I've known since 7th grade. It's just a twist of fate that we ended up in the same place, so far from home. We were both in tears when we saw each other on Saturday. I think it was just so moving to see someone from home. Someone I've known since childhood and here she is, sharing this miraculous part of my life. I'm so touched that she came to my shower and put so much work into baking and decorating this.

My lovely hostesses! They are so stylish. :)

I wish I had taken more photos with all the guests from both parties. My brain is so fried and I've been so exhausted lately; I'm not thinking clearly most of the time. And I'm slow as hell getting out thank-you cards to not only these great people, but all the wonderful people who have sent me things in the mail. I swear, I will get this done!!! Thank you everyone for sharing this with me, for encouraging me to hang in there and just being so fucking fantastic!

While I wait...

We were hoarding some Best Buy gift certificates and last weekend we finally cashed them in for a new television. While we were there, we got a good deal on Direct TV and so here I sit, waiting on the cable guy. So while I wait, I figured I'd freshed up the 'ol blog.

By the way, I shared my Dish TV rant with the Direct TV salesman, stating that I have been dead set on changing cable providers ever since the big Walking Dead incident of November 2010. Halfway into my bitch-fest about how Dish took away AMC right before the season finale, I realized, once again, I was waxing poetic about zombies while wearing a zombie tshirt.

Will my geekery ever end? *sigh*

Earlier this week I was doing some internet research on stages of pregnancy and what to expect. I read a thread about what not to eat, especially alcohol. This is a hot topic it seems as some doctors have told moms-to-be to go ahead and have a glass of red wine once a week at certain stages of pregnancy. I'm not starting a debate on this, keep in mind. I just found some of the responses....interesting. Of course you get the obligatory comment: "if any mom has a glass of wine while pregnant, someone should call Department of Social Services on her!!!" "And then there were the other comments like: "If a doctor says it's ok, it's ok. No one should be calling Social Services blah blah." This is pretty normal to see the over-reactive women and then the more laid-back women. But there were two comments by two different women that really annoyed me. They were both something like this: "OMG last night I dreamed I was drinking wine and then I woke up totally freaked out because I thought I REALLY HAD DRUNK IT! LOLOMGWTF!!!"

So what happens to me last night? I had a dream about drinking wine. Only I didn't wake up and think "OMG did I drink some wine last night?!??!" Instead I thought "why the hell did I just dream about eating fancy cheese and drinking pinot grigio with Dave Chappelle??????"

Maybe the moral of the story is just to read enough to get the information you are seeking. But only read the comments sections if you want to risk losing a significant amount of brain cells and possibly fuck up your dreams.



Have a good day everyone, I'm off to rummage sale hell this weekend and a wee bit of volunteering with Patton. Tschus!

Zombie Infographic, IMPORTANT!

This is just too awesome not to share. It's from G4, check it out!

Vee Dee

I've managed to get a few things stitched up.  I seem to have a little creative burst and here is what I have finished so far:







I have some more ideas and some are already in patterns. The above zombie valentines are doing fairly well. They take a lot longer to make then I thought but I like them. Hopefully I can keep up the momentum. Sometimes stitching all day means I don't get anything done around the house and the joints don't always care for it.

The weather is finally freezing and there is a bit of snow here and there. I took a couple photos around town in the last week or so. I've been fighting bronchitis and some aches and pains. It hasn't been much fun but it could be worse. I'll try to take some photos tomorrow when I drive up to The Plaza.



Sometimes I do get up and watch the sun rise.



Gas tanks?



We think those are natural gas derricks.



It's supposed to get ugly outside again tomorrow. I say "ugly" because, while normally I love snow storms, I hate them when I have to travel up to KC during rush hour. Maybe I'll get lucky and can get home before it's too terrible.

Tschus.

Shaun of the Dead, in Galaga form

My latest swap piece is finished. The theme this time is a horror mash-up: take something from the horror genre and put it with something seemingly unrelated, like Abe Lincoln Vampire Hunter.

So if you've never played Galaga (seriously?!), then I suppose you need a frame of reference. Click on the hyperlink. It was an old arcade game that I used to play when spending hours at the mall. It was the only game in the scary, dark arcade that I played well. I'm still addicted to it and will happily play when it's available. The old game is pretty pixelated.

I had some help to come up with the pattern idea. Mr.X Stitch suggested using Shaun and Ed for the shooters when I threw my idea of a zombie/space shooter at him. Ron helped me with little details, such as including "red" on Shaun's shirt. I took my old Bruce Campbell pattern and changed the figures into Shaun, Ed, Mary the zombie and a generic zombie from an old Nintendo game. (I'm not sure which one but when I googled 'pixelated zombie' it came up.) I checked a bunch of screen shots from the movie to come up with basic colors to try and match the characters.



It didn't take terribly long once I made myself sit down and do it. I unfortunately didn't consider the size of it when finished so it was a weird dimension, like 8 inches by 7 inches. Not exactly frame-able. So I glued it to a thin piece of canvas and bordered it with some black ribbon. It is drying now. I think it could be popped into an 8 inch by ten inch frame if the person wants to hang it. I believe she lives in Germany so I will have another piece floating around Europe. Cool stuff! I like it. As soon as it is dry and I have some cash, I'll send it on over!

Have a good one, tschus!

And now, 50% drama-free!

The more I try to keep drama out of my life, the worse it gets.  It would help if I could keep my damn mouth shut.  But whenever I feel there's been an injustice, a misunderstanding, a wrong inflicted, I open my big, fat mouth.  If I could just look the other way I am sure my life would be quieter.  I think living with someone who has an anger problem and internalizing all our problems made me go a bit too far to the opposite side after the divorce.  I never wanted to feel like I didn't stand up for myself because I was afraid of creating problems or confronting someone.  Never again, I swore.  Maybe sometimes it's more helpful to just stfu.

Pain.   Pain is a good diet aid.  I've lost about 4 lbs in the last two weeks because everything I eat lately upsets my stomach and I hurt so much all the time.  I've cried more this week than I have since my divorce.  Luckily the patronizing nurse at my doctor's office put through my request to schedule the surgery for earlier by ten days.  So right after I get home from ND, I have the Pinups for Pit Bulls photo shoot and then surgery the following Monday.  Yippee!  I just want it over with and then to figure out the next step.  And honestly, I'm really looking foward to getting this damned system out of my body.

It's also been a very animal-centric time at our house.  Ratchet was ill for a while and the second opinion vet at least got us a bronchial dilating medicine which has been super helpful.  He's not cured but he's much for comfortable and he's more alert and happier.  Patton threw up on the bed yesterday which necessitated a trip to our local laundrymat.  That was an unpleasant experience.  (I hate laundrymats.)  Then today, Sadie threw up twice in front of us.  I think Patton horked because he was trying to mow the lawn on his own and Sadie did because she ate a treat and then contorted herself to lick her ass for ten minutes straight.  I think the position she was in did not aid digestion.  So no one is really sick, but you know pets. 

Rowdy is good.  He's still hanging onto life with his ten teeth.



This is a pretty normal pose for the guy.  Old dogs don't have the best kidneys so you have to take him out a lot.  We were firing up the grill when Rowdy decided this was outdoors enough for him to do his "thing."

Tuesday I'll be back in Dickinson.  I'm flying home until the 5th because some relatives will be in Hebron, and the old gang will be back in Dix.  It's been 5 years since I've been home so this will be really weird.  I think my dad is happy about it and it will be good to spend some time with him on his turf.  Plus I hear Dix has grown a lot and I'm sure there will be some new things going on.  Well, probably lots of the same stuff but just....newer.  I hope to take mass amounts of photos of family, the old gang and the Badlands.  I'm sure there will be much posting of photos when I return.  

Finally, I picked up a copy of Zombies of Mass Destruction at my local Wal-hole.  I was looking at it when approached by a fellow nerd, employed by Wal-hole.  We geeked out on a discussion of zombie movies and whether or not anyone should bother with doing a Bubba Ho-tep sequel with no Bruce Campbell.  He told me that he heard there is one helluva hit and run scene in Zombies of Mass Destruction but he hadn't seen it yet.  So Ron and I watched it last night. 

 

If you watch it, remember that it's an independent film.  That being said, I totally recommend it just for the hit and run scene.  We laughed our asses off.  The movie differs in other zombie flicks in a couple key ways: the zombie outbreak is treated like a terrorist attack by the general public and two of the heroes are gay characters.  Just the gay guys are great to watch; likeable and funny.  The effects aren't bad either.  The acting however is much like what you'd see in stage theatre.  It's a little over the top and the lines are read much like in a play.  Not that it's a bad thing.  I've seen two zombie plays and really liked them.  It's just a different method of delivery and once you get used to it, you can have fun with it.  Ron thought the jokes were few and far between but I loved it.  For $9, it's fun to watch and it adds to the collection.



That's all I got for now, or all I'm willing to type up.  :)  Hope all is well for everyone out there!  Tschus.

Zombies, dogs and pin-ups: Oh my!

So what's new?  One of my brothers moved to Germany and my sister is going to be a court judge.  Very exciting!  I'm not sure how my other brother is doing right now; I hope he is well.  Myself?  I am up to the same old things.

First, I'm even more disillusioned with my career.  I am in a really negative place right now and I need to figure out how to change my situation or my attitude.  Both are tough things to change.  It's amazing how toxic stress is to your body.  I've never had problems with heartburn until recently and just general stomach pain.  Right after a really stressful event, I get a flareup of my fibromyalgia.  Seems like common sense but when you are going through something very stressful, you get tunnel vision and don't see the bigger picture.  Something has to give and I just need to figure out what step to take.  I've been mulling over this for a long time and I'm sure my blog reflects that.  I'm ready to initiate change though.

Our home buying program has hit a brick wall.  We can't buy a home here or anywhere until we get over this stalemate with our mortgage counselor.  She won't answer our emails to clarify some of things she's asking of us.  We're extremely frustrated.  I really don't want to stay in this neighborhood much longer.  We've had a lot more cops hanging around.  That makes you feel safer at first - yay!  The cops are here!  But also it's scary.  Why are the cops here so often?  What is going on?  This place sucks.

On a positive note, I've been taking Patton to obedience training once a week.  He's doing so well!  He does have a thing with peeing on people's legs however.  And he doesn't want to do some of the harder things like "lay down" or "shake" but I think we just need some practice.  I'm going to a meeting for people who have or want to train to be certified therapy dogs.  That's our goal so I have to figure out how to get Patton to that point.  Lots of practice and patience.



Of course, I indulge him too much and this is what happens.

I'm still doing a lot of volunteer work for the Pit Bull rescue.  The dogs are really sweet animals but they definitely need to be with people who understand the breed.  There are so many ignorant and irresponsible people out there.  I can't believe the emails we get from people who want us to take their dogs because the dog has become aggressive or has too much energy, etc.  "Take the dog or we'll have to put it to sleep!"  Gah.  But overall it is a very rewarding experience.  If I had the energy to do more, I would definitely do so!

Speaking of energy, I have managed to get a lot more exercise lately.  We are doing the 30 Day Shred, a Jillian Michaels dvd.  That woman is BRUTAL.  The workouts are only 20 minutes but they work everything and I've had a few people tell me I look thinner.  I haven't dropped much weight but I think I'm toning up.  I'll take that!  If I never lose another pound but can drop a couple sizes, I'm happy.  I just want my muscles to be stronger so I can support my crappy joints better.  So far so good.  I feel better about myself and it definitely helps the stress level.  My husband is so supportive too.  We have a 'fridge full of veggies.  Good for grillin'.  I feel better having cut out so much crap from my diet.  It doesn't cure anything and I still have pain.  But it's better then wallowing in a bag of Doritos and Diet Coke.

And I'm sure you've all seen this silly photo by now but this is my pro pic from the Pinups for Pitbulls event at the Record Bar:



I look very pale.

I've also been getting my zombie fix lately.  We watched Dead Snow recently and that was hilarious.  It's Norwegian and subtitled.  There are some fun Evil Dead references which made us laugh.  Very gross and funny stuff.





I just finished reading World War Z by Max Brooks.  It's written as an oral history post-zombie war.  It's well written and brought in scenarios you never think about or imagine with traditional zombie movies.  What if North Korea's bunker system was actually a lot more extensive.  After North Korea sends all its citizens underground, did they all get infected?  When the bunkers are opened up, will there be 7 million zombies in the underground city?  Or what would it be like to go into the all dark, maze-like catacombs under Paris to escape the panic outside.  Only the infected come with you and you have to fight zombies without light or firearms to help you.  Fun, freaky shit.  Very entertaining read!



And the spring zombie walk is coming up on June 4th.  I've been talked into going as a zombie this time.  If I don't have a new job by then, I think I can do it.  I'm thinking zombie paparazzi.  That way I can take as many photos as I want!  I'm such a dork.

I think I've yammered on enough for today.  Have a great Sunday!  Tschus!