Get hopping!

I've been doing a lot of crafting lately, not least because I work for a craft company, but also because I started my first counted cross-stitch project in a very long time. Just in time to take it up to Minnesota for some North Woods relaxation!

The project is taking a lot longer than I thought it would — I don't know, cross stitch looks so easy, and it really is, but it's just more time consuming than a lot of other crafts I do. However, it's a small price to pay for my finished product — an adorable scene from Watership Down, one of my favorite movies and books of all time! Complete with Bigwig, Hazel, Blackberry, Fiver, Pipkin, Dandelion, and others!

Speaking of all this crafting, I thought I should share that I have some fun new projects up on my company's website! Beach Party Invitations, Beach Party Place Cards, Tiki Party Sign, and Ocean Trip Frame! (The latter two were made under fake names for our relatively unsuccessful consumer craft project contest program, for which I have personally made nearly all the "consumer" projects.)

This weekend promises to be a busy one. Hopefully Andy & Jo will be over for my cheesy chicken & rice casserole tonight! Then tomorrow is the HRS Chicago Hop-a-Thon (for which I still have to make my side dishes — lemon bars and cucumber sandwiches).

Sunday is the Gimme Shelter! Walk for the Animals in Chicago, hosted by the Red Door Animal Shelter. My coworkers and I are meeting up, and it should be pretty insane, what with dogs running this way and that, sniffing each other's butts. You get to walk in honor of an animal, so Dave and I are walking in honor of Finn.

Zelda giving Finn a kiss on the cheek sometime in fall 2004

Pictures to follow of the Hop-a-Thon and the Gimme Shelter! Walk, both of which promise to have some amusing shots, considering that it's very difficult to get animals to pose, or basically to listen to you whatsoever. Some dog's always peeing on some other dog, and some stupid person didn't spay their dog and she's in heat, or someone lets their unleashed dog loose into the field of bunnies at the Hop-a-Thon. THEN, the dog people start blaming each other about whose dog is worse behaved, and who started it in the first place.

Speaking of people who think they know everything about animals, I've got to get ready for tomorrow, when rabbit people start poking and prodding Zelda and telling me she's too thin, or too sweet, or "why don't you feed her pellets," etc. I don't comment on their bunnies being too fat, and Zelda is cuter than any of them, any day.

Quote of the day:

"And all the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies, and whenever they catch you, they will kill you.

"But first, they must catch you."

- Tale of El-Ahrairah, rabbit folklore from Watership Down