Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Happy Halloween!


Happy Halloween everyone!

P.S. No, that's not me on the right, that's my mother and the short one is my aunt. The punk in the middle...well, we picked him up off the street. He goes by the name Aladdin.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Can I Tell You...

...how much I love Ravelry.
I haven't even taken the time yet to do 1/4th of the options available to users.
But I did buy this yarn yesterday at Spirit Work mostly because it was 50% off and I like the color.Of course I had no idea what I would do with 2 small skeins.
Then I went onto Ravelry and found someone who had used it to make Odessa.
What a great pool of information for ignorant knitters like me.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Ravelry

I got my invite to Ravelry yesterday.
It didn't really take that long, just a few weeks.
Now I have got to find time to play around in there.
(I couldn't do it last night because I was busy killing DN2's fish -- don't ask, it's a painful subject -- and it was unintentional!!!)
I made my first friend! Hi Micky.
Well, she's always been my friend, but she was the first person I sought out in Ravelry because I remembered how to find her.
So if you're on there look for me - JewelTomes.
I figured I would keep it simple.
'Cause I'm stupid like that.
If you're on there too let me know how to find you!
And a big shout out to Sheri and Jean because I've been missing them. Life here on the west side keeps me busy, but you're not out of my thoughts!
And another shout out to Peaches, my KTS4 swap partner who is living in Southern California and thankfully safe from the fires, although she can see an orange glow in the sky. Stay safe please!

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Socialism Lite

Last night in class we broke up into groups to discuss the music in the novel A Room with a View.
Somehow I had mentioned that the Emerson's were considered to be "bad people" because George hadn't been baptized and he and his father were Socialists.
The girl sitting next to me said, "Yeah, Socialists. What's that?"
I tried to explain and gave her a brief two sentence description of Socialism. (Note of snark: this is a 400/500 level class -- wtf???)
Oddly enough, last night I wore my The Communist Party shirt to class - I should have used it as a visual aid.
She looked at me and said without guile, "So Socialists are what Paris Hilton is."
And then I did something horrible.
I laughed in her face.
I forced myself to stop and told her, "No honey, she's a socialite."

Friday, October 19, 2007

I Need to Stop Walking Around Town in my Nightgown

I had another crazy dream last night.
Well I always have crazy dreams.
But last night I dreamed that I was shopping for groceries and driving around in my nightgown and fortunately I hadn't run into anyone. I saw a girl I knew from work and I thought she hadn't seen me but then she said hi as she was passing.
SOOOO embarassing.
And in my dream I said to myself, "I have to stop walking around town in my nightgown."
Then I thought, "Well here's my next blog post."
Somehow real life and the imaginary one are slowly melding together.
So even though this event never actually happened, I'm still recreating it here for you.
Strange stuff. Strange mind. Be glad you can't see what I see.
Well DH got corralled into being a Marshal at the swim meet being hosted by our swim club in November. He thought it was for one day and it is for both Saturday and Sunday!! Of course when you're sent emails you can ignore them but when they corner you at a swim practice, you really can't run away.
And all a Marshal does is make sure the kids aren't running the halls or hitting someone in the head with a ball while they're waiting for their time to swim.
For about 5 hours each day. Yikes.
Glad he spoke up first.
Ha! (I know he'll read this and say something.)

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Wear a Sweatshirt

It's getting colder and I'm not turning my heat on.
Not yet anyway.
My next meter reading is on 5 November and then after that on 5 December. If we can make it past 5 December without turning the heat on we'll save ourselves a huge gas bill for December.
January and February are another story.
In the meantime everyone is just going to have to dress a little warmer than they have been.
It is hard on the visiting company.
You know who I mean - that pack of teenage boys who show up here in the middle of the night and camp out on every available sleeping surface.
Suck it up.
That's what I say.
So DN2 has a swim meet this weekend.
She has to swim the third leg in a relay, 25 m freestyle and 25 m backstroke.
This swimming thing is all so new to me - none of us has ever done it before.
But I do know that if she doesn't improve on her dive into the water she's going to lose seconds every single time. She just can't dive to save her life. She falls into the water right on her belly. I don't know what the issue is but I do feel like walking over and trying to straighten her out. I should have my cousin come and teach her - she taught me how to dive when I was 5 and then she was actually my diving coach in high school. I won't win any awards for diving - after all that was 25 years ago (gasp), but I do get the concept of a smooth entry. I guess the swimming coaches are working on swim strokes and perhaps diving isn't as important. Who knows. I may have to send my cousin an email - after all she is DN2's PE teacher now.
I was a little irritated yesterday about this swimming thing.
There is a lady there who handles the registration and payment and when I wrote out my large check to her she said I could post-date it, which I did for the 17th (payday). Yesterday was the 17th last I checked. Which means my check should have been deposited only yesterday. Well it cleared on Tuesday evening. Which means she completely ignored my request to cash it on or after the 17th and deposited it on Monday.
It did clear but I did get an insufficient funds fee.
She is also a realtor, so I have my suspicisions about her "faux friendliness".
I may have to say something to her and I certainly won't trust her in the future and I'll be keeping my eye on her that's for sure.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Weekend Plans

Unfortunately my weekend plans do not involve going to Rhinebeck.
Sad to say.
But I've come to terms with it.
I have much more important family matters to which I need to attend.
First, we have our annual cousins lunch on Saturday. I didn't make it last year and I cannot recall why. Class? No. Soccer? Could be. It was something I know. I'd look but it's early and I'm still waking up.
Then we have to take DN2 to her first swim meet! We still don't have the location or the time of the meet but I've been assured it is in the afternoon. It had better be. She should do well with the swimming portion - but she hasn't mastered diving into the pool yet.
I was talking to my cousin Janet yesterday and I will see her on Saturday and I can't wait.
I love my cousin - actually many of my female cousins are all like older sisters.
And I'm the baby of the family.
Always and forever, and I don't let people forget it.
(Fortunately I have moved past spoiled brat to bossy, opinionated loudmouth but I consider it my birthright.)
Anyway after the swim meet we are taking DN1 to the mall so she can buy some new clothes for her birthday and for a conference she has to attend in DC sometime this month. Don't ask me specific days.
That takes care of Saturday - and it's pretty jam-packed.
Sunday I have been asked to teach Sunday School (yes, young impressionable minds to mold in my own fashion) and then I have to spend the rest of the day baking for work on Monday. We have monthly birthdays and we all rotate who will bring in the food each month. This month it is my turn.
So I will sit on the couch knitting and watching tv as my quick breads bake and think of my blogger friends down in Rhinebeck buying yarn for me to covet.
What is everyone else doing this weekend?

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

All Tori, All the Time

Saturday was the day Tori Amos was performing in Syracuse.
And lucky (and now broke) us got to go see her.
It's been 10 years since we've seen her live and she only continues to improve.
(I won't throw out that "like fine wine" analogy because it is sooo overused.)
We got to the theatre before our appointed 4:30 showtime. We paid extra for our tickets so we could watch her soundcheck - some people paid extra for the soundcheck and the meet and greet. I don't make that much money.
From this picture the marquee and the theatre look a little skeevy, eh.

But inside it was gorgeous.
Parking was great - and cheap!
Only $6 for all day.
We could see Tori's tour bus and trucks parked in the street behind the theatre. Of course I had to have a picture.
Of course.
Apparently it was homecoming weekend for SU and since the theatre is so close to the Carrier Dome we saw lots and lots of Orange going by. With coolers.
At 4:30 we were welcomed to the Crazy World of Rock and Roll! (thanks to Kelly the semi-bitchy tour rep) and told to come back at 5:00.
After a pint of Guiness at the pub next door (served at 52 degrees exactly)...

...we went back and were welcomed once again to that Crazy World and told to come back in another half hour.
This time we spent our time in CVS just down the street buying gum, a sharpie and paper.
Our goal? Besides writing down all the things crazy people say ("Oh my God, I'm such a bad person!" "I'll have a white Zinfandel on the rocks") we wanted to make sure we wrote down her set list.
Back to the theatre and finally we were in!
And these two guys were in line with us and in my usual style I completely embarrassed DN1 and made her take a picture with them.

Always on the lookout for a potential son-in-law.
Or just to be annoying.
Yeah, that's it.
They gave us our special VIPosse bags, we got our tickets, spent an enormous amount of money at the t-shirt table and then finally were able to go in to the soundcheck. Now while we were standing in the lobby we could hear her playing and see the lights and it was AWFUL having to wait to go in!
But then in we went -- only to stay for 2 songs. That was our limit.
They were, however, an amazing 2 songs.
Two of my favorites - "Concertina" and "Taxi Ride". (For the record "Taxi Ride" is the ringtone I have on my cell for when SN2 calls me - cause he's always looking for a ride. DN1 has "A Sorta Fairytale". DH has the Beach Boys "God Only Knows". I don't know why I'm sharing this, just thought you might want to know.)
It was actually quite emotional believe it or not.
After the 2 songs we had to exit the theatre and were told to wait with the other common folk for the concert to start at 8:00.
So we went to eat at a pub (a different one) and had to share a table -- it was that crowded.
Who did we sit with? People from Rochester.
Damn it's a small world.
Finally we got into the concert and it was even more amazing than we expected.
It was complete perfection.
Here is some of what we saw:





It was truly a perfect concert. Tori played for almost 2 1/2 hours and sang many of my favorites ("Tear in Your Hand" "Yes, Anastasia" - even "Northern Lad"! -- and our family song "Spark" -- it's 6:58 are you sure where my spark is)
She's playing in Buffalo on the 24th.
Who knows, maybe we'll go again!
In the meantime, "maybe it's time...to wave good-bye now."

Monday, October 15, 2007

Where Does the Time Go?

This weekend flew by.
So much going on, so little sleep, and a weekend rounded-out by a 4-hour A Haunting mini-marathon on a dreary Sunday afternoon.
Wow.
Much to tell - so much I'll have to break it up into two posts.
And not much knitting, although like a security blanket yarn never left my side but it was rarely brought out into daylight.
I came home from work on Friday and shortly after I arrived at home my sister-in-law and her sister-in-law, Keiko showed up.
Not unexpected, mind you.
We knew they were coming and they were only in town for a quick overnight visit, but we packed a lot into the time.
DN2 had swimming practice and we went to watch that while SN2 finished his soccer game across the city. Once we were all gathered together we ordered dinner from the Greek restaurant (where they serve Greek food, as opposed to the restaurant run by the Greeks where they serve diner food - big distinction). I'm not crazy about eating at 9:00 at night but that's what we did.
We woke up early raring to go because they had to be at the airport by 2:30, I had to be on the road to pick up DN1 for our adventure (more later!) by 2:00 and we wanted to go pick pumpkins.
Now picture this.
Keiko-san has not had a vacation in almost 12 years.
This is her first time in the States (she's Japanese).
She went to NYC, saw the sights, met the actors from Mary Poppins (!), and now she's in Western NY. You can't round out your NYS experience without doing something fall-like and festive, right?
By the way, my SIL brought me some perfume from NYC - and you cannot believe how grateful I am. I have been out of my favorite perfume for over 6 months. Yes, it's true! I have not smelled good for over 6 months!
Believe it or not she got me two bottles! (It's expensive if purchased retail, but she got it from a wholesaler in NYC for half the cost.)
I'm over the moon - it's the only perfume I wear and I just haven't bought any since I ran out so I haven't been wearing anything. This is it, baby, the only one for me:
Boucheron.
But enough about me and my smell (and damn, I do smell good right now).
We left home to hit the pumpkin patch, and surprisingly enough everyone wanted to go!
(We were only missing DN1 and that's because she had to work. She was missed by all.)
But first we had to go see my mother and my aunt:

And then we headed out to the pumpkin patch:

A good time was had by all - check out these pictures:

Then we zoomed back home and I left to pick up DN1. Where were we headed? Well this picture might give you a hint.


More to come tomorrow....

Friday, October 12, 2007

Where I've Been Spending My Time

I've been getting in some good quality (anti-social) knitting time.
How, you ask.
By sitting at the pool watching DN2 at swim practice.


I can see this swim team thing will slowly eat up all my free hours in a week.
But you know, I'm glad.
She needs something to do, she absolutely loves swimming (yes, even laps), and I can't get her out of the water once practice ends.
The photo above is an end-of-practice shot. Two swimmers left in the pool, the one on the right with the dark cap is mine. See what I mean?
So I sit on my butt on the bleachers getting bleacher butt and a back ache because there's nothing to lean against, I listen to my iPod, and I knit. For an hour and a half 3 nights a week. Well, except for Monday's when I have class, and then DH goes and plays with the Nintendo DS. My activity is much more productive, don't you think?
How am I anti-social? Because DN2 wants me (or us, rather) to sit on the bleachers close to her lane, which is on the other side of the pool from where all the other parents sit. But really, we know that anti-social = shy and that's exactly what I am.
And of course sometimes we head to Friendly's afterwards for ice cream.
Although it's a tad nippley out lately for that, and they're going to close the outside window soon I'm sure.


Yeah, we're working on that "dry your hair before you leave the locker room" thing.
So last night I almost got to the end of the first ball of yarn for My So-Called Scarf. I know, I should have finished it. Especially since we're having company in tonight - my sister-in-law and her sister-in-law are visiting from Japan. Only one overnight, because then they're heading back to NYC and flying home.
And tomorrow night, Saturday, is the big concert for DN1 and myself - all Tori, all day.
We have to be in the theatre in Syracuse by 4:30 for the soundcheck.
Yes, we get to watch the soundcheck. How awesome is that.
And then of course we have to wait until 8:00 for the concert to start. You know I'll be knitting during that time. I wonder if they'll kick us out of the theatre.
Hmmm. So many unknowns.
Guess we'll have to wait and see.
And a big hello to Peaches my KTS4 swap partner!
Sadly she's blogless, but we'll soon change that, won't we.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Congrats to Doris Lessing

Congratulations to Doris Lessing on winning the 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature.
If you haven't read The Golden Notebook, perhaps you should.
(Yes, Kat, I'm talking to you.)

The Doldrums is not just a place

It's where I live.
The Doldrums. Otherwise known as the Home of Blah.
Sorry about the absence but I've been so not myself lately.
I'll spare you a lengthy dissertation on my blahs, poor Purl has had to endure enough from me already.
I've been so down in the dumps and...whatever...that I didn't even properly wish my friend Major Knitter a Happy Birthday!
What a crappy friend.
So happy birthday dear friend.
Go send her belated wishes and blame it on her bad friend in Western NY.
She deserves all your good thoughts.
I'm supposed to be getting ready for work and really don't have time for much, but I'll leave you with a picture of what I've been working on (and no, it's not repairing my sock):

It's My So-Called Scarf using Manos del Uruguay purchased several years ago at Knit Happens.
And the good news is that I (might) have gotten into Knitters Tea Swap 4!!!
I missed the deadline - and I surely don't know how that happened, I left a whiny message on the blog, and Suzie the Angel who runs the swap sent me an email!
Whining doesn't normally work, but I do love my KTS's.

Knitting, tea, and chocolate - I'm ready to hibernate.
I've also begun reading Anne of Green Gables for my KAL.
Since I already listened to half of it I was able to jump right to where I left off.
So now I'm off to work.
Blah.

Monday, October 01, 2007

Purl Called It

I should have listened.
But no, I didn't think it would happen in Rochester.
After all Purl lives in Houston, a big ole city with lots of folks.
Who lives in Rochester after all.
The population of Prince William County in Virginia is larger than this city.
But Purl called it.
She knew better than I did.
It's like this: I tried to get Hannah Montana tickets on Saturday and couldn't.
I was on the internet, credit card in hand at 10:00 and could not get through.
Oh I got into the word verification part of Ticketmaster, but then the system got hung up.
By the time I could actually get past that the tickets were sold out.
Apparently this is happening all over the country.
Scalpers are snatching up the tickets and then reselling them.
I'm sorry, I wish I could take my daughter to see this concert but I refuse to pay more than face value for these tickets. And I will not pay $2000 -- yes, 2000 smackeroos -- for four tickets to a concert.
Please.
The seller on eBay doesn't even live in New York -- he (or she) is in DC!!!
This is obscence.
Maddening.
Frustrating.
I think we'll just watch Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel and be satisfied we have cable.