One knitter's chaos

I'm Not Dead Yet

2011-04-14T09:47:00.000-05:00

Yes it is true. I am still alive! Shocking but true.
The Girl had meningitis last weekend and had to be hospitalized. She had the viral kind NOT the bacterial kind so she will be okay. But they had to treat it like the bacterial kind until some cultures came back. On the plus side, they dosed her up with some powerful antibiotics and she is able to eat again. She has not been able to eat since her stomach issues months ago and she has lost way too much weight.
The Baby is doing well. She is talking up a storm and can do a maniacal laugh. It is really cute!
Here is a hat I finished for the shop.

I think it is pretty good. However, I think the yellow/brown color in the brim area should be a little lighter.
I am planning on knitting some stuff for The Baby and generally for my own personal pleasure. I have been knitting tons of stuff for the shop and I am sick of it. I only have one more project that is due for someone else and then I am done knitting for others.

I am going to try to blog more, but I can not make any promises since I have to create a website for the shop and other misc crap I need to get done.

Yet another month

2011-02-04T22:42:00.002-06:00

Time has flown by since I last blogged. Not a whole lot has happened per se. There have been some changes at the shop where I work, which of course will affect me. It may be time to bite the bullet and realize that I probably have to go back to the mind-numbing world of corporate America. The idea revolts me, but I see little choice in the matter. I have not made any decisions yet, so we will see.

The Girl has been sick, again, this time with severe stomach pains. Today she went in for an ultrasound on her stomach and the doctor prescribed her ulcer medicine. And her car has broken down, Again. I hate cars and house and money and everything connected to them.

In knitting news: I am working on a scarf for The Hub. The one he has is an embarrassment to me as a knitter. This one I am working on is just a 2x2 rib, but it is nice yarn and looks nicer than the monstrosity he has been wearing.

I finished a pair of socks I started in 2007. However, the cast off on both of them is too tight and I cannot get them over my heels. So I have do decided if I want to rip them back and fix them or just say screw it and count it as done. I am sort of leaning towards calling them done.

Well, that is all I have… sorry for the depressing post, just not up to being light and perky today.

Happy New Year

2011-01-13T09:50:00.000-06:00

Hello, I hope you all had a good holiday season. Ours was pretty good. I know I should have written sooner, but I have just been too lazy to do it. Here is a picture of this year’s Christmas tree. It is lovely. The Girl decorated it. I think she did a really nice job.

Look what we found when we were deconstructing the tree!

The cats find the tree fascinating. I do not know why.

Here is the hat I knit for The Girl for her present. She likes it, so that is always a plus.

Here is The Baby with Iris the monster, which I made her for Christmas. She loves Iris and sleeps AND eats breakfast with her. It is very cute.

Resolutions:

1^st a review of last year’s resolutions:

1. I want to knit a 10K this year. I am not going to have the same restriction of not buying more yarn, but since I am not really working, I do not have much money for it anyway. – I did not accomplish this. I knit about 5K, just like last year. I think that might be my limit.

2. I want to learn how to do double knitting. This is 2-sided knitting, it is double thickness and both sides are right sides. It can be reversible. – I did learn to do double knitting, but did not do any projects with it. Still, I now know how to do it.

3. I want to knit 2 adult sweaters and probably a couple of kid sweaters too. – This was a complete fail. I did I knit two kid’s sweaters, one of which won 2^nd place at the State Fair. Did I mention that???

4. I am going to work on Christmas presents early!! I plan on knitting advent & Christmas ornaments. – HA HA HA. I started Christmas presents later than ever, not until November!

Ah Well. It’s a new year, so lets start over. Resolutions for 2011

1) I am going to finish some of my old projects or rip them out and use the yarn for something else.

2) I want to learn how to do entrelac. Mainly because I want to make the sheep in Norwegian Handknits.

3) I am going to make a sweater for my mom. I also want to make several garments for The Baby.

4) I am going to make Christmas ornaments. Really this year I am going to do it. Really!

I think that is enough for one year. I also am going to finish some of the needlepoint canvases I have since they are starting to pile up. I want to make a pillow for the in-laws for Christmas next year, but we will see…

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

2010-12-18T20:06:00.000-06:00

We got a little snow last weekend here in the big MN. We received about 16” at my house. The Baby went out today to play it today.

She is getting big and she is really cute.

I finished all the knitting for the In-laws X-mas presents. They are in the mail and should get there before Saturday. However, I do not have the rest of the gifts on my list done. I should have The Girl’s hat done (I am not worried about that), but I do not have The Hub’s present bought and I will not get anything done by Saturday. So tomorrow I will have to go shopping and see what I can find. The Girl’s Boyfriend wanted a scarf and I doubt I will be able to knit that by X-mas either. Not sure what to do about that problem. The Girl was fighting with him last week and I sort of hoped that they would breakup so I would not have to worry about it, but that did not happen. I guess that is a good thing since I do sort of like him.

I have been watching crappy holiday movies. I have always wondered why they appeal to people since they are really predictable and shallow. But I think perhaps it is because they all seem to have some stranger show up and solve the main characters problems. Who wouldn’t want someone come in and make life perfect? Look, your kids are suddenly perfect, you meet your soul mate, you get a lovely home etc and you don’t have to do ANYTHING, just believe in miracles. Really, for life to change, you have to DO something to make it change. I think that is the reason I love The Christmas Carol. Scrooge actually has to do the work himself. The Sprits show him what is happening around him, but it is up to him to decide if he is going to change.

Well, I really should be knitting on The Girl’s present instead of blogging…

Where have you been? Where are you going?

2010-12-04T13:38:00.000-06:00

Look what I found on line, a place to chart where you have been. I have been to more than 1/2 of the states in the USA...

visited 29 states (58%)
Create your own visited map of The United States
I will say, that it looks weird to have been to all those states in the West and not Nevada or Utah. I have been at the airport in Las Vegas and Salt Lake City, but I am not counting airports, only if I have actually entered the state. So I counting places I have driven through, mainly because I have to stop and pee on a regular basis and figure I had to get out in most of them. I honestly could not remember if I had ever been to Michgan... the rest I am confident about having been there or not.

But I have not been really anywhere else.

visited 7 states (3.11%)
Create your own visited map of The World

Other news
Things have been pretty crappy here. The Girl was sick and then her car brokedown and the holidays are upon us and I have no money. If you are interested in buying some of my yarn, I am selling some on Ravelry. I am trying to raise enough to buy a Christmas present for The Hub and some of my co-workers. I am almost there, I just need a few more sales.

I have been knitting some presents and have my MIL & FIL gifts done.

Here are some bed socks for my MIL. It is the same pattern as last year, just different yarn. It is what she wanted.

Here are some fingerless gloves for my FIL. He did not say what he wanted, but I figured he could use these and they would match the hat I knit him last year.

Crazy Daze

2010-11-12T13:55:00.000-06:00

So… Things have been crazy, in the sort of depressing way.

November has been unseasonably warm, which is always a bummer. However, it is supposed to start snowing tonight and continue on and off until Wednesday. I hope this is true; a little snow sure would cheer me up.

The Girl has been sick (actual disease sick) with various things the last couple of weeks. The latest was a kidney infection. She had to go in several times until she finally found an antibiotic that worked. She is feeling better and is actually getting up (willingly!) and going to school. Apparently, going to school is better than feeling like you are dying!

Knitting has been slow because I have been feeling down and tired. I have 2 fingers to do on my FIL gloves and they will be done. I need to get it done this weekend so I can move on to my MILs socks. The Hub lost his fingerless at Ikea. It makes me sad because if really liked them and I don’t know if I have it in me to make another pair.

I am really not looking forward to Xmas this year. Normally, it is my favorite time of year, but this year, I have no money and I don’t know if I can knit something for everyone…

The Baby is doing well. She said her first full length sentence last week… “I’m not tired.” She was responding to grandpa’s inquiry as to why she was not napping. And the other night she was mooching food off of me and said, “Nother bite of pizza.” She does love to eat, particularly cheese and cheese related foods. And green beans… she loves green beans.

No photos today, but if I can figure out how to embed video, I might put up some video of The Baby. She is too damn cute. (She can also say “Come on down”. She loves the Price is Right, what can I say?)

What’s New With You?

2010-10-27T05:33:00.000-05:00

Not much is new here. The camera did show up, but The Girl had crushed it in her backpack. So the screen is broken, so you can take pictures, but you cannot see what they are before you download them. This is not that big of deal, but you cannot adjust any of the settings on the camera since they all show up on the screen.

However, I do have a photo to show. I knit this tam for a co-workers friend. I think it turned out quite nice.

I have knit several hats in the last month and now I am starting on X-mas presents. I am currently knitting some fingerless gloves for my FIL. He has never actually shown any interest in fingerless gloves; in fact, I don’t think I have ever seen him wear gloves at all. But he does a lot of stuff for the church (outside) and I thought it would be nice for him to have something that he could use his fingers and still keep his hands warm. We will see how it goes.

My MIL wants another pair of bed socks, so I will make those next. They are easy since they are made with bigger yarn.

The Hub and I have been looking at beds. It is one of those things that really suck to shop for because all the salespeople are extra clingy. It is not like I am going to carry the damn mattress out of the store in my pocket. Go away and let me lie on them and see which ones I like for Pete’s sake! Sheesh… Anyway, we were going to upgrade to a queen bed, but we would have to buy a new frame and quite honestly, the thought of paying $75 for something to just set the bed on was more than I could bear. So we are going with another full bed. We found one we liked and it will be delivered on Friday. It will be so nice to sleep on something that does not make springy noise and is soft.

I will let you know how it goes.

Other than that, not much going on here. I have been working. The Girl has been sick. The Baby can count to 10 and knows what noises several animals (including a monkey and a javelina) make. She is very smart! She is going to be a monkey for Halloween. I promise to post a picture of her here.

I Got a Wife and Kids in Baltimore Jack

2010-09-18T07:49:00.001-05:00

Actually, I don’t, but I have heard this Springsteen song several times this week and decided to use it as my blog title.

It has been a crazy week. On the 1^st day of school, The Girl blew a tire on her car, luckily she had a full sized spare and she was driving around on that until we had time to get her set up to get a new tire. Unfortunately, on Thursday she left the house and called about 5 minutes later in tears to tell us that a different tire was flat and when she filled it with air, it was leaking badly. Since she had a court date in the afternoon (regarding child support) she was going to miss school in the afternoon anyway we had to call the school and tell them she was going to miss the whole day. And we had to go with to drop off her car to get the tires replaced. While it was there, the tire place called and said that the rear brakes were shot (there was only 2% of the pad left). So we had to get that fixed as well. God I hate cars…

Then, the sink in the bathroom clogged up and we had to call the plumber since we could not get to the clog ourselves.

Work has been crazy because we started a sale this week. I have found that the worst days at work are when people come in big bunches. The people are not necessarily with one another, but it is almost like everyone waits outside until one person goes in and then they all follow. It just gets to be so busy that you worry that someone will feel that they are being neglected.

I have been knitting some socks with some great yarn we now have in the shop called Land O Lace Steffi. It is wonderful and the colors rock.

I have no photos because The Girl took the camera to school on the 1^st day of school and I have not seen it since.

There are days when I think it might be nice to take a wrong turn and just keep going…

Lots Of News

2010-09-01T21:28:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I dropped off my sweater at the Fair. It was a Tuesday morning and I walked right in with it and handed it over. It is fun to go to the Fairgrounds right before the Fair opens. You see all the activity of people readying their booths… unloading trucks, washing down the building, fixing any damage that might have occurred over the previous 12 months. It is just cool to see all the action without the crowds.

Anyway, yesterday we (The Hub, The Baby and me) went to the Fair. There were not huge crowds but it was pretty hot. And here is what I saw when I went looking about the Creative Activities building…

Yes, boys and girls, that is a Red Ribbon you see on my sweater. I won 2^nd place in the kid’s colorwork sweater category. I was ecstatic! Seriously, this is the 1^st yoke sweater I have ever knit and I designed myself. So to get 2^nd place is huge in my book. The 1^st place winner’s sweater was outstanding so I a good with coming in 2^nd.

The rest of the day at the Fair was good. We did not see all the stuff we normally do because we had The Baby with and she started to get really tired by the end. She did love seeing the cows, pigs and sheep. She had some malt, funnel cake and cheese (her favorite). Overall, it was a fabulous day at the Fair!

The same day I dropped off my sweater at the Fair, I had a job interview at a local major corporation. As I sat in the lobby listening to lite jazz, I watched men leaving for the day. They were all wearing khakis, every one of them … I realized that I hate khakis. I hate business casual. I hate that men can throw on a golf shirt and khakis and be considered “professional”. Really the only professional that should be dressing that way is a golfer. The interview with the HR person went fine, but the purchasing manager did not seem impressed with me. Not that I really cared, by the time I was called in for the interviews, I knew that I really did not want to go back to the corporate world. I will sell everything I own to survive if it means no more lite jazz and khakis.

Luckily, the next Monday I was offered a full time position at the shop and I accepted. I was so happy. I will not become rich working there, but I am happier than I have been in a long, long time (work wise). They respect my ideas and they actually care what happens to me. I realized one day that knitting is one of the few things in my life that I am good at and I love to do.

Speaking of knitting, I have some photos of recently completed projects.

This is a tam I made for the shop.

Here is a hat I made for The Baby. I added a pompom after this photo was taken.

Here is my needlepoint box I did.

To Sleep Perchance To Dream

2010-08-07T08:14:00.000-05:00

I have not been sleeping well. It has been very hot in the MN lately, which affects me greatly. AND my bed is on its last legs, the springs are broken and they poke at me causing me to wake up several times a night. The lack of sleep is starting to affect my mood. I have been feeling very down lately. I feel crabby and sad and like a total failure. I just don’t know what to do about it. I feel like selling everything I own and running away. This is never a good sign.

On the knitting front, I am almost done with my sweater for the Fair. I am on the yoke and it is looking pretty good (if I say so myself). I did have to change my original design because when I did not like it when I started knitting it. Last night I was working on it and realized I had made a mistake in the yoke pattern. I was able to drop the stitch down to the row with the wrong color and fix it and this was after I had drank a couple of glasses of wine. So I guess I am okay at this knitting thing…

I still do not have a camera, so no pictures yet. You will just have to image a really cute black toddler sweater with corrugated ribbing in purple, red, yellow and green.

The Baby has started to walk. She decided last week that it was the thing to do and just stood up and walked. She is just the funniest baby. She is getting so big. She has started learning body parts and the other day she was standing around saying “Toe, Toe, Toe” in a deep voice. It was very funny.

Inception (Movie Review)

A couple of weeks ago I saw Inception. Before I get too far into this review, I should revel that I dislike Leonardo DiCaprio. He just bugs me to no end and normally I just do not go to his movies. Overall it is a pretty good movie. It is really well constructed, which is saying something since a lot of it takes place in the subconscious. The special effects are amazing and the acting is okay. The story is fine, but not really deep or meaningful. It was worth seeing in the theater just because it is a big movie and the effects would be lost on a smaller screen. So I am giving it 3 out of 4 knitting needles.

Death By Monkeys

2010-07-03T11:31:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday The Hub and I went to see Toy Story 3 (not in 3D). It was very good. It was a cute movie with a lot of heart. It also has the underling story of what happens to toys when they are no longer needed. It was a good bookend to the Toy Story trilogy. Of course, the animation is fantastic (I expect no less from Pixar). There is a scene that is quite intense and there was a little kid crying in the theater, so it may not be appropriate for all kids. The short in the beginning is really odd and well not very interesting. I think they were experimenting with the animation, but I do not think it worked over all. However, the movie is worth seeing and I am giving it 3 ¼ knitting needles.

Knitting Knews

Okay, I have not been knitting very much. I have stuff to finish up for work and I have a sweater to knit for the Fair. It is July 3^rd and I have not started with my Fair project. Well, that is not totally true… I have the yarn and I know what I am going to do, I just need to plan it all out. We will see if I am able to do it.

Needlepoint News

I am almost finished with my trick or treat needlepoint canvas. I do think I mentioned in my last posting that I have started to do needlepoint as well. I finished my Scotland ornament and sent it off to be finished and I received back my 1^st project. I needlepointed a heart canvas and had it put into a box. If I could find my camera I would post a picture.

Other News

I survived the visit from the in-laws, although it was a very long week. And my MIL developed a Urinary Tract Infection and a cold so she was out of commission for a couple of days.

Today, The Hub and I went and picked raspberries. We picked 6 pounds. It was a great day to be out in the field, it was warm, but breezy. I am not sure what I am going to do with them yet, but I think most will just be eaten.

I missed strawberries this year. June was so busy I just did not get down there. They said that they might have a “get what you can day” either Monday or Tuesday just to finish off the season. Hopefully it will be Tuesday and I can go get some berries anyway.

Well, that is about all the news I have today. I hope you have a safe and happy 4^th of July!

In Laws

2010-06-10T07:28:00.002-05:00

My in-laws arrived last night. I have been dreading this visit more than I can say. They are nice, but my MIL is very judgey. I don’t even think she knows she does it quite honestly, but she has this look that just shows what she is thinking. She worries a lot so I think that is part of it. I cannot tell her that whatever happens, things will work out, eventually.

Not that my mom is any better. She is up from AZ for a while, I do not know how long since she has not bothered to tell me. Anyway, she called to make an appointment for us to come down and see her next weekend. It made The Girl so angry that her grandma would not come up to see her and The Baby that she refuses to talk to her. It is just crazy.

In other news, I have taken up needlepoint. It is very, very dangerous. I had done some needlepoint when I was in high school, but nothing quiet so complicated. Anyway, I have been working on needlepoint stuff instead of knitting. I have only knit 2979.8 yards this year. I have knit more, just not finished it. I have been doing a lot for the shop and I just really want to knit something for me...

I have misplaced my camera, so no pictures of anything. Sorry.

Sad Days Indeed

2010-05-28T20:24:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I we had to put down our little dog. She was starting to have trouble getting around the house and remembering to go outside to potty. It was just time.

Good bye baby-dog… you will be missed.

Now we just have cats. I have to assume that will have to be that way until The Girl and The Baby move out. Although that is not going to be anytime soon. The Girl is pretty resigned that she is not going to pass this semester and will have to go to summer school and the fall term and graduate in December. We will have to see. She is going to be the death of me…

Dead Jedis

I hate the movie Return of the Jedi. There are two reasons for this: 1) to quote Hurley from Lost “Ewoks suck, Dude.” 2) At the end of the movie the victors are having a party and Luke Skywalker looks over and sees the ghosts of Obi-wan, Yoda, and Darth (aka Dad) standing there smiling and waving. It is just stupid.

Lost ended this week. I was extremely disappointed with the ending. The fact that the “Sideways world” was just some generic spiritual purgatory where the Losties were all waiting so they could go to the great hereafter together was just lame. Really, it all comes down to religious crap? Bah! It was Return of the Jedi all over again. God, can’t dead people just stay dead. I would have been really happy without the sideways world and just having it end with Jack saving the Island and seeing his friends jet off to safety and closing his eye. And maybe a few more answers instead of happy-go-lucky dead folks. Anyway, the more I think about it the madder I get, so I will not be discussing Lost any more.

I Promise to Blog More Often

2010-05-23T18:37:00.001-05:00

So I went to the Dentist this week. I know, I know, I haven’t blogged in months and I start by talking about the Dentist! WTF? Don’t worry, I will make my excuses and give a big update. Anyway, my DDS now has a digital x-ray machine. The thing you bite down on has a cord coming out of it that leads right to the computer and all the pictures just download right away. It was really cool, but it made me feel old. I remember when I was a kid and they would send me into a different room and put the big lead vest on me, leave the room and take an x-ray. They do not even put the lead vest on anymore… which means either the x-ray technology has improved so it is not as much of a risk OR my dentist doesn’t care if I get bombarded with radiation. I am hoping it is the first one.

What has been going on for the last several months?

I have been working at the yarn shop. It has been going well. It is the best place I have ever worked. They want me to get together a plan of what I would need in order to start working there full time. I know that long term I could not really support my family working there, but I really want to stay there because I love it. Maybe if my husband gets a job I can to do it. We will have to see what happens.

I have been doing some knitting. Here are a couple of things I have created since I last blogged…

This is a hat made from Lost themed yarn (Polar Bear in the Jungle). It is a pattern a made up using Barbara Walker Treasury.

Here is a hat I made for my nephew…

Here is a wrap I made for the shop… The yarn was a pain to work with, but I think it looks good.

And here is a sneak peek at next month’s 3K perk in the shop. I designed it myself!

I done a few other things, but I think this is enough for now.

Life has been chaotic. The Girl has been driving me crazy. Last week she took off because people were calling her names on the Internet. God she is frustrating. I do not know what we are going to do with her. She brought home a kitten.

Here is a picture of it.

Looks cute, but it is a crazy kitten. It runs around like a manic causing nothing but trouble.

The Baby is doing well. We had a bit of a scare a few weeks ago. She developed a weird rash and her doctor did not know what it was, so we were sent to a dermatologist, who did not know what it was, so they sent us to Mayo. In the end it was determined to be Incontinentia pigmenti.

It is not life threatening, It is just a genetic defect that is passed from mother to daughter. It is very rare and everywhere we went every doctor had to come in and stare at her. It was very uncomfortable. However, it is good to know she will be okay. She is a great baby. She loves to share food with me. She loves watermelon and graham crackers. Oh and Brie and crackers. She is hilarious.

I promise to try to blog more diligently. I made the discovery that in fact I used to write my posts during meetings at work and then post them during lunch at work. Since I do not have meetings and an actual lunch break any more, I have been not been blogging. Even though I have thought about blogging on many occasions. I hope that counts for something.

See you on the other side…

That Dog IS Crazy

2010-02-17T20:11:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the serious lack of blogging as of late. I do not have a good excuse, just pure and utter laziness. To atone for the error of my ways, I am going to post a link to the namesake of this post at the end. Just a hint of what it is… it was on TV Land back in the 90’s.

I have been knitting.

Look, I made a monster for the Shop.

It is from a kit that we will be carrying eventually, but the yarn maker does not have any of the yarn ready so it is going to be like 12 weeks before they come in. The color way is called Zombie BBQ. It was easy and fun to knit. I loved the yarn. I am going to buy one of the kits when they come in so I can make one for The Baby.

I also knit a jacket for The Baby. It is too cute and she looks like a little polar baby. It was not too bad to knit. However, weaving in the ends of the “fur” was very painful.

Currently I am knitting a lacy cowl (the pattern calls it a smoke ring) as part of the Ravelympics. Basically, I casted on during the opening ceremonies of the Olympics and I have until closing ceremonies to finish. I however hope to get it done by the end of this weekend so I can knit 2 things for the competition.

Weirdest Damn Funeral I've Ever Been To

So we are 3 episodes into the new season of Lost and I have not written anything about it. I am sorry… I am going to jot down a few of my thoughts now.

The best line of last night’s episode (see this section’s title) was delivered by Lapidus (of course). He is great…

I have mixed feelings about the “sideway flashes”. On one hand they are entertaining and it is good to see that some good things are happening to our Losties. However, I do not quite know the point of them. Is it a dream? Is it what could have happened if they had made different choices? Is it actually the true reality and the Island stuff is a dream? The writers have been adamant that they are not an alternative reality. However, if the time break occurred in 1977 with Jughead going off, how did Ben get off? Or Ethan? I don’t know… it just does not add up. The Island (as seen in the 1^st flash sideways) was underwater and Dharmaville had been built so that would fit with a 1977 time break. Unless the writers are saying that by changing the time line in ‘77 would change things before ’77, which seems odd. How would that work? I do think that the time lines will merge back together and the Island will win… but I have been wrong before.

There has been some talk that Jacob is a bad guy and Smoky is the good guy. I do not buy this, mainly because anyone who can scare the bejesus out of Richard cannot be a good person. I do not know if Sawyer is buying into Smokey’s story, but I do think he is sick of the Island and just does not care. I feel so bad for Sawyer, he loved Juliet so much and I think it was truly the first time in his life that he was happy. Poor Sawyer.

Sayid – I think he is infected with whatever changed Ben from sweet little kid to psychopath. I think Sayid will not make it to the end of the show… sigh… However, you would think that someone who spent many years torturing people could take a little of he was dishing out. Although, the hot poker was really cruel.

The Little Kid in the forest from last night’s episode: I do not think it was Jacob or Aaron (two theories I have heard) I actually think that he is the rule maker or enforcer. Smokey knows he is in trouble and he wants to get out of Dodge before The Kid catches up to him and punishes him.

That is all I have for now. I will try to be more consistent in my postings.

As Promised: Crazy Dog

I Have No Dreams Left To Dream

2010-01-26T08:52:00.002-06:00

My Vikings have lost their chance to play in the Super Bowl. I cannot describe how depressing this turn of events is for me. You need to understand that one of the things I want to experience before I die is to see the Vikings in the Super Bowl, I don’t even care if they win, I just want to see them there. Is that asking too much? I really truly believed that this would be the year to see them in the Big Game. Alas, it was not to be… Damn Saints.

In more pleasant news, I am a permanent employee at the yarn shop now. Which is cool, but it is still part time. Hopefully, that will change before I run out of unemployment. I am still looking for a real job, but I am really not finding anything that appeals to me… okay, I did send my resume into Disney Corp because they are looking for a buyer and well, who doesn’t want to work for The Mouse?

I have been knitting a parka for The Baby. I have no photos yet, but I am on the hood, so I am in the home stretch. Once I finish the hood, I just need to sew the pieces together and then add the “fur”. I think it is going to be really cute.

The Girl is 18 now. We went to the bank and transferred all of her money into her name and now she officially has more money than me. Ain’t life funny? She is back together with The Ex. We will see how long it lasts since they are both really temperamental. The Baby has had a cold and sounds bad, but is looking better today. Yesterday she slept a lot.

I promise to have photos next time…

I am a Mystery Wedge

2010-01-13T17:06:00.000-06:00

I took a test and that was the conclusion… I am most like the mystery wedge on Wheel of Fortune. Who knew?! I feel so mysterious. Maybe I will bankrupt you or make you rich… who knows!

So, there has been drama here. The Girl has Bell’s palsy. It is not as bad as it sounds… half of her face is paralyzed. An infected nerve causes it. It is temporary, but she has been acting like it is a going to end her life. She got in a fight with her friend and her Ex on Saturday and that did not help her mood.

On the upside, she has her driver’s license and her own car last Friday so I can actually use MY car whenever I want. It is terribly exciting.

We bought her a 2003 VW Jetta. It is quite cute, but it was a pain to buy it. Okay, it was not really the buying that was the problem, but rather the getting it ready for us to take. It had a small battery in it because they take out the full size battery so no one will steal the radio (actually this was a weird explanation, but it is what they told us). Now, with VW, their radios have a code that needs to be imputed to make it work once you have removed it from the power source, so that had to be done. Also, the dipstick was broken, so I told them to replace it. SO when we bought the car, they said it would take about 15-20 minutes to get all this done. We waited and waited and waited… Finally, the sales guy came back in and said they were having problems with the radio. It might take a little while to get it going. After we had sat in the sales guy’s office for more than 2 hours, they figured out that the radio that was in the car did not work and they took the radio out of another Jetta they had on the lot and were going to try to get that going. It was suggested we leave for about an hour and an half and it should be good to go. When we came back, the radio still did not work, the sales guy said he would give us a $150 credit for the radio installer next door and we could pick out a new radio. At this point we were completed worn out and said fine. We had gotten there at about 12:30 pm and it was now going on 5:00 pm. The funny part… The Girl got the radio to work that night! What a bunch of maroons! They suggested that we get all the service done there, but I cannot image entrusting them with actual repair work on it. We have a guy she can go to who only does German cars.

Otherwise, things are okay. My husband had a birthday and I handled it poorly and made him crabby. I did take him out to lunch at our favorite restaurant, Vincent, the day before his birthday, but we did not do anything special on his birthday. I felt very bad that I made him so cranky. And of course if he is cranky, The Girl is cranky.

I have done some knitting. I knit this little bear for The Baby.

It is odd, but she does like playing with it, so I consider it a success. I will use a different pattern for my next teddy, this one was just too fiddly and there was too much seaming.

This is the beginning of my Snowman Army.

That’s right. You had better look out because by next Christmas I will have a complete army and I will take over the world! Mawhah-hah-hah!!!

Or, I will just make them into ornaments and give them to people.

One or the other...

Happy New Year

2010-01-04T07:25:00.001-06:00

I know I am a little late, but well, it is still a new year, so there…

I rung in the New Year the way I always do… watching TV (TCM’s “Thin Man” marathon) and trying to stay up until midnight (which I did).

I have long since given up real resolutions, however I do have knitting resolutions.

1. I want to knit a 10K this year. I am not going to have the same restriction of not buying more yarn, but since I am not really working, I do not have much money for it anyway.

2. I want to learn how to do double knitting. This is 2-sided knitting, it is double thickness and both sides are right sides. It can be reversible.

3. I want to knit 2 adult sweaters and probably a couple of kid sweaters too.

4. I am going to work on Christmas presents early!! I plan on knitting advent & Christmas ornaments.

That’s about it.

So far this year, I have finished 3 hats. Here are some photos.

Pretty impressive, huh?

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T21:22:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone had a great Christmas (or what ever holiday you might be celebrating). My was very good. Here is our stockings and tree.

We have it in a different locale in the living room this year. I actually like it better here.

The Girl liked the hat I had knit for her... she wore it around the house all morning. We also bought her a Snuggie (she wanted it one) and she loved that. She woke up at 4 am so excited about Christmas and then had to wait till we woke up and then she went in and woke up The Baby. I think it might have been a little too early for her...

Overall, it was a great day, although we did not go to the movies because there is a lot of snow out there and we did not want to be bothered to go out and about. We are planning on see "Sherlock Holmes" tomorrow. I will post a review if we go...

Happy holidays.

Ain’t Life a Funny Thing?

2009-12-11T18:16:00.000-06:00

It has been a few weeks since I last wrote so I thought I would give an update to my exciting life.
Last Friday (12/4), one of the owners of the yarn shop I interviewed at called and said that they decided to hire me for a temporary seasonal sales position. I am now working Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings at the shop. This week has be a bit difficult because there was illness in the house and The Baby had to be picked up twice at the school daycare. I really like the job. Everyone is very nice. The owner who had mention the possibility of me doing the computer stuff brought it up again, however the owner who called to tell me I was hired was very specific that this was just for the season. I am not sure what is going on, but I am not going to push anything, because I really do not want to be in the middle.

In other news, I had a phone interview with an aerospace company in Kansas. I am in the final 6-8 and after the phone interviews; they will decide who will come in for a whole daylong trial of test and meetings. If I am chosen for that, it sort of sounded like I would have a good chance of being offered the job. If I were offered the job, they would want me to start on like January 5th. I am somewhat conflicted. I know The Girl does not want to move down there because she is almost done with school and she does not want to deal with the custody crap with The Ex. I am somewhat concerned about going down and living somewhere by my self since it has been a long time since I have done that. However, it also sounds like this job would require a lot of time just being at work. The place sounds completed screwed up. Part of just really wants to go somewhere else and part of does not want to go work someplace extremely stressful. I honestly did not expect to hear from them at all when I applied. I just basically looked at it and thought, “I am qualified for this job”. We will see. I think the interview went well, but I never know with these things.

Knitting wise… I am working on a never-ending scarf for my mom beau. I do not think it is ever going to end. I am thinking about ripping it out and making it into a hot water bottle holder. Of course, I am about ½ through so I really probably will not do that, but it is tempting. I hate knitting scarves!!! Plus I still have to knit one for my mom. I am think I might just cast on her scarf (since she wants a skinny one) just so I can divert my attention from the never-ending scarf.
Here is a photo of said scarf.

I will blog soon and let you know if I have to go to Kansas City.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T19:15:00.001-06:00

I don’t blog for a month and now 2 postings in as many days. WTF?

I just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you had a great day. Ours was fabulous. There was good food (The Hub came through big time). The Baby ate real some real food. She really liked the stuffing and the cranberry sauce. The Hub used a recipe from Food Network which was cranberry apple sauce. It was very good. I am not a huge fan of cranberry sauce and I did like this.

I want to say what I am thankful for on this Thanksgiving Day.
I am thankful:
that The Baby is healthy and happy
that I have a great husband (who haz mad cookin’ skillz)
that I have a home and food for the table
that I have The Girl, who is overall entertaining (in spite of her trouble making ways)
that we are all healthy
that I have a future which is mine (no matter what happens)

Take a minute today to remember all of those whom you love and be thankful that they put up with your sorry ass. I am!

Oh, I almost forgot. I have a new cool product on Zazzle. It is a tie with old seed bags on it. Just the thing for the man in your life who loves farming or old advertising. Check it out (Zazzle is also having a sale this weekend on ties and other items).

Even My Henchmen Think I'm Crazy, I'm Not Surprised That You Agree

2009-11-25T19:35:00.004-06:00

This title is a line from Jonathan Coulton’s “Skullcrusher Mountain”, it is a love song sung by a mad genius. I really like his work, it is funny (in a geeky way) folk music. My favorite is actually “Re: Brains” which combines co-workers and zombies.

I have not been blogging lately, not because I have been busy, rather because I have been too lazy to actually write. Sorry. I know you all probably thought I had fallen off the face of the earth.

So what have I been doing lately? Well, I have done a lot of knitting. I know that the retail value of the PC version of “The Price is Right” video game is $30. And that the Big Deal of the Day is usually not behind door number 1. So you know, I’ve been busy…

Here are some pictures of items I have knit:

Hat for The Baby

Hat for my FIL

Fingerless gloves for me

Bed sock for my MIL

See, lots of knitting. I have also knit a hat for The Girl for Xmas, but I do not have a photo of that yet. I am almost done with the bed socks for my MIL. Then I am going to make her an eyeglass chain (she requested one). It will be beaded, not knit. Then, I have to make something for my mom and her beau (who is not doing well, health wise). I planned on making a pillow for her and I am not sure what to make for her beau. It is hard to know what to make him, maybe I will make him a water bottle cover. I am actually getting worried I will not be able to finish her present. If all else fails, I will have to make something smaller for her. Plus, I need to make another hat for The Girl and some stuff for The Baby...

BIG NEWS
On Monday I had an interview for a part time job at one of my local yarn shops. I thought it went well. Although it would not really help me financially since it would just be 2 days a week, it would basically just lower my unemployment amount. However, I thought it would be nice to work somewhere that I could get a discount and it would get me out of the house.
Well, one of the owners called me today to tell me that I did not get the job. BUT, the other owner wanted to have me come in and talk to her next week. They are thinking I could help out with the web page, PC stuff, inventory etc because right now she does all of that and she thinks she might need help. I am very excited.
Honestly, that is exactly what I would like to do… computer stuff, websites etc. It would be great experience and a lot of fun. So wish me luck!!

What To Do When You Can’t Sleep

2009-10-28T02:27:00.001-05:00

I have been having trouble sleeping lately. It is not that I am not tired, I am. It is now 2 am and I am exhausted. I go to bed and I just lay there. So then I think, well I will listen to some pod casts and play some games on my ipod. Next thing you know, I am up in the middle of the night. Last night I went upstairs to read my latest issue of Skeptical Inquirer and I fell asleep. It was about 7:30. I dozed for about an hour and a hour total and then by the time the news came on I was awake again. I suspect it has to do with not having a job and spending all day in the house. Anyway, I am really tired, so please excuse me if this blog posting does not make much sense.

Boo! (Movie Review)
The Girl and I went to see “Paranormal Activity” a couple of weeks ago. We went on a Friday afternoon and they were carding people so the underage teens did not get into the movie. They did not really card me since, well, I was obviously NOT a teenager. The movie is a LOW budget horror film (rumor has it they made it for $15,000). It is basically about a young couple who are having a seemingly supernatural problem in their home. It was good, a very pared down film. No gore to speak of, (I know you are all shocked that I saw something not filled with blood). Mostly, it is a creepy film filled with bangs and flickering lights. However, it was good to see it with The Girl (she declared it the scariest movie she ever saw and that she did not think she would ever sleep again) and a theater full of teenagers. I am sure all of them found it scarier than I did. Will this movie terrify you? I do not know. However, I did find it entertaining and creepy. There is a knitting in the movie, even though, I do not think the actress could actually knit. It sort of looked like she thought this is what knitting looks like. But, it was an honest effort. I am giving it 3 out of 4 knitting needles.

Knitting stuff
I have been knitting. Of course, the photos I took of my stuff is stuck in the camera which is currently in The Girl’s possession. I think she would be mad if I woke her up to get it. So I will just tell you what I have been up to.
I knit a hat for my FIL for Christmas. He was complaining that they no longer make the kind of hats he likes to wear. The navy blue ones like Brando wore in “On the Waterfront”. I told him I could make him one and he said that it was too much to ask. LOL. I knit up the hat in a few days when I got home. He is a funny guy.
Then I knit up a couple of pairs of socks for The Baby. She is the Houdini of the sock world and none of them will stay on her feet for very long (sadly including the ones I just knit her), but I just keep putting them back on her. Her feet will get just like ice!
Right now I am knitting some fingerless gloves made out of alpaca. They are really nice. I am done with one and ½ way through the second.
Next, I have to work on some more Christmas presents. I think I will make my MIL some bed socks.

Other Stuff
There is not much else going on right now. The Girl is on again and off again with the Baby Daddy. The ex-Boyfriend apparently wants her back. Who knows what will happen? It is like a freaking soap opera around here.
The Baby has a cold and has not been to daycare all week. On Monday night, we took her to the urgent care and the doctor said it was just a cold. Since The Baby was happy (she usually is) and she had her pacifier in her mouth and was breathing through her nose, and she did not have a temp she was okay. The doctor said a way to know if it was something more was if she could not breathe through her nose. Who knew? If we had known that before, we would not have bothered with the urgent care.

Well, it is now 2:30 and I should go up and try to get some sleep. Talk to you soon.

Look Mummy, There’s An Airplane Up In the Sky

2009-10-14T12:44:00.004-05:00

We have been back from our trip for a little over a week now. I was going to blog while on vacation, but I just did not get around to it at the In-laws and once we were at the hotel, I would have had to type it up on my ipod, which would have taken me forever to do. So here is vacation update.
The flight down was good. We had decent seats and we actually arrived in ABQ early. We got to the rental cars place and got our car. No problems. We arrived up on “The Hill” about 4 pm, right on schedule. We were very tired though so it was dinner and a little visiting and bed. Unfortunately it was very hot in our room that night and I had trouble sleeping.
The in-laws have been having chipmunk problems (they were nesting in the engine of the Prius) so my FIL built a live trap to catch them. On Sunday morning he had caught one, so after church, we went to take it to another canyon (over by the airport). Here it is in the cage. It is not a very good picture, but it was the best I could do.

Here is the canyon area where we released it.

One of the other highlights of the trip was going down to ABQ to visit the zoo. The zoo just had a baby elephant. Here it is.

Isn’t just too cute? It just followed its mom around the pen while she was eating apples and stuff that was left around it.

I did not sleep well the entire time I was at the In-law’s place. One night it was the neighbor dog, another night it was coyotes yipping and the one night I just could not sleep.

We left the in-law’s place Thursday morning bright and early to head up to Taos for my native plants dyeing class. It was a great class. I learned a lot. Of course, it would have been more useful if I lived in the southwest, but I am confident I can do it here in MN, I just will need to use other things
Here are some samples of what we dyed.

On Saturday, the in-laws drove up to Taos and we all went to the wool festival. It was a good time. The Hub bought some roving and I bought a little bit of yarn, not much. I was really proud of myself.
Here is a random shot of the festival. The weather was absolutely perfect.

We all went to lunch and then back to the hotel. We said goodbye to the in-laws. We could have gone back to the wool festival, but by that time I was completely worn out from the trip. We just sat around the hotel room and watched crap on TV. It was nice.
On the flight home, we did not check in early so we were not sitting together. Otherwise the flight was fine. However, I am not impressed with Delta’s customer service. It is even worse than Northwest’s. Who knew that was even possible!

That Is How I Know, When I Try To Get Through
On The Telephone To You... There’ll Be Nobody Home
Of course, The Girl was home alone with The Baby. What could she have been up to while we were gone??? Well, 1st she broke up with The Boyfriend. Okay, I figured that was coming. No big deal.
Then the day that we were going to the zoo, I received a phone call. The Girl had gotten into a fight at school and the assistant principal thought it best if she just went home. That was on Tuesday.
Then on Wednesday night I missed a call on my cell phone. I did not know who it was, so we called The Girl to see if she recognized the number. She said it was The ex-Boyfriend saying he was going to call the police. Then she said he was mad because she had taken up with the baby daddy again. So then The Hub got mad that she had taken up with him again. And so they were fighting.
Of course, the In-laws (who are already worried about what kind of life she is leading) were very upset about all of this nonsense.
Then to top it off, on Saturday, when we were having lunch with the In-laws, The Girl calls to inform me that she got into a car accident, nothing serious, just a fender bender, but she did not get the ladies info and we have a huge dent in our fender.
My MIL looked at me and said “You are never leaving home again, are you?” I have to say that all of the problems did make question my wisdom of leaving her alone. However, I will say this… she really appreciated us coming home and she missed us. AND she admitted it was hard for her to take care of everything by herself. So perhaps it was a learning experience.

New Car, Caviar, 4 Star Daydream, Think I’ll Buy Me a Football Team
The Vikings are 5 and 0. This is best they have looked in years and years. I am so happy. I missed the 49’s game because I was in NM, but the Monday night game against the Packers was a fantastic game.
Here is a photo of The Baby in her new Viking outfit that The Hub bought her.

Skol Vikings!

Is There Anybody Out There? (movie review)
On Saturday, The Hub, The Girl and I went to see “Zombieland”. It was a really good movie, a really, really gory funny movie. Did I mention it was gory? I just want to make sure you understand that it is a movie about the zombie apocalypse. It is a very funny about zombies, but they still eat human flesh. It is sort of in the vein of “Shaun of the Dead” only with a really organized gamer and Woody Haralson. We all really enjoyed it. And it even had a couple of nice knit hats. Abigail Breslin wears a really cute slouchy beret, but I do not think I would look very good in it. I am going to give it 3 ¼ out of 4 knitting needles. If you like dark, bloody comedies, go see it. I think you will really enjoy it.

All In All, It Was Just Bricks in The Wall
All of the titles today were brought to by the letter P for Pink and the F for Floyd, and the number 3 (in honor of Zombieland).

Pressure

2009-09-19T04:56:00.003-05:00

But you will come to a place
Where the only thing you feel
Are loaded guns in your face
And you'll have to deal with
Pressure
- Billy Joel

I have not been blogging lately because things at home have been bad. I was trying to figure out what to say about them, but honestly, I can’t really say anything. It has been a very stressful month. So I am not going to discuss it. Maybe some day, but not right now.

On Thursday, there was another lay off at work. This time, I went with the rest of them. I was not nearly as upset as I should have been. Well, it’s not like I have never been laid off before. I have always landed on my feet. I actually felt worse for the people who had been there for 20 years. (Just a helpful hint, do not stay anywhere for 20 years. It is too terrifying when you no longer have that security. Really, don’t stay anywhere for more than 7.) I had only hoped I could stay there until The Girl and The Baby were out of the house.
How the company works their packages, I am still officially an employee until 10/15, so with my severance and PTO, I will be paid through the end of October. So it gives me time to find a job. My biggest concern is health insurance (which will go through the end of October). The Baby needs to be covered. I figure, worse case scenario, that the In-laws would be willing to pay for COBRA.
I hate looking for a job. It is just tedious.

On the plus side, I recently had a physical and a mammogram (my 1st) and everything looked good. Although I did get quite a scare when the nurse at the clinic called to say that there was a problem with my test results. My 1st thought was, of course, cancer. Luckily, I just have a Vitamin D deficiency. I know that can be dangerous, but it is not cancer and I just need to take a couple of pills everyday. Totally doable.

Anyway, I have a week before vacation. I plan on working on the house. I will meet with the employment agency hired by the company. And I plan on getting some knitting done. Things have been so stressful this month that I have not even really done much knitting. I have only made a couple of dishcloths and a towel for a Halloween swap I am in.
Here is one of the dishcloths I made. It is my own design.

Award Winning Day

2009-09-01T07:56:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I went to the Fair and look at what I saw…

That’s right, that is MY Christmas stocking with a ribbon upon it! I won 4th place! I was so happy when I saw it that I almost cried. I honestly did not believe that I had a chance of winning a ribbon. I actually entered because I have always wanted to enter something at the State Fair. I will let you know when I get the stocking back what points were deducted. I expect to knit something for next year and hopefully I will improve.

Here is picture of some vintage seed bags on display at the Agri-Hort building.

The rest of the Fair was good as well. The weather was perfect. However, about lunch time, my foot started to hurt a lot and we finally had to go home after we had some lunch. Perhaps if I had been wearing these shoes...

Aren’t these cool shoes? They are part of the crop art display. Those are all seeds being used as decoration!

We did get to see everything I had planned on seeing, except for the Old Mill ride. We are going back tomorrow to see all the animals and we will ride it then.

i can not take it any more

2009-08-27T15:56:00.003-05:00

The kids got into a huge fight last weekend… over something stupid, because all of their fights are… and The Boyfriend left to go to his mom’s. The Baby has been over there as well for most of the week and The Girl has been out doing God knows what with God know who ever since. I can not take this stress. I had actually begun to believe her when she said she had changed. But now, I see no future for her or The Baby. And this is more than I can bear. Honestly, I do not know what to do any more. I am worried that when we go down to NM that she will spend the whole week getting wasted and not take care of the baby at all.
Sorry, I should not burden you all will these issues; it just makes me feel better to write it down.

On a happier note, I did knit a bag. It is the Medium Carpet bag by Noni. It is a dead simple pattern and used 734 yds of wool. I need to felt it and make a liner, but I do not think it will be too big of a deal. We will see.
Here is a picture of it in process.

I have started a scarf for The Hub. I just bought Norah Gaughan’s Men collection pattern book and it is in there. It is called the Cuvier scarf. There is a matching sweater, that is very spiffy, but I am not going to have time to make him a sweater any time soon, so he will have to settle for a scarf.

There is not much else going on. Work sucks… Home sucks…

I Can’t Think of a Pithy Title

2009-08-19T16:47:00.001-05:00

I have finished The Baby’s Christmas stocking! I finished knitting it on Saturday and blocked it on Sunday.
Here is a photo of it being blocked.

I found that the heel seemed to be too wide and sort of bunchy, although it blocked out okay. I also think that the toe was not long enough in the pattern. I added an inch of straight knitting and actually would not think it would be a bad idea to add even more so there would be more contrast in the end.
I put on jingle bells as well, but I did not get a photo of it before I brought it over to the Fair. I dropped it off on Monday.

I also knit up a blanket buddy for The Baby.

The yarn I used was awful and so I am going to get rid of any that is left, so I am counting the whole ball as being used in this project.

Therefore, I have 1.32 km to go until I reach my 5K goal. I have knit 2013.5 fathoms. It sounds like I have done a lot of knitting when I say it that way!

I have not yet cast on for my next project. I am thinking of doing a felted bag. On the plus side, it would use a lot of yarn; on the down side, I would have to felt it when I was done and I would need to make a lining. So do I consider complete when the knitting is done or when the bag is actually usable? I am not really very good at finish up things like linings. I think it is because it is outside of the knitting realm.

I am finding it very hard to stay on the yarn wagon. It is not that I need more yarn as much as I would like to knit something big, but do not have enough of anything in one color way. Plus, of course, I see some yarn I have wanted to try and it is on sale and I can not buy it. I love a good bargain you know!

Movie Review – “District 9”On Monday, The Hub and I went to see “District 9”. It is about aliens in South Africa. Basically, an alien spaceship showed up over Johannesburg 20 years ago and it was full of starving aliens and now they are living in a slum in Johannesburg and the government wants them to move.
This is a fantastic movie. It is very thought provoking. It speaks to apartheid, to colonization, to how people treat anyone who is unlike themselves. It does not have any “stars” in it and the main human character, Wikus, is played by someone who has never acted before and apparently ad- libbed most of the movie. He is fabulous and quite honestly it was the best performance I have seen this year. I strongly encourage you to go see this movie, with a small caveat, it is violent and there is a lot of cussing. So if you can not handle the f word or people being evaporated (for lack of a better word), this movie may not be for you. There are a few nice knits. The special effects are just outstanding, it really does seem like these aliens are real and the humans are interacting with them. This is not always the case with science fiction movies.
I am giving it 4 out of 4 knitting needles. It is a great film.

Breaking Radio Silence

2009-08-12T15:53:00.001-05:00

Greetings and Salutations. Sorry it has been so long since I last blogged. I have no good reason since I actually had started writing a posting last week, I just have not been up to actually doing it.

I have not been feeling great. It has been hot and humid (really for the 1st time this summer) and I have not been sleeping well. And I have been sort of stressed out. I think I need a couple of extra days off. I am trying to decide what days to take. The Hub and I are thinking we will spend 2 days at the State Fair this year (we never seem to be able to see everything we want to in one). So I would have 8/31 off anyway, so we will go that day. Then it comes down to opening day or a day the 1st week of September. We will have to see how it goes.

Speaking of the State Fair, I intend to enter The Baby’s Christmas stocking.

All I have left is the heel and the weaving in ends and blocking. It needs to be in by 8/18, so I have less than a week to do all of this. I do not think it should be a problem. I will probably need to steam block it.
I would have been done sooner, but I had to rip back the toe 2 times, or was it 3. Doesn’t matter, it was rework and therefore a waste of time. The directions for the afterthought heel were confusing and the length of the toe was not quite right. I think it looks okay now, but I will see when the heel is in.

No matter how he tried,
He could not break free.
And the worms ate into his brain
-- Pink Floyd
Work has been particularly stressful. Morale is low because of the layoffs (past and upcoming) and people are becoming cranky. I am on the project that will not end and I have had enough of it. I am to the point of just saying “we’re done”, and moving on. I am sick of fighting with people, I am sick of the backstabbing and the politics of the whole situation. It is not helping with my overall mental health. Again, I probably need a couple of days off…

Of course, I am taking vacation the last week of September / beginning of October. I am going to visit the in-laws in NM. I hate NM. It is sooooo depressing, brown and dry. I do not know why they can’t live somewhere fun, like NYC or London or Honolulu. On the plus side, I will be going to the Taos Wool festival, at the end of the trip and that should be fun. I am taking a class on dyeing fiber with plants.

Movie Review – “The Hurt Locker”
So on Monday I hung out with my friend. We went to lunch and then decided to go to the movies. We were going to “Public Enemies”, but it was not showing until late in the day. So I suggested we see “The Hurt Locker” because I had heard good things about it and I knew The Hub would not want to see it. It is about an Army bomb squad in Iraq. It is shot in a documentary style, not with interviews, but in that “someone is following the characters around with a camera” style. I liked it, but it was very intense, because well they are a bomb squad in Iraq. There were scenes that I thought could have been shortened, but I think the filmmaker had them longer intentionally to show the “waiting for something to happen” aspect of war. The film really is not taking any political stance, rather, it was trying to show these people doing their job and how the job affected them. It has some very graphic scenes as well. It is a sad, brutal, realistic movie. It upset my friend (Sorry TJ, next time you get to pick the movie) and I felt bad about that. Apparently I have a very high tolerance for pain and suffering. I am giving the movie 3 ¼ out of 4 knitting needles. It will make you think and it might upset you, but I think it is worth seeing.

More than Half Way to the End

2009-07-29T10:58:00.002-05:00

I have finished my daily sweater!!!! I completed it on Saturday night. I know you are all thrilled to bits! I wore it to work on Tuesday and it was very comfortable and stylish (IMHO). Several people said it was nice. Of course, most of them were fellow knitters, but I will take it as a compliment since this is my 1st adult sweater.
I have completed 3572.6 yards of knitting, which leaves just 1,895.47 yards to finish this summer in order to complete my 5K. I think I can do it. We will have to see.

I have cast on for a Christmas stocking for The Baby; it is the Giant Jester Stocking from “Christmas Stockings: 18 Holiday Treasures to Knit”. The Girl picked out some colors and off I went. I thought there was a mistake because my stocking did not look like the one in the book, so I ripped out several rows. I then went to Ravelry to see what I did wrong and I could not find any errors etc., so I did what I should have done in the first place and read all the way through the instructions. I figured out what the problem was, i.e. that I had not read all the instructions and the picot edge is added at the end. So I ripped out a bunch of rows for no good reason. Let this be a lesson to you… always read all the directions before you start.

Sew What
I picked up my sewing machine on Saturday.

I set it up on Monday and did some practice sewing.

It seems to work. I know this sample is not very exciting, but it has been a LONG time since I used a sewing machine so you will have to take what I can give.

Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie … Who’s Not Ready Holler I
I also picked up peaches on Saturday.

The Hub and I canned them last night (Tuesday). We only did 6 quarts and this is how they turned out.

See how all the peaches are all floating at the top. They all look like they are trying to make their escape. The Hub called the local extension office and they said that we overfilled the jars so the peaches rushed to the top to avoid drowning. Okay, they did not say that last part. But, all is not lost, we can reprocess them. I will see how I feel tonight and maybe we will do it tonight. The Girl complained bitterly about how hot the kitchen was last night. I told her it is nothing compared to how hot it gets when I do jam. Mostly, because you have to stand over the hot jam pot and stir for the entire time the jam cooks.
Next, I am going to try canning cherries. In reality, the reason I wanted to can anything in the first place is because I want canned cherries. My grandmother would can cherries every year. One of my fondest memories is eating canned cherries out of the little plastic yellow bowls at her house.

Movie Review
On Monday, The Hub and I went to see “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”. It was okay. There is nothing technically wrong with it. It moved at a good pace, it had lovely hand knits and it told the story. However, it felt like a Reader’s Digest condensed version of the book. It has been a long time since I read the book, so I could not tell you what was missing, but the movie felt, well, soulless. I can not say it was a bad movie; just that it was not magical. I am going to give it 2 ½ knitting needles. It is worth seeing, but you might leave wishing for more.

What is wrong with me?

2009-07-21T15:50:00.000-05:00

This weekend I bought a sewing machine. Why? I don’t really know. It occurred to me that I needed one. I do not actually have it yet as it was on backorder. It should be in today or tomorrow. I think I am having a mid-life crisis and it is coming out in the form of hand crafts. I am going to make some burp cloths since The Girl gets mad when I use the dish towels. She is worried about germs. However, I don’t think The Boyfriend actually washes his hands and I would be more concerned about that.
Anyway, I bought a Viking Emerald 116. It is a basic model in the mid-grade range. Of course, I went on line to look up info regarding what to buy and everyone was like “Oh, you shouldn’t get a machine that is under $1000”. Seriously… $1000 min… that is not a typo. I can not afford $1000 machine; that is madness. I know that I will not use it that much; I will not be making quilts, just a few things for the baby. So I spent $300 which I really should not have spent. I do not know what is wrong with me.

Knitting…
I ripped out the cuff I had finished on my Daily Sweater. I reworked it using the same amount of stitches as the end of the sleeve and used a smaller needle. I like it a lot better. It goes in slightly, but is not tight. I can squish it up my forearm if I need to, which I like.
I am part way done with the second sleeve. If I do one set of rows (from decrease to decrease), I should have the sweater done next weekend. Wouldn’t that be exciting?
Other weekend events…
So The Girl and The Boyfriend have been house-sitting for the people who live across the street from The Boyfriend’s mom. The Girl has been coming home for school during the week and going over there for the weekend. The Baby has been staying with The Boyfriend. Anyway, we took The Girl over there on Thursday (she does not have school on Friday) and hung out a while so we could spend a little time with The Baby. The Hub and I had planned on having a nice quiet weekend, just the two of us. On Friday evening, I was at home and The Hub had gone to the grocery store to get supper, when the phone rang. It was The Girl and she was hysterical. She was sobbing and carrying on. Apparently the two dogs they were taking care of at the house had knocked The Baby’s food off of the counter and had eaten it all. And she said she was not even getting paid for this (The Boyfriend agreed to house-sit for free) and she and The Baby were coming home. So we had no quiet weekend after all.
I took The Baby to lunch yesterday with some gals I used to work with and of course she was perfect. She is a great baby and she does like to go out and about. She does like to stay up late, but so does her mom. I think the late nights are finally taking their toll on The Girl though. Ah, sweet revenge!

It Was A Dark And Stormy Day

2009-07-17T10:47:00.000-05:00

Okay, it is not storming yet, but it sure looks like it is going to, even though it is not supposed to rain. It has been unseasonable cool the last couple of days. This is fine by me, except they still have the air cranked on high at my work, so I am freezing.

I AM still employed. The layoff occurred yesterday (Thursday). We lost one person from purchasing and a total of 50 were let go company wide. However, no engineers we let go. Apparently, they are going to be told in September if they are going to get the axe. I am extremely glad that I still have a job.

I did not get much knitting done this week because I have been sort of stressed out and tired (I have went to bed at like 8 pm almost every night) so I do not even have any good knitting news. I did finish my mom’s rug on Saturday night and I knit her a dishcloth with the few remaining bits of yarn. She was very appreciative. I did not take a picture of either completed object. However, it did take 1600 yds of yarn, so I am a lot closer to my goal, 1964.6 yds down and only 3,503.47 yds to go!

On Monday, we went down to my aunt’s house with my mom and my 2nd eldest niece. I was showing off my knitting pictures to my niece and she was actually impressed. My cousin asked how I learned to knit and I told her via a DVD and she too was impressed. It is always nice when I can impress people without even trying.

Just like that place where they take your spine
And turn it into soapflakes -“Poor Napoleon” - Elvis Costello
I have always wondered where this place is. I know that is crazy, but I like this song and the way he sings it sounds like you SHOULD know where this place is. You know, that PLACE, where they turn spines into soapflakes. Maybe it is an English expression. I don’t know. If you know where this place is, just leave a note in the comment field.

Okay, maybe I do not have a lot to blog about today. I just wanted everyone to know that I am okay.

The Ro-Man is not like the Hu-man

2009-07-11T05:59:00.003-05:00

This is quote from the cinematic classic “Robot Monster”. It is one of my all time favorite movies quotes because, well, who hasn’t felt like that the Ro-Man is not like the Hu-man. It is referring to the Robot Monster’s kind, not fellows from Rome. I find it fascinating the even aliens use the term robot since it comes from the Russian work rabota, it means to work as in “я работаю на магазине (ya rabota na magazineh)”, “I work in a store”. There, now you can say something in Russian! All you to do is get a job at a store in Moscow (Moskva) and you are set!

Have you ever seen Robot Monster? If not the whole thing, you probably have seen clips from it. It is the one where the guy is wearing what appears to be a gorilla suit body and a deep sea diver helmet. I think a clip of it is used in a Cars video, but I can not remember which one.

Anyway, I saw a list of 14 Movies you should see before you die by Will Ferrell and I thought well if he can do it, so can I! This list is not in any particular order and truthfully would probably change if I did it again. I have seen a lot of movie and sometimes I like things more than other times. I am not going to describe them since you can just go look them on IMDB and well, I do not think they are so out there you haven’t at least heard of most of them.

14 Movies to see before you die
1. The Godfather – This is one of the best movies ever made. It is just so lovely to watch the little details. Of course, Godfather II is just a good, so you should watch that one too.
2. Goodfellas – This is like the flip side of The Godfather, just as well made, but a less romantic look at mobsters. Ray Liotta is perfect.
3. 2000 Maniacs –by Herschell Gordon Lewis, the Godfather of Gore. He made several gory movies and they are considered the precursor to the slasher film. This movie is over the top and made on the cheap, although it does star a Playboy Playmate! Be warned, there is blood. You could watch Blood Feast instead, but I think this movie is better.
4. Drunken Master II – the Hong Kong version, not the one that was released in theaters in the USA. I think this Jackie Chan’s best movie. Plus, I love his pregnant step-mom kicking butt!
5. Raising Arizona – I love the Coen Brothers and I think this is their most accessible film. If you like this one, then go see “O Brother, Where Art Thou” which is awesome and has the best soundtrack ever.
6. Halloween – The original John Carpenter version – this is one of the best horror films ever made.
7. Strangers on a Train – Okay, you should see as much Hitchcock as physically possible, but I happen to really like this one. You could watch it with “Throw Mama from the Train”.
8. Blade Runner – the directors cut, of course. The only real down side to this movie is the cheesy soundtrack by Vangelis, but that is the price you have to pay to see one of the best science fiction movies ever made.
9. Double Indemnity – This is my very favorite Film Noir movie. I love Edward G. Robinson in it.
10. My Man Godfrey – This is a classic screwball comedy.
11. Midnight Cowboy – This is one of the best buddy movies ever made and it is probably my favorite Dustin Hoffman film. There are parts of it that are very dated, but the story is fabulous.
12. Bride of the Monster – by Ed Wood Jr. – This should be watched for Bela Lugosi’s big speech if nothing else. Ed Wood if often considered the worst director ever, but he always was trying to make a good movie, he was just bad at his job so I consider him better than some. You could try watching Plan 9 From Outer Space, but not everyone can make it through.
13. The Killer – by John Woo. Watch it in Chinese with subtitles, this is the only way to watch any Hong Kong movie. This movie is very violent.
14. Singing in the Rain – This is my favorite musical. If you can see it on the big screen, I would recommend seeing it that way since it is a Technicolor wonder.

There you have it. Go out and rent some movies.

But if you ask for a raise it's no surprise that they're
giving none away.
- Money by Pink Floyd
So there is going to be a layoff at work. Rumor has it that they are going to lay off 200 people. It looks like it is going to happen on Tuesday. This is very concerning to me because well, I have a lot of mouths to feed here. Plus, I really do not want to be out looking for another job. I don’t find it scary, just depressing. I hate looking for a job and truthfully, I just want to work for a few more years and then move to a farm. All I can do is hope for the best.

Knitting News….
I finished the baby booties. The pattern is dead simple, but it leaves a big hole right below the eyelet row. This bothered me a lot, but I could not figure out to fix it. I had just enough yarn to finish them so that is another 64.6 yards down. Anyway, here is a picture of the completed pair.

I did not work on the rug for the last two days so today I need to work really hard on it today and tomorrow. We have no big plans for the weekend, so I should have time.

Happy 4th of July

2009-07-04T10:40:00.003-05:00

I hope you are enjoying you holiday if you are here in the USA. Of course, it is Saturday so if you are not in the USA, you can still enjoy the day.
I really do not have big plans for today. I really usually just want to stay home and relax on the 4th, so that is what I plan on doing today.

I wanted to write a quick post because I have knitting news and pictures.
I started my mom’s rug on Monday. I have gotten quite far… see.

I figured out yesterday that if I knit 11 rows a day (approx) I can have the rug done by the time my mom leaves. Now you might be saying to yourself, 11 rows, that is nothing, but I find it very painful to work on the big needles with 4 strands of cotton. I knit some in the morning and when it got to be too much, I started a new project. Yesterday, I think I did 10 rows, I am not sure, because I lost track when I was watching TV last night.

At work, I belong to a knitting group. We meet every other week during lunch and chat and knit. Anyway, at this week’s meeting, we decided that we would all make something for the annual company sponsored silent auction for the United Way. One gal was just finishing up a baby hat in blue and another had a “boy” baby blanket already made. The other gal piped up that she would do a dishcloth and get some soap. I was trying to decide what I was going to do when I was “volunteered” to do booties. So this week I have been trying to find the appropriate pattern and yarn. I finally decided on the Wave of Babies Booties by Yvonne Kao using some Mission Falls 1824 Cotton I had picked up at the thrift store ages ago. It is not a hard pattern and I do not have to turn a heel, so it makes me happy. I was able to finish one bootie yesterday.

I think it is pretty cute. I need to make i-cord for the eyelet holes, but I wanted to make sure I have enough yarn leftover before I started making it. I do not have full skein of the 1824. I am confident I have enough for the booties themselves. I can use a contrasting yarn if I have to for the i-cord.

That’s it for today.

We Danced On the Floor in The Round

2009-06-29T11:16:00.001-05:00

Normally, I do not discuss famous people here. Mainly because famous people have very little effect on me, I do not hang out with them; I do not see them in my day to day life etc. However, I am going to discuss the deaths that have occurred in the last few days.
Poor Farrah, not only did she die a painful death, she had the misfortune to die on the same day as Michael Jackson and thereby was upstaged in her death. I feel very bad for her and her family.
Michael Jackson… I will say right now I was not a huge fan. I did not listen to the Jackson 5 as a child. However, I was in high school when “Thriller” came out so to say he did not have an impact would be a lie. I remember I had a friend who had a jacket like he wore in the “Beat It” video, okay, not exactly like since hers was bought at Kmart and was made of pleather, but it was as close as anyone was going to get in my tiny rural hometown. We were all very jealous. The “Billie Jean”, ‘Beat It’ and “Thriller” videos (especially the “Thriller” video) were shear genius and changed the world of music videos. This does not seem like much, but take a look at some of the other videos released around the same time; some of them were really quite dull (J. Geiles Band’s “Centerfold” is a prime example). It was exciting to watch the videos. The music was pretty good, but truthfully, the Michael Jackson song I liked best and still like to this day is “Billie Jean”. It has a great tune, it has interesting lyrics and I always like the imagery (especially the line I used for the title of this posting) which he used. To me, “Billie Jean” really represents what fame brings; the idea that you could meet someone once and suddenly, they want a piece of you.
However, I think one can not overlook the fact Michael Jackson spiraled out of control in the late 80s. I remember saying to someone that he needed someone to tell him no. I think when you have tons of money and fame, it is easy to surround yourself with people who agree with you and allow you to follow every whim. A person should not follow every whim; it leads to certain despair and doom. And I think that is what happened in Mr. Jackson’s life.
Still, it is sad that someone should die at 50.
Speaking of that, I heard this morning that Billy Mays (the guy from the Oxiclean ads) died over the weekend, he was also 50 and apparently he died of a bump on the head. This is very sad to me because, well, he was very amusing. I actually have been following his ads for a while. I remember several years ago he was in an ad for some sort of glue and he had obviously gained a little weight and I made a comment that he must be doing well since he was eating better. I think I was probably one of a few people who even noticed. I know, I know, there is something wrong with me. It is sad that he too is gone. And let’s face it, there will be not be hours and hours spent discussing his influences. This, I think is too bad.
Okay, this is a really depressing post so far.

How about a little weekend update to cheer you up?
I finally heard from my mom on Friday. She wanted to get together today (Monday), but I have to work because it is the holiday week and we have to work the normal 8 hour days. So instead, we agreed to meet on 7/13 and yesterday (which I will get to in a moment).
On Saturday, we went out and picked strawberries. Much to my surprise and delight, The Girl said she wanted to come with. She has not gone berry picking with us in years. Of course, it rained quite hard during the night and so I knew the ground would be wet. What I did not expect, was that it would start to rain when we got there and we picked berries in the rain. It was not a hard rain, but it did mess up my picking prowess. Normally, I get into a certain Zen state and I can pick quite a lot of berries. This year, I was able to pick only 9 ½ pounds. The Girl picked more than me (10 pounds). The Hub picked 9 pounds. So there was a grand total of 28 ½ pounds of strawberries. Normally, The Hub and I pick more than that alone. There have been years when I have picked over 20 pounds by myself. My knees started to hurt and my glasses were very wet (which is always a distraction), so I gave up early. The Girl mocked me and we had to crown her “the hostess with the mostest”. It was shameful. I was thinking about going back and picking more, but we have a lot of strawberries already and probably do not need any more. I just want to redeem myself.
After berry picking we went to breakfast at Perkins (The Girl love Perkins, I personally can take it or leave it) and we had a really nice talk. It was a really good day.

On Sunday we went down to my niece’s house so we could see my mom. My mom had given me the address and some vague directions. However, she had told me the wrong town (which she denied when we got there). So we were running late anyway and then we were driving around in a totally different area. It was awful. The Hub and I got into a fight and basically, I was really crabby by the time we got to where we were going. Of course, everyone acted like nothing had happened over the last 9 months. On the phone, my mom had said it was all my SILs (my crazy brother’s wife) fault and that no one else had cared. They are such liars! However, I suspect my mom talked to them about it in her confused manner and they all knew what they had done and had to cover it up stat.
Anyway, we all sat outside as my family is wont to do and I got terribly sunburned. I knew we would be sitting outside and I can not explain why I did not wear sunscreen. I have no excuse. Everyone except The Baby got sunburned to one degree or another. I have not been this badly sunburned in a long time and I am in a lot of pain today.

Knitting News
I finished one arm of my Daily Sweater. I decided I wanted it to be a ¾ length sleeve since I wear that length a lot. However, I do not like how the cuff part looks. It was supposed to be 2 ½ inches, which is just too long for a cuff for me on a good day, but it would have looked bizarre on a ¾ length, so I only did 1”. I like the length, but it looks weird because of the increases, it sort of flares out at the end of the sleeve. I am thinking of ripping it back and doing it with fewer stitches per round.
I will let you know what I do. I do understand what they are trying to do with the increases, it is not supposed to be a tight cuff, but it is just really floppy. It is probably worse since I did not decrease all the way recommended in the pattern.

I figured out I need to do almost 400 yards a week in order to complete the 5K by the 1st day of fall. Maybe, I will have the deadline be the end of September. I will have to think about it.

I am thinking I will start my mom’s rug tonight and hopefully I could have it done by the time she is ready to leave. I will be seeing her the day before she goes. We will see.

Hot Stuff

2009-06-24T20:33:00.001-05:00

It has been hot. Excessively hot. This has been made worse by the fact that it is about 50° in my cubicle. They “fixed” the air in our area and now the vent blows directly on my head. I HATE air conditioning. I really do. This of course leads to fighting at home because The Girl thinks it should be running non-stop. The air causes my joints to ache and then I can not knit.
Speaking of knitting… (nice segway huh?) I have finished the Baby Legwarmers.

Aren’t they just the cutest thing?
They used about 1 ball of sock yarn. So that is 230 more yards towards my 5K.

I am have way done with the 1st arm of my daily sweater. I am confident I will finish the sweater by the end of summer. The problem I have with the sleeves is that I have to increase every 8th row. This is not hard, just tedious.

I am trying to decide if I should start another project or finish something I have started. I would like to finish my opera stole since I have been working on it forever. However, I would also like to make something using big needles and yarn so I could use up some yarn fast. I could work on the rug my mom requested since it uses 4 strands of yarn at a time and could get rid of some yarn quickly.

But I am sort of mad at my mom right now. She has been in the state for over two weeks and she has not contact with me at all. I do not think she is even going to bother to see us. This bothers me a lot because, well I am her daughter too. And who would not come to see her own great granddaughter? I suppose she has other great grandchildren so I guess The Baby I not as special to her as she is to me. Still, it bothers me. I know I should just let it go, but it makes me very sad.

Oh well.

One Small Step

2009-06-15T10:20:00.005-05:00

I have completed my first item on my 5K knitting goal.
I present to you – Yellow Pig Potholder!

It is for one of The Hub’s swaps. It only used 70 yards of yarn, but it is a completed project never the less and counts towards my goal. Only 5398.07 yards to go!

I am also half way through some rainbow leg warmers for The Baby. So that will be another step.

I am going to go out and buy yet another size 7 – 16” circular needle in order to continue on my Daily Sweater. I actually already own 2 of this size, but they are both in a box which is MIA. This box actually contains 95% of my stand alone circular needles and most of my dpns. I am very concerned where it might be since I have looked everywhere I could think of. However, I can not wait any longer to continue on my sweater. I wove in the ends on the body and just need to put on the sleeves and I will be done! It is so close…

MOVIE REVIEW
On Saturday, The Hub and I went to see “Drag Me To Hell”. It is a good horror movie. It is directed by Sam Rami and very much in the vein of “Evil Dead II”, only there is a gypsy instead of the Necronomicon. The basic plot is that a gal angers an old gypsy woman and the gypsy curses her. The plot is not terrible surprising and you will see the end coming a mile away (I know I did), but it is an entertaining ride. There are several really gross scenes and it has really tense music so I was very jumpy. I personally found it pretty scary, but The Girl did not (they went later that night and we babysat). However, I believe that horror is a very personal thing. What I am scared of is not necessarily what you will be scared of. I find dead things not staying dead very upsetting, where others may find demons upsetting and still others find blood upsetting and so on.
There were not and hand knits per se, because it takes place in sunny CA, but the gal does wear some nice lightweight sweaters that I could image being translated into hand knits.
Overall, I am going to give it 3 knitting needles out of 4. If you like horror movies, I say go see it. It is very much an over the top horror film.

Hello It’s Me

2009-06-07T11:43:00.003-05:00

Greeting and salutations! I am sorry it has been so long since I last blogged. I started summer hours this past week and it really has taken it out of me. The best part of summer hours is that this year I am taking Mondays off and it gives me extra knitting time. I can knit in larger chunks of time.

I have quite a bit of knitting news!
I finished a hat I have been working on since, well winter. It is the maple seed hat pattern and I used Mountain Colors Mountain Goat. I think that is the yarn, I can not find the tag for it, it might be a different Mountain Colors yarn. I had not been working on it because I could not find my size 8 Dpns. I still have not found them, I just went out and bought some over Memorial Day weekend so I could finish this hat.
Here it is:

Pretty snazzy, huh?
I am glad to have it done.

Last weekend I participated in a shop hop. Every year there are 7 shops which host a shop hop and you go from one to the next and sign up for prizes (which I never win) and get a free goodies. This year it was charms and patterns. I was not able to go to all 7 shops, but I did go to 5. However, the last shop was out of charms and I got an IOU I was supposed to turn in at the last shop I went to, which of course I did not make to any more so I only receive 4 charms. It is okay and I think I will make them into stitch markers since I really have no other use for them. There were a couple of notable things that happened while I was in the stores. First, when I was in one of the stores, I looked at The Expectant Knitter and I fell in love with a couple of patterns in it. Okay I should back up, I had heard about the book at Knitpicks because they were featuring Her First Party Dress and I thought it was too cute so I was actually looking for the book. Anyway, I thought about buying it, but it was $28 and just could not bring myself to do it. So on Sunday I went to the library and checked it out.
Second, I bought more yarn including yarn for my mom’s Christmas present. I will get to buying yarn issue in a moment.

Here is the result of getting my hands on The Expectant Knitter: it is the Girl’s Summer Suit.

Here is my granddaughter in her new outfit. She just tried it on since we are in a cold snap and it was way to chilly for her to wear.
It is really easy to knit. The hardest part is sewing it together. I made it in cotton (the red part is cotton blend) and cotton is not the easiest thing to sew together.
I think I will make another one only I am going to knit the top in one piece. I am going to make the skirt longer (even though I made this one longer than the pattern, it is still really short on her) and do it in a feather and fan lace pattern to girly it up even more. And I am going to use a thinner yarn for the skirt. This one was a bulky even though the pattern calls out for worsted. But I really liked the color.
I am also going to make Her First Party Dress and the leg warmers out of the book. I actually think I will end up buying the book, but I will have to see. There are just so many cute things.

On to the issue of buying more yarn. I have been buying a lot of yarn lately. And I need to stop. I have way more than I am going to be able to knit up in a timely fashion. So I am going to take a moratorium from buying yarn. Yesterday I bought a little bit, mainly, I bought some Rowan 4 ply cotton from the NU Outlet in order to make previously mentioned party dress for The Baby. So I am going to try to avoid buying yarn from stores or Ravelry or the internet etc. until October. Why October you ask? Well, we are planning a trip to New Mexico to see the In-Laws and to go to the Taos Wool Festival. So I can buy yarn then.
I also need to try to get through some of the yarn I have. At last count, I had over 78 miles or 125 kilometers of yarn. This is a LOT of yarn. One day my DH made a comment about knitting a marathon. And this has got me thinking… perhaps I should try to knit 26 miles worth of yarn. But I think I need to work my way up to it, so this summer, I am going to knit at least a 5K, which works out to about 5,468 yds. Since the yarn in my sweater is still considered “stash” by Ravelry and that is where the number is coming from, it is going to count against the running total. Get it… running total… 5 K! Ha I crack myself up!
So starting today, 6/7/09 and going through the end of September I will attempt to knit a 5K. Wish me luck.

Family – Bah
So last Sunday my nephew (The Girl’s brother) got confirmed. We went down to the church to witness the confirmation, we were late, because The Girl can not get anywhere on time, but we only missed about 10 minutes and since the service ended up being like 90 minutes long, I think that is pretty good. However, overall the whole thing was a disaster. Not one of my family members came over to see The Baby after the service, well, my nephew who was getting confirmed came over. I was forced to talk to people I have not seen in 20 plus years and try to remember who they all were. It was a miserable experience and it really upset The Girl. She really thought that actually seeing The Baby would make them change their minds. In fact, when her brother and her went outside to visit their mom’s grave, everyone was standing outside and they all stopped talking when they came through the doors. When we left the church they were are still standing there and only my oldest nephew said anything to us. Oh and we saw my crazy brother on the sidewalk on the way to the car and he felt obliged to say hi and look at The Baby although you would think we were pulling out his fingernails as he did it.
Over all, it was a very unpleasant experience. Plus, my mom arrives in the state on Tuesday and she had already said that she would not be spending any time with us since we do not have room. She said that she would stay with my oldest sister’s girl and we could come down there and visit. Given the icy reception my niece gave us on Sunday, this seems unlikely that this visit will occur. So I suppose I will have to call my mom and tell her what happened, but in reality, I do not want to look like I am complaining so I have been putting it off. I hate family. It is more political than work, which is saying a lot!

Well, I have a lot of knitting to do. Talk at you later.

Good Evening Mr. & Mrs. America and All Ships at Sea

2009-05-26T15:12:00.004-05:00

I am paraphrasing Walter Winchell. You will have to insert the beepty-beepty- beep noise at the end yourself. I have always loved the way he would start his broadcasts, especially the “ships at sea” part. It makes whatever announcement was to come seem so much more important.

So what important announcement do I have? Why I have knitting pictures! What could be more important than that!

I am actually making progress on my Daily Sweater. I have been plugging away on it while I watch TV and I gotten to the part where I have created the split at the bottom. I am almost done with the back ribbing. I do not have a photo of that, but I do have a photo of the body of the sweater.
This photo is a lot closer to the actual color. I have been trying it on as I go (I really like knitting from the top down) and it is fitting really well. I am very proud.

Since I have so many things on my needles, I decided to start another! I started working on the Great Goatsby kit I bought at Shepherd’s Harvest.
I know, socks, I am so terrible at finishing socks. And I have my superbad socks almost done and I have not worked on them in more than a year. Why would I start another pair of socks? Well, because these are so darn cute and they are called Great Goatsby! Who doesn’t what socks with goats on them, especially if they have a clever literary title?
Here is my progress so far…

Okay, I am actually farther along then this, but this is how far I was when I took the picture. I am at the body of the goat

And here is a close up of the pattern…

It is from Blackberry Ridge. I bought the Sheep Tea Cozy kit from them and was very pleased with the yarn and the pattern. I am enjoying this one as well. I love this yarn as well. It is a wool silk blend. If I finish the socks and they fit, I think they will be quite nice to wear. I am concerned about them fitting because I have really big calves. I did the large size, so we will see.

Also, I promised a picture of the Briar Rose yarn I bought.

Isn’t it delicious? I have 3 skeins of it, which works out to 1950 yds. I should be able to make something with that amount.

Movie UPDATE
We went to see Star Trek again this week. I want to make a small correction to my movie review. Spock does mention that Vulcans and Romulans share a common ancestry. Not sure how I missed it the first time, but there you go. I loved it just as much the second time around. I think I might try to see it one more time in the theatres before it is gone. If you have not seen it yet, what are you waiting for, go to your local cinema right now!

Dammit, I Am A Buyer Not A Physicist!
But luckily, my FIL is a physicist and I was able to ask him some questions regarding the Lost finale. I know you are wondering why I am still prattling on about that, but I love Lost so you will have to bear with me.

In regards to the size of the core: my FIL could not give me details as to what the size would actually be (due to it being classified), but he said if you can accept the rip in the time space continuum caused by time travel, you could accept that the core would fit into a backpack. My FIL has a very good sense of humor! However, he said it would be really heavy so carrying it around on your back would be unlikely.

He then explained that by taking the core out of the hydrogen bomb would mean that it would no longer be a hydrogen bomb, rather a standard atomic bomb. Basically, an atomic bomb using fission and a hydrogen bomb uses fusion. Here is a direct quote from my FIL: Fission works by chain reaction. If you put too much plutonium in one place, it will spontaneously fission and melt down. So there's a limit on how much nuclear fuel you can pack into a fission bomb (not to mention the cost of making it). Fusion only works if the hydrogen isotopes are really, really hot, and under a lot of pressure (think the solar interior). The result is that there is no serious limit on how much fusion fuel you can use, and you can achieve tremendous yields, like tens of megatons. The trick is to set it off. You have to use a fission (plutonium) explosion to do it. It's what puts the "thermo" in "thermonuclear." So a hydrogen bomb has two parts: a plutonium primary and a hydrogen-fuel secondary. So what the Losties are carrying around is no longer a hydrogen bomb, rather it is an atomic bomb, which is still pretty bad.

I also asked if you could rig the bomb to explode on impact. He said that bombs built in the USA since the 1940s have been built specifically NOT to explode upon impact because they did not want them to go off in a plane crash. However, if was poorly designed, it is a possibility, but it would not be as big of an explosion.

Which brings us to what would happen, explosion wise?
Again a direct quote: Since you didn't set it off properly, you would only get a fraction of the design yield. Maybe a few hundred tons of TNT equivalent. But that would still be about a hundred times the power of the biggest (4 ton) conventional bombs dropped from an aircraft. How much effect that would have depends on the setting. Out in the open air, it would be pretty impressive (a kiloton of ordinary chemical explosive makes a nice mushroom cloud), but far underground, it wouldn't do much. (I was part of a chemical kiloton underground test in the early '90s, and there was very little effect at the surface). However, if I were dropping this thing down an open shaft, I would want to stand clear!
I do not think there would be much left of Dharmaville or the Others.

There has been some discussion out there that the bomb going off caused the Incident. Or that the electromagnetic field is holding the blast in the hole. And that the button being pushed is releasing the atomic blast in bits. Okay, my FIL said an atomic blast would destroy any electromagnetic field, (his exact words regarding containment were “Not bloody likely!”), and so Faraday actually did get that right. FIL said that to contain an atomic blast with an electromagnetic field, you would need the pressure you would find in a black hole or the center of a star, not in hole near the surface of the Earth.
He also said: The second reason that the explosion would not be contained is the same reason why we don't yet have a working fusion reactor. Since around 1950 people (myself included) have been trying to confine very dilute thermonuclear reactions with specially designed magnetic fields in the laboratory. This has proved to be extremely difficult, because the hot plasma keeps leaking out. It's rather like trying to pressurize Jell-O by squeezing it with your bare hands. So if the guys in the movie have solved that problem, I wish they would tell the rest of us the answer.
I just love that last line, so I had to include in my synopsis. He has never heard of Lost so he did not realize it was a TV show rather than a movie.
I want to thank my FIL for all of his help. He really is the smartest person I know so I was pleased he was willing to help me out with this nonsense.

Overall, I think this all supports my idea that there was not an explosion, rather it was some other flash (a time flash IMHO) and that is what caused the bright white light.
We will have to see.

I’m a Pisces!

2009-05-18T14:25:00.001-05:00

This was my favorite line in the Lost finale. I’m a Pisces too so it just brings me closer to Ben! My 2nd favorite line was when Frank saw what was in the cargo box and he just said “Terrific”. Frank is just such a cool cucumber. As you may have guessed, today I am going to discuss the season finale of Lost. I know that normally I discuss the show a bit closer to the air date, but I want to watch it again, just to make sure I did not miss anything.

Jacob
Who is Jacob? What is he up to? Well, I think that he is the Jacob from the bible, Esau’s brother. I think the other guy on the beach is in fact Esau. Now I have sort thought about Jacob being this guy for a while, although I never said it because, well all I could remember about him was that he tricked his dad into giving him a blessing by dressing up in animal fur because Esau was so hairy. Once the other guy showed up, I decided to look Jacob and Esau up.
Jacob and Esau were twins (Bad Twin?). And they fought inside Rebekkah’s womb and when she asked God what was up, He said that she had two nations inside her.
Esau was born first and therefore entitled to his father’s land and blessing. One day Esau came in from field feeling faint and sold his birthright to Jacob for food. This does not seem like a very good deal to me, but according to the Bible Esau figured he was going to die if he did not get some grub so the birthright would not do him any good.
Now Isaac (dad) liked Esau best because he was a hunter and would bring him venison. But Rebekkah liked Jacob better. Now when Isaac got old and blind he sent Esau out to get him some venison and told him when he got back he would bestow his blessing on him. Rebekkah took this opportunity to dress Jacob up as Esau and trick her husband into giving the blessing to Jacob. By giving Jacob the blessing, it meant that Esau became subservient to Jacob. And Esau vowed to kill Jacob. However, God sent Jacob a dream and then told him he would have a bunch of kids across the lands and blessed him. And in the end Esau did bow down to Jacob. Now Jacob because Israel and Esau became Edom, I am not sure why the name change, but I have to assume it in reference to the 2 nations in the womb thing. This is my summary of the story from Genesis. I skipped a bunch of stuff, so if you want to read it yourself, it starts at Genesis 25:20.
Okay, now let’s look at these guys on the beach. Jacob is obviously more powerful since he can bring people to the island and the Anti-Jacob (this is a term someone on Ravelry used and I am going to use it as well because I do not know he is Esau) can’t stop it. Anti-Jacob wants to kill Jacob, but can’t because well, we don’t know why, but I think it is because he is Esau and therefore has to kowtow to Jacob. So he is looking for a loophole. --- Enter Locke, the mighty hunter. I think that if this guy is Esau, he has been influencing Locke the whole time he was on the island. So he is the reason Locke can go out and find boar and kill it with a knife and track anything. The reason Locke feels special is because he has been being “spoken” to, not by Jacob, but by Esau.
Jacob spins and weaves, which also would fit in with the bible story as it says he likes to “stay in tents”, which I guess is code for he is more fit for cooking and such. Now Anti-Jacob is obviously a man of action. He wants to go to Jacob’s, he wants to go now. He killed a boar and brought it to the Others.

Locke
Poor Locke. He really did spend his whole life being duped. I feel really bad for him, because I think he was a good guy. I also think he is dead. Which I think is a loss for the show. However, he did what was needed of him and I can not see what reason the show would have to keep him on.

Jacob and the Losties
We saw Jacob visiting our Lostie friends in the past. Now all of those he visited (and touched), except Locke and Sun, ended up in 1977. Is this a coincidence? I don’t think so. If fact, I think that if Ben had not killed Locke, he would have ended up back then as well. Sun, I think is in a separate time so she can contemplate how much Jin means to her.
I think Jacob arranged for them to end up in the past so they could come to the future and stop Anti-Jacob when needed, i.e. when he Jacob died. I think that is who Jacob was referring to when he said “They’re coming”. They will join up with Team Statue. The real question is who will The Others follow? Richard or Ben or Anti-Jacob? If I were an Other, I would go with Richard, but one can never tell in Lost.
Does it matter when Jacob spoke to them? Most of them were touched by Jacob pre-flight 815, only Sayid and Hurley were visited since the crash. Are Sayid and Hurley extra special? Sayid did not look in good shape at the end of the episode. Of course, if they stay on the Island, that might not mean much since he wasn’t dead yet. A person seems to be able to survive a lot on the Island. I have always thought Hurley was special so hopefully it will come to pass. Especially when we get to see what is in the guitar case. I think there is probably something very important in the case.

Ben
Poor Ben. I feel bad that his life has been so bad that he feels like he has no other option than to kill Jacob. I do understand blaming him for all the bad stuff that happened to him, but really, I do not think it was Jacob’s fault. And in many ways, Jacob is like God, he gives you freewill and you decided how to live your life. He is not there to baby sit you or make sure everything goes great. It just isn’t his job.
However, I came up with a thought as to why Anti-Jacob chose Ben to kill Jacob. Ben is the Loophole because he was brought back to life, not by Jacob, but by Anti-Jacob. He is tainted. And not because he had a choice, someone else decided to do this to him. He lost his freewill.

Jacob’s Cabin
I do not think Jacob has been in this cabin in a long time. In fact, I think it is the same cabin Rose and Bernard were living in circa 1977. They did not say they built the cabin, only that they had been scavenging for food and avoiding the Dharma gang. I think they broke the ring and Jacob got out. I do not think it was Jacob who was in the cabin when Locke visited; I think it was Anti-Jacob because he wanted to set up his pawns. Locke to feel he was special and Ben to feel he wasn’t. In fact, I do not think Ben had any communication with Jacob during his reign as leader since Ben did not seem to know that Jacob had a 2nd home.

The End
I do not believe the hydrogen bomb went off. As anyone who has read any of my recent Lost posts knows, I have never been really keen on the whole feasibility of blowing up a hydrogen bomb and making the past no longer exist. Even though people might be the variable, what’s done is done. For example, Desmond was able to save Charlie a few times, but Charlie still died. I do not think anything they might do will stop the plane from crashing, because maybe Desmond was not the reason flight 815 crashed. Maybe Jacob made it crash. I actually woke up on Thursday morning with the answer. The white light was not an explosion, it was a time shift. Jacob’s death caused the Island to shift the gang in ’77 back to 2007. Where, they will fight Anti-Jacob for control of the Island.
That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it!

You Are Invited To Advanced Ball Screws 201

2009-05-13T11:59:00.003-05:00

I know you are thinking “Damn, how to I get invited to such a cool event?” Well, all you need to do is start buying bearings and you get your name on all the hottest event lists!
Seriously, I opened up my work e-mail today and I saw this and thought the firewall had broken and I was getting pornographic material delivered to me. But no, just some engineering class regarding ball screws. Sigh.

I was going to post earlier this week, but I have not been felling up to it. On Saturday DH and I went out to Shepherd’s Harvest and I actually took photos! I know, I remembered my camera AND I remember to take pictures. So here is a brief look at the day.

We saw a lady spinning directly from an angora rabbit. She is there every year. The rabbit is molting so it is not in any pain.

Here are some of the other rabbits we saw. They are just so cute and fluffy.

Shepherd’s Harvest takes place at the Washington County Fairgrounds, but most of the vendors are indoors, although the doors at both ends of the buildings are usually open. It was quite chilly this year, so even inside it was cool. Here is a shot inside one the buildings. So many vendors, so little time…

Here is a shot outside. Please note the kettle corn vendor on the left side of the picture. They make the kettle corn right there and it is delicious.

There was a yurt on site this year. Someone actually makes them and you could buy one. It was warmer in the yurt than it was in the metal buildings. Even though there is a big hole in the top of it. I sort of wonder how they keep the rain and the snow out of it.

Here is a shot of lunch. Mmmmm lamb brat!

Here are a couple of alpacas that had just been shorn.

And last but not least, here are some pictures of a sheep having her nails clipped and one being sheared and some sheep in a pen waiting to be sheared or just done.

I did buy some stuff on Saturday, but I do not have any photos of it yet. The one thing I will mention though is Briar Rose Fibers. Her yarn is just drop dead gorgeous, of course most of it is merino so it is verboten to me, but I did find some BFL I could buy. I will definitely post a picture of it. She also had knit the Icarus Shawl in a sport / DK weight fiber and bigger needles and it was beautiful. I think I might try doing that as well because even though I like the look of Icarus, it always seemed beyond my capability. I am not sure why. I think it is because the model in Interweave is so skinny, I could not image the shawl actually on my sizable frame.

Excuse Me Ma’am, Your Geekiness Is Showing

2009-05-08T13:27:00.001-05:00

I suspect that many of the people who read this blog have come to realize that I have a deep vein of geekiness in my soul. I do try to hide it, but I am not always successful. Yesterday, I was working on planning this weekend and one of the big things we were going to do was go to see “Star Trek”. I had figured we could go today (Friday) and it would kick off the big weekend (Shepherd’s Harvest and Mother’s Day respectively). Well, as I was looking up the times at the movie theater, I discovered that “Star Trek” was playing at Southdale AMC at 7:00 that day (Thursday). Now, I know how the movie releases work well enough to know that a Friday release is not played until Friday, generally with a geeky movie, you can get a show at 12:01, but at 7:00 on Thursday. No way! So I actually went to the official AMC website because I sort of thought maybe Yahoo had a glitch in it. But no, it was truly playing at 7:00. I called the DH and said let’s go tonight. I was willing to miss Supernatural with The Girl so I could be one of the first to see “Star Trek”. Is that not about the geekiest thing you have ever heard? I have actually been really looking forward to the movie for a long time. I love JJ Abrams and I sort of figured he would have to work pretty hard to mess it up.
DH finally agreed and he met me at the theater at 5:00. We bought tickets and looked at the line that was waiting to be let in the theater. There were only 4 people in it at 5:15. DH did not want to stand in the line, he wanted to go eat. Now, I was not very hungry at that point and the truth be told, I did not want to spoil my chance at eating popcorn. I have a great affection for movie popcorn and I am willing to give up actual nutrition in order to partake in its wonderful goodness. So we compromised, we went and bought books and then went and stood in line. We got our place in line about 5:30 and there were about 9 people in the line in front of us. We stood in line for an hour. We chatted with some strange man who was behind us. It was okay, because I took it as an opportunity to practice my small talking skills. Mainly he talked, so it was not too difficult. We got released from the line and headed into the theater. I got us some good seats and DH bought popcorn and diet coke. I know, we were living it up… caffeinated pop on a work night!
There was a LOT of commercials, more than usual, which always irritates me. I know that it is how they keep ticket prices down etc, but you know what, they will play the same stupid commercial a couple of times in like 5 minutes and I do not see the point of it. Anyway, I was very excited when the movie finally started.

I am going to say this right now. I LOVED this movie. It was funny and smart and jam-packed with action. The actors they got to play all of the characters were spot on. I adored Karl Urban’s portrayal of “Bones” McCoy, I think he was my favorite character, but everyone was very good. I think that anyone would enjoy this movie. A great deal of Star Trek knowledge is not necessary as it really is an introduction to the whole kit and caboodle. Although I will let you know that Romulans and Vulcans share a common ancestry. It is something implied in the movie, but more in passing and it just helps to know that fact. I know that fact because my head is full of geeky goodness.
Not only was the movie incredibly entertaining, there were actual knits in it as well, which made me very happy. Uhura has a very nice red sweater in the bar scene and Scotty is wearing several lovely knits when he is introduced (although, I will say the hat he has on is just bizarre). Also, there is a sweater Spock is wearing in one scene that I am pretty sure I could knit, and as I think on it, I think I have yarn that would work for it. I would also like to point out that even though the Starfleet uniforms are not knitted garments, you could actually knit one as they looked like seed stitch raglan sweaters.
I would say that “Star Trek” is a perfect summer movie: fun and exciting. I have to recommend you run out and see it. I am giving it 4 knitting needles out of 4.

I am actually going to go see it again because it was so good. And just an aside, The Boyfriend would look just like the main Romulan Nero if he shaved his head and slapped some tattoos on it. The Girl denies it, but it is true.

Leader? We Don’t Need No Stinking Leader!

2009-05-07T12:41:00.000-05:00

Today’s post is going to be just about Lost. I was very upset with the last episode (Follow the Leader). Mainly because there is a path the show seems to be going down which with I totally disagree. Namely, down the path of The Stand. I think I mentioned this in my last post as well, and it really seems to be even more so after this episode with Jack playing the role of the Trashman. If the writers nuke the island next week, I will be very disappointed.
I guess we will find out next week.
Jack is being a complete idiot. I do not know how he could look Kate in the face and say that the last three years have had more bad than good. Hello, McFly! She was headed to jail on flight 815; her life was a LOT better because of the crash. Actually, looking at the people who crashed, there were quite a few whose life is better because of the crash.
Sun and Jin – were headed for divorce court, instead they realized how much they loved each other and had a baby.
Sawyer – found Juliet and discovered how good life could be once you settled down with someone you love.
Charlie – got off the smack and died a hero’s death.
Locke – got out of the wheelchair and discovered a purpose to his life.
Rose and Bernard – Rose was cured and they are together.
Hurley – reunited with his father.
Jack just can not see past the fact that he became a drunk. Well, I hate to say this, but Jack was not actually all that stable to begin with and I think he was on the road to alcoholism any way.
All I know is that when Kate is the voice of reason the situation is BAD.

Who is Jacob? This has been an ongoing question. My husband came up with a great thought: perhaps Jacob is being held hostage through some dark magic. Perhaps, the reason that Richard never ages is that he did some ritualistic magic in order to stay that way. I really like this theory. Several seasons ago there was that scene where Locke saw a rocking chair in the cabin and hears “Jacob” say Help Me. Could killing Jacob release him? Or was it actually The Island asking for help? All I know is that Locke is determined to kill him. However, Richard and Ben seem to want to share a secret about Jacob before they went to see him. Perhaps, Jacob does not actually exist?

Sawyer and Juliet: I love them together and I think that Kate needs to stay out of the way. Just a thought, Juliet is a trained Other, you don’t think she would put a cap in Kate’s ass? Really, Kate is going to die and Juliet will just be like “I don’t know what happened”. Of course, I would not mind if Kate died since I have never been a big fan and her character has really went down hill this season. Of course, maybe that was the plan all along. Maybe Kate dies in the series finale.

When Eloise (last posting I called her Eleanor sorry about that) told Charles she was going off to get Jughead, he was talking to her and he put his hand on her stomach. Is Eloise pregnant? Could she be pregnant with Daniel? I was thinking that, but then someone on Ravelry pointed out he would have been 18 in 1996 when he was a professor at Oxford. Now they did say he was the youngest person to earn a Ph. D from Oxford during the last episode, but he did not seem that young. So maybe it is not Daniel, but perhaps Penny? Who knows? Maybe Charles just likes to touch woman’s stomachs.

Radzinsky needs to be taken out and shot. What a freaking creep! And Phil needs to go with him. Really when he hit Juliet, that was totally uncalled for. Of course, I actually think Juliet is more dangerous than Sawyer, but the DI doesn’t know that. Really what kind of place are they running?

I loved Hurley getting interrogated by Dr. Chang. This scene just goes to show how important it is to know your history. There was no Korean war?! Of course the best part was that Hurley had said he was worried that someone would ask him who the president was when he arrived in 1977 and everyone just laughed. I guess he was right to worry. 1977 = Jimmy Carter.

Please note where Jughead was buried: under Dharmaville / New Otherton. Now if you recall from a previous post I theorized that the reason there was infertility in New Otherton was because the bomb was leaking radiation and caused it. I think this episode supports that theory even further. Hooray for me!

One final observation:
My husband and I were discussing Ben one day and we decided he is very much like Richard the third. However, in this episode, he reminded me of Iago from Othello. He was just really toady in this episode. Perhaps he is a combination of Richard III and Iago, charming and deceitful and very dangerous.

Hearts of Darkness

2009-05-01T14:59:00.006-05:00

Ave! Old knitter of black wool. Morituri te salutant.
Joseph Conrad, “Heart of Darkness”

Okay, I have not been knitting with any black wool, but I was listening to a pod cast of “Heart of Darkness” and I loved the imagery of the knitter in the recruitment office sending sailors to their doom.
I have quite a bit of knitting news today…
1st – I escaped the clutches of my in-laws long enough to go over to the MN Knitter’s Guild Yarnover on 4/18. There were many fabulous vendors, including Black Water Abbey. I have been lusting over their yarn on line for sometime and not been brave enough to buy any without seeing it in person to make sure I would like it. I have to say. It is awesome and the colors are as beautiful in person as they are on-line. If you have been thinking about buying some, I would not hesitate. I bought a couple of patterns (one for a vest and one for a trio of aran hats), enough yarn to knit the vest for me and a couple of hats.
Everything I bought can be seen here:
I bought some stuff from others as well. I bought a skein of Stella from Alpacas of the Ark. I try to buy something from them whenever I can because the yarn is so lovely and the owner I so nice. I bought a kit to make a sock monkey hat for The Baby. And some other yarn that was just a good deal. Plus, my DH was with and we bought him some roving and mohair locks for him to spin. Here are the results:

Pretty cool, huh?

2nd - Last Saturday, DH and I went out and about looking for trouble. Okay, we were really looking for a locket for The Girl for Mother’s Day, but we ended up at The Yarnery who happened to be having a sale… you know how it goes…
Here is what I bought at The Yarnery.

I purchased no black wool, but I did get navy wool and black alpaca. So, it is close. We also stop down at Zandy’s in the morning and I saw the pattern I am going to make for my mom. I have been looking for cardigan to make for her for Christmas, something stylish, but not too over the top. Zandy’s had a shop sample of Mr. Greenjeans and I just fell in love with it. I think it will be perfect. When I looked it up on Knitty, I realized that I had looked at it, but I did not like it the first time I saw it. I think the yarn sort of obscured the beauty of the pattern. So I am going to go back down there to buy yarn since the gal was so helpful when I asked for information about the pattern.

3rd – UPDATE -- I have been plugging away at my Daily Sweater. No photo, I am making progress. However, it is going really slowly. I have been managing to knit 1 – 2 rounds a day. At this rate I will have it done in 5 years! I just have not had much time to focus on knitting outside of my bus time and I have missed my morning bus several times this week.
I also have cast on the back of my Foxy Vest. I have 8 rows done. I am concerned that I have these two huge projects that I am focusing on and I will never finish either one. This is bad just because I sort of feel like what’s the point if nothing will come of it. I decided this morning that I need to finish some small project so that I know I can accomplish something. I have a hat that I am almost done with; I just need to find my dpns so I can finish it up. I am going to look for them and try to finish that up this weekend so that I feel like I am capable of finishing projects.

Lastly in the knitting new category, I found something I have been searching for. DH and I went to the thrift store the other day and I found some Muench Touch Me there. I bought a few balls and a bunch of old pattern booklets. I was quite pleased with myself. However, the next day at work I kept thinking, I should have bought enough of the Touch Me so I could knit that beret in “Folk Hats”. So when my husband picked me up at the bus stop, I asked if we could stop at the thrift store and I could see if the yarn was still there. He said it was fine and he would wait in the car. SO in I went. The yarn was still there and picked it up and thought, Hey maybe I will glance at the book section and see if there are any knitting books that were dropped off at the same time as this yarn and the knitting booklets I bought yesterday. And look what I found:

Yes, you see that right, not one but TWO Alice Starmore books. I have wanted to get my hands on the Fair Isle knitting book for some time and I nearly jumped up and down right there in the thrift store when I saw it. I also picked up the British Knits book because it had some interesting items in it. How much do you think I paid for these 3 books? $4.37! You read that right, four dollars and 37 cents for all 3 combined! YEAH!! I could hardly contain myself as I paid for my booty. It was the highlight of my week. I know; I do not have a very exciting life. I am the 1st to admit it.

Dark Lost Hearts
Okay, I have to discuss this week’s “Lost” episode (The Variable). I could not believe that anyone could send their child off knowing that the child would die. Not just die, but that the parent would be the one to kill the child. I could not do it. I realize that it might mess up the time space continuum or whatever, but I could not do it. Poor Daniel, to be cursed with such a mother. It was nice to get confirmation that Daniel was indeed the product of the Others. There has been some discussion that perhaps Daniel and Penny were twins. I think this is a possibility. The only problem I have it with this is that Ben told Widmore that he had to leave The Island because he had a child with someone from off of The Island. Eleanor was originally an Other; surely she would be okay to have children with even if she was off of The Island.

Can the Losties destroy the Swan and there by prevent them coming to The Island in the first place? I don’t think they will succeed. And even if they did, blowing up a hydrogen bomb would more than likely kill most of the people on The Island. What would happen to the world (okay Desmond) if Penny did not exist? What if Miles and Charlotte did not leave The Island? It would be CHAOS. The other concern I have with the hydrogen bomb is that I heard a rumor that the series might end like “The Stand”. I hope not, because I HATED the ending of that book. In fact, when I finished it, I threw it across the room I was so mad! It was total cop out and I did not spend all these years devoted to Lost to be totally ripped off.

Will Desmond go back to The Island? It seems like there is more that needs to be done with Desmond and Penny, but maybe I am wrong. Maybe this will be the last we see of them. They seem like they are happy enough… which on Lost is a huge warning flag. Happiness? Not allowed!

How Sharper Than a Serpents Tooth It Is
To Have a Thankless Child – King Lear
So on Sunday night, okay really Monday morning at 1:00 am The Girl hollered up the stairs to see if I would come and take care of The Baby for a while. As I came down the stairs I could hear her yelling at The Boyfriend. I took The Baby and sat down with her and I could hear The Boyfriend storming out of the house. Now, it was rainy out and he doesn’t have a car, so I do not know where he was going, but I figure there was something going on that I really did not want to be a part of. The Baby was very fussy and I was working on getting her settled down. She would stop for a few minutes and then start up crying again. Even singing the theme song to Gilligan’s Island did not help. Okay, I do not know very many songs, but I do know all the words to several TV shows, she is going have to take what she gets!
Anyway, finally The Girl came out and said that The Boyfriend had made some crack about how we (my husband and I) never help with The Baby and that if they lived at his mom’s house she would help out all of the time. The Girl told him that she had been up all of Saturday night with The Baby and his mom had woken up and helped with The Baby. In fact, she had not gotten up until 9:30 in the morning. And that had apparently caused him to storm out of the house. Now most mornings, I have been getting up between 4 -5 in the morning to take care of The Baby. I usually take care of her a couple of hours in the evening. DH takes care of her most of the morning. Plus, did I mention, I am paying all of the bills, the mortgage, the grocery, the doctor and hospital bills. Also, his family would not even speak to him because he took up with The Girl until The Baby was born. I personally was furious, but I held my tongue because The Girl had defended us and she was upset. Anyway, The Girl decided The Baby needed to be fed and brought her into her room. At that point, I very calmly explained that most people who have babies do not get any help from anyone. They stay up all night with their baby and then get up and go to a job. The Girl said she had told him that and she knew that. I am still irritated about the whole thing, but I think The Boyfriend might have been told off more later, as he has been very civil all week. It just bugs me because the truth is that I did not have to let him live in my house and feed him and be nice to him. I did it because I am so damn nice! Okay, really I did it because I want to make The Girl happy. It is all I have ever wanted.

Hmmm…. Why does grandma sing me a song about a talking horse?

What Lies In The Shadow Of The Statue?

2009-04-14T15:44:00.002-05:00

Chaos
The Girl and The Boyfriend got mad at my husband last week and spent Wednesday through Sunday at his mom’s house. They have taken up spending a lot of time over there, which is odd because before The Baby was born The Girl acted like The Boyfriend’s family was pure evil. I think they were just being pissy and I think they are over it, but it is hard to tell. They are going over to there this weekend as well because it is The Boyfriend’s birthday on Sunday. I am sure they will be causing trouble and I worry about The Baby, but I am not sure what I can do about it. The Girl admitted she had been giving The Baby formula while over there. She said it was because The Baby wouldn’t eat, but I worry it is because she was drinking or doing drugs. I kept these thoughts to myself because I have no current proof, just past behavior and I keep hoping that she really will grow up. I will say this about them being out of the house, as much as I missed The Girl and The Baby, it was nice to be just my husband and me again. Not that we did anything exciting, but we could go where we wanted, when we wanted. I miss that. I did get some new shoes. They are a pair of grey felt Haflinger clogs. They are awesome. I had a pair a LONG time ago that I had bought on a sale and I loved them. When I received my bonus at work (several months ago) I decided I would buy myself another pair and I finally got around to doing it this weekend. Here is what they look like.
I also bought myself a really fancy pair of slippers. They are Acorns and were originally marked at $34 and I got them for $17. They are fantastic. I wear only slippers when I am at home, so having a good pair is important. These have a rubber sole and lots of cushioning. I am pretty sure they are the nicest slippers I have ever owned, I could be in trouble…

And Taxes
I did my taxes over the weekend. Normally, my sister the CPA does my taxes, but since I have been disowned from my family because of The Girl, I had to do them myself. I don’t have complicated taxes, but it still took several hours. I am quite disorganized when it comes right down to it. I did them online at TaxACT and it went pretty well and it was cheaper than my sister. I still hate screwing around with them. It seems like there should be a better way.
I will be getting money back… about enough to pay my property taxes for the year. Sigh. Taxes. Bah!

And Darkness
My MIL & FIL arrive this afternoon. I really am not looking forward to the visit. They are just a lot of work to deal with. You have to be careful what you tell them and how you tell them so they do not completely freak out. It just is exhausting. I have not started my vest yet. However, I did wash, block and measure my swatch, which is an accomplishment since it is more than I normally do. I got stitch gauge, but not row gauge. I do not think it will be too big a deal since normally things are way too long for me anyway. I am short and fat and apparently heavy set people are supposed to be tall. I used my Knit Gauge app on my I-touch to figure out the gauge. It is totally sweet! If, like the current pattern I am working on, you have a repeated design, you can measure one repeat and put in how many stitches there are in that repeat and viola, it figures out your gauge. It is too cool. I love my I-touch.
Anyways, in-laws… We don’t have much planned for while they are here. We are going to the opera on Saturday. We will be seeing the Barber of Seville. We still need to make dinner reservations or something before hand, but I think it should be a good time.
I am taking Friday off of work. Maybe we will all go to the zoo. Well not all of us, because The Girl has a doctor’s appt in the afternoon, but maybe we can take The Baby with us. We will have to see.
The weather is supposed to be perfect all week, okay, there might be showers on Saturday, but that is not a big deal.
DH has not told his parents that he has class on Wednesday so I am not sure what will be expected of us that night. DH has been taking spinning classes. They are going quite well as far as I can tell. I am so proud of him and I will post some pictures as soon as I take some.
Hopefully, The Girl will not be too cranky and the In-laws will not be too judgmental about The Boyfriend.
Uff Da, I think it is going to be a long week.

And Death
Well, what can I say about last week’s episode of Lost? I loved it. Of course, I love Ben and a whole hour of him is more than I could ask for. It is good to see that Ben really is better than Widmore (as I suspected). I do realize that is like saying it is better to get bit by a great white vs. a tiger shark, but I do not care. Ben does not kill Penny because he does not want Charlie to not have a mom. He doesn’t want Alex to not have a mom, okay, technically she did not really have a mom around, but Ben did not kill her so she could have one eventually. Surely that counts for something? I do not think Ben expected to see Locke when he woke up and I do believe that he was telling Sun the truth, dead is dead. Perhaps Locke is something else? Old Smokey perhaps? Time will tell.
The Temple and Egypt: I have been thinking about all of the Egyptian stuff in the show. I was thinking that if this was once an island that followed Egyptian religions and then moved, perhaps the culture was isolated and then corrupted or evolved into something else. That could explain why the hieroglyphs are so primitive looking and why the statue (who I believe is Anubis) has shorter ears than he does traditionally. I would like to go back to my idea of the Island being Atlantis. If the Island is moving around, who is to say that it did not start around Egypt and move up by Greece and to the South Atlantic and then to the South Pacific.
Why did Ben shoot Cesar? During the 2nd viewing of the show, it occurred to me Cesar was shot because he had the shot gun. Here is my thought process. If the office was Ben’s, that means that the shot gun was Ben’s. So when he sees Cesar has the gun, he has to assume Cesar has been digging around in his office. Ben has to assume Cesar could have seen something which would raise suspicions, maybe not right away, but eventually and Ben can not wait for eventually. So he shoots him. I was really stunned by Locke’s lassie faire attitude. Really, Locke normally gets more worked up about things.
I am really looking forward to this week’s episode. I love Miles as well. It should be interesting.

What Do I Call This?

2009-04-08T13:48:00.003-05:00

No clever title today. I have not been feeling well for several days. I have been dizzy and my left hand has been tingly. I do feel a little better today, but I feel worse as the day progresses. I am not sure what is wrong with me. I looked up my symptoms on WebMD yesterday, but to no avail. It could be anything from vertigo, a stroke or MS. I actually think I might have a pinched nerve in my neck or shoulder. It seems to get worse when I stand up and walk around.

Actual Knitting PHOTOS!!
I know. It is very exciting.
Here is a picture of my Daily Sweater.

The actual color is a little darker than this photo, but this was the best I could do. I think it is going to take a long time to finish. It is not hard or anything, but just tedious. Just knitting around and around and around… I think that if I were to knit the pattern again, I would add some details to punch it up. However, I do like the knitting from the top down. I like the idea that when I am done, I will not have to sew pieces together, which is a major hurdle for me. I have tried this on and it does fit over my breasts, so I am happy. I think this will be a very comfortable sweater just for hanging out in, if I ever finish it.

Here is the beginning of the Fox Island vest swatch.
I have finished the swatch now; I just need to block it out. I like how the colors look. I think it is going to be really lovely once the vest is finished. I need to get the vest cast on before next Tuesday when the In-Laws show up so I have to block the swatch ASAP.

I knit up a little baby hat, but it came out extremely small, even after I blocked it out. I think I will try to knit the same pattern up with bigger needles and yarn. It called out worsted weight with size 8 needles, which is what I used. It has a herringbone stitch around the bottom part and I knit it way too tight. I think that was the main problem because the lacy part was okay.
I do not have a picture of it because, well it was a failure and I do not want to show it off. Okay, it is not a total failure, if I come across a fairy that is headed out to the Renaissance festival, this would be perfect for her to wear.

Some thoughts on last week’s episode of LOST (What’s Happened, Happened):
I still do not like Kate; I do not think I ever will. I actually think it has less to do with the character of Kate and more to do with the acting. I really do not understand why going back to the island to find Claire is nobler than anyone else’s reason for going back. I mean really, they have been gone 3 years and it just occurred to her that Claire might want to be with her son. I was right that Aaron is with his grandma, although I was wrong how he got there. Of course, I personally think he should have been with her to begin with. I have to assume that Mrs. Littleton will be staying in L.A. with Aaron since I am not sure how she would get him out of the country. Maybe SuperKate had fake documentation made up for Goober just in case they had to hit the road.
I had to disagree with Cassidy’s evaluation that Sawyer broke Kate’s heart. Maybe I missed something, but I seem to recall that Sawyer asked Kate to stay with him in New Otherton and Kate declined and went running back to Jack. Kate chose Jack. Why would Sawyer stay with her? Plus, I do not think Sawyer really wanted to go back to the real world. He had nothing there. Honestly, I do not know that I would leave the Island.
I thought the scenes with Roger and Kate were just creepy. He was really flirty with her. Of course, it would be ironic if they took up with each other since Kate killed her abusive “father” only to take up with someone who is abusive to his child.
Jack – what can I say? He is just a total ass. He is a doctor, how can he refuse to treat a kid? I think this bothered me more than anything I have seen on Lost in a long time. He is a doctor; don’t they take an oath not to let people die? Of course, by not saving Ben, it leads to him becoming evil Ben. Way to go Jack! Now, some people have been blaming Kate for this, but to me, this blame lays solely with Jack. If he had helped, Ben would not have wanted to ever join the Others since he thought Sayid was an Other and who is going to join up with a group that shot them. Of course, I think that someone else would have joined the Others and lead the destruction of the Dharma Initiative. But it would not have been Ben and that is all I care about. I love Ben. I hope he doesn’t die tonight. Being judged by the Island does not seem like a good a thing.

Plastic Nuts Become Hot Topic

2009-03-27T15:16:00.000-05:00

I received an e-mail “newsletter” at work and this was the lead story. One day you go to work and you realize that you are expected to get excited about plastic nuts. Oh the Humanities!! Why didn’t I study harder in school? Or at least get a useful degree so I could have gotten a cool job. I bet assassins never get e-mail “newsletters”; much less ones that expect them to get excited about plastic nuts.

Knitting Nuts Become Hot Topic
I have started working on a swatch for the Fox Island Vest. I received this kit from my in-laws for my birthday. I have to have it going when they show up in a couple of weeks. My MIL made it clear that she wanted to see me working on it when she arrived. I don’t think I could have it finished, but I can have it started. I will let you know how it goes. I had to write out the chart because… well I really do not like charts. However, it is not too complicated so it didn’t take very long.
I am still working on my Daily sweater as well. I really like how it looks. I think it is going to be great when I get it done.

Lost Nuts Become Hot Topic
I was so upset after Lost on Wednesday night I could not even talk about it. How could Sayid shoot poor little Ben? He was just a little kid. I feel so bad for poor little Ben. His dad is a complete ass and who wouldn’t hate living on an island that appears to have no way off of it. Of course, I suppose Sayid did not hear Faraday’s speech about how you can not change the past so he does not realize that shooting Ben will not make things better for him. My husband is thinking it might be an alternative universe. I know that I have heard some theories that Ben remembers being shot by Sayid and that is why he had him kill all those people. Okay, I would not put it past Ben to hide his knowledge of people, but I do sort of like the alternative universe idea. The station where Sun and Frank are at in the beginning did not seem right. There was just something off. The Others seemed to take down most of the Dharma signs and stuff and take them over. What if where there are is now the world created because Sayid shot Ben? Maybe the Losties have to go and fix the mess he made.
I liked the episode up until the end. I thought it was interesting to see how Sawyer was trying to hold together his present world and his past world. I actually thought Juliet was really nice to Kate. Nicer than I would have been, but I to tend to have jealous streak. Jack was a dork as usual. God, I have developed a great hatred of the man. I never really like Kate, but I did used to like Jack.

Tiny Rant
The Baby was in the hospital this week. She went in for a regular exam, she had a rash on her bottom and the doctor decided it might be herpes. Now the fact that The Girl had been tested for herpes during her pregnancy and it had been negative did not seem to matter. They sent her to the hospital and proceeded to assume that The Baby had herpes. They took blood and spinal fluid and generally made everyone’s life miserable. One of the doctors accused The Boyfriend of molesting her. This really bothers me because if they really thought that they should call the authorities, not accuse him of it. So after two days it was determined she did not have herpes. Of course, they did not know what she had, but it seemed to be diaper rash. They sent The Baby to the hospital for diaper rash. I wonder if they did this because The Girl is a teenager and therefore must have herpes. I wonder if she had been a 40 year old in a suit if she would have been treated this way. The whole incident really bothered me.

I Lied

2009-03-20T16:30:00.001-05:00

Namaste. Today’s blog is going to be about “Lost”. I have not lied about anything; I just loved it when Sun told Frank she “lied” after whacking Ben on the head. Which I totally called, when Sun and Ben were walking through the jungle, I said “Sun is going to kick Ben’s ass”. And I was right! Yeah.
Anyway, on to the theories:
Who decided Jack would be a Workman? Here is what I think is going on: there were 2 people who dropped out (per Amy) so those records were changed to cover Jack and Hurley and there were assessment tests already done. But what about poor old Kate, Juliet had to make something up quick to cover her. I like how she put Kate in the motor pool with her, better to keep an eye on her my pretty. I hope Juliet lets Kate know that Sawyer is hers and Kate had better stay away. I really like Juliet and Sawyer together. They seem so happy.
I find it interesting that Sawyer referred to the Dharma Initiative as his “people”. It is like he has finally found where he belongs and then a bunch Losties show up to mess it up. Sigh.
What is going to happen to Sayid? Will he try to kill Ben? I think he will, but I think this would be a very bad plan. If there was no Ben, what kind of world would that be? Chaos! Of course, I like Ben. Speaking of Ben, one of the fine folks on Ravelry suggested that the whole “it doesn’t have mustard” was a code word. I like this idea. Ben must have been recruited by The Others by this point and maybe that was the code he was supposed to use if one of them were captured. Maybe they were supposed to respond a certain way and then … well I don’t know what Ben would do then, but I am sure it would be something like help them escape or something. However, Sayid is not an Other, so what will become of him? If he did escape, he would be hunted down by the Others for pretending to be one. They seem pretty sensitive about such things.
What has happened to those who are missing? Rose and Bernard: they are either dead or have been recruited by The Others. I can not image them surviving in the jungle. I hope they are with The Others, because I really like Rose and Bernard, I think they are so cute together. Daniel Faraday: I think his train slipped completely off the track and he is in some Dharma institution, maybe that place that Karl was being held by Ben in order to “fix” him. Vincent: He seems to be able to wander around the Island with no trouble. I am sure he is okay!
Sun & Frank: Did that recruitment center look off to anyone else? Even if it has been 3 years, The Others always seemed to keep up appearances. The window being boarded up and the signs hanging sideways and stuff just seemed weird. Maybe the Losties have messed up the past and now it needs to be fixed by Sun & Frank.
The statue: I think it is Anubis. I know the ears are not quite long enough, but the back looks very much like Anubis. Plus, he is the god that protects the dead and leads them to the underworld. There seems to be a lot of death on the Island, he would be a very busy fellow on The Island.
Namaste: before Lost, I had never heard the greeting before, now I seem to hear it all the time. When did this become popular? How did I miss it?

Don’t Go Potty in My Hat

2009-03-13T14:37:00.002-05:00

On Tuesday afternoon, I became a grandma. She was born at 2:21 CST. She was 7 lbs 1 oz and absolutely perfect. The Girl’s water broke at 12:30 Monday afternoon. I left work and hauled her to the hospital. She was in labor for 25 hours and had only dilated to 3 cm. The nurse said they would probably have to take the baby via C-section, but the doctor was on his way to evaluate her. The doctor was supposed to show up in about 30 minutes. Within 20 minutes she was in complete agony and said it felt like here butt was about to explode. She thought she had to go potty, but in reality she had just dilated all the way to 10 cm and the baby was coming the regular way. The nurse had never seen anything like it. However, The Girl only had hard labor for about 45 minutes. After the baby came out, The Girl just kept looking at her saying “That’s my baby!”. It was really nice. I was very proud of her. I took the whole week off and spent a lot of time at the hospital. Everyone is home now. The Baby is very sleepy still, but she is lovely.

Here is a couple of pictures:
Here are her feet.

This is her in her outfit I knit for her to come home in. Isn’t she just the cutest thing?

About the title… on Monday night, we were at the hospital and they were going to do a drug test on The Girl. The nurse had put a plastic container in the toilet for her to urinate into. The Boyfriend had to go to the bathroom and The Girl told him the he had to use the bathroom in the hall because the nurse had but a “hat” in the toilet. She told him “Don’t go potty in my hat”. I just thought it was hilarious.

I really do not know what else to say right now. I am just so happy that The Baby is here and she is healthy.

Living on Arizona Time

2009-03-05T22:49:00.000-06:00

I am in AZ for business. So I am blogging from my hotel room in Scottsdale. I will check out tomorrow. After I get done with my business, I will go down and visit my mom. She lives in between Phoenix and Tucson. I have not been down to see her in probably 3 or so years. I hate AZ. I hate the heat and the dust and the lack of humidity. I always feel like I have had all of the moisture sucked out of my body when I am down here. Anyway, the trip down here was awful. First, I was not thinking when I had my company book the flight and I left the Twin Cities Wednesday afternoon. I was not thinking about the fact that I might not make in to my hotel room in time for “Lost”. Once I realized it, I calculated it out and if everything went according to plan, I would get to my hotel just in time. So, do you think everything went according to plan? Of course not! The plane was delayed out of MSP. It was full and cramped and I could not find anything at the airport for dinner. I had sort of figured I would pick something up on the way to the hotel. Our plane was supposed to land at PHX at 6:50… actual time 7:30. I did not get to the car rental station until after 8. My company had rented a car for me from Hertz. When I got to the rental place, there was a huge line. I figured I would just do the self check in, but no, I was yelled at. There were no cars available and I would have to stand in the really long line. Yes they had no cars. How does a car rental place run out of cars? It took an hour, but I did finally get a car… a mustang. So anyway, I did not get to the hotel until almost 10:00. I did not find anything to eat, so dinner was popcorn and twizzler cherry bites and a granola bar.
Would you like to hear the really ironic part? I was watching the news and they said that they were going to be running “Lost” at 12:06 because the station had been running Wheel of Fortune instead of “Lost”. However, after a really long day, I just could not stay up to see it.

I should actually be trying to get some work done, but really I am very tired. I am down here to do supplier audits. Basically, we spend the day wandering around a factory asking questions about processes. It makes for a very long day and I have to do it again tomorrow.

I have no pictures because The Girl had the camera when I was getting ready to go. I will have pictures next time, because I received a fantastic shawl from my lovely husband for my birthday and I want to post it. He also went out and bought me an i-touch because we did not get to go out on my birthday because of the snow. We actually just ordered in pizza.
More later.

Today I am 40

2009-02-26T13:06:00.003-06:00

It is finally my birthday. It has been sort of weird to turn 40. I am not really sad, because I always figure it is just a number and getting older is better than the alternative. However, I have been contemplative. I have been thinking about what I have accomplished in 40 years. It does not seem like much. I mean there are good things, like I have been married for almost 19 years, which is an accomplishment, but not really world shattering. Anyone can stay married if they choose wisely and work at it. I have all of the material things I could need, well, except an i-touch, but that is more of a want than a need. However, material goods have never really meant all that much to me. I want a place to live and food to eat. Okay, I also like books, TV and music, but those are pretty inexpensive if you do it right. I think my biggest want is yarn and knitting supplies, but I also have enough of those right now. I think I am rambling. Anyway, I have not really DONE anything. I do not know what I should have done either. My life seems so very ordinary, not that it is a bad thing. Some people have very extraordinary lives that suck. I have a fairly ordinary life that is okay. I guess some days I just wonder if this is all there is to life.
It is snowing out right now. It was supposed to start snowing at 9 am. But it did not get going until about noon. We were supposed to get 6-8”. We are all supposed to go out tonight for my birthday. If the weather is too bad, we will just stay home. My hubby has already bought me some cupcakes for my birthday, so I will be okay with staying home and hanging out.

I know I promised knitting pictures, but I can not find my camera. Instead, I give you wild turkeys w/ babies. I took this photo this summer in VT. Aren’t they cute?

And here is a picture of a boat in Bonaire; wouldn’t you like to be sitting there right now?

We're Not Going To Guam, Are We?

2009-02-22T16:16:00.002-06:00

I know it has been a long time since I last blogged. Sorry about that, life has sort of gotten in the way. Not this week Tuesday, but the Tuesday before there was a layoff at work. It was brutal and nonsensical. There were only 2 people in my little area and one of them was laid off. Now I get to do two people’s jobs. The only statement my boss has made is to pretend they are on vacation. This week I had green belt (DMAIC / Lean) training and my boss had to cover for me. I do not think he was happy about, but you know what, neither am I. The gal who was laid off was one of the lower paid people in the group and she had tons of work to do. So this week I was in training from 8 – 4:45 every day and I came in early and stayed late to attempt to at least keep up with all the e-mails. The one day I spent 12 hours at work. It was a nightmare and I was so tired at the end of the day I could hardly function. I believe there will be some restructing, but I am not sure when that will take place. And considering how poorly the lay off went, I have little hope of it going well.

KNITTING
I have been working on the Daily Sweater from Mason Dixon’s Knitting Outside the Lines. When I started this sweater, I found the little boxes confusing but now I have it down and it is going along well. I had hoped to be done with the box section, but I did not get as much knitting done this week as I would have liked. I did have to order longer cables for my Knit Picks options because my longer ones are in other projects. Have I ever mentioned how much I love my options needles? They are really awesome!
I love how the material is turning out. It is soft and lovely. I think it is going to be a nice sweater. Since it is knit from the top down, I have tried it on. The collar seems just a little big, but not enough to bother me.
I knit a baby hat and was going to embroider on it, but it was harder then I thought it would be. I am thinking I need to use bigger wool or do an i-cord and stitch it on.
I need to put together the baby’s sweater and make a hat to go with it. I was also going to make some booties, but I don’t know if I will have time. The Girl had contractions this week, the doctor said it was not time yet. Also, I am working on a different pair of bootie. I am on the second one. I have finally finished turning the heel.

LOST
The title of this blog comes from this week’s episode. I just think it is funny. Plus I sort of feel off course this week.
I have been watching all of the episodes twice this year. I do not know if I have had any more insight because of it, but I have been enjoying them. I have to cover two episodes this blog episode.
The death of Charlotte only bothered me because I felt bad for Daniel. Personally, I did not like Charlotte, she was sort of creepy and irritating.
I hope Miles doesn’t die. I really like him. My husband thinks he will survive because he is the new Sawyer since Sawyer is so much nicer than he used to be. As a side note, I was watching an old episode a few weeks ago and Sawyer was down right mean. I had forgotten how hard he was in the beginning.
Danielle Rousseau and her crew: I am not sure what to say about this. Danielle obviously been through a lot and by the time the Losties met her, I think she was totally crazy. There seems to be a lot of discussion as to why she did not recognize Jin, but I think after killing your husband and having your child kidnapped and spending 16 hiding for Smoky and the Others, you would not remember what he looked like. You would just remember some Asian guy who “infected” your crew and disappeared. I am curious why she blamed the Others for infecting her crew and not the Smoke Monster since it was Smoky who lured them into the Temple.

So Jack, Hurley & Kate are in the past. I figured when Locke fixed the Donkey Wheel, they were in the past. How did they get hired by Dharma? Did they just show up and ask for a job? Maybe Dharma was trying to recruit “hostiles” to their side.
I do think that Ajira flight 316 did crash, but some people were sucked into the past, because that is where they needed to be. However, I think most of the people are in 2007, along with the crash wreckage. I think they are the ones who were shooting at the time traveling Losties in the outrigger. Perhaps there were people on Oceanic flight 815 that were sucked into the past and we just don’t know them.

Who told Hurley to get on flight 316? I think it was Charlie, hence the guitar. Everyone seems to represent some one else.
Jack & Kate = Jin & Sun
Sun = Rose
Sayid = Kate
Hurley = well, I think he represents everyone else

I do not think Kate is pregnant. I have read this theory else where and I do not believe it.

Where is Aaron? I think he was taken from Kate. I can not imagine her giving him up willing because she is her get out of jail free card. Who took him? Here is my crack pot theory:
Claire’s mom became suspicious and asked her lawyer (Dan Norton) why Jack would have followed him to her. Mr. Norton, being a lawyer and Ben’s lawyer to boot, would be clever and devious. He puts together the fact that Kate’s son is not hers and that Claire was pregnant on the plane. I do not think that Claire’s mom necessarily knows that Claire was pregnant since she was in a coma at the time, but others would have known. Her boyfriend, the lawyers who handled the adoption, Ben, etc. And who would have brought it up to someone coming out of a coma. Hey, welcome back to reality sorry your daughter and grandson died in a plane crash.
Anyway, I think Mr. Norton puts 2 & 2 together and tells Claire’s mom that Aaron is her grandson and she should have legal right to him. Which I am pretty sure she would since he would be a blood relative. Or he would become a ward of the state until custody was decided. I think the sheriff showed up and took Aaron and Kate did a runner.
Does Sun think she can get back home after getting Jin? Does she have a tracking device on her so Widmore could find her. I do not trust her and I think she would kill all of the others to save herself & Jin.

I find religion fascinating. I really enjoy the religious overtones in Lost. All of them, not just the Christian ones, but I am going to discuss the Christian ones, because it is the religion I know best.
-- For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
→ John Locke is obviously going to be resurrected after being sacrificed for the island.
→ Eternal life: Don’t the others seem to have this down? Richard has been on the island forever and has not aged. People on the island illness’s are healed.
→ Doubting Thomas – is this really Jack? It could be, but honestly, Jack seems more like Peter who denied Christ and then had to suffer the guilt. Hence the note from John “I wish you had believed me.”

Overall, I am happy with this season. Although, I like mysteries better than answers, so I actually an not very excited about all the answers being given. But I do realize it has to be done to satisfy the masses.

MOVIE REVIEWS
It is again Oscar weekend, which means that we spent yesterday watching all 5 movies that were nominated for Best Picture this year. This year I decided to make notes after each movie so I would be able to get all of my thoughts down. Well, except for the last one, because it was midnight and I wanted to go home!
Before I get to the reviews, I would like to have a little rant. I know that is probably shocking to my regular readers that I would have something to rant about…
Here is a helpful hint: if you are going to spend 14 hours in a movie theater with 299 other people, please leave your baby at home. That is were they belong, not crying during an R rated movie. Babies crying during a movie piss me off anyway, but to have to listen to them through several movies is just WRONG!

I will review them in the order I saw them. Just like last year.

“Milk” - This was the only movie we had seen before. So I have actually already reviewed it. However, it is worth repeating what a great movie this is. It is based on the life of Harvey Milk, the 1st openly gay man elected to a major political office. It is brilliantly acted, Josh Brolin is amazing as Dan White. Plus, I forgot how beautifully Gus Van Sant directs. If you have not seen this movie yet, what are you waiting for? It is moving and inspiring. Go see it.

“The Reader” – this is an excellent movie. This movie is about a 15 year old German boy in the early 1950s who takes up with an older woman (she is in her 30s). It does not last of course, but 10 years later he is in law school and discover a terrible secret about her. Kate Winslet play the older woman, she is supposed to be matronly, but well, let’s face it, she is Kate Winslet and she is still really beautiful. There is a LOT of nakedness in this movie both male and female. If you are offended by the human body, do NOT go to see it. However, the human body does not bother me and it all seemed to fit with the story. The boy (David Kross) is a very good actor. It would have been nice to see him nominated for an Oscar. Ralph Fiennes is in the movie as well. Whenever I see him in anything, I always think of that scene in “Red Dragon” when he puts in the fake teeth. I don’t know why, I have seen him in several other movies..
Anyway, there are a lot of really great knits in the movie, both hand and machine knits. And there is a scene with a woman knitting with dpns. She appears to be making a baby hat.
I am giving this movie 3 ½ knitting needles out of 4. It is excellent.

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” – OMG this movie was way too long. It should have been severely edited. How the hell did this piece of crap get nominated for best picture? It started out okay, sort of quirky and funny, plus there were some nice hand knits and old lady knitting on the porch. However, it soon devolved into nothing by melodramic clap trap. It had no point and Daisy (the love of Benjamin’s life) was an ass. “The Dark Knight” or “Iron Man” should have been nominated instead. Hell, “Tropic Thunder” was funny and better acted than this movie. If this wins best picture, the damn Oscars are fixed. It had better not win!!
In case you do not know the story: a guy is born old and gets younger. He meets all sorts of odd people, falls in love with some dancer, eventually marries her, has a kid leaves them and dies. Only it takes 3 freaking hours to go through. It was painful. I will give the movie 1 knitting needle out of 4 for the nice hand knits. The acting and the story line were awful.

“Slumdog Millionaire” - this is a very pleasant movie. It is about a young man from the slums of Mumbai India who goes on the Indian version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” and wins a bunch of money. It goes through his life in flashbacks. It had a lot of hope and a good love story, but not sappy. The movie moved at a good pace which was refreshing after BB. The music was good and the guy (Dev Patel) who played our hero Jamal is really cute. It was a cute movie and enjoyable. Best movie of the year? Well, no, but at least I can see why it is nominated. Although, I think some of the actors should have been nominated as well. In particular, Madhur Mitta who played the older brother Salim. He was really good. I am giving this movie 3 out of 4 knitting needles.

“Frost / Nixon” – this is a fantastic movie. It is about talk show host David Frost’s interviews with Richard Nixon. It was excellently acted. Frank Langella as Richard Nixon, was amazing. He definitely should win an Oscar for the performance. Kevin Bacon was also fantastic. I loved this movie. I think it was the best one we saw. I loved how it was edited, I loved the costumes, I loved the actors and it was funny. Now, I will admit that I do have a degree in history, so that appealed to me and I have a strange obsession with Richard Nixon. So please take that into consideration. However, I am going to give it 4 knitting needles out of 4. I can not say how much I truly enjoyed this movie from the very beginning to the very end.

Here is my ranking of the movies I saw:
Frost / Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
Benjamin Button

Sorry for the excessively long blog, but you know, lots has been going on. I will try to blog sooner and with a few pictures.
See you then.

Can You Keep A Secret?

2009-02-06T15:26:00.001-06:00

Shhhhh… I have a secret. I really have no idea what I am doing most of the time. Yet, people think I know exactly what I am doing. It terrifies me, especially when it comes to work. Sure, I have been doing this job for a while and I have experienced a lot, but that hardly makes me an expert. At least I do not feel like an expert. I know that I talk big sometimes and maybe that is all it takes, but I feel like I am in over my head most of the time. Plus, I have been put in charge of stuff, well a team. And I am very uncomfortable with it. I do not like to be in charge of stuff.
Has anyone ever said something to you that implied they could not do what you are doing because they are not capable? This has happened to me and I always tell them they could do it. Not because I think they are capable, rather because I do not think myself all that extraordinary and I figure if I can do it, anyone can. This happens a lot with knitting. I have had people who are perfectly good knitters say they could not do something like lace or stranded knitting or something that I am working on at the time. I have been knitting for like 3 years. I have learned some things just because no one told me it was supposed to be hard. I just figured if there were instructions, I could learn it.
Anyway, I have been feeling down and work has been stressful. That is probably were all this is coming from. Please just ignore it, except for the part about being able to do something new and exciting. No one is any smarter or more capable than you, they are just pretending, like me. If I can do it… anyone can.

LOST
I promised Lost theories last blog and I will not break my promise, even if you secretly had hoped I would! I will be covering the last two episodes.
1) I believe that Ellie on the island is Charlotte’s mother. I know there are some who are thinking it is Daniel’s mother; however, I do not think that because why would he say “you remind me of someone I used to know”. That is just an odd statement. Plus, if it was his mother, you would think he would know what she looked like when she was young.
2) Daniel’s mother was a member of Dharma. Daniel states that he knows that he has been studying the island and Dharma his whole life. Obviously, someone would have had to teach him about Dharma.
3) The Others bury Jughead and that is what leads to the infertility on the island. Having nuclear waste leaking into your environment is never good for anyone.
4) I think it is obvious that Ben and Widmore fought for control of the island before the purge and Ben won. Perhaps Widmore took Annie away from Ben… Maybe she is Penny’s mom??
5) The Ajira bottle comes from a plane that crashes on the island in the future. I think that the Losties become Others by the end (once they know how really cool the island is) and then another plane crashes. This is how I see the series ending, that we have just been watching a small piece of the islands natural progress.
6) Not a theory, just a statement… I am really disappointed that Jin is still alive. Not because I was wrong, because I am wrong a lot, but rather because it does not make sense that he was in the radius of the island’s pull, but the freighter itself was not and the helicopter was not. It just is not logical and I hate that. Lost normally is not conventional, but it does have a logic to it.
7) Okay, HUGE crackpot theory: I think the island is the lost “City” of Atlantis. Think about it… there is a temple, there are the remains of a huge statue, they speak Latin and the island has been around for a long time. And Atlantis is really not a city, but an island that sunk into the sea in one day. Or perhaps it was moved to a different part of the world!
I know that Atlantis is a Greek myth, so logically, they should speak ancient Greek, but maybe the Romans got there before the island “sunk”. It is possible. Richard could be Atlantean, just like Aquaman.

That is all I have right now. I really did not like last night’s episode (The Little Prince) all that much. I thought it was trite and really the action could have happened at much quicker pace.

Of Post-its and Problems

2009-01-30T17:30:00.000-06:00

The other morning a gal on the bus gave me a couple of packs of post-its. It was odd. At first, I was suspicious because one time a guy had tried to sell me socks and a TV Guide on the bus. She said her grandmother had given her a bunch and told her to give them away if she could not use them. So she gave me some. They are now sitting in my bag. I do like to use post-its when I knit; for marking my current line and keeping a repeat tally. It was really nice of her to give them to me, but now I feel guilty because I haven’t done anything for anyone else this week. You know, to pay it forward, it is a lot of pressure.

Yesterday we gave up our dog. The conflicts between him and The Girl were getting totally out of control, so he had to go. I would’ve liked to keep him, but I really can not kick a pregnant teenager out of the house. And I know that someone could provide my boy with a good home. He is such a friendly, happy dog. We brought him to a shelter that does no have a time limit on how long they hold the animals, so hopefully he will be okay. He is at the MN Valley Humane Society, so if you live in the Twin Cities and are looking for a dog, please go check him out.
In reality, my husband brought him because I knew that I could not do it. I feel so terrible that I would ever get rid of an animal for which I am responsible. I have never done such a thing before and I hope I never have to again.

Overall, it has been a very sad month for me. I hope February is better.

Do you watch “Fringe”? In this week’s episode (12: No Brainer), Astrid is wearing the cutest sweater. I would love to get a photo of it so I could examine the design.

I have "Lost" theories, but I do not have time to discuss them right now and I want to re-watch the episode to reaffirm them. So I will let you know later what I come up with.

Another birthday…still not mine

2009-01-22T13:12:00.001-06:00

Today The Girl turns 17. She wanted a Gamecube for her birthday so we bought one at the pawn shop. This is old gaming technology, but she loves the game Animal Crossing so that is what she wanted. The Girl drives me mad. I suppose it doesn’t matter. I do not even remember what I wanted for my 17th birthday, nor do I remember what gift I received from my parents. I do remember that I bought myself a Canon T-50 camera for my 17th birthday. I received my 1st tax refund the same week as my birthday and it seemed appropriate to buy myself a gift. I still have that camera. It has always worked well. Any WAY, we are all going out to Red Lobster tonight for her birthday dinner. This is her choice, I actually find the Red Lobster to be fairly bland. It is one of those places where when you order your food, it sounds really tasty but when it comes it is just boring.

I am sorry for my lack of blogging as of late. I do not have a good excuse; I have just been feeling blah. There has been fighting at home, which never helps. And work has been, well work. Yesterday I took the day off. It was nice. I had hoped to just spend the day with my hubby, but The Girl did not go to school because she had a meeting at her new school. Oh, I bet I did not tell you about the new school. This is one not far from where we live and is for pregnant teens and teen mothers. She is very excited about the prospect of a new school. This makes it high school number 4 and she is only a junior. Well, I think technically she is still a sophomore, but they think she will be able to graduate on time if she does summer classes.
Anyway, since The Girl was home, I did not have much time with my husband. We did go to the thrift store and bought a new office chair to replace the one with the broken seat we had been using. I also bought a ball of Hempathy for about $3, not bad huh?

Last night I cast on for The Daily Sweater from “Mason Dixon’s Knitting Outside the Lines". It is a really good book and I have already knit the kitchen towel out of it. I am not using Calmer for my sweater, rather Ella Rae Silkience in a cranberry/wine color. It is very nice. I knit a gauge swatch and got gauge on the 1st go through. Now this really does not mean very much, because I am not very good at measuring gauge. I never have been, but since this is done from the top down, I will try it on as I go and adjust if needed.

The big event yesterday though was “Lost”. It is back!! Hooray!! Spoilers ahead!!
So the Losties have become unstuck in time, just like Billy Pilgrim. This is never good. Jack has Sayid. I do not know if this is bad or not. I think the Oceanic 6 are going to have to go back to the island to fix what has happened. The “cops” have Hurley. I do not think the men who picked up Hurley were really police officers since one of them is Abbadon (the guy who recruited the Freighter people). I am pretty sure Hurley is going to be in custody of Widmore. Which I do not think is good either. Of course, that is because I like Ben and I think Charles Widmore is a jerk. I could be wrong. It does happen on occasion. I still believe Jin is dead. There is nothing that has occurred to make me think otherwise. We will see. I think Sun is on a revenge mission to destroy the other Oceanic 6 for leaving Jin behind. I did not believe her when she says she doesn’t blame Kate. Just the way she said the thing about Kate going back for Jin and not getting him. She totally was blaming Kate. I think she has become like her father, ruthless. I do not understand why she would blame Ben for Jin’s death. I can see Widmore, because it was his people who were responsible for the freighter being there and being full of C4. I can see Jack and Kate since they did not wait for Jin. Unless she some how found out Ben killed Kimmy, which is what set off the explosion. But who would tell her that, Ben wouldn’t. Did Locke tell her when he saw her? That doesn’t really make sense since I am pretty sure that he wouldn’t say anything that would interfere with his mission to get everyone back. Gosh, I love “Lost”!

Reflections on a New Year

2009-01-07T16:55:00.000-06:00

This is the time of year that we traditionally examine the past year and look forward to the new one. So I have been thinking about life in general. To sum up last year, it sort of sucked. My teenager caused various kinds of trouble. She got pregnant. She got arrested. And her boyfriend moved in with us. So really not great a reflection on me as far as my parenting skills go for 2008. Not that I really think I have ever had great parenting skills. My maternal instincts have never been great. I am pretty sure it is because I have a mind that is far too logical. This is something I made my self into on purpose. It was my way of dealing with my depression when I was in high school. I figured if there were no emotions I could not feel bad. This, of course, is bloody nonsense. If you suffer from depression, please get help. Find a therapist who teaches skills based therapy. It saved my life and I should have done it before I did so much damage to myself. Anyway, I digress.
I worked a lot in 2008. Well, no more than I do any other year, but it seemed like I spent a lot of time at work. Of course, this is probably caused by the fact I hate my job. Okay, that is not quite true. I do not mind my job, I am just sick of sitting in an office day after day.
What good things happened in 2008?
We went on a nice road trip. The only down note on the trip was The Girl’s morning sickness…
I learned how to knit two handed. So I can now do Fair Isle, which is really cool.
The Vikings made it to the playoffs.
I managed to disengage myself from my family without even trying. This is both good and bad as I do feel sorry for The Girl because I had been tolerating my family all this time mostly for her sake. She is not perfect, but she is still my siblings’ niece, you would think that would count for something.

Okay, I really can not think of a lot of great things that happened in 2008. I made it through, that is always good, and so I suppose I should be grateful.

Does 2009 look any better? Not really, I am going to turn 40 and become a grandmother. The Girl is going to make me get rid of my crazy dog so I will no longer have someone to breathe on my toes at night to keep them warm. I know that The Girl will not be able to behave herself once the baby comes and we will be right back where we were a year ago, only with an innocent life at stake to boot. Maybe I am wrong; maybe it will be a great year. Who knows?

RESOLUTIONS
I do have a couple of resolutions. Nothing fancy as I really am not very good at resolutions.
1. I intend to go through my WIPs on a regular basis and decide if I am going to finish the project or just rip it out. If I decide to finish, I will try to get them ordered so I can get some of them done.
2. I am going to learn how to steek. Since I learned how to do Fair Isle, I have been wanting to learn how to steek as well. I have just been too scared to do it. So that is my BIG knitting resolution. I like the idea of learning something new every year.
3. I am going to make stuff for my granddaughter. This is not a hard resolution, since I have already started. However, I firmly believe that you should have some goals that are easy to achieve so you do not feel like a failure.
4. I want to start a new banking account for the Alpaca fund.

That is really all I have. Nothing too big, like I said, but I should be able to achieve most of them.

Happy New Year

2009-01-02T21:28:00.004-06:00

Christmas came and went without much incident. I did not finish my husband’s present on time. I had to spend Christmas Eve day and evening wrapping presents, so no knitting occurred. And then I spent the rest of my Christmas break finishing up the convertible fingerless mitts for my co-worker. She was very please to have a complete pair. I did not get a picture before I gave them away because I did not have my camera around.
I did get some pictures on Christmas Day.
Here is our tree. Isn’t it lovely?

Here is our troublesome dog that we are going to have get rid He was helping me open presents.

I hope your Christmas was as good as mine.

MOVIE REVIEW
Over the Christmas break we went to see “Milk”. We were going to see “Frost / Nixon”, but it was sold out. In fact, there were people trying to sneak in and one of the ushers had to go and kick people out. Anyway, we had wanted to see “Milk” as well, so it worked out okay. I have to highly recommend “Milk”, it is a wonderful film. The acting is divine and the story line is very moving. Josh Brolin is brilliant as Dan White. It is the story of Harvey Milk, the 1st openly gay man to be elected to a major office in the USA. There were no hand knits, but since the movie takes place in San Francisco, that is not really surprising. Regardless, I am going to give it 3 ½ knitting needles out of 4. I recommend you see this film. It will make you think and that is never a bad thing.

Old Year – Out Like A Lion…
New Year’s Eve day started out so good. The Girl had a doctor’s appt so we had an opportunity to talk to The Boyfriend alone. We explained that we did not want The Girl to run off and live on a military base with him and he seemed to agree. She had told us of this plan on Christmas Eve. Now we just need to convince her. I worry about the baby because she really does not have a handle on her rage, which we got to see when we arrived home. My husband had accidentally left our troublesome dog out of his crate and he got into The Girl’s bedroom and ate her food and candy. She flew completely off of the handle and was mean and yelling at us and the dog all night. She finally went to a friend’s house. So we are stuck having to get rid of our dog and nobody seems to want him. He really is a good dog; he just needs to live with someone who is not going to yell at him over everything he does. I have thought of just moving out on my own with him, but it seems sort of extreme and I could not afford to pay for 2 places to live.
She seemed to be fine yesterday. I really hate the mood swings. When will they stop? Maybe they won’t, that is my fear, that she will always be so out of control.

On happy news, I finished my husband’s gift. It was a pair of socks! He loves them and they fit him perfectly. Yeah!!!

Why has there been no blogging?

2008-12-23T14:55:00.001-06:00

Don’t you hate it when you read a blog on occasion and then the person doesn’t blog for like a month? Me too. Sorry for the lack of witty blog posts for the last few weeks, things have been absolutely crazy.
Most of my time has been devoted to work. Last week I was in training and I was expected to do my regular job on top of that. It was complete chaos. Things have been so bad that I do not even have my Christmas shopping done. I have never had presents left to buy and/or make this late in the season.
I am not done with my husband’s present, although I am almost through, so I am confident that he will have it under the tree come Christmas Day.
I made a felt hat for one of my co-workers and it was not completely dry by this morning so I had to give it to her damp. She was happy to get it as she had liked one that someone else in our department had bought. My one co-worker put in a special order for fingerless gloves. Easy peasy you say because there are about 10 million patterns out there for fingerless gloves! Well, yes and no. She wanted gloves that she could convert from long fingers to short. I had to come up with a new design to handle it. So I only made one because as I was coming to the end of the 1st one, I realized I had no hand measurements and was not sure what I had designed was what she wanted. I finished the one and gave it to her and told her I would make another one if this one worked. It was a good thing I did it this way because she has longer fingers than I thought and I am going to have to rip back a couple of the fingers and knit them longer. Otherwise, they are what she wanted. Hooray! So over the weekend, I am going to make the other glove. I made a hat for another co-worker who does not celebrate Christmas (she was raised a Jehovah’s Witness) and she almost cried just getting a gift because she had not expected it. She did like the hat, so all around, it was successful. I did not take pictures of any of these items because I can not find the camera and well, I just did not have the time.
I was going to make a hat for The Boyfriend, but I have not had any extra time and I do not think I will get it done at this point. It makes me sad, because I did have a great idea for a hat for him. Oh well, if he is still around next year, I will make it then.
It has been cold and snowy here. Which is fine by me really, although there have been a couple of days when the cold has made it unpleasant to walk from the bus stop. It was well below zero several days last week and the one day the wind-chill was -25 F. This is a tad bit chilly to walk in and I have to take my glasses off because they fog up from by breathing into my scarf. Overall though, it is not bad if I have my long johns on.
I am going to be off of work for until next Monday. I will try to blog over the weekend and I will try to get some photos up.

Chaos to Spare

2008-12-03T14:44:00.002-06:00

Are you looking for some chaos? I have extra to go around. Things have been just crazy. Ahh where to begin?

Work has been just awful. One problem after another, which means I have been spending extra time there, which has been very stressful. Have I mentioned I am sick of work?? I am sick of engineers. I am sick of buying parts. I am sick of dealing with problem parts.

I had a dentist appt last Wednesday and I have a cavity. On the plus side, the dental hygienist said I did a great job of brushing. She did not even ask if I flossed! Which is always good, because I do not floss, I just brush really well. The Girl had an appt at the same time. She did not tell the DDS she was pregnant and he took an x-ray. He thought it should be okay, but that they normally do not like to take x-rays on pregnant women. I had to explain to The Girl that doctors and dentists and such need to know if you are pregnant so they do not do any damage to the baby.

Thanksgiving did go well. My hubby did a fabulous job of the meal. He gets better and better every Thanksgiving. This year we had turkey breast for The Girl, shrimp and venison steak. It was awesome.

I went out shopping on Black Friday. I was disappointed in the sales. I really did not find very much. It was so crowded in some stores, I did not even bother and the lines in some stores were crazy. So much so, it was not worth my time to stand in them. I think they had less people running the registers. Anyway, I still have a bunch of stuff to buy.

And to knit. It is already December. I can not believe it. I have been knitting, mind you, but there is still plenty left.
Here is some photo prove!

Here is the hat I made for my co-workers grandson

Here is my progress on L’illo.

Here is the hat I made for my co-worker in exchange for the venison steaks we enjoyed on Thanksgiving.

Here is the 6-hour throw I made for my in-laws. It is being held down by our troublemaking dog (more on that later).

Here is a hat I made out of Noro. I think it is lovely. It is darker in real life.

Here is the Opera Stole I have been talking about. I am using this picture because it shows the color off well. However, you can not see the sparkles very well.

So I have been working. I have also been working on my hubby’s present, but he reads the blog so no photos of that!
I also knit a hat for Save the Children over the weekend. I just did not get a photo of it taken. If you have some spare time, maybe you too can knit a little hat. They do not take much time and it can do so much good.
I have much left to do… we will see if it gets done.

On Saturday I went to the movies by myself. I saw “Let the right one in (Lat den ratte komma in)”. It is a Swedish movie. It was haunting and beautiful. If it is playing in your area, it will probably be at your local art house. It is about a 12 year old boy who lives with his mom and is bullied at school. He gets a new neighbor who is not exactly a girl, she is a vampire. I think it takes place in the 1980’s. I am not 100% sure, but there are some clues like the Rubik’s cube and the record player. I am sure there are others, but I did not live in Sweden during the ‘80s so I probably missed them. There are a lot of beautiful knits and one scene with actual knitting! It is a lovely movie. There is blood and such because it is a horror film, but all of the scenic loveliness of Sweden and hand knits makes up of any horror. I am giving it 3 ½ knitting needles out of 4.

Since it is the holiday season, I find myself in kitchen stores. I always like to buy something for the kitchen for my husband. I do not cook. I occasionally bake, but mostly, I just eat what my husband makes. So I find kitchen store fascinating. It is like an anthropological study. I always see something that I did not know existed and do not always know why it is needed in the world. For instance, I was in a store over the weekend and I saw an egg cuber. It allows you to make your hard boiled eggs into cubes. I don’t mean chop into cubes, rather make the whole egg square. Why is this needed? I would I want a square egg rather than an oval one? I stood staring at the box for a long time until I realized people wanted to get by me. But still it puzzles me. Sometimes, I see things and my first reaction is “Cool! I should buy that!” At the same store I saw a 24” balloon whisk. It was as long as my arm and I just thought it was awesome. I have no idea what any one would use it for, but it was big and therefore cool. If I lived on my own, no doubt I would have stuff like this all over my kitchen walls just for decoration. I really do have some sort of problem!

I have a friend who is going to give me her crib. Her girl has moved up to a big girl bed. So we have to get the nursery cleaned out by Thursday. My husband and The Boyfriend have been working on it all week. I also hope to get the walls ready to paint so we can get the taken care this weekend. It has thrown the whole house into chaos because everything that was in there has been displaced. We have no room for our Christmas decorations. Normally, we have our tree up by now.

On Monday, the troublesome dog (see photo earlier in posting) got into The Girl’s room and ate her Chips Ahoy cookies and her cat’s food. The Girl pitched an absolute fit and demanded that the dog go. Yesterday she refused to go to school unless we called the pound and got rid of him. We refused because he is part of the family and truthfully as much trouble as he is, I really do like him. I explained to her that it is just not that easy.
Instead, my hubby put a lock on the outside of her door. And he made The Boyfriend help him empty the nursery. She was calm by the time I got home. So I guess everything is okay for the moment.

Last night I hurt my foot. I don’t know how. I stepped and suddenly pain went shooting through my heel. I have been limping around ever since. I am fine so long as I do not move. My co-worker who sits in the next cubicle thinks it Plantar fasciitis. Then she implied it was because I was fat. Isn’t life grand? For the record, I do not think this is what the problem is. This is the 1st pain I have had in my foot and it is very painful.

Hopefully the rest of week will be less exciting.

Mama Told Me There’d Be Days like This

2008-11-19T13:54:00.000-06:00

Actually, she really didn’t, but if it good enough for John Lennon, it is good enough for me. I am having one of those days. I need a day off, except I am trying to save my vacation time for when the baby comes. Sigh.
Work has been crazy and it makes me crabby. I really should just go home and knit or something before someone gets hurt. I am sick of being a worker bee. I know I have said it before, but it seems extra true today.

Weather
I know you all get very excited when I discuss the weather… It has gotten cold here. Not liquid in your eyes freezing cold, rather ice starting to form on the pond cold. It has been interesting to see the path I take everyday submit to the chill of winter’s onslaught. The cold does not bother me so long as I am bundled up sufficiently. Taking the bus has made me realize I need a better scarf. I have hand knit hat and mittens, but I have an acrylic scarf I bought at the thrift store. Why? You may ask. Why would someone so obsessed with knitting not have made herself a scarf? Because I hate knitting scarves. They are long and tedious. I have not bought myself a new scarf because the one I have is the right width and length. It is very wide and long. It is hard to find a scarf of such a great size. I have seen one at Macy’s, but it is a Hugo Boss and expensive. Sigh.

Movie Review
A week and a half ago my husband and I went to see “RocknRolla”. It was awesome. It was a fun, violent romp through the underbelly of London. It was directed by Guy Richie and very much in the vein of “Snatch” & “Lock, Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels”. If you did not like those movies, you will probably not like this one. I however, loved those movies and I enjoyed “RocknRolla” a lot. Gerard Butler was fabulous. Actually, everyone was really good. I am thinking about going and seeing it again. There were no hand knits, which is of course always a little disappointing. However, I am still giving it 3 knitting needles out of 4.

Knitting
I have not downloaded my pictures of my knitting in forever, so I do not have any currently. I have been knitting though. I should be able to finish the 6 hour throw tonight. Last night I went out with some friends and did not really do any knitting.

Strange days indeed – John Lennon

Ahhh The Good Old Days

2008-11-12T15:21:00.000-06:00

My life used to be dull. Really, it did. Big excitement was going down to visit my mom and dad. They lived in my home town about an hour away. We used to go down every other weekend. That became every weekend when my dad got sick. Sometimes we would go hang out at the MOA (Mall of America), not to shop per se, as were did not have much money, but to look around. We would poke through shops and maybe have a little lunch. We lived in an apartment, we had a couple of cats, and life was boring. God I miss that life! Now, everything is chaotic, too many things and people in my life. I really would like to go back to just my husband and me. Of course, that doesn’t seem likely at this point.

Pain
Yesterday I fell. When I got up in the morning, I managed to trip over a step stool near my bed. So, not only did I fall, but I fell on top on our floor fan. It was very painful. I have a huge bruise on my breast. I have never seen a bruise this color, it is dark blood red. My breast plate hurts, my hand hurts, and my knee hurts. It is miserable. I know that if I was old and frail I would be busted up badly and maybe even dead. That is scary. Obviously I need to clean my room!

The Girl
I just looked over my last few blog entries and realized that I am not totally up to date on info on The Girl.
1st – we have found out she is having a girl. We found out last Tuesday. I am sort of excited just because there are a lot more baby girl patterns to knit.
2nd – The Girl’s boyfriend has moved in. The Thursday before Halloween she went up to visit The Boyfriend and it ended with his uncle (whom he lived with and worked for) trying to strangle him. So now we have yet another mouth to feed. He is looking for a job and is willing to pay rent. Plus, he is helping around the house some. We will have to see how this goes.

Yesterday, The Boyfriend was driving over to pick up The Girl (in OUR car) and he was pulled over. It is somewhat unclear what he was pulled over for, but regardless, the police pulled up his name and it appeared were warrants out on him. They were not actually on him, but his father (he is a Jr.), but he still had to sit in the cop car for 45 minutes and The Girl did not have any one there to pick her up and DH did not have any way of knowing what was going on or to be able to pick her up. Eventually he got home, without The Girl and DH had to go pick her up late. Drama!
Later in the evening, there was a fight between The Girl and The Boyfriend. It was bad. The Girl stormed out of the house, followed by The Boyfriend. They came back in about an hour and everything seemed okay. More Drama!

Knitting Crap
I have been working on a Noro Kureyon hat. I am almost done. It is not for anyone. I love to knit hats and sometimes I just have to make one. It is really quite pretty. I also knit a baby hat out of sock yarn for a baby shower today. I took a picture, but I do not have it with me. It was a big hit with the recipient so I am happy. People are very impressed with baby hats made out of sock yarn. I recommend you make one for the next baby that comes into your life. They are easy and they look impressive to the uninitiated.
I was also knitting a baby bib to go with the hat, but the cotton hurt my hand too much to finish it last night. Hopefully my hand will feel better in the next couple of days. Wool does not seem to bother it too much so I can still knit.
I have started the “right” side of the front of L’illo. Who knows, maybe it will be done before the baby comes. I have not been working on the Opera Stole at all. Plus, I have to start on Christmas gifts. The Stole might have to wait until after Christmas.

Regarding Good Old Days
I know that logically, my early days with my husband were not all wine and roses. There were a lot of stressful things going on. Because life is stressful. I did not have my depression in control, we had no money, my family caused me a lot of grief, etc. However, I miss having time with my husband where we could just sit around naked in bed and watch TV and not have any reason to get up. I just miss the two of us. There just seems to be so many people in our house…

It will all be fine. To quote a former boss, “It is ALL good!”

Election Day

2008-11-04T13:48:00.000-06:00

My husband and I got to the polls before they opened, about 6:40 or so. There was a small line, nothing too serious and when 7:00 came around, people started heading in and it took us about 15 minutes or so to get through the line. And I was able to make my 7:30 bus. A successful voting experience all round! I love voting. It is so powerful and I truly feel it is the job of every American to go out and have their say. To me, if you do not vote you lose bitching rights. I do not care who you vote for, write in yourself if you want, but always take advantage of your vote.

It is hard to SSK on the bus…
It is also hard to purl slippery rayon on the bus. I have been working on my Opera Stole on the bus and it is going well. I am about half way done. Obviously I did not finish it before our opera outing on Saturday. Oh well. The company Christmas party is going to have a cocktail party theme, so I think my stole will be perfect for it.

I am also knitting L’illo on the bus. I am alternating depending on my mood. I am almost done with the extended collar on the one side of the front. It says it is the left side, but the pattern is wrong and it is going to end up being the right side. But that’s okay. I do not figure a newborn is going to mind.

At home I was working on the Aran slippers for my mom for Christmas. However, I have run into a snag. First, I can not read the adult chart to save my life. I tried to write it out, but it is a very convoluted cable pattern. So I decided to use the child’s version instead. I am using a bigger needle and added a stitch on each side. The second problem, I lost one of my needles. They were the lovely birch needles my sweetie bought me at Shepherd’s Harvest and I am very sad. I do not know what happened to it. I hope it turns up. Regardless, I am stopped on the slippers. They are sort of irritating me so I do not know if I will actually finish them or not.

Baby its Cold Outside

2008-10-27T14:44:00.000-05:00

The weather has taken a turn for the cold. On Saturday it was in the 60s and very pleasant. Yesterday, the weather became cold and wet. It even snowed some, not the kind that sticks to the ground. Today, it is about 40F and windy. I think I will have to get out my winter coat.

Last Thursday, the family went to see “Max Payne”. It was okay. It was an action movie. The dialogue was not what you call great, however, it was okay. Stuff blew up, always a good trait. However, Mark Wahlberg was not in his under-britches even once, it was very disappointing. There was no nice hand knits as well since it was a dark dismal future type of movie. If you can suspend your disbelief for an hour and a half, then this movie is a good choice. You will not remember much afterwards, but it does allow you to escape reality for a little bit. I am giving it 2 ½ knitting needles out of 4.

Knitting News – Or How I Can Not Finish a Project
Yesterday I started a new project. They are a pair of slippers for my mom for Christmas. It is the Aran slippers in the Interweave Knits Holiday issue. It is a quick knit so far. I have about ½ ways done with the 1st slipper. I would be further along, but I had to rip out the heel short rows because I miscounted the 1st round.
Now, I know I said that I was not going to start anything else until I finished my Opera Stole, but it is so tedious, just the same 4 rows and really only two of those are different. It is going far quicker than I thought and I think I will not be able to use all of the yarn. So maybe I will be able to make something else with it as well.
So at present, I currently have 3 “active” projects: the Opera Stole, My Mom’s Slipper and the L’illo baby sweater. This is a problem because it is better if I have a bus project and a home project. Oh well, I will struggle on.

O Happy Day

2008-10-21T15:43:00.002-05:00

My lovely husband came home yesterday. It was joyous! We were going to go out to dinner after picking him up, but The Girl threw up on the way to pick him up. So we went home and picked up some sushi for dinner. It was a nice evening.

Movie Review
The Girl insisted on seeing “W” on Sunday. She actually wanted me to miss the Vikings game, but I refused. We went after the miserable loss to the Bears.
“W” was okay. It could have used some extra editing because it was too long. It was actually really sympathetic towards The President. Sure, he looks like a doofus, but he appears to be in over his head more than anything else. There were no hand knits and like I said, it was too long so I am giving it 2 ¼ knitting needles out of 4. The Girl was bored and hungry about ½ ways through so I do not think she enjoyed it very much. It concerns me that she will not want to see “Nixon / Frost” when that comes out, because that looks awesome and good for her to see.

Knitting News
I came up with a stitch pattern for my Opera Stole. It is the vertical lace trellis pattern from Barbara Walker’s ‘Treasury of Knitting Patterns’. It is lacy and it shows off the yarn. I have several inches knit. I can knit it while I am watching TV, but not when I am tired as I tend to mess up.
This morning I cast on the left front for L’illo. I really like how the back turned out. I hope it will fit. I figure it can be the Baby’s coming home outfit. I think I will make a hat and booties to go with the sweater.

I bought Interweave Knits Holiday issue. There are several things in there that I think I will make. There is a pair of slippers (the aran ones) that I think I will make for my mom.
I do not know how much stuff I will be knitting for Christmas. I have some ideas for my husband, which I can not reveal here since he reads this blog. I think I will make The Girl a sweater from ‘Pretty in Punk’. It is knit on huge needles and really holey and has dropped stitches etc, so I think I can do it quickly. I know I will not have much time for knitting, so I will have to get moving.

Here is a random photo from my trip this summer. I do not know what this plant is. If you do, leave me a message and let me know.

All By Myself

2008-10-17T08:49:00.000-05:00

Okay, I am not really all alone, The Girl is at home, but my husband is out of town. He is off visiting his parents. They wanted him to come down and visit them before the baby came. We were not invited, which I probably good since I intend to save as much time a possible for when the baby does come. I am going to take time off to spend with The Girl and The Baby. Regardless, I am very lonely. My husband and I are a perfect match. We really are meant for each other. I am sure many people can say the same thing about their spouses, although not everyone. So when his is gone, I feel his absence greatly. Plus, he takes care of most; okay ALL, of the household chores. So now I am faced with getting groceries (which I HATE) and doing laundry and finding something to eat for breakfast, etc. It sucks. And he can always make me laugh. I love his voice. If I am having a bad day, I can call him up at home and he makes me feel better. So it is difficult when he is away.

Otherwise, I have been driving to work so there has been no bus knitting. I did do some knitting last night and I was able to finish the back of the L’illo baby sweater. I bought “Pretty in Punk” for The Girl and she marked all the patterns she wanted me to make. She is so funny because she just sees the things in the colors in the book. I have to work on making her see the pattern in different colors. She marked about 9 of them. She did say I did not have to do them all at once. LOL. She is a funny girl! There is a holey sweater made with fingering weight mohair that I think I will make 1st. I have some Kid Silk Haze Night in red that should work. I showed it to The Girl and she declared it very nice. It doesn’t look too hard, so I should be able to do it fairly quickly.

I have cast on for my opera shawl, several times, I am not very happy. I am not sure if I am going to be able to actually get it done by 11/1 since I don’t know if I like the latest pattern I have chosen. It is frustrating when I have something in my head and I do not know how to get it out of my needles.

I have earned a $50 gift card from The 3 Kittens Yarn Shop and I am trying to decide what to get. I was very excited when I got it because, well, it is free yarn. I am trying to decide if I should go over there this weekend and spend or if I should wait. I did go to The Yarnery this week and bought $40+ worth of yarn and the Interweave Knits Holiday issue. So I really don’t need more yarn, but I like to use gift cards when I get them. This stems from when my purse was stolen and I had received a gift card from my boss and I was not able to use it because it was stolen. I live in fear of not getting free stuff. I know, it is an illness!

I do not have any really big plans for the weekend. I have to wait for my husband to come home to go see “Max Paine” and there are not any other movies I really want to see. I have to do laundry, blech. The Vikings play the Bears on Sunday. I will watch, because I am a masochist and I always hope they will play well and manage to win. Otherwise, I am going to try to knit. Something. I feel like I am behind on my knitting.

My husband comes back on Monday night. I can’t wait. He is the best man alive and I miss him terribly.

Breaking Dawn Review

2008-10-15T13:59:00.000-05:00

I finished reading “Breaking Dawn” the fourth and last book in the Twilight series. I had heard rumblings of discontent before I read it, but I did not listen closely because I did not want to have the story spoiled. Now, I am very confused as to why anyone would complain. It seemed to be a perfectly fine end to the story arc.
Overall, it was a good book. I enjoyed it. It was not as good as the 1st one, but that is not all that uncommon in sequels. Perhaps I will have to investigate what others were complaining about. If it is worth mentioning, I will write about it right here!

Reviews – Book and Movie

2008-10-09T09:31:00.000-05:00

I have been very busy this week and have not had time to blog. Sorry.
I have reviews today. I will go in chronological order.

Last Saturday, The Girl and I went to see “Appaloosa”. It is a western starring Ed Harris (who The Girl declared ‘sexy”), Viggo Mortenson and Jeremy Irons, oh and Renee Zellewillger. It is a good western. There was more humor in it then I had expected and the plot moved along at a good pace. However, there did seem to be bits missing. The timeline was not always clear. There is a point when you are not sure if a week; six months, a year or 5 years have past. I am sure that it is because this is based on a book and they had to hit the high points. There was no real hand knits in it, which always makes me wonder since there had to be people knitting stuff during this time period. There was a shawl that one of the characters had, which might have been knit, but I could not tell. Regardless, the acting is really good. Both The Girl and I did not like Renee Zellewillger’s character, but it did lead to a good discussion after the movie about what one does for someone they love. I am giving the movie 3 out of 4 knitting needles.

RIP III Review
I just finished “World War Z”. This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. It is just incredible. On the back, it says it is in like the work of Studs Terkel and I have to admit I was skeptical of such a claim because I love Terkel. However, it is very much in the vein of Terkel’s “Working”.
Of course, this book is an oral account of the Zombie Invasion, so it is fictional, but it seems real, which is a huge accomplishment. It is broken down in sections by time. There is one section about how people survived and rebuilt their communities. There is a line in which a guy states how he is wearing a sweater he knit from yarn from his sheep. I loved that. I have always thought that when someone asks a person why they are knitting a sock that she should say something about having socks after the fall of society, but now, I think they should say something about zombie survival. I have to say everyone should read “World War Z”. Go out and buy it or get it out of the library. I do not think you will be disappointed.
If you do not think you are up to zombies, go out and read some of Studs Terkel’s books. I would recommend either:
“Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do” - 1974.
“Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Reflections on Death, Rebirth and Hunger for a Faith” - 2001
Both of these are excellent books. When I read “Will the Circle Be Unbroken”, I thought that it should be required reading in high school. It deals with death and dying in a wonderful way. I think people today do not understand death very well.

Eclipse Review

2008-10-03T12:53:00.001-05:00

Last night I stayed up late (1 am) reading “Eclipse”. I finished it. So I technically have finished both my books for RIP III, however, I am going to read World War Z next so I will review that as well.

I really enjoyed this book. I discovered the Twilight series a few months ago. I really like the books, even though, I know I never would have read them when I was a teen. I was just not into such tales. Even now, it is embarrassing. I mean they really are just sort of silly books, but it doesn’t stop me from loving them. Of course, they are a quick read, so that also helps.

***There will be spoilers ahead. If you have not read the books and you want to, stop now. ****

For those who are not familiar with the Twilight series, the books revolve around a teenager who moves to a small town in Washington State to live with her father. Of course, she was not really happy moving, but she did it for her mom’s sake. Anyway, in the 1st book, “Twilight”, she falls in love with one of the local vampires, Edward. You know all small towns have a few vampires, I know mine did. They are very good vampires as they do not feed on human blood, only animals.
In the 2nd book, “Full Moon”, Edward has left her to save her from living with a vampire for the rest of her life. She is very despondent, but she finds a friend in Jacob who is a teen from a nearby tribe. Their fathers are old friends. Well, the tribe has a wolfy history and Jacob ends up being a werewolf. We find out werewolves and vampires are bitter enemies. So Bella is torn between her friend and the vampire she loves. Edward comes back and in the end his family agrees to help turn Bella into a vampire so she can spend eternity with Edward.

So we start the third book with her high school graduation approaching. She is set to become a vampire over the summer. However, Edward wants to get married 1st. Bella does not want to get married; she just wants to have sex before she becomes a vampire. However, Jacob is in love with Bella as well as wants her to stay human and be with him. Bella realizes she is in love with Jacob as well, but she needs Edward at her core and so in the end, she chooses Edward. What was funny is that at the end I just knew that I would have picked the werewolf over the vampire. I felt truly sad for Jacob having to be alone.
All of these books have a plot other than the love entanglements. In this one, a vampire bent on revenge is forming an army in order to kill Bella and the werewolves and the vampire family work together to save her.

October… At Last

2008-10-02T14:01:00.004-05:00

It is hard to believe that October is here. Today the weather is perfect. It is about 65 and sunny with a cool fall breeze. I love it!

Movie Review
I have blogged twice this week already and neither one contained a movie review. This would not be unusual, except that we went to the movies on Sunday. I know, it is shameful! On Sunday we went and saw “Ghost Town”. It was very funny and cute. Nothing terrible deep, but it was sweet and I enjoyed it. Plus, there was a “fair isle” sweater vest with beagles on it that was too cute! It is about an obnoxious dentist who dies and then starts seeing ghosts. If you are looking for some simple escapism and can suspend your disbelief for a couple of hours, I have to recommend you go see it. I am giving 3 knitting needles out of 4.

Knitting
Look I have photos. This proves I do actual knit!

Here are the Beer Gloves I made for my hubby. They are from “Son of Stitch n’ Bitch” they are easy and look pretty good, if I do say so myself. Although, if I made them again, I would do them in stockinet stitch instead of reverse. I just hate that I got ladders in between my needles.

Here is the market bag I am making for my MIL. The color on the picture is total crap. The yarn is actually an emerald green. I do not know why these did not come out color-wise, because the others are really close to their actual colors. Oh well. I am getting close to being done. The pattern is the Ilene Bag.

Here is the beginning of the baby sweater I have started. It is really easy so far. I have just started on the back.

RIP III
I am working on my second book for RIP III. It is “Eclipse” by Stephanie Meyer (it is the 3rd book in the Twilight series). Please don’t judge me, but I do really enjoy them. They are so much fun and easy to read. Plus I am sure is has been banned somewhere since it deals with vampires and other supernatural beings and of course teenagers wanting to have sex. So it covers both my banned book reading AND rip III. What more could you ask for in a book? I will give a review once I am finished, which should not be long.

I think that is everything for today.

Let’s Get Dirty!

2008-09-30T12:39:00.002-05:00

Get you mind out of the gutter! Today is National Mud Pack Day. Tonight relax with a soothing mud pack. It will rejuvenate your skin. It will make you look younger and tighter. Actually, it probably won’t, but it would be fun. Slather on some muddy stuff and do a little reading.

I Read Banned Books… How About You?
Yesterday, I forgot to remind everyone that Banned Book Week had begun on 9/27. It goes through 10/4, so you still have time to read a banned book. Of course, you can always read a book that has been banned. I am trying to make my way though a list of them. I have read several, but some, well I know I will not be able to slough through any Steinbeck, so I know I will not read them all. However, if you can read Steinbeck, do it! Right now! Go out to your local library or book store and pick up a book that has been banned or challenged. To find out what books have been banned and why, please go to the ALA website. If you would like a recommendation, I would suggest Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. It is one of my favorite books and ironically has been banned. A few others that I can recommend: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Slaughter-house Five by Kurt Vonnegut, or Beloved by Toni Morrison. All of these are fantastic books.

Stick it to the man and Read!

Wheresoever You Go, Go With All Your Heart

2008-09-29T14:26:00.002-05:00

Today is Confucius Day. It is a day to celebrate the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius. He was extremely influential in Asian culture. His sayings became the cornerstones for the Chinese for centuries after he wrote them.
Here are just a few (along with the title) that I like:

When anger rises, think of the consequences.

Ignorance is the night of the mind, but a night without moon and star.

It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.

So look up your own quotes or think about these, but spend a little bit of time with Confucius today. He really did have many good things to say.

BIG NEWS
We bought a car on Saturday. It is a 2008 Mazda 3. I know that I had not really talked about the Mazda, but we looked it up in the Consumer’s Report and they recommended it. My husband test drove it on Friday and he really liked it. So on Saturday, we went up and I drove one and it was fine so we bought it. I liked the Rabbit better, but the Mazda was more sensible. I did however figure out last night why I liked the VW better, I could really hear the engine. I like the sound of the engine. I realize that when I read reviews of cars, they always comment on how much road noise there is and that is considered a bad thing, but I like the noise, it makes me feel like I am driving.
The color is Galaxy Gray Mica. I think it is a stupid name for a color. I am not sure what the “mica” part means even. Is it going to flake off? Is it supposed to be sparkly? What? All the colors were really dull, black, silver, gray… sigh. I think I am going to get a racing stripe or something put on it to jazz it up.
I am not complaining (well, maybe a little). It is a nice car. We got a pretty good deal and got rid of our old car. I will not have to worry about a new vehicle until we get a farm and will need something to haul alpacas and such around.

Knitting News
I am plugging away on the market bag for my MIL. It is going well, but if I knit too long with the linen, my hand starts to hurt. So I have also cast on for a baby jacket for my upcoming grand child. It is l’illo from Knitty.com. I just love how it looks. I am knitting it with a wool/cotton blend and it is really soft. I think it will be just lovely.

Don’t Read Under The Covers… You’ll Go Blind

2008-09-25T11:52:00.001-05:00

Today is National Comic Book Day. When I was a kid, I never read comics. I don’t even know if I could have bought them in my little home town. I did not read comics until my met my husband. He really introduced me to them. Of course, he was a Marvel guy and I ended up being a DC gal, but we share a common love. And I was able to fix him and he soon was reading Batman and Sandman as well. It was he who bought me a subscription to The Tick, one of the best comic books ever! I think we were married by the time we were subscribing to The Sandman. So some time today, get out a comic book or a graphic novel and read it. Enjoy the artwork. Maybe it will change your world. Okay, it probably won’t unless you are reading “Watchmen” or something, but you never know. I do highly recommend “Watchmen”, it is awesome. I also will recommend “The Dark Knight Returns”, “Batman: The Killing Joke”, “Swamp Thing” (by Alan Moore), any issue of Astro City and almost any issue of “The Sandman” (stick to the ones written by Neil Gaiman). I also am enjoying 30 Days of Night, but it is really grim. A lot of these recommendations are old because, well, I really have not kept up with my comic book reading.

Car crap…
We test drove another VW Rabbit last night. I still really like it. It is so hard to decide because I know logically we should go with something like a Toyota, but then I think that I am going to have to ride around in it and I want to be comfortable. The gas mileage is not all that much better than the Passat, but it can take regular unleaded which will save money right there.

And To Think I Have Never Even Tried It

2008-09-24T10:25:00.001-05:00

Today is National Cherries Jubilee Day. As my title indicates, I have never had cherries jubilee. I have never had any desire to try it. I still do not have any desire to try it National Cherries Jubilee Day or not. However, if you like cherries jubilee or wish to try it, here is a recipe from the Food Network
It looks easy. Try it out.

I am participating in RIP III. I am doing Peril the Second. I have already read my 1st book. It was “The Hellfire Club” by Peter Straub. I had sort of hoped it would be a horror book, but it really was more of a mystery. Although it was not much of a mystery, since I figured out what was going on way before any of the characters. Don’t get me wrong, it was an entertaining book. It was a bit gruesome in parts. So if that bothers you, don’t read this book. The plot revolves around a Tolkien type book that may or may not have been written by the author. So the mystery is who wrote the book and what happened in 1938 at some writer’s retreat. Like I said, it is entertaining, not deep or meaningful and I sort of questioned the time line at points because it did not seem like some of the characters would have been around for almost 60 years (the book was written in 1996).

On a similar subject…
Last year for RIP II, I read Lovecraft’s “The Rats in the Walls”, which I enjoyed immensely. Last month I received a newer copy of Stephen King’s “Night Shift”. This was to replace my ratty old copy I have owned since high school and did not have a cover. For those who don’t know, it is a collection of short stories from early in Mr. King’s career. One of the stories is called “Jerusalem’s Lot”. Now, I remember reading the story years ago and I had liked it then, but what struck me about it now, is that it is basically the same tone as Lovecraft’s “The Rats in the Walls “. I was actually really impressed that I noticed and that King was able to write in such a manner. It is a good story, so you should go out and read both and see what you think.

Cars…
We did not like the Honda Civic. Tonight we are going to test drive a 4 door Rabbit. Maybe that will be the one after all.

Don’t Forget

2008-09-22T11:19:00.001-05:00

Today is Elephant Appreciation Day. Take time out of your busy day to give your elephant a hug. Let him know that you appreciate all he has done for you. If you, like me, are not allowed to have an elephant in your area, perhaps just think about how cool elephants are. They can recognize friends and family members even after being apart for years. They are clever. They can tell when a tsunami is coming. They are really cute. So we should appreciate them.

On to other news…
Saturday night, my husband and I went to the opera. It was opening night, so it was quite a to do. We saw Il Trovatore. It was excellent. The music was lovely and the pace quick. The singers were very good as well.
I have decided that by the time the next opera comes up (we bought season tickets this year) I am going to have a stole knit for the event. I bought some Blue Heron Rayon Metallic yarn just for this very reason a few years ago. It is a sparkly blue color. I will start it next, I think.

Over the weekend, I started a market bag for my MIL. I am using Euroflax linen in emerald. So far, so good. It is a little hard on my hands though. I was working on it while watching the game yesterday. The Vikings finally won a game. Hooray!! It was a really good game. Hopefully, it is not too late for them to do well for the season.

Saturday afternoon we test drove some cars. I currently own a VW Passat. We are looking for something a little smaller and that gets better gas mileage. We drove a Corolla, and did not really like it. Mainly, it was uncomfortable to ride in. The sales guy said it was because of the narrow wheel base. So we left the Toyota dealer and went to look at VWs. Now, I had promised myself no more VWs. I love my Passat, but it costs a lot of money to fix when something goes wrong. But, we test drove a Rabbit. And you know what, I loved it! So now I want to buy the Rabbit. It is just not good. Tonight we are going to go try a Honda Civic and see if we like that.
I hate car buying!

Shiver Me Timbers

2008-09-19T12:02:00.002-05:00

Avast ye scurvy dogs, today be Talk Like a Pirate Day. Arrrr. Ye best be piratey today or I’ll make ye walk the plank! Who doesn’t love Pirates? Okay, I mean the romanticized pirates of yore, not the modern day ones that highjack boats with rocket launchers. There is just something fun about talking like a pirate. So today is your chance. When you go to the store, thank the clerk in a manner befitting a pirate, perhaps “thank ye matey, arrr.” It will be fun!

Happy Mayflower Day

2008-09-16T09:58:00.000-05:00

Today is the anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower from England in 1620. So it is designated Mayflower Day. Why we would celebrate the sailing and not the landing is some what mysterious to me. I am however very grateful for it leaving England, mainly because the following person was among the 102 passengers on board: William Bradford - Husbandman, fustian-weaver during his time in Holland. Later governor of Plymouth, from Yorkshire, England, about 30-years old.
This is my husband’s ancestors. He actually can trace both sides of his family back to Mr. Bradford. I know you are impressed. I mean how many people can do that? Okay, I grew up in a community where almost everyone traced their ancestors back to Norway (I am half Norwegian and half Irish), so it was new to me when I met him.
If celebrating the fleeing of persecuted people from their homeland is not your thing, it is also Collect Rocks day. Go for a walk and pick up some pretty rocks. It will brighten your day! Who doesn’t love rocks? I always pick up rocks on vacation… it drives my husband crazy, but I can’t resist a pretty or interesting stone.

Knitting News

I have finished my husband’s beer gloves. They don’t look too bad if I say so myself. I was going to take a picture of them, but The Girl has the camera, again.
The pattern is well written and very straight forward, but I really do not like knitting reverse stockinette stitch in the round and that is what the whole thing is done it in except the cable. I will post a picture as soon as I get my camera back.
I am now working on a hat which I am creating from scratch, using a cable pattern from Barbara Walker. I am hoping it will turn out okay.

MOVIE REVIEW
We went to see “Burn After Reading” on Saturday. I enjoyed it a lot, but I love the Coen brothers movies. So if you do not like dark humor, do not see this movie. I laughed all the way through. The characters are all morons, which is what leads to one problem after another. The story in a nutshell is that some gym employees find a CD with the memoir of a CIA analyst on it and think it is a valuable document and decide to get some money for it. It is very farcical. There are not any hand knits per se. I am giving it 3 out 4 knitting needles.

During the previews, we saw a trailer for “Nixon / Frost”. It looks really good. However, The Girl leaned over and whispered, “What did he do wrong?”, referring to Nixon. I had about 30 seconds to explain Watergate. Of course, she also said she might want to see the movie, so maybe we could all go and it would be a learning experience.
There were actually several movies that looked good: “Doubt”, “Milk”, “Nixon / Frost”… it might be a good movie season coming up.

Have Fun Today

2008-09-12T09:45:00.000-05:00

Today is both National Video Game Day AND Chocolate Milkshake Day. Woohoo! Two great things in one! So tonight, kick back and play a little Star Wars Battlefront or Destroy All Humans or Guitar Hero (I can not play this one) and have a milkshake. If you are playing against someone, you can yell out “I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE” and laugh manically. Sounds like the perfect Friday evening to me. Okay, I would have a vanilla milkshake, because I prefer vanilla ones, but the same principle applies: drink something fattening and play a game.

This morning I woke up with My Chemical Romance in my head. I know what you are thinking, “Crap, isn’t she a little old for the teen angst thing?” And you are right, I am. But that does not stop me from liking My Chemical Romance. I think their album The Black Parade is one of the best albums ever. I like all of the songs on it. Well, the “hidden track” is a little silly, but only because you really can’t have hidden tracks on a CD since the number of tracks automatically comes on your player. The song itself is kind of catchy.
There is a song on The Black Parade called 'Cancer'. I love this song. It is sad and reminds of people I have lost, mainly my dad who died of cancer. I discovered on vacation that The Girl does not like this song. I found that interesting. Perhaps it is because she does not want to acknowledge that death can be a struggle. I don’t know.
As I was thinking about how much I like this album, it made me think of other albums I would put in the category of very nearly perfect. So here is a short list, not in any particular order:

1. Bob Dylan, Highway 61 Revisited – I love all the songs on here; they are very poetic and thought provoking.
2. Oasis, (What’s The Story) Morning Glory – I think this is just a really solid album. Nothing fancy, but always pleasant to listen to and sing along with.
3. Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Blood and Chocolate – the perfect mix of anger, sadness and pop music.
4. Johnny Cash, American Recordings I – I love Johnny Cash and this album showcases all of the best aspects of his music. I have actually listened to him since I was a kid. I also love Live at Folsom Prison.
5. The Beatles, Abbey Road – I think The Beatles finally achieved perfection on this, the last album they recorded. The harmonies are great and the songs interesting.
6. Metallica, Kill ‘Em All – It is difficult to decide which Metallica album I like better, this one or Master of Puppets. In the end, I love the raw, young talent of this album.
7. Alice Cooper, Welcome to My Nightmare, Billion Dollar Babies and From the Inside – Okay, I love Alice. The songs have a dark sense of humor that appeals to me; I think he is way underrated. He likes the concept album, which I think makes him have to think about how the songs fit together. This is a very rare thing in this world.

As you can see, I like a wide variety of music. Although I will say, I like interesting lyrics. I have always thought what you are saying is just as important as the tune you are playing.

Anyway, that is all for today. Have a great weekend. Tomorrow is a big holiday day. Check it out:
Chinese Moon Festival 15th day of 8th Lunar month
Defy Superstition Day
Fortune Cookie Day
National Peanut Day
Positive Thinking Day
Uncle Sam Day - his image was first used in 1813

Spend your Saturday celebrating any of these great holidays, or all of them. Dress up like Uncle Sam and eat peanuts and fortune cookies while sitting under a ladder in the moonlight with a black cat, thinking “I can do it!”

Most of all – Have Fun!

Baby let me be your lovin’ teddy bear

2008-09-09T10:11:00.008-05:00

Yesterday was Pardon Day and I was going to beg your pardon for not posting on Saturday, but I simply did not get time to blog. So I am doing it today.
Today is Teddy Bear Day. So go out and hug a teddy, it will make you feel good. Or even better, knit a bear or bear clothes for someone who does not have a bear to love.
Here are some charities for you to consider:
http://www.motherbearproject.org/
http://www.cubsforkids.com/
http://www.teddiesfortragedies.org/
http://www.knittingforcharity.org/

Here is a photo of one of my teddies dressed in an outfit I knit for Cubs for Kids. I am sure I have posted it before, but he sure is cute!

EXCUSES, EXCUSES

I was sick over the weekend… food poisoning. I got it on Saturday from some bad cream cheese. It was honey walnut; I think the walnuts had turned. Anyway, it meant no blogging or anything else was done over the weekend. I did not even finish my husband’s beer gloves, which I had promised him, would be done by Monday. I am still sore in my back from all the heaving and my stomach has not totally settled down. I am sticking with fairly bland food still. I hate being sick. I know I have mentioned that before, but it is still just as true today.

WEATHER
The weather has been perfect. Labor Day weekend was hot and summer-like and then on 9/2 the temperature dropped and it has been lovely fall weather. I love fall.

I Think It's Time We Stop, Children, What's That Sound
Everybody Look What's Going Down
-- Buffalo Springfield

As promised last Friday, here are some of the photos The Girl took at the RNC protest on Thursday night.

The building in the background is the MN Historical Society.
I love this shot.

Just a few of shots of the dangerous folks who were protesting.

Tear Gas Over St. Paul

I believe that if anything is worth doing, it would have been done already.

2008-09-05T12:19:00.003-05:00

Today is Be Late for Something Day.
So take your time. Put something off until tomorrow.
Remember tomorrow is another day, namely Fight Procrastination Day. So really it is okay to procrastinate today!
I have procrastinating tendencies, I always have. Not with everything, just things that do not seem very important. I hate to be late to appointments or meetings or work, but I will put off cleaning until the cows come home. It isn’t that I like work, I think it is just I have to work and well, cleaning doesn’t seem so important. It is a good thing my husband does the cleaning. God only knows what the house would like if I had to. LOL! Anyway, I thought I would share some parts of the Procrastinator’s Creed. I found it on the interweb… just Google it and you can read them all.

1. I shall meet all of my deadlines directly in proportion to the amount of bodily injury I could expect to receive from missing them.

2. I firmly believe that tomorrow holds the possibility for new technologies, astounding discoveries, and a reprieve from my obligations.

3. If at first I don't succeed, there is always next year.

Ahhh words to live by!

We had some excitement last night. As you have probably heard, the Republican Convention was here in town this week. There has been protests everyday. On Wednesday night, The Girl said she was going to the protest on Thursday. We figured that it would be okay so we let her go. She is very much against the war in Iraq and she hates the Republicans more than anyone I have ever met, so it seemed a natural thing for her to want to protest. Also, I think it is great that she is aware of anything political at 16, Lord knows most teenagers aren’t. So, a little before 8 she called and asked us to come pick her up because she was tired and the protest was breaking up. Unfortunately, my husband had the car so I had to wait for him to come home before we could leave. As we left, we called to let her know we were on our way… no answer. I just figured she was in a dead area or could not get to her phone because she was texting. You know something innocuous. We got a little lost because some roads were closed, but we were almost there when we finally received a voice mail (we had been trying to call her again) from the Ramsey County Sheriff’s dept stating the she had been arrested! We arrived at the parking lot were she had said to pick her up and there she was cuffed and surrounded by 5 cops. 5! There were no other protesters there, just her! Apparently, the cops were breaking up the protest and she had not moved along because she was waiting for us to pick her up. So we acknowledged her info and that we were her guardians and they cut her loose, literally as they had her in those plastic tie wraps. While cutting them off, the cop actually cut her wrist so she was bleeding profusely when we got in the car. Apparently, she will get some notice via mail regarding her punishment. Is it wrong that I am proud of her? I just think it is rare that people actually stand up for what they believe in and that she is willing to do that makes me proud of her.
She took photos of the protest and I will try to get some of them up on blog once we get the downloaded to the computer. Maybe tomorrow, because today I am procrastinating and tomorrow I won’t be!

LOOK UP!

2008-09-03T10:47:00.005-05:00

Hey, it is Skyscraper Day.
Here is a picture of the Chrysler Bldg.

It is lovely. I took this photo a few years ago when I was in NYC. I love the Chrysler Bldg.

Here is a picture from the top of the Empire State Bldg.
We went at night (obviously) and some how I hurt my ankle standing in the excessively long lines. My husband had went there in January and said there were no lines at all. So if you do not want to stand in line, I recommend going in the winter.

I have decided that this month I am going to enlighten everyone on the more unique holidays. Remember, if it is a holiday, you should get the day off.

It has been 3 years since I have had a depressive episode. Is that the right term? I don’t know. All I know is that 3 years ago I entered a depression that scared me enough to get help. It actually started around the time of our trip to NYC. I started medication and therapy and I got better It was amazing. . I had suffered from depression since I was a teenager and I really regretted not getting help sooner because my life became a good thing. I discovered knitting, which helped me with my therapy. I did well in therapy and was able to graduate, or whatever it is called. I learned coping skills. Life was great.
However, when going home from work, I realized that the icy tentacles of depression were attempting to grasp my soul again. I could feel them tugging me into the pit of despair and darkness. I have been worried about this for a couple of weeks because I have been craving carbs and salt. This was always my signal that a depression was approaching. So, I have to put all of my skills to use and see if I can avoid the darkness and stay in the light. I am hoping that by writing this down I can see it for what it is: a mood, a feeling, something that I am in control of not the other way around.

Happy Beheaded Day

2008-09-02T09:35:00.003-05:00

I know you are thinking, “Where has the year gone? It just seems like yesterday when we were celebrating those who have been beheaded”. Time just flies. Let’s take a moment today to think of those who have been beheaded before us. Not to say the any of us will be beheaded, but it is always a possibility.

In knitting news: I discovered that some how I reversed my shawl and the front became the back or vice versa. Anyway, I think I am going to have to rip it back and since I did not use life lines, I guess I will rip back to the beginning of the last ball. I discovered this as I was about to switch balls so this is not a small task. I am just so mad at my self for not noticing sooner. That is why pride is a deadly sin. I was so sure that I was doing really well and I did not need no stinking life lines. Sigh.

I have completed one Beer Glove for my husband. It looks really good. It has mistakes, but I was able to fix / hide them so it is okay. However, I started the other one last night and was working on it on the bus this morning. I thought that I should have the ribbing done by the time I get home tonight and then I could work on the fiddly bits at home. However, as I was walking from the bus stop this morning, I thought about how I needed to put the needle sizes on Ravelry and how I would need to do two since I used US 4 on the ribbing and US 6 on the rest of the glove. That is when I paused and realized that I had cast on last night using the US 6 needles and had been ribbing with those. Arrrgh! I could not believe I had performed such an idiotic act. Of course, it did explain why my ribbing seemed so loose. So on the bus ride home; I will be ripping up the 2nd glove. Knitting drives me crazy.

On the plus side, I did finish my mittens before the Olympics ended and I have photos.

And with the thrums showing

Aren’t they lovely? They are so soft; I can not wait until it gets cold so I can wear them.
I think that I mentioned before that this is the 1st time I have done anything with thrums. It is not hard, but it is tedious. I might do it again, but I do not know. I will see how these hold up.

Zombies Are A Lot Like Ponies

2008-08-21T14:51:00.002-05:00

These words of wisdom came out of my husband’s mouth this morning at breakfast. I know you are thinking, “How can I get invited to breakfast there!” Of course, it is true. Everyone loves both zombies and ponies. Both are the object of much marketing. And of course, both are flesh eating monsters. So my husband is correct, as usual!
Zombie Pony
There are no pictures today. I know that I promised photos last posting, but I have a really good excuse… I can not find my camera. Last I saw it; it was sitting on the computer desk. It has disappeared. I suspect The Girl “borrowed” it and misplaced it. Of course, there is no evidence, so she simply says she does not have it.
So I can not post pictures. Even though I have one complete mitten and my shawl has made great progress, you will not see them today. I am going to figure something out. I really will!

Guess what! I have a movie review.
We saw “Tropic Thunder” on Monday night. It was hilarious. It was complete wrong on so many levels that you just had to laugh. There is something to offend everyone. Now, normally I am not a huge comedy fan, as you may have figured out since I do not review very many, but I like Robert Downey Jr., so I thought what the heck. RDJ is fantastic, actually everyone plays their roles to perfection, even Matthew McConaughey was good and I despise him! I laughed through the whole movie, which almost never happens when I see comedies, there always seems to me some message that they want to promote. The only message here is that everyone involved in the movie industry are morons. There were no hand knits because most of the movie takes place in the jungle. I am giving the movie 3 ¼ knitting needles.

And on the baby front, The Girl told my mom the news this week. I was going to have her tell all her grandparents over Labor Day weekend, but my mom called and left me a message wondering how I was because she had not heard from me in such a long time. I figured it would be best just to have it out. Plus, I knew I could not lie to my mom. I really do not like not telling the truth. I have always sort of felt the truth is better. I will not tell people stuff and I know sometimes people call that a lie of omission, but I think it is okay unless they ask me directly. If my mom asked how The Girl was doing, I knew that saying she was fine would be a lie.
The Girl actually tried to argue that they did not have to know because she did not see them often. I said, “What you are going to tell them a year from now, that you found a baby?” She lost the argument. It was hard for her. She was tearing up as she spoke to my mom. And afterwards, she was mad at me for making her do it. My mom did not yell at her, in fact, she told her what ever she decided, she would support. But The Girl said she sounded disappointed. Which, I am sure she was. I spoke to my mom afterwards and she did sound really shocked. I asked her how things were with her and all she could come up with is that it was hot (she lives in AZ). I do not think she will ever call to see how I am doing again.
The Girl also got her 1st sonogram. There is just one baby (which is good) and it is moving around.

You Want Me To Do What!? Blog?

2008-08-13T15:38:00.001-05:00

I know that I have been very remiss in my blogging habits since I came back from vacation. I did not want to blog again until I had actual knitting photos, so I could prove that I do indeed knit, but the best laid plans of mice and men… you know. So I am going to blog without photos today and try to get them up soon.

I have been knitting. I have been working on the Lacy Prairie shawl on the bus. It is going really well. I have memorized the pattern and it is really relaxing. I also think it is looking pretty good.
And I am working on a pair of thrummed mittens while I watch the Olympics. Okay, the last two nights I have been reading the second book of the Twilight series while watching the Olympics, but I do have about ½ of one thrummed mitten knit. I will have them done before the Olympics end because I am doing them for the Ravelympics. It is the 1st time I have ever thrummed anything so I am learning as I go. They are going to be very warm, because I think I might be using too much fleece. Regardless, they look really pretty so far, which, if I had pictures, you could just how lovely. It is a kit from Fleece Artist and is Blue Faced Leicester. I love BFL. It is so soft and lovely. I bought this kit when a LYS was going out of business and it was 25% off. I figured it was a really good deal and of course it is some nice purple and blue colors.

I have been watching the Olympics every night. Well, not the opening ceremonies, because I don’t care about that sort of thing. Mainly, I watch swimming. I love Michael Phelps. Actually, I like watching all of the swimmers, mainly because they are so twitchy before the race starts. Every one of them has their own little tics and twitches. I find it fascinating. I also like the synchronized diving. It is kind of creepy when they are really good because it doesn’t seem right that two people should move in the same way when falling. I could do without all of the beach volleyball, though. Why is this being broadcast at the same time as swimming and gymnastics? It is no where near as interesting.
My biggest complaint with this year’s Olympics?
1) The snarky “reporters” who are calling the gymnastics and the synchronized diving. They are the same ones who did the games in Athens, but they are just so obnoxious! Can’t NBC find anyone better? Maybe they could hire Fred Willard or someone? Fred did a great job in “Best of Show”.

2) The fact NBC only shows the Chinese and USA competitors. Are no other countries attending the Olympics? They showed one Russian girl on the uneven bars and one Romanian girl on the balance beam (mainly to say that the Romanian’s sucked now in gymnastics) during the ladies gymnastic competition. WTF? I would much rather see some other countries competitors than to watch yet another fluff piece on the guy who found the beach volleyball player’s ring or a day in the life of anyone or to see the USA practice the vault. Who cares? Let me see some action.
Sorry. I didn’t mean to rant. I really will only watch them this week. Once the track and field starts, I will stop. I do not find the running and jumping bits nearly as interesting.

Last night, we woke up to someone at the door. We heard The Girl talking to someone and DH went down to see what was going on. It was the police. The Girl seemed to be issuing a complaint. Since the officer did not want to talk to us, we figured we would ask about it today. Unfortunately, when DH asked her about it, she said it was a false alarm. I am not sure what it is about. Hopefully, I will be able to get something out of her tonight. DH heard something about a restraining order.

Photos next entry… I promise.

August 6th

2008-08-06T15:40:00.002-05:00

Today, my little sister would have turned 37. I always remember her birthday, as it falls on the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. I find it easier to remember birthdays if they fall on a historical day.
When we were little, we fought, a lot. She was the sibling who was closest in age to me (2 ½ years). My mother always called us “The Little Girls” as opposed to “The Older Kids” (my 4 older sisters and brothers). In spite of the fact we were close in age, we were complete opposites. I was a good kid, quiet, smart, thoughtful; but she was out going, rebellious, living in the moment sort of kid. We would play games and part way through, when I was beating her badly, and she would quit. And eventually, that would lead to a fight, which would often become physical. We would bite and scratch and pull hair. When we became teenagers, the physical fighting, became verbal. She was crabby and moody and I would push her buttons whenever I got the chance. She was the only person who I would allow to call me a bitch. I would just laugh because it meant I had hit the nerve I had wanted.
She will be gone for 10 years this October. There are days when I think about how different my life would have been if she had lived. I would not have to be worrying about whether or not my insurance will cover The Girl’s baby or how we are all going to fit into our post-war pre-fab house. Again, I suppose I would have different worries. And many of them still would have been about The Girl, they just would have been easier to ignore.
When The Girl was just a baby, I had a dream that I was dead. And I was walking through The Underworld (as in Greek mythology) and I came across my sister, her boyfriend and The Girl. I asked what they were doing there and my sister said they had killed The Girl and themselves. That is when I woke up, in a panic. It was terrible. Even though, my sister managed to get herself killed, she did not physically take The Girl with her, but sometimes, I think she took a part. Can we live with just a part of ourselves in this world? I suppose we do, everyone seems to lose bits of them selves here and there, but it seems wrong to lose those parts at the tender age of 6 and 4 (which is how old The Girl’s brother was when their mom died).

In spite of everything, I miss her. I miss being just an aunt. I miss fighting with her. There are still days when I think she will call and say “Hey what’s up?”, but I know that will not happen. She has moved on from this world.

So today, I wish my baby sister happy birthday, where ever she is. You are missed.
My little sister when she was little.

My sister and The Girl as a baby.

I’M BACK

2008-08-02T08:58:00.006-05:00

Hello, Dear Readers. I have returned from vacation. I actually got back last Friday, but I have been too lazy or busy to write on the blog.

Overall, it was a good trip. Vermont was wonderful, as was upstate NY. It was good to get away. The place we stayed in Vermont was called Vermont Twin Cabins and I would highly recommend it. It was a great place to stay. Out in the woods, but there was satellite TV and games and puzzles etc so it had all the comforts of home. Plus, it is right in the middle of Vermont so you can get to anywhere you might want to go. Here is a photo of the cabin we stayed in.

What would a vacation be without a trip (or two) to the movie theater? I know that most people do not go to the movies on vacation, but let’s face it, I am not most people. So I have 2 movie reviews.

1. We went to see “ Hellboy II : The Golden Army” while in Buffalo . It was good. I liked the 1st one better, but it was very good for a sequel. There was a lot of action and of course there was the love story between Red and Liz , very cute. If you liked the 1st one, you would probably like this one as well. So I am going to give it 3 needles out of 4.

2. We also saw “Batman: The Dark Knight”. We saw this in Burlington , VT at a very nice theater. They had flavorings you could sprinkle on your popcorn and they put butter sauce in the middle of the bag. Anyway, the movie was awesome. Heath Ledger was fabulous as the Joker. Of course, all of the actors were great. I am a huge Batman fan (the comic books) and I am very impressed with what Chris Nolan has done with the two movies he has created. Christian Bale is a great Batman. The movie is very complex and there is a lot going on. I think it would be good to see it again just to see all of the layers better. It is a very good action / superhero movie. I am going to give it 3 ½ needles out of 4. It is not quite as tight as Ironman, but very good none the less.

Other vacation news.
We went to visit Niagara Falls . It is quite impressive. I have a feeling that it used to be more so, but I will take what I can get.
While in Buffalo , we went to a great book store, Old Editions Book Shop. I highly recommend stopping by it if you are ever in the Buffalo area. Both my husband and I love bookstores. It is getting hard to find independent bookstores. I picked up a knitting booklet of socks from 1944. It was marked $7, but I asked if they could do better and I got it for $4 instead. Yeah! I liked it because all of the ladies’ socks are anklets. That is all I wear so I find all the sock patterns for long socks really kind of depressing. Plus, the store had a ton of Ravenloft (the horror world for D&D for those who are not as geeky as me) modules. I limited myself to just 2 because we really don’t play D&D like we used to.

Here are some photos of the trip.
Upstate NY

Vending machine in NY

Vermont

I had decided to buy yarn for my souvenirs on this trip. Most of my money went to Green Mountain Spinnery. Here is a photo my beloved took of the back room while I was busy looking at yarn.
If you are ever in southern VT, I would recommend you go to Green Mountain . It is awesome. I bought over $200 worth of yarn. I got a sweater’s worth of unwashed yarn. It is lovely.
The Girl started to feel bad on the trip, morning sickness, and she just wanted to come right home after VT. So we drove for 2 solid days. Our last day started at about 9:30 am Thursday and ended 5 am Friday. It was an awful lot of driving.
All of our animals were glad to have us home. Here is the littlest one lounging on a suitcase.

Just one more thing
I recently discovered the Sticks & Strings Podcast. I am completely in love with David Reedy . His voice is so dreamy and I love hearing his cats in the background. If you have not checked him out, you should. Start at the beginning. That is what I am doing.

Man Plans and God Laughs

2008-07-07T11:11:00.002-05:00

I do not think I have used this title before in my blog… if I have, please forgive me; it applies to my holiday weekend. It is an old Jewish saying. When things go wrong, I try to remember it so I do not go mad.
I do not know if I have ever mentioned my dislike for the 4th of July. It is not politically based or due to a dislike of my country. Quite the opposite, I love the US of A. It is a great country. My dislike has to do with fireworks… which piss off my dog and lead to days of non stop barking. And expectations… everyone should be at a lake or fireworks or picnics etc. And of course the heat and the bugs. I prefer winter holidays. And holidays where I get to give presents. Plus, it seems that bad things tend to happen over the 4th of July weekend and this one was extraordinarily dramatic.
When I arrived home on Thursday night, The Girl came rushing up to me and said we had to go to Target. I was tired and had a headache and was going to make an excuse not to go when she said it had to do with her period. I asked what about it and she said it was 10 days late. She did two pregnancy tests. It seems she is going to have a baby. Today she is going to get an official test to make sure, but apparently those home tests are really reliable. On Friday we bought a book on pregnancy, which from henceforth will be referred to as The Manual in homage to Raising Arizona. It does have some good info and The Girl is determined to read the whole thing. She has decided to keep the baby, hence the title of this entry. Obviously, we are going to be pushing back the date of when we will be able to afford to move to a farm. To her credit, The Girl is taking this very seriously. She has quit smoking; she is determined to eat right. She is forcing herself to eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, she is giving up bacon (The Manual said no smoked or cured meats), she is trying to get a job, and she told the father that he will have to help support the baby or give up his rights to it. She has also said she is going to take parenting classes and anger management classes. The anger classes are a huge deal, because a
The Manual says not to tell anyone about the pregnancy until the 2nd trimester because of the chance of miscarriage, so we are keeping it a secret right now. Of course, none of my relatives read my blog, so I should be okay. I just have to get it off my chest. It is killing me inside. This is just hard because, well, we had discussed it. She was using protection and the condom broke. I know that this is not going to be easy for anyone and I am worried about the baby more than anything else.
I told The Girl that she is going to have to tell her grandparents because it is her choice to keep it and she needs to start taking responsibility for her decision.
I have been reading up on teen pregnancy and it seems that we are lucky she told us right away so she can start seeing the doctor etc. A lot of teens have problems because they do not get the medical care they need. And they do not eat properly or take care of themselves. She said she thought about not saying anything until she started to get fat, but then she figured we would kill her if she waited. We are as lucky as we can be in the situation.
But wait, there’s more. I know you are thinking, surely, that would be enough drama for the weekend, but NO, there is more.
On Saturday night, The Girl’s boyfriend came over so they could discuss the whole baby thing and he spent the night. At about 1:15 in the morning, the dogs started to bark like the apocalypse had just occurred. We could hear The Girl yelling at them to shut up and then we heard the door going outside open and close. I sent my husband down to see what was going on. He said she was out in the front yard yelling at someone on the phone. I asked what was going on with that and he said he did not know. Well, about 30 seconds later, The Girl came up to tell us that her boyfriend had just had the snot beaten out of him our front yard. He went outside to have a smoke and some of The Girl’s other friends came over and had mistaken him for a member of a rival gang and proceeded to pound on him. Why they thought this, I still do not understand. And why The Girl is friends with gang members is still confusing. They broke his nose and possibly other body parts as well. She wanted to know what to do. We told her to call the police and my husband went down to help the kid out. The police showed up and got their statements and basically said that nothing would probably go to court since it would just be his word that these guys beat him up. It does not make me feel very secure in our justice system when someone can get beaten up and then nothing will happen because it was not filmed or something. And the police told the boyfriend that he was in curfew violation since he was outside of the house without an adult.
By Sunday morning I was ready to go back to work. That was how bad my weekend was… I wanted to go back to work so I could get a little rest.

Of course, on top of all this, we have been trying to get ready for our trip. I went to Target Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I am sick of Target. However, we do have everything we need for the trip. Now, we just need to get it all packed up…

We also went to the movies on Friday. We went and saw “Hancock”. I enjoyed it quite a bit. It is funny, it has a nice little twist and it was good entertainment. It is a good summer movie. I know it has been slammed by the critics and I really can not think of why. It is deep and meaningful? Not really, it is a summer blockbuster, by definition they aren’t. Did it make me forget my problems for an hour and a half? Yes it did. So in my opinion, it did the job a summer movie should. I am giving it 3 knitting needles out of 4, just for helping me escape my woes. Thank you, Will Smith you are a god among men!

I think that is enough for one blog posting. I will try to blog before I go on vacation. Later.

Movies

2008-07-01T13:37:00.001-05:00

Today, I have 2 movie reviews. I know you are all aquiver with excitement!

On Friday afternoon the whole family went to see “Wall-E”. Do you know who little kids are at a kid’s movie on Friday afternoon? …little kids. I think the average age of the kids in attendance was maybe 5. I do not know how great a movie this is for the 5 and under group. There were several scenes which caused crying from the kids. Plus, the 1st 45 minutes or so has no actual speaking. Several children were very confused about what was going on. Over all, it is a good movie. Since it is a Pixar film, it is heads and shoulders above most US kid’s movies, but it is not Pixar’s best effort. The animation is fabulous, but the story is a little weak. Basically, humans have trashed the Earth and Wall-E is there cleaning it up. Then another robot shows up and Wall-E ends up in space. I would recommend it. I am giving it 2 ¾ out of 4 knitting needles. It is a bit above average, but I do expect a lot more from Pixar. Perhaps, the marriage with Disney was not such a good idea.

On Saturday, we all went to see “Wanted”. The Girl had declared the day before that she did not want to see the movie because she hated Angelina Jolie. However, when we went to tell her we were going, she said she wanted to come with after all. Mainly, because she did not have anything else to do.
If you do not know, “Wanted” is about a guy who gets recruited into an assassin’s guild, which was started by a weaver’s guild back in the 1500s. It is a great movie, especially if you do not think very hard about the plot. It is very violent and graphic (hello, assassins), so if that bothers you, please do not go. However, if you do not mind that, it is great fun. Plus, there are some very nice knits. James McAvoy wears a lovely zipper cardigan throughout most of the movie. And there is a sweater that Angelina Jolie’s character wears that is a cream colored lace wrap style sweater. It is divine. I am giving the movie 3 out of 4 knitting needles.

On Sunday, I stayed home and watched movies on TV while knitting. Normally, I do not talk about the movies I watch outside of the theater because I watch a lot of movies and it would take up a lot of time. However, on Sunday I watched 2 very different movies about mental institutions. I watched “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” starring Jack Nicholson. If you have never seen this movie, you really need to go rent it. It is a great movie and everyone should see it at least once. It is a classic 70s movie, it has some really funny scenes, but then it is really kind of a downer as well. Anyway, watching it again, I realized that I felt kind of bad for Nurse Ratchet. She is just trying to do her job and then this troublemaker shows up and totally messes up the routine. However, she is also really cold. But I think that is probably how a lot of the medical profession was back then.
Then I watched “Harvey” starring Jimmy Stewart. I love “Harvey”; it is just such a funny and sweet movie. However, the mental institution portrayed in this movie seems much nicer than in “Cuckoo’s Nest”. Of course, it does not seem very realistic either. But it would be one for someone with some money, so maybe that is why it is so much nicer.
Give both of these movies a look. They are both very good.

Summer is upon us

2008-06-25T15:26:00.000-05:00

It is hot. Now, when I say it is hot, I mean it is over 75° F. I hate the heat. I find the older I get, the more I can not handle it. I suspect that I have mentioned this before. All I know is, I will not be moving to Florida or Arizona when I get old. The thought revolts me. Please do not get angry with this statement. If you have chosen to spend your life in a hotter clime and you enjoy, good for you. My mom lives in AZ and I can not even stand to visit her in the winter when it is inhumanly cold here in MN. It just makes me sad. This is something else I have noticed in my life. Summer depresses me. All the sunshine is too much for my soul. I wish for the dark evenings. I am a homebody. I love to go home from work and put on my pajamas and relax. In the summer there is all this pressure to do “stuff” because the sun is out. I do not sleep as well because it is hot and I can not stand air conditioning. Bleech.

Movie Review
Last weekend, the whole family went to see “Get Smart”. It was really funny. We all laughed, a lot. Now, I do love Steve Carrell and I did not really like the original series so if either of these statements do not describe you, maybe it is not the movie for you. It is not a deep, meaningful movie; it is a comedy. You will see the plot twists from a million miles away. The whole cast is good, even The Rock, oh, I’m sorry I mean Dwayne Johnson. If you are looking for a little comedic escape from summer, I will have to recommend “Get Smart”. I am giving 3 out of 4 knitting needles, even without any good hand knits.

Knitting
My knitting has been lagging. I am working on 3 different projects, 2 of which are just seed stitch right now. I am soooo sick of seed stitch. This is not my favorite stitch and when ever I see a sweater or some large project in just seed stitch it makes me shiver. I can not image doing an entire sweater in seed stitch.
I was tired yesterday when I got on the bus to go home, I could not even knit. I actually started to fall asleep on the bus. I do have to get going on these projects because I want them all done before I go on vacation in July. It is my hope that on my trip I will be able buy locally produced yarn and knit it into afghan squares. I have an old pattern booklet for afghan squares. It promotes the fact that by the time you finish all the squares you will be able to knit anything.
On this note, if you can tell me of a good place to get local yarn in Buffalo, NY, I would really appreciate any help.

Work
Now I know that I normally try not to talk about work, but today one of the people I work with on a regular basis is leaving. It makes me very sad. I know it should not matter, because I have worked long enough that I have said goodbye to many people, but she was like an ally to me. I guess sometimes you find someone who you connect with and it is hard to say goodbye. I did give her a dishcloth to remember me by. Another gal had been teaching her to knit and she had only made dishcloths, so I thought it would be fitting. She was part of our work knitting group.

A Parting thought
Last night DH and I were watching I Love the Millennium (2001) on VH1. My DH loves these I Love… shows, they are like crack to him. Anyway… They were talking about Enrique Iglesias’ video for Heroes and one of the commentators said that it was a bad video and they should redo it. I piped up with “What’s wrong with this video, he is wearing that cute stocking cap”. My DH muttered under his breath something about me and my love of knitted objects.
Am I unusual in this? Do others notice nice knitted objects in films and TV? Do others want to buy a film on DVD so they can stop and stare at a sweater and figure out what stitches were used in order to perhaps duplicate it one day?
I am sure they do. I would have thought he would be happy that I have almost completely stopped pointing out really cool light fixtures.

If Life Gives You Lemons, You Make Lemonade. And If Life Gives You Gators, You Make Gatorade

2008-06-17T12:17:00.000-05:00

Letterman told this joke last night so I decided to steal it from him. It makes me do my snort laugh, so you KNOW it is funny. I am feeling a better today so I thought I would blog while things were going okay.

Last Friday, we had a therapy appointment for The Girl. It had been scheduled for some time. We decided it was the place to bring up everything I had discussed in my last blog entry. The Girl completely wigged out. She basically threw a temper tantrum. She yelled and cried and threatened to leave. We remained calm and I think over all it was a good thing. On our way home she said she was sorry. I think it was for the way she behaved at the therapist, but it was a huge start. I had been very concerned about our road trip this summer. I was worried about how she would behave and what she would do. I now think she is going to be okay. She said she would talk to her therapist at the next appointment, and she chose the date. So, fingers crossed.

Since I was concerned about the trip even taking place, I had not actually booked any rooms, so now I am scrambling to find places to stay. We are not going to go to Canada because DH can not find his documents and well, then I do not have to worry that The Girl will get us all arrested at customs. We are just going to spend more time in VT. I think it is all going to be good. There are only a few things that I feel we have to do so we will have plenty of time to drive around and just relax.

Over the weekend, The Girl and I went to see “The Happening”. I thought it was good movie. My main complaint would be that Mark Wahlberg is not in his under-britches even once. What’s up with that? That is one of the main reasons to see a Mark Wahlberg movie. It was an entertaining movie with some interesting characters. Wahlberg is very good in it. I actually really like him as an actor. Plus there is a scene where he sings and you realize what a terrible singer he is. How did he ever get a record deal to start with? I know this movie has been slammed by critics over all, I think this has to do with everyone wanting every movie to be “The Sixth Sense”. Now, I really was not all that impressed with “The Sixth Sense”, I actually preferred “Stirs of Echoes” that came out at about the same time. I really liked “Unbreakable” best of all. “The Happening” is not as good as that, but it was entertaining and had something to say. There were not a lot of hand knits in it because it takes place in the late spring. However, there is a scene where you see some little old ladies knitting with gas masks on which is kind of funny. It is good summer fare, not too deep, but it should help you escape the heat for a few hours. I am going to give it 3 out of 4 knitting needles.
Plus, you should go see it just to help poor M. Night out. You don’t want him to end up like Orson Wells… fat and bitter & doing cheap wine commercials… he is a terrible actor. And he did not give himself a role in this movie so that is a huge plus.

Life, Don’t Talk to me about Life

2008-06-10T14:39:00.000-05:00

When do you give up on someone? I have had to do it in the past, but it hurts. I gave up on my little sister. When I was a kid, she saved me from drowning. However, when she was older, she took up with the drugs and alcohol and I could not save her from drowning in it. She died in a car crash; she was drunk behind the wheel at the time. It is very hard to save someone when they won’t grab hold of the line you are throwing them. So I eventually stop throwing it and let her go down. However, she took all of us with her. Her two children were divided amongst us, both have problems. I have siblings who do not speak to one another. It was like the only thing holding our family together was my sister being a bigger screw up than the rest of us. Now, I see The Girl going down the same path as her mother. Part of me wants to cut her loose now because I know where this road leads and the longer I walk with her on it, the more painful the abrupt drop off at the end becomes. But I did take on this responsibility to raise her and just because I am not very good at, should not mean that I give up on her.
I suppose I should explain what brought all of this on…
On Friday, my 1st Friday off of the summer, DH and I decided to go to an estate sale. We went to one out in the posh suburb of Minnetonka. It was a lovely house, the type I will never be able to afford unless I win the lottery. There was some nice stuff, mostly things we did not need, so we did not spend very much. Then we decided to go out to lunch and hit a yarn shop. On the way home, we stopped at our local thrift store. I should probably mention that I have been missing my cell phone for a while and my husband told me on Friday morning that he had found it, in the washing machine. So we did not have a cell phone with us. When we arrived home, there was a message from the school saying The Girl had not shown up to school.
On Thursday night, she insisted that this friend of hers spend the night and she decided to skip school and hang out with him. We finally got a hold of her and she was defiant and obnoxious and said she would not come home at all. Well, she had promised her brother that he could come up to our house for his birthday and hang out with her. She did come home at 1:15 am, with this boy that had been at our house on Thursday. He would not leave and The Girl threatened to leave with him if he did. So this loser kid was at our house all weekend. We tried to get rid of him several times, but he was too dense to take the hint. We finally extracted him from our house at 10:30 Sunday night. My nephew did come up for his birthday; I do not know how much fun he had since The Girl mostly ignored him. On Sunday, DH went into her room to gather dirty dishes and found a pipe. We did not confront her on Sunday because if she has an audience, she makes the most of it and I figured she would run off for sure. She has school through Wednesday and we are going to try to get her to class for the rest of the year and then we will have to see what happens. DH thinks maybe rehab. I do not know if it will do any good unless she wants to change, and at this point, I think she is not going to listen.
I suppose it doesn’t do much good to complain about this on my blog, but it makes me feel better. So I am sorry dear readers, you will have to come back on a better day for happier thoughts. Hopefully, there will be some soon.

Episode 100

2008-06-05T11:40:00.002-05:00

This is my 100th blog entry. Can you believe it? So I think everyone should have a big party in my honor.
It is very interesting to me that TV shows have a big celebration for their 100th episode. Basically, when they get to episode 100, it means that the cast gets money for reruns. Why should I care about that? Don’t know. I know that no one is sending me money for watching the said 100 episodes or any of the reruns, for that matter.
However, I am hoping that by pointing out that this is my 100th blog entry, the money will start pouring in! Oh yeah, I don’t get paid for this, it is just for my (and hopefully yours, dear reader) amusement.

WORK??!!
I started summer hours this week. That means that I am working four 10 hour days and I will be off on Friday’s. I personally think it is a really sweet deal. The only downside is that the bus schedule does not really correspond with my hours so I have to spend a long time down at the station after work. I have been thinking though that if I stay longer on some days, I can leave a little earlier and catch the 5:40 bus instead of the 6:40. It is not enough bother to make me stop riding the bus at this point. When it gets to be really hot, I might not want to sit down there for 40 minutes. We will have to see.
I have again been having attacks of ennui regarding work. I do not think it is where I work, because over all it is a good place to work, but rather having to work at all. I think maybe I need to sit somewhere where I can not see outside into the real world. I think it is bad for my attitude.

LOST
So we have seen the end of Lost until February. I figured I should discuss the season finale. I know that everyone loves my crazy theories.
Jin & Michael are both dead. I know there are a lot of people who believe that Jin is still alive, but I have a problem with him getting back to the island. How would he get back to The Island before the helicopter? He would be one hell of a swimmer to get there that quickly. Plus, he would have to stay on course. Most importantly, Daniel Dae Kim was arrested for a DUI and that usually leads to the character’s death on Lost.
As I have stated before, everyone will need to get back to The Island, which Ben confirmed in the last episode. Thanks Ben! You’re the best!
Did Faraday and the ship full of red shirts get transported with The Island? It seems cruel to leave 6 or 7 people out on the ocean to die. So I hope they get back, but I do not know that Faraday is going to be doing well in the future since Desmond was his constant.

Weather issues
Last Saturday night we received hail. It did not do much damage, except to my garden. It decimated my salsa garden. I am hoping it will make a come back, but I really do not know much about gardening. Generally, I just throw it in the ground and it grows.
There were also gusts of wind with the hail and it damaged one of our trees. Since the large branch did not actually fall out of the tree on to our neighbor’s house, we had to pay to get it out of the tree. It is just crazy.

I am going to leave you with a picture of my eldest dog doing what she does best; sleeping. Have a calm and happy weekend.