bowing to the inevitable march of time

Well i finally had to give in and buy some magnifying readers.
Yes, i realize that i am over forty.
And yes, i realize they are only 1.25Xs.
And yes, i realize that i paid less than $5 for them.
But still... glasses.
sigh...
I don't need them all the time, but print that i can read at 11 am is crazy fuzzy at 11 pm so they are necessary.
I was at least able to get blingy ones.

Once i surrendered to the idea of not having perfect vision it was easy to also get 4Xs to use as magnifiers when i am doing really small bead or wire work. My dad had an old pair with bright red stems that make me feel like a judgy librarian since i have to wear them on the end of my nose or i get nauseous when i move my head.

Are those books overdue, young man?

I am of two minds about April

even more random than normal

The first official class in NikCo Studio - Collage Creations - happened two weeks ago and was a success. I have posted a few pictures on the NikCo Facefook page, but here is a collage of some of the fun that was had:

Suzanne and I met for Ice Cream for Breakfast Day back on March 21st at Coldstone Creamery.
She had Coffee Lovers and i created my own mix of Oreo filling ice cream with caramel, Reese's cups and rainbow sprinkles. Yes, i did say my ice cream tasted just like Oreo cream.
It was ridiculously good.


On the same day we celebrated Dash's fifth birthday with a minion themed family party.
It was a really good time. though you might not know it by looking at the cake picture:

That kid hated having the birthday song sung to him.
I am not sure if it was the actual song, the attention or the off-key singing, but he held his ears through the whole song and while he blew out the candle.
These are the sorts of tales and pictures i am collecting for the rehearsal dinner at his wedding.





A few days ago i received some REALLY GOOD news and some REALLY BAD news a few hours apart.
Have you ever been so happy and so sad at the same time that it short-circuited your brain?
I retired to my heated bed, but couldn't fall asleep to nap.
Couldn't nap? 
That is serious because i am a champion napper.
 All i could do was lay curled under my fuzzy blanket, stare into space and wonder, What is the difference between a faun and a satyr?
 Mr Tumnus from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe was half-goat/ half-man and called a faun; whereas, Grover from the Percy Jackson series is half-goat/ half-man and called a satyr.
What the what, people?
[And we won't even get into how faun and fawn are homophones so when i was little i kept expecting baby deers to show up and couldn't understood why they never did,]
All afternoon i racked my brain, trying to ferret out any little piece of forgotten mythology that would answer the question, to no avail. So today i looked it up.
MENTAL MORSEL: The interwebs cannot agree, but after reading waaaaaayyyyyy too many articles about both this is what i have gleaned:

•  fauns are originally from Greek mythology, followers of Pan, forest-dwellers, have attributes of both goat and man and are generally depicted as fun-loving, joyful, music-playing scamps
•  satyrs appear in both Greek and Roman mythology, followers of Dionysus or Bacchaus (Greek/Roman), have attributes of both goat and man as well as horse and are depicted as lustful, hard-partying hooligans 
•  as has happened with all Greek and Roman mythology over the years, fauns and satyrs have been confused, combined and used interchangeably so that now many consider faun to be the Greek name and satyr to be the Roman name for the same creature

Phew...hope that cleared up the confusion.

Finally, i have finally updated my 101 List to reflect what i have done over the last month.

i would like my reward now, please

This may be the truest thing i have ever seen on the Internet.

found at theberry.com; no idea where it originated

I love lip balm.
Every kind of lip balm.
In my possession right now i have (and this is off of the top of my head): Carmex regular, squeezy Carmex, squeezy Blistex, Chapstick, Burt's Bees with tint, Nivea, Mellaluca, Mary Kay, Walgreen's brand and some generic thing from my car dealer.
They are in my room, the living room, the kitchen, my travel bag, my purse, my glove compartment and my pocket. Honestly, you should just never be too far from lip balm of some sort.
Plus, as the picture says - they just disappear.
I use lip balm every day and don't remember even once using an entire tube.
Ever.
UNTIL NOW
Duh duh duhhhhhhh:

Yes my friends, that is a completely used-up tube of lip balm.
I realize how crazy this is, but i was insanely proud of myself for actually using a full tube without losing it.

Side note:
Years ago, when i first started at my old job, i was partnered with Brian; that is, on the road with him every single day.
And every day when i put on lip balm i would ask him, Want some lip balm?
Why would i want to blow up my lips? he would reply, every day.
After five years, i still laughed ever single time.
In fact, i might have giggled just typing that.

late-century anthropomorphized dehydrated fruit

There are some things from your childhood that just make you smile.
Passing a house recently, i was stopped dead in my tracks:

Are those hand-cut wood California Raisins?!?

Why yes, yes they are.

How have i not noticed them before; i have been past that house before.
Maybe there are new owners who just put them out?
Why would they have just put them out?
Have they been around since 1986? Cause if so, they are in good condition (except the guy all the way on the end who is missing his face).
Anytime i see a California Raisin, A Claymation Christmas Celebration comes to mind.
I remember watching it with my parents.
It was certainly different from the other Christmas offerings at the time; i think it might have even won an Emmy.
It had the best version of We Three Kings ever.
There were jazzy singing camels.
In sneakers.
How can that not make you smile?

You know, i think i might have a VHS of that special taped off the tv in 1987 in my closet.
Gotta go look...

woohoooooo, i heard it through the grapevine...