Tuesday already?

It's easier to list what I did do as opposed to what I didn't do.
Done is in boldface:
KITCHEN
1. DISHES
2. SCOUR SINKS/POLISH FAUCETS
3. WIPE OFF DISHWASHER
4. WIPE OFF MICROWAVE
5. WIPE OFF STOVE
6. WIPE OFF COUNTERS
7. WIPE OFF CHAIRS
8. WIPE OFF TABLE (rarely used, we eat on the kitchen island)
9. VACUUM
10. EMPTY TRASH/ TAKE OUT RECYCLABLES

BATHROOMS
1. CLEAN SINK
2. CLEAN TUB/SPRAY WITH CLEANER
3. CLEAN TOILET
4. POLISH FAUCETS (say 'no' to hard water)
5. SHAKE AREA RUGS

BEDROOMS
1. MAKE BED (and washed the sheets! Yay!)
2. CLOSE CLOSET DOOR
3. FEATHER DUST
4. PUT AWAY CLOTHES (four loads of clothes for three people for one week)

LIVINGROOM/DININGROOM
1. FEATHER DUST
2. POLICE THE PLANTS (I so need to shopvac around the african violets)

BASEMENT
1. PUT AWAY ONE THING
2. POLICE CAT FOOD AREA
3. CLEAN OUT ONE BOX

GARAGE
1. CLEAN OUT CARS
2. PUT AWAY ONE BOX (sort through and put stuff where it belongs)

LAUNDRY ROOM
1. CLEAN OFF DRYER
2. DUST MAJOR APPLIANCES
3. EMPTY WASHER AND DRYER (no clothes turning into lab experiments)

Hubby wants me to fix Lemon's roof. I have the canvas thread and black denim patches, so it's just a matter of procrastination. I'm afraid it won't look as good as I'd like, but then, the gaping hole can't look any worse. I'd love to slap the sh*t out of whoever cut it in the first place. It's not like the car is worth anything, even after chopped into parts.

And now for knitting news. Not much news, just working on the Bird's eye shawl, a little bit of Seascapes, and started a new 'mindless' project. A garter stitch scarf in a nifty novelty yarn. Usually, I'll go by the simpler the yarn, the more complex the stitch pattern. Garter stitch is great when I'm watching TV, on the computer, and want to knit at the same time. Both bad necks on my own sweaters have been fixed. I also have a bag of baby blankets that need edgings.

I found a copy of an edging pattern that's on a piece of linen handed down in my family! I'd tried to decipher what was there and came pretty close. The faggoting stitch tripped me up, having never done that one. (Disclaimer to family: this stitch has nothing to do with Streisand, Garland, or interior decorating.)

After reading some of my favorite weblogs, I've deduced that I'm either a very distracted or a very slow knitter. I'm thinking of setting a timer for an hour, solely concentrating on what I'm doing, and THEN checking my progress.

Time to attack the to-do list.

Update: It seems that hubby wants to take Lemon into work Thursday. I went out to fix the hole in the roof (from the attempted robbery). It seems the canvas had somehow deteriorated in the past week. Both the lining around the driver and passenger side doors needed resewing. Even though I used a canvas needle and thread, I still had to push through using needle nose plyers. Took me three and a half hours to sew up those, a couple of cracks, and the main reason why I went out there, the cut open hole.

Everything else I procrastinate on can be done in a far shorter time than I estimate. This is not one of them. My left thumb is bruised, my left forearm is sunburned, and I'm not going to enjoy using my hands tomorrow.

Fry gets the computer tonight. She was very good at school today and yesterday, and has been 'un' grounded since Monday. We played Pictionary last night and she's good! Love that kid.

Stash Enhancing: I can quit any time I want.

New yarn in the house! Knit Wit had their clearance yarns on sale, 20% off. I'm a total pushover for Rowan's Summer Tweed, can't help it. I 'ought' to make things for Christmas out of this, but honestly, I only want to hoard the stuff. Both pictures of the brown (toast), do not do the color justice. It's more of a warm auburn, like fall leaves. These pictures really don't capture any of the highlights.

From my stash:
A couple of pictures of the same colors from elsewhere on the internet:











Then, there's some machs nitchs skeins I found. The shiney, fake stuff is really two balls rolled into one for a scarf. Then, the other two hand spun balls are for either hats or scarves. I'm rather wanting to felt hats out of the wools, but... I don't quite know yet.


The stash stuff was Friday, after having lunch with my beloved younger sister. I think her project is next... Happy Face hat and mittens. Maybe even a scarf. Yesterday, I wound up various skeins into balls and have decided that I'd like a ballwinder for Christmas. My plan is to have hubby hold out his arms, with the skeins around them, while I wind the ball. Then, after a few times, he'll think a ballwinder is a GOOD idea. Buh wa ha ha ha haaaa

Saturday: Slugfest. Frozen pizza for lunch, some laundry, playing computer, playing with new yarns, nice dinner (pork loin with green beans and cauliflower), and grocery shopping. Today, we don't know what to eat because the freezers, pantry, and fridge are all full. I'm sure we'll manage.

Plans for today: Nap, chore list, dinner, Sims 2 and knitting. Mowing the lawn and yard care should be on there, but I'll do it tomorrow morning when no one is sleeping in. We're scheduled for rain on Wednesday, so I'll need to plant that stupid Magnolia tree that keeps blowing over. Bleh.

Task list for today:
KITCHEN
1. DISHES
2. SCOUR SINKS/POLISH FAUCETS
3. WIPE OFF DISHWASHER
4. WIPE OFF MICROWAVE
5. WIPE OFF STOVE
6. WIPE OFF COUNTERS
7. WIPE OFF CHAIRS
8. WIPE OFF TABLE
9. VACUUM
10. EMPTY TRASH/ TAKE OUT RECYCLABLES (vital, since tomorrow is trash/recycle day)

BATHROOMS
1. CLEAN SINK
2. CLEAN TUB/SPRAY WITH CLEANER
3. CLEAN TOILET
4. POLISH FAUCETS (say 'no' to hard water)
5. SHAKE AREA RUGS

BEDROOMS
1. MAKE BED
2. CLOSE CLOSET DOOR (automatic light, like the fridge. child's bulb is burnt out)
3. FEATHER DUST
4. PUT AWAY CLOTHES

LIVINGROOM/DININGROOM
1. FEATHER DUST
2. POLICE THE PLANTS (I so need to shopvac around the african violets)

BASEMENT
1. PUT AWAY ONE THING
2. POLICE CAT FOOD AREA
3. CLEAN OUT ONE BOX

GARAGE
1. CLEAN OUT CARS
2. PUT AWAY ONE BOX (sort through and put stuff where it belongs)

LAUNDRY ROOM
1. CLEAN OFF DRYER
2. DUST MAJOR APPLIANCES
3. EMPTY WASHER AND DRYER (no clothes turning into lab experiments)

Once all these things are done, the house is company clean and there's no lingering "what's that SMELL". With a cat and guinea pig, it's a sad fact of life.

Tomorrow is outside and garage. I'd like to get all the bulky items together for the pick up sometime after October 8th. If you've ever lived in the country, you'll know that big trucks taking your throw aways away are magical. There's nothing better than an clean curb on trash day.

Note to Mom: Fry said she had hideous rah last night. So I asked her when or if raw was lovely or even beautiful. The comment/question earned me a snort from her. She's so cute when she does that. LOL!

Is there anything worse than the DMV? No. No, there isn't.

At the end of day one in my quest to get the pickup tagged...


No tag yet.

Getting the truck to pass inspection took all day. One place failed it due to the ball joints, which our mechanic checked out and found nothing wrong. Then the second place said a light was out on the truck's bed topper. They couldn't fix it because the light case was sealed shut. If anyone needs to break into it, I'd prefer my hubby tear it up. I'll probably have my Dad look at it, he can fix ANYTHING. Seriously. Neither place caught the 'failings' from the other place, which leads me to believe that both are garbage.

Eventually, the thing DID pass inspection, so I have that form, plus the property tax receipt, the bill of sale, the title transfer, and the odometer form. I'll have to have the application for Missouri title filled out there. I stood in line for only 15 minutes to find out about that and the tax receipt info. The receipt is really the fun one. We'll get a bill from the county for the tax, pay the thing, then that's it. Until...time to renew the vehicle tags. Then, after waiting in line for a MINIMUM of 15 minutes with no drink or bathrooms during the workday, that's when you find out that you needed a tax receipt from that bill paid in December. Did they mail it to you when you paid the tax??? Heck no! That would be too easy. So, after waiting to find this out, a person has to haul their pissed off little hiney to the courthouse to wait again in line for another 30 minutes, minimum. After paying a dollar for something everyone else in the U.S. GIVES YOU FOR FREE, it's back to the DMV to wait and see what else they needed that no one bothered to tell them about. Does the DMV have signs up that tell a person exactly what is needed for licenses, tags, titles? NO! That would ruin the bureaucracy's hellhole reputation.

Spelling is crap tonight, I know. Trying to care about it and just can't. At least I still know the difference between loose and lose.


This is in the Wow section: "Mayor Alan Tharling of Port Lavaca, a city on the Texas coast between Houston and Corpus Christi, is taking creative measures to make citizens take the threat of Hurricane Rita seriously.

Tharling says that the 1,000 or so die-hards who refuse to evacuate are being given permanent markers and asked to write their Social Security number, next of kin and a phone number on their arm or across their abdomen — so that returning officials can identify their bodies.

For the most part, Tharling has had few problems persuading residents to leave — Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and the New Orleans area almost four weeks ago, has made believers out of most Gulf Coast Texans. Many of the Port Lavaca’s 13,000 citizens have already packed up and were on their way by Wednesday night. Many more are still streaming out, joining other evacuees in traffic jams as they head inland. "

Man! I think I'd find a way out of town...

I'm Soft and Sweet! Who Knew???

You are Merino Wool.
You are very easygoing and sweet. People like to
keep you close because you are so softhearted.
You love to be comfortable and warm from your
head to your toes.


What kind of yarn are you?
brought to you by Quizilla


These are all the results possible. Pretty cool, ne c'est pas?

I think my family members should take the quiz, then comment as to their results. Then, I could make them gifts that match their yarns. Not that that's a BIG HINT or anything.

The most amazing thing

We watched the JetBlue plane land on faulty gear. That was the most amazing thing, aviation-wise, I've ever seen. Hubby and I were glued to the screen, and cheered after the plane came to a complete stop. Absolutely amazing. Hubby, being the most pilot trained of us, noticed the captain kept the landing gear straight on the center line.



Wow.

I Shun 'Desperate'

Oh. My. God.

I am so f*ing sick of anything reeking of Desperate Housewives. There are people I know and love who are crazy for the show, but I'm not one of them. I tried to watch one of the episodes. Nails on a blackboard? Much easier to take than that show. The thing has been so overexposed that I can feel my skin trying to crawl whenever I see something referencing any of the actresses or anything 'desperate'. Jessica Simpson does the same thing. She is so f*ing plastic, stupid, and has such big Chiclet teeth that I tear off any magazine covers with her on them. We have a subscription to People, Ladies Home Journal, and Family Circle (or Women's Day, they're interchangable), so it's those covers, not all the ones at the grocery store.

While I'm on the subject of things I hate... I would love to meet the person behind the Beepbeep.com commercial, so I can grab them by the crown of the head and shake really hard. Because that's what it feels like they're doing to me every time I have to hear that commercial. Die, honkey pigs, die!

Sorry, but I do have the song to that memorized. I will never even visit the website, that would only encourage them.

John Meyer and/or Creed were good at first. Then, after a few albums where EVERY SONG SOUNDS THE SAME, I don't care for their music anymore.

I hate "Just For Men" hair color. In just FIVE minutes? Excuse me? I have to spend 20-25 minutes, but because a guy has the dangly bits, his time is so valuable that he only needs to spend 5 minutes doing the SAME THING?? Yeah, a female's time is worth just about nothing until a man needs clean underwear or wonders where dinner is lurking. At least in the 25 minutes I can wax my eyebrows, manicure and pedicure my nails, and straighten up the bathroom. It'll take a guy FAR longer than 5 minutes to wax his ass, which is something a lot of men should do.

Just for my family and those who really know him, no, my hubs does not need to do said waxing. Forget.....forget......

I HATE it when people tell me "Well, too bad. Life isn't fair," just before they 'f' me over. Please, let me see how flat I can make their nose with my fist.

Hmmm. Maybe I need to fold some laundry, do the dishes (not many), vacuum, THEN knit, play Sims 2 (Nightlife is FAB!!!), and chill in general.

Fry update: Yesterday was a good day. She had to tell her partner in crime that they couldn't play together and the little partner cried. Waaaaaaa! Isn't that the saddest because little Bail is the sweetest! So I had Fry pick out a 'friends forever' greeting card from my vast stash, and she wrote a sweet note to Bail. Awwwww! Poor little kid. Fry knows that this is HER punishment, and told that to Bail, so I'm hoping the card will make the little kid feel better.

Fry is still grounded, though. Little booger.

Two requests for the readers: First, did anyone notice I was using a different and wrong yarn on the pink sweater's collar? I did and fixed, then finished it. It looks GREAT!! I love the sweater. Second, comment on one thing you absolutely hate beyond all reason. C'mon. There has to be SOMETHING.

Sisters

All righty. I just received an email from my younger sister, Toppa. This would be a wonderful time to blog about how I REALLY feel about my two sisters. I'll go in the order of their birth, and Mom, break out the hankies. LOL!

Toppa: I don't remember life before her, and I know there must have been. I was three when she was born. My parents have home movies of me petting her head, which was something I did all the time. She was (and is) the sweet, silly, and loving one of us. Maybe not the most of us, but certainly those are her traits. She has the most beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen on anyone but my grandfather, from whom she'd inherited them. With her dark hair, those eyes, and rosy lips, she's alway had THE most striking coloring. Toppa is also very athletic, and has energy to spare. Even now, when Goopa, the baby sister, was showing us her dance steps and teaching Toppa, Toppa picked up on them like the steps were nothing. Toppa is a very loving and sweet person, who also has a strong sense of personal space. Sometimes, it's really tough not to just hug and squeeze on her because I love her so. The nice thing is, her niece, Frybaby, is almost a carbon copy of her and I get to love on Fry all I want to. Ha! I can't imagine my life without Toppa, she's been there from the beginning of my memory and while I don't email, call, or chat with her as much as I want to, I consider her in the highest levels of best-friend-ness. I admire her guts and grit, and want more than the best for her in everything. Toppa is so practical and capable, I admire those qualities in her as well. She's amazing.

Now for the little Goopa. Awwwwww! So what if the little Goopa is 25 years old? So what if she's married and has lived on her own since she was 18? She's still the little Goopa! If I have to be little Sissy... She can be little Goopa. Even though she's taller, blonder, and more blue-eyed than I will ever be. People instantly guess Toppa and I to be sisters, not so with Goopa. She is absolutely beautiful in that Hollywood glamour sort of way. When she and I stand together, I look swarthy! Me! She looks like one of those Nordic ice princesses that women bleach and cut themselves into. Since I was almost 15 when she was born, I remember THE exact moment I first saw her. She was a little tiny thing, and talked to us all while the nurse held her up after the measuring and weigh-in. We were all stunned that she cooed so early. Every since then, she's been the same brilliant and beautiful person now as she was the day she was born. Goopa is sweet and charming, yet has a side to her a person doesn't want to mess with. Seems there's some tart to her sweet. Her vast number of talents and abilities amaze, but don't surprise me. I knew from the beginning that she'd be a fabulously witty, smart, and charming person. It's still tough not to love on her like she's still a little child, Goopa is so loveable. She's another one of my relatives who are also my best-friends. Yeah, my sisters and I talk to other people in our lives far more than we talk to each other. But when chips are down, I'm the first person they can call for help and vice versa.

I'm a very fortunate person to have such great sisters in my life. If I contacted and gushed about them as often as I think about them, they'd be saying "Get a job already!" LOL!

Now, What Was I Saying?

Man! I'm so tired! I can only imagine how rough the Fry and Hubs must feel. It's Tuesday and I'm pooped from the road trip. I even had the 'good' car to drive, which is really a Ford F-150 Lariat. Niiiiiice.

With the nifty radio, wonderful engine, large pickup bed, nice tires, and leather seats, you'd think any one of those would be my favorite things. Ha! Since I'm a shrimpy 5'3", the fact that the seat belt adjusts to my height is fantastic. I looooove it! Usually, the seat belts cut me across the neck, so I have to tuck them under my arm or wear a mock turtleneck to keep my neck from getting a rash. I'm the original "Princess and the Pea" and can't stand anything bumpy, itchy, or abrasive against my skin. Which is why knitting with pure wool is ok for the hands but not to wear.

Ok,
Friday: drove and knitted while the passenger.
Saturday: counted coins, visited family, ate Chinese food.
Sunday: drove and no knitting while driving.
Monday: goofed off, taught class, goofed off some more.

It's been so deadly hot around here, due to the humidity, it's tough to be motivated to do anything more than get another popcicle from the fridge.

Current works in progress.... I'm trying so hard not to start the Rosy Fingers of Dawn shawl, seeing such progress on Snowball's web log. Since Seascapes and now Bird's eye are in the works, I don't want to start another lace project. I thought Bird's eye would be a lot easier, but I keep thinking that because it's easy, I don't have to pay attention and then goof the thing up completely. Long sentence, huh?
This is Bird's Eye Shawl, in Lion Brand Imagine. My mother-in-law liked the color, so this is for her. It's not that hard, just needs my concentration.












Progress so far on the Seascapes Shawl. I'm thinking I really should have done this in a seafoam green... There IS a mistake in there, or was, until I let the stitch run down to the mistake and fixed it back up. When I block, I'll smooth out the threads and even up everything.






Here is knitting for exciting television shows. The stitches are bunched up, so it looks too small again. It's not. Once a marker is in place, I'll do this new neckline in rib. No more need for detachable ears! Yay!












Here's something fun. The large, loose skeins are my dyeing project for the Rosy Fingers of Dawn shawl. I wanted something that would closer resemble the striking West Texas Sunrises, rather than the subtle shades of everywhere else's sunrise. We'll see how that goes... The little ball of Kid Merino is for the Summer in Kansas shawl, which may not be so much the summer as the FALL in Kansas after the wheat is cut and plowed under. THAT is the colorway of the fields in the yarn. So I may go with something a bit more bright wheatstraw and leave this for something else. That's a couple of shawls down the road, though. At this rate, I'll be 80 years old before I'm ready to start them.

Road Trip and Sad News

Ok, we're going on a road trip today. Going to Dodge to pick up the pickup. I'm thrilled to see that gas prices are down to $2.49 as of yesterday. It's the weekend, so I'm expecting that to change. Funny how 2.50 would have had us screaming 'Gouge!' this time last year. Gotta love those lowered expectations.


I've had to pack our formal dress due to my hubby's cousin dying early this morning. Very sad. She had cancer. Her husband had died not even a month ago from a car wreck. They have two children, one in college and one in high school. I can't imagine being without either of my parents, and I'm ancient compared to them. Poor kids are orphans. Not getting into the dirty laundry of it, those kids were more the parents to their own parents. They're both very mature, responsible, and good people, like their grandparents. Thankfully, huh?

Knitting class went very well last night. We barely got to purl and didn't get to bind off, which is always sad, but since I had 20 people in there, I'm thinking cast on and knit are pretty good for two hours. To me, I should be able to teach everything about knitting in that time, but it's a very hands-on class. We don't go on until everyone has the technique somewhat down and are ready to practice. The only thing some students do that really irks me is say "Oh, you're just saying that," when I tell them they're doing well. Um, no, I'm not. If I compliment a person, they've deserved it, even if they don't believe it. That's when I reply, "No, if you were doing badly, I'd be over there helping you fix it." Then someone else will look up because I WAS over there helping THEM. :D

Ug. I woke up with a migraine that the Relpax isn't kicking. I need to finish packing, close up the house, pick up the kid, then pick up the husband for the road trip. Joy. I'm taking some works in progress for road knitting, too.

Face Down in My Cheerios

Something cool in The Sims Nightlife: When your Sims is exhausted and trying to eat, they will fall facedown into their meal and sleep.

Not only is this a really cool expansion pack, but the game's programmers managed to stop the memory leak. The game doesn't suck up all the system's resources until finally I have to restart the game.


I like leading with a silly game much better than starting with Fry's problems. It seems my little rebel doesn't like following recess rules. HER teacher has a thing about all the kids being where he can see them during recess. No roaming the halls, chatting in the bathroom, or playing tag in the library. All of which, Fry has done. Her friend's teacher, the little friend who has been her partner in crime, doesn't keep as close an eye on her students. So what is ok for little friend is very NOT ok for Fry. When she was in the bathroom instead of at recess, I thought poor baby, just be where you're supposed to be and leave the bathroom for pottying, not chatting. Then the second time, she asked to go to the library during recess then proceeded to play tag. We had a stern discussion about the library, recess, and her behavior. The next day, she comes home saying that she has to spend tomorrow (which is today's) recess in the Principal's office. She was trying to get her Crime Partner talked into going outside for recess, then when Fry finally went outside, the teacher lowered the boom.

After hearing about this, I was less than sympathetic, but also less than postal. If we had not gone over the "recess in recess areas only" rule just the evening before, I'd have been a lot more understanding. During PMS, no less. I told her that this time I was NOT happy with her behavior, that she is a great kid and I expected better from her. That I didn't think that "library behavior in the library, recess behavior at recess, and bathroom behavior in the bathroom," was too difficult to understand.

I love this child more than anything else in the world. She does have this need to hear things three times before doing them, as in, when in the car, "Put on your seatbelt." "Are you buckled in?" "Do you need help?" After years of this, I just say "Buckleupbuckleupbuckleup." I warned her that yesterday I was not in the mood to argue or say things more than once. I know her teachers must LOVE having to tell her and every other kid in there everything more than once. (intense sarcasm) Forget that stupid apple, give the teacher a tranquilizer gun. Seriously. Or heck, give me one.

I'm so hoping she comes home with no incident. Hubby is going to email her teacher to discuss this. We talked last night and while the teacher is a flake who speaks rudely and immaturely to his students, he IS the teacher. I don't think (and told Fry this) that specific activities at specific times is too tough. If the other kids manage, I'm sure she can, too.

In other news (this is the fluff piece), I was just called by my library friend. It seems that the library tonight is more than packed. My class limit is 15, but no one was minding the store and there's 25 signed up. LOL! There will be a helper librarian there who can knit, so I'm not too worried. My largest class was 30, so it's possible. I just can't help everyone with sizes at 20 or more. First, I show everyone how to cast on, go around to help, have them practice, then on to the knit stitch. I show, help, then help until everyone is practising. After that, and I hope we get there, is the purl. If it's a reasonably small class, less than 10, and they're overachievers, we can not only purl and bind off, but also decrease and increase.

Every beginner's class has one thing in common. The knitter who isn't a complete beginner. They're the ones who have learned at their Granny's knee, but haven't knit in eons. That's fine, but they're also the ones who ask, "Why do you teach this cast on instead of this or this?" Well, number 1, because I can, number 2, teaching 10+ people how to do the latter two cast ons is a task outside the scope of the class. I had one lady ask this about the double cast on. When I answered with number 2, she replied that in 4-H, they learned the double and it was a bunch of them learning it. Hmmmm. I'm lucky, she's lucky that I didn't have PMS at the time. I probably would have got that expression on my face that tells my family members to duck and cover. Over the palm, around the thumb, needle from pinky to thumb is much easier to teach a herd of people. I teach it opposite from the instructions here because that first row really IS hard to knit. The opposite way is much easier for my newbie knitters.


Is it naptime, yet?

Day Two of: Woooo! (doin' the rock n' roll hands thingy)

It's here! It's here! My Sims 2 Nightlife is here! I haven't been this excited since [every other nerd event in the last 40 years] happened.

Eeeee! Cars, restaurants, bowling alleys, nightclubs...wooo!

Ok, in the interest of actually living like a human being, I'm going to set a timer for 30 minutes. Every time the timer goes off, I'm going to have to do something productive. Like, dishes, laundry, vacuum, eat, shower. That sort of thing.

If I start now, by the time Fry gets home, I can let her have computer, then help her through the nightclubbing. It's rated T for teen, on account of crude humor, suggestive themes, and violence. All of the above is very cartoonish, the violence is less than what Wile E Coyote endured, the suggestive themes are much less than any on TV during prime time, and from what I hear, the crude humor on the school bus makes the sailors blush.

Ok, enough. I have to install the software and see if it lives up to the promise. If family members need me, please call, since I'm not likely to break for email. :D

More Woooo! (doin' the rock n' roll hands thingy)

Woooo! Ich liebe das bier! Wooo!

Then, wo ist das toiletten, bitte???

Did I mention that one of my favorite sisters works for a Coors distributors? My other favorite sister could be a Flygirl, she's learning to dance so well.

I'm doing the sister tribute thing tomorrow. It's tough to define what your built-in best friends mean to you. :D

Woooo! (doin' the rock n' roll hands thingy)

LAURA,

Head out in style with an exclusive new car for your Sims!

Your Sim can turn heads all over town with an additional downloadable car. Get
ready to take on the night in your sweet new ride!


To download this exclusive new car, go to http://thesims2.ea.com/rave
and follow the onscreen instructions.
IMPORTANT NOTE: You must have The Sims 2 Nightlife installed.

Car will be available as soon as the game ships. When you have your
copy of The Sims 2 Nightlife be sure to stop back and download your
car.

Thanks,

Your friends at the EA STORE

Sims got cars! Sims got cars! Woooo hooo!

Oh man, I've so got to clean the house before the game gets here. It's a stupid computer game and I'm 40 years old, so I feel very foolish playing, but... The thing appeals to me on quite a few levels.

1. Neighborhood design. I can move the lots, empty, with homes, or with homes AND families occupying them. There's residential and commercial, where the Sims can shop, swim, snack.

2. The houses. Not only do I get to landscape to my heart's content, putting trees, flowers, and shrubbery wherever I want, I can also do and undo carpets and paints with a mouseclick. A new roof? NO charge! Furniture can be rearranged at will, plus, I know the more money cheat, just in case the family runs out of the green.

3. Creating people. From scratch, no less. Their hairstyle and color, eye color and shape, tweeking the facial features, clothes, gender. No one can change the body itself without some programming changes. I'm not that into the code, I'm into the asthetics. I also get to choose their personality traits and life focus. Such fun.

4. After creating people is creating people, as in, babies! The Sims 2 have little babies who then grow into toddlers. It's really tempting to give into the maternal side of me and adopt a housefull of babies, but they all need intense care. I've tried once and they were all taken away by the social worker. Too sad to try again. The mad scientist of me LOVES seeing what the DNA mix results in when a new baby is born. Sometimes, twins happens and that's fun, too.

5. Work. My Sims get to major in college things I never was able to major in, plus, they can change jobs at an instant. Very unlike real life. Also, the Sims go to work, increase their skills, keep themselves happy and healthy, and lo! They get promotions. Very much unlike real life. In some of the careers, when the Sim reaches the top, they're picked up for work in a helicopter. All the other Sims nearby cover their ears.

My baby sister also loves this game, and she's made the coolest movies with the video function of the game. I've not listed this as 6, because while it's possible, I totally reek at making movies. Which makes me appreciate others' work all that much more. :)


Speaking of cars... My in-laws up and bought a new van. It's odd, because usually my father-in-law will keep something until it falls apart, much to my mother-in-law's dismay. So they're giving us their pickup. Yay! It's a green, Ford, super (or extended) cab. Not only that, but we already have someone interested in Lemon. I've already warned Hubby to tell them the car is psychic. Of course they'll scoff and think we're stupid. That's ok. The first time they actually like the thing, it'll pop a hose, dump whatever fluid is handy, or a tire will fall off and roll by them. I'll miss having a convertable, but as unreliable as Lemon was, we didn't drive it that much, anyway. We're going to get it this Friday, since the tag is out this month. There's no sense in Hub's parents renewing the tag only for us to turn around and pay our state for the same thing. Plus, Kansas is much higher in its registration. Too bad gas is so expensive right now. I'd load it up and drive stuff around just to do it. LOL!

Opinion On The Day After

I thought this was a nice opinion article. Whenever I see my own opinions or questions mirrored by someone else in a more public forum, it's nice. The people and media in my area are very Republican, conservative, and bible-hugging. Not that all that's a bad thing to be, it's just refreshing to see the other point of view. Because I'll get to wondering if I and my family are the only ones to question the way things are going.


Something really cool my Mom said about Brownie (Michael Brown of FEMA, for the cave dwellers/ostrichs) and I'm hoping I quote her correctly, "He can't be fired for incompetence when he wasn't hired for his competence." This was after I was wondering aloud how anyone could still have a job after such a massive and murderous failing in said position.

I might post later. PMS has caught up and slapped my hiney with a headache. I'm taking Relpax, but that takes time to work. While I'm not dying of pain, it does give me the attention span of a small yippy dog.

No More Nature Preserve

Speaking of twitching, I'm sure our neighbors can rest easy tonight. I mowed all the lawns, which sounds like nothing. Ha! It's been so hot that once the gas runs out of the mower, back into the little garage it goes. The front and sides always get completely done, but the back? Um, not quite so much. I had to double mow a large section of the yard. Good for the exercise, but tomorrow, working the arms is going to be bad.

Everyone is in bed, Law and Order:SVU is on, I'm so knitting this evening.

Like a Junky in the Pharmacy

It never fails. I read a few of my favorite knitting weblogs and off I go. Twitching like a ferret on speed, wanting to knit whatever is laying around the house. Until Hubby goes to bed, I'm working on the felted envelope purse, seen in a prior post next to the yoga mat bag. Which, is here, in a better picture.

















Whenever I feel like finishing things up, or fixing terrible wrongs in my own designs, I'll have these to turn to:

First off is a lovely sweater for me. It would be a lot lovelier if I need not detach my ears to get it over my head. Serves me right for being creative with the collar.











But wait! There's more! Thinking I'd learned my lesson, here's a beauty entirely designed by me. Knitters in the know will see that Nikky Epstein's "Knitting on the Edge gets the credit for the charming cuff. The very boat boatneck neck is great on those with roundy shoulders, but with a gal like me... Let's just say in this, my shoulders never end. Ever. It's in the FIX ME pile in the living room.














This was to be a sweet little "Snow Queen" dress for my child a couple of years ago. Once I spotted the collar error, I totally quit work. Now it can fit my youngest cousin, who would look extremely charming in it. The thing could still fit my own Fry, but as a sweater. Once it's fixed and finished, I'll see who cries for it the loudest.


















Are these a bunch of yarns piled on the scanner? Well, sure they are, but they're also future scarves for family members. Who will get what? I really don't know. The women in my family all have such different tastes. Sure, some of those tastes converge, but still. Everyone is so unique, it will be fun to see who wants what.

The EXPURGATED version of "Olsen's Standard Book of British Birds"?!?!

After a wonderful chat with my Mom, I have realized that I speak as a sailor. My beloved Mother used flattery as in I'm too creative to resort to swearing as a means to express myself.

Gah! All right. After doing a search in here of choice words, oh no no no. I really AM using the blue words a bit much. Some of this started at the angst-soaked Diaryland weblog place. There, I used swearing as a way to show that I'm hip and edgy online. In real life, it's because I AM being sloppy vocabularily speaking, or just that angry. One can tell by the volume of my voice which it is. So I combed through and either replaced the worst of them or put in * where no other word could do.

Every time I talk to my Mom about my Dad's character traits, I feel like I'm backpedaling. It's weird that it feels like that, because, I'm feeling like I'm trying too hard to be sincere about being sincere. It's like saying 'honestly' before telling someone the truth and you've always been honest before that. Like HONESTLY honestly, or super-sized honestly.

What brought all that up was I was feeling self-conscious about thanking my Father online for a swear phrase. I really do love that phrase, especially when some guy cuts me off on the highway about an inch from my car. It's just so wonderfully descriptive, nothing else will do. Sometimes, a person is just acting that phrase and I can't help it.

I've not kvetched or exhaulted much on the parental units because, well, it's like talking about myself. That's what this is for, the whole weblog thing. I've always felt very much a part of my parents. Whatever I don't like about me are probably things they didn't like, either. LOL! The laziness, procrastination, and forgetfulness are sadly and uniquely my own. My Mom will say she forgets things, but I don't know... I don't think she does as much as SHE thinks she does. I do really love the traits and interests I have in common with them. Sometimes, I wish I shared more, but then, I'd have nothing new to contribute.

So while this will mostly belong in the 100 things about me list I'm compiling, here's a little riff on the parents. Personality-wise, they tend to be such opposites that I feel like I'm two different people in one person made from them. They have the same values and the same strong honorable streak as each other, but react differently in different situations. My father is very intense in a calm sort of way, while my mother is very calm in an intense sort of way. For both of them, their family is first and woe to anyone who harms or even talks bad about an offspring. Even though I'm ancient, it's wonderful to go home and say, "Dad, he was mean to me," and know my father will be on my side and be quite vocal about it. On the same hand, my Mom tends to really dislike anyone who's every been mean to her girls. She also is not happy with the current administration sending both of her son-in-laws overseas. I can't imagine Dad is, either, but he's more in sync with that 'what a man's gotta do' thing that we women. Finding a husband to equal my father's intelligence, work-ethic, and energy...so very not easy. There's a lot of guys whom I would have laughed at had they even suggested meeting him. Rather like serving poop to a chef. LOL!

Describing my parents is a lot like describing a rose, Mozart's music, or a much-needed rainstorm. Anything said could only touch a superficial surface and not really convey all the beauty within.

I think in a later post, I'll write about my sisters. While Fry is thrilled at being an only child, secretly I feel sad that she doesn't have the sisters I do. She does have them as aunts, though. Probably the reason why she likes having them all to herself as the only grandbaby so far.


A setup for the following conversation while I typed all this: Fry just turned 10 three weeks ago.

FryGirl: I have enough popcorn for one more movie. I'm watching one from my childhood.
MomCrone: From when you were a leetle beebee?
FryGirl: Yeah, from when I was in the single digits.

Retraction, Correction, and Observation.

Retraction: When I posted that "Why didn't New Orleans people just leave," I, in my middle class mind, never considered people might not have a car. I'd never own one in London, New York City, or even Chicago. LA, Dallas, Kansas City, Denver are another story. I've been to New Orleans and honestly walked everywhere in the French Quarter. The post was a 'duh' moment on my part.

Correction: In the prior post I needed to change 'me' to 'more'. I'll do what I can to help, but give me? More yes, me no. We're giving $15 to the Wayside Waifs here in KC. They'll be taking in animals and providing assistance to the humane societies in the form of food for all, vaccinations, and boarding. I'm also wanting to be a foster mom to a cat or two, but Hubs doesn't feel too positive about that. We'll see. Also, the OB/GYN appointment was for yesterday, but since I'd been in August and have another appointment for November, both the nurse and I thought this would be overkill. Cancelled!

Observation: I'm sure I'm not the first to notice... Florida had immediate hurricane assistance, the South had very delayed assistance. Florida's govenor is the President's brother, the South has none of his family members in office there.

There could be mitigating circumstances. Florida's hurricanes could be habit, like tornadoes are here, while the Southern Gulf states may have such infrequent hurricanes that they tend not to be prepared. I hope that this is the case. Although, after our President's mother's attitude was shown, I'm leaning towards the first theory.


Here, for the first time anywhere, is my scanned in shawl-in-progress:


Yay!! For me, this is not the Summer of Lace, but the YEAR of Lace. I'm not as fast as I'd like to be, but then, I've knitted these two plus four others. There's Zum Bar soaps in them. Zum Bar is rather pricy at $4.50 a bar, but they smell wonderful and when the scent has faded, the soap is useful. Two lives for the price of, well, never mind. They're a wonderful luxury.
















Here we have on the left, the beginnings of an envelope flap purse to be felted and matching the yoga mat bag on the right. The bag didn't scan as well as I'd have liked, but the lawn needs mowing and groceries need bought, so we're going with that for now. I'll have my tall, blonde, and beautiful sister model it for later.



Here is a little lace thing I whipped up as a model for the Advanced Knitting class I taught at Camden Point. It and the snowflake hat later in this post were the demos. The yarn is a yummy cotton and silk blend. I have a lot of Rowan's Summer Tweed just waiting for me to do something with and it may be this. :D
There's a lot of Cape and some of Exotic with one or two skeins of Bouquet and Gold. There's a couple more colors, I'd have to check out the stash to be certain.













In this time, I didn't knit these, but did piece them together. I'm not keen on piecing together, but in my anti-UFO (unfinished object) rally, these were knocked out in a couple of hours.
















The hat on the right was knit entirely in this time, the top third of the left finished up.














There you have it! All the procrastination projects since Summer of Lace started. Some of these were knit while on the road, since roads can be bumpy. Trying to knit two stitches together on Seascapes require NO bumps allowed. Tonight on USA, there's hopefully no stupid tennis and I can do the Law & Order:SVU evening and knock out some rows on Sea. :D

I've not updated on the diet and exercise thing in a while. This morning, the scale experience was a "Holy sh*t" one. I am (drumroll, please) 152lbs. A-freaking-mazing. I've only been hard core Phase 2 South Beach for four days and did the Gilad thing for three of those days.

I'd weighed this morning before Brown's ousting. Otherwise, I'd say I'd laughed my ass off. Love that last line.

My spidey senses hear the grass growing and the fresh produce at HyVee calling me...

All Pissed off and No One to Slap/Kitten Kocaine

Here's an afternoon quickie! I've found a lovely webpage that allows everyone Republican to find someone to blame for the ghastly water and dead people from Katrina. Enjoy!

This is all especially crappy considering John Kerry's camp sent us on the list an email about Katrina on August 31st. Paraphrasing, it said "People are or will be in dire straights, let's pull together and help them." I hope, but don't expect, for the 51% who voted for Bush heed this wakeup call. Bush's purpose in the White House is to line his and his friend's pockets.

One more political thing and I'm outta here. Fry will be home soon and will be begging to go to the pool. My mother told me a story this morning about the American Red Cross. It seems that while my Great Uncle Fay was in WWII, a bakery at their own expense made up a bunch of treats for the troops. A Red Cross vehicle pulled up, a few cute girls in nice uniforms hopped out, and were photographed serving the troops brownies and cupcakes. Once the photo quota was met, they all bundled up and left. They didn't actually serve all the troops, and they didn't pay for anything. It's been really tough NOT to give to them, because so many need help. Hubby has already given $25. We'll probably give more, I can't imagine not doing so.


Surprising cat news. Ok, I tend to collect seeds when they're on clearance. Herb, flower, even some resulting in disaster vegetable seeds. So last spring, Fry and I planted seeds willy-nilly in this mini greenhouse of hers. Did I mark them? Heck no! That's too sensible and easy. Sheesh.

As a result, I now have a rather large flowerpot of catnip and not columbines as I'd thought I'd had. After I thought the plants looked a little 'herb'y, I'd broken off a leaf, sniffed, and realized what was growing. Happy for Claude, if he liked it, I brought in the leaf to him. It's obvious that anything else catnip must not have ever been fresh. He sniffed the leaf, licked it, then ATE it. I waited around to see if he barfed it back up, since barfing is his beloved hobby. No barf so far. In fact, I put a couple of crushed up leaves into one of his toys (usually ignored). Not only has he played with it all afternoon (and he doesn't play with anything!!), he is right now sleeping, using the toy as a pillow.

So I'm thinking, wouldn't it be nice of me to design a line of BadKitty knitted toys featuring fresh-dried home grown catnip tucked inside? If my nip-resistant cat loves the stuff, my sister's two cats will be the Cheech and Chong of the feline world.

Speaking of the baby sister. She and I are both eagerly awaiting the release of Sims 2 Nightlife. Today I went ahead and preordered the game. Electronic Arts is a 'sweatshop' for programmers, but Sims is my own Kitty Kocaine. I really can't wait for it to get here, it's not even released until the 13th.

Ewwww! Poor Black People in Our State?! Ewwww!

Remember that earlier post of mine about the poor black people and the current administration's goal to let them die? Is this the confirmation that I was right?

No matter how bad the squalor the victims MIGHT have been living in, a cot with whatever meager possesions in a sports arena does not a 'better' home make.

Meanwhile, I'm really liking Anderson Cooper's loss of game face.

Now, I'm off to the OB/GYN for yet another checkup. Yay.

Kvetching about the Hurricane Relief

There you go. From one of my favorite weblogs, I followed her link and found this. It's why I'm angry. Also this, the bastards. Looting is fine when you're desperate, but honestly. Are you going to make a DVD stew, asshole? The phrase "chicken-sh*t son of a bitch" comes to mind (thanks for the phrase, Dad!).

The number of other countries willing to help us is amazing. Even the guy Pat Robertson wanted 'taken out' is wanting to send aid.

Is it just me, or is the current administration's attitude is, "They're poor black people and the white elderly about to die anyway. If we let them die, there will be more for us."

I've decided to give to the Salvation Army. The ones here in KC have actually loaded up vans and taken off for the afflicted areas. I'm sure Red Cross is doing the same, but I've not heard of it. My mother-in-law had been widowed for two years, my husband was five years old, when a flood destroyed their home. Almost all the possessions left of my father-in-law was ruined and had to be thrown out. When she went for help from the Red Cross, they turned her down. If she'd ever asked for help in her life, I'm not aware of it. Supposedly, this is why people give to the Red Cross, so that they'll help people who lose everything in a disaster. Oh well.

Something else I'm wondering. Today in the newspaper, I notice the mention of a church helping. This is the first I've heard of a church actively helping the victims. I hear a lot about giving and tithing, but not a lot about people actually doing anything. I wonder where all that money churches collect goes. With so many charities calling me every week, there's a lot of cash being raised, and yet, there's a lot of people needing help or on welfare.

No new yarn, and with all the catalogues coming in, it's been tempting. Yesterday was trim the trees and drop off the leaves day. I'm not sure what today is, so far, it's shaping up to be slug day. Monday was to be slug day while today was supposed to be get it all done so tomorrow is sluggy. Oh well.


Ok, here's the thing. I wanted to clear out and mulch cover the grass growing in the rose garden. I can't. It seems there's a little Peter Rabbit living there. I'll probably mulch part of the garden, the part where he doesn't 'hang out'. Then, in the fall or winter when he's hibernating, I'll finish up. The rose garden only has Rio Sambas in there, three bushes. They're quite lovely, as you can tell, and are really resistant to black spot. I'd been buying $30 containers of black spot removal spray to be applied every two weeks until finally just digging up all the bushes that loved getting the fungus. I didn't like spending the money, spraying chemicals, and THEN the stuff still not stopping the spot. The bushes would be stripped of leaves no matter what I did. While I do believe in better living through chemistry, sometimes too much really is too much.

That's it, exactly!

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-09-01-katrina-class-race_x.htm
There you go. It puts into words what I was thinking and why I'm angry about the hurricane. They point out the poor black population, but they're forgetting the elderly on a fixed income who are in the same boat.

They're sending the National Guard from Independence to New Orleans. While it is a CONUS (Continental United States in Army-speak) assignment, when I read about the filth, dead bodies, and people shooting at relief workers, it's not such a plum assignment. (could I have made that sentence any longer????)

I spent four hours on four rows in the Seascapes Shawl. The new Boye needles have a much better join, much much better, but sadly, my mistakes are what slow me down. The yarn is so fine, I'll tend to pick up the stich underneath the one to knit. Leaving out a yarn-over or adding one in are things I do, too. I honestly don't know how Wendy knits on the train to and from work. I'm doing good to knit while sitting in front of the television. Something really surprising, though. I'm actually starting to prefer the chart to the written instructions.

My sister has a part time job at a supermarket gas station. Her roommate sent me and others this latest gas price update. There's a swimming pool across the creek, several grocery stores within a couple of miles from our house, and we enjoy having 'slug' weekends, so we're not planning to take out a loan for travel this weekend. Fry is out of school early today. She'll be going along with me on today's grocery trip. THAT could be bad for my diet.

A New Phrase and Felting Blues

Superdome Evacuation Halted Amid Gunfire is an excellent example of the phrase "Sh*tting in their own nest." Most animals are smart enough to not wreck their own homes by using the restroom exactly where they sleep.

But then as I'm thinking about it, I'm totally mixing my pithy sayings. For the Superdome chaos, it should also be "Biting the hand that feeds you." Which it supremely stupid on their part, since the whole reason they're holed up in the Dome is because they're too broke, sick, or stupid to get out of Katrina's way. Bite the hand enough, and the hand is going to say "To heck with you," and let you starve.

So the fires are the sh*tting, while the shooting is the biting.

Mom called last night and we both think the emergency agencies need to get it together. How long were the experts saying catagory 5 catastrophic hurricane? Days? Are not the emergency people supposed to be good in said emergency?

I feel horrible for the people caught there, trapped and dying. There's nothing I personally can do, and if I tried, that talent I have for being in everyone's way would naturally occur. I'm rather angry, too, as a result of being frustrated. After living in Tornado Alley all my life, when there's hints of tornadoes, I'm ready. Even at my most sluggishness, when the sirens sound, we know what to do. We're lucky if we have 30 minutes to prepare, these people had 3 days. I know that some of them didn't think it was going to be that bad, and the levees breaking was very unexpected. When the sirens sound here and Fry isn't with her grandparents on the farm, I'm totally cool. When she's HERE, I'm executing the tornado drill. If there were someone in our household whose health depended on certain items, those certain items would be in the 'emergency area' of our house. I'm just thinking that if the weather said an F3 tornado was on its way, there would be some scrambling.

Since Hubby sometimes reads this blog... I'd like to fix up that corner of the basement where we hunker down. Reenforce it, then, when we get the new tv for the kitchen, we can put the old one there. The cable hub is there, so setting up the set in that corner is a piece of cake.

I'd like to do the "Make a mess to clean a mess" thing today. Our master suite areas are starting to look cluttered, again. I'm thinking I'll take all the items that don't belong and bring them downstairs in time for the soaps I'm sadly addicted to. Pile it all on the kitchen island and sort with an eye for tossing. It would also be really nice to get the back yard shaped up. It's currently a bunny heaven. Great for the bunnies, but not good for my 'golf course back yard' goals. Nothing on the procrastination list was done yesterday, although I did get some things done that I'd been putting off that weren't on the list.

Felting Woes: Ok, the Yoga Mat Bag itself felted just fine. The strap is a different story. It's attached, so I can't do anything to one without the other. For some strange reason, the strap isn't shrinking in the middle. I've followed the instructions and am afraid to do any more agitation or the bag will only be big enough to hold pencils. It's all made out of the same yarn, too, so I have no idea what's up. Time for Google felting, I'm sure.

Is it naptime yet?

I love taking a nap. Our bedroom is so serene and mostly clean, that anyone who is near the bed has a tough time staying awake. In summer, the cotton sheets are cool, in winter, the flannels are warm. It and our dining room are my favorite rooms, even more so than my yarn room. One of our windows had a leak due to termites (and the home inspector inspected WHAT, again????), and since the yarn room is in the basement near the leak, it needs work. Sheetrock is heavy and I just can't get in the mood for major construction, so that's a Anti-Procrastination day event.

Wednesdays are my Anti-Procrastination days. It doesn't matter what, I need to do something I've been putting off for ages. Sadly, there are a lot of things on my list, such as:

? Fix Car roof
? Roof repair-get estimates
? Dental plans-find one
? Put up fallen siding-can do today!
? Bissell all floors-Thanks to the cat, the kitchen needs it today
? Curtain for Dirk’s office & laundry room-I need to sew them
? Change bathroom faucets-ug, maybe this weekend when I have helpers
? Deal with living room books-it's the zone for today, ala Flylady, so, ok
? Laundry room clutter-four years of school papers. ug.
? Fix bathroom switch-playing with electricity! again with the helpers.
? Fix master bathroom shower drain-homework today is "How Not to Flood the Kitchen"
? Paint laundry room-See "Laundry Room Clutter"
? Peel wallpaper in kitchen-I can do that in bits! Ok.
? Paint kitchen-See above

Refusal of Birth Control

Ok, so, I'm wondering...

When pharmacists refuse to give a woman birth control because it's wrong to prevent the birth of a child, does that mean they save all their own semen when they wank? After all, if it's wrong to prevent a woman's egg from naturally ripening, then isn't it wrong to evacuate the swimmers without a goal? Even the Bible has the 'no seed on the ground', and yet, it doesn't mention anything about preventing the fruit from ripening. If every egg is sacred, so is every sperm. So guys, you MUST use every single ready and willing sperm, just like women must use every single egg.

In my personal life, I'm very conservative. I'd do a lot before I'd go on welfare, abortion is not an option, and I get really tired of the filth that passes as entertainment in the media. There is prime time for family viewing and after prime time for when the kids are in bed (or supposed to be) with the line between the two becoming more fuzzy every day.

In my public life, gay people don't bother me, I think people should be able to choose for themselves on major life decisions, and that heathcare should be accessible to all tax paying Americans. I think we should help the illegal aliens but not at the expense of the true citizens. I think democracy works great for us in the US, but is not a blanket form of goverment for every culture in the world.

I think that I can't tell anyone else what to think, no matter how much the control freak part of me would like to. I also think that I love to hear what other peoples' point of views are, just as long as I'm not forced to agree no matter what.

The Yoga mat bag's strap isn't felting like it should. I'm rather not happy about this. Maybe a heavy wash in hot water. I'll figure it out in the morning. :(

Scarf Class Last Night

A good time was had by all, I think. That, and I made beaucoup bucks. Bucks are handy because they help with the yarn addiction and class materials. I charge at or even a bit below what I paid. Usually, cost of materials are covered by the amount changed. Thank goodness for Smiley's Yarns. I love those guys.

Stash enhancement time!

Yesterday, I went to an LYS. Found some more Merino Lace from Skacel in white for the Spider Web shawl. Once I got home, and after reading the yarn requirements, I should have bought two skeins. Serves me right for doing the spontaneous thing, huh? I also found this in Taupe Mix for the Summer in Kansas, but after Hubby and I agreeing that it in no way looks like anything but maybe Fall in Kansas, I'm going back to the Knit Picks wishlist of mine. In the meantime, I'm designing something else for the mohair.

Between shopping for yarn, grocery shopping, and class, I didn't really get a chance to finish up the Yoga Mat Bag, but am a few rows away from being done. I'll be felting the thing by noon, though! Yay! I'm so ready to have it completed. It's my first felting project and I'm dying to see how it turns out.

More Navin Moments!

Comments! I have comments!! Congratulations to Snowball, THE first commentor on my blog ever!

Although, I'm sure that if there'd been comments available on the entry where I mention that Hubby has zero mechanical ability, there'd been a tart comment online from him. Especially since he DID make a tart comment in real life. I knew he had the link, didn't know he took the time to read my drivel.

Just to make sure, and because I've been called weird by more than one person in my life, I took this test:

You Are 60% Normal (Really Normal)

Otherwise known as the normal amount of normal You're like most people most of the time But you've got those quirks that make you endearing You're unique, yes... but not frighteningly so!

How Normal Are You?

But then, after this:

You Are 30% Weird

Not enough to scare other people... But sometimes you scare yourself.

How Weird Are You?

Now I'm wondering what the other 10% is?

Just a quickie...

Elann AND Berroco have emailed me their newsletters. With that then Knitpicks and RamsWool catalogues in the mail yesterday... It's like giving Vicodan to a junkie. Like, I'm SUPPOSED to resist? Crap. Look at this and tell me you're unmoved. Really. Tranquil Lagoon and Spiced Wine, near the bottom, have these lovely subtle shades within the strands. Must. Put. Back. Debit. Card.

On the other hand, things like this are just not good. Don't go there, ever. Bad color, bad design, what every relative of a knitter fears on Christmas day.


















(later edited to better display this "don't")

Grocery Day!

Friday is my grocery day and I love grocery shopping. Have no idea why, since the stores are usually crowded, overpriced, and people drive like maniacs. I think it's once everything is put away, I feel ready for anything. I'm armed with a shopping list sorted by section then alpha, then while I'm putting the items away, I'll clean out the fridge and pantry at the same time. I can keep the pantry full, but really need to let the freezer empty a little. I'm dying to paint the laundry room and will need to be able to move the tall freezer out from the cubby. There's no way I can leave the walls white behind. Yech. Shopping later, since I'd gone to the store on Monday and there's still some Diet Pepsi in the house. You should see how feral Fry and I get over the last can of Diet Pepsi. Yes, we're addicts.

Neighbor guy came over yesterday to borrow Basalmic vinegar and thyme, and of course the house was a mess. Advanced knitting class was a ton of fun, the students loved the samples I'd knitted up, but I'd got back home at 3:45. The dishes had soaked to freezing, of course (see yesterday) and the stove sorely needed a good wipe-down. Sigh. I need to get out the timer, doing the 15 minutes a room crisis cleaning TODAY. It'll be great for the weekend, all play and no work on Saturday and Sunday.

I should care what I weigh, but for some strange reason, I've had insomnia and have been eating at night. It's probably around 155-157, but I don't want to even look. Not in the mood. I'll be good this weekend, then start Monday with the workout program, whichever I choose.

In the spirit of Navin R. Johnson: I'm somebody! Wendy, of Wendy Knits emailed me! I'd commented on her recent lace project, which, she'd designed herself, and asked a question about HER longhair cat's claws. Claude has talons and is not afraid to use them to get what he wants. I'd seen pictures of her Lucy loving on the shawls and just knew Claude would have to be "Jaws of Life"ed from them if he'd done the same. Sure enough, Lucy is declawed and I'd heard from the great Wendy herself. Wendy is THE fastest knitter I've ever seen AND has a good eye for colors. Most, if not all, of the knitting blogs I read, knit-focused or not, have excellent knitters writing them. They also have to post every three days or so, or I'll lose interest and remove them from my "Read daily" folder. I love to see the other knitter's progress. Sometimes, it's comforting when I've not done much, but mostly, it's challenging because, I've not done much. :)

I'm so wanting the yoga mat bag strap to be done. The swatch was felted yesterday, which is cool. Too bad the stitches were perfect, because the felt obscured them.

Back in the olden days, we 'showed' pigs in the livestock fairs. Other girls showed sheep, washing and blowdrying them. Felting the wool reminded me of the smells back then, only happily, without the manure smells that tend to go with those things.

Hubby Has a Wonderful Suggestion

As in: "Why don't you knit up a tester before you throw that (the yoga mat bag) into the wash?" You mean, DON'T fly by the seat of my pants and hope it doesn't go to heck in my handbasket with me??? Gosh! Never thought of that. Seriously, I didn't, so I'm halted on the handle and working on a bit of swatch for the felting thing.

Thanks to some vastly entertaining knitblogs and my new copy of Van Dyke's restorers catalogue, I've not got anything done except eating a breakfast bar (chocolate) and drinking two cups of coffee. I have bills to mail, a class to teach in Weston at 1:00pm (advanced knitting!! fun!!), and a shower to take. ::covering up the time:: Doing the soaking dishes would be good, too. Especially before the water goes from boiling to freezing.

I spent yesterday evening going through my health and fitness ripouts from magazines, tossing the not applicable ones and sorting the others. I'll devise a menu and workout plan from them, soon. The activity part of my life has been minimal, so... Nutrition has been good. We've been South Beach over here, some whole grains and very limited sugar. All the lean meats, fruits, and veggies a person could eat. I've learned that when a person dumps 4-5 bags of those 100 calorie bags of Pecan Sandies into a bowl, then THAT'S a decent snack. Tsk tsk. As a result, I'm afraid to weigh today but will tomorrow. Fridays and/or Mondays are my official weigh days. Probably over 155lbs, but still fitting into the 8's jeans AND breathing, so that's cool with me.

Isn't THAT special?

So, is this what a GOOD Christian really thinks when given a forum to blather in???

He didn't mean KILL the guy, just kidnap him. Which, and I could be wrong, is still a FEDERAL offense.

Speaking of blather, I've got some of my own.

Lemon has a new battery. Didn't I just DO that? Gah. What did Hub's friend Bill tell me about my guy's seedy past? Two things! 1. That an enlisted cousin of Hub's saw him in Germany and Hubs took the kid to a whorehouse. Right. Quoting Bill quoting Hub, "I'm an officer, he's enlisted, not an option." That really DOES sound exactly like something Hubby says. The whole taking a kid to a whorehouse is silly, since everyone who REALLY knows the guy knows my Hubs is waaaay too cheap to actually spend money for sex. He's too nice looking to actually have to pay someone. That, and he takes the whole 'officer and a gentleman' VERY seriously.

And that leads us to #2. Bill's wife and he had set up Hubs with a cousin or something of theirs and Hubs wasn't interested. I'm sure my beloved had his reasons, but Bill thinks it was because she tried to push him into a relationship and that Hubs doesn't like aggressive or 'wild' women. Riiiight. Honestly, this is so funny on a lot of levels. Hubs is a force of nature when it comes to desire, physical or mental. If he wants or doesn't want something, that is the way it will be. I've tried to alter the course of his events to no avail. So if he's decided that a certain woman would not fit into his life plan, he won't waste his time having sex with someone he'll have to 'lose' in case the right one comes along. He's very linear, which can be very good. I've been known to use his power for my own good, like at the DMV...

Then, the wild and agressive comment. Tough time in not guffawing to that one. I mean, I've only read every single Cosmo from 1982-1995. With that and the Kama Sutra, even if I've never done it, I probably know about it. I'm thinking Bill really meant pushy versus aggressive, since Hubs has no complaints with my forcefullness.

Did you know that if you encourage your parents to scratch in the VIN number on a small boat you bought them, and they are thought to be thieves, they could be sent up the river for real? Two to ten years, I didn't know. Good thing my Mom has this honesty hangup that everyone else around here seems to have, too. I bought the 'rents the thing, if they wanted to use it for firewood, heck, why not? They have the actual boat that I paid actual money for, they have the bill of sale, AND a piece of paper that has the VIN on it, so who would blame them if some sort of, I dunno, ice pick, maybe, happened to scratch out a bit of a number to replace the original tape that has the very faded number on it.

This is why I'm not a thief or politician. I ramble when I lie and my loved ones can see my fibs a mile off. Forced to be an honest person. Ain't that crap?

Later that same day...

Yay! Headache is gone! The doc messed up on my mail order Relpax, though. It came in the mail today and was 20mg instead of the 40mg. Still, one 20 worked, so I'm not complaining.

Everything was done, laundry, trash, dishes, vacuum, PLUS not only have I finished the bottom to the Yoga mat bag, but am now doing the strap. I love Google, because after entering "last minute knitted gifts corrections" I found a page telling me my instincts were spot on. Instead of (wrap, k3, drop yo, k15), I just knew it had to be (wrap, k3, drop yo, k12, yo, slip 3 purlwise) and it was. There's a yarn in front versus the instructions of yarn in back, which is bad because I did the yarn in back and am not changing it now. I'm getting the reenforced edging on the strap as needed.

I'm taking in Lemon to see why it won't start. It's not the generator, I don't think. The engine tries to start, but sucks the energy out of a fully charged battery. I'm thinking alternator, or possibly a short that has drained the battery to nothing. Either way, Bill will see what's up after noon.

Today, Fry informs me that school is 'fun'. Still the one word descriptions. She had also changed into her jammies and MY comfy socks from my Aunt. MY socks from MY aunt. Not that I'm bitter or anything. I made my own scruffy ones from some Moa Dea on clearance at Michael's. They slip off too easily, so I never wear those and it seems MY socks are always in the wash.

Migraine Day!

Um, yay? Not that I like pain or anything, but now I have a decent excuse to sleep. I'm napping for a couple hours, then cleaning. Knitted on the yoga mat bag this morning and am almost ready to knit the bottom. Another inch in the round and I'm there. Then it's the strap, which will be a pain, but necessary.

Found new knitting blogs to become addicted to, did a sinkfull of dishes, chatted with the Jehovahs, confirmed 10 for my Camden Point scarf class on Monday, reserved some lace knitting books and renewed what I could on my already checked out books. Nap, take out trash, fold clothes, vacuum main floor, and I'll call it good for today. It's looking like the generic Tylenol isn't doing the job, so Relpax, here I come. Relaxing music, aromatherapy pillow spray (Works? I dunno, but like the scents,) and a Zsa Zsa eye mask for the afternoon.

Maybe more later. After reading a few knitblogs, the lace is calling me. My brain says no way Jose.

Yesterday, I mowed the lawn, edged, then figured I deserved Chinese food from HyVee. With me doing the "guy" thing, Hubby got the goods from the store. It's so humid outside, my clothes were drenched. Yuuuuck. The yard looks much better, though. The back needs serious work, still, and I'll tackle that tomorrow, hopefully.

Back from Vacation and No New Yarn

That's right. No new yarn. All those LYSs in Colorado Springs, Ft. Collins, etc, and yet, not even a peek inside. We cluttered up our time with all those big mountain things all over the place there.

Blow by blow, here it is:

August 13, Saturday
Finally left the house at 2:00pm, arriving at my parents at 11pm. We've done that route so often down the I35 corridor, that it's rather boring. I sorted my bag o' papers and caught up on my magazines. Threw out a bunch of Muscle and Fitness after tearing out the 'good' articles. It was great to finally see the Fry. I missed her so. It rained the ENTIRE drive there. No small potatoes considering it's a constant 8 hours on the road at 70+mph.


August 14, Sunday
Laid around the 'Rents house, just chatting, looking at mementoes from the grandparents, hugging on the Fry, and eating cupcakes. I also defragged the parent's hardrive and checked for errors. Sifted through Fry's new toys for packing and showed off my lace knitting. Even Dad seemed impressed. Not that he's not easily impressed, but with doilies in the Dollar stores, sometimes skill isn't easily seen. Dad also thinks blogs are like Miranda rights, anything you say can and will be used against you. Which is why those who read this aren't going to hear about my college days. Ha! Of course, MY college days are almost as bad as today's middle school kids' times. I drank a few beers, but never tried anything illegal or tobacco-related. Anyone who gets addicted to Diet Pepsi and As The World Turns should not try anything stronger than that. I keep trying to get addicted to exercise and Tofu, but sadly, those won't 'take'.

Anyway, on to...

August 15, Monday
Amarillo! Famous as the Birthplace of Fry! We ate lunch where Hubby and I had our first date, visited our first house and the honeymoon home, visited Fry's birthplace (hospital), went to Hubby's workplace and talked with some of his former coworkers, and had a great time. After Amarillo was Dumas (Doo-mas), then Dalhart (or vice versa, I can't keep them straight). We hit New Mexico and went to the top of Capulin, an extinct volcano. It's so cool, you can see the chunks of lava long before getting there. The whole place is a collection of various extinct volcanoes. Since it's a National Park, we got the Passport stamp, of course. We had to give the Great Sand Dunes a miss, since we wanted to get to Hubby's Sister's house at a reasonable time.

August 16, Tuesday
Royal Gorge! We walked the bridge, took the tram, and took the steep railway to the bottom of the gorge. Very lovely. Then we went to Cottonwood Pass and the Great Divide. We hiked up a little and even Hubby was out of breath at 12126 feet (3700m). Fry was feeling bad over being out of shape, but if a guy who runs 2 miles in 17 minutes is winded...

We did a very quick stop at the Florissant Fossil beds. Sad, because all we had time to do was get our passport stamped and buy some brochures on how the fossils came to be.

After that, Pike's Peak. We drove up as slow as humanly possible. Not that I'm bitter or in a hurry, not at all. The time spent was worth it and the drive was wonderful. We drove down at sunset and am sure we had altitude sickness.

August 17, Wednesday
Fry-day!! It is Fry's birthday. We celebrated by driving through Phantom Canyon, touring a real gold mine, visiting the Air Force Academy, and eating pizza and birthday cake. She got money from her aunt, then books from us. She loves Calvin and Hobbes, so we found her two of those, and she wanted the boxed set of Lemony Snicket books.


August 18, Thursday
Leaving Colorado day. First stop is the Great Sand Dunes. When the sign says the sand gets hot, believe them. Ow. The nice thing is, the creek really felt good on our toasted toes.

We make a brief stop outside Dodge City to view the Santa Fe trail wagon wheel tracks. None of us can really see them, but it's still cool to be there.


August 19, Friday
Rest day! Hubs and I go to the bank to catalogue his coin collection. Once we're home, we nap, then take Fry to Hub's Daddy's grave, then on to Boot Hill. Hubs knows some of the gunfighters there, so we tour the museums and visit the gunfighters. The museums are really worth the admission price and they've added a lot in the 12 years since we've visited.

August 20, Saturday
Drove home! Squeekie and Claude were fine, Goldie was not. He went to fish heaven to live with Goldie One. Otherwise, the house was fine.

August 21, Sunday
Rest day. Some laundry, knitting, emails, computer time.

I knitted my Mom a sachet bag and most of my sister's yoga mat bag. What with the lovely scenerey, I did a lot less lace knitting that I'd had planned, plus, I wanted mindless knitting. The stockenette circular knitting of the bag helped with this.

I'm on all the LYSs mailing lists and two of the stores sent their latest class lists. :D There's tons of mail from the week, even after tossing the junk. Time for lunch, soaps, and housecleaning.

Stupid AM Activities

Here is a quick list of things NOT to do after midnight:

1. Do NOT knit lace. Not even 'just a row'. I will goof it up and then spend hours fixing it because I won't trust every other stitch in the row.

2. Do NOT dink with blogger template. Not ever. I know Cobol, Fortran, Pascal, Powerbuilder, and a few types of SQL. I do NOT know HTML well enough to type, enter, and go without errors.

Number 2 is why I stayed up until four am this morning. Ug. We're leaving for my parents, Amarillo, Colorado, then Dodge for a week. Hubby printed out me a to do list before leaving. I'll need to show him my 'leaving the house' to do list in my control journal sometimes, so that he'll know not to worry. I love my journal, our household information is in one place as is phone numbers, calendar, and grocery lists. Very nice.

I haven't worked on the lace in a while, got out of the habit. I'm bringing it along on the trip since there'll be hours and hours on the road.

The child called last night. She's very excited to see her mom and dad! Yay! I can't wait until tonight when we get there. She may be a big ten year old, but she's still my tiny baby.

When I was cleaning out the basement yesterday (ick, cat hair and urp galore), I moved boxes of her baby things. The little shoes made me really want another child. The first one is so wonderful, how can the second be that bad??? I probably am stopped in the baby factory phase of my life. Being 40 is a large factor. That, and amniocentosis (read: loooong needle in the abdomen) makes another pregnancy a no-go.

Off to pack.

Migraine Tales and Dyeing for More White Yarn

See the time? Why am I still awake? Stupid migraine and no Relpax. I took Excedrin Migraine, which did NOTHING. Nice. Next is Midrin and if that doesn't take, trusty ice pack will have to do.

In other news, I just obtained a new addiction. Dyeing yarn. Oh my gosh! It's way fun!! I dyed some in the Patsy colorway, but there's white spots that I'd missed. Crapola. It's ok, though. I can either die the whites OR just use the whites as the fluffy cloud part of the Rosy Dawn shawl, which is probably what I'll do since they're a lovely contrast to the other strong colors.

Midrin, then sleep.

Merino Lace at Knit Craft!!

Yummy yarn! Gotta love it.

So anyway, I stopped by the LYS (local yarn store, for you non-fiber types) and they had a whole bunch of new yarns. Particularly the Merino lace I'm so in love with over here. I could have bought any other colors, teal, peach, black, grey, dark grey, forest green, and red. But no. I bought white. Why? Because of two reasons: first, I'm cheap, too cheap for the Pansy I'd mentioned in the last post. Second reason is that I've always wanted to try dying my own stuff. It's that little control freak part of me.

Ate way too much at the Olive Garden, heart attack on a plate. Yum. What diet? I know no diet.... Weighed in at 156, 2 down from yesterday, so of course I needed to kick THAT in the teeth.

K was thrilled with the products I brought over and I have 14 classes to teach in the first half of next year. Yay! Getting paid to do what I love and the students love me. What could be better?

I'm having a tough time staying awake. Think I'll check out the Shady Marlin for the soap update, then read over how to make a yoga mat carrying case until I fall alseep. :D Must stay awake until then....

Not only did my order from Blackberry Ridge come in, but there were also a couple of yarn catalogues in the mail with them!! Yay!! I only wish that yarn store in Liberty had anything but novelty yarns. :P No lace to love on and sweeze. The patterns are the Poinsettia Shawl, the Spider Queen shawl, Rosy Fingered Dawn, and Summer in Kansas. I have no idea which one to start first, since really, I want to do all of them right this minute.

I'm leaning towards Knitpick's Alpaca Cloud in Sunlight for the Summer in Kansas shawl, then towards Pansy for the Rosy Fingered Dawn shawl in homage to West Texas sunrises, and towards Alpaca Cloud again, in Smoke, for the Spider Queen shawl. I have the yarn for the Poinsettia Shawl, Merino lace yarn in red, already in my stash. I also have number 93, or something very much the same, in my stash and don't know quite yet what to do with it. I'm sure I'll find something. :D

No matter, I'm probably ordering from Knitpicks, anyway. I have a catalogue of their's already dog-eared and the form half filled out. I'm a doofus and haven't ordered the Fiddlesticks patterns I wanted, yet, so I'll send off both before or during our Colorado trip.

There's been no lace knitting due to the demo knitting. I have to get the oil changed and the brake light checked out on Lemon today, so that's enforced knitting, there.

Weight is down 2# to 158. Still fat, but at least it's going in the right direction. Putting real lemon in my iced tea yesterday worked. :D

Ok, it's official. I'm an eeediot. Lunch with girls is on Wednesday. The reason why the 8th is stuck in my particle of brain is that today is the first day of enrollment at Fry's school. I'm so glad I didn't email girls and say, so where's lunch? Also am glad I don't HAVE to eat lunch out. I need to flush the fat and sodium from the system. There's several positives about being housebound today. The Monday swabbing of the home, having two extra days to knit on the library demos, eating a salad for lunch, take a nap, continue my genetic experiments on my Strangetown Sims, all sorts of fun stuff. S, Fry's Guinea Pig, needs a sweater, don't you think?

Thus begins the week of detox. I swear, after Saturday's food, fried chicken and then Arby's, I woke up the next morning puffed to the max. All the salt made me retain more water than even PMS. That has to be why I'm up to 160, has to be. Ug. I'm thinking about walking to the bus stop, instead of driving the car. It'll take 45 minutes, Hubby says, and is two miles away. I don't mind the walk, but do mind the sweat. It's already 79 degrees outside.

Lemon, my hated car, is half dead. I'm charging it right now, and have to meet the girls at the library for lunch. If it's not one thing, it's millions other.

Owwwww! It's official. I've knitting myself into pain. Didn't take much, just a couple of baby booties with a little bit of self-induced tension. My thumb is sore, but didn't keep me from knitting up two scarves this afternoon on the way home from the inlaws.

Family reunion was fun in a way. Hubby was pulled in all sorts of directions by various cousins and I was on my own. Everyone knew me, because Hubby is his father's only child. No one had name tags, so I knew faces, but not names. Turns out, even Hubby didn't know everyone, so there you go.

I didn't bring the lace due to the 'smooth' ride in the Jeep. Ha. Idiot Alert: Hubby popped the clutch just as I was taking the last swig of my Red Bull. If I were lucky, it would have splashed on my face. But, I wasn't. The stuff didn't hurt going into my nose and down my throat, like I'd thought. Do I know better than to drink a non-straw drink in the car while the said car is in motion? Of course I do.

Goals? What goals? I don't know of these 'goals' you speak.... Ok, I do, but later, tomorrow, probably.

Not much going on lately.

We're going to a family reunion later on today. It should be interesting... I'm on the phone right now with my hubby's cousin and he's giving me an earful. It'll be fun.

Not much on the lace front. I need to work on the library's demo models, so the lace is at a standstill until Monday evening. I'm bringing a bag of scrap yarn to knit up various things, just for fun and show.



Remember how I was wanting to be 'perfect'? So do I, vaugely. I'm bringing a journal along on the trip, in case all my models are done before the ride home. New goals or at least reenforcing the ones I already have.

Summer of lace is going well. Sadly, I stayed up way too late last night, fixing a bit of mistakes here and there to the tune of 3 am. I have one more row on the sand dollar chart before the last knit row. Yay!

Went to doc, nothing had changed but he wants to see me again in three months and the appointments are already made. The office did them for me already. Can you believe? They're super-cautious, aren't they? It's good, though. Better than the apathetic approach.

I've ordered a boatload of lace patterns, specifically, four, and want to order two more for my collection. Now, if I can just find the lace yarns.... I can find them, I don't want to actually spend the money on them, ha ha! I'm cheap, what can I say.

I rule. :D I fixed a pal's computer (for now, anyway), earning eternal gratitude. Then hit a yarn store for lace weight but all they had was novelty. Bleh. Bought some Zum bar soap for sachets, then bought school supplies. I love buying office supplies, but hate looking for "correcting pencil, blue". Yeah, like they grow on trees. Gaw.

New eppy of South Park is on, so....