Because otherwise he spends an hour crying and the front door. Plus this has cut way down on his bolting out the door. And maybe it will help him lose weight. He likes it!

...basically, it is hilarious and amuses me.

Sue, I at least make him do the length of the block. I am NOT going to stand in one place for half an hour. And honestly, now that he knows there are prime spots further down, he doesn't do that so much. Will be interesting once we get some snow.

Plus, Calvin Borel got into a fight with Javier Castellano after the Marathon - on national tv.

That's so awesome! What over? Presumed foul?

I don't think I ever told you guys the end of my jury angst saga. I got called, angsted, it was cancelled. I got called again, but it was right before my trip to Ohio so I called and talked to the guy. He said, yeah, send a letter that explains, we'll reschedule no problem. I did, and he said, hey, your letter said you're the one of two people in your company, so I'm just ending your service.

So I will never ever get called again as long as I live in Navajo county. I was all, huh. What happened to the life lesson I was supposed to learn from all this participating in the justice system? So then I angsted a little over not feeling bad about being more or less permanently excused and now I'm good.

Ha! All's well that ends well, is the lesson, I'm sure.

Wow, Liese. I think they are much more hardass here. But since I still get paid even if I get grand jury duty (3 months where you might be called every day) or a horrendously long trial, I can't complain.

I totally want one of these:

Chair Made of Couch Cushion Cracks

Don’t you hate it when stuff from your pockets gets lost in the cracks between couch cushions? The design firm Daisuke Motogi Architecture decided to make this a feature, rather than a bug. The “Lost in Sofa Chair” comes with many different cracks into which you can store books, phones, and other implements that you want nearby.

I'll find that funnier when I can find my mailbox key.

Wow, Liese. I think they are much more hardass here.

Right? And I didn't even ask off. He just excused me now and forever. I didn't argue!

That couch would be fail in my house. The only thing stuffed in my couch cushion cracks is dog fur. I don't need any more places for that to live.

So today my diametrically opposed (ha ha) spending money purchases showed up: my wood splitter and my Smashbox palette makeup kit. Here are my reviews.

Wood splitter: kinda a piece of crap. I wish I'd bought the bigger one. The SO got it kinda working, but it's fidgety, which is not what I wanted out of a convenience tool. However, in daylight I'll try again and see if I can physically do it. It did the job, in the end, just took a lot of fussing to get it going. Once going, it was pretty good.

Smashbox: Kinda awesome. I am loving the bronzer/blushes and the lip glosses so far for sure. To the point where I might need to buy the perfect pout kit. I am fairly dubious about the brow powder, because a) pretty much every shade is lighter than my hair probably because I don't guess I need to darken my brows any, and b) it just looks weird on me. I can definitely see how the brow wax will be helpful, though, and it will help me learn how I want to shape my brows, I think, to be able to position them. But I dissolved into giggle pretty early on because I made myself look perpetually surprised.

The eyeshadow I think is fine, but I need some practice there. I like the colors, but I liked the colors in the shadow specific kit better, even though those were mostly a subset of these. The cream eyeliners are also pretty, but the brush is a bit odd. I definitely prefer the pencil Urban Decay liner, which does seem like it's going to hold up pretty well, so thanks for that rec.

Everything is kinda small, and the kit itself is a little chintzier than I was expecting. I don't think I'll really be able to carry it with me. But overall, it's perfect for what I need, which is a sampler to start me out and help me figure out what I'm going to want to buy going forward.

I love your makeup experimentation, liese!

I think we're going to go to an Empty Bowls event near Noah's school tomorrow: [link] I kinda love this whole idea.

I love your makeup experimentation, liese!

I am feeling bold. Oh, and I painted my nails for the first time since the trip, when I broke them badly whilst maneuvering my giant display for the last time. Next event, this month, we will have much more manageable displays.

PLUS! I found someone on youtube who gives useful advice: [link]

So. I am making progress.

That's a really really cool event with the bowls. And some of those bowls are gorgeous!

I had not heard of Empty Bowls before but I think it's a lovely idea.

Also? I may never get that song out of my brain Dirty girls like Benedict Cumberbatch indeed.

I need to go to bed tonight before 11:30. Not sure what stresses me out more, being behind in my work or behind in my sleep. And poor Isaac. He looks so tired these days his eyes are rimmed in purple. But poor noodle won't sleep past 6:30 most mornings.