A Trap for a Leprachaun.....

To the untrained eye, the above photo looks like a pile of junk.  In actuality, it is a very intricate trap to catch the elusive Erin Greenius Gold-hordicus....better known as the Irish Leprachaun.

My daughter got it in her head that this year, she wanted to catch a leprachaun and for weeks she has been planning a trap. She was planning to use a shoe box and spy equipment to catch the little green guy.  However, she made a fatal mistake.  She asked Mommy for help.

I really got into this little project and had a lot of fun with it.  Many times my daughter and I got
into fights regarding our creative vision for the trap, but in the end, we compromised on a lot.

As you can see, this is a plastic salad bowl propped up with a glue stick.  Under the bowl, we laid out the bait, coins and gold (costume of course).  What you may not be able to see is a piece of thread that is wrapped around the glue stick.  The thread was fed through short straws taped to the top and back of the bowl.  The thread is then tied to a piece of jewelry.  When the leprachaun takes the gold, he inadvertantly pulls the glue stick out from under the bowl, trapping him underneath.

But don't feel bad, there is a little cup of water and an oreo under the bowl.  This way the leprachaun wouldn't feel hungry or thirsty while he was trapped.

My daughter was very excited and woke up extra early on St. Patrick's Day to find that the trap had in fact been sprung.  But the leprachaun pushed the bowl to the edge of the coffee table and managed to escape.  But she was still excited to see that our trap worked.

Next year my trap will be better!!

Project Runway is Ruining My Life!!!!

I've become addicted to Project Runway.  I ended up catching a Project Runway marathon a few weeks ago and I became hopelessly hooked.  I loved the drama, the fashion, the cattiness. 

And I found myself learning a lot about the world of fashion.  How a designer becomes inspired by something.  How much of themselves goes into their designs. How each creation is almost like a snapshot of who the designer is as a person.

Now, lets look at this through the eyes of a TV professional like myself, I work for a PBS affiliate.  I am quite the media snob!  This program was not on Fox.  It was on Bravo.  I like Bravo, I like to think there was a lot of educational content.  I was impressed with what I took away from Project Runway.  And "Fierce" is now part of my vocabulary again.

I learned about what looks good.  What looks commercial.  I look at clothes with a much more critical eye. 

Now let's keep in mind that I have lost a lot of weight.  Before my wieght loss I was more concerned about finding clothes that fit rather than how they looked.  And because my self esteem was at an all time low, I was generally always in jeans and sneakers. 

Today I dropped by Marshalls.... there were so many cute things that I wanted to buy.  But not like the stuff I used to buy.  Things with little accents.  Things that had belts or interesting patterns or weavings.  Things that were FIERCE!!  Now I am much more conscious about what I put on my body.  And because I'm smaller than what I was, I am more willing to push the envelope of fashion a little more.

I don't think my wallet can take it!

DAMN YOU TIM GUNN AND YOUR FABULOUSNESS!!!  YOU DID THIS TO ME!!

I Haggled and I liked it!!!!

I have been in a little bit of a panic lately.  They say that by the time Memorial Day rolls around, gas in New England will cost $4.00 a gallon.  I drive a Jeep.

And since I have to commute to work, gas costs soooo much!  Filling up my gas tank is sooo painful. And if I stay in my Jeep any longer I won't be able to buy enough gas to get me to work and back.

Ok...before anyone says I should take public transportation...here's the thing.

School for my daughter starts at 8:30.  If I take a bus...a train...and another bus then I will be VERY late for work every day.  Now my daughter has an afterschool program.  I have to pick her up by 6:30pm.  If I get there late, then I have to pay $5 for the first 5 minutes and $1 for each additional meeting.  And if I take public transportation home, I will be late picking her up.
Ugh...so I have to drive until I find a job closer to home...I'm looking.  But thanks to our current economy, jobs are becoming scarce.

Anyway...I've decided to get a "new to me" car.  I don't need a new car every three years.  I just need something dependable that will get me to work and back.  I need a car that sips gas like a fine champagne and not like a drunken frat boy chugging beer during Rush Week.

After A LOT of research, I have selected a Toyota Corolla.  I test drove some cars and found one that spoke to me. 

The salesperson was a woman, her name is Kathy.  She was also a single mom.  She was from El Salvador, my dad was from El Salvador.  She has a 7 year old.  My daughter is 7.  We got comfortable with each other.  Ok....we were now sizing each other up.  I'm comfortable with her, so she must be thinking she can ask for a lot.  I'm thinking that now I can push the envelope farther.

After the test drive, she says:

Kathy: the car cost this much....

I didn't even look up from my cell phone

Me:  How about this much....

Kathy: Let me talk to my manager.

(He said ok.)

Then she starts doing the math.

Me: Wait, how about my trade in?

Kathy:  I thought you weren't going to trade in your car?

Me:  I said I wasn't sure if I was going to trade it in and I was going to think about it.....now I'm done thinking about it.

She comes back with a VERY low amount.  I wasn't surprised, I drive an 11 year old jeep with a zillion miles on it.

Kathy:  We'll give you this much for the jeep

Me:  No...this much

Kathy:  Let me talk to my manager

(he said ok)

In hindsight...I think I could have talked them down even lower.  But here is something you may not know about me.  I DON'T HAGGLE.  I never have.  My mom and  her brother are pros at haggling.  I just can't do it.  But this time, I did it. 

At one point, after she told me the price, I just sat silently and did numbers in my head. She asked me what I was thinking about and I said that I had a song stuck in my head.  To which she replied with a grin, "Oh really? What song?"

Nothin' Goin On But the Rent!

I talked to my ex-husband who was a car sales man at some point and he said I did good.  Yay me!