Flower Boxes

The weather is finally nice, and I couldn't be happier about it. This winter was so cold and nasty...probably not any colder and nastier than usual, if you look at the numbers, but I'm sicker than usual of the cold. Since it was warm and sunny last weekend and everybody's flowers and flowering trees were popping up, I decided to do a little gardening myself. But where to do it? The yard is entirely grass, interspersed with some bare dirt and some bushes by the house. So what was the obvious solution? A carpentry project, of course!

...side note: Blogger still won't let me paste things, so these links are all hand-copied. If any of them are broken, let me know.

Me with my favorite tool - the power drill:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh276/keskipper/DSCN0772.jpg

Finished and planted:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh276/keskipper/DSCN0775.jpg

This picture looks sideways no matter how I rotate it:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh276/keskipper/DSCN0776.jpg

Looky Here...

...it's me! Well, not in the picture, but quoted in the article about the UMass Juggling Club.

There are two more pictures that Craig managed to dig up, as well:



This one's too wide for the page:

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh276/keskipper/2317640623.jpg

(For anyone wondering, I'm swinging poi.)

First Week of Work, with Pictures!

This is my third day of work in a row, and I have one more tomorrow. I'm not complaining - I hardly got any hours for next week, so I'll take all I can get while I have it. I'm not feeling my sore feet, blisters, and bruises anymore, not because they've gone away, but because everything from my knees down has gone numb. It's probably unhealthy, but it's so much easier to work when I'm not in extreme pain.

Thursday night was good, since it was Thirsty Thursday for the college crowd, and there was some big game, and Bdubs brought in a DJ for the night. The bar was packed, and even though I was working Dining and not Bar Dining, I made $75. Last night, on the other hand, sucked. I was in Bar Dining, and though the crowd was decent, it wasn't huge. I would've done okay if three of my tables hadn't decided not to tip me. I was so fed up by the third one that I actually asked, and they assured me they would leave me money before they left the bar...but they disappeared without doing so. I came home pissed off and bitter at the world. What possesses people not to tip? Do they not know we get paid almost nothing as a wage? I make $2.63 an hour. I didn't even crack minimum wage yesterday.

I made $45 working day shift today, but the shift went well, and I don't expect to make as much during the day as the night. When they started cutting people at 3pm, I had four full tables, after doing just two all week, and it went really well. There was a screwup in the kitchen that meant one of my tables waited almost an hour for their order that should've taken 15 minutes, but they were very nice about it. The manager never figured out what happened; one of the other managers had done a fly ticket for a fish sandwich at my table, which no one had ordered, and somehow that resulted in their original (and correct) ticket getting lost.

Though the job depends entirely on the customers, and some of them are assholes, for the most part it's turning out to be enjoyable. Hopefully my blisters will heal eventually and turn into callouses, and I'll make some more money when they cut the shifts and give us each more tables. For now, though, I'm struggling to balance work and homework.

Liz, me, and Braulio at the Lab 'n' Lager in Keene on my 21st birthday:




Me and Craig at Haven:




Me and Leslie. Byrdy did her awesome hair.




Me and Abel. Somehow I failed to notice until I saw this picture that he was wearing eyeshadow. I really can't explain how I missed that. And yes, he was also wearing pigtails.




Two pictures that are too wide for this damn page.

Me, Pam, Paul, and Sarah:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh276/keskipper/haven02.png

Me and Byrdy:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh276/keskipper/haven05.png


And finally, me in my infinitely stylish Bdubs uniform, complete with cheerleader ribbons in my hair:

Earrings, Updated

Euro 4-in-1 - silver earrings, updated

Chainmaille

I promised a couple of posts ago to put up pictures of the jewelry I've been making. Today I finally took said pictures, so here they are! Any feedback on the jewelry (or on the pictures) is appreciated, as I'm hoping to sell some of it. Let me know what you like and don't like.

(Click on the pictures for larger versions.)

Rondo a la Byzantine - bracelet in silver



Picture 2

Picture 3


Rondo a la Byzantine - choker in nickel silver and blackened steel



Picture 2

Picture 3


Möbius Roses - bracelet in aluminum and anodized aluminum



Picture 2


European 4-in-1 - earrings in silver (no backings yet)




Turkish Orbital - necklace in silver with quartz beads (unfinished)



Picture 2

Picture 3

Picture 4


Star design in silver - folds into a ring

Day Twenty-Two

Yesterday's word count: 35,304. Today's goal: 36,674. Almost to the 3/4-point! (That's 37,500.)

I got my packet from UMass today. The majority of it was useless information about living on campus, but there was also essential information pertaining to fees, classes, orientation, and so on. Every time I look at that red-and-gold folder on the floor I can't help but grin.

Also, although I don't expect anyone else to be as excited as I am, my one-year anniversary with Craig was yesterday. I'll have to post a photo of the picture-frame thingy I made...when I take one. In the mean time, here are some other interesting pictures, since I finally installed the software for my computer's memory-card reader and offloaded everything that was on my camera, which is all the pictures I took over the summer.

A tractor seen in Deerfield:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh276/keskipper/100_2230.jpg

I Kant...park, apparently:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh276/keskipper/100_2240.jpg

A true ham car (on the way to NEARfest):
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh276/keskipper/100_2241.jpg

Palm trees in Northampton:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh276/keskipper/100_2245.jpg

Craig at the outdoor range in Northampton:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh276/keskipper/100_2246.jpg

Me at the same range:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh276/keskipper/100_2266.jpg

With the 7mm magnum. My shoulder hurt for a week after firing that damn thing:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh276/keskipper/100_2270.jpg

No tailgating:
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh276/keskipper/100_2286.jpg

That Can-Do Attitude

Note number one: never buy canned food if you do not have a can opener.
Note number two: never get in the way of a hungry college student.