Tuesday-5:45am

Karma greeting the morning in her usual spot yesterday. Her ears are back because she heard me get the camera ready--hehe!

She doesn't like to be interrupted while she watches her Cat TV. Must be something very private for her. Hard to catch her in her spot by the window--snooping and observing.

She left right after I took that picture. Not usually that camera shy, but hates being spied on while she is spying upon, I guess--hehe!

I have resisted trimming the cat grass. Looking wild, but not dying so far.


Dagan and Leah came yesterday. I suggested a Pita Pit stop vs. the stress and hassle of a big meal so we could just have the time to visit. Was very, very nice! :) Leah is always busy baking and they were heading out to Henning, Minnesota for Christmas today. (His dad and family this year--they trade off. I hope the weather will be okay for them.) Anyways, I wanted Leah to have a break--and I am much more interested in the company than the food. :)

They got a section of beef ( a quarter?) and brought me a bunch of soup bones! Cool! Leah brought me some more of these really great large clear bags we use for loaves of bread (Sam's Club). And they put some presents under (near) my tree! Which I didn't even notice until they had gone--duh!

I will wait until our traditional Christmas Eve night to open them. I'll be good...
I am truly like a little kid when it comes to presents--hehe! I am totally baffled by these. The two big ones feel like some kind of a jar or tub with a screw on lid?? But they're really quite heavy and don't make any noise at all when you shake them. The flat square little present is lumpy--no clue! ??? I'll find out tomorrow night. :)

Yesterday I finished the rice paper sketchbook for Ann!! Ended up making mistakes and am in the process of uploading videos to YouTube right now. I think a couple of them are done.

Cut some felt for a buffer so the ink doesn't bleed through.

Haiying has been my inspiration to be brave, try new things, and to just post everything--mistakes and all. I have always admired her so much for that. :) So--you see me crafting and learning--errors, repairs, silliness, coughing, forgetting where the camera frame is, and all. I'm sure people watching will think--"If she can do it, I sure can!" ROFL!!

As I told you, Leah has been baking and she said they forgot to bring me some cookies yesterday. Dagan is supposed to stop by with them today. :) He is off for his interview this morning at 8am, too.

It's a balmy 11 degrees right now! Above zero--tada! But we are supposed to get another 1-3 inches of snow. If it is really looking bad for travel out there Dagan and Leah might have to leave on Christmas Eve instead?? Or at least I would hope they would.

My next project is going to be working on the birthday cards for 2009. Over the next couple of days I want to start that--and wash clothes--and set up my calendar & weekly sheets--and pick out a journal to use for the Soul Coaching book. I am always excited to greet a new year!! Maybe today I should wash clothes and get that over with...??? Later. :)

Monday-8:45am

Twenty degrees below and sunny in Fargo this morning! Brrr!

I planted the cat grass again this time. I'm going to see what happens if I don't trim it and leave Karma's oats and barley alone? (I always trimmed it and it died.)

She's been lolling around on the packing paper for days.

I decided it was time for it and her cardboard box to go. I put it by the door and she hasn't been begging for it, so the thrill must be gone--hehe!

Dagan and Leah are coming over tonight. They usually try to make it over some time before or after Christmas--this year it is before. :) Dagan has a second interview tomorrow at an insurance company. Think good thoughts!

Stay warm. Drive carefully. Love those loved ones!!

Sunday-8am

Have you ever picked something up and noticed it really needed a nice hot cloth cleaning--and next thing you have cleaned them all--hehe!

By the time I was done I had the entire corner cleaned and the bottles refilled. :)

Obviously my bum arm was feeling better--and it held up pretty well.

I worked on my list of Artistic, Creative, and Spiritual Goals for 2009. Am getting excited about the coming year! I think it is going to be a good year--a year when things will turn around. I do have a lot of faith in humanity. When times get really rough people usually pull together and help each other out. Hard times--crisis--can bring out the best in us. I believe that 2009 will be a year of hope--of uncovering deceit--of change--of new beginnings. :):) You may call me a dreamer....

3 degrees below, hazy, and light snow in Fargo. May your spirits rise and have a wonderful day!

Saturday-8:30am

As long as I am working my way around the clock again and my days and nights are totally flipped--thought I'd post before I go to bed. This is what it looks like this morning.

Been snowing lightly all night. Looks like we got a couple of inches--a white blanket.

I was watching Eli Stone on tape during the night and was fascinated by something he said to this brilliant young woman who was feeling she didn't care if she accomplished anything in her life:

"I understand you have a gift. But a gift is something that is given. You don't own it. The world is asking you to use it and you don't get to say no--no matter how much you might want to."

You don't own it.

Something to ponder, eh?

If we all tried to use whatever gifts or skills we have to somehow make the world a better place--to think of ways to improve life for somebody other than ourselves--what a wonderful world it would be! We would be rising up to our true potential.

My soul soars in the contemplation. :):)

Friday-6pm

Worked on eyelets yesterday. :)

Ann approved of the wild covers. :):) So I'll continue on when my bad arm has calmed down--chuckle!

What did I learn yesterday? I learned that it is much easier to use the hole punch set (used with a hammer) than my beloved Japanese screw punch for making the holes in the covers--or for anything thicker, for that matter. I do love my Japanese screw punch, don't get me wrong. But I use it on paper all the time--not cardboard, etc. It is my absolute favorite for paper, but I won't try to use it again on my covers. You can see why on my YouTube videos.

My bad arm burned after making just those first five holes. Sad, but true. Still is burning a little today. So--I'll be good and get off the keyboard, too--hehe! A day or so and it will be fine again. No problem. I should know better--my own fault. I should be back to working on the sketchbook soon--maybe even this weekend some time. :)

In the meantime--guess I'll catch up on my TV shows I taped this week, read, play with Miss Karma, and try not to use my left arm much. Never fear! I am in such an obnoxiously cheery Christmas mood that this minor arm issue can't possibly get me down--ROFL!!

Oh--Dagan liked the insurance company job the best and has another interview with them on Tuesday. Good thoughts! :):)

Thursday-2:30pm

The nice girl from the office came for the apartment inspection yesterday. And I did take pictures of what somebody would see walking into my place. :)

The kitchen and pantry are to the left.

And this is my large main room where I spend my time every day. Supposed to be a dining room next to the kitchen--but I put my desk on that end.

The room is basically a couple of chairs surrounded by a desk, computer, books, art & craft supplies, a TV, tables, and a fish tank.

My craft area is the table by the windows--hung my own lamp from the ceiling on that end. That is where I now do YouTube videos--chuckle!

The door to the balcony/porch is on the right.

Looking back into the kitchen. The folding table on the left is my art table--a place to do brush painting, etc. Too often it become a place to set things--hehe!

When you live alone you can arrange things the way you want them--hehe! Priorities, eh? Can't say I don't use every available inch of space--ROFL!! Having so much stuff everywhere would drive a lot of other people nuts, I suppose, but I am quite comfy here. And Miss Karma doesn't care--as long as there is room for me to keep a packing box around for her to play with for a while before I haul them to the dumpster. (That's her latest box there under the folding table.) And she needs her sprawling room, of course--hehe!

I asked if I could buy some new blinds--how much it would cost. Less than $10 each! So, I am going to get one new one for the living room and a new one in the bedroom. Karma has chewed the sting pulls on those two. Can't even close the living room one all the way. Karma had left them alone, but has suddenly taken to chewing on the strings again. I told the girl that I can be at the bottom of the task list for the maintenance men. No hurry at all--the pulls have been like this for over two years. So I don't expect them for a while--maybe January?

Leah had an idea a long time ago about installing some hooks so that I could wrap the strings up and away from little teeth. So, that is going to be a new project--finding and installing hooks. I emailed Leah to peek around when she's out and about shopping.

Dagan called. Not coming over today to look at my computer because--tada!--he has TWO interviews today! Think positive thoughts, right? :):) He might come over tomorrow. I told him there's no rush. The desk computer is working right now and I managed to get it going again the two times it froze up. Speaking of freezing--it's one degree below zero right now--and time for me to get moving. Later.... :):)

Wednesday-9:15am

95% of the time this is the Karma I live with every day. Looks innocent enough, right?

She's a big, sweet, lazy cat--with me. But she has turned into such an old lady cat who wants nothing to do with anybody but me anymore. She really gave Caroline a hard time yesterday! Karma was trying to hide under the bed but I have so much stuff under there that she could barely get under the bedspread at the foot of the bed. So I'm sure she felt threatened--trapped. Thought Caroline might step on her or touch her with the scary vacuum--heaven forbid! So she threw a hissy fit and lunged at Caroline's feet while she was dusting! She has no claws, but I shut Karma in the bedroom and I told Caroline to forget about vacuuming in there. It is so strange having an antisocial scardy cat.

I asked Dagan to switch about coming over for the computer to Thursday. When he comes I am going to ask him to help me get a couple of the boxes out from under the bed so we can make room for Karma to actually be able to hide under there again. What a naughty girl!!

Anyways, Caroline brought all the rest of the Princess Diaries books that she owns! So funny! Instead of book 1. 2. 3.....the author, Cabot, has like book 4, 4 1/4, 4 1/2, 5....

Lots to read--a whole shelf of books from Caroline now!!

I started on Ann's sketchbook yesterday. I think one video is up and the other is still uploading (since last night). The next thing I do is the eyelets. Pounding with a hammer is not a good thing to do when you have the camera on the table top--hehe! I also bang my hands on the table sometimes and send the camera into tremors--ROFL! (I've always talked with my hands.)

The camera snaps on to the top of that red and black pliable dodad--the gorillapod--that I have twisted around a burned out lamp with a heavy base. :)

Anyways, I am going to try out a new set up today. Using a sturdy TV tray and that box I painted--and whatever else I need to add until I get the camera high enough.

This way--hopefully--I won't cause the camera to tremble when I hammer or pound the table with my hands for emphasis--hehehe!

Today the apartments are all being inspected. Not sure when they will come here to my apartment. Made me think about what my place would look like to a stranger coming in? It is sure packed full! Looks like book, art, and craft central! Maybe I'll take some pictures today. Later... :)

Tuesday-10:30am

Karma keeps me company on these cold nights. :)

I got a kick out of the weather report last night. They said it was going to be "unwarm" again--hehe! 11 below right now. They reported yesterday that several businesses had pipes burst from the cold and had water damage--including Hobby Lobby--oh no!

Caroline is coming over to clean pretty soon. And Dagan is supposed to come over this afternoon to look at the computer. Maybe he can find out what it was complaining about and why it panicked & was refusing to work for a while?

I watched a very good movie last night--Lantana (2001). There was a murder, but it was also a kind of quiet character study of this web of people--and a good mystery!

Love, sex and deception rule the day in this psychological drama from director Ray Lawrence. Detective Leon Zat (Anthony LaPaglia) dives headlong into a missing-persons investigation just as he's grappling with guilt about his extramarital affair. His case crisscrosses the lives of four couples, all of which have secrets -- including Leon's wife, Sonja (Kerry Armstrong), and her secret psychiatrist, Dr. Sommers (Barbara Hershey).

Well, I've got to get moving here. Have a good day!! :):)

Monday-2:45pm

What a difference a day makes, eh?

Looks can be deceiving, tho! It is currently 12 degrees below zero. Beautiful day, tho, after the blizzard. :) It was soooo windy that the snow was blown into drifts against the buildings or anything high enough to catch it. Look at the field--bare spots after all that snow!

That wind was something else! Hard to describe the sound--kind of like being inside a garage and running the garage door opener up and down--or listening to people drag very heavy furniture across a wood floor. Neither of those descriptions are completely accurate, but it wasn't the usual howling, pounding sounds I have become used to here. (Been in this apartment in Fargo four years now--in the middle of nowhere with no protection from the wind--hehe!) I have also never seen the wind blow so hard that it displaced the layer of snow on the porch in such an artistic manner--hehe!

Karma wanted out right away when I got up this afternoon. She is not deterred by the cold. It was the sound of the wind and the flapping of the screen yesterday that scared her.

She was able to go out and eat snow today for a few minutes.

Just a few minutes.

Not going to warm up here any time soon. This was the wind chill last night...

...and the seven day forecast!

The entire region was shut down. They closed the freeway and main highways--Interstate 94 was closed from Jamestown, ND over to Alexandria, MN--and 29 was closed from Canada down to South Dakota. No church yesterday. Quite a few places were closed or opened later in the day today. They were out plowing in our parking lot from about 2am until around 5am. We are used to snow up here. I'm sure most of the side streets are plowed by now. As soon as the wind dies down (only 5-10 mph again now) you know the streets will remain open after they are plowed.

What cracked me up last night--was watching the closings scroll across the bottom of the screen and this went by: "....No Travel in Fargo....Stay Home...." They have notices that the freeways are closed every so often--(they have huge bars they swing out across the entrances to the freeways and you can actually be arrested if you are driving on a closed freeway/highway)--but they don't usually tell you to stay off the roads in town right on the scroll bar--hehe! Or I have just missed it? I'm sure if they could have "closed" Fargo/Moorhead and made it against the law to drive in town, I think they would have! hehe! There are always people who are still out and about for no good reason--chuckle!

Anyways, done with the blizzard. Now it is just the warnings about dangerously cold. And I just heard on a news blurb that a woman was arrested at a trailer park in Grand Forks because the neighbors reported a young child outside with just a t-shirt, shorts, and boots on at 8:30 this morning when it was 14 below! The child is okay. Neighbors must have reacted really fast because skin can freeze pretty quickly in this weather. The roving weather reporter last night had goggles, a complete face mask, and fur-lined parka--no skin exposed. (That was originally why I grabbed the camera--wanted to show you but I was too slow.) We had the national weather folks stranded here with us, too--hehe!

Well, that's the latest from Fargo--hehe! Stay warm and safe!

Sunday-2:45pm

The blizzard has arrived. Took these pictures this afternoon. You cannot see beyond the garages--at all--like a white wall.

The wind is blowing my direction--plastering the screens with snow.

Blowing so hard (30-40 mph gusts) that it managed to blow all this snow right through the screen on the porch!

Then it has gusted up between the boards and my indoor outdoor carpeting--making it look like odd waves of snow.

What a good day to be inside--warm and safe.

The blizzard has winds that randomly drift the snow. Most of it has ended up against the building. The plow might have been through while I slept all morning--(been working my way around the clock again)--but it could be just the wind keeping sections clear? It is a wicked wind! But it kind of looks like they may have plowed. ??

Crazy weather, eh? The wind has been pounding against the building since last night. We are not predicted to be above zero until maybe Thursday--and could get as low as 25 below zero at night. Supposed to be an accumulation of 8-13 inches of snow. Wind chills of 42-47 below. I am so glad this started on the weekend and not when the majority of people are trying to get to work. Wonder what it is supposed to be like tomorrow? If the winds will die down a little? Hope so!

Miss Karma is all wound up about the snow on the porch, but afraid to actually step foot on the porch because of the wind--loud and whipping the screen back and forth--not to mention it is really, really cold out there. She kept begging for me to let her out, but she was too scared when I opened the door. (My photo opportunity--hehe!) But she kept crying to go out--silly thing. So, I finally took one of her bowls and scooped up some snow for her--ROFL!!

Happy, happy girl!

I had computer troubles again today--same as the last time--froze, restarted it, got the red flashing warning, and it froze again. Then I shut it down again and waited about an hour and it worked? I wrote down what was in the box to show Dagan later. Something about "Delayed Write Failed"?? Computers can be so mysterious. Something about being unable to save some data from a file? No clue.

But--weirder than that--then I went to my backup laptop, right? And it had my emails from November!?? Nothing current. Stuff I had deleted long ago? Like it had jumped back in time like three weeks? I shut down the screen and started it up again and then it was just fine--all current. I do have the strangest things happen to my computers--things nobody I know has ever heard of.

Well, anyways, the desk computer is once again working like nothing happened. Fixed itself? Probably not, since this is the second time it has done this same weird thing about this file it apparently lost, then the red flashing sentence and freezing--hehe! Guess I will have to see if Dagan can come by this coming week and take a look at it. I know Leah isn't coming for crafts on Wednesday. She is going Christmas shopping with her brother and youngest sister. :)

Stay warm! And those of you who are in warmer places--feel free to be greatly relieved you don't live here--ROFL!!!

Saturday-2:45pm

Here's the trial sketchbook--tada!

Wow! When the flash hits the cover it looks even more colorful than it does in natural light. In natural light it looks mostly dark green. Such pretty paper, tho. Thanks, Ann!

I struggled yesterday with the last two videos. Just wouldn't copy the way I had been doing it--so I began experimenting with different routes for it to try. You know how computers are--hehe! Sometimes you have to come at them from another direction--use another pathway. I used a different program and sent them to a different spot--and viola! Maybe I won't have as much trouble with them if I copy them like that from now on? Anyways, I have two more videos up on YouTube. (You can always go to the upper left-hand corner of my blog and under "My Other Web Spots" click on "SoulComfort's Video Corner" and that will take you there.)

We have a blizzard heading our way tonight and tomorrow. Up to 40 mph winds--yup!--that would do it! Warmer right now--21 degrees--Karma even wanted to go out on the porch for a couple of minutes--hehe! Myself--still just me and my blanket. Noodle day again. Later...

Friday-2:30pm

The last couple of days I have had a sore throat when I woke up, but it seemed to get better as the day went on. Just tired today.

Yesterday I did work on making videos. But lost one--again. Thought the camera was on and it wasn't. I still had one on the hole punching and posted that one. But--I have two that are apparently in the camera that I couldn't seem to get out of the camera last night and into the computer. I tried for over an hour with no success. I'll try again today. Maybe they are going to be lost to me--not sure?

Anyways, I did finish the trial run sketchbook--TaDa!! I feel much more confident with the sewing/stitching and using the mat cutter to cut paper--so now I can start on Ann's when I get going again here. Feeling punkish today, tho. [Hope I am not coming down with something? Knock on wood!]

Stay warm!

Thursday-1pm

Dagan and Leah put the taboret together for me last night! The top and drawer fronts are real wood.

While we watched The Dark Knight (really good--Heath Ledger was soooo evil and yet managed to be funny at times--tricky to pull off!), Leah did the cutting and folding for me for my birthday cards for 2009. :) Thanks, Leah!! You are so good to me!

Before they got here I did a couple more videos for YouTube. Demonstrating my jerry-rigged mat cutter actually cutting paper--tada! (I knew I'd figure something out to get it to work--hehe!)

I am now at the point of making a template and cutting the holes for sewing on my trial run. Hopefully get some more done today. :)

I ordered The Shop Around The Corner from Netflix and it came today. Funny--I love the old movies, but I rarely seem to order them from Netflix. Might have to check out the Classics section more often, eh? (I love Jimmy Stewart!!)

Well, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas (she sings)---light, floaty, sparkly flakes today and 9 degrees in Fargo. :)