Monday, June 28, 2010

New Blog

As much as I have tried to avoid it, I have finally given in and started a second blog ... but for good reasons. I know I'll sound like a huge dork when I say this but I love making hats. My family is full of really creative women who seem to excel in everything ... unlike me who seems to struggle with everything that I attempt. I was so glad to move away from Baton Rouge because people I meet would not know who my mother or sisters are and I wouldn't hear comments like "do you make your own clothes, too?" or "you've got such a talented family, what do you do?" Um, nothing. I burn almost everything I cook and I can't sew a stitch to save my life. While I have started to decorate cupcakes, the level of talent still pales in comparison to that of my sisters and mother.

However, all of this changed my last semester in undergrad. I took Hatmaking (yes, it's a real class for college credit). I loved it and loved making the different hats. But time got away from me and I didn't get to pursue it like I planned. This past November, my oldest sister told me that she was having a tea held in her honor and everyone needed hats and she wanted to make one for it. She asked ME to teach HER. And then my MOTHER asked ME too! So I came home for Thanksgiving and taught them how to make hats and in the process made another one for a friend of mine. I loved how it turned out and ordered several additional hoods so that I can make some more. Granted, I don't need a bajillion hats so I'm going to start making them as presents and selling them. I just love the creative outlet that this provides. I'm almost done with a cloche for a girl I used to nanny and have another idea to start after I finish that one.

Anyway, if you want to follow that one ... http://capsbykiki.blogspot.com/

:-)

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

It's been a long time ...

As I go about my days now, things will happen that I think I should blog about and then I never get around to doing. Right now, I feel like my life is on hold while the real world is flying by me. I've been home for one month and am still unemployed/homeless. This isn't for lack of trying either. I have repeatedly applied for positions but that darn license is holding me up. I mailed in my application to take the exam FOUR weeks ago and still haven't heard from them. This is getting increasingly frustrating. On top of that, I was called about one of the positions that I applied for in Austin. I was so psyched about this job. They wanted to interview me so I passed all of their minimum qualifications and had the preferred experience (my specialization sure is coming in handy). So I called the lady back and first question was do I have my license? I explained that I was in the process. She said to call her when I had it and we would set up the interview. That was almost two weeks ago. How long are they willing to wait? Ugh. I am so ready to have my own place again - to live alone again - and have ALL of my clothes! I am so tired of living out of two suitcases which I've been doing since December. This has gotten old. I'm ready to settle down.

At least something has been occupying my time this week. JURY DUTY. Let me tell you - it is the most boring experience of my life. I have spent two days sitting around and waiting. The only thing that was said to us today was that we could go to lunch for an hour and then we had to be back at 10am. That's it - no update on the status of anything. We're left in the dark not knowing. I think I'd rather get a root canal - at least Dr. Scotty tells me every step he's making. However, I have decided that the one good thing about this is that I have now eaten at Poor Boy Lloyd's two days in a row. I have missed Louisiana cooking so much. Their crawfish poboy can almost make jury duty worth it. I'm crossing my fingers that I don't get picked for the jury though. I try so hard to not judge people and this goes against everything. I don't believe that it's our place to pass judgment on others. If I do get selected - I hope it's for something minor and not a murder. Louisiana has the death penalty, and I'm not okay with that.

This past weekend, my parents and I drove down to Meraux, LA to help my sister and her fiance paint their house. He's been rebuilding it for the past five years. Meraux was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina and everything was destroyed in the floods. Homeowner's insurance protects against floods - not hurricanes - so people were left with nothing. The sense of community in South Louisiana is amazing. People have slowly been rebuilding their lives as they can. It's their home and they're not going anywhere. So my mom and I decided to have fun with the painting. We took a trip to the local goodwill to pick up some painting clothes for us and my sister....