So, recently I've been getting into the world of online Estate Auctions (very dangerous). I've found some really good deals on craft supplies that makes me wonder why I didn't do this before. However, now I have quite an excess of supplies, as well as some little goods here and there I don't have plans for. I wanted to reach out to other crafters out there and see if anyone would like to purchase things they may need for a discounted price.

Stuff I have includes:

- Thick paper earring backing cards (in packs of 100)
- Plastic earring backing cards (bags of 100)
- Twine and cord (colored or plain)
- Jewelry wire (colored, silver, etc)
- a TON of cross and religious themed pendants and charms
- Seed beads

Right now I'm still trying to sort through everything. If anyone is interested, feel free to send me a message or reply to this journal and I can send you a picture and we can work out a price. Also, feel free to share this with anyone you think might be interested.

Hey all!

I just wanted to share this really cool Pride cross stitch kit Kickstarter from  Milesy! If you're a crafty nerd like me, you're always on the lookout for a fun creative project.

https://www.kickstarter.com/project.....ss-stitch-kits

So, I suck at keeping up with journals, but since I don't have anything but time at the moment...

Things are going well (or as well as can be expected) for me and the hubbs right now. I'm on admin leave from my sub job at the library, but thankfully I'm still getting paid. I was a little surprised, given I'm only a 20 hours a week hourly employee, but I certainly won't argue with it. I'm fortunate to work in an environment where our administration genuinely cares about its employees.

Kiro is still going into work. They work in truck tire manufacturing building, and since trucks are still moving all our supplies, they still need tires! Right now, we're just both super thankful we both still have paying jobs. My heart goes out to all those whose work future is uncertain. <3

I'm trying to keep myself occupied with crafts, games, books, and tv. I'm used to having a great deal of time to myself in the apartment, but I REALLY miss going to work and interacting with other people. I enjoy some alone time, but I'm also very much a social being. Tabletop simulator has helped a bit with that. :3 I also usually go to our apartment fitness center to run a few times a week, but sadly that's been shut down. I tried doing some outdoor running in a local park, which was nice, but pollen season is in full swing and my allergies are doing their best to take me down. >.<

Anywho, I hope everyone is doing well and doing their best to avoid physical contact with others until things are a bit calmer!

Almost time for DragonCon! ^.^ Yay!

This will be my first, but I'm going with a DragonCon veteran to make sure I don't make too many rookie mistakes.

It's been forever since I've been to a con of any type. Looking forward to it!

Some friends bought a major fixer-uper home and yesterday I went into town to help them with some of the work. I was expecting it to be hot and sweaty (yay 90+ degrees and humidity...>.>) but I was surprised with how...satisfying it felt.

I didn't do too much - helped rip out an old rotted floor and add some new boards to the sub floor support structure. It was those new boards that really stood out to me. Looking at it, I knew it would soon be covered by new siding and a new floor, completely hidden from view, but I'd always know that I helped put them there. I helped in something that would make the home livable again.

Not an Earth-shattering revelation, but just a nice feeling on an exhausting but fulfilling day. ^.^

My partner and I were up in Ohio for a turn-and-burn visit to see my grandmother for her birthday. We flew up Friday and flew home on Saturday. Short time, but my Nana gets tired pretty easily, so a shorter visit was for the best. My Aunt, Uncle, and a bunch of cousins also live nearby so I got to hang out with them as well.

Yesterday morning the whole family went out to a newly opened rock-climbing gym to check it out (minus my Nana of course). It was a ton of fun, until...

So there's one area in the gym for boldering, which has shorter walls (about 10ft or so) that you're meant to climb without harnesses. The floor is padded, but the idea is to climb up and most of the way back down before jumping off.

It was the end of the day, and I was tired, but wanted to get one last climb in. I took the easiest route, made it to the top, but when I went to climb back down my tired fingers were like "nope!".

Long story short, I took the express way back down and landed badly on my ankle. I was terrified I'd broken it, but luckily it seems to be just a really bad sprain. I'm now learning how much crutches suck, but at least I got some VIP treatment going through the airport for our flight home.

The reason I think the state is out to get me is the last time we visited Ohio to see family I was in a car accident that totaled my car and left me with a concussion and a little memory loss.

Don't know what I did to earn Ohio's wrath, but next I go up, I'm wrapping myself in bubble wrap. o.O

Given all the changes that have gone on in my life, I'm working out a new look for Rew. My current icon is an example of some of the stuff I'm playing around with. I snagged the awesome lineart done by star-gazer from the free to use page and tried my hand a bit of digital coloring. Now to try and save some money to get a new image done by a professional!

Figured I'd add some things I've been working on to my gallery. Some furry, some not, all crafty. Please excuse the photos - still trying to get the settings right for decent pictures.

First of all, I'm actually posting again within a few months of my last post, so there's a plus!

Second, I just jogged my first 5K today! I'm quite proud. I've done the distance before in alternating jog/walk, but this was the first time I managed to do the entire 5K at a jog. In case anyone's wondering its all indoors, on a treadmill while watching Supernatural, but still!

My goal this year is to keep up this habit of running a few times a week. It does wonders for my mental health and hopefully well help me get rid of this holiday belly.

Hope everyone has a great 2019!

It feels like its been a lifetime since I was last here, but coming back makes me realize how much I've missed it.

So...a number of changes have happened over the years. Namely I realized I was transgender, came out, and started transitioning. Right now, I'm about 11 months on T and loving it. I still go by Rew, but now identify as male and use male pronouns. Hmmm...seems like I'll need some new art soon to update my image! ^.^

Still married to the same wonderful goofball. We balance each other out in ways we never imagined when we first got married.

We've had some ups and downs in life, but thankfully we're in a much better place than before. Kiro is in a new carrier that he LOVES, and I've been able to go part-time (still working at a library...don't think I'll ever get away from that) and pursue some of my crafty hobbies and interests while maintaining my archaeology non-profit.

So yeah...I think that's about it. I'm not going to make any long-range promises on always being around now. If you know me at all, you know I'm easily distracted. But, I hope to be around more regularly and say hi to old friends.

Okay, so I'm a day or so behind, but what the heck, I'm close enough!

So I'm going to do my best to have a much better February than I had January. A lot of it was outside my control, but I'm a fan of positive thinking - don't let the crap get you down! I started January sick as a dog (pardon the turn of phrase to all canines which put me behind in all the stuff I wanted to do in the new year. Also managed to get myself a bit overwhelmed and had another stress attack - which I'm going to do my darndest to fend off in the coming months. Chill out Rew, you can't do everything at once!

Also, a VERY good friend/mentor/second father had a brain aneurysm about a week ago. Thankfully they got him to the hospital in time and each update seems to be if not positive, at least stable. I'll be continuing to send positive thoughts and love his way this month. Hopefully February will be when he wakes up so I can go and visit and scold him for worrying me so.

Both Kiro and my's birthdays are this month so WOOT to Feb! We'll both be 28 which I'm still trying to wrap my head around. o.O when did I get this old?

Finally my non-profit has hit the ground running in the new year. We have all kinds of projects, conferences, and programs lined up already. This will be where I need to strike that delicate balance of getting stuff done and not stressing myself out over it. I am super excited - this is what I really want to do as a job someday - if only we can get paid enough one day to sustain at least a part time position!

Anywho, hope everyone else is having an awesome February so far!

Wow - my last journal shows its been TWO YEARS since I last posted something here. I was surprised I even still had an account! o.O I barely even know what to say. My life is still super busy, as I think it always will be. Trying to make my way in the real world now, which as been a lot more challenging than I'd first anticipated. If there's one thing I've learned thus far, its get ready to roll with the punches. Life never quite works out the way you try to plan.

So far things are pretty good. Kiro and I are still together and while both our ferrets are gone, we now have two kitties that drive us just as crazy. I currently work at a library while also trying to get an archaeology related non-profit off the ground. It seems I'm not happy if I'm not doing a million things at once.

I don't think we'll be back on the Con scene any time soon - money's gotten a lot tighter and the place we used to stay while attending AC is no longer available. Plus, you don't have nearly as much time off in the working world as when you're a student :-P Which sucks.

Anywho, no promises as to a sudden resurgence of my participation here, but I did want to see how things were going and say hi to everyone. Maybe I'll hang around more often, maybe not. I can never tell

I apologize for another "I'm still alive" journal but...its still true! I've been going through some rough times lately - financially and emotionally, so I've been rather scarce around the 'nets. Not going to go into major details, but I am feeling better and slowly trying to get back to myself. I will say it did not help that my childhood pet, Tippy - a beagle/basest mix dog, was hit by a car and died about a week ago. She's been at home with my parents since I moved out of the house - they have 11 aces of woods...I live in the middle of a city with almost no backyard and she was an outdoor dog - Not hard to figure out where she'd be happiest. She was getting up there in years (13), but her being taken so suddenly was not the way I'd wanted to say goodbye. On the other hand, I also wouldn't have wanted to see her waste away or be in pain from the arthritis and joint problems she was already suffering from. Anyway, I'm just getting to the point that I can talk/write about it without losing it, so I just wanted to make sure I put her memory out there: RIP Tippy, you will be missed.

Although it doesn't seem like it from the previous paragraph, I promise I have been feeling better I've also been a little off on the Furry thing as of late. This isn't one of the "dam it, i"m so fed up, screw the fandom!" type of journals, but I've been concentrating much more on real life as opposed to online life as of late, my furry side and interests have kind of taken a backseat. Don't think for a minute that means the friends I've made in the fandom are less important than the ones I have here, but unfortunately its much harder to get together and talk with people from the 'net then the ones that can show up at my door to drag me out and do things. I'll try to be a little more active, but for those of you who have my other contact info, please feel free to poke me if you feel like talking. I'm always up for it, but sometimes you have to get my attention. I tend to get tunnel vision when stressed or focused, and I don't go out of my way to talk to or do anything that isn't in my immediate line of site. A bit of a character flaw if you will. If you don't have my contact info and would like it, PM me and I can pass it along.

Rew is in no way going away permanently, but I still may be scarce around FA and the like for a while. Who knows though, just writing this journal might kick my butt back into furry mode. I can't figure myself out most of the time :-P

Whew...remember that time when I thought I'd have so much more free time once my thesis was done? Yeaaahhhhh....no

Just got done with a temporary summer job, which means I'm now down to working two jobs again instead of three. I was an exhibit assistant at the museum here on campus this summer, which ended up being a lot of fun, but a lot of work. I was also quite sad because the curator I was working with all summer and who's been a teacher/mentor type of person for the past few years just got a new job in Ohio and left about a week ago. On the plus side...that means his job will be opening up soon...and I might actually be qualified for it!

Still in search of a "real" job. Now that the museum work is done (they could only employ me for the summer because I'm no longer a grad student), I'm just doing my part time work at the pet store and trying to get this non-profit off the ground. Things have been going well with the non-profit so far...we've got a lot of people interested and even have a few jobs here and there (we're in the process of developing a museum exhibit for a local archaeologist now) but it costs an arm and a leg to file the final paperwork with the IRS :-P booooo

One of the other things that's kept me busy these past few months is my brand-new 55 gallon saltwater tank! I swore up and down that saltwater was voodoo and I'd never set up a tank, but two of my friends who are hardcore saltwater buffs finally wore me down. In fact, the tank itself was a surprise...I came back from AC to find it set up in my house and ready to go! I'd given one of my friends a key so he could take care of my animals...sneaky friend. Right now I have a Christmas Wrasse, three purple firefish, and a royal gramma, along with an assortment of corals. It is a lot of work, but I'm enjoying it a lot more than I first thought. Yay fishies!

Hope everyone is doing okay out there. I know I've barely been on the 'net this summer, which I apologize for. A big hug to everyone and here's hoping I'll see more of ya!

Hey everyone,

Sorry for being so scarce...here I thought being done with my thesis would give me more time. Apparently working two jobs and trying to start a non-profit keeps you just as busy...who knew?

Kiro and I are doing better now, slowly getting over Pudge's death. Sly's been a big help in that, as have the kitty cats. I think I may try to do a small memorial piece for him sometime soon.

I also wanted to let people know that as absent as we've been, Kiro and I WILL be headed up to AC this year! I desperately need a vacation away from the craziness at home and I look forward to seeing all my furry friends. Let me know if you're going! Those of you who have my phone number, feel free to call so we can get together!

One of our ferrets, Pudge, died suddenly last night. I honestly wasn't too much of a surprise...he's been yo-yoing between doing really well with his cancer to having seizures. He'd been doing much better lately, but last night he suddenly went into shock and died in Kiro's arms. I'm just thankful that Kiro was actually home (he's usually at work, like I was) and could hold him in his last moments. RIP buddy...we'll miss you.

Well I'm about to head down to the middle of nowhere for my yearly dig at the Topper Site. This year, however, I will not be staying the full 5 weeks. This leaves me a little sad (I love seeing the people down there and its good archaeology) and happy (NOT LIVING IN A TENT IN SC HEAT FOR 5 WEEKS...WOOOO!). I managed to come down with a nasty cold, but I'm not even letting that stop me. Usually I still have internet access while I'm down there, but it will be much more limited.

Anywho, off to mosquito and tick central! :-P

So I'm all done with everything school. Never have to think about my thesis ever again except in my nightmares. Then why am I still so friggin busy?

Well some colleagues and I are trying to create ourselves jobs by starting an a non-profit archaeology outreach organization for South Carolina. One of our first projects is putting together a teachers education manual that is full of references and lesson plans that teachers can use to bring archaeology into schools. One of the biggest challenges is that to make it actually useful for teachers, we need to make sure all our activities are aligned to SC state education standards.

We now appear to have a pilot school that wants to try out our manual for third grade. The hardest thing has been putting lessons to paper 'cuz we still don't feel like we know what we're doing. We need to have a draft of these third grade lessons to the teachers by Friday. Yeah...here I thought all the stress was gone!

But now I'm working on something I really like and I hope we can get this organization off the ground. Our goal is to make it well enough that we can make this non-profit our jobs, 'cuz its hard to find ANY kind of real work as of late...

Plus, I'm leaving for a week at the archaeological dig I usually spend most of the summer at (Topper site) and as soon as I get back I'm starting a new summer job at the University Museum - which means reduced hours to no hours at the pet store. Talk about a whirl wind....

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Okay, just had to get that out of my system.

I am DONE with my thesis! I've gotten the approval of my committee, I've gotten three of my four signatures saying "yes she can graduate" (hopefully I'll be getting the fourth on Mon) and now all I have to do is make sure my thesis is edited properly (formatting sucks by the way...change one thing and you have to make sure it didn't change the entire document).

NO MORE THESIS WORK! NO MORE GRADUATE WORK! YAY!!!!

I is very happy ^.^

So I sent off a draft of my thesis to my committee this morning...ended up being 160 pages with all my appendices and tables and stuff. Now I just have to wait for them to read, pray they don't have too may problems with it, format it all to hell and submit the damn thing. I am a little nervous about the comments...I REAAAALLLY don't want to work on this stupid thing any more. Thankfully my advisor has been giving me feedback for the past few months, so there shouldn't bee too many glaring errors.

And in case you're curious, here are my deadline dates:

April 6- format check deadline (I have to make sure everything looks pretty)
April 20 - UBER FINAL YOU'D BETTER HAVE YOUR THESIS IN DATE!

I know it looks far away, but I have to wait for three four professors to read and critique this 160 page draft, when they tend to have problems getting a 10 page paper back to you in a month >.< Then if there are any major corrections, I have to work like hell to get them addressed so I can graduate.

The light at the end of the tunnel is getting a little bit closer...

So, I've been rather stressed out lately due to my Thesis deadline creeping ever closer. Its kind of like a rollercoaster - I'm a genius.....I'm an idiot...I'm a writing god....a third grader could do better. You get the idea

Anywho, yesterday I was having a low point when a package arrives at the door. It's addressed to Kiro so I hand it over only to have him hand it right back to me. He said it was my birthday present (a few days early....my birthday's not till Sunday) but I had to open it now 'cuz he couldn't wait

I open it, and it is the personal soundtrack shirt from ThinkGeek! ^.^ My transformation into a cartoon is almost complete! I've been geeking over it for a while, never really thinking I'd get it. For those of you who don't know, its a shirt with a speaker in the front and a battery pack, so it actually plays music! It has a bunch of pre-programmed songs and sounds (I have my own drumroll and rimshot), but also has an SD card slot so I can add my own songs plus an iPod jack so I can walk around like my own personal boombox

I was so happy...he totally turned my day around. <3

Wow...and when I say snow, I don't me OMFG THERE ARE FLURRIES! We got some honest to God snow last night. It started around 4:30 and by about midnight we got roughly 6 inches. I know all your norther people are like "yeah right whatever BOO TO SNOW!" but its a big deal for us warm climate people! It's so nice to see it again. Thankfully I didn't have to go anywhere last night, but Kiro had to get home - could only drive about 20mph the whole way and the roads were COMPLETELY covered. It was like an elephant graveyard in the ditches around our road as you get close to the house. O.o Good thing he knows what he's doing.

I got a chance to run around outside and play in it today. Yay for having my two days off right when we get a snowstorm!

So Kiro and I have been making an effort to spend more time with each other lately...its been hard due to his late working hours and my early mornings doing thesis stuff. So where do two giant nerds go to have some fun and be together? Why the comic book store of course!

We have a giant comic/tabletop gaming/nostalgia store in our area that I'm not allowed to go to very often, b/c I always spend massive amounts of money (Kiro is not good at saying no to my "please can I have it?" face). They've redone the store since we last went and added a super cool old book room, which includes random books and a HUGE collection of old movie/tv books. As many of you know, I am an avid collector of anything Indiana Jones...and in that wonderful room I found the original novilizations of all three Indiana Jones movies PLUS a book on the making of Raiders of the Lost Ark. ^.^ SQUEEEEE! I love being a nerd sometimes. There were also some awesome sculptures that have been released lately that I'd love to add to my collection, but alas I could not spend very much money this trip

I find it very awesome that I cannot fit all of my Indiana Jones collection on the two shelves I've set up. Must have more shelves!

So a question to all my buddies out there....what do you collect?

I've put together all the bits and pieces of my thesis and although I know it's just a ROUGH ROUGH draft...

...I've written 118 pages so far. BOO YA!

Just had to share

MALE/FEMALE Meme
Your male side:

[x] You love hoodies. (it would be even better if it was an Indiana Jones hoodie!)
[x] You love jeans. (my usual uniform in the winter)
[x] Dogs are better than cats. (as much as I LOVE my cat, I'm really a dog person)
[ ] It's hilarious when people get hurt. (depends on how hurt they actually are and how stupid it was...)
[x] You've played with/against boys on a team. (I was the only girl on my soccer team
[ ] Shopping is torture. (Only if it's clothing or accessories...other than that I enjoy shopping)
[x] Sad movies suck.
[x] You own an X-Box. (Hell yeah!)
[ ] Played with Hotwheels cars as a kid.
[ ] At some point in time you wanted to be a firefighter.
[ ] You used to be obsessed with Power Rangers.
[x] You watch sports on TV. (football, hockey, and soccer when I can)
[ ] Gory movies are cool. (No gore!).
[x] You go to your dad for advice. (I go to both parents, but dad knows his finances! )
[ ] You own, like, a trillion baseball caps. (Three, two of which have a furry/lion connotation)
[ ] You like going to football games.
[ ] You used to/do collect baseball cards. (Not baseball, but harry potter and Indiana Jones cards
[x] Baggy pants are cool to wear. (as long as I have a belt!)
[ ] It's kind of weird to have sleepovers with a bunch of people.
[x] Green, black, red, blue, or silver are one of your favorite colors.
[x] You love to go crazy and not care what people think. (part of my MO)
[x ] Sports are fun. (Give me a pair of roller blades and a hockey stick and I'm a happy girl)
[ ] Talk with food in your mouth.
[] Wear boxers.

12 points.

Your female side:

[ ] You wear lip gloss.
[ ] You love to shop (Love is such a strong word...)
[ ] You wear eyeliner.
[ ] You have some of the same shirts in different colors.
[ ] You wear the color pink. (I hate pink. end of story)
[x] Go to your mom for advice. (Always...love my mom!)
[x] You consider cheerleading a sport. (gotta go with this one...my sister did hard core cheerleading for a while and she could kick my ass!)
[ ] You hate wearing the color black.
[x ] You like hanging out at the mall. (too many fun stores - best buy and barns and noble)
[ ] You like getting manicures and/or pedicures.
[x] You like wearing jewelry. (rings, necklaces, and my ear cuffs)
[ ] Skirts are a big part of your wardrobe.
[ ] Shopping is one of your favorite hobbies.
[ ] You don't like the movie Star Wars. (My husband would divorce me if I checked this one)
[x] You are/were in cheerleading, gymnastics or dance. (I was for like half a year when I was little - gymnastics that is)
[ ] It takes you around 1 hour to shower, get dressed, and put on make-up and accessories. (lol I get dressed faster than my husband)
[ ] You smile a lot more than you should. (“Should”? There’s a limit on smiling?)
[ ] You have more than 10 pairs of shoes. ()
[ ] You care about what you look like. (eh tough question...I don't try to be sloppy, but I don't spend hours obsessing over what to wear)
[ ] You like wearing dresses when you can. (my adviser came to my wedding just to see me in a dress...'nuff said)
[ ] You like wearing body spray/perfume/cologne.
[x] You wear girl underwear. (Mebbe 'cuz I'm a girl?)
[] Used to play with dolls as little kid.
[ ] Like putting make-up on someone else for the joy of it.
[ ] Like taking pictures of yourself with your cell phone/camera when you're bored.

6 points

12 to 6. Hmmmm Tomboy anyone? :-P