Inthisrage

PLEASE DO NOT SEND FOOD ITEMS OF ANY SORT!!!

I AM A FOOD ADDICT - SOBER SINCE MAY 2010

My relationship with food is complicated and as a recovering food addict ANYTHING could be a trigger. Thank you!

I am happily married to my best friend and same-sex partner. (We were married in the BEAUTIFUL state of Vermont in April of '11. It was the most amazing vacation, the people there are amazing!!!) Stay at home mother of two, 10 & 8 this year. We homeschool and I work one day a week with Weight Watchers after losing 119 pounds. I work hard daily to keep it off, and stay extremely active and happy despite living life with fibro and migraines. I have six cats, a dog, two chickens and a parakeet. (When I say I have I mean that my family has, of those animals every person has one or two! lol) I like scrap booking, art, painting, and smash booking, photography. SMASHbook, watercolor. Pen & ink. I now ADORE making mini zines and hope to build up to making a big one!

I think that my life philosophy can be summed up nicely with the words of an Ani Difranco song, Hour Follows Hour. They are, "you can't really place blame cuz blame is much to messy some was bound to get on you while you were tryin to put it on me" While I am a fire sign and I used to be quick to jump in - happy, angry, sad, up, down... all rapid fire insanity, in my ever increasing age I have found a peace and I try to never fly to reaction. I strive to be fair, honest and accepting (even of those who I don't understand and who are not accepting of me.)

Me: I am a Sagittarius and that means a lot to me so arrows and bow & arrows and centaurs are a HUGE plus!!! Fav color is Tiffany blue - but I like light or dark!!! LOVE blue, then green and finally pink. I like blues and greens together and I adore Tiffany blue and pink together - that was my wedding colors! Favorites animals: Horses. Siamese cats, monkeys (sock monkeys,) owls, lions and goldendoodles. I love rainbows, or rainbow-ed anything. Running is my passion. I love tidbits to SMASH in my SMASHbook and I live to wreck my journals! I have a serious addiction to shoes and fashion - not like being in style, but the cultivation and evolution of my own style.

Wife: Loves giraffes, is a Gemini, fav colors are gray and pink, smokes cigars (outside only)

10 year old: Loves cats, is a Virgo, fav color is blue, is into Pokemon, Sonic the Hedgehog and making videos. Love math and science. Dances ballet and hopes to do pointe classical ballet in the future.

8 year old: Loves (insert ever-changing animal, I believe it was frogs last time she had this conversation with me! lol), is a cancer, fav color is pink, into Polly Pocket and princess things. She is my tomboy! Can, and will, climb anything.

6 cats: ALWAYS looking for fun, feathery toys and catnip treats!

1 dog: Wiley really likes non-squeaking stuffy toys or rope toys. Soft treats, no rawhide or crunchy treats. (For a dog rescued only three weeks ago he sure is spoiled!)

I obsessively collect, so I guess that makes this the wish list section?! ... In order of how much I love! (Only SLIGHTLY, because I love them all!!! lol)

Figurines - horse, unicorn, lion or centaur!!!! Monkey, giraffe, owl, deer, swan, cat. (I love old vintage type brass figurines, tiny stone animals... brightly painted ceramic, any tiny animal really!)

Paperclips - my love for colorful and uniquely shaped paperclips comes from my early years spent in the confines of corporate America where sticking a teeny purple heart or stripped star shaped paperclip was a silent eff off to "the man."

Socks - when I was young I hated anything on my feet now I will not be without. Also, LONG socks for making sock animals, which is something my oldest daughter and I do together.

Journals - I love small, big, any and all notebooks and journals! SMASHbooks and SMASHing items!

Fairies - I should have out grown this, I have not.

Rainbows, or any of the above in rainbow-ed fashion - OMG how great would that be?

Tea & coffee - I am a tea drinker, I like to try most teas. My favorites are vanilla & cinnamon types (separate or together!) and I am DYING to try Bigelow Vanilla Almond Tea but have not found it in stores here! :( As far as coffee I use a Keurig, so K-cups are fun!

----Books---- ANYTHING by Christopher Moore

Dangerous Angels and almost all things Fransecsca Lia Block

Vampire Lestat books, Anne Rice

Lost Souls?, Poppy Z. Brite

Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

May Bird, Jodi Lynn Anderson

Maximum Ride, (the first few...) James Patterson

Wolves of Mercy Falls (Just started this trilogy BUT loving it!!!) Maggie Stiefvater

LA Candy novels, Lauren Conrad

----Television---- For entertainment: House, Bones, Touch, Fringe, Supernatural, Breaking Bad, Dexter, Weeds

For brain numbing qualities: Reality TV. The dirtier the better. Dance moms, toddlers in tiaras, and any real world road rules challenge show plus almost every thing on Bravo.

Zentangles.

I have never thought that this was something I could do. My daughter used to do a variation of this when she was in first grade, sit and repeat patterns. She showed me once and all I could think was that it was so tedious and hard! I have spent the last two days swimming through the website tanglepatterns.com and I am HOOKED - if I am sent tiles or pens or anything that has inspired your zentangles I would just flip out!

There are things that I would rather not get, for multiple reasons. I have avoided swaps where they could be included (like candles) but understand that people often send extras and I would like to avoid issues!

Because it really is a BIG deal I want to mention food again. As a food addict I have become accustomed to passing fast food places and I am mentally ready to encounter food through my day. If there is a surprise most of the people in my life know my situation and can be leaned on. However, I really don't know what would happen if I was alone in my car and I opened a swap with candy... I honestly thank you all for helping me avoid that temptation.

Strongly scented items, I have severe allergies and I suffer from migraines. Strongly scented things WILL trigger an allergy melt down and can (often do) trigger a week long migraine. It's not as simple as removing the scented item, usually if people send things with something scented everything in the envie becomes scented.

Tagged on 7/25 @fifisHQ2012 something alice in wonderland or something bird cage themed or something princessy or something fairytale themed for the "I wish..." forum game. Sent 8/4!

As I carefully maneuver through my first few swaps I find that I am having sever anxiety over swaps not making it to their destination. I check and re-check to see if I have been rated so that I can relax! lol Maybe this is newbie nerves, but still it's kind of sickening. Because of this I have decided to limit my more in depth swapping to the USA so that I can attach tracking numbers to packages. I do plan to continue to be a part of the zine swapping internationally because if I should need to resend the cost will be lower... If you are in a package swap with me I will be messaging your tracking number, which is fun anyway because who doesn't like to cyber stalk their mail? :)

SWAPPING - All swaps are sent and either rated or waiting for ratings.

LIFE - 8-1 the kids start school on the 17th of August so I will be VERY selective about the swaps I dedicate myself to - the start and end of our school year is hectic!

BOO - 8-6 Money has changed and I will be VERY SELECTIVE about my swaps and tags. This means I will probably do art swaps that are regional to save on postage and use what I have. I will also probably look into private swaps to ensure quality, but I am working on my etsy shop before that happens so I can show others what I do...