Erica's brush with a famous person

yesterday evening, Erica and a couple of her friends went to MSU. the American Indian Affairs office had a ... we'll say lecture/meeting. they also had a guest speaker.
she said she had a terrific time and she was very interested in the entire event. they had moments when they danced and then invited members of the audience to join them and learn a Native American dance so she and her friend went down and participated.
after that she said her two other friends seemed to lose interest and they started texting people. Erica was a little surprised at that... but at least Erica was attentive.

then they called out their guest speaker. Chaske Spencer, known for his work on the Twilight movies. the topic was to be about his work with an organization called Be the Shift. they try to promote "dignity, justice, unity, and accountability and by taking action that supports the creation of alternatives" as it was listed in the article Erica emailed me the other day to ask if she could go.
from what Erica told me last night, I think he chose to focus on accountability and dignity. (I'm only paraphrasing what Erica and I talked about after she got home so My account is not complete and may not be fully accurate)

he talked about when he was much younger he had become very addicted to drugs and alcohol. he mentioned the differences in the 'drug communities' in smaller towns where he grew up vs. the large city of New York, totally not trying to glamorize drugs and alcohol use. he then talked about how he had a dream that he was talking to God and He told him that he needed to stop and get his life under control. he kept telling God "I know" so the next day he got on a plane and went to rehab. He spoke of his experiences there in rehab and he has been clean ever since.

there was a question/answer segment when the audience could stand up and ask him anything. Erica said that she asked him the first real question. she was the second to ask him anything, but she said that the first was "can you take off your shirt?" - really? you want to waste your question to someone who gets that lame question all the time and will not be removing his clothes.
so I'm proud of her for having some dignity and leaving him with his. She asked him about his acting career and how long he had been studying acting. he told her how long and that he didn't want to be an L.A. actor so he went to New York to learn and work. he'd been there from the time he was 21 and went on to tell her her a little more about that life.
Erica said that he talked a very little bit about the Twilight movies and the people he worked with. Personally I'm glad that he didn't dwell on that topic because he wasn't there to promote a movie. however filming them was a part of his life and he talked a bit about his auditions and filming.
Erica said that there were some things that he said that everyone kind of had a little chuckle over and she was laughing loud. I wish I would have been able to go, I'm sure I would have been rolling on the floor with her.

later there was an opportunity for pictures and a little chit chat. her friends then regained interest and they all got their pictures with him individually... but after their bit of conversation and a picture she got a hug from him.
but in silly Erica fashion, she made sure to say (to me) that the skin on his cheek was really soft :D

I've already mentioned this on the other blog...

but I will say something here.

so the story is this, I have my etsy shop, CrochetEveryDay. I have listed crocheted items and patterns for crochet in my shop, plus a few other things, but I would like to be able to add other things like necklaces that I have made by other means (not crochet) and Erica would like me to list some of her creations as well. the problem being many of the things that I would like to list are not crocheted items. therefore CrochetEveryDay is just the wrong venue.
this leads me to the only possibility I have available to me on Etsy. I must open a new store page.

I have put some serious though into it but I have yet to come up with the perfect name for this new store.
I may leave a couple of items listed there for the first few months of the new shop but only to get people aware of the store change.

back to the name problem. I want to make sure that it isn't going to be something that many people have a variation of, but I don't want it to be too weird or too unforgettable.
maybe I will make a list and put it to a vote. or maybe I'll just pick the name out of a hat

another reason I hate Spring

people think I'm strange when I tell them that I hate Spring. to me Spring is not the lush green world that people love to imagine it as. it is the brown and black slop that happens when the snow melts, nothing is growing at that time. that is true Spring. you will argue that this is only a small part of what Spring is, but allow me to submit "evidence" to the contrary - Autumn and Winter.
the rest of the world considers Autumn to be the lovely time of year when all the leaves change colors and the air begins to dry and the smells of harvest mixed with those beautiful leaf colors is a romantic thing... (in reality, Autumn ends in December after we have had snow for 6 weeks already)
Winter begins when it snows and the temperature remains under freezing. (in reality Winter starts on the 22nd of December)
for everyone it's 'Never mind the fact that each season is supposed to be measured out in 3 month intervals', but instead, for example: here in MN, Winter often lasts 5 - 6 months.

so being allowed to measure seasons according to these common descriptions or explanations... I count Spring as the muck and slop that it really is.
now as if that wasn't enough for me to truly be put off by the season, I have one more reason to dislike it. for the last 5 years I get sick in the spring. I either get bronchitis or a sinus infection. guess what. I currently have one or the other.

I can't wait for Fall

Emma had a little lamb

just for a day

my oldest sister lives out in the country and they keep a small variety of animals: they keep horses for fun, they keep cows for wholesome milk, they keep pigs for tasty ham, often they keep chickens for eggs (except this year - they had trouble with a weasel last year) and they keep sheep for lovely warm wool.

One of their ewes recently had twins. one of the lambs did not learn to suckle and momma ewe was having trouble producing. they had to bottle feed both lambs at first then the first one learned suck and momma started making enough for one. Yesterday Anna and her kids had to be somewhere for the whole day and they needed someone to bottle feed baby and give her her medicine (she had a sore tummy) and so they asked if we could lamb-sit. Emma had been over to their house recently and helped bottle feed Crybaby the lamb so she was my helper all day and the lamb was so in love with her. she would follow her around the yard. sometimes she would follow the boys or me, but if Emma was outside she wanted to be by her.

it was so precious

I'm so pleased I feel kind of smug

well, if you have read my crafting blog this is old news by now...

each Christmas I make a blanket for one of my children. so far I've made one for Connor, one for Emma, and one for Timothy. this year I am making one for Erica before she turns 18 and moves away.

I wanted to make something that she could grow up and feel like it wasn't lame or something that didn't really fit her personality anymore. so I thought and thought for such a long time, months in fact. I was finally inspired to make The Tree of Gondor. what could be more her? it's a tree for goodness sake and she is SO nature girl. it is also old and it compliments her soul.
pattern I decided on I found as a cross stitch pattern and doing only that would not make the blanket long enough, so I had to put more thought into it. some way to extend it without having too much negative space.
so I designed and made the pattern by copying the letters from Elvish. they're so beautiful.
I have finished her name and soon I will start on the tree it's self.
I must say I'm a bit irritated that it took me so long to figure out what to make for her. it really was so obvious