CrssaFox

Fighting the War on Christmas

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:00:52 GMT

Keep CHRIST in CHRISTmas.

Jesus is the reason for the season.

It's Merry Christmas, not Happy Holidays!

These sorts of phrases are so very common this time of year. But just like hearing the same few Christmas songs a million times over - Santa Baby, Rudolph, Jingle Bells, and Winter Wonderland, because religious carols "can't" be broadcast in public - I get tired of hearing the bitter retort coming from the mouths of Christians this time of year.

Whatever happened to peace on Earth, and goodwill toward men?

Our society has a big problem. And it's not the fact that Christmas can be different for just about everyone. Each family has its own traditions, and each religion has its own way of celebrating. That doesn't mean that people "hate" Christmas, or that they want to remove the Christian elements from what has turned into a predominantly Christian holiday in some parts of the world. There are a few that may have this idea on their agenda, but those few can't take the joy of Christmas from us until we let their ideas pierce our hearts and turn us into spiteful beings ourselves.

Why can't Christians see that there are wolves among the sheep that are driving them to take their focus from where it should be? We shouldn't be incensed that an employee at a store is required to say "happy holiday" or else risk losing his job. It's his personal decision as to whether or not that is a stand he wants to take; and given our current state of the economy, I probably wouldn't risk it either. (In fact, when working at the store, I never even say "Merry Christmas" or "happy holiday" unless it's said to me first. This is how I avoid the whole thing. Sure, I thank people for coming in and wish them a good afternoon, but the holiday greetings stay inside until prompted. See how easy it is to NOT offend anyone?)

Instead of continuing to rage about how horrible it is that "Christmas has changed," these people should slow down enough to see that they are the ones that are changing Christmas, and not for the better, might I add.

Because of the few that are encouraging the masses to "fight the war on Christmas," many people come to see the holiday season as a stressful time, full of bitter and hateful feelings, and that is NOT what this time of year is about, regardless of whether you are a Christian or not. But Christians, even more so, should see that their spiteful sayings are only stirring up more trouble, and not helping things in the least. Instead of spitting out, "It's Merry Christmas!!" when an employee offers a cheerful holiday greeting, perhaps accept the warm gesture and return it in your own way? Christmas is about sharing, giving, and loving, not about being louder than everyone else in an effort to prove that you're right and they're wrong.

I feel compelled to ask that those currently involved in the "war on Christmas" turn in a new direction, and fight the war on Christmas. No, I don't mean continue to pound catchy rebellious sayings into the heathens around you. Those "heathens" are celebrating this time of year, too. Instead, fight the urge to be self-righteous. Fight the rage that wells up inside of you when the TV news tells you that you should boycott a store because they "don't say Merry Christmas." Fight the ludicrous notion that there is something to fight about in the first place!

Replace this "war on Christmas" with the "Warmth of Christmas." Do something nice for someone - even if they don't believe the same as you do. By making kind gestures you are also sharing the love of Christ with others - and if you truly believe that Jesus is the reason for this season, your kindness and generosity will show that reason much better than a catchy slogan ever could. Take time this holiday season to reach out to others in your community - and don't pick and choose based on what other people believe. Show everyone God's love this Christmas - and continue on into the new year. You'd be amazed at how many lives that will change... including your own.

It's a wonderful feeling
Feel the love in the room
From the floor to the ceiling
It's that time of year
Christmastime is here
And with the blessings from above
God sends you his love
And everything's okay
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays
(Lyrics censored for radio broadcast from "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" by *NSYNC, Home For Christmas 1998)

Need Art? Check it out :)

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:38:08 GMT

Hey all!

Just a little note here pimpin' my good friend animecat's holiday art sale. She's got a great deal going on character reference sheets. Check it out:

http://animecat.livejournal.com/260954.html

Sorry I've been so quiet lately. I've been working downtown as well as here at home, and there's been a lot to get done! Probably will get back to your regularly scheduled LJ updates after the holidays are over, since I've got AF shop work to get done as well as looking after the store downtown all next week. Then we're traveling so net access will be pretty limited.

Stay tuned though, cos some awesome photos will be coming in the next couple of days. :)

Merry Christmas Icons!!

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 16:57:55 GMT

I made up some icons for a lot of people, most of whom donated some money to help get Luna to the vet a couple months ago.

Please do not use these if it is not your character!!

Icons for!
akelavincent, animecat, greyfox312
cmdr_kitsune, hossblacksilver, Rew for archaeoerika
crssafox, silverdark, nomadfox
brodycatsmouth, Meirin for grimmhooke, and calamitycougar.

I will have the full-size images (325px wide/high) uploaded to my ArtSpots page in a few minutes for you guys to crop, resize, or use as you wish. :)

If anyone else wants one of these, I'll take commissions for them! Since they're based on a template I'm only asking $3 each, or two for $5. Payable by PayPal only! Right now I am offering ten slots, more will open up once those have been completed. Each person gets a slot but you can order as many icons as you would like in one slot. So this is a great idea for an inexpensive little Christmas gift for your friends. :)

First ten people to request one will get a slot; after requesting a slot please make payment to: crssafox AT gmail DOT com.
Please include information about your character (or the characters you are commissioning) including species, gender, and if you have a specific request for hat/bow colors. Be mindful that these are going to be SIMPLE so complex details will not be added, and since everyone is wearing a hat I won't be drawing in any hair or anything. ;)

Slots:
1. katmaxis (2) PAID
2. carlfox (2) PAID
3. hollyannvix (1)
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Luna Update

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:28:55 GMT

Well, I got to take Luna in to the vet today and figured I would post an update here for those of you that might have been wondering.

Luna definitely has insulinoma. The vet gave me some of the prednisone syrup to begin treatment. She will be on this medicine for the rest of her life, but thankfully we caught this early on and hopefully the medical therapy will be able to increase her lifespan.

The doctor's exam also did not reveal any tumors. So for right now, insulinoma is all we have to deal with, and thankfully it is not an expensive disease to treat.

Many thanks to everyone that offered kind words, thoughts and prayers, and donated toward getting Luna in to the vet. :)

Luna's Vet Visit Fundraiser

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:28:28 GMT

Hey everyone! Rare public post here. ;)

As those of you on my friends list know, my ferret Luna has been acting out of sorts over the past couple of days. And, as is true to our pets, she got sick right when the money was tightest. While the money in our bank account should be sufficient to cover a vet visit, it is unfortunately backing an outstanding check that was sent for a bill that has yet to be cashed.

Luna's condition should be fairly simple to diagnose and treat. Her symptoms are very similar to those of Slinky, my ferret that passed last November, who had insulinoma. Insulinoma is, basically, the overproduction of insulin and causes a ferret to become listless and wobbly on their feet. If left untreated the condition can cause seizures and bodily harm. Luna has been acting listless, in the same manner that Slinky did when she was first diagnosed, but so far has not yet had any seizures. Insulinoma is not hard or incredibly expensive to treat; however, it requires medication for the rest of the animal's life. Right now we are looking at the cost of an office visit to the vet, blood work, and first rounds of medication.

In an effort to raise some money to put into Luna's vet fund, I'm putting this post out for anyone that might be interested.

Other charms available are: Panda, Pink Pony, Smiley Face, Orca, Turtle (variant), Mushroom, Cow, Octopus, Flamingo, Baby Seal, Black Cat, Bull Terrier, Fawn (baby deer), Rubber Ducky, Bumble Bee, Pink acrylic Butterfly, Black acrylic Peace Sign.

We also have flip-flop charms in varying colors, if interested just ask!

All of our jewelry is hand-made. We use anodized aluminum rings to create the chokers and can do any custom color combination, with the charm of your choice. The chokers pictured above are IN STOCK and can ship ASAP - once these are gone we CAN re-create them and ship them out the next day. :)

If anyone wants one of these chokers let me know! These sell for $20 each plus shipping (which is $5 for priority mail anywhere in the U.S.), and we can take payments via Paypal (payments sent to crssafox AT gmail.com), check or money order.

THIS WEEK ONLY, through midnight Eastern time on Saturday, September 19, get a FREE matching "Mobius Bracelet" with your purchase:

OR

You can get a half-price 4-1 weave bracelet in matching colors:

(These normally sell for $10- with this promotion ONLY you can receive it for $5! MUST be purchased in combination with the choker, or it is full price, thanks!)

Please note that bracelets do NOT contain charms. They are made of similar anodized aluminum rings, and will match the colors of the choker unless otherwise specified.

We also have some other items available for sale on Etsy:

http://frozenforge.etsy.com

And I have some original artwork for sale also available on Etsy:

http://adorablefoxie.etsy.com

If you know anyone that might be interested let them know- any extra cash we get from Internet sales right now goes into the "Luna's Vet Fund" to get her visit and blood work taken care of. Every little bit helps, and the sooner we get Luna's vet visit taken care of the better. :)

Matthew Ebel Concert

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 22:35:41 GMT

I've actually been able to log on as it begins today. :P

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/matthew-ebel-on-tour

Check out his live stream every Tuesday @ 6pm... Joe & I always enjoy his music and it's fun to chat too. :)

Megaplex Dealer's Room

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 13:41:54 GMT

Those of you that are dealers at conventions, and have/may sell at Megaplex - please go add your opinion to this post:

http://community.livejournal.com/megaplex/115193.html

They're taking a poll and discussing hours for the dealer's room for Megaplex next year.

This year, they were open until 10pm. To me, that was far too late. We closed up shop to go see Hali's concert anyway, and then after that we stayed but didn't even make any sales.

I think the argument of having late-night hours "to potentially generate more sales" is, honestly, a poor one. If the people aren't there (and they usually aren't, since popular events such as Hali's concert, Kage's story hour, or some other event is taking place) then sales can't be made.

Some might argue, "Well, there were lots of people between shows! They all came in to browse!" I can tell you from years of experience at a retail store in a tourism-based district, that these people are not there to buy. They're there because they are bored. In the shop I worked for, we would constantly have people come in and just browse the store (sometimes for a long time!) and then leave again because they're killing time until a parade/fireworks/a concert/other event happening that night. If you make a sale, it's for sundry items that could be used that evening - in the tourism case, cameras or batteries were the only thing to sell consistantly after 7pm. At a convention- probably only glow-sticks or other similar "party items" would be the main attraction at that hour. When people have already eaten dinner, they're looking toward other events happening, like the dances. People are simple, and focused, and so they won't be intent on other dealer-specific items. People are not going to want to carry around things they've bought and can't wear/use within the next couple of hours. Who wants to buy stuff between shows, only to have to carry it around without time to run back up to the hotel room and drop it off?

That's not to say that people don't ever make purchases after a certain hour, but the trend is that they will be more reserved with buying items (rather than art - it's always a good time to commission an artist if they're free!) after dinnertime. And since most of the dealers aren't focusing solely on art - they offer prints, trinkets, some sell tails/ears, glowy items, any range of things - there is really no point to having the dealer's room open past dinnertime.

I've mentioned before that I love the hours of FWA's dealers room and artist's alley operating together. That the dealer's room closes at a reasonable hour, and artists may continue working in the 24-hour Alley if they so choose. This allows the artists who couldn't get or afford a dealer table to make some sales during the daytime; by the time the dealer's room closes, many of the Alley artists are finished for the day, ready for dinner and events or "homework." When they leave, this opens space for the artists from the dealer's room that wish to continue working in a convention space and offer wares for sale, to do so.

The only way I could see this improved is by allowing dealers (ONLY people with dealer badges) to bring items they may not have created themselves and sell these in the Alley, ONLY after a certain hour. (Say, after 8 or 9pm, dealers may sell retail items, like glowsticks & dance toys, or other mass-produced items.) Again this allows artists without a dealer's table a fair chance at selling their stuff during the daytime, and any dealers who wish to keep later hours are so able. The rules should be the same - only one chair and one space for the dealer - but since they paid for space, they might be allowed a little leniency in this area. Of course, this would require staff to enforce this rule, so it would only work in a highly-staffed convention, and might be an idea for a later year.

I don't think that "being unable to enjoy the evening events" is the "only" downside to keeping late dealer's room hours. Quite frankly, when I've hit the end of an 8 hour shift, I've had enough of work and I'm ready to relax a bit. Some nights at cons, I don't even bother with the evening activities - for example, I'm not a huge fan of Kage's stories, or 2's rants, so I don't usually go to these. I would like some time to maybe, oh, I don't know... get dinner... spend time with friends... or take a quick nap before I get into fursuit for a while.

And when I pay for a table at a convention, I'm expecting to be able to leave my items, at a reasonable hour, certain that they're going to be locked up tight for the evening, without worry about the general attendance touching my stuff. I would like to think that my items are safe with only a few people wandering around the dealer's room while everyone else is out at the evening event, but sadly, I know that isn't true. We observed people touching and looking at items on a table that was absolutely, 100% closed (blanket over table, no one there) and that made us nervous to leave our items unguaraded. I don't want to have to rely on other dealers that are staying to watch my stuff - they're focused on their art/wares/customers. They're not liable for my table - I am. Likewise, having a security staffer sit in the room isn't worth much either, in my opinion - my stuff is not their stuff, so I don't trust them to guard it like it were. I know staff members also like to socialize - and I don't grudge them that one bit! - but I can't trust that a security staffer in the dealer's room wouldn't be chatting with friends while someone messes with my closed table.

There's a saying- "You get what you pay for." When I go to a convention, I pay for a dealer's table for a number of reasons: to be able to be guaranteed a space. To be able to leave my items, secure, overnight, when I leave for dinner, and know they won't be bothered. To be listed on the web site, or in the con book, as a part of a "feature" of the convention. When I pay for con admission, I expect several things as well: admittance to events if I choose to attend. To be able to use the available meeting space designated for convention use. (ie, Game Room, Fursuit lounge, main ballroom, etc.) Access to con suite, if available.

When the dealer's room is open late, I sacrifice the use of convention space. Most events have passed, and some rooms closed, by the time a dealer's room closes at 10pm. Not only that, I can't be guaranteed that my items are secure if I leave for dinner. Some people may be able to go for hours on end without eating; I'm not one of them, and many others aren't either.

No, if I operate a dealer's table, I don't rely on anyone except myself and my husband, or a friend we might personally know that offers to watch our table while we run to the potty or something. And that's all I'd want someone else to watch my table for - a quick ten-fifteen minute break to go pee or maybe grab something to eat. I wouldn't want to leave them with the responsibility of keeping an eye on my table while I prance away for the evening.

When it comes down to it, Joe and I have come to the conclusion that we are not going to continue to sell at conventions that keep late-night hours for their dealers and still charge full-price admission, or at least admission over $20. Yes, there is always the possibility of a dealer leaving a table to go attend daytime events - Joe and I had a table all day Sunday at Megaplex and yet I was gone most of the time that day at panels. The big difference for me? I was co-hosting these panels. In other words, I was still working. I don't mind paying and contributing towards convention costs - I've rented hotel meeting space before, I am aware of what it entails - but I would prefer a little more leeway to enjoy the other spaces that the cost of my admission is helping to cover.

Still Alive.. (Public Post)

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 19:50:39 GMT

I'm hanging in here, guys.

A lot's been going on the past couple of months. Of course a lot of you guys know we moved back in the end of May/early June. After that was settled, I quit my full-time job. Not a week after my last day at work, we got the news that Joe's grandfather had passed away, so we tripped up to Cincinnati, for the funeral and time with family over the holiday. Got to see my mom & family in Michigan, too, and our newest nephew born earlier this year.

Since getting back, we've had two conventions in a row- one in Jax, the other in Orlando- and we are finally getting a weekend "off." How far off still remains to be seen. :P

This week has been dedicated to attempting to finish unpacking. Just yesterday, I was finally able to hang some things on the walls. A lot of other things had been taking priority before settling the house.

Now, much of what needed to be settled, has been or shortly will be. After that, I will be able to resume full-time work on projects I have going. Some costume stuff, some jewelry stuff, some art stuff. A little bit of everything, really. But I do feel like I can finally breathe.

A couple of fun things coming up:
This fall we are hitting a couple of anime conventions with our jewelry. We'll have to see how that goes! We did well at Ancient City Con in Jax, so we've invested a little bit in spaces at EXP Con in St. Augustine, as well as Chibi Pa in West Palm Beach. Let me know if you're planning to go to either of those, and stop by to say hi!
Speaking of the jewelry business, we have a stronger online presence. You can watch us on Facebook under the name "Frozen Forge: Hand-Made Chain Maille Jewelry" and on DeviantArt as the user name "frozenforge". We have also expanded our selection on our Etsy shop, so check that out and favorite us there too: http://frozenforge.etsy.com
I'm also beginning more fursuit work. I have a few things I'm cooking up that you all will get to see. Right now I'm helping friends with adjustments, and finishing up some projects, so hopefully soon you guys will get some pics of new stuff.
A few weeks ago, I got an e-mail from an editor for Cookie Magazine, they wanted to photograph a wolf tail to use in an article for costume suggestions for parents, based on the movie coming out, "Where The Wild Things Are." She'd found my site and wanted to know if I could send one along to her. So I whipped out a child-size wolf tail and off it went! My tail will be shown in Cookie Magazine's issue that will be on news stands September 22nd. (Yes, my tail will be famous! Hehehe)

Alright, back to working on stuff... I have dinner to make and more pictures to get out of the way. And floors to vacuum. Ick! :P

Home Again

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:36:28 GMT

Well we are home, in one piece, or mostly anyway...

I feel like I've gained about 20 lbs over the past week. I don't think I'll be taking a look at the scale any time soon. D:

We had some pretty rough hurdles to overcome on our way home.

First we drove and drove until ~1am, stopping at a rest area in Kentucky right past Louisville. We found a good spot, folded down the back seat of the hatchback and curled up in the back. We left the CD player playing, but little did we know that the stupid car also apparently had turned on its automatic headlights; they're dimmer than the regular headlights but still bright enough to kill the battery. Joe woke up about two and a half hours after we fell asleep because he heard the music stop playing-- do you know how hard it is to find someone to jump your car at 4am?? And Highway Patrol isn't even open until 8am. (And this was central time so to them it was only 3am-- that would've been 5 hours to wait for Highway Patrol!) Thankfully there was a guy in a mini van that was willing to jump our car. Lots of people passed us by even though we were sitting there with our hood open and the cables hooked up just looking for someone to give us two seconds of their time. ._.

That wasn't the worst of it though! Oh no, there is more... we kept driving through the rest of the morning and finally we were both just dragging soooo bad, we decided to drive through a Starbucks. (Remember the time I was high on the Java Chip frapp? Yeah, I was counting on that kind of buzz to get us home again.) We ordered, paid, and then had to wait a minute for our drinks. Joe put the car into park to wait. We got our drinks and Joe goes to shift it into drive aaaand... the thing slides, but the car won't actually shift out of park. WTF?? He tries again, no luck. He turns the car off and then on again, no luck. We try pushing but because it's in Park and we can't get it to Neutral, we can't get it out of the way. So here we are, blocking the Starbucks drive-thru window at 10am! AUGH! Joe called AAA, and the kids working the Starbucks window just kind of chuckled and said "Well, don't worry, we could use a little break anyway." So they closed the drive-thru as we continued to look around for what the problem was.

Joe popped off part of the console and we started from one end to try and find out what the problem was. Nothing wrong inside the console; the cables still seemed to be working on that end. We're looking and looking, and finally after about half an hour Joe was going to have me try shifting again to look under the hood by the engine to find the right cable, when he noticed... the little cap connecting the cable to the engine had simply popped off and was sitting on the little box NEXT to where it should have been sitting. O_o He popped the cap back on, we try it, and sure enough, it works!! Thankfully nothing major was wrong and we didn't even need AAA to come help us out. Joe called & cancelled the order for the guy to come out, and we were back on our way again.

We had been TRYING to get back in time to pick Reo up from the vet's, but we didn't even reach Atlanta until ~1pm, and we *know* it's at least a 6 hour drive from Atlanta (assuming no traffic/construction) so we decided not to even panic about getting home "in time" any more. We resigned ourselves to getting there whenever we got there. Good thing, too, because just after we made it through Atlanta we got hit by a really bad storm. It was pouring rain and lots of loud thunder/lightning. So we went and walked around a Wal-Mart for a while, then got back in the car and off we went.

We stopped @ "The Smokin' Pig" in Valdosta for some awesome BBQ (we had stopped there after FWA this year and loved it!) and their excellent peach and pecan cobbler.. yum! Just what we needed after a long day. (And I even have some BBQ leftovers for lunch today!)

We finally got in around 9:30 last night. Oy! What an adventure. So we slept pretty hard last night.

Otherwise our week was a good one. Sad, of course, that we had to go to Joe's grandpa's funeral, but it was good that so much of the family could be there. We also got to see a lot of Joe's mom's side of the family. Then we went on up to Michigan for a couple of days to see my mom, my sister and her kids, and my youngest sister was supposed to be there too but I think we saw her for all of three hours, and even then she was too busy being prissy to worry about her sister that she "came up from Illinois just to see." We had lots of fun with the nephews though, including getting to go with them to Chuck-E-Cheese's (I haven't been there in years!) and the zoo. Needless to say the whole week was PACKED with activity.

So now I have a week and a half to work before Ancient City Con arrives, and a week beyond that before Megaplex.

I think I'll go collapse for a bit, now, before getting to work. D:

Off We Go

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:20:15 GMT

Well we are out of here as soon as we drop the dog at the kennel in just a few. It's been a whirlwind of a night but I think we're all packed. To clean the litter boxes, stock the cat & ferrets up on food, and off we go.

Many, many, MANY thanks and a million times over to those of you who have helped out with the cost of the trip already. I don't feel so worried about it now. I really owe you guys. You won't be disappointed with the arts you get. :)

Alright, I'm out of here- will update when I get a chance!

Love y'all! :)

A Call For Help

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:10:59 GMT

Hey guys--

I am sorry to drop this on y'all, especially at a time when lots of people are gearing up for conventions and stuff.

Joe's grandpa passed away yesterday, and we need to make the drive to Cincinnati for the funeral. Tomorrow.

Of course this throws a little bit of a wrench in the works as I have just stopped working at my job to work from home. We will probably be able to handle this trip financially but I would like to have some extra padding to be sure we are secure.

Because of this I am offering $1 Icon Commissions again. Payment via PayPal only, please. My PayPal address is crssafox AT gmail.com. Please also e-mail your character description (include any reference pics, as well as any specific icon poses you might be interested in) to that address as well.

For each $1 you donate you will receive a full color icon. (Examples.) If you donate $10, you may receive your choice of 10 icons, or a digital badge. (Examples can be found in my FA gallery.) You will receive these items digitally, not printed out & mailed. They will be completed within the next month (or two, depending on how many requests I get). Any requests (including the few I have yet to deliver & was going to finish this week) I receive before we leave tomorrow morning will be worked on, on the computer, during our trip for the funeral.

If you would like to spread the word about this to your friends, please feel free to do so. Every little bit helps. I appreciate you guys taking the time to help us out here.

Everyone have a safe holiday weekend!

Unpacking is Tough Stuff!

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 22:22:54 GMT

Taking a few for a breather here, we have been working all weekend to unpack things & get settled and I need a little bit of a break. :) You never really know just how much STUFF you've really got until you have to move it... and then unpack it all.

I did pare down a LOT of the clothes in my closet though. I have taken to wearing a lot of the tank tops or "basic tees" from Old Navy, they're comfy and lightweight and good plain tees, so I got rid of a lot of my oversized tee shirts that just did not fit. Also got rid of a lot of things I either don't wear often or have *ahem* grown out of but held onto for, ehrm, motivation. ;) Ended up getting rid of four bags of stuff from the closets PLUS a bag full of extra hangers we never use anyway. Pretty good, I'd say!

One of the things I love about our new location is the wildlife. Mostly birds, of course... although a lot of bugs, too. D: We have seen TWO huntsman spiders here at the new place, after we got a ton of rain. Lots of mosquitoes, which in turn means lots of dragonflies. The cat loves to watch the dragonflies at the sliding glass door, making weird chirrup noises at them that I never heard from him at the old house.

Of the birds, we have seen many different types: herons and egrets a-plenty, to be sure. We have great blues herons, great white egrets, cattle egrets, and snowy egrets. We've had grackles (of course) and doves, we've had red-winged blackbirds and, to my surprise, killdeer! I hadn't seen a killdeer since I lived in Michigan and would visit Lake Michigan over the summer. I didn't even realize we had killdeer in Florida. We have four outside of our house! There is also a little eastern phoebe that sits on a power line on the road right outside of our subdivision, looking all cute every morning. :)
For raptorbirds, we have seen osprey (because our pond behind our house does have fish) and I've even seen some swallowtailed kites. I had never seen those before!

And of course we have turtles in the pond, as well as frogs hopping all over the place. (The frogs leave little presents for us to find on the sidewalk in the morning, eww.) This place is just teeming with good ol' Florida wildlife and I've really been enjoying it. ;)

Alright, to make some dinner, and back to work! Oy..

dies

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:18:38 GMT

Joe and I are almost done with the move. MANY MANY thanks to sulinpanda and carlfox for coming out Saturday to help get a lot of the big things moved over. We got two loads of two cars (our little Saturn wagons can actually fit a LOT!!) taken over and now we have maaaaybe two more loads plus a lot of cleaning to do at the old place. Although one room is almost done with the cleaning; there is a lot of dust upstairs that needs to be swept up though.

My back is KILLING me at this point but we are ALMOST done. Thank goodness I get a break from moving to be at work today!! ;)

Speaking of, I am only posting from work to let you all know that we will not have any 'net access over the next couple of days. I can check stuff *briefly* at work, but can't spend time. They should be turning on our phone/net on Friday, but we all know how these things go. Of course there is a McD's right around the corner from our house so we may just go there for our internet fix if we need to. ;)

So if anyone needs to get in touch with either Joe or myself, the first/best way to do so is via cell phone, or if anyone has my work e-mail address I will get that a LOT sooner than my regular e-mail address. And even if I do GET e-mails I probably won't have the time to reply to them... so if you have e-mailed me in the past few days please wait until next week to get a reply!! I will get to it, just as soon as we have our net back. :)

Signing off of LJ until Friday!! Have a great week, folks!!

Hmm..

Fri, 29 May 2009 02:26:25 GMT

Just got back from signing away the next 30 years of our lives... :)

I promised art...

Fri, 22 May 2009 02:20:51 GMT

A couple months ago I was approached by jim_lane to do some illustrations for his book, "Lifetimes." That is what has been keeping me so very busy over the past weeks. I go to work, kill my eyes a little, come home & kill them some more! Hah! But it gave me a great challenge, it encouraged me to work hard on artwork and turn out a good product. Jim was great to work with, had exactly what he wanted in mind and was able to articulate it very well! I am only able to share three out of five, as two would be "spoilers" so if you want to see them, you'll have to read the book!

So without further adeu...

"First Contact"

"Nightmare"

"Meet the s'Harr"

Jim is offering a panel at RCFM where these illustrations are going to be featured along with the illustrations from his other book, "Redeeming Factors," about the use of images and writing. For more information on his panel, visit this page.

In other news Joe & I are going to be selling jewelry at Ancient City Con this year in Jacksonville! We will be in the Artist's Alley with our stuff. I'd like to encourage local(ish) folks to check it out. It's supposed to be sci-fi/fantasy/gaming/etc. stuff so should be something for everyone. We haven't been yet (even though it *started* here in St. A we didn't hear about it until after the fact- as is common with events in St. Augustine) but are looking forward to it. It's the weekend before Megaplex, so if anyone is coming down for that & wants to hit ACC, let us know as we will have extra crash space at our house. :) (We are about 1/2 hour driving distance away.)

Also! We are looking into vending at this event:
http://www.flstatehogrally.com/
The Florida H.O.G. rally! That's Harley Owners Group - yes, the motorcycles! With such a big "bikers market" here in the area (especially being an hour north of Daytona) we want to try and get in on that stuff. I do think the maille jewelry will go over wonderfully for this event!! It is a bit steep for the vendor spaces, but we won't be traveling out of town or anything. Plus we will also have to carry liability insurance, have to look into that. Hope it's not TOO bad... but I think this would be a great step forward for the jewelry business. And bikers are pretty fun people-- they're much nicer than many other tourists I encountered when working downtown! ;P (Foreigners and bikers were the ones I always enjoyed meeting!) Anyway I am excited for that. :)

Updates & Phone Numbers

Wed, 20 May 2009 02:06:08 GMT

Hey everyone...

Joe & I got new phones last week. I somehow seem to have misplaced my old one already before I could transfer all the numbers to my new one. Um, whoops. D:

So if I had your phone number, or if you wanted me to have your phone number, now would be the time to share it!! Comments are screened for privacy. If you don't have mine & you need it, let me know & I will e-mail you with it. Also I know some of you guys might have changed your own numbers so this will be a good opportunity to make sure I have the right numbers for everyone. :)

We had our house inspection today & everything was good. We had (oh no) a creaky floorboard & an unlabeled breaker box. Hm. No biggie. :) The guy that did the inspection was really nice & did a very thorough job. Tomorrow Joe is meeting the contractor for the final walkthrough & then a week from tomorrow is when we close! It's getting closer.

I don't know if I mentioned it here or not but I finally finished my illustration project. Three out of five images, I am allowed to share, so I will post those later this week. It is such a relief to have that finished. Now to pack things, & clean house before my sister arrives Thursday evening. (Or she may come Friday evening instead?)

Also looking forward to Disney Time. ;) We are still trying to figure out what to do with Reo - haven't had a chance to ask the landlords yet - but if all else fails we can bring him with us to the campground & board him there, for about the same cost as if we were to board him here in town.

The past few nights have been late nights, so, tonight is going to be my "go to bed early" night. Maybe I can haul my sorry carcass out of bed on time instead of sleeping in tomorrow. G'night!

Quick (Public) Update

Sun, 17 May 2009 03:06:52 GMT

Things are still crazy. Eh, what's new?

Pushing pushing pushing to finish up that illustration project. I have three out of five complete, one of the remaining two is 75% done. Tomorrow should be the end of it! Whew! Lots of work but producing great images.

Moving in a WEEK AND A HALF. OMG. This is coming up so quick. And it's going to be an absolute weight off of my shoulders. With the illustration project, I haven't had time to pack anything. Joe's been a wonderful help with packing boxes for the move.

My sister's coming down on Thursday already! She was supposed to arrive on Wednesday but I guess that got delayed. Thursday night they'll be here. Then Memorial Day we are going to camp at Disney's Fort Wilderness. I don't think we're going to hit the parks though, we're all pretty broke, so we will just enjoy the freebies @ Disney - there is a LOT to do at Fort Wilderness alone.
I didn't realize until after we booked our stay that Reo's usual kennel is not open on Memorial Day though. D: So we can't drop him off to stay there. If we did, it would have to be SATURDAY because they're not open Sundays either. So I need to find someone to look after the dog for a day. I'm thinking about asking my landlord since she lives nearby and she loves my dog. ;) Then Reo can stay at home, and just be taken out for walks.

Then comes the move... then comes another surprise that I will announce after the move. Hey, y'all can wait two weeks to hear good news, right? :)

and THEN finally things will settle back down. Things that need to be shipped, will be shipped. Things that need to be finished, will be finished.

I can't wait to get through the end of this month. Stop the Earth, I want to get off!! D:

Down To The Wire

Tue, 12 May 2009 00:41:19 GMT

Well we are down to two weeks before we close on our house. Yikes! It's coming up fast.

We finally have a liiiiittle bit of extra cash in the bank so we finally went ahead & upgraded our cell phones. Best part about that is, with the wait, the phones we wanted to get went from being $100 after rebates, to being $50 after rebates. We still had to pay $200 up front but we get half of that back. So, yay! In the next few days we should have our new phones. Also changed our rate plan to now include mobile-to-mobile. Part of our problem has been that we didn't have that, we only had 500 SHARED minutes and so if we called each other during peak hours it would double-bill us. Not only that but even though we thought we were paying for early nights & weekends (7pm instead of 9pm) apparently they decided to take that feature off our plan. So that hour-and-a-half-long conversation I had with my mom? Totally came out of peak minutes. Ugh.

So we have all of 30 minutes left on our daytime minutes, until the 24th of the month. ;_; Thank goodness for text messages!!

In other news I have still been crazy busy with that illustration project I mentioned before, it has been keeping me busy after work with not much time for anything else. Gosh, I thought it would be easier than this but it's taking so much time. It's OK though because the end results are going to be worth it. :)

Well I had better scoot, toodles!

Buzzzzzzzzz

Sun, 03 May 2009 03:53:12 GMT

OK So the past several weeks have been quiet because I have been working super-hard on an illustration project for a friend who is publishing a book this month. I have been BUSY.

In order to focus on said project I have been going to Starbucks pretty much every night after work. So I work 8 hours, then go to SBux and work for 3 or 4 more hours, & several of those nights come home & work even moar. D:

It's gotten to the point where the people that work at SBux know me now. ;_; But it's cool, the people that work at this location are pretty nerdy & so good for casual conversation. They'll comment on stuff, or chat a little, while it's slow, but for the most part they have to keep busy too so it's not too distracting, just nice company. Plus the Double Chocolate Chip frappuccino's are pretty good. No coffee in them, just allll chocolate. <3

Well tonight Joe & I went after church (we go to Sat. night service @ 6pm) and I worked some more. (After I had been working on it at home; took the break for church & then went to "the studio" to work.) I wanted my usual Double Chocolate Chip but. The guy on register was usually the one that made my drink, and the one that made the drink is the one usually on the register. And somehow I think the "DCF" written on my cup - Double Chocolate Chip Frap - was interpreted as JCF - JAVA Chocolate Chip. Yes, there was coffee in my drink. And I drank it. All of it. Not only that, it was a LARGE. (Don't ask me what a "large" is in Starbucks sizes. They all sound BIG so. It was the biggest size they have.) I don't usually get a LARGE. D:

Joe also got a coffee drink, w/ three shots of espresso in. (We thank akelavincent for that because apparently Joe says it was one he'd had at some point? Don't ask me...) And also, to add more coffee to the mix, one of the guys gave us a sample of a coffee he was brewing - I forget what kind he said it was but it was some neat blend, didn't taste burnt, didn't taste like "ewwww coffee" and it wasn't highly acidic, and it also didn't leave the "coffee aftertaste" in my mouth, so if all coffee could taste like that I would probably drink it more!)

We hung out at SBucks until about maybe 9:30ish, and by the time we left, we were both buzzing, hardcore. It was pretty bad. (It still is, if you can't tell yet from the length of this post.) :D

We went to Target, because I had to return my bottle of Hydroxycut. My doctor had recommended it to me to help balance out my metabolism - it was closest in ingredients to their weight loss supplement & it actually did help my body absorb water better, my skin felt so much better when I was taking it - but then yesterday the FDA recalled Hydroxycut due to a few people developing liver problems. Eep. Good thing I was only taking one a day anyway. So anyway we managed to buzz around the entire store in only a few minutes.

In other news Target did have these on clearance for only five bucks:

So we picked up two of them & now I have pawprints on my seats. <3 They fit kinda funky cause I have bulky bucket seats in my car but if they don't work out, it was worth the $5 just for the cute embroidered paw prints on faux fur. :P

Anyway I think I need to go drink some water & try to get to sleep. Um. Yeah.

Goodnight! ;P

More Photos

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 00:51:11 GMT

Some more photos, real quick.

(And NO I did not drink those Mountain Dews @ my feet, I drank a ton of water. Joe got one for himself right then, and one "to go". But I made kids laugh as I was poking the vending machine to GET those sodas.) XD

Carrying the banner!

Me 'n my dawg...

I'm not a little teapot, I'm a little fridge. Really.

Lookin' down from above!

Joe found out that styrofoam weakens his powers. Really.

The Thinker. Or is that Stinker? :P

My days are not nearly long enough. I get so tired, so easily. Not sure why. Last night I slept wrong and now my neck muscle is CRAMPED. Ugh.

Easter Day Recap & Then Some

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 01:26:46 GMT

Found this pic on StAugustine.com in the "spotted" section. Woo hoo for Skittle!!

Heh, outside of the furry fandom, she's "Skittles the Fox." Fine by me!

Walked the Easter parade route yesterday.. there were at least three mascots (including myself) at the parade but I was the only one that walked, the others rode on vehicles. D:

It was about two miles, not bad weather!! The sun was a little hot but there was a pretty steady breeze especially along the waterfront, and there were quite a few clouds in the sky to cover the sun.

I brought along a water bottle - Joe carried it in a backpack & would hand it to me at intervals - and kept hydrated. Although next time it might be more useful to have a Camelbak so I don't have to keep bugging Joe for the water. XD

For the most part everything was cool!! I had a great time marching in the parade and waving to the kids! I high-fived some pirates (the wenches in the boat-shaped float all bellowed, "Shoot it!! Shoot it!!") at the head of the parade, wish I could've hopped onto their float. XD
Got lots of high-fives from kids in the crowd, and hugs from some kids too. :D Probably the biggest kick was hearing several kids & parents yell out, "Look, it's Skittles!!" cause they were at the egg hunt the day before. XD

I'll have more pics later - I have a couple on the camera and the lady that was in charge of the group we marched with - SAFE pet rescue - took some too. I'll share those at some other point. :)

Well after we got home, I stripped out of the suit & went and took a nap. Then got up, ate some dinner, stretched my poor sore muscles some more (I had done stretches to warm-up before the parade) and had a chill evening. Went to bed early, but woke up ~3am and just could not get back to sleep. About an hour later my stomach started feeling real bad. Shortly after that I took some Benadryl to try and knock myself out so I could get some more sleep before the end of the night but still couldn't rest very well. So I sent an e-mail to work to let them know I wasn't coming in, and fell back asleep until about noon. Not sure if it was exhaustion catching up on me or what but it just made me feel so crummy. D:

I'm feeling lots better by now, thankfully. ^_^

While I was home I got a phone call from the house builder & it turns out that they put in the cabinets today, which means THREE WEEKS until they're finished!! O_O The "bad news" is that the carpet we chose was back-ordered until May 5th, but, he said they were going to finish everything else in the house & put the carpets in last. Which means less people walking all over it! XD
So we are looking at a potential close date of May 15th here.. one more month to go!!! WOOOO! It's almost here!!!

Okay I'm going to bed now. Good night! *falls over*

Easter Egg Hunt

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 16:00:57 GMT

I am KILLING myself in Fursuit this weekend. What a way to go. :)

If nothing else, this sums up yesterday pretty well:

Some friends of mine from church.
I think the guy on the right looks like Robin Williams, but that's just me. :P

Me 'n the Chick-Fil-A Cow!! The girl playing the cow this year did a great job at performing. I think we were feeding off of each others' energy. :D

Of course everywhere I went I was mobbed by kids, and their parents' cameras... ;P

I made lots of friends. :) I had lots of kids fascinated with the giant stuffed animal, wanting to pet or hug. I also got to lead the 3- and 4-year-olds out to their egg hunt site. Took a couple of girls by the hand (including this one that didn't want to let go, wanted me to come with her) and walked them out to the hunt site.

This afternoon: The Easter parade downtown!

I told you I was killing myself! At least it's not supposed to get warmer than 75 degrees today. :P

He's Alive!

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 15:54:26 GMT

Happy Easter!!

Jesus is risen, and He is alive!

Our pastor gave a great sermon last night on why not just the death (sacrifice) of Jesus was important, but the resurrection as well. Through Jesus' resurrection, we can know that the sacrifice was made, that our salvation is complete, and that He still lives, death cannot hold Him!

These days our lives can be so busy, so hectic that it is hard to slow down and see the wonders God has given to us, the everyday miracles that occur, and we're quick to accept praise to make ourselves feel better, instead of giving the glory to God.

I've seen what happens when the glory is given to God, I've seen people do some amazing things in Jesus' name. There is no doubt in my mind that Jesus is alive!

A couple of years ago, I was "simmering" in my faith... not getting any hotter, not cooling down. For reasons connected to some medication I was taking at the time, I began having panic attacks. It was during this time that I really began to reach out to Christ and I learned to trust God in everything. I still have days where I want to be in control of things myself. I'm really bad about needing to be in control. But when you're a prisoner in your own mind, thanks to anxiety & panic, who else CAN you turn to for help? My husband would have to helplessly watch as I waited for the attacks to settle; he could do nothing for me.
I began to examine the Scriptures and reading books addressing the issues I was facing, that referenced the Bible to back up their claims, and the more I read, the closer I grew to Jesus. Through this, and officially joining our church, and making many friends at the church, my life began to change. Instead of feeling pretty much alone (just me & my husband, and the people I knew from work) my life began filling up. It started to contain purpose again. To this day I continue to learn and grow, and never miss a chance to thank God or praise God for the beautiful place I've been living in, or thank Him for my friends, my family, the stability of our living situation... God's just been so good.

I don't just trust God for my day-to-day life, I also trust Jesus with my salvation. For someone like me, that loves to be in control, this was really hard to do. But in the end I have faith that Jesus will take care of me, that He lives and He works in our world each and every day. I don't go around doing dangerous stunts or getting into trouble because I know I'm "taken care of," but I can enjoy every day knowing that if it is my last, a better place waits for me and I will meet Jesus. :)

It's this kind of peace that can take a lifetime to find... and I feel so blessed to have it now.

Have a blessed Easter, everyone! :)

Still so tired...

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 01:03:34 GMT

I need to go to bed in a few minutes here. Man, the weekend just wore me out! But it was so much fun.

Highlights from the weekend:

- Our room number. We were in room 1337. Srsly.
- Tigerpaw and Rama coming in to the Artist's Alley shortly after lunchtime to let us know we'd gotten a dealer's table! w00t!
- Meeting tons and tons of people that really enjoyed the jewelry. Joe's hobby is really getting popular and it has been great to be able to assist him! We had so much fun with our table.
- Spending time with lots of friends we don't get to see often! Sadly we didn't get to spend a LOT of time with ALL our friends but we did enjoy every last bit of the weekend!!!
- Riding the elevators to the top of the Marriott, the 47th floor. The Marriott Grand Marquis is the second-tallest atrium in the world. It was a great time!! We actually stayed in this hotel during Dragon*Con and did go up to the top but with a lack of some 30,000+ people it was easier to go straight up & then straight down. ;)
* And a cute highlight from THAT side trip was the group of schoolgirls that had gone up to the top of the atrium, and got into the elevators to go back down. After the doors closed and the elevator started to move, they all threw up their hands and started screaming... until the elevator stopped at the 46th floor for someone else to get on. XD Then when they started going again they started screaming again, allllll the way down. XD
- PIZZA PARTY. Omg we had a lot of fun. Joe & I coordinated a massive pizza feed with 17 pizzas delivered by Papa Johns. (Which was some of the BEST Papa Johns I've had!) We ended up collecting enough from other people to help cover the $150 tab, that we only ended up paying about $20 out of pocket ourselves and even then that wasn't bad cause Joe gave free pizza to the kids who were cleaning up the mess of cardboard from the other kids who were building "robots." :P
- Schloomping Fox Balloon. OMG. We saw it headed to the parking garage the next morning. IT SURVIVED.
- Joe raving with bananas instead of glowsticks. It doesn't work that way!!!

I can't EVEN begin to list every one we got to spend time with, there were so many. We LOVE YOU GUYS!! I miss everyone so much. It's like I woke up from a dream... the memories are all vivid, and fantastic, but back to work today??? The day just crawled. I couldn't believe FWA has come and gone already. I am looking forward to next year, so much. It has always been a great con for me and I love being social there.

Thanks SO VERY VERY MUCH to all the staff of FWA, you guys did another KILLER JOB this year. Every year it keeps getting better and better, and things run smoother and smoother, and I just can't wait until next year. (I think I about gave Rama a heart attack when I let him know that I thought if the con keeps up its current pace it will soon match Anthrocon for size... but FWA's southern hospitality has a reputation and more and more people will keep coming!)

<3

Back Home

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 02:39:58 GMT

Joe & I just got back home a few minutes ago. D:

We stopped at an awesome barbecue place on the way home in Valdosta. Exit 22 off I-75, it was like "The Smokin' Pig" or something like that, it was HUGE and ten bucks got us salad bar, pork & two sides, garlic toast, AND dessert. Joe's got leftovers to take to work tomorrow. <3

Went to the aquarium early this afternoon, that was beautiful. Joe likened the center area as "level select" since you choose which area you are going into next. We beat the whole game. XD

Also had lunch at a cute little sandwich shop on the other side of the park, and got Carvel ice cream... :d

Joe and I had so much fun this weekend. WE MISS YOU ALL!! Many friends were missed this weekend that couldn't attend, and we had an absolute blast with those of you we could hang out with. The pizza party last night was all kinds of awesome, thanks so much to everyone that came to chill. :)

Will write more later, I'm going to go fall over now!

<3