Where or Where is Fatand40?

I know, I know, I have not blogged over here in forever! But, I have a very good excuse because I've turned my personal blogging attention primarily to my web site, now turned weblog, which I call the Crafty Princess Diaries.

This will be my second stab at trying out an indie blog, and so far, after making the switch in April 08 from static web site to weblog, it's been going pretty well. Pageviews are building, I even have my first advertiser, and I have more ideas in the works, such as a new personalized template that should be up in a month or so.

I may pop over here now and then, but if anyone is interested in crafts, then come by and sign up for my RSS over there. Along with covering my own personal crafting experiences, I include how-to information, crafting as a career, contest news, designing, craft business ideas, and well, you get the idea. If it's about arts and crafts, then I'm talking about it.

The New Baby is Home!

Yeah! We picked up my new Element yesterday right before the dealership closed. The color is amazing, much better than I had imagined. She is now parked next to my DH's truck, and as you can see, they are about the same as far as height.

I need to get used to the clutch, which seems tighter than my old Civic, but otherwise, it was a pretty easy drive home. Since it's a Honda, most of the controls are in the same spot as my old car, so it shouldn't take much of an adjustment.

I may have to drive around the block a little today. My next big "road trip" isn't until Monday when it's back to the books and rush hour traffic.

New Car on the Horizon?

I'm exhausted, but we may have a car deal tomorrow. We went to a Honda dealership just north of here, then the Toyota/Scion dealer, and then to a closer local Honda dealership.

I drove the Element, then the Scion, and then the Element again. It was a tough decision, but if all goes well tomorrow, I'll be getting an Element at the local dealership. I really liked the Scion, and my DH was also very impressed, but considering the Element isn't going to cost that much more (maybe at most a few thousand), the gas mileage is not a big difference (10%), and the Toyota people were the most obnoxious *holes I've ever met in my life and I'd as soon get a root canal then ever go back there again, the Honda won out. It is a much larger car, and I liked the fact that the interior is rubber versus carpeting.

It's really too bad that Toyota/Scion has to be so horrible because that's a great little car for the price. Interesting too how different the dealerships are. At the first Honda dealership, it is a brand new facility. You go inside and they have a little kitchenette with bar stools where they bake cookies and offer you free gourmet coffee. They also have flat screen TVs and comfy chairs all over the place, and a small basket ball court inside.

The Scion people get you inside and trick you into sitting in a tiny little office. Then any time you ask a question, the sales person (and you have at least 2 or 3 different people "helping" you) has to run out and ask someone. Then they may or may not have an answer for you, but they tried to get us to sign something saying we'd buy a car right then. We kept telling them that you know where would freeze over before we did that, but they just wouldn't give it up. Finally, the junior sales guy was keeping us busy, and I asked him, "So, do people really come in here off the street and buy a car right away without even thinking about it?" He said, "Yes, all the time." I replied, "Well, we don't do that and never will. We have to go home and talk it over." I think he understood, but as the *hole in training, he wasn't in charge. So, we ended up walking out. Boy, they were freaked.

Finally, we stopped by the local dealership on the way home, and again, it was so much more relaxing. We didn't get any cookies, but the pressure was totally off. I drove the Element again, so I could get a better comparison, and it was a lot more comfortable to me than the first time I drove it. The biggest issue is waiting for them to get me a standard because I only drive cars with a stick shift, not an automatic.

We were running low on time and had to get home for the doggies to do their business, so we are going back some time tomorrow to find out how much they'll give us for my old Honda as a trade in, but we are hoping they will give us a good deal and by the next day, I may have my spiffy new Element to jet about town in. I've been saving up for over a year for this, and as my current Honda Civic has 95,000 miles on it now, it's time to cash it in while it still has some decent trade in value.

I'll be dreaming of my Element tonight!

Joined Good Reads

I joined Good Reads as a way to promote my new books, and I have to admit, I find this social network kind of addicting!

Pushing Cars...Extending a Hand

Yesterday, I was coming home from school, a little giddy because spring break had started, and I stopped to gas up my car. As I pulled into the station, I saw a young man (I'm guessing 18 years old, maybe) pushing his car into the parking lot, and I had to swerve a little to miss him since he was right next to the entrance.


I got out and started pumping my gas, and as I did so, he was pushing his car back and forth by himself. He'd open his car door, turn the steering wheel a bunch, then push, then mess with the wheels again, then push. Back and forth, back and forth, his car kept moving and he kept adjusting it.


While I continued to pump my gas, I watched as other patrons - all men - came and went as this kid kept up his car maneuvering. Then I realized - no one was going to help him. Not one person even looked his way. I'm standing there pump in hand, looking around, thinking, "Hello, people, help this kid already, geez! I am so not buying that you don't see he needs help."

Luckily, I wasn't wearing a skirt and heels, so when I finished, I went over to him, and said, "Hold on," and put both my hands up to stop him from whatever the heck he was trying to do. "What are you trying to do here?"

He told me then that the gas tank was on the other side of his car, so he needed to get the car up as close as possible to the pumps. So, yes, me....the fat, 40++ old lady, helped the kid push his car. Believe it or not, this was the first time I'd ever pushed a car in my life. I was always the one inside the car turning the wheel....Hey, girls to do not push cars in my world. But, I'm glad I stepped into this other world for a little while because he was very grateful, and it made me feel very good, even a little strong, ha.

And to those men who ignored him, shame on you!
[image]

Metal Clay Book Fini

I just finished taking one more look at the last chapter for my metal clay book, so it looks like I'm finished. The DVD went out last week to the publisher's DVD guy, and my editor actually said she really liked it, so that is a huge relief. Here's a little clip I pulled off my new myspace page. It's very fuzzy because the file was condensed, but you can get an idea of what I'm doing on the DVD.

Metal Clay Excerpt

A Pretty Rose

[image]

Picture Text

I am just doing a test of uploading an image in this post.

I think this picture is so pretty, so I decided to add this one today.

Notice how the text is wrapping to the side.

How about adding a link? This is a site where you can get free images.