So, yesterday was day eight for me, but I forgot to post! Arrived in Ottawa, saw a friend at a pub and then slept a wonderful sleep in the hostel. Still feeling sickly though.

today day 9, the positives are that I head home and will be in nova scotia in about twenty four hours. The bus ride is only 21 hours, so I've got time to kill.

So I went to the doctor, because of what I thought was stress-related blood pressure and allergies, and she wrote me five prescriptions.

The first one was for makeup, the second one was the name of her hairstylist at the high-end salon she went two, the third was the name of a girl who sold designer clothes overruns at 75% off, and the fourth was for shoes.

The fifth was for multivitamins and a big note to "STOP SMOKING!"

I told her I might not be able to afford her 'meds', and she said, "If you start budgeting money for yourself and prioritizing yourself, not just your family, believe me, the money will follow."

I guess I should believe her. :)

stepstomarrow
When granddaughter, Jada, was born with leukemia, a donor-match was located and Jada made a miraculous recovery. In honor of her grandaughter's health, Jeanna has decided to walk across the country (in the dead of winter) to raise awareness and build support for the bone marrow registry (all that's required is a cheek swab). Follow Jeanna's remarkable journey as she travels the United States by foot.

I finished my Christmas shopping today. Thank God for the internets. I spent more money on my sisters' gifts than I had planned, but then I though, I'm grateful for being at a place in my life where I can afford to do so, and besides, they did a lot for me when I was growing up, so it's nice to do something extra for them.

Also, I baked another amazing chocolate cheesecake that I'm taking to a potluck Christmas dinner tonight. I'm really looking forward to the dinner and to the people that will be there.

So today, I along with my wife went out and butchered a few roosters at my in-laws place. My in-laws live in the wilds of Missouri (literally a gravel road in between two cow pastures). I had asked my father in-law how to do it, because as a city kid (I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago) I had no knowledge other than reading books about the subject.  Plus my wife and I had been watching the PBS series Frontier House and Pioneer House and had seen them do it. So it was a "well if these folks can do it why not me thing?"

Its an interesting process and not for the squeemish Vegan/PETA types. I skipped breakfast to do it (just in case I did hurle). While we only butchered 2 of the 4 roosters we had planned to do, since the other 2 escaped. Its not as disgusting as I thought and was a very educational process for me to see it done. While its not the usual style like a mass-market farm is, my FIL showed me how to do it with efficency and also the least bloody way to do it.

The hardest part to me was the actual killing which I missed the killing blow and had to do it several times, with the rooster flailing about, but I did manage to get it after the third blow with a matchete. I dipped it into a scalding water bath and managed to get the feathers off with the help of my wife who really didn't want to do it. I think it brought back a few bad memories since they did this with 4 kids as a group thing. 
My MIL showed us how to finish the plucking and getting to the details. Cutting took a bit of time and was also hard but satisifying work. I brought my pipe and smoked in case I accidently cut into the guts/intestines and the smell can knock you for a loop. We then dressed them in the "Ozark" fashion and now the meat is in the freezer setting up and we'll have it for lunch/dinner in a day or so. 

Overall it wasn't as bad as my wife had made it out from her childhood to be and as long as I had a detatched view of doing the butchering it was actually a fun learning experience for me to do if I need to or asked to. Plus since the wife had been saying that if PBS ever does another House series and she wants to try it, I'm game and won't look like a complete idiot when doing this type of work.  

I missed yesterday so...

Day 2: I had a calm, stress-free day at work and my evening was filled with laughter and love.

Day 3: I awoke to the lovely smell of bacon and eggs.
Right above my monitor is the Foxtrot from 12/6 which mentions two of my other favorite cartoons; Pearls Before Swine and Calvin and Hobbs (Geech being the 4th favorite). It makes me laugh every time I look at it.

“Creatives for kids” is a none profit organization that I -Alexandra von Streer Henderson, Lee Kennedy and Akira Cheyenne Feathermoon are founding.

The basic Idea is that Artists, filmmakers / video artists, photographers, creatives , musicians and writers donate a piece or multiple pieces of their work ,that will be sold by our non profit .The proceeds will then be given to organizations such as St. Jude’s , child hunger funds and the Aids associationand child education funds. What we need from you guys is the following –

Painters, graphic artist’s digital artists and photographers- poster prints of your work (preferably signed) or the actual physical work of art itself. Photographers can also submit photo prints minimum size 600x800 or 800x600.

Cratives – your wood work, jewellery, candles, hats, mittens hats and other crafts.

Clothing/apparel designers – Pieces from your collection.

Filmmakers and , video artists – short films and clips focusing on either children with AIDS , cancer or other disabling conditions or children who are subjected to hunger and poverty( both domestic and worldwide). Will be featured on the website and we can make them downloadable if you wish so. Please keep your work in standard web format, meaning either Mov or Avi thank you!

Writers- please submit short stories or poetry with following focus - either children with AIDS, cancer or other disabling conditions or children who are subjected to hunger and poverty. Your work will be posted on the site and maybe later printed in anthologies that will be sold to benefit our cause.

Musicians – a song or instrumental piece which will be playable and downloadable on the site. The proceeds going to our KIDS. Please submit in Mpg3 format.

Prints and non virtual pieces should be sent to-

Creatives for Kids c/o Alexandra von Streer Henderson , 1204 Asheboro street High Point ,North Carolina 27260.


Virtual pieces, movies and music send to creativesforkids@gmail.com


With your submissions we need the following – a signed paper giving us the right to sell the donated work.

Since we will feaeture everyone who donates to us we will need the following.

A short bio and contact info
(email, MySpace deviant art ect.).
Optimal but we would prefer it – your web address, a jpeg or gif of the artist. Your logo .Physical addresses and contact info of atelier or shops if applicable.


All artists featured on the site will be featured!
For questions contact me at creativesforkids@gmail.com




p.s make sure your donations are original work and you own the copyright!

Domestic priority shipping and 20% off all jewelry (handmade and vintage) and vintage clothing in my Etsy shop until midnight Friday 12/18. (Vintage sewing patterns and fabric remnants are excluded from this offer...but those are still clearance priced at only $2-$6 each!)

MoiraCoon's Shinies on Etsy

We got a few 70 degree days across the weekend so I went ahead and took the caterpillars back outside to the milkweed plant, and set up a mini greenhouse with a heater. It's easier to maintain than keeping them in a tank inside, and they get to have fresh plant to eat.

They've gotten HUGE! I am betting Frijoles margaritas with one of my friends that they will change by Monday.

One big fella munching away

The 2 remaining bigs

Little Numero Fiveo still catching up

Well I finally got my dahlia bulbs dug up yesterday before we settle into a deep cold snap here in the Boston area. Can you suggest a good way to store them for the winter? I have tried peat moss in paper bags with mixed results. Since I paid some good money for these plants I would like to give them the best chance of surviving the winter. Thanks in advance for your help!

Okay I know this is completely unrelated to the Christmas season, but I'm so happy that my favourite baseball team, the Seattle Mariners, have traded for pitched Cliff Lee and signed free agent third baseman Chone Figgins. They're serious about being a contender next year and even though it's only December, I feel really positive about the upcoming baseball season!

I feel very under the weather today, but my positives are that I'm leaving tomorrow for a night in Ottawa and then heading home for two weeks. Today I'm able to manage to not care one bit about what I ate or care about the fact that I haven't gotten any exercise for two days. No anxiety!

Hey Gardeners: What plant do you most want for Christmas?

My gift to myself this year is 1 1/2 bushels of daffodil bulbs that I caught on sale for $60. (I had thought they'd take an extra coupon to bring the total down to $35 but no, they won't.)
It'll be here TOMORROW! And naturally it's below freezing so I can't get out and do any early hole digging today.

Hi everyone!

I have a question about taking a clipping from one of my plants. All I know about this plant is that it is some type of begonia. I have had it just over a year. I was given two pieces of it. I kept one for me and gave the other to a friend. All I remeber from the peices were that they were each a sigle leaf.
could anyone tell me the proper way to cut this to ensure that I do not harm the plant?
Photos uner the cut. Thanks for any help!
Happy holidays :)
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yesterday was my day 8 but i forgot to post so i'm going to post it now. and since i just woke up i will post about my positives for today later!

-i went to the mall with a friend who i hadn't seen in a few weeks and i got my brother his christmas gift
-me and my brother went to this place where we painted ceramic figures for my mom for christmas
-i had homemade pizza for dinner!
-me and my mom watched a lifetime christmas movie together..[we never do things together so it was nice]

Today, I talked to someone I used to work under, that I hadn't talked to for six years, after a falling out caused by being on two opposite side of an office war.

We always avoided each other when we would meet accidentally in public, but today, we were in the same conference room at the same time.

I finally got to talk to him, and even better, to thank him for the things he taught me before the mess happened. I thanked him in public, and gave him credit that was long overdue.

And a hug. :)