I recently had this fantastic idea that was going to completely shock everyone and I would get to smile about it.  My idea came to a downfall when some bald guy came over and stuck a "for lease" sign in our front yard while talking on his cell phone.

Yes, we're in the process of buying a new house.  Yes, we're going to lease our current home out.  No, I cannot keep it a secret with a sign in my yard.  No, I will not be able to shock everyone by inviting them to a surprise open house party at our new house.  Bummer.

By not getting to throw ourselves a surprise open house party after planning to for weeks (which was either a foolish or a genius plan), what I ended up getting was a couple of stress filled weeks that I couldn't share with anyone.  I didn't want to ruin the "surprise" by chitchatting about the stress involved with buying this house.  Now I can openly talk about it and share my excitement, which is quite nice.  I guess the joke is on me.

It's a nice house in a very nice neighborhood.  There are more bikes on the road than cars.  There are families everywhere happily enjoying their time outside together.  There are bike paths galore that link into the Greenbelt (Boise's bike trail system).  We can walk down one path and pick wild blackberries on the way to a huge park that is popular for throwing a tube or a raft in the river and enjoying a 2.5 hour float through Boise.  We can take a different path and walk to a fun little street which is 2 blocks full of nice dining, drinking, candy, activities and friendly people.  Also walking distance is Q-Bear's school.

We hope to be settling into our new home by the end of September, beginning of October at the latest.  I'm very anxious to live in a nice neighborhood where it is quiet and not littered with crack heads wondering the streets after getting their kicks at the nearby bar and strip club.

Q-Bear started Kindergarten this week and is already a pro.  Since she's been in full time Montessori since the week she turned 2, I didn't expect this to be a hard transition, but she's really blown my mind in some ways.

Day 1, I'm pretty sure I was more nervous than she was.  I've grown very comfortable with the Montessori school she's gone to all these years, and the children she associates with all day long.  I know them.  I know their families.  I've become the closest of friends with some and have many others over for gatherings.  Who are these strange new kids and their parents that I'm now supposed to mingle with?  I still don't know.  So far there hasn't been much opportunity to get to know one another, but I hope that in the future there will be.  All that really matters at this point is that Q-Bear is adjusting well, and she is.  

Day 3, I'm driving her to school and she says that she wants to get herself to where she needs to be.  OK… I drive up to the curb, stop the car and let her jump out and take herself to the "KA" hopscotch panel, which she knows to be her classes designated pickup area.  Day 3 people!!  Already, she's too cool for mom to walk her to class.

She's having a great time going to public Kindergarten and we are very happy with the decision we made so far.  Reading through the piles of paper that come home with her makes me think that this is going to be really good for her and not hold her back in any way, shape or form.  It's new and exciting.  It's big and glamorous.  It's things she's knows mixed with things she needs to learn.  So far, so good!
 

Now that the John Fluevog Thinks You're Awesome sale is over, there have been handfuls of new shoes up for grabs.  Seeing all the new stock is a bit much for me to bear since it's still 95-100 degrees out here everyday.  What do hot temperatures have to do with Fluevog sadness?  I'll tell you… The only thing I can manage to put on my feet in during this heat is flip flops.  Not Fluevogs.  Can it be boot season yet?  I have some Inges that really want to be worn.  And just look at this new shoe available and try to tell me that it's not super cute.  I bet you can't.  I want…

1.  We took Quinn to the fair the other day and she is now tall enough to go on many of the big rides with an adult.  She tried them out and LOVED them!

2.  Buffalo Haze, an iPhone app that Graham has been working on for over a year, was released on Friday.  It's relief to have that project finished up, but it doesn't seem to be receiving much positive attention from the right people.  You can download a free version in the app store.  Let us know what you think!

3.  I think I've figured out my soldering problems.  Here is a preview of what I've been soldering and will soon be offered in my online shops:

4.  Q-Bear starts Kindergarten at her new school on Wednesday.

5.  After unsuccessfully searching for a new home in the historic north end of Boise all summer long, we have decided to expand our search into other areas of Boise.

6.  Toddler Teasers is very close to having a major update released and the anticipation is driving me up the wall crazy.

7.  Lately, everyday has been lived upon a mountain of activity and obligations.  I feel a bit rundown from all the "busy" I've been living for the past couple of weeks.

8.  I still haven't thought of a decent way to make a fun toilet flush handle out of clay that will work.  Booo.  But, I honestly haven't been trying hard lately.

9.  Screamers is going to be home with me for the next 2 weeks and he is currently making a terrible sound that makes me think these 2 weeks might  be a bit tough on the ears.

10.  We went to a birthday party for one of Q-Bears friends yesterday and they went out of their way to get gluten free pizza for me and our close friend who is also gluten free.  I have a bit left in the fridge and it's making me mad in the head with hunger.  I'm going to have it eat it now.  It's not everyday we gluten free folk get to eat pizza.

Boise, ID August 19, 2011 -- Buffalo Haze, a just released iPhone app, takes on the controversial Yellowstone buffalo issue by simulating the yearly hazing practiced by wildlife managers. Developed by GooMoss, a Boise company, the app hopes to educate a wide audience on how buffalo are treated.

Every year bison naturally roam outside of Yellowstone National Park to graze on grasses at lower elevations. Wildlife managers haze the bison back into Yellowstone before the public lands are opened to cattle grazing in the spring. This practice is very costly to tax payers and has many environmental groups upset over the treatment of the species. It is common for buffalo to be injured during the hazing. Over 6,800 buffalo have also been slaughtered as a result of current policies.

In the game you are a wildlife manager tasked with hazing the bison back into Yellowstone before time runs out. High resolution graphics, catchy music and a unique game play may make hazing bison seem fun, but the app is quick to point out the problems with the hazing policies. “Buffalo hazing is a cruel government policy and I hope Buffalo Haze brings some light of day to an issue that has tormented a majestic American species,” says Graham Carter of GooMoss.

The app is available on the iTunes App Store as of August 19th for $0.99.

Buffalo Haze Lite, a free version, is also available.

These past couple of days I have been filled to the brim with excitement and nerves for the little lady of the house.  We made a last minute decision to put her into public kindergarten and her first day of school is one week from today.

After all the torture we put ourselves through with trying to figure out where to send Q-Bear to school next year, public vs. private, I feel like I wasted a lot of good energy and grew a few new wrinkles just to end up changing our minds at the last minute.  But here we are, and she is SO excited.

Our original decision to keep her in Montessori through Kindergarten was due to our not wanting her to be bored while her public classmates learned things she has known for years.  I decided to speak with a different Kindergarten teacher at a different elementary in a different (nicer) part of town and learned that they have a plentiful amount of 5 year olds entering Kindergarten each year that are already reading/writing.  One student tested out of Kindergarten at a 5th grade reading level!  Plus, they still had space for a few more children.  I think my eyes flashed dollar signs when we decided to make the change and put her in a public school.  We will save a nice chunk of money this year by only having Baby Face in Montessori in opposed to having them both there.

Her new school is across town, but luckily Boise is small enough to where "across town" means a 10 minute drive.  She'll be at school for less than 3 hours a day which means I'll get to spend some solo time with her and put her into some extracurricular activities.  Where she's at in herself right now, this will be a good thing.  She's growing up and is ready for a change.  I'm so excited for her that I find it hard to concentrate on anything else.

Last night I took her out shopping for her first school bag and school supplies.  Tomorrow is her last day at Montessori, where she has been a student for 4 years with many of the same children.  Friday her new school is having an open house for students to meet their teachers and drop off their supplies.  Next Wednesday she will have her first day.  Wow!

When you become a parent it means a lot of things change very quickly.  One of those things is having the freedom to go out on a whim and whoop it up with friends all night long.  Since having Screamers join us 2 years ago, my nights out on the town can easily fit on one hand.  I'm talking all nighters, not the home by 10pm date night variety.  Friday night was one of those few occasions where the little chicks were dropped off for an all-nighter with Nana and Grandpa (who a year ago swore they would never babysit again until the kids were teenagers).

Dearly Beloved and I had tickets to get into a private book reading for a new book that musician Josh Ritter has released.  First stop, The Record Exchange!  A large amount of fans filled the isles of this popular music stop downtown.  I suspect there were many loose pockets going home with a "free" CD or two by the end of the night.  It seems very risky to me to let a hundred or so people pack in among all the merchandise and turn down the lights.  Aside from my thoughts of suspected thievery, the book reading and music played by Josh Ritter was very engaging.  This was a great way to start off the night and by 10pm we were on our way to the next great thing.

We have some old friends visiting Boise this weekend for a wedding and had caught wind that they were at the Basque Block for the rehearsal dinner.  We found them at the fun corner bar, Bar Gernika, sipping on beers that were not their first of the night.  Boise's Basque Block is a small stretch that homes a handful of establishments that will fill you up with delicious drinks, fantastic food, entertainment and of course happiness.  So we're sitting with old friends outside of Bar Gernika chatting away, when I notice that there are about 5 people spinning fire poi in the center of the grove.  Being a poi spinner myself, I decided to leave everyone for a bit and wandered into the grove to check it out.  When I got there I found the fire spinners to be far less interesting than the pole that was setup in the middle of the fountain (currently turned off) and the people flying around it.  I hung out and watched some pretty good pole dancers, some not so good, a bit of fire spinning and then went and met up with my people again who had decided they wanted to go to the Neurolux for some karaoke.

The Neurolux is a smoky loud bar that gets a lot of great touring bands and is a popular gathering spot for many people.  It's rare to go there and not recognize someone.  So we entered the smoke filled room so the lady singer with us could throw her name in the hat and practice the song that she was to sing at the wedding on Saturday.  I heard her sing at her own wedding years ago and was happily surprised by her voice.  She's good!  Her name was drawn from the hat and I got to enjoy a second song from her.  I think we ended up being at the smoke hole for about an hour.  That was enough.

We made it home in the very late hours of night, or the early hours of morning.  Same difference, right?  A shower was a must to rid myself of smoke, but unfortunately I can't shower out my lungs and sinuses.  I ended up being up most of the night sneezing.  I do wonder how I used to be able to spend so much time in smoky bars, and be a smoker myself.  It's no easy thing to do.

All in all, I had a ton of fun staying out past my bedtime and not worrying about the kids for once.  I love living in a smallish city with the big city things going on.  Maybe by the time I'm 40 I'll be able to enjoy those late night happenings more often.

A couple of weeks ago, I went into the salon with the fuzzy hair I've always been tortured by, and walked out with the smoothest hair I have ever worn.  This smooth, shiny, manageable lovely hair was obtained by a 2.5 hour process and is supposed to last for nearly 3 months.  No way, you say.  For real!

I wanted to get through a few washes before blogging about the Pravana Perfection smooth out treatment.  I have washed a handful of times, I have been lazy and left my hair all icky for a whole day after being chlorinated from swimming the day before, and I couldn't be happier with what this treatment has done for my hair.  Every time I wash, my hair air dries smooth and shiny.  Completely frizz free.  It still has soft waves and will hold a curl if I were to curl it.  I have straightened with a hair dryer once and a flat iron once.  These two devices used to be used everyday, at least a little, to get my hair into a halfway presentable hold.  I feel free from the heat.  Liberated from the bathroom mirror.  Ready to go without much, if any, thought of how the days weather will affect my locks and if a hat will be necessary.

There is one complaint that I have about this hair treatment.  It's quite expensive and I don't think I make enough money to justify getting it done 3-4 times a year.  Maybe the salon will give me a "frequent smoother" punch card or something.  I do know that once my hair starts getting all frizzy and untamed again I'll be fiending for some Pravana Perfection.  I just might have to dig into my Fluevog funds.  Yes, it's that good!

I'm getting pretty low on my acrylic jewelry and don't currently have access to my equimpent.  What does this mean for me?  It means I can't easily restock.  What does this mean for you?  It means you can contact me to receive 35% off anything currently listed in my shop.  Follow Ravishing Jane on Facebook and I'll love you back by giving you a whopping 50% off.  No Joke!!

Once the shop is cleared out it will be time for a top secret Ravishing change.

A couple of years ago I was in bad need of a regular escape from the life that only a parent who has had a baby with colic could understand.  I called upon a couple of budding friends and asked them if they would like to join me for a weekly TV and snack fix.  The show I had in mind was Project Runway, a reality competition show to find the next top fashion designer.  The new season of Project Runway started 2 weeks ago and the 3 of us have once again pulled together for our weekly friend, fashion and food fix.

This year we've decided to put a little wager on the competition.  We each (husbands included) chose a contestant to be "our" contestant.  Each week that our contestant is still in the game, we add $3.  Once our contestant is voted off, we no longer have to contribute to the pot.  The last person with a contestant still in the competition takes the cash home.

I'm pretty sure I've got this one in the bag.  I've chosen Becky Ross for my contestant and she has nailed the first two competitions.  They aren't easy either.

The first one, contestants were awoken at the butt crack of dawn and forced to make a runway garmet using only the pajamas they had on and one sheet.  Here's what she came up with:

Last week contestants were given $300 to shop in a pet store to create something unconventional.  She used a variety of colored feathers and leaves to create this:

So far they've not shown too much of her dialog or given her any special attention.  I think that's a good sign that she'll be one of the ones going all the way.  Fingers crossed!