Happy Halloween!

Me? Barbie?

Barbie clothes for adults? I think I'll stick to jeans and sweatshirts, thank you.

My latest creation

A few weeks ago, I decided that it would be fun to make a "SoulFire longboard." You know..... a longboard with SoulFire graphics that the kids in the youth group can ride around on and stuff.

Well..... I just finished the board and took it to Kris so she can paint some cool graphics on it. I'm looking forward to seeing what she comes up with.

Don't try this at home

Kid A has been under the weather this week, and she is playing the same game over and over and over. Different variations, but essentially the same game. It starts out with Mom giving her something (shirt to wear, cup to drink from, video to watch, food to eat -- you name it.) Then the following conversation ensues:
A: I DON'T WANT THAT ONE!!!!!!!!!
Mom: What do you want?
A: I don't know.
Mom: How about this one?
A: No.
(repeat last two lines way too many times until Mom leaves the room and A cries.)

I've tried multiple variations of the game where I only give her two choices, I walk out of the room earlier, I force my choice on her, etc. but they all end with us both being very unhappy.

She is still saying that her tummy hurts, but she is acting less lethargic today than she has since last Thursday. I'm hoping the end is in sight and she finds a happier game to play. This one is driving me nuts.

Dr. Max and Mombo

Does anyone out there that grew up in Eastern Iowa remember these fellows? School got out at 3:30, which is when Dr. Max and Mombo started. We would run home so we would not miss too many cartoons on the magic board. Mombo would come and do magic tricks every year at our church's vacation bible school and talk about the difference between magic and miracles. Once I got out of school early with the other girls in my Camp Fire group, and we got to be on the show ourselves.

When this subject comes up in our marraige, my husband insists that Duane and Floppy who were on in Central Iowa were cooler than Dr. Max and Mombo. (We've been married quite awhile. Lots of crazy subjects come up.) I heartily disagree. It is a ridiculous debate, since neither of us has watched both programs. We never have any serious fights, so every once and awhile we have to pick a silly one.

Trust me, Dr. Max and Mombo were cooler.

This is a bad idea

The title of this post is the result of the latest meme going around the blogosphere. Although I wasn't tagged, I got it from The Knitting Wannabe. It goes like this:

1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five people to do the same.

That's right... Our 23rd post's fifth sentence is "This is a bad idea."

I'm not really into tagging, but feel free to take it and run.

Having a chronic illness

I am so thankful that my family and I are healthy. So many people live with chronic illnesses that are a constant challange to live with. I came across this wonderful description of what it is like to live with a debilitating chronic disease, in this case lupus. The author calls it spoons.

New Longboard pics

I've been pretty preoccupied lately with the building my my latest longboard creation. I've pretty much been devoting all of my spare time to it. It's that "artist" part of me. When I get a picture of something in my head I want to be able to show it to others..... and see it for myself in real-life.

It's sorta an experimental design..... in the sense that I've never seen another one quite like it. It's made of vertically laminated oak and 1/2" baltic birch plywood with fiberglass reinforcement on the tip and tail.

Here's the top and bottom of the board. (Graphics are appropriate, eh?)

And here's some side views.



Pretty cool, huh?

Except for one problem.........


It broke the first time I took it out for a spin.

Hmmmmm...... maybe that's why I've never seen one like it.......

It turns out that the glue that holds the plywood together isn't strong enough to handle the twisting forces it gets when turning.

Oh well, it WAS an experiment. Still kinda sad though.