Doing What Makes You Feel Good

There are several things in life that can make you feel really good.
This is a clean, family blog, so no we're not going there.
(Pointing a finger at Jean, Sheri and Kat.)
I'm talking about two specific things that really work wonders:

Buying new lipstick
Coloring your hair (which you know I desperately need to do)

Okay, the list could continue with things like having a good mail day, buying new yarn, making significant strides on a project - well you get the picture.
Yesterday was a hard day at work.
Not bad, just very busy and I know I'm going to have to get in there early today in order to get some things accomplished before a meeting with my boss at 10:00.
Yuck.
But tomorrow is Friday and then next weekend is Labor Day - so that's all good, I have a class starting on Monday (Young Adult Literature) and SN2 made the Varsity soccer team at school yesterday - he's totally psyched about that and we're all very proud of him.
Where did my summer go?
I do have a point to this post -- it is to tell you about my crappy day and how I made it better.
I bought some new lipstick at Macy's!
This is exactly why you are tuning in here, right?
Doubt it - but bear with me - I need to purge my bad day and this is the best way I know how.
So here it is -- it's Lancome Femme Magnetic and it is really not as dark as it looks:So when I go to work today, things will be looking up for me and I will feel strong and powerful mostly because of the armor I wear (which is really my new lipstick).
If I really want to feel powerful today I can always wear my Bee Goddess necklace:
Well I don't know, I don't need to run the world, just find a way to get through Thursday.
Have a great day!

Transferring the Curse

So my knitting curse has been lifted!
Well at least with regards to my Chevron Scarf.
I haven't knit on that in over four weeks, primarily because something was wrong, I hate tinking, and the operator has an error.
How did my knitting curse get transferred?
Well the way I figure it, it is because my microwave died.
Major Knitter gave me this microwave in 2002 - do you remember that?
It has worked perfectly since then, but all of a sudden it started sparking - on the inside.
And before you ask, no, there was no aluminum foil or anything metal inside.
I think it just went the way of all good microwaves in their planned obsolescence years....it died.
We are now sans microwave, but I want to see how long we can go without one.
There has been a microwave in our household since DH and I bought our first one in 1985.
We don't use it much anymore except for reheating food and cooking frozen vegies.
Of course SN2 doesn't care about my experiment - he wants his Hot Pockets! - so he wants a microwave now!!!
We'll see.
Anyway, that's my theory about the lifting of my curse.
You may scoff and say, oh it was just hard work, studying the pattern and the knitting, and plenty of patience.
I say you are wrong!
My microwave took the bullet for my crappy knitting skills and volunteered itself up as a sacrifice for the greater good of my Chevron Scarf.
Good old Emerson.
We'll miss you.
I do have to find some way to fix my other screwed up projects.
Hmmm....how long do you think we could live without our refrigerator???

Things Your Hairdresser May Say

Things your hairdresser may say that you just don't want to hear:

"Wow, look at all that white in there!"

Followed by:

"Now that it's shorter all those white hairs won't show as much."

Arrgh.

My Awesome Consumer Power Has Caused the Summer To Come To An End

We live in a very old house.
150 years old to be exact.
You would think with the 10 foot ceilings the air would circulate rather well and it wouldn't be quite so hot in the summer.
At least that was my rationale, because it is so tit-freezing cold in the winter that I thought, well we'll have it nice in the summer.
Apparently not.
The hot air just gets trapped inside the house and all one can do is sit on the couch and sweat like a pig. (And for me, bemoan my lack of knitting ability. Again.)
Or we could go hang out in the basement but I'm not going down there. Never.
So we got the opportunity to buy two used air conditioning units for $45. They are only one year old and the guy who sold them to us is a friend of my mother's and he bought them for his house last year and then this year decided to get central air.
We only put one air conditioner in the window in the living room because it started getting kind of chilly and we thought, well as soon as it warms up we'll install the other.
Since then we've run it twice.
It works, yes, without a doubt it cools the room.
But the thing is, Mother Nature has taken care of ending summer here, and I think she is putting the blame on Mame. Or us.
We purchased air conditioners, ergo, she let summer come to an end.
And it's only August!!
As I sit here in my living room at 6:00 in the morning I know that it is only 59 degrees outside (because The Weather Channel told me so).
Looks like we're not living in the South anymore, Toto.
Yesterday felt like a mid-September day and if I'm not mistaken it is still mid-August, right?
I don't know, I just can't figure it out.
Do we need a jump-start on winter? Perhaps Mother Nature thinks so but I don't.
Because it's not like our winters are unnecessarily harsh or anything!



(For the record, this is actually a picture of the Oswego area, and they are around the lake from us about 100 miles or so. They get dumped on because they are at the eastern-most tip of Lake Ontario. We do get a lot but we're south of Ontario province and get a lot of the residual Canadian snow, but not necessarily "dumped on." Sometimes it just depends on what county you live in. Regardless, I'll still take the blame for the early end of summer. I'm sure it has to be my fault somehow.)

Anxiously Awaiting the Sequel

How many of you out there will be watching High School Music 2 tonight?
I have a date with my daughter to watch it.
My son is going over to a girl's house to watch it with her, although why she couldn't come over here is beyond me.
(Perhaps because his mother is crazy? That could be it. And probably because her house is cleaner than ours.)
I'd love to know how many households will be tuned in and watching the romance between Troy and Gabriella.
Sad that I even know their names, right?
But I have a date in front of the television tonight at 8:00 with DN2.
DH doesn't know it yet but so does he.
Why? Because we're all in this together.
Ha ha ha!!!

I seriously crack myself up.
(If you don't get this reference then you need to get out to the video store or tune in to Disney Channel and watch High School Musical the first.)
While it's on I'll be working on either some cross stitch or burning sage and removing pins from a voodoo doll in order to break my knitter's curse.
Any big plans this weekend?
After the big premiere tonight I'll be catching up on Ryan's Hope, watching movies and grocery shopping for my mother.
And as for cleaning - What's that?

Remembering Elvis and 1977

I remember 1977.
August 16, 1977 to be exact.
Elvis was dead.
We were on our way to Boston to see my oldest brother get married.
The two events are connected forever in my mind - being in Boston in 1977 and Elvis being dead.
Now I was never a fan of Elvis' music but you couldn't help reading about it in the papers as they dissected the death of a legend...of the King!
Back then my taste in music ran more to Z Z Top, the Stones, Alice Cooper and The Beatles.
I've always been eclectic to say the least -- I even used to sing along with Mitch Miller!
But not to Elvis.
I didn't really appreciate the music of Elvis and it just wasn't cool to say you liked him. At least not in my town, and not if you were me.
His movies, on the other hand, I adored.
Viva Las Vegas anyone?
But I still didn't really talk about it.
Watching Elvis movies was something that you did on quiet Sunday afternoons back in the day when we had only 3 television stations, monster movies every Saturday afternoon and Hee Haw on Saturday night.
But now that I am older I can appreciate the magic of Elvis and realize the sadness surrounding how he lived...and died.
So here we are 30 years later remembering Elvis, remembering 1977, and for me at least, thinking about Boston.
Take a listen to my favorite Elvis tune and let a legend (with a little remix) help you get your day started.





Ken - Pass on a Big Hello to everyone in Boston!

Snail Mail Day

I was just over looking at pictures on my friend Caroline's blog and I left a comment letting her know I had received her package.
She sent me a book over a week ago and I was remiss in not letting her know immediately that I had received it.
Shame on me - 20 push ups as punishment.
But really I wanted to send her a letter and thank her.
And I have, because I love sending and receiving letters.
How many of you miss receiving letters in the mail?
I know that the immediacy of email is fantastic and we are really able to connect with people all over the world but I do miss coming home and finding a letter waiting for me.
I still do get some from, and send them to, my elderly aunts, but at 86 and 93 how much longer will they be writing to me?
Sometimes it is nice to sit down with some good stationery and a nice pen and write a letter.
My friend Joani sent DN2 a card the other day. Joani makes her own cards and they are gorgeous! I try but it's really just me, a stamp and some colored pencils - I could rip out a page from a coloring book and it would be about the same. But Joani has ribbon and attachments and stamps and her artistic placement of these is lovely.
So Joani sent DN2 a card just because.
And we live in the same town!
I thought it was a wonderful gesture, and DN2 got a kick out of it too.
Anyway, I propose that we all sit down and write a letter (or send a card) to someone - anyone - and just make their day.
It doesn't have to be long, just a note to say you're thinking of that person.
With all the bills we get in the mail it is always nice to have a good mail day, even when it arrives via snail mail.

Something to Remember

Whether you agree with the war in Iraq or not, this is something important to remember (emphasis mine):

"I am upset with my actions over there for not stopping what happened, but at the same time, I don't think you guys understand what is going on over there," he said. "This is a war, and the other side, they don't have rules. When we do finally get the intelligence and we do have enough to get someone, it's very rare to actually catch them in the act." Cpl Marshall Magincalda

Ideas on foreign policy are clean, safe and idealistic when they take place from the comfort of an armchair, but let's not forget that there are men and women in uniform making decisions, some right, some wrong, in the midst of chaos. Let's remember that as we head out for a safe, fun-filled weekend and say a prayer for all those serving in harm's way.

She Gets a Commission, I'm Still in the Red

So my youngest daughter is making bracelets.
She's only 8 and using stretchy cord to tie them up, but I think she shows a surprising talent for putting colors and textures together.
I'm a bit biased anyway.
But last month she and I went out to dinner at TGIFriday's with my friends Jean and Sheri.
All we did was laugh throughout the entire dinner and DN2 became enamored of these friends of mine. After all they were FUN!
And they both wanted her to make them bracelets.
Right after the dinner (which was at the mall) DN2 and I went over to Michael's and she picked out some more beads.
Ergo, there's me going into the red spending the money, but hell it's a creative, crafty activity and beats playing XBox 360 games.
So then she kept bugging me asking, "When are we going to give Jean and Sheri their bracelets?"
I took a couple of days off to spend with her, although yes I do have other children but none of the others are quite as concerned with monopolizing my time. Anyway we made plans for Monday to go out to the hospital where Jean and Sheri work, have lunch and deliver their bracelets to them.
All DN2 did was laugh throughout lunch.
And marvel at the fact that Jean and Sheri know everyone in the hospital (except the patients).
So it was good fun.
But it was during lunch that DN2 realized she was a paid artist as Jean and Sheri both gave her a commission for making their bracelets.
She was thrilled!
Did any of that money go back to good old mom who is footing the bill for the beading supplies?
No, but that's okay.
There's an arts and crafts festival this weekend.
Maybe I can get her to set up a table and recoup my investment.

My Crap Yarn Cup Runneth Over

So it's Saturday night and what do you do?
If you're me (and trust me you don't want to be) you organize your yarn.
And that's what I did this past Saturday.
I decided enough was enough, I was tired of digging through X number of plastic bins to find something and then not being in control of my stash.
I sorted it according to those high standards of mine:

One bin for crap yarn - anything made entirely of acrylic

The exception being - one bin for novelty yarn

(And yes, I'm counting mohair as novelty and not wool. This is the Julie Decimal System, deal with it.)

And the other exception being the one bin for LionBrand yarn - some of this may be "crap" yarn, but it should be sorted separately; don't ask me why, that's just what my Saturday evening, wrapped up in listening to The Prisoner of Azkaban brain told me to do

Then a bin for wool - and this is primarily 100% wool, not wool blend

A bin for lace yarn - I really, really need to start knitting lace (first step, get organized - Check!)

A bin for kitchen cotton - because as Purl says, sometimes when your knitting is jinxed or cursed, knit a dishrag!

There's a bin for cotton - like KnitPicks cotton, etc.

And finally a bin for sock yarn - lovely, lovely sock yarn - it's a small container, but filled with some jewels - now I just need to get busy

From all this work I realized several things.
One, I have some really nice yarn, and my stash is not necessarily out of control just not exhibitive of well-planned purchases.
Two, I really need to find another book that helps me deal with those odd bodkins* - the single skeins of Homespun - honestly, how many scarves can I knit for bus drivers?
Three, my crap yarn cup truly runneth over - I can't even get the lid on this bin!
But at least I'm organized and can now find what I need in the future.
As long as I can remember how I categorized everything.

*Yes, I know this is not the correct usage of this idiom but I felt like throwing it in there. Please do not sic the grammar police on me.

A Plethora of Buttons

When I was growing up my grandmother used to have an old Singer sewing machine and one of the drawers was filled with buttons.
I used to love running my fingers through the buttons and I've always wanted my own collection.
I don't know how to sew, I'm sorry to say, but I'd like to have the buttons just so I could play with them.
My apologies in advance for the blurry pictures, but here are some pretty buttons I found on sale at Wal-Mart with which I am starting my collection:


And these are for whenever I get around to making someone a sweater:


I got these because you just never know when you can use shell buttons or plain plastic ones:

The shell ones in the middle would actually work for a felted handbag.
I had to go on eBay to find buttons I thought would work for my first felted bag.
First I found an old button that looked like it might work:

It really doesn't.
This next one has a dragonfly on it:


It's not really what I was looking for.

This one is what I was looking for.
It's not as big as I thought it would be but even still the colors are perfect.
And no, it is not embedded into Benno's fur.

This is the bag in question.


I think Benno agrees with my button choice.
Now as long as he doesn't shed all over my bag...

Looks Like We're Going, Sheri

DN1 went on the internet before 10:00 this morning and was able to buy two VIP tickets to see Tori Amos in Syracuse.
Tickets went on sale at 10:00 and DN1 was there pushing buttons making sure we got ours.
Don't ask how much it cost, you don't want to know.
But we got them before the network crashed, which happened when they were on sale last week.
This will be our third time out seeing Tori in concert.
It should be an excellent time.
Now we just have to wait for October to roll around.

Update: 10 minutes later all the tickets were gone.

Another Year Older

Happy Birthday, John.
This one's for you.


Ballard Street
8/1/07

First you pitch, then you stitch

These people get this all out of order.
If you're stitching, who is doing the pitching?
I figured that one out on Friday night.
Here's the backstory.
Where I work, along with lots of other companies, we participated in the "Eat Well, Live Well" challenge.
I did it so I could get a nifty pedometer.
So materialistic, eh.
Now where is that thing?
Anyway, the guy who coordinated it for my work called and asked if he could put my name in to throw out the first pitch at a Red Wings game.
I said sure, knowing full well that I'd have a better chance of winning the NYS lottery.
(Oh please, oh please, let me win!)
I came upstairs a week ago from a meeting and my coworker Debbie had a serious shit-eating grin on her face.
She said, "Julie, you have a message. Call Amy at Rochester Business Alliance."
I looked at Debbie, I thought about it, and I said, "Oh this better not be what I think it is."
It was.
Of course Debbie went and got tickets so she could watch my shame.
Along with another 3,000 or so people.
Arrgh.
Did I practice?
Not really.
I did get a t-shirt to wear from the Athletic Director so I could represent.
Of course I look fuge!
Maybe I should go find that pedometer and work on my 10,000 steps.
Anyway, come to find out there were six people total out there throwing out pitches, but mine was the "official" one.
Of the six there was only one female.
Me!
Sounds about like the Marine Corps demographics.
Anyway once the guy who was fourth in line TOTALLY screwed up throwing his pitch, the pressure was really taken off of me.
At least I thought so.
After all, he was a guy and if he had trouble getting a pitch in to the catcher then what would the crowd expect from a fat girl?
I wish I had taken just a minute more to settle down but I just got up there and threw the ball.
And it made it to the catcher!
It bounced twice, but hey, it got there and didn't go flying off somewhere else.
Once it was over I headed back into the stands to try and fix my poor Chevron scarf and have a beer.
As I was taking pictures of the scarf DH said to me, "You're acting like Jennifer."
That was a compliment of the highest order.
And I think he meant it as such.

I should have had the beer before I went out to pitch.
Since my knitting is still cursed I took some wonky pictures instead.

"Oh Canada! Our home and native land...."
So that's my story about my major league, well AAA, pitching debut.
They let me go once I was done.
Guess the only player coming out of Rochester to make it into the Hall of Fame is Cal Ripken; you won't see my name there.
The Hall of Shame maybe.
Ha!

We'll Miss You, Frank

For all you EastEnders fans out there, here's a sad one.
Frank Butcher, played by actor Mike Reid, died of a heart attack on Saturday. He was only 67.

Frank Carson, a friend of Reid's and a fellow comedian, described the news of his death as 'absolutely devastating'.

Hell, I'm sad and I only knew him from the telly.
Rest in Peace, Frank Butcher.

Why We Have Violence in our Schools

The Curse Continues

I just can't get my knitting to work out properly.
So yesterday I went through some of my cross stitch things and straightened them out.
I'd forgotten just how much I have in the way of embroidery floss and cross stitch kits.
("Crap," DH would say.)
I have quite a few kits, but I also have a lot of magazines - and a lot of floss.
My friend Julie likes kits but I find it a pain to have to sort colors.
I'm lazy that way and really don't want to overtask my simple brain by trying to figure out which one is light pink and which one is salmon.
But I was feeling inspired because I had just finished reading a book called A Murderous Yarn by Monica Ferris.
It's about a woman named Betsy Devonshire who owns a needlecraft store in Minnesota and it got me hankering to stitch a bit.
And because it's Minnesota I thought of Julie and her cross stitch (she's a master - and fast).
So I began to stitch.
Something quick, and yes, from a kit - simple like an easy Christmas ornament.
And of course I stayed up until 11:00 stitching this "simple" ornament.
It's not done, but it probably will be tonight.
No pics, you'll have to wait.
And stay tuned, because I have an interesting post - with pictures - coming up.
Something that should/could have been one of the highlights of my life, but if you know me, I don't like quite that much attention -- or opportunity to embarass myself.
More later (I almost typed "Moor" - what am I thinking about? Probably my brother and the Melungeon connection.)
What do you do when your knitting is not working properly?
And how long do you wait before you go back and tackle a piece?

Sign of the Times

DN1 works at a large sporting goods store in the shoe department.
She arrived at work on Sunday to find this handwritten sign posted as a stern reminder for the employees:

Confidential to Major Knitter

I just had a tuna fish sandwich and chocolate pudding for lunch.
Doesn't that take you back, right?
Just thought I'd let you know I was thinking about you!

Back to the regularly scheduled copacetic life

On Friday night DN1 and I went to see a lady who read our tea leaves and used other methods of divination to give us insight into our future.
Cost = $5.00 each.
Not priceless, like the commercials would have you believe.
And it was cash anyway, not Visa.
DN1 was quite pleased with her visit and she told me on her way out of the shop after her reading when she was on her way to have some pumpkin cookies and butter beer, "Mom, keep an open mind."
I said, "My mind is open!"
"No, sometimes you have a very closed mind."
"Not true," I sputtered to myself.
And I was very nice to the lady, who is a very nice lady anyway, but she certainly did not tell me anything new or earth shattering.
Her primary message from the tea leaves is that she sees a path for me and that path is the one I'm supposed to stay on - it is a very strong, true path.
Okay, but it's also a contextual path because is she talking family, career, future goals, what?
Then she told me that at the bottom of my tea leaves she sees a heart.
Nice.
Is it because I showed up with three of my kids?
I think the wacky lady at the bookstore doing the palm readings at least gave it a go.
I tried to explain to DN1 yesterday in text messages, not necessarily the best method of communication, that I live my life by signs and symbols anyway and do a bit of my own fortune telling so it's almost unlikely that she could tell me anything new.
Why do I think my divination skills are better?
Well I can't tell anyone else's future for them, but I can certainly over-analyze and foretell my own.
And I know sometimes who is calling when the phone rings - without looking at the caller ID.
It's the Scot in me.
Right Ken?
(That's my brother, I know he will agree.)
Anyway it was all in the spirit of fun so I don't want to be overly snarky.
But it wasn't what I thought, or feared, it would be.
Fortunately, all is copacetic.

C'est fini

It's over.
I finished the book.
Surprising ending, but then not surprising at all.
I'm not ashamed to say it made me cry, but so did David Copperfield and many other books.
But page 637 broke my heart.
Must remember - they are not real people.
Now I can get back to my knitting.
Maybe do a little cleaning too.
For the record I began reading it at 7:30 Saturday morning.
And yes, it was worth it to stay up past midnight on Saturday in order to pick up the book.

Tonight's the Night

Tell me that title doesn't make you start to hum a Rod Stewart song.
Or if you're like me, your mind jumps quickly to a Neil Young song about Bruce Berry (one of his best albums ever in my humble opinion).
No, let's not talk about Rod or Neil, let's discuss Harry.
Harry Potter.
Anyone read the spoilers?
I haven't.
And I won't.
Although I am wondering if I'll be able to resist the urge to read the end of the book first - or during.
Temptation thy name is "read ahead".
I have tracked my book on Amazon to the post office where I'm sure it will be safely stored until delivery tomorrow.
But tonight, however, I will get a copy at 0001 (that's 12:01 am).
I need to get a knitting project started so I can while away the hours whilst waiting for 0001 to come.
Any thoughts on who is not going to make it?
I'm betting Neville won't, not that I'm wishing it on him.
And with so many Weasley's one or more has to go.
Please don't let it be Fred and/or George.
Honestly, they are just as good in the movies as they are in the books.
Is it wrong to have your DH accuse you of having a crush on those two young men?
Can you believe there are people already lining up to get it?
Well, I'll just have to wait and see, and tomorrow I'll be sitting on the front porch waiting for the mailman.
Because someone in my house thinks she is getting tonight's copy first.
Silly girl.

The Curse

No this is not a post about getting my period.
That's definitely TMI.
But sometime I may fill you in on my idea to bring back the menstrual hut.
Seriously, a week of being considered "unclean" and not having to work but staying somewhere else? I'm all over that.
That's a topic for another time though.
Until then you'll have to hear about my most recent curse -- my knitting.
Have you ever had times when nothing goes right?
For example, I'm knitting a perfectly lovely (at least I think so) Chevron scarf.
Could I possibly knit without screwing up?
Not me.
And I cast on for a scarf meant to be a Christmas gift.
I was very proud of myself - here it is July and I'm already working on Christmas gifts. I joined this too, so that may be part of the impetus:

Is there anyway I could not screw up a scarf which only has eight stitches?
This fool here has nine.
Who does that? Honestly.

Bring it On

I'm not normally afflicted with triskaidekaphobia or even paraskavedekatriaphobia but this morning has been a bit hairy.
After going to sleep and waking up on the same day (which means after midnight and before 5:00), against my better judgment I decided to felt the hat that I stayed up so late to finish.
Three minutes in the hot water and I pulled it out to check.
I like to check often since my first mistake at felting two years ago when I left a hat in too long and it shrank up to a horribly small shape.
I wasn't going to make that mistake again, especially since I had just felted two handbags.
So I pulled it out.
I unzipped the pillow case cover and pulled out the hat - want to know what I found?
The top where I had pulled the last few stitches tightly together, or so I thought, had all come undone and there was a huge gaping hole at the top.
That woke me up.
I stitched it up as best I could and I'm praying that the felting process will sufficiently cover up this HUGE mistake, but even still I'll always know that the hat covering my cranium has a hole in it.
And it might not sufficiently cover the one in my head.
Go figure.
It's Friday the 13th.
If this is what is going to happen to me at 5:45 in the morning I say - Bring it.
I'm ready.

First Four Minutes

This is for Kat.
The first four minutes of RH.
Enjoy.

And can I tell you how much I love YouTube?
Seriously, the stuff you can find...

He'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain Very soon

DN1 had a friend come over last night to borrow Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. He wants to read it again before he sees the movie.
I was supposed to be looking for the book in the house but got distracted because, well I'm easily distracted but also because my cousin had called and told me about what she has figured will happen in book 7 based upon her re-reading of book 6.
I know that the midnight movie tonight will be packed, but I just don't think I can go because I couldn't stay awake that late.
I know my limitations.
Also I'm really much more excited to read this book.
I know what happens in the movie - and I'm certain Fred and George will be superb - but I need to find out what happens in the final book!
This little town will be rockin' next Friday night as some of the restaurants will be preparing Hogwart's specialties and so many other fun things will be taking place.
I'll be able to stay up until midnight that night for sure.
In the meantime I'm finishing up the His Dark Materials trilogy and wondering if the movie version of The Golden Compass will be any good.
At least they let you choose your own daemon.
Here is mine:

Now you're supposed to tell me if this is correct (which I think it is) and then go find out which daemon you (would) have.
Fascinating stuff.

Ratings

I suppose I should be happy it's not rated much higher than PG!
After all I really am not here to offend anyone, just curse every once in a while.
And if you're curious as to what I look like this morning, well think of this:

But I slept well and got up early so I can work on my Chevron Scarf and read my book.
Oh and try to get to work on time too.
That would be a good thing - something that doesn't always happen.

News at 11:00

This just in:

Beached whale surfaces at water park.
Patrons blinded by exposure to startlingly white blubber.

Yes, I went to a water park today.
And...(gasp)...wore a bathing suit!
No one rolled around on the ground screaming, "My eyes are burning! My eyes are burning!"
It was a successful trip.
Some irritating and rude people, though, but that's no big shocker.
Like the woman who found it necessary to have her four small children dress themselves right at the entrance to the women's locker room.
Look lady, no one wants to see your kids in their underoos, most of all people who just want to get in or out the damn door without tripping over your half-naked children.
Amazing.
Other than that it was a great trip.
I'll see how much like a lobster I am in the morning.
Today was supposed to be one of the hottest days this summer - they promised 91 degrees.
When we got to the park at 11:15 it was raining!
The sun was up there in the sky, I knew it because it was daylight (I should be a science teacher, eh?) but it was hidden behind clouds until about 5:00 pm.
So did mensa girl put on any sunscreen?
Hell no.
I did bring my knitting to the park but wasn't able to do any of it.
Surprisingly enough it is awfully wet at a water park.
Who would have figured that would happen.
I did get my yarn in the mail for my Chevron Scarf KAL.
I present to you yarn in many (or at least three) moods :

On top of some lemon balm.

Silently reposing on the railing.

Trying out the new Raleigh Coaster bike in the garage.

Wait, what's this?
Someone has a new bike?
They sure do!

Well it's a great bike, but so is my scarf.
No wait, my scarf isn't a bike.
But it would look great on me if I had a new bike.
What do you think?

Summer is for....KALs

I'm not a big joiner.

And I'm not talking about joining with DPs or in the round for those of you whose minds automatically go there.

I've just never been one to go along with the crowd.

I can't help it - it's my anti-social self.

But I have joined two KALs recently and there is a method to my madness.

Why?

Because they are knitting something I like and can actually finish.

I blogged earlier about the Chevron Scarf KAL.

I ordered some Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn (at a very decent price) from Sandra Singh and it was shipped the same day! Very fast, very good service. Highly recommended.

So I'm anxious to start on that scarf finally.

And at Angelika's urging I've also joined the Knitty KAL.

Sign ups close on July 10 so if you want to do it hurry over there.

It's a simple KAL - all you have to do is find a project you like on knitty.com and then knit it.

Easy enough, right?

I'm going to work on the French Market Bag - and what makes the KAL even better is I'll be using yarn from my stash!

Yea me!

Finally, in case you're ever interested in finding out which KALs are coming up you can check it out here and grab yourself a button while you're at it. I did.

I do actually read about knitting a lot.

As Kat said to me once, I study it.

I took that as a compliment.
It doesn't mean I'm smart with it, ergo I don't necessarily like to illuminate my profound ignorance in public which is one of the reasons I'm not a big joiner.

Yeah, and I keep a blog why?Well so I can meet great people and become a Rockin' Girl Blogger.

Angelika has done me the honor of calling me out as a Rockin' Girl Blogger. Now how awesome is that? I'll bestow the honor on some worthy knitters in my next post. Cross your fingers!

Summer Reading Program

Here we are already well into summer and I have to say that I have been advancing quite well through my personal summer reading list.

But a conversation yesterday with my daughter, who is 8, reminded me of what I miss most about summer - the ability to sit in my room, or outside, or on the couch and have no other priorities in life but to read a book.

And trust me I did read a lot when I was younger.
Well among other things but none of the other things I had going on involved work in any way, shape or form so whenever I wasn't out getting into trouble I was home reading.

You know that many businesses and libraries will encourage children to read over the summer. Barnes and Noble has a summer reading program - you read 8 books and then you get a free book.
What a deal!
Sign me up!
What do you mean I'm too old?!?

Yesterday was the ideal summer day to sit at home, cuddle with a cat, and become immersed in a good book because it was damp and rainy.
So I encouraged DN2 to do just that, and even explained the Barnes and Noble program to her.
She was excited because she loves to buy books - it's getting her to finish one that is a problem.
She asked, in all seriousness, "Do I have to read every page of the book?"
I laughed and explained, "How else will you know how the story ends?"
Silly girl.

Getting kids excited about reading is difficult, especially boys.
One of my co-workers whose 8th grade son continuously makes high honor roll received a suggested summer reading list in the envelope with his report card. She told me that when he saw it he ripped it up before she could even see it and he told her, "I've read most of those books anyway."

Well I'm not a high school student (thank the Lord) but I do like to read as much as possible at all times throughout the year and not necessarily limit the bulk of my reading to the summertime. However since summer is the only time I'm not taking classes I've been really indulging and challenging myself and reading quite extensively with the hope that someday I'll be as well-read as some people I know.
Seriously.

Although I can honestly say that it is unfortunate that my knowledge of contemporary literature is pretty weak because, with the exception of Harry Potter novels, I have not read many books published in this millenium.
Kind of sad, eh?

When I was younger my favorite summer reading book was Desiree by Annemarie Selinko.
I still have it even though my cover looks different than this one (although I'm sure the words are still the same):


My friend Dana told me that her favorite summer read, even as an adult, is Anya Seton's The Winthrop Woman.
I've read it and other Anya Seton books and they are actually very good.
I usually try to read a book before the movie comes out and completely ruins what the author has created.
Currently I'm working on Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, amongst other books, but I have read some that were on my list to be read.




Or conquered.
Because that's how I felt about Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead.



I didn't just read it I overcame the challenge of reading it.
Did I like it?
Not particularly.
But did I read it?
Why yes I did, all 677 pages of text.

Now if only the weekend would get here soon and then I can go and read some more.
Caveat lector!

Thanksgiving 1981

Yes I know that yesterday's holiday is not only "not" Thanksgiving but I'm off by about 26 years.
But that is where in time the episodes of Ryan's Hope are currently set on SoapNet.
I never watched this show when I was growing up, did you?
I happened across it just two weeks ago and quickly became caught up in the storyline.
DN2 and I watch it everyday even though it is on at 5:00 am and 5:30 am.
We can do it with no problem either, want to know why?
D-V-R.
Digital Video Recorder.
Yes, the Time Warner equivalent of Tivo.
I love that we are not held to a 5:00 am wake up time, well one of us is not, and that we can watch it in the evening and skip the commercials.
We got behind and had to watch four episodes yesterday but at half an hour a pop they move along quite quickly.
It's a good story and I'm enjoying going back in time to 1981 and looking at the heavy eye makeup and remembering that's where any sense of fashion I had was truncated.
Good knitting time too.
The Urban Girl bag is almost dry and I'm working on another wrist warmer. I've been trying to use up some of my Lion's Brand Wool-Ease that I have, so I've already made three wrist warmers and a hat, this is the last one and I think I've about exhausted my supply of that yarn.
Thank goodness.
I'll leave you here with a little humor from Pickles.
Enjoy!

Urban Girl

And here are some pictures of my Emergency Room bag:I'm calling it urban girl because it looks like camouflage to me but with pink and brown.
I used two skeins Patons Classic Merino Wool in Rosewood.

I knew that box of cereal from Tops would come in handy for something. See my bad cat Benno in the background there? He thinks he's an outdoor cat. He is not. And he needs to keep his butt inside.
And here are the raccoon tail straps. They actually resemble Benno's tail. Jennifer used handles for hers, but since I was at the hospital on Saturday and not leaving anytime soon I decided to knit straps. I think this will work pretty well for an 8 year old, don't you? Seriously.

Here's my favorite purchase of all from Parkleigh:

It's a coaster, but I think that it is truly a summation of my purpose here on this earth. If you can't read it, it says, "I'm not here to make things better, only to observe and pass judgement."

And to my friend Kristi, since I'm slowly but surely working my way towards looking like this old lady, will this picture suffice?

Thanks for your well wishes for my mother, she's doing fine. I don't need a crystal ball to see into the future because I already know that she'll recover completely and when she's a bit more mobile she will tell everyone the story of how she broke her hip. That's my mother, she's good at making any short story into a long one.

Status and Updates

Well my mother is having surgery this morning to get pins put in her hip.

It is fractured.

So my weekend has been spent doing things with my sister-in-law, who is visiting until Thursday, and running to the hospital or picking up my stepfather or being on the telephone to my relatives.

I did finish the handbag for DN2 but because I need to sew the straps to the body no pictures of that yet, but I do have pictures of Amanda's Squatty Sidekick.

Here it is before being felted:

And here it is after felting:
The picture is a little dark - sorry!

And fuzzy. Sorry again!

But it came out okay.

The bag not the picture.

And you can see I ended up making the strap a bit longer and then stretching it out a tad more.

I only used one strand of Noro Kureyon so it's not an uber-firm bag, but it suits my purposes.

I do need to find a button - I'm thinking something chunky and green, but I haven't had a chance to get to the store yet.

I did use the kitchener stitch to graft the handle and also to make a loop for the flap.
I have found that Debbie Stoller’s Stitch and Bitch book has pretty good directions and I like the simple way they explain the kitchener stitch.

I only goofed up a bit on the button loop.
And...the grafting of the strap handles was done backwards.

Kind of like how I planted my bleeding heart upside down.

Backwards, upside down - either way, it still works!

My second project this weekend is a felted hat. I haven't finished it yet primarily because I don't have any size 11 circulars.

Hard to believe, right?

If I have them they are nowhere to be found.

(And Angelika, I just didn't find the right combo yet for the Chevron Scarf so I'll have to get some yarn for that.)

Perhaps I'll go hit up Michael's or A.C. Moore for some of the things I need.

But with everything else going on I may as well start looking for something else to knit.

Lord knows I could work on some socks, right?

My sister-in-law and DN2 were able to find some time for manis and pedis on Friday - check out their nails:

Hope the week goes much better than the weekend!!