At the Spa

Okay, we didn't actually take any pics while at the spa. So here are pics of us at Beau Jo's Pizza:

As Kortney said, "Keene's nose zit was not welcome in this picture":

Heeeeeey!

That kid is snarky

Aye aye aye. Kayden. It's really hard to get after him about being snarky when I'm too busy laughing behind my hand.

So, we were all in the car last night, on our way to take Kayden to his dad's house. Maia was eating (fast food, since we were en route).

Several times, I heard Kayden telling her to close her mouth while she eats (she is quite a loud eater). She continued to eat with her mouth open.

Finally, Keene said something like, "Well, Kayden, you have to give her a break if she occasionally opens her mouth to breathe or something..."

Without missing a beat, he said, "Isn't that what a nose is for?"

Hello? Is it me you're looking for?

Last night, I was watching a movie on my computer while crocheting. In the living room, Keene was typing away on his computer.

Suddenly, I get a call. I look at the ID and it's Keene. I look up and he's still typing. I hold up my phone and say, "Are you calling me?"

He pulls his phone from his pocket, looks at it, and says, "Oh, I guess I was."

I reply, "Apparently, something in your pocket really wants to talk to me."

In my mind, I imagine this to be the conversation:

Kelli: Hello?
Keene's pocket: ::heavy breathing::

The Significance of Markings on Lenox China

(Reposted from Lenox-China.net)

It is believed that the first china markings were done by Meissen Royal Manufactory in the eighteenth century. The king of Saxony, Augustus Rex (also known as Augustus the Strong), commissioned the first production of hard-paste porcelain in Europe. Meissen painted an “AR” on the pieces, in honor of the king. Shortly thereafter, the company began using the famous crossed swords mark, which is still in use today.

Markings are often located on the bottom of a piece, and usually include (depending on the age of the item) a pattern name, a product number, the year of its creation, company name, retailer, and/or brand name. To make life even more confusing for the identifier, sometimes a piece will have both the name of the factory which produced the piece, as well as another mark signifying the decorator.

There are clues to identifying the age of a piece right away, based on the emerging laws and standards of certain time periods. For example, if an English piece has the name of the pattern printed, it was created after 1810. If the word “Royal” appears, the piece was made after 1850. If you see the word (or associated abbreviations) “Limited,” the piece was created after 1861, while the words “Trade Mark” tell you the piece was created after the Act of 1862. Similarly, the letters “R N” signify a date of creation after 1883. If the words, “bone china” are included, the piece was made in the twentieth century (or later).

Lenox has made it fairly easy to identify the age of its china. The first pieces were stamped with “Ceramic Art Company” or “Lenox Belleek,” depending on the style. In 1906, the stamp was changed to a green wreath surrounding the letter “L,” with the name Lenox below it. (Nevertheless, even if the company name is missing, it is still authentic if it has the wreath logo.) In 1930, the phrase “Made in U.S.A.” was included. This stamp remained the standard backstamp until 1953, when the wreath’s color was changed to gold.

Another way of identifying Lenox china is by the date code. If there is not a pattern name, look for a series of letters and numbers either on the bottom or on the rim of a piece. The first set of numbers before the slash describes the piece’s shape. Next, you will find a letter and a number (and sometimes, a second letter), which makes up the date code. If you find a date code but no pattern name, the piece was likely created before 1950—the year when Lenox quit using the date code system. After the date code, you should see a string of letters which correspond to a piece’s pattern colors.

With this gathered information, you can look up the maker, pattern, year, and/or value of your piece on the Lenox website, in an encyclopedia of china marks, through a replacement company, or by taking the piece to an appraiser or antique shop.

The Next-Day Challenge: Purple Mountain Lion Hat

Yesterday, my friend Anne, emailed me, asking if I could create an "emergency hat". Her coworker's birthday was the following day (that would make it today, for those uncaffeinated readers out there). Would I be able to pump out a hat in time? Or would I fail, thereby ruining my friend's coworker's birthday forever? (What? It's my blog...if I want to have an inflated sense of my own importance in the world, that is my prerogative.)

Sounded easy enough, but this was no ordinary hat. Anne had recently read my post about the Frogger hat and wondered if I could make a similar hat, but with a mountain lion. A purple mountain lion, at that. Her coworker had attended Kansas State University, for which the mascot is this:


Okay, so the KSU mascot is actually a wildcat and not a mountain lion. But you know what you get when you google "wildcat"? A whole bunch of cute, little domestic kittehs. No, no. We were going with brawn.


I got started on the hat later that night, while watching documentaries about the Donner Party and the Dust Bowl of the '30s. By the by, have you ever gone to PBS.org? There are lots of interesting videos online, which you can watch for free.

Anyhow, while I finished the major components of the hat, I was far from satisfied with the eyes, ears, and "snout". So, the next morning, I tore out yarn, re-did them, tore out more yarn, re-did them. After a bit of tweaking to make it look more realistic (yes, like a real purple mountain lion would look), I was satisfied with the final product (ignore the wacky lighting):


Doing a quick "would I wear this?" test, a pertinent part of the hat-making process:


It passed, so I delivered it to Anne. Within the hour, I heard back that the birthday girl loved the hat. Huzzah!

Happy birthday to Kristen! And thank you for being a good sport and letting me post your picture on this questionable blog:


(And thank you to Anne, for giving me something interesting to blog about, since I've been so boring this week. Well, unless readers want to hear about the riveting Plants vs. Zombies tournament going on at home. Neither do I.)

Toilets, Gizmo, Fly-Glue, and Auto-Tune: Why, This Must be a Mish-Mash!

I really love decals. I wish I had the money and permanent space to buy a bunch. This is my current favorite at the Etsy shop, Flush Please:


I love these ones too, but unfortunately, it seems the seller has since closed her (I don't know why I assume everyone on Etsy is a girl) shop:



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While visiting my sister once, she remarked that Kayden looked like Gizmo from the movie, Gremlins. "He looks like a little Gizmo doll with his big brown eyes!" Kayden pretended to be offended (and still does, since I occasional call out, "Mogwai!" when he's around), but I think secretly he likes it. Because, let's face it: Gizmo is pretty damn cute.



Except for those shudderingly creepy fingernails.
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Keene found an article at Tasteless Photography about urban explorers who rappelled down into a bell-mouth spillway. Meep! As it turns out, it is as scary as I imagined. Check out the link for even more pictures.



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Looking for something to pass the time at work?

Tone Matrix
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Awhile back, Keene and I had this conversation as he walked through the front door:

Kelli: Something happened with Maia.

Keene: (joking) Did she poop in her pants?

Kelli: No.

Keene: Did she go crazy and attack Kayden?

Kelli: No, it's worse.

Keene: (starts walking towards Maia's room, getting worried) Is she okay?

Kelli: No. She's...she's listening to autotuned pop music. On the radio.

Keene: (pauses) How did she find it?

Kelli: (despairing) I don't know!

Keene: Did you say anything to her yet?

Kelli: No, I thought you should talk to her yourself. I was about to text you to break it to you gently, but then you came home. I...I didn't want you to find out this way.
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Speaking of auto-tune, here are a couple older videos which deserve to be refreshed in your mind. The first is one of the OGs of my girl-crushes: the red-headed, Irish dancing chick.



This one is just supa-impressive. I don't think I could spell a whole word on my stumpy fingers, let alone remember which word was written where.



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And finally, another blast-from-the-past conversation (which Keene probably doesn't even remember anymore).

I showed him this link: Work Well Together


Keene: Have you ever tried it before.

Kelli: Only with kids...but they didn't fly.

Keene: (jokingly) You worked in daycare?

Kelli: No, tour guide for the Grand Canyon.

Keene: You have a disturbing sense of humor.

Things I Learned About While I Should Have Been Working

Bell-Mouth Spillways:


I don't know why this hole should be scary to me, but it is. It's like a watery, man-made sinkhole. And sinkholes are down right weird. I imagine ducks get sucked down there all the time. Maybe it even pulls small airplanes and kites from the air into its vortex. Or, when the water level is low and the spillway is dry, I had a vision of me being curious and climbing down into it, only to have the dam suddenly fill with water.

No good can come from this.

(Lots of spillway pictures can be found at the link above. Or if you want to see even more big, awesome holes, click here.)

(I don't know how else to say that so it won't sound like I'm sending you to a porn site. I promise I'm not.)


Yemen:

After much deliberation and research, I have determined that Yemen is the coolest coolest-looking place on Earth. (While searching for images, I came across a whole lot of guns. Since guns wouldn't exist in the coolest place on Earth, I am amending that statement.)

Source: Yemen - Sanaa, yemenshipping.com


Source: TheContaminated.com

Sailing Stones:


Holy crap! Moving rocks! Rocks that move of their own accord!

It is most likely due to the intense, focused wind which occurs in Death Valley. The fact that this happens there doesn't surprise me. There is something sinister about Death Valley. I'd give it the stink-eye, if I could see it from here. Because we will be driving near Death Valley in less than a week, I am trying to manipulate our route so we can cut through Racetrack Playa.


Jonestown:


Man, that Jim Jones was messed up. Horribly. Because my brain likes to torture itself, I listened to his last "sermon," in which he explains to his cult why they would be killing themselves shortly. Even as a brave woman tries to argue with reason, he shuts her down, further creating a sort of hysteria among the masses. It's extremely sad, as you listen to the cries dying down toward the end. This is one of those things that remind you just how extremely twisted some people can be. I don't recommend listening, unless you are too happy and in need of a serious downer.

(On a side note, I also don't recommend you listen to the Russian exorcism recording which is on the same site. Because it makes your toes really cold. And nobody likes cold toes.)

(On another side note, don't Google Jonestown images. In trying to find a picture for this post, all I could find were pictures of dead bodies. Eek! Thank you to Jonestown.sdsu.edu for having a non-violent picture for me to use.)

Oakville, Washington's Rain Blobs


In August of 1994, it began raining in Oakville. Except that instead of raindrops, it rained blobs. Oh, and these blobs made people and animals sick. Oh, and the blobs also had human white freakin' blood cells and bacteria in them.

Anyone else ready to eat some Jello?