I actually remembered to title last night’s post before I published! So proud of myself, lol. I am drawing a total blank for what to write about tonight. I have been staring at this screen for a while and nothing is popping out at me. Today was a good day, as far as that goes. The work day went well, got a lot accomplished…had my favorite style of meal for dinner… browsed Pinterest for a while (I don’t think it’s possible to browse Pinterest for a short amount of time) especially since I am trying to build up the Mae’d Pinterest account…and watched the Disney channel for a little while….yes…I watch the Disney Channel…and…yes…I am an adult. I like it because the storylines are catchy and easy to follow, and it doesn’t take any brain power when I want to just relax on the couch, and I know it will always work out in the end. I don’t have to worry about violence, terror, or sad endings. I can watch them safely. Might be childish, but it’s also fun to find the adult humor in a lot of the episodes. And, to be honest, a lot of the shows really crack me up.

Every time I write one of these, I forget to give it a title and have to publish it again once I come up with one. I would love to title it at the beginning, so as not to forget, but half the time I don’t even know what I’m going to write about until I’m done with the post. I could try to come up with a full on plan ahead of time…but I know myself well enough to know that isn’t going to happen. Speaking of remembering…it’s amazing how much of my drawing skill has gone out the window due to lack of use. I’ve been trying to draw some illustrations to go with some of my designs, but I’ve had to keep forcing myself to go back to the basics…practice drawing eyes, practice drawing lips, currently need to force myself to go practice drawing hair…I’m currently really bad at hair…and it was stuff I used to be able to draw in my sleep. Now I have to concentrate and end up really frustrated. Apparently drawing skill is like a muscle…you lose it if you don’t use it. So I’m going to have to force myself to practice every day…or at least much more often than I have been the past few years…to try to regain and keep up my skills. To any artists out there…do not let your skill go…it can be so valuable to you through any type of emotion…It is a way to express things that you may not have the words for, and a way to release emotions you don’t want. So don’t ever let that skill go. Hold on to it, practice a little bit regularly. It’s very difficult and frustrating to get it back once it’s gone, and it’s too precious to give up.

Today was a good day. I was able to finished my newest latex design, and so far I am really happy with it! I’m hoping to do the photoshoot for it next weekend and have the pictures posted some time after that. I just realized I haven’t posted any pictures from the last photoshoot yet…oops. I’ll have to do that soon. I posted them to my instagram account but haven’t had a chance to post them on here yet. I will remedy that :). I also got started on my next design idea, and have some new ideas for upcoming latex designs. Other than that, today was a lot of cleaning. Cleaning up the studio, and my house. I always want to put my effort and attention into so many other things that it’s hard to find time to clean, but it always feels so nice to have a clean house. And one of my favorite things in the world is a freshly cleaned and made bed. There isn’t much better than that. I hate cleaning bathrooms, though, it always seems like a never ending task. I know everything has to be cleaned regularly, but at least a bed can be made every morning, easily, and things can be tidied up and put away, but bathrooms always have spots on the glass door, and (for my house) cat fur in the sink. Its a never ending, never feels fully clean, kind of endeavor. Side note…saying the phrase tidied up…reminded me of Ula from The Producers in her scene where they asked her to tidy up the office.

I really enjoy watching this movie, and the music is so catchy! I think they all did a great job portraying the characters.

It seems like this week has been odd for a lot of people. I can’t honestly say it’s been one of my better weeks, and a lot of people I know have said the same thing. I even spoke with a customer today that was having a weird week, where everything seemed to not work out right and plans kept getting messed up. I’d be curious as to how many other people have had weird weeks. It goes along with the weird weather I was in the other day. It’s just, all in all, a weird week. Thankfully there is only one day left and then we get to start a new week, and hopefully that week is much less weird and has many more ups than downs.

I was in some very odd weather while driving around town tonight. On one street….just one street…I went through a patch of foggy, snowy weather that had the starts of blizzard like conditions..then, a street light later…There was no snow and no fog. A little ways up the street…more snow and fog. It was so strange. There were just patches of snow and fog through out town. Even the backyard…half had snow on the ground, the other half didn’t have any at all. The same backyard. Colorado has some very bizarre weather, even to those of us who are natives and used to the weird weather. We can still be surprised by what Colorado can dish out. I’ve even driven down the road where you could see a crystal clear line from where it had rained and where the rain stopped. When I was a kid, I was on a trampoline in the backyard of my cousins house, and we could see it trying to rain in the front yard, but no drops were hittng us. I don’t know what it is about this state…but the weather sure can throw you for a loop. It’s hard to plan clothes for the day, because it could start cold and crappy…and by noon its warm and beautiful…or the complete opposite can happen…it starts off beautiful and turns cold and dreary quick. We can even go from snow, to t-shirt weather in the same day…sometimes in just a matter of an hour or so. Dressing in layers is usually a very good way to go here…but then you have to carry around the layers you have shed throughout the day…or sometimes you didn’t wear enough layers for what the day brought. And picking a coat…practically a nightmare. So many Coloradans have multiple coats just because we have no idea what’s going to happen. It’s never dull weather wise, that’s for sure.

Went to help my friend look for a new truck today and it got me thinking about vehicles. There is so much involved in getting a new vehicle (even when the vehicle you are getting is used and only new to you.) First, you have to decide what type of vehicle you want…is it a truck, a car, a van, or an SUV. Let’s say you need a truck…there are so many options to choose from just for that one class of vehicle. Pick a company…Ford, Chevy, Toyota, etc. Do you want gas or diesel. Extended cab or regular cab. Extended bed or regular bed. Normal four tires, or add the two extra to the back. How big do you want it (such as for Ford and F150, F250, F350 and so on). You also have levels for each truck to pick (such as the XLT, Lariat, Platinum, or Limited, for Ford.) Each one has a separate amount of options available to it. To finish picking out your new truck, you also need to pick a paint color, and interior color, chrome or no chrome, tire size. Also all the technology (aka bells and whistles) that could be in the truck. So many things to choose from. Once you start to have an idea of what you are looking for, you have to decide do you want it new or used. If you choose used, you are now limited to what is available, which means you have to decide which options are least and most important. If you choose new, you still have to make that same decision based on what is available at that dealership, what is available to them, how far you are willing to travel to find it, or if you want to pay the extra money to just have it ordered and shipped. You can spend days just trying to pick a single vehicle you might like to have. You also have to take into account where you are going to store it (will it fit in the garage?), what it will do to your insurance, if you want to finance or lease it, so on and so forth. It’s an entire adventure just to buy a vehicle. I wonder how people can manage to pick one at all.

I was able to get a pretty good amount of stuff done today. It currently doesn’t feel like it was a productive day, even though I know I got stuff done…but I think that is more because I wanted to get more done than I did. Two pieces to my new latex outfit are almost done, just have to do some of the finishing elements (which are meant more for longevity than design) and then they will be completely done. Then put the third piece together and my whole outfit will be done. I’m debating making a 30s style hat or fascinator of some sort to add some more pizazz to the ensemble…but I’m not sure yet…and I haven’t really thought too much into it…more of a passing idea than a full on thought. I’m pretty happy with how it is looking though. I also realized I want to make some ready to purchase items…so instead of having everything made to order… I will create some things that are ready to ship right away. Some of the more basic items, for now at least. I am going to work on adding more basic items as well. But don’t worry, there are some more elaborate designs on the way.

One of my goals for this year was to finish my stack of “started reading” books…and I just started…well, started continuing, my last one of the stack! It’s very exciting. Once this one is finished I can start on my stack of “not read yet” books, so that I can finally file them away on the bookshelf and make room for some new ones. I’ve been forcing myself…forcing is actually too strong of a word (it doesn’t take much for me to talk myself into reading…It takes a lot for me to talk myself into stopping reading) to read at least a few pages every morning. I drink my daily supplement while getting some pages read, and it helps my day start off pleasantly. The only time it has been frustrating is if I have to stop reading and I’m right in the middle of an interesting scene, other than that it has been quite pleasant. It also helps my mornings start off nicely. On a different note, I have started a new latex outfit…not sure If I mentioned that in the post last night…and honestly, I’m currently too lazy to go back and read it to find out…so even if I did…I’m mentioning it again :). I was trying so hard not to use emoticons in these posts, but it just hasn’t felt like me without them…now that I’ve finally broken down, you may end up seeing way too many of them. I will try my hardest to keep myself in check :). Two of them in one post! Oh my. Back to the latex… it is similar to the red and black lace outfit I made earlier this year. This one is also red and black and does have a lace accent. It’s a skirt, a corset like top, and a little vest. I was only planning on making the skirt…but then the other ideas popped into my head to complete the outfit…and then before I knew it I had the patterns made and the latex cut out. All that’s left is to get it all put together and get some photos. If tomorrow ends up being a snow day like it seems…then I may have it put together sooner than expected. That would be wonderful :). Ha! Three!

I had a productive and satisfying day. Finished a book I’ve been reading. It’s Night Angel by Brent Weeks, and was a really interesting book! It was one of those situations where I kept picking it up at the book store to look at it and read the back but never taking it home with me…then one day I decided just to grab it and I didn’t regret it. I would try to give a synopsis of it….but I’m really bad at that…so lets just say it has assassins, kings, queens, magic, prophecy, madness, humor, justice, honor, just to name a few. I really enjoyed reading it and was really happy to be able to finish it this morning. Sadly, it ended way too soon…I was so hooked I wasn’t ready for it to be over. I love when books do that. They transport you to their world, allowing you to live moments as a different person…to see through their eyes in a new perspective, and to visit strange and new lands. You get to embark on an epic journey to some distant world where anything is possible. One of the best parts, is because there are so many different types of books…you get to choose what kind of adventure you want to go on. You aren’t limited to any one type or style. Maybe you want to walk through Paris on a romantic getaway, or visit the rings of Saturn. Maybe you want to visit a completely different dimension, or go back in time and experience history. Or maybe you just want a heartwarming tale to be a companion to you for the night. Whatever it is, you can find a book to go with it. The options are endless.

I’m trying to figure out where the time keeps going. It feels like just yesterday it was Saturday…but it has already been a week. I’m not even sure where this week went. It’s amazing how time can get away from us so easily. When you want time to go by slow, it goes by fast…when you want it to go by fast, it goes by slow. So strange how that works. The only thing we can do, is just try to live each moment to the fullest. Not always easy to do. But what’s nice…is that having lazy moments are still included in the living life to the fullest, as long as it isn’t affecting anything important in your life. The week went by so fast that I decided tonight was a lazy, relaxing kind of night…and that’s exactly what I did. I started my current Hobbit movie marathon…well…I had intentions of it being a marathon…it really ended up being the first movie, and I started it a little too late to watch the next one…because I knew if I started it, then I’d want to watch the third one and I’d never get any sleep. It’s the same reason why I can’t read before bed…it never ends up being one more actual chapter…it turns into one more chapter, followed by one more chapter, followed by another one more chapter, until I only have a small portion of pages left, which means I must therefore finish the book…next thing I know, it’s daylight again. I have done that enough times to know I do not have the will power to put down a good books, especially at night. I’m already tired, meaning the willpower is in a weakened state…mix that with an interesting novel…and bamm…I’m done for. I just realized I do the same with some video games too. I’m starting to wonder if I just have an issue with willpower in general…hmm…I’m going to keep blaming it on being tired.