Sorry!! Really!!!

Knitters who are on Ravelry.com and have me as a friend, sorry! I've been adding like a fiend to my queue. I already had a queue of projects in Word, but spent this evening correlating the two. Some patterns were in Ravelry, some were not. These were the ones not in their database already:

The Cat’s Meow,Family Circle Easy Knitting Winter 2001
Summer Garden Throw, Knitting Digest July 2004
Tri-Finca leaf shawl, Knit N Style 8/07
Think Pink, Knit N Style 8/04
Summer Stole, Interweave Summer 2003
Splitz top, Knit N Style 8/05
Soft Cable Sweater, Ericka Wilson’s Knitting Book
Short Sleeved Sweater, Vogue Sp/Su 2001
Shaped Tee, Heartstrings pattern
Setesdal Stole, Two old bags
Run for the Roses, Knitting universe Spring 2006
Painted Desert, Knitting universe Summer 2005
Mini cable pullover, Heritage Fiber
Leaf pattern scarf, Magazine copy (what did I mean by this???)
Knitted Lace tablecloth, Better homes and Gardens Crocheting and Knitting
Irish Mist, Lavish Lace Book
Free and easy pieshaped shawl, Helen's Laces Ball band
Diamond Relief Shell, Knitting universe
Cancun Tee, Knit N Style 4/03
Cabled vest over tunic, Knit N Style 10/02
Bling bag, Simply Knitting December 2006
Autumn Throw, Lion brand website (I've made two of these already, our Moms have one each.)

Things are pretty quiet around here. Fry is staying with her Aunt Toppa for a few days. It's sorta nice, sorta not. We get to take her dog for his training tomorrow, which wouldn't be bad if she'd worked with him at all this week. She's a much nicer 'mommy' than I am. I make the little guy mind me, Fry lets him do as he pleases. That's ok, I pretty much let HER do as she pleases, too.

After Christmas report.

Fry loved her Christmas presents!


She made me hold her lion while she snapped the picture...


Then, she made me hold her beagle...


Then, I had her take a picture of the lovely necklace she gave me.


The rest of the presents we gave each other would seem odd to anyone not in on the reasons. Gift cards to Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Home Depot, Starbucks, Quick Trip, and the local beauty college? Not 'the' chi chi places, certainly, but the reasons why are sweet. Fry and I love Red Lobster, Hubs loves Olive Garden, so we exchanged those. Hubs gave me the Home Depot just in case I wanted a power tool for a project. We have a Starbucks, McDonald's, and Taco Bell moving in a block from our house, making me feel claustrophobic. Fifteen dollars worth of mocha coffees does go a little way towards easing the pain. ;)

The Quick Trip, our local gas station and c store? A 'gift' certificate for that? I love fountain drinks, but we always have cans of soda in the house. Why should I stop by a c-store for one thing when I can just toss a can in the purse? With pay at the pump, I don't even need to stroll inside for a drink. The gift card forces me to treat myself.

The beauty school gift card will be fun. Hubs doesn't know it, but I'm planning on doing something to 'get' him. Right now, I'm going with putting in a blue hair rinse, and telling him the beauty school messed up big time. I don't mind too much it's from a beauty school. There was one time I'd spent $70 on just a cut, only to end up looking like Carol Brady. It's ok in the seventies, but not in the late nineties. Sheesh.


Toppa is doing great, no cookies were burned during a phone call, and Happy New Year to everyone who reads this! Our family is celebrating Christmas on January 18th, which means I still can't show off all my recent finished objects knitted. I'm working on a sweater for Fry, so I'll have to get a decent picture of it, soon.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, this is a novel.

The lions are Fry's favorite animal. She was not happy that I didn't bring her home one of these. All I'm saying is, I wasn't getting two of them.



Fry wanted me to check out her 'grill'.



Very nice that it's not permanent.



Oddly enough, these trees should be upright. This was during the ice storm a week or so ago, at the side of our house.



On the other side, this. I love that pathway.




We drove through a holiday lights display. It really was a holiday display, not a Christmas display renamed for the overly sensitive. Very nice and very sleet/rainy.


There was swimming during our Branson get a way...


A tour of the Titanic...


And browsing through the Bass Pro Shop. Fry tried out every ATV and tried to convince us every kid in suburbia had one. Riiiight.


We went to a craft mall, me thinking there might be yarn hanging around, but no. It was a mall of already made crafts. All I can say is, there's a lot of crafters in China. So much for American made craft, hm? Still, the quilts were lovely.

There was excitement once home, and not of the good kind. My younger sister, the ever-popular Toppa, had to be rushed to the hospital. After the heart and lungs checked out fine, the tenative conclusion is an allergic reaction. Sounds trivial unless you're allergic to stings or nuts. The throat closing off the air supply is never a good thing. She's out and being constantly visited by her friends. While the three of us left her hospital room to let her sleep (she only had 2-3 visiters while we were out), we visited the nearby Home Depot for our dream bathroom.

Some people thought the sink plungers were 'sweet'.



What else? Cookies! I've been baking this week, and there's lots of cookies around here. They all taste good, I've had to check every one for 'quality'. Good excuse to eat the sweets, right? Most of them are presents to everyone else. :)


Finally, our Christmas tree lights. There's a few presents under there, but none of the ones I've bought are wrapped, yet.

Dumb thoughts...

So we're all cozied up in the house, since most of our utility lines are underground, and I'm thinking, I should email friends to see if they're ok.

Riiiight. If they're ok, chances are they've emailed or updated their blogs already. If not, they've probably lost power.

If I'd been thinking, I'd have taken a picture of the same scene below, only this time, the lattice roof had tons of icicles. I had to break them off the ceiling fan before they broke off the blades itself. Why is the shot ruined, now? It seems Fry is very impressionable. After I cleaned the fan with a broom, she cleaned the room, herself. She and Lucky played on the ice this afternoon, until they both froze out. She spent the day here, as all the schools are closed. Fry hogged the computer while I hogged my Kaffe Fassett books. I had three from the library and his latest from the bookstore. I'd like to do a classic Kaffe Fassett, and then maybe one of my own. We'll see. I'm almost done with Toppa's Christmas, which makes me restless to start something new.

Hubs is already home, Claude is asleep on his Kitty Pi Bed, and all is right in our world.

Cabin Fever

We've been hit with a major ice storm here. Really, it's minor, not enough to snap power lines, but enough to make driving around an adventure. I've been sending the Husband out on missions as little as possible. While the Advanced Dog training class went on as usual Saturday morning, by the noon hour we were socked in. So, no knit group, Sons of the American Revolution Christmas lunch, or Sons of the Union Christmas dinner, either. From the snow on Thursday, Fry's orchestra concert was cancelled that evening, too. I'd run around shopping on Thursday morning, and by the time I got back to the pickup, there was a couple of inches of snow on the ground already.



Look at how crisp and lovely that photo is. It was snapped with my Christmas present to me, a new Nokia 5300 phone. It's a camera, phone, and MP3 player all in one, just what I wanted. I spent the rest of Thursday and most of Friday loading my songs on it. Fry was not happy with me, she wants a cell phone, too. She'll just have to wait. We'll probably get her one next year, since we already have her cool present for this year.

On tap for tomorrow is a checkup for the Jeep and me slinking over to the Old Mill Stitchery to buy yarn. Like I need it, right? Still, one never knows what they'll have on sale. After that, I'm taking advantage of freedom to stop by the grocery store for canned goods. Fry won't eat vegetables unless they've been tinned. I've not started up the Christmas Cookie factory, yet. It'll happen, though. Fry and Hubs have been grousing about the lack of cookie around here, so I'll have to do something to hush them.

On the political front... Does it bother anyone else about Mike Huckabee spouting off about how Christian he is? He's now obtained the support of the Evangelicals. Everyone else in the running is a Christian, too. He's counting on all the flock blindly following whatever the preachers' leaders tell them to do. I just don't like his "I'm special because I'm a Christian" attitude. If he's special, then so is everyone else in the running. We have no other faiths in the race, they all came from the same root religion, Christianity.

So, to me, when they start talking about their particular religion, it ticks me off, because I'd rather hear what they'd do for the country.

December, The Silent Month

Why? Because no one can spill about the presents. I mean, who isn't knitting something for Christmas? Every year I say I won't inflict knitted crapola on my poor family, and every year, they talk me into doing just that.

Let's go on to updates...

The house was perfect for the Black Friday party. If it wasn't, and it wasn't, really, I was prepared with an open bottle of wine. Plus, I know the Jedi Mind Trick, even if it doesn't work on Hubs and Fry. My guests had a great time, matching my own. Lots of fun, food, and yarn all around.

NaNoWriMo, what to say? If a person wants to be harsh, I totally failed on the 50K words in a month. Yeah, I could be down about it, wearing the same flannel jammies for days, eating cereal out of the box, and drinking orange juice out of the carton. On the other hand, I'd written more in that one month than I had in all the five years before then. I used to be a contender, once, and this gives me tons of hope that I may be again. The attitude change is a major plus. Now all that needs doing is me dusting off my writing skills.

I've been ignoring the pond. Gah. There's been one thread of silicone to join the two liners, now I need to fuse them more.

I love my yarn room. It's not quite there, yet, but what is? I have way too many patterns but can't make myself throw them away. I think everyone loved the room, and loved it that Fry had a toy cash register set up for their 'purchases'. Silly kid.

Let's see, Mom, Goopa(baby sister), Mother-in-Law, and Toppa (middle sister) were on the knit list. Toppa's project is 30-40% done, and I'm wanting to get one more project done. This one is for the Husband, a sweater, and I swatched while hanging out at Honkerbean's last Thursday. Yumma, that place. Italian ice creams and coffee, such goodness.

If you've read this far, I'm rewarding you with nonsense!

38 Things About Me That You May Or May Not Want To Know......
1. Name one person who made you laugh last night. My darling Frygirl. She makes me laugh every day.

2. What were you doing at 0800? At the grocery store buying decaf coffee and dairy products. Lowfat lowcal yogurt, shredded mozzarella, 2% cottage cheese, if you really had to know.

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago? Eating Triscuits.

4. What happened to you in 2006? I'm doing good to remember yesterday, never mind yesteryear. It's why I blog and keep archives.

5. What was the last thing you said out loud? "Goodnight, see you in a little bit," to the Husband.

6. How many beverages did you have today? A cup of instant coffee, two Diet Cokes, a tall glass of green tea, and at least three tall glasses of instant tea, all of the drinks were decaffeinated.

7. What color is your hairbrush? Simulated wood.

8. What was the last thing you paid for? See question 2. Um, wait. Patternworks has a bit of a sale on their grab bags, then Hubs had me order gifts online for his family.

9. Where were you last night? Hanging around the house.

10. What color is your front door? Burgundy.

11. Where do you keep your change? In a little white piggy bank with "Yarn Money" painted on the side.

12. What's the weather like today? Chilly, but very nice.

13. What's the best ice cream flavor? All of them except eggnog. :D

14. What excites you? Good report cards from Fry, happy news from Hubs, emails from my family. And a really good yarn sale.

15. Do you want to cut your hair? Yes and no.

16. Are you over the age of 25? Very.

17. Do you talk a lot? Always. It's the bane of my existence.

18. Do you watch the OC? No...

19. Do you know anyone named Steven? I knew several, but now, no.

20. Do you make up your own words? As often as necessary.

21. Are you a jealous person? Depends on the situation.

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter "A".

23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter "K".

24. Whose the first person on your received calls list? A friend of Frygirl's.

25. What does the last text message you received say? Ravelry killed...

26. Do you chew on your straw? No!

27. Do you have curly hair? Yes!

28. Where's the next place you're going to? Um, the ladies' room, then to sleep.

29. Who is the rudest person in your life? Is? Other drivers on the road.

30. What was the last thing you ate? A handful of Triscuits.

31. Will you get married in the future? Probably not. Hubs will probably croak long after I do.

32. What's the best movie you've seen in the past two weeks? I'm ashamed to admit it, but 'Dead Man on Campus'.

33. Is there anyone you like right now? I like lots of people. If I were twenty years younger, I'd giggle and name names.

34. When was the last time you did the dishes? Last night. After breakfast, the dishwasher will be full enough to run.

35. Are you currently depressed? No.

36. Did you cry today? No, I should have after paying bills. ;)

37. Why did you answer this post? Because Susan did and I'm a sheep with my friends.

38. Tag 5 people who would do this survey....I tag you.

Your Passion is Purple!

You've got a ton of passion, but you don't always wear it on your sleeve. If something truly excites you, you let your inner intensity shine through. But otherwise, your passion tends to morph into energy ... which you never lack. You're a balanced woman, knowing when to turn on the fire in your heart.

What Type of Passionate Woman Are You?