song of my soul

Well, I suppose it's jewelry more than bags.

It was a pretty decent day in jewelry land. This is a good thing, since I've made the decision to use some profits from my jewelry and jewelry supply sales (I have an Etsy shop that is strictly jewelry supplies, mostly handmade by moi) to knock things off my "Crystal Needs Likes New Toys" list. On this list, you will find at least four camera lenses, a kiln, and a rolling mill. People, that's the short list. *grin*

I've had lots of decent days in jewelry land lately, which enabled me to knock the first item off my list... a 50mm 1.8 prime lens! Wooo! I'm so excited. The lovely Chelsea helped me pick it out after I deliberated over its purchase for years. Ok, I suppose it was days more than years, but it was long enough for me to pick up on some cool photog lingo. Like "prime lens". Oooh. Doesn't that sound important? And my new favorite word: "bokeh". Aaaaah. Bokeh. Now that's just the funkiest way you could ever say "blurry". I dare you to figure out a funkier way. Go on. Try. You won't succeed.

I also dare you to work that word into at least one conversation this weekend. Go on. Do it. And report back to me on Monday. I want to hear about the strange looks you get.

My new funky bokeh-inducing prime lens is currently on a UPS truck just a few hours away, and my patience is getting seriously bokeh-fied.

The tracking information doesn't say what the delivery date is, which should be illegal. 'Scuse me, but a girl orders a lens and a girl needs to know when said lens will be here because UPS has the nasty habit of leaving boxes of expensive goods on my doorstep whether I'm home or not. I've had things stolen this way. This is not a good thing for a girl who orders massive quantities of precious metals and gemstones, especially in this market!

So now UPS is PageRanking its big bokeh butt right alongside Google at a 10/10 on my "Crystal's Most Hated" list. If my lens goes missing because I don't know when to expect its delivery, I just might go postal (which, in my opinion, everyone should since despite all of its frustrating issues, at least the USPS won't leave an expensive package unattended on my doorstep).

But anyway, now that I'm all packed up and ready to go, I'll wish you all a good night. Errrr, morning. There's nothing like waking up all bokeh-eyed to an email box notifying you of little steps closer to knocking off the next item on your list. Hopefully tomorrow... errrr, today... will be one of those days.

Unless you're Google. Then you say it's worth a big fat ZERO. Shame on you, Google, messin' with my self worth and all.

Soooo, any takers? *giggle*

Before we married, I had never even heard of stromboli, but my yankee husband grew up eating it and absolutely loves it. Nothing about it is healthy at all, its many ingredients are expensive, and it takes a while to prepare, so we rarely make it. However, Sunday we did. The way he traditionally makes it is with layered ham, pepperoni, hard salami, american cheese, mozzarella cheese, and parmesan cheese wrapped up in white pizza crust. It's truly a hearty man's meal (yes, even hearty men who used to be in the bell choir)! This time we decided to be adventurous.

First, we used the KitchenAid to make a hearty whole grain dough (with whole wheat pastry flour, which, despite the fact people say it does not work for yeast doughs, always works just fine for me). Instead of spreading a bit of mayo onto the inside of the pocket (which to be honest, I always found a little disturbing!) we spread pesto. Then came the layered meats, which we kept the same, and cheeses (substituting monterey jack for the mozzarella). My hubby was super meticulous with the seams, making sure they were perfect. I sprinkled some sea salt and oregano on the top to make it all purdy.

The verdict is in. Best stromboli, ever.

Dip in marinara sauce, and you're in pizza pocket heaven. My husband was on cloud 9. In fact, I think he sort of still is. Good thing we made extra for the freezer.

I could totally go for this...

a freeeeeee baby wearing stash!

Enter HERE.

Good luck!

Happy Monday!

Ana of The Pretty Peacock has written a guest post to share her practical advice on having an Etsy obsession. I know I can identify with that. Can you? *grin*

How are you this fine Friday? I'm stressed because I'm having internet issues*. I can't access half of the websites I need to access right now, including my own. Not cool when you have a business to run! I can access blogger though, and gmail so here I am, giving you quality blog content (stop laughing).

Now onto the Fill-In!

1. If I could be a fly on the wall I would cry because flies are nasty and walls don't look so comfy. Though to be completely honest, I'd rather be a fly on the wall than a fly on the poop.

2. Jealousy is green. Wait. Green is supposed to be good, right? I'm so confused now.

3. When I see a shooting star my wish would be that wishing on stars would actually work because that kind of child-like hope and innocence could do some good in the world right now.

4. I'd rather be me than a fly on the poop any day!

5. Certain songs when I hear them make me wanna dance. But I can't. So I try not to. But sometimes it slips out anyway. And that's just scary, y'all.

6. If time were in a bottle, and that bottle were thrown out to sea, that might explain LOST. Or at least make for another good TV plot involving island castaways.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to seeing my folks off for their trip to Hawaii! tomorrow my plans include braving the grocery store and Sunday, I want to relax.

*Yay! The internet is back! Woooo!

I nearly woke my sleeping husband just now laughing out loud.

Keyword that linked to my blog this week:

"how to install a bathroom doorknob"

To whoever is looking for advice on this topic here on song of my soul... be afraid. Be very, very afraid. (And clothed. Very, very clothed.)

Thanks, Google. Your pagerank might have pooped on me, but you're always good for a laugh.

Hi, bloggy buds. I asked Morgan of LaVogue and morgansilk on Etsy to write a guest post about how her cute little buddy named Chippie entered her life. He's such a doll! I hope you enjoy reading about him as much as I did. *grin*

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I couldn't do anything, hadn't been able to walk, or paint, or do anything since November, and now it was February. It was even getting hard to push the buttons on the remote. I had had two surgeries on my knee, one aborted, and all kinds of misery that I didn't understand. Finally, the orthopedic surgeon took the dang thing out and put in an oversize titanium one, but by that time the real problem was my hands. They hurt. The hair follicles hurt. My orthopedic surgeon thought I was an hysteric and my friends couldn't stand to be around me. My husband had to put food out for me when he left for work in the mornings because I couldn't pick up a pitcher or open a jar. I lost 25 pounds because I couldn't feed myself and didn't want to admit it.

I woke up in the hospital after the knee replacement and a new doctor was in my room. He took my hand, felt it gently, and asked me a few questions, then turned to the surgeon I deeply hated, and said, "She has rheumatoid arthritis". I was too messed up to pay any attention, but I did promise to make an appointment with that new doctor, and by February the medications were finally kicking in and I was beginning to feel more human. That month, my husband came in from working in the yard with a tiny little pink wormy thing the size of my (enlarged) thumb and told me he had found it under a leaf. What was it? We were familiar with baby squirrels, and this little thing was too small, so we decided that it was either a mouse or a chipmunk. He put it in a cardboard box lined with an old towel, filled an empty mayonnaise jar with hot water and wrapped that in a towel, and I emailed my veterinarian niece for advice. This little chipmunk was my constant companion until September when I was finally able to go back to work teaching high school. We bonded, and he has never tolerated anyone or anything else but me.

Laura told us to get some puppy formula at the local vet, and he grew and grew until he was a sweet little striped chippie. I would sit in the living room, doing my range-of-motion pedaling, and hold him in my lap. His tiny little eyes were closed and his ears were flat against his head, until one Friday night when one eye opened with a pop, then the other eye, then both ears perked up and he was off and running like a shot! Sometimes he's friendly, sometimes he's combative, and sometimes he couldn't care less. He wants to be left alone most of the winter, and has been known to attack people he does not like and remember them the next time. He would rather have chocolate than nuts or seeds, but it is dangerous food for little guys like him. He took off with a piece of oreo cookie one day and it took the two of us the better part of an hour to get it back. He chewed holes in my clothes, my purse, and hid seeds and nuts in our shoes. He even escaped the house for a whole day; just as I was trying to convince myself he would be okay he appeared in the driveway, looking around cluelessly. He would NOT be alright! I ran out there and he practically jumped into my arms. Squirrels will devour little chipmunks, hawks swoop on the them, cats will torment them; I have no idea how long they can live without predators, but he is more than six years old now.

What will I do when he is gone? I can never have a little friend like this again; you cannot capture a chipmunk and if you did it would never love you. It has to smell you and hear you and feel you long before it can see you or know that you are not of the same species. I have read that wild animals can make attachments with only one person, and although I do not know if this is true in general, it has been so in our case.

Find more videos like this on We Love Etsy


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Awww, animals sure have a way of warming our hearts. We all hope Chippie gives you many more good times, Morgan! Be sure to stop by and visit Morgan at LaVogue and Morgan's Silk Scarves where you will find a wide variety of fabulous items from vintage housewares to hand-died silk scarves. You can also visit her on We Love Etsy.

Thanks for being a part of my little space in the world wide web, Morgan! *grin*

**Do you have something interesting or informative to share and would like to be a guest blogger here at The Song of My Soul? Shoot me an email and we'll chat!**

Or, not so much.

I'm a bit miffed at Google at the moment. For some reason, my blog had a page rank of 4/10, and now it is 0/10. What the yahoo?! I thought it was a fluke at first, but it's been like this for a couple weeks now. I don't think I have been blacklisted, because, I mean, why? I haven't done anything Google-illegal.

My pages are still indexed. So... Google, not liking you too much right now. With those stats, I might as well start over with a whole new blog and my own domain. I was thinking about it and the main thing keeping me from it is losing my Google pagerank that took me two friggin years to get. *growl*

The one good thing Google is good for right now is a laugh. I use their Analytics thingamabop to track information on my blog and website. It comes in quite handy. I can see where people are from, what websites referred them here, and how long they stayed. But none of this is quite so entertaining as looking up the keyword searches that bring some people here.

"i hate teeth" - yeah? Me too! Or at least I hate my teeth. Though I must admit they do come in handy.

"easy mac white powder" - I have a feeling that this person was looking for confirmation that the white powder in his/her easy mac was not anthrax. Sorry I can neither confirm nor deny such matters. I can confirm, however, that easy mac is gross and not fit for human consumption, and that Annie's Mac & Cheese is the good stuff.

"funny description of tiny bathroom" - Oookay.

"i am a popular cheerleader" - Not so much!

"i fumble my words when i speak" - I, umm, uhh, errrr... but, you know... it's umm... yeah.

"how to choose my song before singing" - Glad to be of service!

"because you was a part of me because you was a part of my sole" - *blink, blink*

"acupuncture bruise afterwards" - Been there, done that.

"guess earrings" - Is Guess even still around? That is oh, so 90's.

"i call my soul" - I hope she answered.

"i gave you my soul, find song" - Find it, Google, find it now!

"i love my birthmark but the mole may be cancerous" - My blog can neither confirm nor deny this. Please seek medical attention.

"is ripping off moles safe" - My blog can neither confirm nor deny this. Please seek medical attention. And maybe some psychological help would be a good idea too.

"is it cool to have two earrings" - Why, yes. Yes it is. And you're in luck. My earrings come in pairs! Woo!

"meaning of a white elephant as a lawn ornament" - It means the British are coming. One if by land, two if by sea. Come on, people, watch your HGTV.

"soul is a four letter word" - Thank you, Mr. Obvious.

"crystal" - That's me!

My blog attracts some interesting attention. Eat that, Google, and shove it up your PageRank. (That sounds so nasty, yet makes so little sense.)

What interesting things have brought people to your site or blog?

Whoops! Crystal found a new meme to try out. I used to do memes a lot, then life got in the way, and now I'm just sort of lazy. *grin* However, I want to spruce up my blog which I feel has gotten a wee bit boring lately because half the time I don't know what to talk about anymore, so I'm going to try a few new things, including perhaps trying a new (or old) meme or two. (And maybe add some more run-on sentences as well because goshdarnit, they are so much fun.)

I'll also be featuring some guest bloggers in the very near future. From funny and heart-touching stories to informative articles and maybe a little in between, it should be interesting. *grin* Look for the first one (hopefully) sometime next week!

Now onto the Fill-In!

1. Oh, I can't wait until I have a child.

2. Coca cola is the first thing I see when I open my refrigerator.

3. I never leave home without my cellphone.

4. If I were a condiment, I would be ketchup because it too has red hair. Or something.

5. People who act like they're better than everyone else are really high up on my list of pet peeves.

6. The last thing I thought of before I went to bed was I gotta get up in five hours.
Ugggggh.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to hanging out with the hubbs, tomorrow my plans include flooring, flooring, flooring and Sunday, I want to get some jewelry business done!