Since posting about my copyright infringement saga, a number of people have come to my defense, and the entire internet drama has really reached a clamor and come to a head. I want to repost a few things here for the record.

I really don’t want to get into the background of what’s been happening before and after I published my previous post in the mailling community (and I recognize there’s lots of other places other than the maille artisans site) but there is an entire thread on weave restrictions going on here, on the Maille Artisans site, which you can read if you like. I do want to point out a few things in this situation, and in so doing, I’ll just repost a post I made to that thread:

Oddly, I find myself coming to Legba’s defense.

[snipped links to her flickr stream]

In my opinion, I think there are three issues here.

Legal copyright, the maille community, and the strength of said copyrights.

One has nothing to do with the others.

Legally, I don’t believe that Legba (believed she) did anything wrong in registering her copyrights and enforcing them. These are all for pieces of jewelry which she created and she (believes she) holds the copyright on them, regardless of registration.

I think technically (and I am very sorry for saying so, Laura *hug*) Laura copied her design, even without the pearl drop, and as such, infringed on Legba’s inherit copyright. Laura obviously did not think it was wrong to do so and made this mistake in error.

The problem comes with the 2nd issue — the maille community. Over the past 2+ years since Legba posted the original weave, others have made the weave, posted their variations, & Legba herself has posted her designs. Due to the sharing nature of the site, it is quite possible for someone to mistake a jewelry design for something that they can freely make a copy of. In the recent past, from what I’ve looked through, Legba has even posted that such and such design are copyrighted. (Sadly, she turns around and deletes these comments at times.)

Probably the best route for Legba to have taken was to post something initially, saying, “hey I got some of my work published and as such I am going to need to start enforcing copyright on these pieces, just FYI. Here they all are! Cheers!” This would have alleviated much, if not ALL of this mess. There would be no hiding behind shadowy publishing companies and mystery on what is protected and why and “OMGWTFBBQ, can I not make stepping stones at all now? PANIC!?!” etc. Mass hysteria would have never been.

THAT BEING SAID! HOWEVER!

IN MY CASE, however, I believe that Legba copyrighted her design without checking to see if anyone else had actually made something similar, as I had. A simple enough mistake, sadly compounded by her present actions. I tried to point out the fact that my item(s) predate hers, and she sent me the cease and desist, fine. I am through discussing and reject her claims to the otherwise. The ball is in her court if she wishes to persue legal action.

Legally, I don’t think Legba has done anything wrong except in my case.

and now comes the second HOWEVER!

WOULD THESE COPYRIGHTS STAND UP??

Whether or not ALL of those copyrights would/will actually stand up in court is another question ENTIRELY. I think the ones with a lot of detail such as Athena’s Tears and the piece with the X and the pearl drop (again, sorry Laura!) would stand the best chance of that.

The others, including the pendant which she claims I infringe on, is a toss up. Not a lot of, as someone had stated, “artistic STUFF” going on there. This is the discussion that could have continued when these pieces were originally posted, if Legba had been willing to participate in them.

-amy

I just want that little piece “on the record” of my blog, as it were.

Finally, Legba/Sara contacted me again today, and I submit our following interaction.

I admit.. I was bitchy.

(I think I had a tiny right to be after all this, but there you go. Bitchy.)

subject: can we reach an understanding?

Your blogpost is very interesting but shows a lack of copyright understanding. You have actually used my photo from MAIL on it without my permission despite MAIL’s very clear copyright statement, this is another infringement, please link but don’t post my photo on your blog.

I see you have chosen to credit me with the weave design on Etsy, thank you, that was all I asked for in the end so maybe you can now stop pot stirring and post on MAIL that we seem to have reached an understanding (have we?).

If I choose to issue a take down notice against you on Etsy or Flickr, it would then be your job to prove my copyright wrong not my job to prove it is right. However I have no intention of issuing take down notices unless you continue to stir things up. So please let’s get past this and carry on with our jewellery work as ‘comrades’ rather than enemies, it is not healthy for either of us. I am happy with the credit you have given me and I hope you will be happy knowing that I am sorry for causing you stress over this issue.

I would appreciate some kind of acknowledgement to this email even if it’s to tell me to get lost.

She was correct. I removed the offending image.

My reply:

I acknowledge receipt of your email. To sum up: I intend to continue selling my items on Etsy, my own website, http://rainestudios.net, and on any other site as I see fit until a court orders me otherwise. I have no issue with stating, “based on Stepping Stones weave, created by Corvus Chainmaille.” — this verbage is, and has always been, in my page of instructions in the kits I sell (along with a direct link to the Maille Artisans site tutorial) as a courtesy.

I still reject any claim that my pendant/earrings infringe upon any copyright you have registered, any my inclusion of the “based on” language is not intended as any admission or acknowledgment of any infringement or as a settlement of any claim you have or may have later.

See? Bitchy. Lawyerish bitchiness – but again, I think I had a right to be on the defensive. Plus, I was DONE. I had done my research, wrote a blog post about it, drew my line in the sand and in my mind, it was up to her as to how she wanted to react. She could do what she liked, whether it be issue take downs, or talk to her lawyer, or take a nap, and it didn’t need to concern me anymore until I got a notice from Etsy, or papers delivered to me by a sheriff, because I WAS DONE.

Amy
I did state that the credit for the weave was all I wanted (not at first but later) in an effort to resolve this issue. That is what I’m trying to do, resolve this issue. If you are happy to give credit (not admit infringement) then I am happy.
Am I to understand that that we do indeed have an agreement? That being, that we both made this design independently. Am I to assume that you accept my apology? If so can you please post on MAIL and your blog that we have reached an understanding?
If the answer is ‘no’ to any of these then I will have to speak to my legal counsel again. This is not a threat of any action but you must realise that you have been discussing the issue between us publicly and that could put you in a poorer position.
Please respond.
Sara

She did state earlier that she wanted credit for her design.

At that time, I took that to mean that she wanted credit for her PENDANT design, and to be fair, she could very well have meant the weave in general. That’s fine. I had previously stated on all my pieces, “based on the Stepping Stones weave” and had added “by Corvus Chainmaille” when I re-activated them on Etsy – I have absolutely no problem with that at all.

I was still very much done and seeing red with the entire situation however, and did not see any reason for her to be emailing me, especially if she had the credit she wanted. So read my continued bitchiness below:

For some reason, you believe our mutual agreement will end this issue on the Maille site.

Whether or not we come to any agreement doesn’t mean everyone will say, “oh good, no worries everyone, it’s all OK now!” This is an issue that affects everyone in the maille community and it will continue to be discussed whether you do or do not participate, or if I accept your apology or not (which by the way, I’m not sure I actually ever heard? “Accept my apology, or I’ll tell Etsy/Flickr/my lawyer on you” doesn’t exactly sound like an apology to me.)

I have stated my intentions, and if you can live with them, that is up to you. No further agreement or non agreement is necessary, just your acceptance or non acceptance and your chosen actions thereafter. I will continue to post on the Maille site and my own personal website the details of my experiences and interactions as I see fit.

But since you seem to require it, we do seem to have an understanding. As for the rest, I don’t really care about your apology. Thanks anyway, feel free to tell your lawyer that we didn’t kiss & make up, or hug it out in the end.

Her reply:

Your attitude stinks, you are ignoring my apology which is quite clearly there below “I hope you will be happy knowing that I am sorry for causing you stress over this issue.” there were no buts or ifs after it.

She is dead right about my attitude stinking. It did. I still had a very large chip on my shoulder and was intent on driving my point home until there was a 10 foot hole in the ground. Ah well. She wanted a happy ending, and I was intent on drawing it out.

Oh high road, I bet it’s nice up there! I sure wish I had taken you!

So it is all over – I need to check over all my listings to make sure I have everything proper, but I have no issue with doing so.

I want to make a few things clear though. While I flew off on the defensive when accused of copyright infringement, I STRONGLY believe that designers should have the right of ownership over their designs.

I STRONGLY beleive that Legba SHOULD HAVE AND DOES HAVE THE RIGHT TO COPYRIGHT HER DESIGNS. Absolutely and forever and ever amen. If my previous post detailing this experience has muddled that up at all, I want to make it clear. Designers deserve rights to their property. That is why copyright exists.

Should a copyright exist on a weave? I don’t think it should, no, but far more experienced chainmaillers than I can weigh in on that one.

I think it was said PERFECTLY by CShake on the thread I mentioned above,

If anyone posts a weave to the weave library, it is explicitly there for others to make themselves, including variations. If the submitter wants to keep control over who is “allowed” to use their weave, it should not be in the library – the gallery is the place for that if anywhere, and with a note to that effect. Be aware that someone else may make the weave independently if you don’t post yours (there are only so many ways to connect a bunch of rings), and if there is no entry they can submit it, at which point anyone can make it without fear of being stopped.

But people, if you took significant inspiration from someone else’s piece when you made your variation – Say so! Say “inspired by so-and-so”! If you are so inspired that you want to make the same thing they did with no variations – ASK THEM! The majority of people here will be flattered and say “go ahead”, but then again you may run into someone who says “No, it’s mine, make your own” in which case that’s what you should do.

Very well said. In asking him if I could quote him, he did give me this addendum:

Sure, quote me, I expect that when I post in public

However, the official FAQ here states “All submissions to M.A.I.L. remain the copyrighted property of the original submitters. They just grant us the right to publish their property on our website. If you want to use their work, you need to contact them directly and ask their permission.”, so my part about explicitly granting the right to make the weave may not technically be correct. It’s just how I and many of the board of directors feel. I don’t want to be quoted as stating the official policy, just my opinion on the matter is all.

Well fuck! Oh copyright, how your tenants shall elude us all!

So anyway.

How could all of this been avoided?

I don’t know. I really don’t.

Looking back at the entire incident and putting myself in Sara’s shoes, I really don’t know how I would go about informing someone they are infringing on my copyright. Whether I came up with it independently or not, she was doing her duty, and when you have to do that kind of duty you instantly put that person you are dutying in Super! Uber! DEFEND! mode, at least I certainly was put in that mode.

And honestly, I have not designed anything nearly as extraordinary as Sara has. Have you looked through all those flickr links I posted? Amazing. My modest little pendant is nothing special compared to her talent and I’m sure a ton of people would/will/have/whatever come up with that thing on their own. I wish her the best and hope she will continue her generosity with the mailling community.

I hope that someday I will be as innovative and as STUNNING of a designer as her so I will have to issue my own copyright infringements.

EEP, I hope not!

-amy

I find myself in the very interesting position of being accused of copyright infringement.

Specifically, these pieces:

I sell these finished jewelry pieces, and I also sell supply kits, complete with the necessary jump rings, findings, and a page of tips for construction. I was asked repeatedly by other chainmaillers for a kit until I finally did (seriously, if it weren’t for Jessica in Ontario, there would be no kits!!) I also freely give the ring sizes I used to others when they ask – no kit purchase required. I do not however, sell a tutorial, instead, I point to the Maille Artisans site, as I firmly believe that there are plenty of free chainmaille resources on the internet and why re-invent the wheel? (Also – I suck at tutorials.)

The accuser claimed that it is an infringement of her pendant on Etsy (I am not going to put her image here, you’ll have to click to see. Please do click through though, because this post will make much more sense if you see what I’m talking about).

INSERTED 9/1/2010 to add~~~~~~

I have been accused of being “one sided” which, I think is a stretch, but here is the conversations from Etsy, preceding our email interactions below.

Etsy time stamp: 26 August 2010 9:42am EDT
I’m sorry to have to contact you about this but this design is copyrighted. I invented the Stepping Stones weave and copyrighted 8 specific designs using it. This pendant and these earrings:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/36361488/shenandoah-earrings-sterling-silver

are one of those designs.
UKCS Registration Services © 323379
Please could you either remove these from your shop and anywhere else they might be or change the design slightly (e.g. if you replaced the bottom ring with one the same size as the top it would not be one of the copyrighted designs).
I would rather not get Etsy’s legal department involved as this would be stress for both of us so please take this as a friendly ask.
Yours sincerely
XXX

Etsy time stamp: 26 August 2010 10:16am EDT
Thanks for contacting me Sara. Could you please send me a copy of the copyright and the other 8 designs? I would like to see for myself please.

Etsy time stamp: 26 August 2010 10:35am EDT
OK I am not required by law to do this but here are photos of the certificate
[snipped]
with their address
[snipped]

and the 8 designs are
[snipped]
although this is copyrighted I allow people to use it

[snipped]
the one in question here and I have been assured by legal counsel that hanging the other way does not change the design enough.

[snipped]
[snipped]
[snipped]
[snipped]
[snipped]
[snipped]

XXXX

THe next 3 messages were the fact that pictures didn’t come through asking for my email, I gave it, and then she said, “On the way”

Thanks, I will look for them. The pendant and earrings are deactivated, and also the kits I sell in my supplies shop. I’m confused as to why the bracelet is OK? I just would like to read what the copyright is so as to better inform myself.

Thanks again!

26 August 2010 10:51am EDT

~~~~~~~ END INSERT.

I was at first aghast, but then grew a bit suspicious. You see, I learned the Stepping Stones weave right on the Maille Artisans site.

For the non-maillers out there, the The Maille Artisans site is a fantastic resource for anyone interested in chainmaille, and is self touted as “an international community of artisans and volunteers dedicated to the advancement of the chainmaille art form. We aim to encourage the sharing and spreading of information, archiving as many techniques and weaves as possible.”

A weave is a pattern of rings linked together in a certain way. The weave can be used alone, or it can be tweaked with different ring sizes or embellished as the weaver sees fit. Chainmaille weaves can be used for jewelry, armor, clothing, accessories – the list is endless. The Maille Artisans site hosts a weave gallery, free tutorials, member galleries of photos, and forums for chainmaillers.

I have seen the Stepping Stones weave used countless times on the site and off with no mention of any copyright or wrong doing, so when I made up my own Stepping Stones pieces, I had no thought of copyright violation. In fact, I prided myself in creating a piece that actually differs significantly in look.

Here is a picture of the Stepping Stones weave as is posted on the maille artisans site:

[Click to see the Weave Photo - removed due to copyright issues]

Here is a picture of my bracelet, based on the same weave. I do credit the weave itself in my product description (“based on the Stepping Stones weave”):

(linked to my blog post from my very first attempt at this weave. Later renditions show small changes from this one, mostly in the fact that the small rings meandering in between the large rings connect in TWO places instead of ONE, as is shown in this photo.)

You can see that the ring sizes I chose makes for a very different look to the bracelet, which I why I choose to name my piece “Shenandoah” – it has the look of a winding river. After I made the bracelet, I completed the earrings and pendant as well.

It is also worth noting, that my accuser had NOT tried to enforce her copyright against my bracelet — ONLY the pendant/earrings. This is NOT because she did not hold a registered copyright on them, but because she chose not to.

Back to the subject at hand, you can understand my suspicion when a weave tutorial is posted on the Maille Artisans site, freely available to all, and then the creator of this weave, all of a sudden begins enforcing her copyright. [9/1/2010 INSERTED] I am not claiming that it is not within her rights to enforce her copyrights, it just seemed fishy to me and it roused my suspicions enough to investigate rather than rolling over.[/END INSERT]

I asked the accuser to see the copyrights, and while I was waiting, temporarily took my Etsy listings down. She acquiesced, and sent them to me. She sent me the copy of the certificate along with photographs of 8 designs, including the Stepping Stone weave in general. Again, as I mentioned before, she stated that she is not enforcing the copyright for the generic Stepping Stones weave.

The UK copyright certificate was dated August 12, 2010, which she explained this way:

… The registration date is 12th August this year but intellectual property copyright is legal from the first recorded instance of the design which can be found on my Flickr account.

The [pendant] in question [is] here and I have been assured by legal counsel that hanging the other way does not change the design enough.

She included photos of the 8 registered designs, which did include the general Stepping Stones weave. (If one is curious as to which designs she has registered, they can look in her flickr stream as she has indicated the copyright on all the photos in question, as of this blog posting.)

The registration date was an instant red flag. The registration had just been done in the past 30 days. The weave has existed on the Maille Artisans site for over two years. What is up with this? She has registered her copyright on a weave that has been circulating on the internet for over two years, and then turns around and tries to enforce it?

Now, now Amy, hold on — while she registered the general Stepping Stones weave itself, she stated in her email that she is NOT enforcing that particular copyright, which she must know is impossible. Not only could it not be enforced without an army after all this time — it’s been made hundreds of times (maybe thousands?) by maillers internationally — but the question of whether the copyright would actually hold is in question. The Stepping Stones weave is based on the Japanese 12-in-2 weave, and has close ties to Hodo as well, what if someone had used different ring sizes as I had — is it really even copyrightable? She chose to sidestep all these questions quite neatly by stating she is not enforcing the copyright on the weave.

Well, very good then.

So what about the design in question? The other designs she included in her email were very specific, they were stunning, in fact, designs using the Stepping Stones weave. Some pieces had a very specific look and use gemstone drops. Surely these are copyrightable? I would venture to say (though I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV) yes, absolutely!

But what if someone else had never seen one of those designs?

What if someone used different sized jump rings?

What if her design is for 14 gauge rings, and someone else’s is 16 gauge?

What if, say, someone else’s pendant used 11 doubled jump rings around the outside instead of 10, as hers does?

What if someone else worked for hours piecing together, taking apart, and then reconstructing, trying one size, and then another, finally deciding on using TWO different sized connecting smaller jump rings — one size connecting to the inner big ring, and then another ring only .25mm smaller than the first to connect the outer jump rings, so that no rings bunched together from the rings being too loose, and so the pendant, when finished would be super stiff and not at all floppy? (Sorry for all the non-maillers that I just totally lost!)

What if that someone (OH, OK, I ADMIT IT, IT’S ME!) shed blood and tears over getting those pesky outer rings THROUGH those super tight connecting rings, causing frustration and profanity and I am not too proud to admit, the hurling across the room of said pendant/earrings?

OK, I’m not sure how much a courtroom judge would care about the throwing across the room part, but my point is — I worked hard at my pendant/earrings, I determined my own sizes, I used my own construction method, and this part is key —

I HAD NEVER SEEN HER PENDANT BEFORE, EVER.

I don’t claim to be a copyright lawyer and so make no claims as to whether these are legitimate legal grounds in a copyright case, but the fact that I independently came up with my earrings and pendant, having never seen HER pendant before seemed pretty compelling to me.

I had initially removed my listings when I received her copyright claims, and so the first order of business seemed to be to investigate further into the dates of each of our pendant/earring designs. Going by what she told me — that the copyright is from the “first recorded instance of the design which can be found on my Flickr account” — I went there to go looking.

Mine weren’t easy. I hadn’t posted my first instance of my earrings/pendant in my jewelry set, but I had uploaded a few crappy iphone photos straight to my photostream. A little careful looking in the archives by date and I had found my first earrings:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/crazymokes/3877310209/in/dateposted/

These are dated September 1, 2009 (taken and posted to flickr on the same day). I can also corroborate these photos with posts made during the same time frame to another chainmaille group.

Then I took a careful look at the pendant in her flickr account. The obvious photo that I saw was dated December 8 2009 (taken December 8 2009, posted to flickr December 9, 2009):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/redcrow/4170865099/sizes/s/in/set-72157611096575542/

This is several months after my own photographic evidence. Still, I had to go hunting in my own archives to find my picture, so I gave her the same benefit of the doubt, looking through each month carefully to see if any sign of this pendant had been missed.

I found nothing.

Many of her other designs were created in 2008, but this one, even with careful picking through the archives of her photostream, did not appear until December 2009.

After all my poking around, I grew more and more convinced that my pendant/earrings actually predated hers, and so I emailed her to that effect:

Thank you for forwarding [the copyright information] to me, I appreciate it, especially as I could not find the designs by the number you referenced in the UK design search.

I believe my pendant/earrings design preceded yours, as mine is dated October 2009, and yours dates December 2009.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/crazymokes/3877310209/in/dateposted/

Did you create this piece previous to December 2009? I see others dated in 2008, but not this specific piece.

Her response to this was a generic link to the Stepping Stone weave:

yes all the pieces were originally made in the same year as the Stepping Stones weave was submitted to MAIL. http://www.mailleartisans.org/weaves/weavedisplay.php?key=803
Dated February 2009

She had not pointed to any proof that her pendant came before mine. Regardless, I really wasn’t sure what to do at this point. I thought about posting my dilemma to the Maille Artisans site, but I am not an active poster on the Maille Artisans site and was afraid of being lampooned as a relative upstart compared to the maillers who have been there for many years (my accuser included).

I thought maybe I could let it go.

I tried to let it go all weekend, but it festered and would not stop. She hadn’t answered my question. My pendant had been created first. Hadn’t it? Wouldn’t my copyright predate hers?

Finally, I decided I couldn’t let it go. Even if she had created her pendant before mine, I had created my earrings/pendant independently, with no reference to hers (which is easy to prove, since I couldn’t find any record of her pendant before December 2009).

I went looking on the Maille Artisans site also, where she has shown a history of posting her designs in the forum.

I think she may have initially posted this pendant in this thread:

http://www.mailleartisans.org/board/viewtopic.php?t=14641

But then afterward deleted the photo and her comments due to others wondering about the legality of using “Twilight inspired” in connection with her jewelry. This thread date matches the date of the pendant appearing in her flickr stream, as early December 2009.

This strengthened my resolve, and I emailed her one last time:

XXXX, I don’t see any photos of that specific piece made before December 2009. I’ve looked through your flickr stream carefully and the Maille site. If I am missing it, please point it out directly to me. If not, then my pendant predates it and you are violating my copyright.

I will be reposting my listings on Etsy.

I immediately reposted my listings on Etsy — both for my finished jewelry, and also for my supply kits — Again, please note, that I do not profit from selling tutorials of chainmaille weaves that are largely available for FREE all over the internet. I feel quite strongly about this. I instead point customers to these resources, rather than charging for my own tutorial. (I would love to take credit for this noble act to forward the art of chainmaille — (which I do faithfully believe), but the fact is I’m just too lazy to even make a free tutorial. There are gorgeously done tutorials out there if one would care to google cough cgmaille.com ahem.)

After my email was sent, she responded in kind:

Just because I don’t have a photo on Flickr of that date does not mean that it wasn’t made before yours. If you relist on Etsy I will be forced to issue a take down notice and inform my legal council.

I did not respond.

She soon emailed me a cease and desist form letter, giving me 30 days to act, or face dire consequences. I did note that she quoted U.S. law, whereas before, she was acting on a UK copyright registration.

[INSERTED 9/1/2010:

Here is the exact email she sent me:

It has come to my attention that you have made an unauthorized use of my copyrighted work entitled Stepping Stones pendant (the “Work”) in the preparation of a work derived therefrom. I have reserved all rights in the Work, first published in December of 2008, and have registered copyright therein. Your work entitled “Shenandoah pendant” is essentially identical to the Work and you have, by your own admission, used the Work as its basis.

As you neither asked for nor received permission to use the Work as the basis for “Shenandoah pendant” nor to make or distribute copies, of same, I believe you have willfully infringed my rights under 17 U.S.C. Section 101 et seq. and could be liable for statutory damages as high as $150,000 as set forth in Section 504(c)(2) therein. Violation of copyright law is also considered a federal crime when done willfully with an intent to profit as set forth in 17 U.S.C. Section 506(a)(1)(A) and 17 U.S.C. Section 506(c) therein. Criminal penalties include up to 10 years imprisonment and fines of up to $2,500 under 18 U.S.C. 2319.

I demand that you immediately cease the use and distribution of all infringing works derived from the Work, and all copies of same, that you deliver to me, all unused, undistributed copies of same, or destroy such copies immediately and that you desist from this or any other infringement of my rights in the future. If I have not received an affirmative response from you by September 20th, 2010 indicating that you have fully complied with these requirements, I shall take further action against you.
XXXX

I did not respond.

She followed up with this final email:

Just to prove my point I have uploaded the originally made pendant to my Flickr as you know the date of when the photo was taken cannot be changed (it’s a rubbish photo which is why I didn’t use it before), it is dated Feb 2009, predating yours and this is when the copyright came into being. The date of the registration of the copyright has no bearing on this.

I was instructed by my legal council to send the last email but I do not expect you to abide by all the demands set out in it. However if you are going to continue to post/sell the design and sell kits credit should be given to me for the original design. If you fail to do this I will take further action.

Here is the uploaded photo that she is referring to.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/redcrow/4944800152/in/photostream/

I do not accept this as any sort of proof, as EXIF data is easily changed through a myriad of downloadable freeware. Regardless, seeing as how she had to upload it to prove herself, it wasn’t on the internet anywhere September 2009, when I created my pendant.

The entire episode is interesting, especially in light of the 5 pointed maille flowers copyright fiasco — which I will not comment on.. Oh, how I wish to comment on, but I will refrain.

As for me — I won’t be responding to my accuser via email any further. Aside from this blog post (which I admit is a response of some kind) if she would like to prove her claims of infringement, she is welcome to do so in court.

-Amy

My kids are pretty good readers, in that they enjoy sitting down and reading, you know, when they have to. Or when Mommy hid the Legos and Barbies. OK, I don’t do that — those legos are very small and difficult to pick up, you know, and when I pick up Barbie, I am overpowered by the need to style her hair.

So no, seriously, they do enjoy books and have always enjoyed books. Jocelyn has taken to reading in a scary way this past kindergarten year, and many the time James and I have looked at each other with eyes wide and said, “Did she really just read ‘Transcendentalism?’” I know you’re not supposed to compare your children, but dude! She is *way* better at reading at this age than Ethan was at this age!

Reading has been a little trickier for Ethan, mostly because he prefers to look at the first letter of a word and then take a while guess if he doesn’t know it, rather than, you know, that pesky sounding it out and all. This however, hasn’t dampened his love of reading at all, and this past 2nd grade year when the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” movie came out and the craze swept the elementary school, he read through all three books within, and I swear I’m not making this up, 15 minutes.* There just may have been a few words in there that he took wild stabs at, and when asked, he has no idea of the names of the characters — this is due, I’m sure, to just not having heard them said out loud.** Don’t worry. He can tell you word for word the fart joke told by said character.

*OK, I made that up.
** This coming from a person who pronounced, in her head, the word ‘gigantic’ as “guy-gan-tick” all the way up into jr high because she had only seen it spelled. Not judging here!

I have actually totally longed for this. I have always had a great love of books, and growing up, always had a book in my hand or in my backpack waiting to be in my hand. I devoured children’s literature and then young adult literature and never really outgrew any of it. I still have many of my books from my teenage years on my shelves, and steadfastly refuse to get rid of them — especially not NOW, not when we’re RIGHT ON THE CUSP of our own children being able to READ them!!

A lot of my favorite books are geared a tad more for girls than boys, Noel Streatfield with her “Shoe” books (Ballet Shoes, Dancing Shoes, Skating Shoes are my top 3), Frances Hodgeson Burnett with “The Little Princess” and “The Secret Garden” and of course the complete works of Lucy Maud Montgomery, of “Anne of Green Gables” fame. Jocelyn, while a great kindergarten reader, is still a few years away from these.

But there are plenty children’s books that would be perfect for Ethan, and for years James and I would say, “Is he old enough for X?” “No, probably not quite yet.” And so we’ve stuck with the Junie B and Magic School Bus, and Nate the Great. Oh and Star Wars, let’s not forget the 1,472 Star Wars EZ readers that grace our shelves.

Until we introduced Harry Potter.

We drove out to Utah in June, a decision that must have been made in delirium for all the sense it made. My brother and his family were going out, and when 1 member of a 6 sibling family decides to go visit (that’s right! I am the 2nd youngest of 6 children!), a mob mentality often kicks in and other siblings will try to make it as well. We didn’t really have the time to go for very long, which makes this decision to DRIVE TO UTAH even MORE daft, but there you have it. We drove to Utah, spent 4 days, and then drove back. That was 6 days of driving, for 4 days in Utah. Like I said. A decision made in delirium.

Another decision I made, which actually turned out OK, was to forego the portable DVD player. It always has cords everywhere and switching DVDs is a pain and Jocelyn always gets bored of it after 10 minutes anyway. We didn’t forego movies all together, we just skipped the VISUAL of movies. I played movies from my ipod over the car’s audio instead. They have all the movies pretty much memorized anyway, so it worked out fine. I think I did hand over my phone once or twice to let someone who was particularly irritable watch a movie to “just watch this and quit asking Mommy where the hotel is already!”

It was when we were about a day away from Utah that we decided to put in the audio version of Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone. At first, we had no cooperation from the pipsquirts in the back seat.

“Mom, there’s a MOVIE of this.” Ethan informed me.
“Yeah, so?” I replied.
“Don’t you know, it’s better to WATCH something than to have to READ. You can see it better in a MOVIE.”

Oh, words have never cut me to the heart quicker! Luckily, I think he’s since seen the error of his ways.

“Have you seen the movie?” I asked gingerly.
“Parts of it. At daycare.” he replied.

I’ve shielded him from my favorites all this time only for him to catch parts of it at daycare? Oh, my tattered heart! Next someone will just show Jocelyn the good parts of The Last Unicorn!

We listened to Harry Potter, and the kids slowly grew more enthusiastic and enthralled in the story. We listened as the troll almost got Hermione, and Harry got troll bogies (British for boogers! See, it’s educational!). We learned how to “swish and FLICK!” and of course, “ALOHAMORA!” and witnessed a dragon being hatched in Hagrid’s hut — Ethan and Jocelyn went from bored to tears to on the edge of their seats. We reached the beginning of the climactic ending of the first book late at night in the car, and I stopped the tape and informed everyone we’d listen to the ending the NEXT day, as I didn’t want to worry about Jocelyn waking up at 3am being scared. (The girl has watched The Nightmare before Christmas over 100 times, but you never know how she might react to something scary for the first time.)

There was MUCH protesting and whining and promises to not be scared, promise! Which was a far cry from when we had started the book! We finished it the next day, re-listened to bits and pieces whenever we were in the car through our days in Utah, and then went through book 2 on the way home.

That was in June. Since we got home, Ethan has commandeered the CDs to book 2 (we only have book 1 on tape) and has been playing them NONSTOP. The second we get in the car and before I even have my seatbelt fastened, it’s, “Mom, can you turn on Harry Potter?” I will pause it to ask how something went and it’s, “Mom, can you turn on Harry Potter?” We get home and second Ethan’s set down his bag he’s turned on Harry Potter. At night after reading time, he goes to sleep listening to Harry Potter. And in the morning? How I know he’s awake? He’s downstairs playing legos and … you guessed it. Listening to Harry Potter.

I think since June, we listened to book 2 approximately 1 meeeeellion times. You know. Approximately.

Now, let me make sure this is clear. I love Harry Potter. I’ve purchased the books the minute they were released and read them in 24 hours. I’ve seen every Harry Potter movie. James and I even attended a midnight party for the release of book seven. I even listened to a Harry Potter podcast for a while! Sh*t, JAMES AND I listen to Harry Potter when WE fall asleep and have for YEARS!

All this and I never thought I would ever say these words….

I am totally SICK of Harry Potter!

Ethan has even started to read through book one each night during our “reading time” — OK in my book, even though he’s heard it on tape already. We own the movie to the Sorceror’s Stone, which has been on repeat as well, mostly on the weekends.

Finally, in response to book 2 brain overload (it’s been playing every day since JUNE!) I ordered books 3 and 4 on CD so we can listen to them as well, and got Netflix to deliver the book 2 movie. Maybe now we can finish up our Harry Potter summer without Mommy and Daddy going batsh*t crazy

I only hope that this is only the beginning, and someday Ethan and Jocelyn will be just as nutty over some of my other favorite books as well.

We’ve always been big fans of legos in this house, so after attending the last 2 years as the “public”, we decided to do the whole registration, as exhibitors, for this year’s BrickFair 2010. It has been awesome!

This year, they moved from the Tyson’s Sheraton, to the Chantilly Expo Center, a move I thought was a little dubious, as which would you prefer to hang out in? A lovely hotel, or a concrete warehouse? However, it was always totally jam packed at the Sheraton during public hours, so the expo center was definitely the best move.

Public hours are on Saturday and Sunday from 11-4. the public pays $10, enters, looks at all the awesome displays, watches a few Brick Films, builds their own at the Stay and Play, maybe take the little ones for a bounce on the moon bounce, watches the Mindstorms competition, maybe a little Bingo for Lego prizes. All very awesome.

So what do you get if you go the full registration route? Well, first, you pay about $50, instead of $10, and there are no discounted registrations. If you are over 6, you register, and if you’re under 18, you must be accompanied by an adult, who must also register.

But oh the awesomeness you get as a full registrant!!

First of all, you don’t just walk through and look at everyone’s creations. You get to bring your own MOC — “My Own Creation”. Ethan registered his “Pokeball Factory” and a very awesomesauce “Missile Launcher”. Next year, we’ll have to see about ALL of us bringing MOCs!

Here are some of the seminars: Historic Architechture, Teaching Math with The Brick, Landscaping, Lights! Camera! Lego!, Arduino Processor, Bloggers’ Roundtable, and more.

You get to participate in The Running of the Bulls, which is a Lego Store sale – after the store closes, they reopen and sell damaged boxes (barely noticeable damage!) to Brickees for a significant discount. SIGNIFICANT!

There are lots of awesome games – Bingo (the registrants only bingo has the big lego prizes, unlike the mini bingo that the public is allowed to play), Minotaurus Tournament, Combo Build, Speed Build, & Dirty Buildster. After 9pm on Saturday night, they kick out any kids and have BYOB time, with a LEGO Hold’em Tournament, Dirter Brickster, and of course, the Drunk Speed-Build.

There is a charity auction, and a yard sale — where folks put out the stuff they want to unload, and the lego market is open! I saw some vintage legos, still in the box, from the 70s. It was incredible!! there is also opening and closing ceremonies, and awards given for the best MOCs from each category — which registrants get to vote for, and enter, of course!

James went to the Running of the Bulls while I went home with the kids, and the next night, he went home with the kids and I stayed to play Hold’em. (I totally won, came heads up with another guy who lives not even a mile from me, that it turns out I’d met at some other poker events in the area.) James and the kids should have stayed long, because Ethan would have rocked the house with the Dirty buildster (each entrant is given a cup of assorted legos and makes the best creation they can). I was walking around oohing and ahhing as the Dirty Buildsters were creating, when I got tapped to be the co-judge! It was very tough, as they were all so awesome, but the other judge and I didn’t pull each other’s hair too much to decide on the winners.

It has been just incredibly awesome. My only sadness is I keep thinking, “Next year, we need to do that.” or “Next year, we’re definitely doing THIS!” But alas, next year, we will not be in the DC metro area anymore — we’ll be moving to Denver next summer. Maybe we’ll come back for a vacation for BrickFair 2011 — We’ll definitely be making plans for some of the other lego festivals going on around the country (sadly, none in Denver).

If you like Legos, and want to feel what’s it’s like to dock with the Mother Ship and meet more of “your kind of people” — I can’t recommend registering as a full exhibitor at the BrickFair any more — it is just awesome – awesome folks, awesome MOCS, awesome fun.

http://www.brickfair.com

I will post some pictures this week of some of the awesome MOCs on display!

-amy

My lovely girl is always, ALWAYS, writing, jotting, drawing, coloring. She is our little arteeest!

Here is a fairy tale by Jocelyn that I found on the art table in the last week:

The Princess

Once upon a time, there was a princess LOCKED IN A TOWER! Cause a witch locked her in it!

A prince came and rescued the princess!

And they lived happily ever after.

Yes, we need to work on the stereotypical damsel in distress and how there’s no stopping damsels from rescuing THEMSELVES, but still, pretty cute.

I thought about writing about all this snow, but I’m so sick of the subject, I am not even going to think about it! I will just say that my kids have now been out of school since Thursday, Feb 4th. THE FOURTH. IT IS NOW THE SEVENTEENTH.

I KNOW. TRUST ME I KNOW.

School is on tomorrow, but on a 2 hour delayed start all the rest of this week. It absolutely boggles the mind. Along with the fact that Target is/has been selling SWIMSUITS since January 1st.

I HAD TO ORDER SNOW SHOVELS OVER THE INTERNET. So many chain stores missed the opportunity to make a killing by getting more winter stuff in stock, but no. They insist on putting out spring fertilizer instead. Thank god for local hardware stores (I love my True Value!)

Anyway, on to happier subjects!

I really enjoy the Olympics, but it seems like I just never get to sit down and watch them the last 2-4 years. They make me somewhat nostalgic, because I remember watching as a kid, seeing Mary Lou Retton get that 10 — what a ride! And also, my husband James and I first met 1996, and he came down to Atlanta where I was living at the time the summer of the 1996 Olympics. I remember it as such a heady time of new twitterpated love, my first experience truly away from home as an adult, and to top it all off, Olympic fever in the city — it was an exciting time!

So I was determined to get some Olympics in and when Ethan asked, upon arriving at home this evening, if he and Jocelyn coudl watch some TV, I immediately replied, “YES!” with such vehemence, that he instantly knew something was up! I flipped on some Tivoed figure skating/skiing, and let it run as I got some dinner ready.

The Olympics are pretty exciting on their own, but seeing through my kids eyes made it even more awesome!

here’s pretty much how it went all night:
from them:
“WHOA!”
“WOW!”
“MOM! YOU HAVE GOT TO SEE THIS!”

(I was right there, by the way!)

Jocelyn was especially taken with the figure skating, as I knew she would be. She instantly starting dancing around the room and talking about how SHE could be in the Olympics when SHE was grown up. I tried to tell her that some of these athletes started training and practicing at HER age, and she instantly took it up.

“Mom! I’m going to do it! I’ll practice every day after school, see? Like this!” (Jump. Soar. Run. Twist. All in my living room.)

“Mom, I am going to need a dress like that when I’m grown up. Can you sew me one? How about Grandma? Can she sew me one? Look mom, the skirt only comes down to here. Are you sure we could find one when I’m big?”

Ethan wasn’t planning and plotting his Olympic wins, but he was still extremely impressed. He hasn’t been tainted by male machismo and thought the figure skating was just as impressive as Jocelyn did, and the vice versa – Jocelyn thought the mogal ski runs & jumps was spectacular as well.

At one point, at their outbursts and gasps at these seemingly death defying feats, I replied with a mild, “Yes, I know, it’s neat, isn’t it.”

Ethan instantly corrected me: “MOM. IT IS NOT NEAT. IT IS…. A W E S O M E !!!!”

I’m glad I’m not the only one in this house not to have Olympic fever!

Once again, I am teaching a chainmaille class! The first class did not have enough registrants, so it was cancelled. Woe is me! *sniff sniff* This one is on though! So signup!

If you are in the DC metro area and enjoy wearing gorgeous jewelry, you might be interested in the class I’m teaching in a few weeks!

This is a 4 hour class from 10am-2pm on Saturday, September 12th at The Soundry, a very cool artist space in Vienna, VA. I’m also all set to teach it on October 3rd. (All Saturdays!) All you have to do is bring yourself, and I supply everything else!

 

Many people hear “chain maille” and think medieval armor–not so anymore! With a pair
of pliers in each hand, you will learn the byzantine chain maille weave. It is a lovely, complex
and ornate looking weave, but surprisingly easy to learn! Students will finish an 8 inch sterling
silver bracelet with a toggle clasp that will be the envy of all your Tiffany-shopping friends!
Class Fee: $25, Supply Fee: $55 (may vary depending on cost of silver)
Ages: 12yrs + Experience: Beginner
Sign up now!

 
I am very excited! If you’d like to sign up, just click here for the sign up form. Feel free to drop me note in the comments or email if you like as well, I would be tickled to hear from you!

-amy

I haven’t been slacking. On the Weight Watchers thing. I HAVE been slacking on posting about it though. Usually, when I slack on posting about it, it’s because I’m slacking on DOING it. But not this time!

Despite my “We Might Be Fucked” cocktail and probably BECAUSE of my subsequent throat soreness, that had me drinking ginger ale+OJ and eating toast for a day or so, I am proud to announce week 7′s weigh in was awesome at -3.8 lbs. This brings me up to a total of -13.4 lbs. Many more to go, but I am pretty happy. I can do this! Knock on wood!

I think it’s about time to start up the 30 day shred again as well. My foot, on hearing that I paid $350 for an orthotic, decided, “Oh, now that’s she’s paid for it, I’ll get better before it arrives!” It’s not totally better, but it’s a LOT better than it was 2 weeks ago, I’ll say that!

We are still waiting to hear how fucked we are by Subaru for the ceased-up engine block. James and I like to spend our quiet intimate moments wondering how exactly that damn thing DID that anyway, and discussing different engine rebuild price quotes. Oh yeah. Pillow talk, baby. We’re so romantic.

We are at T-minus 9 days til we leave on our vacation to Oregon. I still need to find a cat sitter. I’m a little worried about our cat, actually. We went up to New York last September for a long weekend, not long enough to get a real sitter, just put out plenty of bowls of food and water, but long enough for her to go a little crazy from lack of human interaction — she’s an old cat, at I think 11 years, and when we got back she changed her sleeping habits entirely. She used to settled down somewhere near our feet on our bed. Now, she prefers to be closer to us. Like, right on top of our heads. Seriously. I have to allot pillow space for her because after she gets it through her head that she can’t sleep ON TOP OF MINE, she sleeps right NEXT to my head. Or face. Also, when it starts to get light out, she decides to try the whole “Hmm, maybe she’ll let me sleep on her head NOW…” She loves us, what can I say? So I’m a little worried that our trip may bring on some more wacky separation anxiety cat-behavior. Note to self: trim claws before leaving so carpets don’t get even MORE shredded.

We’ve been crazy with the wildlife lately. Or at least I have. About a month ago, the neighborhood kids found a turtle near someone’s driveway and “took care of it” nearly to death before parents swooped in and relocated it back to nature. I’m a little stymied on how the little guy got there in the first place.

Then the next week, one of the baby birds nexting near our roofline fell out of the nest and hung out along the side of our house. I did much googling and determined that it was fine – fledglings often do this, and if you can’t return it to the next itself, then under a nearby bush would suffice. It was hanging out under my truck, so I kind of herded it back to our deck, closer to where the nest was. The next morning it was gone, so I’m sure the little guy found his wings quickly. (sidenote: our house is now bird free and will soon be bird-proof. Yay, and KA-CHING! more money gone.)

Last week, I had picked up Jocelyn and was on my way to get Ethan and then home, when I had to swerve quickly to avoid hitting a slow moving little turtle in the road, right in line with the tires. I yelped, explained to Jocelyn, and then quickly tried to flip a bitch to get back there and save him. It was a very busy street, and I had little hope to get to him in time, especially as I watched all the traffic behind me as I desperately tried to flip around.. And sure enough, when I finally got back to him, he hadn’t made it. That little guy haunted me the rest of the week, I felt so bad. Jocelyn too.. sometimes, she will say, out of the blue, “Poor little turtle..” to me. All I can do is nod and agree.

The sting of that little guy was taken away somewhat when we were driving along our road to our house and spotted TWO rabbits, just hanging out in someone’s yard. I am pretty sure I’ve seen one of these guys before, bounding away as I have driven by, but I couldn’t be sure and so I was very tickled to stop and watch them a while. They just stood nibbling some of the young weeds, checking us out as much as we were checking them out only about 8 feet away, and didn’t make any sort of fuss when Ethan and Jocelyn nearly threw themselves out their open windows looking and talking and trying to take pictures with my iphone. We finally drove on with them still sitting there eating their dinner.

And then last night as we came home from a lovely pool party at a friend’s house, I thought I saw a bit of brown on the steep hilly exit we were on, and pulled over. We saw a whole handful of deer bound away into the treeline, with a few stopping just shy of the trees to look back at us.

I just love it when we get a chance to see wildlife up close. I think they are probably less than thrilled to see us up close.

Oh right. 4th of July. We decided at the last minute to go to Great Meadows, which we went to last year. We got there around 4pm, saw all the pre-fireworks shows. Helicopter parades, RC airplanes (BIG suckers, with 5-6ft wingspans), rocket launches, ponies, melons shot out of a cannon, face painting, and of course fireworks. Ethan slept through the fireworks last year, but everyone was awake for them this year, and after they were over, Ethan stood up and hollered, “THAT WAS THE BEST FIREWORKS SHOW, EEEVERRRR!” — to the amusement of many people surrounding us.

Sunday, we went to a hawaiian pool party celebrating some friends’ who had recently been married in Hawaii. It’s been a while since we’d seen them, and it was very nice to sit and relax and catch up. The weather was not very cooperative (only about 75degrees) but that didn’t stop the kids from hopping in and slowly turning blue. It’s pretty comical to ask, “Are you cold?” and to get a chattering of teeth back, “No-o-o-o-o-o..”

All in all, a wonderful weekend. Wish it didn’t have to end.

-amy

I have actually been meaning to post on the old blog-er-oo for a while now. I know! Crazy! I have had things to say that take more than the 140 characters allowed by twitter! I just haven’t had the time to sit down and write. Which is a bogus excuse because I’ve had time enough to play Fallout 3 on the PS3!

Today was Jocelyn’s birthday. I hope it was lovely for her, I think it was. It was not as lovely for James and I.

We planned to do her “party” at her school. Meaning, not really have a party at all, but make a bit more of a fuss than just send in cupcakes. We got party hats for all the kids, enough balloons for everyone in her class (36 kids!!) to take one home, and cake of course.

I was on my way from work when I got a call from Ethan’s school’s vice principal. Something had set him off in his classroom and he wasn’t able to settle down, so his teacher asked the VP to take him out of the classroom. She walked around with him for a bit but he still was giving her attitude. At one point he threw his library books, and finally, she had the Principal come get him, and carry him to the office (because he would not go himself).

Ugh. I mean… UGH. Our first objective was to make sure that Jocelyn’s birthday didn’t get ruined. James picked him up right away (he was planning to get him early anyway so we could all do to Jocelyn’s class) and we didn’t make a fuss about it. We basically didn’t do anything about it, except let him know we would talk about it later.

We got to Jocelyn’s class and she was so excited and happy. Birthdays are her absolutely favorite things EVER Everyone was very excited to have cake and see the balloons and sing happy birthday. It was very low key, lower than I had anticipated, really. We sang, served cake, popped party hats on everyone, and after the cake was consumed, everyone went out to play outside. Jocelyn and Ethan went out and ran around on the playground a bit, and then we came home to open presents. We got her a new scooter, a little pink bin of legos, a Barbie mermaid, fairy, and (of course!) a strawberry shortcake doll (Rainbow Sherbet!)

After a few scoots around the driveway on the new scooter, we left and went to Jocelyn’s choice of dinner restaurant: Chuck E. Cheese. That place is so much nicer on a weeknight than it is on a weekend. Wow. The kids ran around and had a ball, eating bites of pizza in between video games and crawling around in the kid-sized gerbil tunnels.[1 Seriously. All they need to add is a big wheel and a water drip and the illusion will be complete.] Home, little more playing, and then bed. We still have a pinata that we will probably gather the neighborhood friends together for tomorrow evening. Overall, a big success, and all without the stress of planning a major party – which I love to do, and usually have fun doing, but still, the stress is there. I’ve had enough stress, thank you. I hope we can do something similar for Ethan’s birthday when it comes up, but I’m not sure what.

So, the birthday girl had a lovely day. James and I were pretty much on edge with that sick feeling one gets when their child is having issues. The Ethan update is pretty much, he’s got issues, man. He had a good spell in January, and DOES seem to be less in trouble for *hurting* others, but his behavior still has the same issues. Impulsive, inattentive, aggressive. The plethora of testing done by the school is complete, and tomorrow we meet with everyone at the school to discuss the results. James and I have the reports already and have read them over, and as far as we can tell, it’s really nothing new. Which I guess is good – no mention of any learning disorders or anything — just the same things that we already know. Hyperactive, short attention, impulsive, little self control… We’ll see what they recommend.

On the shrink front, we had an appointment with a psychiatric nurse practitioner but it got canceled for insurance issues. I called back and went ahead and made an appointment with someone different, a psychiatrist who was recommended by another child psychologist from a practice that doesn’t take our insurance. Our appointment with him is next week.

I’m feeling pretty down, but this is an atypical feeling.. just because his day at school today went so badly. I am usually pretty upbeat.. because I have seen a significant improvement in our interactions with him at home. He is playing with his friends pretty well, which was NOT the case at the beginning of the year. I am feeling down because I feel like we’re a step closer to an ADHD prescription which I really am not ready for. And I am definitely not taking the final step until I *really* feel like I’m ready.

I also feel down because I took the most ridiculous fall down the 3 steps down into the garage pre-party. I mean, RIDICULOUS. I don’t even know HOW I fell. I just went ass over end and I hurt ALL OVER. It doesn’t help that I’m having back issues again, which really sucks. So basically… HOST BODY BROKEN. MUST FIND NEW HOST BODY. (god don’t I wish!)

Ahhh well. In other news, I have become a chainmaille weaving addict. I bought a jump ring cutting system and am impatiently awaiting my latest order of silver wire so I can go crazy with the SILVER chainmaille. In the meantime I have oodles of copper wire and even have a few new things up in my etsy shop, so take a look I had my very first silver byzantine bracelet up there, but it was purchased by an old friend from High School who saw it when I posted to facebook! How’s that for a go ’round, I love it! I’ll post more about the jewelry soon. I have LOTS to say, especially about how much jewelry photography can suck it, and how sick I am of taking a photo I think will totally ROCK, get it into photoshop, and it looks shitty. SUCK IT, JEWELRY PHOTOGRAPHY! I used to think I could take a decent picture! No! I can’t! I suck! Ahhh well. I will learn.

I hope!

That’s it for now. Wish us luck for our meeting with the school tomorrow!

-amy hears the whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, of the tumbler, tumbling her newly cut jumprings to a burnished, awesome shine!

In my efforts to not let my blog just COMPLETELY wither away and die, here is a forced update!

Do you totally hate me? The christmas shopping is done.

I totally got up and did Black Friday this year. It was actually pretty awesome to get most everything out of the way. I researched, made a list of things to get and went to 3 stores: target, toys r us, and kmart. I made a spreadsheet for the family of who’s getting what and after a few more stops that weekend, I’m happy to say, the christmas shopping is DONE. Yesterday, I got a tree with the kids. James and I put it up when he got home after his class/test, and today the kids and I will get going on decorating. I’m going multicolored this year with the 5 boxes of “icy twinkle lights” I got on sale after christmas last year.

For some reason I thought that they were ceramic. Kind of glad now to find they are not.

An early christmas present to me was a new mixer. My old mixer is a knock off of the Bosch Universal, a mixer my mother has had since before I was born (I may be exagerating, but as long as I can remember!).

Bosch Universal

6-8 years ago when I wanted a mixer, I wanted one like hers, but got convinced that this lookalike, Dimension 2000, was a better choice. And it works fine, just loverly, still does, except I broke both the sets of wire whips (regular and cookie dough) and the company is now out of business. Not so loverly.

Dimension 2000

So I’ve been out of a mixer since the summer, and with Christmas here, cookie making season is upon us. I like to make cookies and send them out to all our family (because I’m cheap that way) And you know what? Mixing double batches of cookie dough with a hand mixer? IS NOT FUN.

Linen N Things is going out of business, and so I’ve been eyeing the Cuisinart 5.5 quart model, regularly $300. It’s very similar to the KitchenAid mixer, same similar attachments available (even a food processor!) but in my mind, a little slicker looking and with a TIMER feature! How cool is that! I was a little nervous I was making the same mistake I made with the Universal — buying a different version of the more known brand, but I don’t think Cuisinart is going to be going anyway!

Cuisinart 5.5 qt Stand Mixer

When I first saw it, it was down 20% to $240, and James agreed that a mixer is something I kind of use a lot and actually “need” (thanks again honey) (he could have been a real pain because I have this “anything bought for yourself or others after Thanksgiving MUST BE WRAPPED AND PUT UNDER THE TREE” rule that he REALLY doesn’t like, so he could have turned that one against me and not let me HAVE the mixer until Christmas). When I went to get it, it was down again to 30%, so at $210, the was mixer purchased, and has already been put to use.

It’s a little kooky to get used to this style — the Bosch/Dimension probably seems like the kooky one to other people, what with the actual bowl being more of a doughnut shape instead of a normal bowl, but it’s what I’ve been used to my whole life, even growing up! Getting in and scraping down the edges has been tricky, and the dough does like to ride up a bit, up above the beat/whip, but so far, I like it The timer feature is especially nice. So far I have only done cookie doughs, but I can’t wait to try some bread doughs and whip cream and egg whites (not all for the same thing, obviously!)

So even though the shopping is done, there’s still a lot of baking to do, and I want to make some easy mass-assembly line type craft to include with the cookies, but am at a loss of exactly what. Last year I did marble magnets for everyone, using my masses of extra altoids tins as a container. Stretchy cheap-beaded bracelets for nieces would be nice, and are super easy. Maybe stretchy bracelet with their name on it for the boys, but some of my nephews are older and I could see totally sticking up their nose at them. Adults, really not sure. Necklaces for adult female relatives would be nice, but might be too expensive (good beads ain’t cheap people!). And let’s face it, I’m running out of time for intricate work here. We might just be looking at stretchy bracelets for the little girls, and cookies for everyone else.

OK, this wraps up our holiday christmas presents edition post!

-amy twinkles but she does not glow. NO GLOWING.