I'm going to get serious about getting ready to move. I'm really excited about being forced to reorganize, and really excited about having the space to stay organized. In this house with 2 closets, I highly suggest that you don't open one or you may get buried by the avalanche! In the new place... a closet in every bedroom, a hall closet, a linen closet, and a pantry!

So here's the plan:
Monday: sort me and Jon's clothes and pack the non-essentials in our room.
Tuesday: the same for Evan
Wednesday: the same for Addie
Thursday: Crafting stuff and the non-essentials in my office
Friday: Clean the nasty wet basement (eew!)

Weekend:
Put the new locks on the doors at the new house and move said non-essentials.
Shop for furniture.

Monday: Books CD's and movies
Tuesday: Games and Toys
Wednesday: Art and nick-nacks
Thursday: Bathroom closet and cupboards
Friday: Everything else that we can live without.

Easter weekend:
Hmmm. Do we have to go home for the weekend? Will we want to? Dunno, I'm gonna try to keep it open as long as the family will let us.

Last week before the move:
I'm not gonna plan this. If I stick to the plan above, It should be smooth sailing from here. A little bit each day, and I should be able to keep working right up until the day we move our cable service. I do think I'm going to stop shipping for about 4 days though. I don't want to be rushed and make mistakes.

Saturday is truck day.
We're going to do most of the actual moving ourselves, but hire two men and a truck for the large appliances. I am NOT going to move my washer and drier up those evil basement stairs! It was hard enough getting them down. We're just going to have them do the washer, drier, fridge, stove, the giant couch, the giant book shelf, and what ever else they can hall in the 2 hour minimum. It's only a ten minute drive and those guys are fast. I bet they can get most of the big stuff done for us.

That's it. That's the plan!

We got a house! We don't even need to extend the lease in this awful cave. We are outa here by the end of the month.

It needs a little love. We're going to replace the downstairs floor, put ceiling tile up in the living room, tweak the bathroom a bit, and do a little painting upstairs. The expensive stuff is done. All new windows, roof, ac, new kitchen cupboards, counters and floor.

There's a walk-out balcony upstairs off the hall, a two car garage, a solarium, a dry basement, and a breakfast nook. I love this house.

It's freekin perfect! Exactly what I was looking for.



More pictures here:
http://flickr.com/photos/9962201@N07/

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS? Across the Universe is the most amazing film I've seen in a long time. It's a musical of the Vietnam era told with freshly arranged Beatles songs, sung (in most cases live during filming!) by phenomenally talented vocalists.

The whole thing is paced kinda like a chemically induced vacation. It starts clean and clear and pristine and slowly, almost without you noticing, starts to degrade into a chaotic and hallucinogenic state. As the surreal-ness begins to dissipate your left in an uncomfortable and gritty stage of the tale. I'm not going to tell you how the ending felt, because until it happened I never really know if it was going to end well. You should have that advantage too.

Don't expect to hear all your favorite Beatles songs if you're a radio listener. Lesser known tunes are often chosen over the standards, and even in songs like Let it Be and I Want to Hold Your Hand, the emotion is totally new and arrangement is different. It's almost like have new Beatles tunes again!

Jon brought it home to watch, and to be honest, I didn't expect to dig it much. By Let it Be, I was hooked, and by Something, I was totally in love with this movie.

I finally got my new supplier worked out and I am so glad. Both the product and service are 100% better, and I wasn't even unhappy with the old product.

These photos are taken on day 2 but the color continued to get darker for 4 days after removing the paste! No lie. It's wicked-stringy too. Maybe even more so than that Oh-so famous Moroccan!





Please forgive me for the sock line. It's been COLD!

I can't wait to try this stuff on my palm tonight!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23635695@N05/sets/72157603887380115/

I'm inspired. I'm going to do my palm with my new Raji today.

My favorite kind of snow is falling today. It's the light fluffy stuff that's full of many little snowflakes. Not just any snowflakes, but the perfectly symmetrical flakes that look like cut glass. These are what snowflakes are "supposed" to look like according to children's picture books, but in 3D. It made me smile on the way to pick up groceries.

Last year when I homeschooled Evan we stopped our normal routine when it snowed like this to go out and look at the snow with his hand-held microscope. Then we came in and cut paper flakes and covered them in glitter. We spent the hole day on snow. I hope it was as memorable for him as it was for me!

I really do like snow even though I constantly grump about winter. I wish we could have a winter that never dipped below 20 F. That would be perfect!

This winter henna pattern page has some little snowflakes: http://www.bodyartbyjen.com/hennamuse/Galleries/designgallery/Designsgallery-Pages/Image6.html

This is a warm way to enjoy snowflakes:
http://www.popularfront.com/snowdays/

This site has more than you ever need to know about snow. Make sure to look at the photo galleries. They're amazing.
http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/

This is a pic of my antique henna. I mostly an just learning how to post an image from flickr because it's such a pain in the bum to upload manualy to my web space and then link to it. I can upload to flickr automatically PLUS it doesn't eat up my bandwidth! So... here it is, my first LJ post with a flick photo.



Yeah! This dog can learn new tricks!

Don't people want to make their community a better place? I enjoy paying taxes to a degree. It's almost like donating to charity. OK so it's mandatory, but it goes to do wonderful things for the community like fund libraries and buy a new truck for the fire department. Taxes pay teachers and pave roads. Just look at communities that don't have any taxes. They don't have zoos and museums and decent roads.

Here in Indiana property taxes are about half what they were in Ohio. There has recently been an adjustment that caused them to go up. For some people it's as much as 40%, but they STILL don't touch what we had in Ohio. We also had the best library system in the COUNTRY. Now the public outcry, or shall we say whine, is demanding that property taxes be re-examined and lowered or even REMOVED. Instead there will be an increase in sales tax and a tightening of state public programs. Well that's just a great idea isn't it. Put more of the financial burden on people who aren't even able to purchase a house AND short change the public programs.

I don't make much money. I'm still glad to share it with my community. Maybe people who don't want to pay any taxes have never been to michigan where the roads are so bad they have to cancel school when it rains because the roads turn to mud!

Not to say we should give our money away unchecked. Ya, the libraries, schools and other public programs need to be budgeted and handle tax moneys responsibly. They need to be held accountable and be able to demonstrate productivity, but really, shouldn't we be glad we have them and glad to support them financially. I am.

Today I must:
Fill orders (just a few)
Do dishes
Do laundry
Clean the bathroom

I'd like to:
Finish up Christmas cards and gifts that need mailing
Get new battery for hubby's car
paint some boxes
henna myself

Not so bad. I can do all that, but I'd rather hide in my recliner with a cup of coffee. Less than 2 weeks until the sun starts to return!! Wahoo!

We've had freezing rain for about 5 solid days now. No sunshine. None. No moon. There's not even any light in my house because the crappy rental house is covered with fake, dark wood paneling that sucks all the light and joy out of it's rooms. It's hard enough to keep going at this time of year.

I've been thinking about going tanning. I'm not that kind of person usually, but I think a little fake sunshine might hold me off until I get some real sun!

So slow and tired...

I've got my line of mica powders up now! Very fun stuff.



I've stopped posting business stuff here so I can use this as more of a personal journal, but I'm really excited about this one.

This is a link to my business blog on the stuff: http://www.bodyartbyjen.com/blogpics/micamehndi.jpg

Here's a belly lotus I did for a Blessingway. Really fun and warm people.

I have never had such a good time with a workshop! I had limited the class size to 20 people, and it was walk-in-only, no prereg. So when i arrived 1/2 hour before the workshop was meant to start, it was already nearly full! I let 5 extras slide in before I started turning people away. The funny thing about this class was that it was nearly half men!

I did about 1/2 hour of lecture then we started to do some painting. This is where the kids (when I do colleges anyway) start tentatively doodling on paper. Unsatisfied with the first attempts they wrinkly their button noses and come over and ask me for a butt hat. NOT THESE KIDS!!!!!!!!!! I only did about 5 peices for the whole class. They were much more interested in learning to do it themselves. When they called me over it was for advice on a clogged tip or how to get more even lines. When they left most kids were all painted up with their own work or eachother's. They really dug in and got involved in a way that no class I've ever taught before has. It was so much fun!!

To top it all off, since I was 3 hours from home and the workshop didn't wrap up until after 11, the university sprang for my room. It was so much nicer than what I would have bought for myself if they had just given me cash for a room. It was a very nice treat.

here's the class:




and here's some of the henna they did:









In general, a wonderful experience!

Today is all about getting the housework and orders all caught up so I can be away for the weekend.

I've got exactly jack for a costume. Just bits and pieces of things that don't match. I might just go in jeans.

Not smoking on a 4 hour road trip will be interesting. I'll have to fill up before I go so I don't have to stop for gas. That way I won't have to see the cigarettes looking at me over the counter when I've been alone on the road for hours. It's funny, as much as I know that cigarettes are a turn off for most people, I want to smoke most when I'm around strangers. Being a smoker makes you instantly a part of a group, even if its a small one. As soon as you step outside you're accepted by everyone else who is ostracized to the outdoors due to their dirty habit. Meeting people with zero effort -probably one of the reasons I became a smoker in the first place.

Anyway, I'm going to take some mica to the slack. That will be fun to play with. I thought I might be able to see if I've got the best possible packaging by watching how others use it. Maybe little baggies would be better than the little jars. I don't like the shaker inserts, myself, but it will be cool to see if others do.

I better come home covered in henna. I've been saving my skin. I just have a little orange shadow left on one palm. Besides, if I come home without lots of henna, my hubby may think I was lying about where I went for the weekend!!! *joking*

Photos will follow.

Time to get busy or I'll be doing the rushed-grumpy-packing thing again.

I didn't do much for Halloween this year, but the kids got all made up for trick-or-treat!

Done with Yemeni summer 2007 henna. Much better than recent Yemeni crops. Taken about 4 days after removing paste. My fingers and wrist were a little darker a day or two before.

So, I just discovered that Janeane Garofalo has a Rosie the Riveter tattoo. This stirs a pet peeve of mine. Why on earth would feminists adopt a symbol of war propaganda that men used to manipulate women? Am I missing something?

And now that I've started this rant I'll have to explain why I soured to feminism in the first place. Gloria Steinem was my great Aunt Carole's best friend in high school. My Aunt Carole was my roll model for what it meant to be a woman. She was involved in her community, she taught me to sew, she told me stories about what being a woman meant to her, and about how her generation was different than mine. My Aunt Carole suffered from a brief bought of depression which she referred to as "when I was crazy" in such a casual manor that it allowed me to seek the help I needed for postpartum depression, totally unashamed, a decade later. My Aunt Carole is the embodiment of unconditional love. Just so you know where I'm coming from. Anyway, in 1992, when I was 16, "Revolution from Within" came out. In this book Gloria goes on and on about how poorly some of her friends from school faired. In specific she mentions "one of my best friends from high school whose children had been born so close together that her small body had run out of calcium. She lost her teeth and her hopes and settled into the life of an old woman." Oh, that's so sad. What a pathetic women. That woman was my Aunt Carole! Can you imagine how painful and confusing it is to have one of the founders of modern feminism condemn your model of the meaning of 'woman' like that? At 16 no less? Even now, 15 years later, my Aunt Carole is independent, involved, creative, active and full to the brim with love. Fuck Gloria Steinem!

Shouldn't feminism be about equality and choice. Then why do the feminists insist on telling me what to do with my life? Don't where lipstick or shave your legs. Having a family means you've been manipulated by male culture. So what, I should let the feminists manipulate me instead of the men? Somewhere between Rosie the Riveter and Gloria Steinem I've lost the right to care for my children. Screw all that noise, I'm going to stubbornly continue to live on my husbands salary, a whopping 6 grand above the poverty level for a family of 4, and be a stay at home mom anyway. That's the choice I'm making. No man or feminist told me to.

Sorry, I ranted again

This is a photo of my Aunt Carole with my kids 15 years after that nasty book was written!

I have really, really quit this time. In the past I've always slowed down rather than quitting cold turkey. I do really well until I give up that last cigaret after the kids go to bed. Then I start cheating. This time there was no slowdown and I have not cheated AT ALL.

For just a little more motivation, the darling hubby just called from work to say that the insurance premiums are changing next month. Now we get $10 per pay period off our premiums for being non smokers AND $10 each off per month if we pass cholesterol and blood pressure screenings. We were worried when they announced changes that we were going to be paying more, but it turns out if we pass all the screenings we'll be paying $320 per month instead of $400! That plus what we save on cigarettes will be enough to move us out of this shack in spring! Oh what I wouldn't give to have an office I can stand up in! (attic-sloped ceilings ARGH!!)

Anyway, yesterday I finally felt less intense of a need to smoke. We're past the full moon now, so I imagine it's a better time for giving something up. The last time I vacuumed under the living room furniture I saw a long-lost cigarette under the sofa. I actually intentionally left it there for an 'emergency' knowing I was about to quit. Isn't that gross?!?! Anyway, I'm going to get it out today and ceremonially destroy it!

It was a rather exciting bridal appointment. First of all, because of babysitter issues and the fact that my best assistant is still in the feeding-baby-every-45-minutes stage of motherhood, I had to do a bride, 7 bridesmaids, 2 moms, a sister and an auntie in 4 hours! I warned the poor girl in advance that I couldn't do my best work in this amount of time, but she was still happy to have me. To make things even more exciting a wicked storm blew through complete with a tornado! Don't worry, the tornado didn't get close, but we did lose power for a few worried minutes. Anyway, I did end up staying over an hour late despite my hopes of getting home at midnight for the sitter, and I suppose I did a decent job considering how fast I had to work. I ended up telling the last few bridesmaids not to pick patterns. Just show me a style you like because I can wing-it much faster than copying a pattern.

The bride:

...and the bridesmaids:

...and the Moms and 2 bridesmaids:

I had a lovely time. Everyone was very kind and appreciative and the aunties were unusually hands-off! Then I headed off to chase the storm home for two hours! I was home by 1 am, in bed by 2 and up again to get the munchkins to school by 6:30. I think I'm getting a little too old for that kind of crap!

Tags: Henna, mehndi, brides, bridal mehndi

On Friday I had the opportunity to do henna at an event to raise awareness about Darfur. It included a traveling enactment of a refugee camp put on by stopgenocidenow.org.

The event included many ways to help including petitions and the opportunity to sponsor a solar cooker for a family in Darfur. What's a solar cooker? Check it out:

Of course I did some henna. The students organizing the event encouraged people to get henna on the inside of their left forearm symbolizing the ID tattoos the Jews were forced to were there during the holocaust. The people I met had creative requests and I didn't have to resort to using a design book at all! Of course the better pieces I did were while I was busy so I don't have pictures, but here are a few:

I was really impressed with the students that I met At IPFW. I go to colleges quite a bit, and I have to say, for the most part, young college students are fairly self involved and haven't really learned to empathize and participate in the world beyond their own. The kids the met last week were thoughtful, interested in each other's life experiences, and just bursting with positive energy. They were creative, involved, and a pleasure to spend the day with!

Tags: Darfur, IPFW, stopgenocidenow.org, henna, mehndi, camp darfur