Saturday, June 30, 2007

My luck even surprises me.


Today was one of those days at Goodwill. One of the days when I am charmed. In fact it was almost comical at one point, as if all I needed to do was close my eyes and reach into one of the bins and the first thing I'd touch would be something I've been wanting or one of my favorite things to collect. My ability to do this is really uncanny and wonderful with the exception of being a might bit unnerving.

I have been cleaning out my basement in a big way lately and what I'm always in need of are good shelves. I have some really nice wood ones that I got at Fred Meyer years ago on clearance for a steal and I've been wanting more but the normal retail for them are way too much. Well, today I found an even bigger set of the same kind of shelves at as-is for $5.00. (They aren't pictured as I have to go back tomorrow and pick them up). A few minutes later I found one of those nice metal shelving units in the original box with all of the pieces for $5.00 as well. Good shelving karma is never something to under appreciate.




Next I found a super cute and totally my "old-lady-ultra girly-shabby-chic" style, off white wire basket. Almost immediately I knew this was the perfect container to hold my cat Zoey's salad bar (she doesn't go outside so I give her wheat grass that I buy already grown at the grocery store...she loves it!). $2.00 for the basket, $4.00 for a couple of containers of wheat grass and my den now has a lovely centerpiece that will no doubt help prolong the lives of the plants on top of my filing cabinet (the theory being that if Zoey has her own plants to tend to she'll leave mine alone).



The other finds of the day included a nice wooden cabinet thingee. All of the furniture in my house is either metal or painted, distressed wood so when I find real wood pieces that would be easy to paint I get very happy. Plus, I am an absolute cabinet whore so I get particularly happy when the wooden pieces I find have doors. Stay tuned for the "after" photo to go with these "before" pictures. I'm thinking maybe a new nightstand or bathroom shelf.



As you can see I managed to pick up several other things as well, including: about 25 cardstock pieces (perfect for creating my collage pieces to send to all of you lovely people who mailed me $2...a great find as I had been rummaging through recycle bins trying to decide which type of material to use), 3 Melmac plates in a shabby chic pattern, a few toys for resell, tons of tags for crafting and for pricing things when I sell at craft bazaars, a plain canvas bag (one of the items I'm entertaining selling at the next holiday bazaar are reconditioned canvas shopping bags), miscellaneous collage papers and accoutrements, a bag of wooden blocks shaped like dominoes (I have a specific project in mind for these), oil cloth scraps (thinking maybe an oilcloth ATC series), an absolutely huge amount of these double sided adhesive strips that originally sold for $2.49 for pack of 8 (I got about 30 different packages for $1.59/pound), quite a few envelopes and greeting cards, a bunch of Seal-a-Meal bags, a picture frame, several craft stickers/papers and a baby afghan for Carley's wee one! All items, including the two shelving units and the wooden cabinet, were purchased for $36.42. (Mind you the metal shelving unit still has the original price tag on it of $24.99).



Truth in advertising.



My new hair cut 24 hrs later.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Summer Camp


Tomorrow marks the end of my second week of water aerobics for this year. Every Summer for the last few years I have enrolled in a water exercise class at a community center a mile or so from my house (the same community center where I took tumbling classes as a kid). This center has an outdoor pool which makes the classes even more enjoyable. As soon as I got in the water for the first time Monday before last I remembered how much I love working out in the water. Without the impact of regular aerobics, water ex provides a fantastic workout with the added benefit of the resistance from moving through the water. As someone who has struggled with a bad back for years (and recently a bad knee) I appreciate having the ability to work out vigorously without being in pain doing so.

Apparently the shallow end was still too deep for this guy.

6" less of me.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

$2 Birthday Present

In a matter of days I'll be 40. I haven't even begun to process what that means for me yet. I'm in for some changes apparently. I'm getting my hair chopped Thursday for the first time in about five years (I've had trims over that time but nothing major), I'm interviewing for a new job on Thursday as well (same company, different position) which is in a completely different field than I have worked in before (I've been doing accounting in one form or another since the late 80s). Things are changing. Maybe I'm becoming settled? Grown up? Tired of it all? Who knows. But I'm old enough to know to just roll with it and that it will all work out okay.

When I turned 30 I decided that rather than be disappointed by what happened (or didn't) on my birthday that I would make specific activity plans for each year. For the last ten years I have done so...an all girl dinner party at Montage, a Sleater-Kinney concert at the Crystal, camping in Washington, go carts at Malibu Grand Prix, bowling, sing along Willy Wonka (which Greg said was boring), sky diving (because Greg said Willy Wonka was boring), an all women's 5k walk, a mosaic craft party and more.

This year I want to do something different.

I was recently delighted to find out that my favorite collage artist has opened a store on Etsy.com. I have admired her work for sometime and I have decided to commission a piece of work from her.

Rather than just writing a check to Claudine I decided that I want to pay for the collage piece with money that I gather for collage work that I create. My proposal is that I will mail out a collage piece of art mail for every $2.00 I receive. My goal is to sell 40 of these cards by July 10th. Buy one for yourself, one for your mom, your dog, your co-worker, your mail carrier, the cute guy at the local coffee shop, grandma, your boss, your massage therapist, the bartender...as many as you want. Simply enclose $2 cash in an envelope with the following information on it and in return I will mail out a custom made art card.

Your name, address, and who the card is for.
Name and address of who I should send the card to.
Preferred theme of card: dog/cat, political, food, children, fashion, art or ???

Mail your request to "The Alt Martha" at PO Box 56404, Pdx OR 97238-6404.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Simpson's Quote of the Day

"I hate milk! It comes from cow wangs!"

True dat Nelson, true dat.

I was watching Mad TV...

Caught a rerun Mad TV episode this weekend and was very entertained to find myself watching a skit taking place inside my car! Apparently Toyota paid for several "placements" to have the car in the show over a period of several months because their target audience is the age of those who watch Mad TV.

This promo I once saw in a movie theater lobby. Love it.

This one is just plain funny.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

The countdown begins.

In 9 days something is going to happen to me. See if you can guess what it is. As the day draws near I'll offer hints if necessary.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.


Last night when I arrived home after work there was a veggie delivery waiting for me. It had been two weeks since I saw one of those lovely boxes as last week was a bit tight financially so I skipped a shipment (thanks to my neighbor and her veggie garden and husband who isn't so fond of veggies I didn't starve thank goodness).

Maybe it was because the food is all stuff I really love (don't have to talk myself into anything this time), with the exception being plums perhaps (don't know that I don't like them, rather I think I've never had one...roll your eyes now). Maybe it was because I had just returned from the first water aerobics class of the week (it isn't just for old ladies I'll have you know). Or maybe it was because I didn't have any produce delivered for a week, but I had never been so happy to see fruit and veggies in my life.

I Heart Skater Boys



My neighborhood, known as "that place on Sandy with all of the Asian restaurants" or "that area of town you have to move to because you can't afford to live any closer to town" is being infiltrated with a new breed of folks. Skateboarders. They have come out of the woodwork to loiter at the new skate park right next to Madison High School blocks from my house. Hundreds of them gather there daily interspersed with bmx cyclists and a few in line skaters. Normally I do not enjoy watching sports at all, it is like the idea of watching someone craft. Why not do it yourself rather than watch others do it? But the X games era of sports has changed my mind. These guys (and gals I'm proud to say) do things that I can't hardly even believe they do, much less do myself. They are amazing and I could watch them for hours.

Now Daddy's Board Shop has moved their shop from further down Sandy to a few blocks from my house as well. I'm ecstatic about it. Look out strip clubs and sexy kitty boutiques with patrons that have mudflaps with naked women on them and make room for the skater kids!

Sunday, June 17, 2007

$21.65



The Goodwill outlet store saw me coming today. Barely in the door and found a vintage Fisher Price Little People school house just like the one I got for my 4th birthday. A few minutes later and I also had the family house. These finds were followed by a hand crafted Jell-O quilt (for resale), a set of Scrabble tiles for crafting, Lite Brite pegs, some new padded mailing envelopes, three canvas shopping bags, a plaid shirt, an Old Navy purse, a plastic light up Santa, three vhs tapes including "The Year without a Santa Claus", the first DVD from the 4th season of Friends and a copy of "Vinnie's Giant Roller Coaster Period Chart and Journal Sticker Book" so that I can better "know my flow."


So close and yet so far.


I don't generally consider myself to be naive. In fact, I generally think the opposite. That changed this weekend. I was completely naive about how difficult it would be to catch a feral cat who has lived on his own for at least the last seven years.

I finally found a vet to treat him. I had the money set aside to pay for it. All I needed to do was catch the cat. The first attempt involved me kneeling on the front porch with just a plate of food separating Barry White and me. Slowly I lifted my arm to above him and then quickly tried to grab the scruff of his neck. I worked at a vet clinic that specialized in aggressive cats so I had done this numerous times but when you grab a cat that hasn't been touched by a human in years you just don't stand a chance. He jumped into the air and was gone.

The second attempt was to lure him into the cage with food. He was halfway in when I was in the house. As I opened the screen on my house he took off.

Third attempt. He was fully in the cage eating and I had a string attached to the cage door so as he ate I pulled the string while hiding behind the screen door. I got the cage door closed but couldn't get out my door fast enough to fasten it before Barry pushed it open and took off.

Now I have lost his trust and feel bad for harassing the poor guy.

Friday, June 15, 2007

The Non-Profit Type


Apparently I am a "type."

I was attempting to mow my lawn the other day (attempted because my allergies are so out of control nowadays that 15 minutes in nature is about all I can handle) when a newish neighbor rode her bike by my house. As she passed me she said "I saw you in the paper! I love your place!" That was an ice breaker I couldn't refuse, of course so we started talking. She wanted to know where I work. I sort of sheepishly said I did accounting for an insurance company. I then had to qualify that with the fact that I worked for non profits for ten years before I sold out and went corporate. Her response? "Yeah, you looked like the non-profit type, I figured." That isn't the first time I've been told that, several times in fact. Which has got me to thinking...what makes me look like a non-profit type?

My glasses I know make me look more studious than if I wore contacts. It isn't the reason I wear glasses but it is a side effect that I like. The fact that I don't wear makeup I'm sure has something to do with it, that my hair is long and not dyed or overly processed. My clothes? Yeah, I suppose although not near as much these days and they once did.

And what exactly does being the "non-profit type" really mean? Does it mean it appears I work towards ending injustice in the world? Does it mean I look like I don't have much money? A do-gooder? Thoughtful? And if I do look like the non-profit type does that mean that the people I see in the halls at my corporate job look at me and think that I am out of place? In the wrong element? Or do they think that I finally gave up on trying to make the world a better place in order to make a little bit more disposable income?

Of course I was complimented by her (and the others) assessment. My mother once told me that she saw one of my roles as an activist being the mainstream person at work espousing radical views that shocked many of my coworkers (wait, you support the liberation of mink destined to be killed on fur farms?) and as the mainstream person at the anarchist riots who looks like one of "them" but is really just as pissed off as they are. While it often makes me feel like a fish out of water I am happy playing that role (most of the time) and I suspect that looking like the "non-profit type" helps me pull it off.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Yuck.

Here is a website to get your skin crawling. A few months ago I thought I had an outbreak of fleas in my house (which didn't make sense as I don't see any flea dirt or eggs and I treat my guys for fleas), now I know it is something else...apparently a moth or beetle cocoon. Pretty gross topic, but the website is a nice resource.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

The Zucchini Dilemma

I've solved my zucchini dilemma. Digging through my stack of recipes (I sure seem to have a lot considering I don't really cook) I found a little pink piece of paper from a church newsletter (there are Sunday School references on the back) that was no doubt left in a cookbook that I salvaged from the recycling center where I once worked (we were the only place on the west coast that recycled books and we received several tons each week. I was free to dig through the piles and take home as many as I liked. Thankfully I was commuting by bike then and was limited to whatever I could fit into my bike bags and trailer--I used to take my dog to work in one of those trailers built for kids--because otherwise I would have to move to a bigger house).

Anyhow, I morphed Eva Eubanks' recipe a bit to veganize it and adapt it to the available ingredients I had in the house and they turned out quite good.

Eva and Elaine's Vegan Zucchini Drop Cookies:

Thoroughly combine 1 cup of grated zucchini, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup margarine and 1/2 of a banana. Add 2 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves. Mix in 1/4 c rice milk (more if needed). Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes at 375 degrees.

Friday, June 08, 2007

Timing



I've been up since 4:30 a.m. I was awake before that but didn't actually get up until then. Couldn't sleep. The dog's stomach was gurgling (and of course she was insistent on lying so close to me I thought at first that it was my stomach), the cat was lying in the middle of the pillow, one of those moments where it is pointless to just stay in bed when there are plenty of things I could be doing.

So I made breakfast (dinner actually since I try to eat my meals reversed). Today it was a corn bisque (pre-packed in an aseptic container--very recyclable by the way--by Imagine Foods and VERY good) with collard greens, steamed veggies with nutritional yeast, ice tea and a sample of the apricot/peach/nectarine type thing I cooked up because my fruit was getting soft and which I will be putting into some muffins for when my crafty soul sister Norma comes over tomorrow.

On the kitchen counter is the contents of an envelope I received in the mail yesterday from my father. Out of nowhere he sent me my original birth certificate (I thought it was thrown away years ago when he sold our childhood house), the stub from my original social security card, a class picture from kindergarten and several photos of me at a horse show in Gearhart, Oregon in the mid to late 70's (my hand is bandaged because shortly before the show I fell down a flight of stairs in our back yard with a glass vase in my hand and had to get stitches). This was a fun and random envelope to receive. The timing was fantastic too as I was days away from ordering a replacement copy of my birth certificate so that I can finally get a passport and visit my friend Greg in Vancouver, B.C.

Why are cats most photogenic when you haven't swept?

Peek
A-Boo

Monday, June 04, 2007

Do this, done that.



So far today: Dug through the disaster that is my basement to find some things, did laundry, swept (at least part of) the living room, put away some craft supplies, watched Amy Sedaris on Martha (Martha totally had her hands full and didn't know what to do with Amy...but hey, Amy is what's hot right now so Martha had to host her), sorted through toys to sell on eBay (Lite Brite pegs have totally saturated the market right now so I'm forced to branch out), surfed a bit on the web.

Still to do today: Put produce away, sweep the rest of the living room, clean the cat box, do more laundry, complete the eBay listings I put up earlier (which means packaging and weighing the items made so much more complicated now due to the frickin' post office creating the new regulations), visiting Darren in jail, going to the store to buy cat food (this homeless dude burns through cat food like a Hummer does fuel), find the vintage free standing toilet paper holder somewhere in my basement to mail to Teagen for her new apartment, mow the lawn (that is so not going to happen I bet), take a shower, return a video (Let Sleeping Dogs Lie...written and directed by Bobcat Golthwait and frankly one of the absolutely worst films I have seen in a very, very long time) and clean this ridiculous stack of dirty dishes (the problem with eating so many veggies is that I cook and then I have to clean up but I'm much more fond of eating than I am cleaning).

If you are what you eat, does that mean I'm a fruit?



I am enjoying the third day of my four day weekend (took two vacation days just cuz) so I was home when my veggie delivery from Organics-To-You arrived. New this week are honeydew melon, peaches and collard greens. Thankfully I didn't get any onions this week (I've given a ton away and can only eat so many without people telling me I stink) but I did get four more zucchini (I still have several left over from last week). I can only eat so much of it (raw on salads and stir fried with other veggies and in soup). Zucchini bread is good but frankly doesn't use that much zucchini. Suggestions?

My veggie photos have become famous by the way. I shared them with the health advocate at work and she used one in her web update of the fruit and veggie challenge we did for the month of May. The photo wasn't credited to me however, so I'm not famous, just my photo.

Saturday, June 02, 2007

The boys in my life.



My 4 leggeds are all girls, with the exception of Max. Max is my 15 year old cat who has this nasty habit of "making love" to the pillows on my couch, whose fur is matted most of the time and just falls out when I try to brush him (he currently has a huge bald spot on his side from such a session), who refuses to stand up to the youngster kitties who taunt him incessantly and who therefore spends as much time outdoors as I allow him (the 2 youngsters don't go out).

I found Max fifteen years ago while I was house sitting at a farm near Carver, Oregon. He was a small kitten at the time and so covered in gas and oil that I didn't even realize he was part white. He and I have gone through some serious bonding over the years as he nearly died several times. His liver is shot (no doubt from the oil he was exposed to as a baby) and consequently he has had many near death moments (thankfully at the time he was most sick I had a close friend who was a veterinarian). Previous roommates have referred to him as the "crack baby" because he does weird stuff and is completely different than most cats.

Max has been ecstatic this past week because I've been spending time out in the yard with the laptop and a book so he can hang out with me. But now it seems Max is no longer the only man in my life.

Enter Barry White...a very straggly creme cat who has been a stray in my neighborhood forever (I've been here 7 years and he was here before me). The fact that he has survived all these years is amazing. He is definitely worse for the wear, he has some sort of infection in his eyes and probably a respiratory issue (my vet said that Max's immunity is probably pretty high with his age so I'm not too worried about them being together outside) and I have said for years that I was going to catch him, get him some help and release him again. Well the time is coming closer.

I've been feeding him in the morning and night when I feed my other babies. He waits for me in the morning and he meets me on the front porch when I come home from work. He breaks my heart because he is so afraid (I can only get within a few feet from him) and so hungry and in such bad shape. I need to find a vet who will deal with a homeless (I don't think he is feral...I get the idea he once had a home) and perhaps not so cooperative cat and I need to sell some stuff on eBay to raise $500 bucks or whatever it will probably cost to get this guy fixed up but the time is coming soon, Barry, very soon.