Cheryl and Ethan’s Polar Turkey Run!

What better way to kick off the day of feasting than by burning off those calories BEFORE you over indulge?  Well,  by running!   of coarse!   We had big plans today.    Cheryl with her ninja tights and me with my new biking gear,  decided that today we would reverse the order of tradition and exercise before the sun went down and the dinner was cooked.

Well,   everything was going fine….Cheryl caught up all those questions on the stockings and I finished folding an Eagle for Ohio Financial.   Time to go for a brisk run.  

Brisk?   Did I say Brisk?  Frozen was more like it.   I knew I was in trouble when we first hit the church parking lot and I could not feel my hands.  This happens almost every time, but not within the first half mile!   I also felt like the wind was blowing right over my naked body….even though I had three layers of clothing on.   Granted, these layers were high tech clothes that Cheryl purchased for me so I could look cool while biking along side.   I understand her concern for wanting to have “attractive” people around her instead of me looking like a marshmallow man.  Not to mention when I dress up like the wooly bear from Alaska,  I probably look pretty creepy.

By the way, I was not biking naked…..even though…apparently, there is a race somewhere here in the US where they run a race..in the winter without any clothes on.   That is just crazy!

Anyway,  the run was completed…in the wind and snow.   With the temperature hitting a high of 10 degrees!  I lost the feeling in both hands,  my face, legs and feet.    I thought if Cheryl could stand it, then I could as well…however,  she was a frozen icicle as well.   Ice had frosted her hair and eye lashes so that she could barely see.  It is difficult to believe that I used to run in –30 degree weather in Alaska.   But running generates a little more heat than biking.  And we were also better dressed for the occasion.  I really should have looked at the temperature BEFORE heading out.   I could have saved the experience with several more layers and the heavy arctic mittens I have for these occasions.

 

So now,   We are drinking the pumpkin beer we have been saving for several months now just for this holiday.   And Cheryl is trying out the latest recipe discovered in the latest HyVee food magazine.   “Where is the turkey?”  You may ask?  Why,  in the little waffles!   We don’t need much after all.   It is just the two of us….And I get all of the Pumpkin pie because …..Well, I’m not Dutch.     I guess the Dutch ONLY eat apple pie for thanksgiving.  Not to worry though,  in previous years, Cheryl’s family always made sure I had an entire pumpkin pie of my own.  

So that pretty much sums up our Thanksgiving.  And we have new Neighbors…..wonderful!   They have announced their presents yesterday with music bordering on the loud and today they finished moving in.  I thought we would have the building to ourselves,  but the music is already on the edge of annoying.   I simply can not wait to move out of here.   I guess we will have to wait until the stocking season is completed and we can evaluate our situation.  Time will tell.

‘Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving.

And Cheryl and Ethan were feverishly making Stockings for Christmas.   I guess that is a good thing over all.  Although it is 8:30 PM and we are still in the process of packing them up.  It was only 26 again…I think… Who knows how many Cheryl adds in with these last minute things.

Well,  to be honest,  we DID go to Iowa City today…for some last minute errands and paying off back taxes.  So that means we sort of got a late start on them to begin with.   And then…When we finally got home,  we worked on them on a couple hours before going out for a run.   Did I mention Cheryl has taken up running?   Seems like something I would say just to get attention….but it is true.   She is up to running the full three miles now.   I get to bike along side her like in those Rocky movies where the old man yells obscenities at Sylvester Stallone.   However, I only say words of encouragement….like:   “Only three miles to go!”  or “You run like a GIRL!”  “ I think  you’re slowing down a little….but it’s ok to walk.”      I’d like to think that my constant encouragement is helping.

 

By the way,  it snowed today and we have a wonderful blanket of snow all over now. I’m very happy we will NOT be going to Iowa city tomorrow.   Our Thanksgiving will consist of eating a few crackers and salmon dip,  going out for a brief physical exercise ( i.e: running…again!) and then relaxing while sampling several brands of beer.  We currently have another 98 score beer in the fridge!   I can’t wait to try it out. 

Oh sure, there will be pumpkin pie and hors devoirs.   And we may even do  a few stockings if the orders get out of hand.   I still have to make an Eagle for the Ohio group….as well as finish this horse I have been working on for the last couple days.    Perhaps I will have a little more time to fold on stuff, but hopefully stockings will start to sell more and keep me occupied.   Stockings = money after all. 

 

And then there will be movies.   Hopefully we will find some time to relax with a movie on Amazon.com  I’m not sure what we will settle on, but Cheryl wants to Marathon through the last season of Mad Men.  We shall see.   I like “period pieces” just fine,  but I prefer science fiction myself.  ( Not Transformers!  What do I look like?  Some little kid? )

  So there it is.   Time standing still….moving forward faster than we would like and then the day more or less…repeats.  One of these days I will have to blog about my time travels.   Did you know I could time travel?   It’s fairly complicated…so I will elaborate at a later day.  In the mean time…Enjoy the Origami Lizard! 

Happy Stocking Day!

    Finally we are having “normal” days in the world of Christmas Stockings.  I’m not sure why the sales are lower than last year, but hopefully we will have more days like today.  Granted, it IS a Sunday night….and we have already sold 15 more ( I guess) for Monday morning.   But this was the second time this year we have had to work a full day just to sew up the stockings.  

On a brighter note….And this really excites me.   Cheryl has finally decided to put an end to custom stockings for the year.   It was just getting out of control.   People request things and then change their mind.  All the time we are wasting materials and time that should be put towards customers that have already paid! It is frustrating for me because I can not really help much in that field.  

But now!   Hopefully… The real shoppers are online and will soon be buying up what we already have made and ready to ship.   I don’t mind putting on as many names as possible since we are prepared for that.  But crazy “non-Allebrite” stockings are no more.  ( unless Cheryl is feeling excited about some request) 

In the mean time…..I have been folding for the Ohio Financial Group for their quarter annual report magazine.  I already folded up a bunch of Koi and hopefully the will like the Eagle I have been working on. We shall see if it meets their approval. 

OH!  And before I forget for another day.  I recently Purchased a BIKE!   A “GOOD” one…..as Cheryl calls it.   Meaning: One from an actual bike shop.   a brand name   A sturdy bike.   A Slightly more expensive bike.  By that I mean it is not a Wal-Mart Special found in the toy department for $60…  I have been riding on it for several days now. ( I picked it up on Wednesday) and have had to break it in a little as the stock seat was not really very nice.   If you have ever ridden a new bike…and are male…..You may know what I’m talking about.    

Anyway, the bike is cool and now that I found the right seat…I’m very excited to get out there when the weather is more cooperative.    Cheryl can’t wait to buy me a bunch of riding accessories.

Monday Rush!

    Quite a few sales last night, keeping us busy all day today.   Well,  Mostly.  I guess we did manage to head to Iowa City for lunch.   And we were finished by 7 pm…mostly.   But 24 stockings is quite a few compared to what we have been having.  I forget about the “old days”   when we would take all day to do 15!  I guess things are not all bad. 

So ,  as I write this Cheryl is busily packing up the orders and tying on cute little tags to make the customer happy.  And Add a  little pizzazz to our stockings..

Not that the stockings need any, mind you!   With the custom designed dogs, cats and embroidery…what is there not to like? 

So.   As Cheryl continues her feverish attention to detail….I sit here and blog about myself and how awesome I am for “helping” .   AND  How cool foil paper origami DRAGONS are!

I’m not sure why I even play around with this stuff.  It’s messy and a pain to make the paper.   But the “leathery” look of the paper works well for the dragons.  And there is a cool level of detail you can add to the dragons expression.  

Not that anyone would want to buy one of these.   They are not as stable as the cardstock ones.  And the stockings are pretty much taking most of my time anyway.  Even though Cheryl does the packing,  I still run the embroidery machine and sew on the buttons.      

So….it was a pretty good day.   Perhaps we will have even more days like this in the future.  We shall see. 

Saturday Snow and Stockings

    See!  I’m back after only one day!   I count this as an achievement since I took so much time off before.   What could possibly happen in a single day?  Well…..Stockings, of coarse!

What started out as just a few stragglers ended up being a full 20 stockings in no time.   Add in the fact that many of them were embroidered with names AND custom dogs…and you end up with a full day of sewing.  Usually a mere 20 stockings takes us no longer than three to four hours….but if you add in dogs that you have to totally create from scratch,   that time stretches out into evening. 

But it is all good!   We like staying busy as it  allows us to not  reflect on our totally hopeless struggle through this thing we call life.   And…for the most part,  making stockings is fun!  What else would you want to do with a Saturday  afternoon anyway?  

In addition to the rather busy day,  our new neighbors moved out today.  Just “BOOM!”   Time to move!   And they are gone!   They were good neighbors for the most part.   Quiet,  kept to themselves,   quiet, Friendly  and quiet.  Did I mention that they were quiet?   That IS a big plus in my book.   I guess there was some family tragedy that they had to move back too.   I personally try to move AWAY from family tragedy.  But  some people….like my mother,  seem to thrive off of Family drama and Hijinks.  To each his or her own I guess.

And then there is the snow.  A happy reminder that winter is just around the corner.  It has become quite cold as well.  Making our walks rather challenging.  Then again,  there are not many things better than a hot coffee or food after a sub arctic stroll.   I guess the extremes work well together. 

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So there you go.   24 hours in the Allenbrite home!   Enjoy the random Origami!

A Very Busy Cheryl and Ethan

Hello Blog!   It has been a while…but I can explain!   You see,  the lack of time cataloging our impossibly interesting lives has been short-changed as the Christmas Stocking season has been picking up.   As I write this in the brief moments I have before precious sleep overtakes me, Cheryl is working feverishly on our tomorrow’s orders to get a jump start.   She is currently in her PJ’s cutting out parts….She wears a Onesie…. .Very cute….but she won’t let me take a picture as she does not want any future employer to see here in her “evening wear”.  Think of her looking more like a little kid and not a seductress from Victoria Secret…Unless Victoria secret starts featuring large one –piece teddy bear pajamas. ..But  I digress

So the Christmas Rush is ON!    And we have been doing a number of custom orders that take more time than they are worth….but are still fun and challenging….Unless Cheryl has had a bad night sleep.   Then they just become bothersome.  

And then there is the embroidery….Just when you figure out the perfect font size and how they will best fit on the stocking….someone comes up with a name that is like this!

It took me a while to figure out how to fit the name on the stocking.   And I’m not sure why a Harry Potter fan would name their beagle that long of a name….But everyone has their idea of how things are meant to be.    I do think it looks pretty cool…( now that it is finally finished)  and I’m glad I was able to meet the challenge and pull it off.  However,  I don’t want to do too many names like that ever again!

And then there is the Origami.   I have a request from a Magazine to fold up 10 Koi by the end of the week.   Knowing these fish are going into a magazine has put a little more pressure on me to get them as “perfect as possible”   so each one takes slightly longer than an hour to pull off.   And there is a 2 day process that requires certain areas to dry before proceeding to the finished shaping. They should be ready by tomorrow so I can take pictures and list them.   All the while I still have to put on those names and sew on the buttons!   But being busy is better than Bored   ( although, I like boredom much better than Cheryl does).

I’m not sure how well this year will be in the stocking sales department   Hopefully they will get stronger as the days progress..but that will mean that we will have to work harder because we are not fully prepared for a flood of orders at the moment.   And there is a reason why we have decided not to sew up 40 Rudolf Stockings in advance as people continue to ask for their own special dogs and cats.  Still…i might feel a little more secure if we had a bunch of “ready made” stockings in the closet ready for instant shipping.   

So…..Thanks for checking in..Blog.   And I promise I’ll at least try to make an effort to post more and not stay a stranger.