Babysitter has an iPad

Splurged and got an babysitter so we could finally go to Ten Tables, a resturant that is considered on of Boston's best and happens to be in our hood. Oh my was it fabulous! I got ricotta pasta with miyatake mushrooms and Parmesan rRggiano as an entree and Jon got herb stuffed roasted chicken. I tried both and couldn't decide which I liked more. We both won. I think I won for dessert, at least in terms of uniqueness. He got excellent warm your soul bread pudding with house made ice cream. I got chocolate mousse that could have been pretty standard fare but they dressed it up with peanut brittle and a touch of some fancy sea salt. Made for a very complex tasting experience. It was on the verge of being too rich but so interesting I loved it.

Then we got home and the babysitter showed off her new iPad. Rut oh! Jon went into this other world while he played with it for a few minutes. Willpower needed. We'd want a 3g one anyhow so we're safe for a little while.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

First,

5 minutes to deliciousness
Originally uploaded by mlee.etsy.com

Let me get this out there and tell you that it took everything in my power not to make this for breakfast this morning. Instead I was good and had some steel cut oatmeal sweetened with a touch of apple cider.

5 minute Coffee Mug Chocolate Cake

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
pinch of baking soda
(optional but it helps)
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
a small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug
Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 2-3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! When it starts to fall stop the microwave and take it out. Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

My eye got better after Friday each day better than the prior and now I have been proclaimed %100 healed. But I still need to take drops until they are gone just to be sure.

My eye wasn't doing great on Saturday, but on Sunday it was well enough that we were able to enjoy a nice walk at the Arnold Arboretum with not so little anymore blee strapped to my back. We walked around for about an hour and enjoyed the painting that the leaves presented us and then were handed some fresh cider on the way out. It was a good day.




Recipe for chili coming next week! Until then enjoy your cake.

Happy Birthday Again!

Poppies in the Night
Originally uploaded by mlee.etsy.com

So, I'm back to doing the "Artist's Way" and am finishing up week two tonight. So far it is going much better than when I tried it in the past. And even then it helped me. I think I will be back in business by October. Which is pretty usual for me because looking back in my journal I've had pretty serious creative blocks the two summers prior to this one.

I'm actually feeling kind of excited because usually when I do break through a block I end up with a breakthrough in my work. And that is something that I feel my work needs right now. Something to give me the spark and the deep passion back.

~

But other than writing in my journal every morning and going for a long walk and hanging out at a cafe by myself on Friday night this past week has been pretty much a wash for me. And that is okay. Who knew that a first birthday could be so hard on the parents? Guess that is what driving to Ohio for one party and then hosting another one for friends in Boston the following weekend does. I'm exhausted but happy.

Today was the Boston party and our apartment pretty much had the maximum number of people in it that it could take without me losing it and running out screaming. It was fun. There was cake. There were brownies that had a toffee almond chocolate bar in the center.mmmmm Nothing as spectacular looking as the Pooh Bear cake from the week prior but everything was tasty and people had a good time. And she finally made a mess of herself with the cake. Somebody is getting a bath tonight! More like she should be getting hosed down.

I wore the bleeeeeee! pendant we were given. It has a sturdy chain and she is quite gentle so I am able to wear it even while wearing blee. I just hope I don't lose it because I want to put it in blee's memory box and some point. I think she would get a kick out of it when she is older.

These last two weeks have really driven home how much our daughter is loved and just how much she reflects that love back to others. We are very blessed to have her in our lives. She truly is the best thing that ever happened to me, I wouldn't change a thing about her.

Dreaming of Spring

So glad to have my phone back!
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

Didn't get too much accomplished on the art front yesterday, because we were too busy out playing outside. I don't know how mom's with strollers manage. Wearing blee around the city is so freeing, I don't have a stroller to lug around, get in the way and hold me back. It was a gorgeous day and today is looking to be one too. Luckily for my art my feet hurt a bit from all the walking I've been doing and my new comfy shoes won't be here until Monday at the earliest.

I hope everybody enjoys their Friday and their weekends. I think we will go walking around an area we are interested in moving to in a couple of years. There used to be a very cute toy store around there.





So I should be able to just take a short walk and then focus my freedom on cutting paper for ACEOs and larger collages. The two big things I want to be working on at this time. Polar ends in my body of work. Small art cards and large complex canvases. I did a bit last night while hanging out with Jon in the living room, nice thing about cutting paper is that it is quite portable, but then Lost came on and the lights went out and I had to stop.

Trying to keep at it while all my brain wants to do is play outside. I love spring and know that this isn't spring and could turn ugly at any moment.

Art Cards are back!

The Smell of Pine - ACEO
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

As well as many other small works. With more on their way.

I've had a lot of fun working on these smaller pieces lately and I think it really shows in the results. I updated my Flickr set this morning so everything should be in there now even if it hasn't made it onto Etsy yet.

It feels great being able to finally use this pine block again. It is one of the last blocks that I carved prior to having the baby and I was only able to print it for a limited time and then I couldn't print from mid July through the end of October. And I was completely out of pieces using this motif.

I needed to take a break from blogging, Etsy and just about everything yesterday after taking blee out on her first T ride. It did not start out well as our line was shut down due to something happening down the street the trolley trains and buses travel down. It didn't look like it was going to clear up anytime soon so we walked to the much farther underground line. Jon was late for work and I was late for my mother's group. The first group meeting since before summer! But it was such a beautiful day out we all enjoyed it and blee came back completely tuckered out as did I. She ended up passing out at five and not waking up until midnight. And she still did fairly well last night until around six in the morning.

And I think I may be coming down with something. I feel a bit like I got hit by a bus

Thirty Days of blee!

Etsy blee
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

Our life has been bleetastic, bleebastic, and generally just all about blee for the past 30 days. Tonight, at 7:14pm blee will have been on the outside for thirty full days. Many of them wonderful, many of them quite difficult.

cute onesie courtesty of mamamonkey.etsy.com.

Mondays are always rough for me and yesterday was no exception. The kid is sucking me dry literally and figuratively. I nearly had a breakdown near the end and am still quite shut down and depressed. Last night was another difficult night starting around 4 or 5am. It is hard for me to know what time it is lately. Jon knew how bad I was doing and took care of her and let me sleep when I could, except for at the end when I knew he was doing badly and I took over.

The Open Studios over the weekend went so well that I ended up doing a half day on Sunday and am very happy that I did. And it isn't about the money, even though I made a good amount. But I had such a great time seeing people from last year and connecting with other artists as well as the people that came to talk to me. I had brought along one of my carved blocks and stuck up quite a few conversations about the process. People seemed pretty interested in it. Some of them bought from me, and some did not but I enjoyed it regardless of making a sale or not. And by the end of Sunday I only had a few business cards left from my stack and all my promo bookmarks were gone. I wish I had gotten Moo cards!

The weekend was dangerous because it gave me a taste of my old life, of freedom to a degree. And I realized how much I miss it. How much I want to make new work. And not just because I feel pressured to keep producing and selling but because it is something that I truly enjoy. Something that keeps me happy and sane. But currently all my free time goes into cleaning or I am so beat down tired that I can't do anything remotely productive. Yet I rarely have time to nap because she isn't down long enough during the day.

And I can't even work on art until I clean up my studio from the mess that getting ready for the Open Studios in a flurry caused. Throughout the day during blee downtime I would rush clean so I got some done, but I miss the spotless studio I had months ago. Currently it is clean enough to carve, but not to print. I do have a bit of carving to do before I can print and then I will need to clean up after that. Jon offered me some time this weekend to print but I don't feel hopeful about it. Plus the weekend seems very far away.

Look at me, feeling sorry for myself and depressed on my beautiful daughters first big milestone. Later today we go to the pediatrician for her checkup and will find out just how much of a hungry hungry hippo she has been! The big weigh in! Born at 8lbs 6oz, any bets on where she is at now?

Weekend Update

Cityscape Ginkgo Leaves ACEO
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

Tonight blee turns four weeks old! She'll be a month in just a few days!

Jon's parents arrived Thursday night and his mother just about squealed with delight when she saw the little one. She is quite smitten with the (not so) wee one. She is the mother of two boys so having a little girl to coo over and dress up is something she really enjoys. In fact Alexandra is the first girl born into the Swinghammer family in fifty years.

They watched her on Friday while I prepared for the Open Studios and got orders together. They can't get enough of holding her and I am happy to get some help. Then they watched her most of yesterday while I was doing the Open Studios but brought her to see me once, and then Jon came alone with her once while they did the Sam Adams brewery tour. The event went very well and I more than made up what I put into it and it was actually less stressful than last year. Plus I got to see some people from last year and catch up with them. Blee is not the only new baby, but she is the freshest! It went so well that we decided to leave my table, chair and easel and do a half day there today. Really most of the buyers don't come out until after lunch, it is mostly browsing before that time. His parents are out touring Boston so why the heck not? We can either watch her at home and make no money or watch her their and make money. And by starting late we were able to get a decent amount of sleep. Mmmm nothing like sleeping in until 8:30!

During one of blee's visits to my setup our pediatrician actually stopped by my table and checked out my work. He didn't know I was an artist and I didn't know he lived in the area. He looked her over as she slept peacefully in her stroller and said she looked great. But we are still going to get a more official checkup next month.

I think this card sold yesterday, but I honestly am not sure and need to go through my stock tonight to make sure that everything that sold has been taken off of Etsy. As I suspected the magnets of all sizes were a big hit because they are a great impulse purchase, but I sold a good amount of art too. Combined with the significant wholesale order at a price that pleased both me and the buyer September has been a shockingly good month for me. And nearly all of the success snuck in at the end of the month. I'm trying to remember last year but I think it may have been very similar, though this summer June- August was much better than last summer.

Now my shop is feeling very empty, having under 100 items for the first time this year. I can't remember the last time I had so few items. Now I am really feeling the desire to make some new work. It could use some fresh pieces for sure! Not that my old work is bad but all the pieces using my latest designs (butterfly, dragonfly and pinecones) are all completely sold out.

Hope the weekend has been positive for everybody and that you are all enjoying nice weather like we are here in Boston. It really turned out to be a great weekend for the inlaws to visit. They leave tomorrow but will be back for Thanksgiving.

Compromise

promoing mommy
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

Thanks for the support during my breakdown yesterday. I've come up with what I think will work as a compromise for this weekend. I've decided that I will only do one day of the art fair. It will have to be Saturday because if I skip that day and go for Sunday I would miss having a good spot secured for my table.

Plus Sunday is little blee's (first month) birthday! Weee!

I'd like to have her with me tomorrow as much as possible, but since she hates being in a sling and her head is still too floppy for the Baby Bjorn I'm not sure how much we will have her and how much we will let his parents watch her. Maybe I will put her in her carseat stroller and cover her with stickers of my art to get people's attention. Beat that!

Last night I was in bed before 9am and even though she was trouble early this morning I do feel better than I did yesterday. Getting things done seems possible. The amount I need to do seems more reasonable than overwhelming today.

Must Do

• Drop domestic package off at the post box down the street.
• Remove wholesale sales from Etsy to reserve them for the person in Hawaii because I know she won't be online again until late tonight.
• Fill and send two international orders (meaning I need to go or have Jon go to the PO, hence the delay)
• Put prices on my work
• Remove pieces that were bought for a wholesale order from my portfolio
• Make an AWAY aka don't buy from me Avatar and shop announcement for Etsy.
• Get table from basement and do a trial setup for tomorrow.

Extras

• finish carving block
• tear paper
• print (yeah right!)

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Now playing: Mike Doughty - Sunkeneyed Girl
via FoxyTunes

My First Day alone

Summer Sea
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

Good Monday morning to everybody. Seems that I am down to blogging only once or twice a week at this point, but considering I have a three week old I think that is pretty good!

Yesterday I was hoping to get the big crazy block finished, but that didn't work out but at least I did make progress and if blee behaves on our fist weekday alone together I should be able to get it down. I am feeling fairly well rested.

While I don't have anything new (yet) I do have this newly listed older piece from July. I was feeling so sick at the end of the pregnancy that I never got to listing a bunch of things. Since I am doing the big art fair the JP Open Studios on Saturday and Sunday this week may be the last week to buy some of my pieces. Last year I sold quite a bit of work. My shop will be technically open since I really don't have time to put over one hundred pieces into edit mode, but it will be shut down all weekend since I am bringing everything to the event. Please refrain from purchasing on those days unless you are willing to accept that the piece may not be available and the order will have to be canceled.

I also have a possible wholesale order in the works and that spurs me on to make new work as soon as possible. If blee goes down early tonight, tomorrow or Wednesday and stays down I may have to treat myself to a printing session. That would be fantastic. That way not only would I have new pieces to bring to the art show but also offer the wholesale person first.

Speaking of blee that kid is growing like crazy. She's a total fatty! This morning in under three hours she has downed ten ounces of milk. She's getting so big that she is difficult for me to hold, she could easily be pushing ten pounds at this point. And her head has grown a lot too. I would post a picture but the little beast is sleeping and I don't want to do anything that has even a chance of waking her. She's probably want to eat yet again. I'm having the hardest time keeping up with her appetite. But rest assured she is the cutest fatty ever with darling rolls all over her body and a nice Buddha belly.

Jon is about to leave for work for the first time since the birth. I have been very lucky to have him here full time the first week, part time working from home the second and full time working from home last week. On Saturday I handled most of her care for an extended period of time so while I am nervous I should be okay.

He is certainly going to miss her.

His parents get here Thursday night. His mother is going to be even more smitten with her when she meets here. They will be here on her month birthday. They grow up so fast!

A change in plans

Insect Set
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

First I have two pieces here that are listed separately, but I would love it if they were displayed together. Very energetic and vibrant pieces showcasing a dragonfly and a butterfly. I really hope to print some new pieces with these blocks combined with the new block that I am working on this month. Maybe over the weekend?

Things are moving along. We have bumps in the road for sure as we get to know our baby and her needs but we are figuring them out.

One thing we are learning is she likes to eat, a lot. She woke up last night and we went into our routine of him changing her while I pumped in the other room. We gave her the entire 4oz and she seemed pretty chill after that. But would get fussy again after 5-10 minutes. This went on for awhile and eventually we kept giving her more and more milk and in the end she sucked down over 7oz before she finally went down around 3am. When she woke up again she took another four, and then 3 the next time. Aren't their stomachs supposed to be the size of golf balls where is it all going?





I haven't had time for art other than some sketching I did before bed. It stinks but that is just how it is I guess. She is sleeping (finally) right now so I may work on carving a bit after posting this. But I also have some netflix to return that I would like to get in the post box before pickup at one. It only takes under 10 minutes to walk there and back but that can mean the difference between having some me time or not.

Jon's parents will not be coming today as we thought. They are coming next Thursday, which is probably better in the long run. This means that they will be around to help care for the baby (and us) when the JPOS is going on so my chances of actually being able to participate in the event just went up dramatically. And my stress level about it went down. I wish we had more family close to us. At least we have my aunt and her family in RI because they are great, but their pet allergies keep them from being able to go into our home. I'm really happy that my cousin was able to meet blee before she left for a semester in London and I hope to go to RI soon so her brother, who was working during their visit at the hospital, can meet her too.

My father is now talking about visiting in early October. I hope it happens. That would be a good time to head to RI, though since he is not planning on renting a car I don't know if that is going to work. We can't exactly fit four adults, one child and one baby in our Corolla.

Finally some Me Time!

Progress
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

The ultimate me time for me is working on art. And after a very difficult day yesterday where I got my first taste of baby blues I was able to have some of that much needed time today.

Blee went down for a nap around 10:30 and she is still sleeping. I used about an hour and a half of that time to work on carving this block that I hadn't been able to work on since August 21st and I think I made some significant progress. My goal was to get half of the negative space cleared out and I got a little more than that done. I haven't yet showered but who needs to shower when all you want to do is make art?

I realize that If I can get an hour or two in the next days I could actually get this block finished by the time my inlaws come at the end of next week and before the JP Open Studios. Having them around makes it much more likely that I will be able to take a couple of hours in my studio to print. And having new work for the Open Studios would be fantastic!

Now I will go shower. Oh wait, blee rises! Maybe later!

Sketching instead of carving

Moleskine Sketchbook and Microns
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

A little late to blogging today, but that I am able to do it feels like quite an accomplishment considering. We had an appointment with the pediatrician this morning and our time was spent getting ready for that. It went very well. After losing some weight after the birth (totally normal) she is back up past her birth weight and an inch longer!





Sadly I was not able to do any carving or printing yesterday so true to my word I filled a page of my sketchbook with doodles basically. Most of them are junk but sometimes something good comes out of it. But I certainly don't have a sketchbook worthy of showing off the contents of! It is a good way for me to wind down since even though the day is exhausting I get so wound up!

The reason why I never got to my studio isn't because I didn't have the time or energy because I did, it was because whenever I did have the time I found myself obsessed with cleaning the house. Putting away laundry and just getting things in order. Things that I couldn't do when I was pregnant for a very long time. Plus Jon had to do some work so I did have a little less time than I would have liked. But today he should be free other than getting the oil on the car changed and maybe a run to IKEA to pick up a small changing table for our bedroom and eventually my studio. I will never use my printing press to change a diaper I promise! The baby area is very much separate from the work area. She has her corner and I have the rest.

But I am continuing to list stuff on Etsy and on Flickr. I don't want Flickr to become nothing BUT baby photos just like I don't want that for my blog. If it wasn't raining and overcast I would love to take some time to photograph some of my magnets and mirrors. Next time we have sun I need to remember to do that and take a bunch!

The Weekend is Over

Dragonfly over City
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

Monday morning. Hope everybody had a good weekend.

My baby shower on Saturday was a whole lot of fun even though I was a bit of a zombie for it after having another rough night sleeping. The shower favors that Kate made for me went over really well. Thanks Kate! My friends officially have a sense of humor. I got some much appreciated baby stuff, but more importantly got to spend the afternoon relaxing around girlfriends. Some I hadn't seen in months. Two came all the way from Brooklyn for the shower. There was a lot of tasty food that I didn't have room to eat much of and crafting that I was a bit to brain fried to do a good job with. I made a collage of cut out paper cherries. Why cherries? Because I was eating cherries and that was about how creative my brain was willing to get. But it was great fun and then I went home and crashed.

Last night we sucked it up and made a quick IKEA run right before closing to get curtains and a rug. The rug selection totally sucked so we just ended up with curtains, but we now not only have curtains for the babies room and my studio but for the entire place except for the kitchen. Like real adults! Too bad Jon lost my power drill and we have to borrow one from a friend to put the curtains up. My dad offered us a free drill but we have to wait until he visits to get it because he won't mail it. But a good cordless drill is expensive enough to wait for.

I want to work on carving that block but I still feel crappy most of the time plus I don't want to get woodchips all over my studio before the guy from the Boston Globe comes today to photograph me for a Daily Candy article. I actually need to tidy up my studio a bit today because it is not currently photo worthy. But neither am I so we can match.

I have a seriously unfun pregnant lady task today and see a midwife tomorrow to complete it. I'm ready to get off this ride now thank you very much. Blee, consider yourself served an eviction notice. Thirty-eight weeks is plenty! At this point I know all you are doing (besides making me sick) is packing on the pounds. At least I was able to sleep through the night last night. First time in awhile.

On the plus side I have lots of cool art recently listed and being listed in my shop right now from last week. Including this piece that I love and a favorite that has already sold.

I shipped out a birthday gift to my soon to be eight year old sister in Illinois. It is a Princess Peach game for her Nintendo DS. Her birthday is on the 12th and I am hoping blee beats her! Or maybe I could hold out long enough for them to share. I think my sister would get a kick out of that. She is a sweet kid.

Gotta get to cleaning!


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Now playing: Everything But The Girl - no difference
via FoxyTunes

happy thoughts needed!

Spring Ginkgos
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

Thanks to my wonderful pregnant body I have an early addition to this post. Before I get into anything else I just have to ask, why am I throwing up at 4am during the 8th trimester? I thought I was done with that hell! It was caused by and was nothing but stomach acid and it was just awful. Did I have a spicy meal for dinner? Is peanut butter and honey spicy? I had been awake on and off for hours with an itch in my throat and an upset stomach for hours when finally my body just couldn't take it. And the pain in the small of my back is unreal at night. Seriously body, thanks a friggin lot! I really appreciate all you are doing for me these past eight months. /gripe

I hope everybody had a great holiday if they had one and hopefully a day off of work at the very least! Really the only thing good about this holiday for me was that my husband was home with me and I like being around him.

I'm not all that into the forth of July or holidays in general really. But this one is probably one of my least favorites. Not just because I am not exactly proud of my country at this time but because I don't like the crowds, fireworks stopped doing anything for me when I was ten and I think it brings out the bad side of many people. And I can't even relax and enjoy a beer this year.

Last night a group of people across the street that are pretty well known for disturbing the area were lighting fireworks in the middle of the street for hours. A rather heavily trafficed street with lots of parked cars and houses. This kid would look for coming cars and if he saw none he would run out and place a firework int he middle of the narrow road. A number of times cars did appear and nearly ran over the firework! I called the cops but nothing happened of course. The lady on the phone was rude and kept insisting that the streets I gave her don't intersect. Yes, they do. I live on the corner of both of them. She asked me to go outside and check the address of the ouse so I could give it to her. First off if I go outside I could get hit by the sparks from the fireworks and I don't think the huge crowd of people would take to kindly for me asking them to move so I can see the house number on their door. Fireworks bring out the stupid in people.

To top everything off there was a Red Sox game at Fenway this afternoon. We went to see the Transformers movie at the Fenway theater. Nothing like drunk Sox fans at one in the afternoon. When we were coming back to our car one of them was pissing between our car and the one next to it. If a pregnant lady can hold it despite having a four pound weight pressing against her bladder so can this guy! There was so much piss by the drivers side (but not on the car thankfully) that Jon had to crawl through the passenger side to get in.

The Transformers movie actually wasn't that bad. That isn't true, it was bad but it knew it was bad and that really did help it out. At no point did it ever even attempt to take itself seriously. So it was stupid but overall I enjoyed it. Kinda like 300, just a bunch of dumb but action filled eye candy. I didn't go in expecting much so I couldn't be disappointed.

I carved a stamp with the white stamp material and Speedball cutting tool when we got home and while the stamp turned out pretty well I don't want to use that material anymore. It is just too crumbly. The stamp feels like it could break in half so easily. A non vital corner already chipped off. I'm going to stick with the more expensive pink kind for any future stamps. I would like to find a better source for it since it is not cheap at the Dick Blick store and they don't offer it bulk (or at all) on their website. I also made more stickers and probably will today too.

To counter my rather nasty mood I am placing this happy piece with its bright and bold fauvist colors. I'm really loving how flexible my ginkgo block is to printing in various sizes.

I see a different midwife tomorrow because mine will be out of town. Jon wants to come with so he can hear the heartbeat again and I am always thrilled to have him with me. I hope he puts together my oh so comfy glider chair tomorrow! My poor hips and ankles could really use it.

Summer Heat!

Dark Ginkgos
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

I am certainly feeling it big time. And I am sure that plenty of you guys are right along there with me. A friend of mine in Arizona told me that it has been over 110 degrees there but they don't have the humidity that we do. How much does that really matter?

Been in the mid to high 90's with high humidity here in Boston and it is miserable. Way back in February when I would tell people when I was due women would get this sympathetic look in their eyes and tell me how in for it this summer I was. They were right. The heat really has been kicking my butt so far this week. I managed to do a fair bit of studio cleaning and I finished another block but no printing yesterday. I'm trying not to beat myself up over it too much. The heat is frying my already fried by pregnancy brain. I lose track of what I am doing a lot. Yesterday morning I only had four orders to pack up and it seemed to take forever. Sweat pouring down my forehead the entire time even with the air on. I've heard the weekend is supposed to be better. That would be wonderful.

I have an important question for those of you that know Blogspot pretty well and use Flickr for blogging on it. Because I am really puzzled by it right now. I do all my blogging through Flickr and I always put in a title yet for some reason it almost always gets deleted in my Blog, but not yesterday. Once it is entered there seems to be no way for me to edit a title into the entry. If it consistently deleted titles that would be one thing but randomly letting them through when nothing about my entry is any different makes no sense.

Can any of you more Blogger savvy people help a girl out? edit I just noticed what causes it to happen. The blog is posted with a title but when I go back into it to add tags the title gets deleted! Why and is there any way to fix this? I would like to have both a title and tags.

This piece is interesting to me because when I made it a couple of months ago I really wasn't sure what to think about it. The colors are quite shocking and a lot cooler than what I tend to gravitate towards so I was tempted to upcycle it into one of my goodies. But something kept me from doing that and boy am I glad that I did. While I am sure that it would have made a lovely set of coasters or pocket mirrors I believe this is the best form for it. I go with my gut and even when I feel the temptation to destroy certain pieces I know when to hold back the decision for awhile. Now I am really loving it!

My doctor gave me a medicine to help me sleep that is baby safe and won't produce the hangover effect that the Tylenol PM does. This is key because mornings are very important to me now since I am less sore and it isn't as hot. But I wake up so groggy that it takes me a couple of hours just to shake that feeling and by then it is already starting to get hot. It will also help with the panic attacks that have been growing. I used to take this medicine before I got pregnant but went off because while it is safe now it was not safe during the first trimester. This is my first morning after taking it and so far I feel much more alert than I ever took after waking up after taking even one Tylenol PM. And hurrah it isn't very hot out at all!

500!

Life Begins
Originally uploaded by m.Lee

Good morning Monday! Hope everybody had a good weekend. Mine was pretty mixed for the most part and I am glad that it is over. I'm going to try my best to make this week better.

This piece is my 500th sale on Etsy! The buyer is a woman from Norway that recently found out that she is pregnant. I have been noticing a rise in international buyers these past two months or so. I'm pretty excited about this sale since it means that I have made my big goal for June, about a week early. I don't normally put number goals on myself but it just seemed so within reach that I couldn't resist. I think it is a pretty awesome piece to be number 500 too! This certainly is not a bad start for the week.

Saturday night I glanced at myself in my bathroom mirror and thought of an alternate version I would like to do that is actually based on myself and not some made up pregnant woman. It would be nice to have something like this as a record from my actual pregnancy since the original is from well before me even thinking about getting pregnant.

This past weekend was hard. Burrito is very sick and we're not sure what to do about it. We have already tried so much at this point we are running out of options. Friday my appointment went very well but all the walking around killed me and I could barely move for the rest of the day. Stress of any sort is getting more and more difficult to handle. I'm starting to have panic attacks that are getting difficult to control. One of the punk kids in the neighborhood insulted me yesterday and it really had me upset for most of the rest of the day. I just want to flee the city at this point and move somewhere quiet and safe. Where twelve year old kids aren't filled with hatred.