Embrace Yourself

I have a confession to make...I have a DLS (dirty little secret). I absolutely hate reality shows but for some reason, I'm drawn to The Hills on MTV. I'm a hypocrite, I know! This show isn't any better than all the others. Probably worse! It's full of twenty-something kids, partying and spending money left right and centre, with little care in the world. Is there any 'reality' to its storyline? I honestly don't know.

On Wednesday night, it was the season premier of The Hills (their final season). So why am I writing about this? Well, let me tell you. I was so completely appalled and shocked by what I saw that I'm still shaking my head. One of the main actresses (Heidi Montag) had plastic surgery...AGAIN. What you need to realize here is that this girl is only 24 years old! Yes, you heard me right.

The first time she had plastic surgery, she had her nose, lips and boobs done. That was in 2007. This time she had...her nose 're-done', her ears pinned back, her eyebrows lifted, her own fat injected into her cheeks, 'more' lip injections, a chin reduction, her back shaped (I have NO idea what this is), 'another' breast enlargement and some inner and outer lipo on her thighs. If you've ever watched this show, I'm sure you were as surprised as I was because she doesn't even look like the same person and this is sad.

It's sad to me because this girl was so attractive to begin with. She blames it all on Hollywood but for goodness sake; grow a set of balls, or maybe get some attached with more plastic surgery! How can someone think so low of themselves that they put themselves through such physical and emotional pain? Does Hollywood and the media have 'that' much power over us? I know that's all we see on television, in movies and in magazines. They're trying to program people to see what's 'perfect' in our world.

But is this realistic? Of course not! Who dictates what perfection is anyway? What may be perfectionism to me might not be for someone else but yet for decades our views of what perfection 'should' be have been shaped and re-shaped. If you want to look at it this way, it's almost like being brainwashed. Literally. Barbie is a good example. For years there has been controversy regarding her image. If her proportions were converted to human size, Barbie would be 5' 9" tall and 110lbs. She would have a 36 inch chest, 18 inch waist and 33 inch hips. Does this seem achievable? If you ask me, Barbie would have one sore lower back carrying around those mangos.

So why can't we be happy with ourselves for who and what we are? It all comes down to psychological. We are bombarded with how we should look so no wonder our brains are occupied with these ideas. We have to learn to shut these things out or let them pass us by. Our minds are what need to be strengthened. We have been born with what we have. You can't go back and change that. You have the ability to mould what you've been given BUT you will still be YOU.

I wrote something similar to this back in 2008 and my mind has not changed since then. There is only one you. Be the person YOU want to be, not what you think you SHOULD be. Embrace yourself and others will follow :o)

D-Dog

After reading Parsley's post and watching the video of her dogs, I thought I would have a little fun with Duncan and see what he'd do for the camera ;o) I caught him at feeding time so this is when he's the most entertaining. LOL! Enjoy!

Workin' For A Livin'

"I'm taking what they giving 'cause I'm working for a livin'." ~ Hewey Lewis & The News

That's right, I'm officially a working woman again :o) I did get the job that I was interviewed for and I started last Tuesday. I didn't want to say anything because it was a trial period and I wasn't sure if I'd last or not. It's a good thing that I didn't because there has been a new development! I can't share what it is yet because I don't know 100% what's happening. Let me just say this, I'm still going to be working for the same company but in a different position and have part-time hours. I can't tell you how super excited I am about it :o)

On top of that, I had to get my photography order ready for the new gallery that's going to be carrying my work. I have thirty pictures in my collection and I did up 30 5 x 7s and 30 8 x 10s. It takes quite a bit of time to do the packaging. I should have taken a picture while the kitchen table was covered but I didn't get around to it. So here is the result of all my work -

Quite professional looking, huh? :o) My next step is to set up a shop online but I'm not sure when that will be. My pictures are for sale though and if you are interested in seeing the collection please email me and I'll send you out an invitation to view them. I'm asking $8 CDN for the 5 x 7s and $15 CDN for the 8 x 10s. I do take Pay Pal so if you see something you like, plmk ;o)

With things so up in the air and hectic here, stitching has taken a backseat and I've really missed it. I do have a progress picture of Sabrina for you though -

It may not look much different from the last photo but if you look 'really' hard, you'll see that I've completed all the beading :o) I definitely think I'm going to be beaded out after this.

I've finally put her into a bigger Q-Snap size and was horrified to see some kind of spot on the fabric :o( I have NO idea what it is. It almost looks like it was slightly bleached. My fingers and toes are crossed that the back part of her dress will go over far enough to cover it up!

Want to see something cute? If you're not a Follower and haven't heard the news yet, head on over to Katie's Blog. She has a new bundle of joy that she'd like to introduce :o)

Ninth Finish For 2010

Woohoo! I never thought I would tear myself away from Sabrina long enough to finish something on the side but I did it. Of course it definitely helped that bunnies were involved ;o) Here is Bunnies In A Basket by Brittercup Designs -

Aren't they adorable? Such cute little faces. I'm not sure how I want to finish this piece yet but it's between a cube and a flatfold. I love the Elongated Smyrna Crosses that are used along the rim of the basket -

I plan on stitching all the bunnies in this pattern (thanks again Danielle!) but the rest will have to wait for now because I really want to make some headway on Sabrina.

I made it through my tooth extraction yesterday :o) The million dollar tooth is now history! After at least nine needles (yes, imagine how impressed I was about that), Dr. R had the tooth out before I knew it. I said that I absolutely loved him so maybe the Happy Pills really did work. LOL! What is maddening about the whole tooth saga is that it was never completely fixed. Not after the root canals AND surgery! I had gone back to the specialist who did the surgery and told him that my gum would swell up and he passed it off as scar tissue. What was really happening is the root that was never taken care in the first place kept getting infected :o( A LOT of wasted money.

This past week I've been going down to the rock beach in search of sea glass. The weather has been quite nice but with a cool wind. I haven't been down there for a bit so it was good pickings -

When I went down today, I made it my goal to find a red piece before I could leave. This is NO easy task as red glass is the hardest to find. I was there for quite awhile and then ended up in a spot that I knew would be good. It paid to be patient :o) Here is the red glass along with a neat piece of pottery that I found -

Seeing as the area used to be a very old port for ships, I always wonder what these pieces were and what their history is.

Where Oh Where Has Sabrina Gone?

Oh where oh where can she be? Don't worry, she's still here! Looking beautiful as always -

I'm not tooting my own horn here. I just think she looks amazing with all her bling :o) I haven't done a lot since the last update, I don't think, but I've started filling in the black beads. Knowing how many black beads I have ahead of me does not thrill me in the least. I think I might eventually go blind :oP

Because of the pulled muscle, my stitching took a back seat for a bit but when I felt up to it again, I brought out a smaller project...therefore Bunnies In A Basket! Here is another progress picture of them -

They look quite odd without faces don't they? Actually, the more I look at them, the more they are creeping me out! I think I had better add some features soon. LOL!

I want to thank everyone for the concern about my back. It's 'back' to normal now ;o) When I do something, I do it right (wrong) and I definitely did a good job on this one. Oye!

To add insult to injury, last week I managed to break one of my teeth in two. Do you want to hazard a guess as to which one it was? Bingo...the million dollar tooth! The one that had a filling, then was replaced with another filling, then there was the root canal (or was there two?) and finally the surgery. Yup! And tomorrow I have to go to the dentist and have it pulled out. Oh joy ;o) I just hope those Happy Pills really work their magic. LOL!

I've had a few people ask about the results of my job interview. Well...I was supposed to go in today for a second interview but the owner had come down with the flu. It's now been moved to Thursday :o) Things sound really positive and that's what worries me. You'd think it would be the other way around but I never said I was normal...

Bunneh Blues

Don't say it! I know, I've been M.I.A. Have you ever had one of those days (weeks, months, years) that were just too much and all you wanted to do was crawl back into your warm, secure bed and shut out the world? N'uff said.

How was my Easter? No egg hunt, no Easter dinner, no bunny :o(

This month marks one year that Pickles has been gone and it was the first Easter in over eleven years that there wasn't a real live bunny in the house. I know Pickles had a good life but I do miss seeing him get all excited when I'd open the fridge door. He knew that was carrot time! I miss his ability to fling one rabbit turd across the floor with one swift movement. This meant that it was time to clean his cage. I even miss his little grunts. That meant "Leave me alone lady!"

What a surprise I had on Tuesday though when I picked up the mail! No, no one sent me a real bunny by mail but it was the next best thing :o) Danielle, the sweet generous girl, sent me the pattern Bunnies Galore by Brittercup Designs!!!! I was so touched by her thoughtfulness and don't think I have forgotten you. In case you are wondering, of course I started one of the patterns. LOL! I am stitching on Queen Anne's Lace Jobelan although it's hard to see in the picture -

For as long as I can remember, I've had an egg hunt on Easter morning. My parents did it for me and DH continued the tradition :o) Am I spoiled or what! There was no hunt this year though. DH felt really bad but it's probably for the best since I have a little stash of ECEs hidden away... If you look down the right side of my Blog, you'll notice that I have passed last years' number ;o) Shhhhh.....

Our dear friends T & K invited us to their place for Easter dinner on Sunday. I was looking forward to it all week and K was excited that we'd get to spend some time together. So Sunday morning I'm eating my breakfast and all I can think is that I must have turned the wrong (right) way because I heard a pop in my back :o( I had pulled a muscle under my left shoulder blade. I couldn't even take deep breaths because there would be shooting pain.

Seeing that I was doped up on muscle relaxants and in bed unconscious, DH made the appearance for both of us. When he got home, he carried in three containers full of food! K had sent enough Easter dinner to last us three nights and it was topped off with cheesecake :o) It was all sooooo good and I couldn't thank them enough.

I guess what I'm trying to say in this post is that, even though life may give you lemons, it's still possible to make lemonade when you have wonderful people around you. I was truly touched by both acts of kindness and one day, I hope that I can reciprocate :o)

As a side note, I am WAY behind on emails and Blog reading so don't give up on me yet! It may take me awhile to catch up but I'll be around to every one of you :o)