joanieponytail57

We just got an almost 4 month old miniature schnauzer and he is a doll. Our son named him Rover. I love it. I have never actually known anyone with a dog named Rover even though it is one of the classic names. My job status is currently on-call, which means I just fill in when others need time off for holidays or sickness or whatever. Most weeks I don't work at all so I am being cautious about swaps, paying more attention to what and where than usual.

I am married and have two children. Our daughter has just graduated from college and our son is in middle school.

My husband is retired. When I was working he would usually make dinner and that was nice to come home and not have to get that ready, but now that I am seriously underemployed it has fallen back on my shoulders and I have found that I love the site Allrecipes.

We owned a BBQ restaurant for 13 years, but decided it was just too much work after our son was born.

I am a Christian and have attended the same church since my daughter was 3 years old. It has been such a wonderful experience. I laugh, I cry, I am stretched and I grow there.

There are walking trails in our new neighborhood and I have seen so many people out walking in the afternoons. Such a change from our old neighborhood where I sometimes felt like a curiousity if I did go out walking.

I have lived in California since I was a few months old and have no desire to live anywhere else, though I would like to visit. My daughter would want me to say that most of you probably wouldn't like it here, what with all the earthquakes and wildfires and mudslides and all. I think she is just hoping to be able to afford to buy a home here herself someday.

In general, I like joyful, whimsical, colorful, funny, romantic things.

I enjoy fiber crafts (especially crochet) and paper crafts. I will do almost anything craft-wise, but those are my favorite types. So I would love to get anything connected with fiber: yarn, fabric, embroidery floss, trims, etc. or interesting papers, scraps, ephemera, stickers.

Since joining Swap-bot I have discovered Dotee dolls and have started doing inchies and zentangles. What fun!

Colors: If I have to choose, I would say pinks, blues, purples, but it would be hard for me to name a color I did not like.

Music: I mostly like country and worship music, but I do like rock, classical, swing, show-tunes and even barbershop quartet. We just went to see Opera's Greatest Hits. Who knew? I like opera, too. Even our twelve year old son thought is was "not too bad."

TV: Amazing Race, Big Bang Theory, Better Off Ted (sigh, canceled), Psych, Good Eats and Shimmy.

Movies: Signs, Galaxy Quest, Sense and Sensibility, Stranger than Fiction, Crash, National Treasure, Happy Accidents, Stardust, Date Night and romantic comedies in general.

Books: The Mark of the Lion Trilogy and The Last Sin-Eater (the movie is horrible) by Francine Rivers, The Sacred Romance by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge, The Endearment by LaVyrle Spencer, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Refiner's Fire by Sylvia Bambola, and Persuasion by Jane Austen.

I also enjoy historical and contemporary romances especially if they are humorous.

My favorite book growing up was Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw.

I don't like scary things or things that fall under the category I call "life sucks and then you die."

No skulls (unless they are on jolly halloween skeletons), no Stephen King-type things, no blood and gore, if you please.

Also, I don't like the smell of eucalyptus.

Paying for postage due. This has only recently become a problem and because of my current financial situation, I can't do it, so I will now be sending them back unopened. Truthfully, I don't always understand why one letter/package has postage due and another that seems to be the same size, weight and general thickness/lumpiness sometimes received the same day with the same postage is fine, but there you go. I am now putting on less postage than I think a package will need ('cause stamps are cool) and then going to the post office to have them put on the balance so it will be clear to the powers that be, that someone at the P.O. said it was okay. Sigh.

Here is a simple list of easily mailable things I like (in case you were wondering):

A: ATC's

B: buttons, bookmarks, bottlecap pincushions

C: crocheted flowers, trim, bookmarks, dishcloths, jewelry, etc.; chocolate, charms

D: dolls (small, especially dotee dolls)

E: earrings (pierced -- beaded or crocheted)

F: foreign coins, fibers

I: inchies

J: jokes, jewelry (handmade)

K: knitted dishcloths

M: moo cards, matchboxes

N: needlecases

P: paper, paper scraps, postcards

Q: quotes

R: recipe cards (blank or with a favorite recipe), rickrack, ribbon

S: stamps (cancelled), stickers, scrumbling bits

T: tatting, tags

V: verses (from the bible)

W: wool felt

X: X-mas cards

Y: yarn (clean, please)

Z: zentangles, zines