flapping away madly

here's my ear flap hat:

well, i think it's my hat. blogger is showing me a black square. Edit: i figured it out, no more black square! what do you think? this is made with the wensleydale that carin gave me at my bridal shower (i still think that so rocks to have it at a LYS!). i spun it up, and then knit this. lemme know what you think (if it ever appears!) i've been making 12" squares for AC4C, for the november project, which is the Pine Ridge Reservation. i'm not sure where the blankets are going, but i'm sure it's a good place, lol.

now to the exciting stuff! remember the story about sean and the needle? it gets better. halloween night, sean's character needed red hair, so i bought red hair spray. by the time we were done trick-or-treating, sean's head had started to itch. so when i took him back to his foster dad's, sean washed his hair twice. his face was red, but i figured it was from bending over, and it had been very cold that night (28F by the time i got him there).

however, this was not the case. just as i was getting to school wednesday for sean's IEP (individual education plan, since he's in resource), his foster dad called and asked me if i was close to sean's day care, because sean had been sent home because he was covered in hives. unfortunately, i wasn't, but we did get him some benedryl, and that helped. everybody thought it was the make up, because of when it hit him, until i was sitting in the car, waiting for school to get out, and realized that sean was on antibiotics, and the same ones he'd been on before. i called the doctor, and they said to take him off the one he was on now, and they'd call in a different one.

i didn't see sean until the next day, when i picked him up from daycare. the benedryl had made him woozy enough that he lost his balance, and fell, and smashed his glasses. he had also forgotten his benedryl at home, and was breaking out again. so we had to get him some over the counter benedryl, because the foster dad couldn't get back home, and no one else was there. he ended up sleeping most of the afternoon and evening, which i don't mind, because if he was sleeping, he wasn't scratching, lol. his rash has now cleared completely, and his foot is doing well. the doctor chewed on him a bit for losing his shoe, but gave him another one, and said to bring him back in a week. whew. maybe this will help sean with his "boy who cried wolf" problem.

now if only we could get liam to cooperate. sigh

pictures, please?

dammit! enter got me again!

woohoo, we have pictures! here's the hat i made for janice. i'll probably put it in the mail today. (maybe, i'm not promising anything). so let's go for picture #2!
witness the vanilla sock of doom! yeah, i know. very plain & boring. doom comes in many colors. i kknow, i still haven't done the toe. christmas is a long time away, lol.

i started a hat for dulaan (today's the last day for signups to get a yarn prize from ryan!) with the stuff carin gave me for the bridal shower. suffice it to say, i don't care to spin wenslydale. it almost acts felted! the colors are interesting though. i'm doing an earflap hat (my own wacked out pattern, lol). my biggest problem is my needles are just short enough taht i have to watch that stitches don't fall off the end, lol.

go eat candy, will ya!

happy halloween!

here's a game to waste time with.

go on you want to.

have fun!

(and don't eat all the candy!)

seriously

DRINK!

take this test. i got a 72%. post a comment to let me know what your score is!

PAGING DR. SEAN!

racklefrats! blast blogger and it's "enter" policy!

ok, there's a warning to this post. if you're squeamish, or oogey, read old posts. this is kinda gross.


ok, have all the weenies left? good. here we go.

now, before you think we're all neglectful, nasty people, there is a caveat to this whole story. sean is a known "boy who cried wolf," particularly when it comes to medical stuff. so we weren't neglecting his health, just not very believing, considering the circumstances.


here we go.

4 weeks ago, Sean stepped on a needle, and it broke. his foster family thought they'd found all the pieces, and since it didn't swell up and get icky, we figured it was just a puncture wound, and soaked it, and treated it accordingly.

well, about a week and a half ago, it started bruising, which we assumed was because sean would NOT leave it alone. the boy can't leave anything like that alone. he's fascinated by all of it. however, by last tuesday, it was black. gross. (if you haven't left yet, you better now) so i made an appointment for friday. they x-rayed it, and discovered the needle was still in his foot. needless to say, everybody involved apologized to him for not believing him, but reiterated that we hadn't because of his "cry wolf" tendencies.

the PA cleaned it up a bit, then recommended that we see an orthopaedic surgeon, since they were afraid to try to extract the needle themselves. so, he went home, and we went to the surgeon's this morning. the doctor popped the old scab off, because he wanted to check on the wound, and they took new x-rays. well, apparently, between the PA poking around on it friday, and the surgeon poking around on it this morning, caused it to rear its ugly head to the point that sean could see the needle. he told everybody so, and proved it by pulling the needle out HIMSELF!

they did a second set of x-rays to double check, but the little stinker got it all out by himself! so they cleaned the wound out (there was a small bit of ulceration, because it had been 4 weeks), wrapped his foot up, and sent him home. the original plan was to have surgery wednesday (i asked if we could put it off one more day, because of halloween tomorrow, and he was on antibiotics, and the doctor was fine with that, as long as nothing got worse), but with this, dr sean stepped up to the plate, lol.

while the doctor was cleaning the wound some more, they started talking about doctor stuff, and sean told him that he wants to be psychiatrist some day. the doctor was VERY impressed with the level of intelligence and knowledge sean had. he was amazed that sean was only 12. that's my boy, for ya.

now, for the reason why it didn't get nasty immediately? sean had had an ear infection, and had started antibiotics 2 days before he stepped on the needle. so, the body just used the antibiotics for his foot as well as his ear. when they finally wore off, the foot said "hey, this crap is still in here" and started getting infected again. when the needle started trying to work its way out again, it caused another infection. go figger.

so, sean is due to go back to the doctor on friday, and has to wear a special shoe (which he hates, lol), but the doctor ok'ed him to go trick or treating tomorrow, so he's definitely happy with that.

isn't it amazing what kids will do?

ok, grossness over. i'll post some knitting stuff later.

if i die before i wake. . .

Living Will Form


I, __________________________, being of sound mind and body, do not wish to be kept alive indefinitely by artificial means. Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the hands of pinhead politicians who couldn't pass ninth-grade biology if their lives depended on it. Nor in the hands of lawyers/doctors who are interested simply in running up the bills. If a reasonable amount of time passes and I fail to ask for at least one of the following:

Bloody Mary, Margarita, Scotch and soda, Martini, Vodka and Tonic, Steak, Lobster or Crab Legs, The remote control, Bowl of ice cream, Chocolate, or Sex

..it should be presumed that I won't ever get better. When such a determination is reached, I hereby instruct my appointed person and attending physicians to pull the plug, reel in the tubes and call it a day. At this point, it is time to call a New Orleans Jazz Funeral Band to come do their thing at my funeral, and ask all of my friends to raise their glasses to toast the good times we have had.
Signature: ___________________________
Date: ___________________________

I also hear that in Ireland they have a Nursing Home with a Pub. The patients are happier and they have a lot more visitors.


many thanks to my sons' grandmother for sending this to me. it's amazing how much better we get along now that her son's not in the mix.

it's a picture!

here's janice's hat:
well, imagine janice's hat. oy! stupid blogger is acting up AGAIN! if it weren't for the fact that i'm such a cheapskate, i'd go to typepad, or some such. this is ridiculous.

anyway, janice's hat is done, washed, and in the van. it's in the van because i have been noticing that if anything that i make lingers in the house for more than a few minutes after i pull it out of the dryer, it starts to smell like smoke. however, when i pulled some squares out of the dryer this morning, they didn't smell. since mark is at work, i rushed them out to the van (along with the hat), and will check them later to see if they smell. if this works, then i'll just keep a box in the van for charity stuff, so it doesn't smell. mark doesn't smoke in the van (when he's in it, he doesn't ride with me much, lol), so we should be ok.

thanks to all the ladies (and bill) who tried to help me with the smoke issue at S&B last night.

speaking of S&B, i had a blast last night. we had to have an alternative site because tara was in a wedding. i don't think i've laughed so hard in a long time. and bizarre conversations? needless to say, having an ER doctor is very entertaining.

chacha is going ok, but since it's a beta, they're still working out the bugs. no training right now. let's hope it kicks in soon, i need to start making money, lol.

catch y'all on the flip side!!

complete disgust

i was driving home after i took liam to school today, and i saw something that really disgusted me. for those of you familiar with omaha, and the benson area, along maple street between 63rd & northwest radial, the businesses have large flower pots. some are pots. some are the half-barrel things. all along the south side of the street, 75% of them had been knocked over, and some even broken. considering this is around 7:45 am, this had to have happened over night. granted, this time of year the flowers are dead (there are a few that have evergreens planted, but those weren't tipped), but just the thought of the destruction, and mess this causes just makes me sick. and it was probably teenagers who were bored. sigh.

in other news, i hear that new jersey decided that they had to give equal rights to everyone, and that they will be considering some sort of union for gay couples in the legislature. flame me if you will, but i hope it goes through. having just gotten married myself, i don't see why two people who love each other should not be allowed to have some sort of legal union. i was watching the View, and while i don't agree with rosie o'donnel's political leanings, if letting her marry her partner makes her happy, let her. they also said they've thought about giving it a different name for gays, such as partnered or unioned. to heck with that. if mark & i had gone down to the court house, and had a civil ceremony, it would still be considered married. let them get married. what's it going to hurt?

in knitting news, clapotis is progressing slowly. i don't take it out, so i only work on it here, and i've been running 'round like a chicken with its head cut off! steph's sweater has progressed to skein #2, which is good. janice's hat is done, and will be washed this afternoon/morning (depending on my motivation, lol). i still need to kitchener the toe on the vanilla socks of doom, sigh.

i'll try to scan things so you can see them later, lol.

and, i have a job. of sorts. i'm a chacha guide. chacha.com is a search engine that uses live people. then you don't have to sort through tons of links, like google or yahoo gives you. my keywords are (big surprise) cooking, crochet, and knitting. go check it out, you may run into me! (once i'm done training, lol)

what i'm reading
Eragon by Christopher Paolini (book tape at mark's house)
All Creatures Great & Small by James Herriot (book tape at my house)
All Things Bright & Beautiful by James Herriot (book tape in the car)
The War of the Jewels by JRR Tolkien
Sir Gawain & the Green Knight, Sir Orfeo & Pearl by JRR Tolkien.

i've slowed down, lol

and for those of you who offered your condolences over my chemical burns, thank you. they stopped hurting by the next day. however, i had to cook one more batch of salsa, although this one was much better. red, yellow & orange peppers, plus pasillo peppers, which are fruitier, so this batch didnt' stink. i got 11 pints. wow, i got lots of christmas presents!

chemical burns stink

i'm a glutton for punishment, apparently. i keep forgetting how much i hate salsa, and when mark brings home tomatoes from coworkers, first thing in my mind is "salsa!". so, mark and i ended up chopping all day yesterday, between the tomatoes, peppers & onions. we agreed that the big batch would be with jalapenos and green peppers (these are green tomatoes, mind you), and the smaller batch would be colored peppers and a different chile, as long as it wasn't habaneros. we have about 10 pints of salsa in the basement we made 3 years ago with habaneros that is so hot few people can eat it. mark even put one pint in a gallon of chili, and the chili was too hot to eat. so, being a contact lense wearer, i refused to handle the jalapenos, which was fine with mark. he chopped them, and ran them in the food processor, and put them in the pot with all the other ingredients.

i've just spent my morning reheating the salsa, because it too so long to cook last night that we were afraid we'd be up until midnight canning the crap (i was up that late anyway, but that's beside the point). and discovered that i had gotten chemical burns just from STIRRING the crap. oy. and it stinks. i hate green peppers and i hate jalapenos, and this shit reeks of it. oy. fortunately, it's all in jars now (11 quarts and 5 pints, plus a small plastic container that will go in the fridge), at the expense of about 10 dishclothes to hold the jars, and several heat burns on my hands. thank goodness there are no blisters, but i'm going to have to wash my hands about a dozen times before i pick up my knitting.

speaking of knitting, i got deawn's square in the mail on thursday, and it only cost me 90 cents. not bad for going to montreal. i didn't mark it though, so i hope that's not an issue, lol.

i've received more things for the super secret project, so things are going well in that department.

the vanilla socks are almost finished. i have to kitchener the toe on the second one and block them. woot!

i think i'll frog the carnival socks. i was looking at the pattern i was using, and it calls for size 3 needles. i don't think so. the toe i've got is impossibly small for what i want.

Janice's hat is almost done, although it did stall out over the weekend. one more round and i'll wash it and send it on its way. i'm looking forward to seeing the prizes she's got.

i started a sweater for steph, we'll have to see how it goes. i used sweater wizard, and put in cropped, but i'm thinking itmight actually be too short, so i may go back to standard length. i'll have to look when i get that far.

well, i have to go back to the dishes (canning always leaves so goddamned many dishes!) so i'll bid adieu for now.

here we go again, lol

first off, let me say that blogger's habit of posting if you hit enter in the title field is ANNOYING!

I got this from a former secret pal, sarah, but i've seen it several places.

1. FIRST NAME? Minnie

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? I'm named for my great grandmother on my mother's side. I'm also named for my maternal grandmother (her middle name was ruth, too, lol) a great pair of ladies, and i hope i can fill their shoes.

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? in frustration with sean about a month ago. that boy can really push buttons.

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? i don't mind it. it's big and loopy, and can be potentially messy if i'm in a hurry. however, my daughter (who i swear is my emotional clone, even if she is one of my kids that looks the least like me) has virtually identical handwriting. scarey, huh.

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? Virginia ham. yum

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? yes, i would. i'm one of those people that you just can't help but talk to, lol. perfect example. i was in the store this morning with my mother, and we had just walked into the meat department. i was wearing my puffy nebraska jacket i got last spring for $6 (normal price was $40 (chaching!)). a very tall man walked out of the back wearing a meat-cutter's jacket, and asked me if i would loan him the jacket, since he was going to the game tomorrow, and it's supposed to be cold and rainy. i laughed, and told him the sleeves would be a bit short, since it was a boys' size 16 jacket. see what i mean?

7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? not a paper one. that's what this blog is for.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? yup. healthy as a horse.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Sure, sounds likea wild trip to me.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? i don't normally do cereal, although i like the fruit and nut ones. i think raisin nut bran is my favorite (do they even make that any more?)

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? yes. i can still out-arm-wrestle my 14 year old son, and he's taller than me by at least 4". heck, i can even out-armwrestle my daughters! i've got "guns," lol. emotionally as well. i have to be, if i'm weak, then how can i help sean?

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? toasted almond fudge from Schwanns. i don't get it much though (i don't eat a lot of ice cream)

14. SHOE SIZE? 7E. yes, i have duck feet. that's why i usually buy boys' shoes. but it makes it easier to find stuff for steph, cuz her feet are proportionately the same as mine, just bigger (she's a 9E)

15. RED OR PINK? Red. pink is for little girls, and i haven't been a little girl in a LONG time.

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? my tendency to brain fart. i may not be diagnosed as ADHD, but i definitely have the tendencies. oh look, a chicken!

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? How about you just post it on your blog and I’ll come read it?

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? black pants, a black t-shirt with a glow in the dark ghost, and when i came in, black birkies.

20. LAST THING YOU ATE? dark chocolate mocha almonds from target and a glass of milk.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? the computer fan whining and "jonathan strange and mr. norrell." a very good book tape. kind of like harry potter, but with adults.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? royal blue. not only is it my favorite color, it is very much what i am. vivid, and true.

23. FAVORITE SMELL? freshly bathed babies (i'm a momma at heart, lol) wood smoke. good bbq. mark's hair. freshly dyed wool.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My husband this morning.

25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? their voice

26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON you stole THIS from? I admire her blog, so I assume I’d like her in person. We’ve never met in person, but i feel between her blog & emails, i do have a sense of her as a person.

27. FAVORITE DRINK? irish cream. cold water. iced tea.

28. FAVORITE SPORT? anything my kids are playing.

29. EYE COLOR? Hazel.

30. HAT SIZE? 6 7/8. 22". i know the inches because when i was working customer service at OTC, i had a customer who asked me to measure my head, so she could figure if a hat would fit her child or not. being the knitter htat i am, i had a tape measure, and i whipped it out and did so (sorry, 12 year old giggle at the phrase "whipped it out")

31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Yes.

32. FAVORITE FOOD? i'm a foodie. i'm supposed to pick one?

33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings, for sure. scary movies leave me cold, unless they're really good (the ring wasn't bad)

(Dude, what happened to 34?

35. SUMMER OR WINTER? summer. even though i love to knit with wool, i hate being cold. i would dearly love to move south, but if i do, it won't be for a very long time. mark's folks are only in their 70's, as is my mom, and they aren't going any where, and we both are dutiful children.

36. HUGS OR KISSES? if i absolutely have to choose, it's hugs. nothing better than being wrapped up in the arms of someone who cares about me (specially mark's hugs, all those arms!)

37. FAVORITE DESSERT? chocolate cheese cake. just tart enough to counteract the sweet, and, oh yum, chocolate.

38. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Oh, let’s skip these next two. It doesn’t matter.
39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? well, you're used to hearing this from me, lol.
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
The War of the Jewels by J.R.R. Tolkien
All Creatures Great & Small by James Herriot

i'm slacking off a bit, because the first one was due wednesday, and i'm trying to finish it before the grace period is up.

41. WHAT’S ON YOUR MOUSE Pad? the mouse pad at my house has a picture of the boys in their halloween costumes 2 years ago. liam was a barrel of toxic waste, and sean was sonic the hedge hog. mark's mouse pad is one he got for free from a local computer store.

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? mark was watching North Carolina and Virginia play football. i didn't change it because he was still awake, and i fell asleep before the game was over, lol. otherwise, i was at knit night.

43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? my children singing. my husband singing (he has a good voice, he's a musician, lol). christmas carols (real ones, not the funny ones, although i do enjoy those). someone who loves what they're singing (even the bad karaoke, you can see they're enjoying themselves). birdsong in the morning, just before sunrise.

44. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Neither, usually.

45. THE FURTHEST YOU’VE BEEN FROM HOME?upstate new york.

46. WHAT’S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? I have a semi-photographic memory. if i've seen it, and want to remember it, i can.

47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Blair, nebraska. so was sean.

48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? i saw this on sarah's blog, but i've seen it other places as well.

a girl's gotta do

what a girl's gotta do. let's see if this works.
Woot! when the going gets tough, the tough use their scanners! i still don't know where my damned camera is, so mark got his scanner going a few days ago, so here i am, with a scanned pic of the square i did for deawn. we did a trade, but that's all i'm saying 'bout that for now.

the square is done, and will be washed & packed tomorrow, and flying via airmail to montreal on friday (i've got dental work scheduled for tomorrow morning, i'm not going to the post office, i'll be sleeping off my novacaine).

rabbitch's hat is well on it's way, as well. in fact, since i had the green variegated yarn out, i double-stranded that, and it's actually coming out kinda fun. ever seen ribbing in crochet? no? well, wait, and i'll scan that S.O.B. as well (but not now, it's kinda late, lol.

and it sounds like mark & his buddy are FINALLY going to fix my sump pump, so i can use the washer at MY house, and i'll be off like a herd of turtles, with all the felting i need to do (i tried to do it here, but because mark has floor drain issues in the basement, i used a pillow case, and well, i was NOT pleased. plus, mark smokes, and it makes it hard to make any of that stuff marketable if it's smells like a pub on a saturday night).

steph is working at my old job, and actually enjoying it, lol. she did say there are days when she feels like shooting herself, but that she's enjoying herself for the most part. now, if she does a really good job, she'll get hired on permanently. that's the sucky part. not knowing until mid-december if she has a permanent job or not. i went through it too. at least she'll be able to collect unemployment if they don't keep her (which i've been trying to give her all the hints i can think of to help her be aces, so cross your fingers, legs, toes, needles, whathaveyou, and give this kid good juju. she's been trying, for sure).

sean has been doing better. he made his 8 assignment goal today! woot! he is in the bd room (special ed) so he doesn't rotate classes, but the work is brought to his room, and he's supposed to get 8 assignments finished per day. now, this doesn't usually happen, because sean has severe focus issues. (what i don't understand, is if 3 of his "regular" classes would be vocal music, pe, and lifetime sports, where's he getting the other 3 assignments?). so here's hoping.

liam's football team won the city championship for his division (heavyweight). they shut out the last 3 teams they played, and even the first game, where they lost, the score was 12-6. they even shut out #1! woot! granted, liam didn't get to play alot, but still, he was so thrilled, you can't get too down about his lack of playing time. liam's biggest problem right now is that he's growing so fast, that he's awkward & clumsy. he can still run like the wind, but those arms & legs flail & churn, lol. i would like to see him go out for track or soccer, this spring.

and our one month anniversary was monday. we celebrated with crab legs, cheddar bacon mashed potatoes, and candied carrots. i was STUFFED. but it was worth it.

TTFN!

go on, you know you wanna

go play this game. it's addicting. you can thank (or blame) me later

you can blame miss vi

ok, i was reading the message boards over at limenviolet, and found this horrid thing that miss violet found. she is a truly sick & twisted individual. i love it! and then, of course, there was this as well. goofiness all around

my fender has a dent in it

Baldemar Huerta died of lung cancer yesterday at the age of 69. who is he? "i'll be there before the next tear drop falls." Freddy Fender. Grammy winner. Star on the walk of fame. a country crooner, who had the most wonderful latin-styled voice. he'll be missed.

Vaya con Dios, mi amigo.

somebody help me please!

sean threw up at school, and we think he forced it, but i have him because his foster dad is having transportation issues (he loaned his car to his son, and his son is not answering his phone, lol). he's tortured the one cat into hiding behind the sofa, and the other one runs when he sees him. right now sean is eating soup (that's what you give a sick kid, right?), singing "45" by shine down (oh yeah, he' s really sick), and hollering cuz he thinks his soup is too hot (ev en though he's eaten it all!).

scratch that. the foster dad's sister just showed up to pick him up, and it's a lady i used to work iwth, lol!

whew.

now, down to business.

i've made a few promises.

1) i promised deawn i would crochet a 10" square for her homies blanket drive. it's due oct 30, and since it's going to canada, i have to get on it, so i can mail it by the 20th.

2) Janice is collecting hats for vancouver, so i volunteered to knit/crochet one for her, too. it's not due til dec 1, so there's a little breathing room

3) i'm working on a super secret project (you'll find out soon enough, lol), and i'm waiting for things to come in, at this point (and i came up with this myself, lol)

4) go see ryan. she's still a booger head, and she's still looking for sign ups for Dulaan. go on, ya wanna. i'm technically signed up for 5 (that's how many she wants each of us to do), but i'm going to go for one more than last year, and do 10.


so i'm going to be a tad bit busy. clapotis is doing well, and i've dropped a few stitches already. i'm doing a mini clap, as i don't have enough yarn, so, like deb it's going to be a wide scarf. and i've discovered something interesting. i just CAN'T let the dropped stitches be. i have to undo them all!

the vanilla socks are progressing quite nicely, and i'm almost to the toe. maybe i'll finish the buggers tonight at s&k. and i started the carnival yarn again. i'm doing a short-row toe up for right now. we'll see how it works.

ok, the pear butter is calling me (it took 4 days to finally get the stuff cooked down!), so i'll be sending it soon, Norma!

IT'S BACK!

go read this. apparently, lion brand bowed to popular consensus, and is bringing cotton-ease back! with new colors! woot! now i can knit up my stash (one 3-drawer cartful!) without guilt.

we rock!

a public service annoucement

for all you readers who have dogs.

apparently, there's a artificial sweetener called xylitol that has become very popular. it's poisonous for dogs. please, be careful of what you feed your dog. and according to the statistics i saw on the news this morning (no link, they don't have it up on the website!), the poisonings are on the rise. 70 in 2004, 170 in 2005, and as of august 114.

EDIT: the tv station finally put up a link, so go see it

i don't own a dog, but i have.

carry on!

sp9

here we go again, lol. i had thought about not signing up this time, but just could not resist!

here's my questionnaire

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

i never met a fiber i didn't like. i do love alpaca (who wouldnt!), but i'm not picky at all.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

technically, i have a 7 drawer cart i keep them in, but realistically? in WIP, lol. i also have a romantic candle holder that i put a lot of my dpn's in.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

Wow. um, i've been knitting for 30 years. my grandma started me off, and i taught myself everything else. i suppose i'm an intermediate knitter, although the only patterns that scare me are steeking ones. just cant handle taking scissors to my knits when they're not felted.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

on amazon. it's under my maiden name, minnie mckain.

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products, etc.)

i love vanilla, and sweet florals, like magnolia and jasmine. i also love sandalwood.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

duh! chocolate. preferrably dark chocolate (and you know that dark is better for ya, right?)

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

i spin & crochet. i also sew a bit, but mostly just halloween costumes (although i probably won't this year, i'm still wedding-burned)

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

wow, that question is always tough. examples of what i like: AC/DC. Kiss. Nora Jones. Nine Inch Nails. Johnny Cash. Sons of the Pioneers. you should see my auto select stations, lol.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?

blues & purples, and bright colors. i can't stand mustard yellows or muted oranges, and browns don't turn me on as a rule, although i had one secret pal send me the yummiest kidsilk crack haze that was a kind of light mushroomy grey/beighe/tan. i don't mind greys, or black, though.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

i have a husband ( of 2 1/2 weeks, lol), and two sons at home. liam is 14 & sean is 12. i also have two daughters. stephanie is 20 & lisa is 21, and, obviously, they live on their own, although i get frequent "mom" calls from steph. we have 2 cats: jimi, the wonder foot monster, and joplin the grump. admittedly, joplin is 11, but it's amazing how pissy she can get with jimi when she doesn't want to play.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

i have arthritis, so i'm always wearing something on my hands. i have scarves and i do wear them occasionally. i wear hats, but i have to have them bigger than my head, because i have hair i can sit on, and i wear it in clips. mostly big floppy hats, lol.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

anything small. i don't mind sewing bits together, as long as there aren't a ton. no pieced afghan patterns please! i also like a challenge. i've seen the dragon shawl floating about, and i REALLY covet that pattern.

13. What are you knitting right now?

at this instant i am knitting vanilla socks for steph, a clapotis for me, and a teddy bear for charity.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

yes!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

i prefer straights & metal needles. i have a TON of needles, as i bought out an estate sale, although i don't have a ton of dpn's in the smaller sizes. i do like bamboo for sock needles, though.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

no, but i'm intending on putting them on my christmas list!

17. How old is your oldest UFO?

do i really have to confess that one?

18. What is your favorite holiday?

HALLOWEEN!

19. Is there anything that you collect?

dragons, cookbooks, and fairies. i don't mind cute fairies, but i don't care for "cute" dragons. i like the ones that breathe fire, and actually prefer european to oriental.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

i would really like another set or 2 of size 1 dpns in bamboo. i've got a bad case of startitis, and already have one sock on the needles, sigh. i also would like that dragonshawl pattern (ask me for the link, i'm too tired to go find it now, lol). the books i want are on my amazon list.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?

i would like to try entrelac.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?

i am a sock knitter. i wear a size 7E shoe. if you need more measurements, holler.

23. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)

April 1 (i know, i know)

and just so ya know, i'm allergic to watermelon & banana, and am not particularly fond of mint.

also, i don't remember what name i signed up under, but my last name, if you read the top part of my blog, is now Olson, lol.

you just gotta

ok, don't swoon from 3 posts in one day, but you just gotta. go see ryan. she's taking sign-ups for the Dulaan 10K or bust. i don't know how to do buttons, but if i figure it out, it'll be up. i've signed up, and i've got 2 already. woot!

10 knitterly things about me

ok, i guess the point of this meme is to tell you 10 knitterly things you don't know about me. i have seen this several places, but i think the last one was at fillyjonk's. holler in the comments if you know more than 2 of these.

1. While i have achieved S.A.B.L.E., a very large portion of it is ACK. not even redheart. some of this yarn is so old it's got fibers that don't exist any more, like orlon. I am known as a charity knitter, so when people have yarn they want to get rid of, they give it to me.

2. I tend to collect yarn. Doesn't matter what kind. I used to live in a town with a thrift store that would barter on their yarn prices, and bag up small balls for anywhere from 50 cents to a dollar for about 2 or 3 ounces of yarn, in mixed colors. I have TONS of those.

3. The last thing i knit for myself and FINISHED (i've started all kinds of things, it's the finishing that's a bitch) was a poncho from the knit it magazine of 2005 (thanks for having that on your blog natalie , i would have never remembered the name of the magazine, let alone when it came out, lol). i used lion brand thick & quick, in the red/black colorway. i wore it for the weekend we were in oregon, then frogged it cuz i didn't like it.

4. I prefer metal needles. while i own plastic & wood needles (do bamboo needles fall under the wood category?), i really like metal best. i'm a fast knitter, and plastic and wood hang up too much for me. except socks. i think i do own some metal sock needles (i think they're in the basement in a sock that i had attempted with some blue baby yarn i'd gotten in a grab bag), i seem to like the bamboo ones. plastic? meh. i haven't tried the Denise's, (stop shouting, ok!), so i can't pass judgement on those, but the ones i have are circulars, and inflexible at best. blech.

5. I prefer straight needles. I do use circs for large pieces, but there's something so primal about using straights, and i'm fastest with them. and that extends to dpn's as well. i've tried magic loop, and frankly, it s ucked. i also tried socks on 2 circs, and i didn't care for that either. if i ever try toe up socks again, it will be on dpn's.

6. Very few knitting patterns intimidate me. Example: see this shawl? scroll down a bit, i get wordy, lol. this is the flowerbasket shawl from IK. don't ask me when, i can't recall, lol. ok, ok, lemme look it up, lol. poo, no luck. i think it's the spring 2004 issue, but don't quote me(Edit: Thanks to Clara over at KR, i found out it was in the fall 2004 issue. it's also availabe at fiber trends. now back to the story, lol) . i had a tough time with it, because i kept getting off on the count in the first chart, and frogged it numerous times. thank goodness tara's silk noil takes a beating. and since i just found out it's machine washable, i'll have to let my SIL know, lol. However, once i got it, i whizzed along famously. AFTER i finished it, i found out that for a first REAL lace project, it was a humdinger. hmmmm. no fear. it's just yarn, ya know?

7. I don't mind ACK. it's lovely for charitable knitting. i knit for the yahoo group All Crafters For Charity, also known as AC4C, and we do many baby hospitals. ACK works great for babies, and is cheap. and many hospitals/neonatal wards ask for acrylic specifically, so the wee ones don't develop allergies to wool/alpaca/etc.

8. I love, love, love knitting with my handspun. however, i tend to give it away, lol. i never seem to have enough to do one project. however, with stephanie's blog step in, (laurie) and her pieces about piece-knitting and incorporating it into sweaters, i might just have to investigate further.

9. I knit while i'm in front of the computer. While reading blogs. And listening to book tapes. I'm a major multitasker. Especially with Clapotis, and the teddy bear for AC4C i'm doing right now.

10. Wow, i'm having a tough time coming up with one more. Ummmm. ok, let's try this. If any of you can come up with something that most of y'all don't know about me, i'll give a prize. don't ask me what. maybe some of my handspun?

and just in case you were curious:

What I'm Reading
The Simarillion by JRR Tolkien
Sir Gawain & the Green Knight, Pearl, & Sir Orfeo (a translation) by JRR Tolkien
1984 by George Orwell (i'm on a classic kick lately)(book tape at mark's)
The Dark Tower by Stephen King (book tape at my house)
All Things Wise & Wonderful by James Herriot (book tape in the car)
Shadow Dawn by George Lucas

and yes, i can keep them all straight

lockdown

i really feel i need to address this.

What is wrong with our society, where someone can feel justified in taking a gun to a school, and slaughtering whomever they choose? After seeing a third deadly school shooting, this one with the most innocent of people, the Amish, I have severe concerns for the sanity of us as a people. What i do know, is that there are 5 dead little girls (and the rest are in serious/grave condition), and a dead principal, and one dead teenage girl. all those lives, ended so abruptly, with no real rhyme or reason.

I sat liam down last night, and asked him about his school's lockdown policy. he had no clue what i was talking about, or what to do. That frightened me. Liam is such an innocent. I emailed his principal last night. this school has over 600 students, so i'm sure she was just inundated, but i received an email within an hour, telling me the school's plans, and that they had a drill last spring, but had called it an emergency drill, so as to not frighten the children. now they're going to call it a lockdown. while this does relieve my mind a bit, this school had an armed robbery last fall. a pizza delivery guy was going out a west door, and was held up, during school hours. the school then instituted a policy that ALL doors except the front one (on the northeast corner of the building) would be locked after the kids were in. that might help the invasion problem, but still. i'm scared for my kids.

aren't you?

you have to check this out!

attention all potter-philes. there's pics!
go check it out. neville is actually looking kinda cute!

ummmmmmm, yeah

who needs a title, lol.

ok, several things.

i need some opinions, from you literate types. i'm listening to The Sun Also Rises by ernest hemmingway on book tape. do you think this is a book that is too advanced for liam to listen to? mind you, this is a child (ok, momma bragging warning!) who reads at college level, and comprehends at senior in high school level. i just looked at the school's AR (advanced reader) catalog, and it's not in there, so he wouldn't get credit for it through the AR program. however, it might impress his lit teacher into raising his grade above a C. yeah, i know, why is a kid with his reading ability getting a C? i dunno, and he won't tell me. i need to email his teacher (i keep telling people that.) hang on, i'll go do that right now.

ok, i'm back. we'll see what she has to say.

Liam's over all grades were actually pretty nifty. he's got 4 A's, 2 C's, a D and an F. while i'm not happy with the F, i will accept it, because he's brought his grade in that class up 21 points in 2 weeks. all he has to do now is keep handing in his assignments on time (that's what got him).

Sean isn't doing so well. he's not doing his assignments in the BD room, so he's failing most of his classes. the odd part is that in 2 classes he's only been in once, P. E. and Lifetime Sports (2 separate classes) he got A's. go figger.

he's also being moved to another foster home. i am sincerely convinced that we need to go to the next step, but i have to leave that up to the "professionals." like my caseworker (ugh). and i'm working on getting her replaced. which reminds me, i need to email her supervisor (again, sigh). be right back

ok, now that's done.

hmm, shall we discuss married life? someone recently asked me if it was any different. considering mark and I have lived together off and on for the last 3 years ( the off was state-mandated, they wanted me to prove i could provide a safe home environment for the kids on my own), the togetherness aspect hasn't really changed. what has changed is the level of tenderness between mark & myself, as well as a calming influence on the kids in general (well, as calm as sean can be at this point, sigh). that, and the tendency to giggle when we call each other husband and wife. and i still look over my shoulder for my MIL when someone calls me Mrs. Olson. lol.

knitting. yes, i have been knitting. right now, i'm working on a christmas present, and a lame teddy bear for teddy bears for tragedy ( they have ONE pattern, and you must not deviate. and it's lame, sigh), plus, i've joined the madness at knitty, after all this time, and i've got the clap. yes, i'm knitting a clapotis. granted, i don't have enough of edith (you know, the famous women's line by schaffer yarns?) (i've got about 480 yards) so i'm making a mini-clap. i know, i need to post a pic, but i'm on mark's puter, and considering we just recovered from a crash, i don't want to put too much on it at this time. hell, i can't even listen to limenviolet! feel sorry for me!

and since i've been pretty silent about my reading habits, lately, here we go:

The Son Also Rises by ernest Hemmingway (book tape in car)
The Dark Tower (VII) by Stephen King (book tape at my house)
Simarillion by JRR Tolkien
Shadow Dawn by George Lucas

yeah, i know, i'm looney for reading 4 books at a time, but hey, a girl's gotta keep entertained!

ok, ok

here ya go. i've been getting nagged about pics, and now that my batteries are recharged (both literally, and figuratively!), here ya go.
This is one of the views from Mt. Vernon Gardens. The park is based on a miniaturized version of George Washington's home. It's very close to the Missouri River, and very pretty.

Liam & Sean, looking very dapper in their tuxedos. Liam is a downright chick magnet, as mark put it. Sean refused to button the top button of his shirt, so his tie wouldn't tighten up all the way, but he still looked very good. where's my shotgun? i think i'm gonna need it to keep all the girls off, sigh.
This is Luke, Mark's nephew. He was our ringbearer, and i think he was a bit bored in this picture. Steph took these pictures, and she's got a brief video of Luke walking around his dad during the ceremony. i'll see if i can youtube it, and show it to y'all.

ok, i know, i know, where's the pictures of the bride? ok, here we go:
(cue music, you know what to listen for, lol)
Dum, dum, da dum. dum dum da dum. you know. it was a very bright, sunny day, and hot, so bob (my brother, who was giving me away, as my dad had passed away 5 years ago) insisted that he wear his sunglasses. Mark made me promise to leave mine in the car, so there they stayed until we left for the reception.

Something old: my grandmother's engagement ring.
Something new: A mother's neclace i've never worn, with all the kids' birthstones & mark's.
Something borrowed: My SIL sherril's pearls (real!) and bracelet.
Something blue: lessee, lol. my engagement ring has sapphires. My grandmother's ring has sapphires. and mark's birthstone is aquamarine.

no sixpences, sorry, those damned shoes were so tight i don't think i could have squeaked a fart in them!and then of course there's this:you may notice that the minister has a sling on his arm. I think i'm the only bride in omaha who has a harley-riding minister, at the age of 75!

he was hit by a car about 2 weeks before this, and broke his arm. what you can't see, is that he's also got his right foot in a cam-walker, like mark had to wear, and a knee brace as well. talk about a tough cookie! well, i'm whipped, so you'll have to live with this for now. happy? i know i am, lol.

meme me!

you'll get wedding stuff later, i'm gonna take a nap after this!

i got this from deb

My 10 Names Meme
1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: ( pet and current street name) Jimi Martin

2. YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME: (grandfather/grandmother on your moms side, your favorite candy) Ethel Chocolate

3. YOUR "FLY Guy/Girl" NAME: (first initial of last name, first three letters of your middle name)O. Rut

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Blue Dragon

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Ruth Blair

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 2 letters of mom's maiden name and first 3 letters of the town you grew up in.)Olsmiscbla

7. SUPERHERO NAME: ("The", your favorite color, favorite drink) The Blue Milk

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first name of both your grandfathers) Kelsa Henry

9. FUTURISTIC NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne and the name of your favorite shoes) Green Tea Birkenstock

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother/father's middle name ) Alyse Junior (my dad didn't have a real last name, his name was Kelsa McKain, Jr.)

blah blah blah

i'm tired. and damned nigh on broke. if i have to write one more check, i'm going to scream. ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH. yup, you guessed it.

and we don't have a limo. i've been after mark for months to call, and he waited until yesterday. guess what. one is booked, one wants $550 for a half hour trip, and one we haven't heard back from yet. growl.

and we're having big horn bbq for the rehearsal dinner, so i have to go pay for that.

and pay the caterer on friday.

and go buy more beer, because not everybody likes miller (mark's fav, lol, not that he's going to be drinking much of it!)

we bought the majority of the booze sunday, and that was a pinch. thank god i can return anything we don't open.

pictures later today, i've found my camera, and my batteries are charged up! that hasn't happened at the same time in a long time, lol. now, i just need to be at my house, instead of mark's.

TTFN

a day that will live in infamy

ok, i know, wrong day. however, since most of you know what i'm talking about (9/11), think on it. Pearl Harbor was an act of war, during a declared war, and most of the casualties were military. I know, people still lost husbands & wives & sons & daughters, but they were soldiers. Soldiers die.

This, however, was different. These were 3000 innocent people, just doing an honest day's work, in their place of work. On a typical monday. 3000. and what's truly frightening? There were supposed to be many, many more people there. I've heard countless stories of "my train was late" "i was sick" "i decided to take a day off." divine intervention? dunno. i used to read a website called "witch's vox" that stated that they had a cat who always stayed in a doorway when the "energies" were off. that cat was in the doorway when they arrived, and refused to leave it. i think the energies were off that day.

5 years. have we changed? are we stronger? more unified? more caring/loving/compassionate? i wonder. i saw a headline in our local paper that said the effects of 9/11 were waning. I don't see as many flags out. I know where mine is, and it WILL be out, even if i have to jury-rig something.

what were you doing?

I worked at a nuclear power plant in the kitchen in the administraiton building. My boss had the only radio that would function in that location (a deep valley near the river), and he came out and told us a plane had hit the world trade center. like many, i thought it was just a piper cub, or some such small, pleasure aircraft. until he came out again, and said another plane had hit. and that they were 747's. i called my friend who didn't ahve to be to work until later, and she told me she'd watched the second plane hit, on a morning show. everyone was stunned. and on that day, the radio we kept in the kitchen for playing cd's got crystal clear reception. It was like listening to the world end, and wondering if i would make it home to see my kids again.

being a nuclear power plant, as soon as the second plane hit, security went into overdrive. one of our vending guys had shown up to refill the machines in the protected area (where the actual reactor is), and security called to verify he was supposed to be there that day. they NEVER did that, until that point. while i was used to seeing side arms on the security guys (and gals), they were popping up all over hte place with AR15's and shotguns, and they closed the campus. no one allowed in without an ID, and a company based one at that. we were hammered for lunch, because no one had their id's with them. who knew.

and because we had the only working radio in the admin building, people were coming to me (the cashier) for updates. when the pentagon was hit, i was almost in tears. then the rumors that the white house was on fire. who is doing this, i kept wondering. why are they doing this. this is worse than the oklahoma city bombing by a long shot. i'd been told that the reactor could withstand a direct hit by a commercial jet, but with the airport being a scant 20 miles south, i feared the worst. yeah, the reactor would survive, but would hte rest of us? and then they downed all the planes.

i was eternally grateful to be out of work that afternoon. i got home, and found my then 15 year old with the tv on. i made her turn it off, because liam & sean would be home soon, and i wanted to shield them from it as much as i could. we'd lost my dad & grandma eariler that year, and all i wanted to do was protect the little guys from more trauma. while they knew what had happened, the pictures were just too traumatic for me, and i was 35 years old. can you imagine the devastating images' effect on 9 & 7 year olds?

and then the amazing stories of hope, and survival, and rescue. and the fact that there weren't as many dead as they had thought. and the men & women of the NYPD & NYFD, and the Port Authority police, who gave their lives to help others. and some of them are still giving.

all i could think is how my dad would have reacted. i could hear it, and still can. "those lousy sons of bitches."

i lit a candle that friday, as they had asked.

a friend of mine, who had lived in maryland at the time, said that there had been all kinds of black vans driving around in her area before the attack. her son was so traumatized by it all, that they moved back here. she had a friend whose husband had been on the 108th floor of tower 2, i believe, and was on the phone with him when he died. she was so traumatized by it, she tried to commit suicide by drinking drain cleaner. she survied, at great emotional and physical cost.

everybody knows someone who either lost someone, or actually lost someone in the world trade center. we are not excepted from this.

this tragedy must not happen again. although it may. somewhere, someone has decided that we in the western world are evil, & corupt, and thinks that Allah wants us all dead (read the Quran, bozo, you'd learn a few things). but we need to hang on, and not let them beat us.

which is why, while i may not agree with what is going on across seas, i support the soldiers who are fighting for us. those of you who don't live in the area, don't know that a local meteorologist from a local tv station signed up for the national guard right after 9/11. he shipped out last week. and he's doing it for us.

i know, i know

i promised pictures, and i do have my camera, but i'm at mark's house, and my software & cord are at my house. i'll post pics later, i swear

ok, here goes.

flowers are actually progressing. i've got all 4 corsages, and all 7 boutineers done, plus my throwing bouquet. yes, i am having a throwing bouquet. no way in hell am i going to throw something that i put that much work into. that, and i think i might just brain someone with it. it's, um, a bit big? as far as i've gotten with it so far, lol.

we have a hair dresser, i have a dress that has been hemmed, and will be taking it to the cleaners today. i was going to use max i walker, but would you believe they send their freaking wedding dresses to kansas city to be cleaned, and it takes 3 1/2 weeks! i haven't even had the dress 3 1/2 weeks! so i'm going with armstrong cleaners. believe it or not, the lady at max i walker told me to go there. she said she hated sending business elsewhere, but she understood my need. we're meeting with the caterer this afternoon for final numbers. the annoying part is so many of the invitations i've sent out haven't rsvp'ed yet. oy. i think i'm going to cushion it by about 25, and if we run out, oh well, not my freaking fault. i'm hunting for a tiara/crown, but haven't seen anything that i like, so far. so one of the other things i'm going to be doing today is going to mangelson's & hancock fabrics and seeing what they have. if not, i guess we'll just have to fake it.

i just realized that i didn't fill you in on the shoes. sherril had to order more. she called me last week,and told me they were in, and i told her to just bring them with her. then i know the only way they'll get lost is if her luggage gets lost. while this is a possibility, it's better than mailing hte frigging things again.

and that needle i lost? i found it. i'd forgotten i'd combed my hair out before the doctor's appointment, and laid it on the end table. so it was there! yippee skippiee! i'm to the foot portion of her sock, so it continues apace. i had erin try it on, because while her feet are longer than steph's, her ankles are similar, and it fit! woot! now, i'm just gonna make them longer than i would need, and i should be ok. unfortunately, there's no one around here with size 91/2 wide feet. erin & carin both wear a size 11. damn.

and y'all need to go check out limenviolet and see the lovely yarn they've contracted with lisa souza to dye for them. yes, i said lisa souza. and in case you've just crawled out from under a rock, she has the most amazing sock yarn & spinnable fiber on the planet. there's a link on their blog, so go check it out. i ended up spending way too much money, lol. not to mention the other big announcement. go on. i'll wait.

see, wasn't that worth the trip!

i had a craptastic day last thursday, so engaged in some retail therapy at SoP, and ended up buying some schafer yarn. their famous women series? i got edith piaf. yes, there will be yarn p0rn on here, as soon as i can get to my house, lol. and robin ended up getting in trekking yarn, so while i lusted, she said she wouldn't get it barcoded that night. would youbelieve it was still there when i got there last night? so now i'm the proud owner of TWO balls of trekking. mmmmmmm, tasty.

well, imust flee. i have to do the dishes and vacuum, before i take off, so this place is in decent shape for when the caterer gets here.

TTFN!

can't sleep, flowers will eat me

I've got the mom corsages done. my bouquet is half done. i have tons of pearls & ribbons and floral tape, though! hmm, thank goodness i'll have 9 glorious free days before. i'm not getting anywhere, i swear.

and a gracious thank you to both miss lime & miss violet. miss lime had done some hand-painting, and brought the results 3 weeks ago. i must have overly oohed & aahed (not on purpose, no not sweetl lil' ole me!), because she decided to gift it to me as abridal shower gift. and mis violet traded me the berry mash i got from marie
for some halloween sock yarn i saw that she'd dyed months ago.

also, a great big thankyou to my secreat pal angel. she stepped up to the plate when my pal couldn't finish. go see patty and convince her that i love the sock yarn! it's trekking, for goodness, sake! i just happened to be in a get it out kind of mod that night, lol.

it doesn't help that i love my child very very very much. otherwise, why else would i be digging through the basement at 1030 looking for baby pictures? a buggy, spidery basement. with cobwebs. and sean has been digging (i.e. throwing shit everywhere) through stuff. i did hit the mother lode though. i found a box marked books & pics, and it had a TON. i think i deserve a reward after this, dont' you? i get to pic the picture. no matter how embarassing. don't worry, no naked baby pics, lol. i'm not that heartless.

liam is going out for football, and the first day of practice he yakked. mark & i told him & told him, but would he listen and get off his ass? too funny. he's fine, he just pushed himself too hard. a good night's sleep and he's back to his perpetual mouth motion, bubbly, perky, annoying self.

and i found my camera! it was on the. . . computer desk. in front of me. sigh. i promise i will post pics soon.

and now, darling readers, i must flee. i have to fetch the ritual brown paper bags for wrapping the precious textbooks. my precioussssssssssss.

damn

you know, blogger's habit of publishing your post when you hit enter in the title field is REALLY ANNOYING! i think i may have to file a complaint on this one. so if you've clicked and i have a blank post, i'm working on a real post, but blogger hiccuped on me again.

it's hot. it's DAMN HOT. it's STANKY HOT. just ask deawn. at least i'm not allergic to my deodorant. and a great big thank you for the gifts she gave me at the world's rockingest bridal shower tonight! she gave me 2 different sleep masks, excedrin migraine, and HEAD ON! god, that commercial is so FUCKING ANNOYING! and the stuff is strictly homeopathic. we'll see, lol. oh, and the certificate for stuff when i DON'T have a headache. just too magnificent.

oh, you wanna hear about the world's rockingest bridal shower? for all you fiber-o-philes out there, it was at SoP. a yarn store. and the theme? yarn swap. bride gets first pick. and the funny part? i gave away more yarn than i took home. if anyone recalls, i had a big box of sock yarn, and i'd never touched it. well, it ALL has a home now. however, since one spinner arrived with roving, i did take some home. i will show pics as soon as i can find my fucking camera. it's awol in my kitchen, and since i'm not living here right now, it could damned well be ANYWHERE. and liam's birthday is tomorrow. damn. and the way we did the swap? i would hold up a yarn, tell what it was, then either confiscate it, or offer it up. it got thrown at the first person who spoke up for it. there were a few that didn't take any. or maybe not. actually, i think the only one who didn't take any was carin, and she didn't bring anything except some gorgeous roving from blue moon fibers (home of socks that rock!) that she didn't care for, but that i had drooled over when it arrived, named persimmon. however, it was NOT orange. it was orange & purple & chartreuse, and oh my goodness, so yummy! and food. i think i had enough sugar to power an adhd child for weeks! no wonder i was so frantic at the end, lol. erin made the most amazing, gooey, chocolatey brownies i've ever had. jen went to whole foods (oh my god, i could LIVE there!) and brought mini tartlets and chocolate flourless torte (i.e. chocolate fudge with eggs, drool!). miriam brought cream cheese mints (about the only mint i'll eat, how she knew, i'll never guess). linda brought these little phyllo dough packets filled with raspberry jam & cream cheese. alicia, of limenviolet fame brought banana bread, which i'm told was very good. i stayed at the other end of the room (i'm allergic to bananas, which alicia did not know. it's ok, hon, everybody else enjoyed it, which is what counts!). while none of it was good for the body, it was most definitely food for the soul. i'll take a page from liz, also of limenviolet fame, and say i could have rolled around in it.

and i think tonya gave me the most precious gift of all. she gave me the skein of yarn that she had handspun that took a first at the nebraska state fair last year. i am truly honored with such a precious gift, and will try to find something appropriately stunning to make with it. thank you so very very much.

on to other bits.

i'm still working on the socks i'm making for steph, except i had a needle go awol. i had it in my hair when i went to my doctor appointment, and i think it fell out when i took my hair down. who knows where it is now. so i had to improvise, and snag one of the susan bates i bought 2 weeks ago when i had forgotten my knitting for knit night. thank god they were in the car.

not much else knitting is happening right now. see paragraph one.

sean is not going out for football. i'm sorry, but when he gets in trouble on the SECOND day of school, when they tried to test him out in a regular classroom (and it was his rude behavior, not just some innocent mistake), i think he needs to work on the academic before we reward him with sports. we'll try for basketball this winter.

wedding plans continue apace. i got more bubbles done up this afternoon, and had to start cutting squares again. i also bought more flowers & stuff to make the ring-bearer pillow at hobby lobby this afternoon, since my job decided they didnt' need my services today, and gave me R(required) T(time) O(off) at 10 am! mark asked mom if she could shorten my dress, so tomorrow's assignment is to find shoes with the appropriate heel height (i called sherril and asked how high the heels were, so i could find some in my shoe stash) and get the dress over there this weekend. thank god it's supposed to be cooler! i dont' know if i can stand this icky humid crap anymore.

i promise, as soon as i find my camera, there will be pics.

mama said there'd be days like this. . .

holy craptastic! what a day.

let's preface it with the fact that, in the end everything turned out well. but man o man!

i took the day off, but didn't accomplish anything i really wanted to do. wedding stuff? well, one thing. i found a dress. yes, that fast. it fits like a dream (except it's long, so it will go over to mom's for shortening, but that's the ONLY thing it needs), and it was the first one we picked out. it actually makes me look skinny!

while i was at therapy, my cell phone rang, and it was sean's foster mom. has the school called? no. sean's missing. he's WHAT??!?!?!?!??! so i left early, and called hte school. they said they'd given the FM all the info,a nd to talk to her. oy. this is my child folks, i need info! so i got to the school, and they hadn't heard anything. they thought he'd gotten on the wrong bus. after waiting at the school for 45 minutes, and the bus people calling back & saying he wasn't on the special ed busses, i was ready to panic. then, the FM called back & said that sean had walked up to his former foster mom's house when he'd missed his bus, and waited for her to get home from work. oy! he didnt know that only the doors he was near were locked, so he assumed they were all locked, and started walking. while it was not the best choice to make (he's been told he should have stayed at the school, at least we would have known where he was), at least he thought to try to find an adult to help him. believe it or not, i do believe this is a step in the right direction.

and by the way, did no one appreciate my attempt at celebratory humor for the last day before school started? hmmm? gimme some love, folks!

ttfn

now for something completely different

i was honestly going to post pics, but i can't find my camera, and i think a certain blonde who is no longer blonde has it. she was here sunday night, and i think she absconded with it without asking. sigh. i think i will get her one for christmas, as she's asked, just so she leaves my freaking camera alone!

hmmm, waht's up?

i don't have a dress. Mom can't get it to let out enough, so i get to go dress shopping at the last minute. joy.

i don't have shoes either. apparently the us postal service has decided that 2-3 day priority actually means whenever they damned well feel like it! so sherril ordered another pair of shoes. however, the sneakers that she dressed up for the reception may be a loss. payless has moved on to fall shoes, and these were backless sneakers. oy.

and everything else is going ok, wedding wise, except that the rsvp's are coming in S L O W L Y. doesn't anyone know that RSVP means responez sil vous plait? in english, send the frigging card back so i can give the caterer an accurate count! oy. of the 60 some invitations i've actually mailed with rsvps, i've got maybe 15 back. hello, they're not free stamps, people! damn. this is turning into a major pet peeve.

I also got a line on an interpreter for my mother for the wedding. Mark thought it would be cool if my brother bob interpreted for her, but i told him it would never work. I don't kid when i say i'm the family interpreter. i'm the only one who truly signs. my brothers fingerspell, as do my kids. i'm it.

and in case you couldn't tell by the previous post, school starts tomorrow. yippee! there is some trepidation though. sean is going to be rotating classes. this may or may not be a good thing. at least he won't be bored, like last year. his teacher was so upset with him, that she took away his specials, and he NEVER LEFT THE CLASSROOM. he even didn't get PE or art. sigh. and i get the distinct impression that his art teacher didn't agree with it, because she has transferred to this middle school, and is doing 7th grade art. she said she was looking forward to seeing a lot more of sean this year, than last.

both boys are going out for football. this ought to be good. liam will do well, he'll just be worn out, because he's out of shape. sean will be a different story. he has issues with following rules, and doing as he's asked the first time. we'll see how well it works. he says he really wants to go out, so we'll try it. however, if he ends up off the team for behavior, i'm seriously thinking about making him pay for his cleats. what do you guys think? And this is an every body plays team. no matter how good or bad. i like that. i really think they should find a space for all kids at this age.

and they have a KNITING CLUB at the middle school! liam's language arts teacher is the sponsor, and when i told her i knit & spin, she just about spun herself. she was ecstatic, lol.

speaking of knitting, there has been a wee bit of progress. i started & frogged a socklet that i'm doing for steph for christmas. she keeps telling me she doesn't like fancy colored socks, so i'm making her white socks! brown sheep wildfoote comes in off white, and since it's machine washable, that's definitely doable for her. i also frogged the carnival yarn. the toe was coming out too elvish, and i definitely have hobbit feet (guess what i've been listening to on booktape!)


how's about a little redneck? i havne't done any since (gasp) june!

you might be a redneck if you have 16 cats living in your yard, but can't get close enough to pet any of them.
. . .you practice shooting your bow at work.
. . . you've ever been promoted to dishwasher.
. . . you have something on layaway at the 99-cent store (or walmart, lol)
. . . people driving directly behind you become faint & dizzy (like the car behind me on the interstate today, you couldn't see behind him!)
. . . you & your wife have the same measurements (does that include body hair?)
. . . your biggest business worry is law enforcement.
. . . the only time you traveled out of state was an alien abduction.
. . . you use speed bumps to try to get your truck airborne.
. . . your landscaping includes corn & squash (except that is the new "in" thing, according to abc news tonight. does that make them rednecks or hippies?)
. . . the drugstore calls the police after developing your pictures (ewwwwww)
. . . you buy groceries, bait, and lottery tickets at the same place (walmart!)
. . . your favorite sex position is "awake." (i'm not EVEN going there!)
. . . you carry a case of beer to your tax audit. (bribe?)
. . . you think AOL is how your uncle got out of the army.
. . . your cell phone plays "sweet home alabama." (and what's wrong with that? that just makes you a high tech red neck (i hear george jones!))
. . . your cb antenna slaps the stoplights when you go through town.
. . . every car you own has a "papa John's" sign on the roof.
. . .you use a screwdriver to start your pickup (or a pair of pliers, lol, been there done that)
. . . your front yard is on more than one prayer list. (hmmmm)
. . . the most romantic moment of your life was interrupted by a police officer.
. . . the only pool you've owned is a cesspool.
. . . you think algebra is something you buy at Victoria's Secret. (now that's funny!)

and i'll leave you with this thought: if you can't be good, be good at it (dont' ask where i got that, i don't know!)

twas the night before school

Twas the night before school
And all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even my spouse.

All the backpacks were lined up
By the back door with care,
With the hopes that the principal
Would really be fair.

I in my t-shirt and Pa in our bed,
had just settle down for the rules to be read.
No flip flops, no tank tops, no gangbanger jeans.
No hats, no hoodies, and clothes must be clean.

When out from the alley there arose such a clatter,
I ran to the back door to see what was the matter.
When what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a loud jalopy with ear-busting gear.

With a teeth-rattling bass, and ear-drum piercing treble,
I knew this annoying kid was really into metal.
I knew in a moment that it was that annoying little prick.
The one down the street who knew all the tricks.

He drove slowly down my alley shouting with great wherewithall,
"School's starting! School's starting! Woe to us all!"
I grabbed my shotgun, and gave it a blast,
And blew that little sucker's ghetto box right into the past.

As the smoke cleared away
and the prick rolled out of sight,
I whispered "Happy school to all parents, and to all a good night!"

because we're goin' to the chapel . . .

well, we most definitely have a minister! we met with him last night, paid him, and discovered he has a lovely sense of humor. thank goodness. i was really hoping for a non-plodding, unstodgy one.

we bought the rings yesterday. we had to order mark's, because he got a "fancy" band with an edge (he's only going to wear it once in a while, you can't wear those things when you work with machinery all day), and it may be tight to get it in. the lady did say that if it got close, we'd get one sized, then do an exchange for the correct, unaltered size. my band actually has stones in it. i hadn't originally wanted anything beyond a plain band, but it went so well with my engagement ring, that i couldn't resist. chaching & bling bling, doncha know!

i got the invitations out, for the most part. i'm passing them out at work (hush, don't tell anyone, i'm not supposed to, lol (ala dooce, apparently!)), and all the ones that need mailed have been so. it's looking like the west coast contingient is probably not going to make it. from either side, lol, because my second cousin is getting married the same day, lol. apparently that's a popular date!

I started my bouquet last night, and it's gonna be a whopper! i'll post a pic when i finish it (i'm at the library, killing a little time before sean's school physical). that leaves 3 more bouquets, and 4 corsages, and all the boutineeres.

Sean is doing so-so. he's been having difficulties likes he's always had, although he's not actively defiant with the fosterfamily. he just does things on his timetable, and no one elses. therapy tuesday stunk, because he absolutely did not want to participate. i'm sure a ton of this is the fact that liam got to spend a week with his grandma, while sean had to stay behind, and that school is starting next week, and he's dreading it. so far, not so hot. he's been informed that if he doesn't start behaving properly, he will not be allowed to participate in the wedding. while i would dearly love to have him there, he has to realize that this is MY day, and that what I say goes.

Alyse is actually going to come to the wedding! i sent her an email asking about the bridal shower, and she said she couldn't make that, but that her mom didn't get married every day (just every few years (the smart ass, gee, wonder where she gets it from?)) and that she'd be there

knitting? yeah, a little. mostly bag knitting, as i'm working on getting an inventory up. however, not much. my ac is out of commision because my sump pump broke, and it drains into that, so we've been at mark's. oy.

gotta dash i'm out of time!

TTFN

uncle

it's 87F outside, and 88F in here. and the humidity is high. i can smell the dew getting ready to fall. i give in. i turned on the AC and now i'm going to bed. see ya later

random saturday

ok, i've dubbed this one random saturday.

first there's this. for those of you who watch good eats, and havent seen feasting on asphalt, you are missing a HUGE treat. apparently watching people eat on the road is a big deal this summer. there's paula dean's boys, and right now unwrapped is doing a "road trip" show. then there's food finds, and that one show that i can't recall, that ate around cities or themes. while paula's boys do a fine job, y'all need to step back. alton has it in the bag. i LOVE alton brown. granted, i wouldn't want to do like the misses lime & violet with their yarn (listen to their latest podcast. oh dear!), but his wit is fantastic, as well as his insight. it's been on once tonight, so it should be on again at midnight central time. go check it out!

Edit: Alton is acutally on right now, at 11 pm. no schmuck boy tonight.

then there's my crazy kid. Liam. have i ever told you how cool he can be? he was raised a head-banging baby, and to this day, hasn't gotten into that hiphop bitch ho slap around the bitch crap that alot of kids like. he flipped when he found out i'd bought him an ac/dc notebook for school. what he doesn't know about is the ac/dc sleep pants i found him for his birthday. yes, he's getting other stuff (god, i couldn't inflict just clothes on him, let's get real). he'll flip.

and he listens to mandatory metallica on Z92 (local station that plays classic metal & new stuff too. my only issue is their disgusting morning show. no music, just these two assholes who feel the need to denigrate any and every one they think will be funny. sigh) there's another station here in town 89.7 the River. they play a lot of alternative rock (ska, death metal, punk, indie, and on sunday mornings, Pacific Street Blues). they also play local bands (although they've only played mark's band, centerfuze, a few times, just not up their alley). and they also play older metal that doesn't get regular air play. they played "When It Comes To Me" by Metallica, which is an older song, in the good old days before they decided that they needed a bigger slice of the pie and lars decided to be a wimpy baby. (sorry, some bitter issues there). He'd never heard it before. He was in AWE. and the best part is this is one song where i can just belt it out, and sound absolutely amazing(i know, lorna, i should sing some wehre else other than my car or SoP). my normal range is second soprano (i can't break glass, i spose i'm a lot like sheena easton (shout out if you don't know who she is, and i'll see if i can find some links)). it helps to know the song, lol. now, i know, there were a few people at SoP a couple of weeks ago that feeled slightly betrayed with the "regularization" of groups like ac/dc and metallica, but i say more power to them. if it causes them to tour again, i'll pay the money, and take my son! hey, i took steph to Red, White & Rock (spondered by 93.3 the Dam, before they became a shit kicker station (at least they play classic country!)) three years ago, and Linkin Park not long after that. Liam wanted to go see Rob Zombie when he was here, but the opener (i can't place it right now ) was notorious for graphic lyrics, so that was a no go. Hell, Staind is back out, and playing next weekend. God, i wish i could go! anyway, this is a knitting blog, right?

Jennifer had her baby yesterday morning. the one day she came to work (on friday after the shower) i had left the damned thing at home. so i' going to wait a few days to let baby & momma settle, then i'll call her & find out wehre she lives, and deliver the sweater.

for charity, i've just stuck to making sqares at work. it's easier that way, i don't have to think.

I've started making my felted purses again, and i'm disgusted with the first one. it ended up short & wide, which is fine. the big problem is that the edge rippled on me. i'm using a really big book wrapped in press & seal wrap (it's a hard cover, those survive that stuff well), and have it blocking in my dish drainer. we eat at mark's mostly, so there are few dishes here. the flap turned out relatively well, although it did cup a bit. i wanted a pointed flap that wasn't too deep, so did an extra decrease in the middle. it's doable. just that damned ripple maybe i can fold that bit in & stitch the lining to it. i'm almost done with an all red one, and will wash it probably monday or tuesday.

however, tonight, i don't even WANT to look at needles & wool. it was 99 again today, and since it stormed over night, and we got a brief shower around 11, the humidity is through the roof.

today was tax day in iowa (no sales tax on clothing & shoes, up to $100 per item) so i took sean & my mom to walmart in Council Bluffs. we had to wait til afternoon, because i had a last minute doctor appointment (i'll explain) in the morning, and Sean's music lesson was at noon. first off, we had to park in the north 40. if i had been thinking, i would have dropped sean & my mom @ the door, and just made myself walk, but iw as being blonde, sigh. i was already starting to overheat. we were there for 2 frigging hours. fifteen minutes of that was spent looking for sean. it wans't really his fault. he's got a cold, and has been eternally thirsty, so asked if he could go hunt for a drinking fountain. i told him i'd stay in the men's department (liam's into everything men's except t-shirts). after waiting 10 minutes, i got concerned. i went to the restroom, looking for him the entire way, and no sean. sigh. so i had him paged twice, while waiting by the restrooms. no luck. so i described him to the cashier (she was manning the self checkouts, so she woulnd't be too distracted, and told her to nab him & page me. he'd know my name, lol. i thought i heard my name, and rest room, so i checked again. no luck. went to the video games & the toys. no luck. finally, i hit up one of the ladies at the stands they have with red vests, and asked her to page him again. apparently, he heard it, he paged me again, to the fitting rooms. he did what i'd taught him! we had had issues with him wandering off while we were shopping, so i taught him to go to customer service (fitting rooms worked, too) and have me paged. YIPPEE! while i was upset about not finding him, and was about to call a code adam, the fact that he used his head, and thought about what to do, thrills me to death. maybe we're working closer to him coming home.

Liam wasn't with us, because he had chosen to pick a fight with sean over a lego's magazine, and then wanted to argue with me about it. they both had lost the priviledge of playing video games at walmart (an easy way to keep track of them, lol) because of the fight. liam kept trying to tell me that sean started it, and i told him that it takes two to fight, so they'd both get a consequence. he started to argue about that, and since i was already hot & cranky, i told him, fine you don't get to pick out your clothes, you can stay home. i can still get away with that, one, he's a boy, and two, he's almost 14. he doesn't totally doubt my taste in clothes, yet.

anyway, having learned my lesson about finding my mother in walmart (for those who don't know, she's deaf so i can't have her paged if she goes somewhere else other than where i'm expecting. the last time this happened, i had to call a code adam, and have them hunt her down. it took an hour to find her!), i had established a meeting point with her. sean had been very good, so i told him he could go pick out a toy, then meet me & grandma in the produce section (much easier to find than "the men's department, lol). i found her, told her to wait there for sean, and i'd go pay for my stuff. that took 20 minutes. then i found her & sean, debated about the price of the toy (he'd been told $5 or less, but since he'd been so good about getting himself found, i cut him a little slack), then took everyone to find another check out & checked my mother out. of course, i'd forgotten socks for liam & mark, so i grabbed some of those, quickly (thank god there was a rep in the sock aisle, i couldn't find mark's socks (he wears the super huge mega socks, he wears a size 14 shoe)), and we checked out my stuff & hers. then came the fun of finding the van. i think the battery is dying in my key fob, because i have to be really close to make it work, so i couldn't even hit the panic button to find it. fortunately, it was only 2 rows over, and just as far out as we had gone.

then there was the mad dash to the hall the reception is going to be. we left walmart at 4:40, and i was supposed to meet the lady there at 5. i made it, but just by the skin of my teeth!

now, to the doctor's appointment. no, I'M NOT PREGNANT! let's keep that straight. this baby factory is closed for business. however, i got my old summer favorite back. the city decided i needed to clean up my yard, which is mowed, at lest, unlike the neighbors down the street who have weeds all over their yard that stand as tall as 4 feet. i think they've mowed twice this summer. needless to say, i finally got the phone # i needed to call their asses in. sauce for the goose, don't ya know. so guess what happened. i got poison ivy AGAIN! that's it, i'm getting my doctor to recommend a dermatologist early next spring, and i'm getting desensitization shots. the big problem with poison ivy & me is this: i'm hyperallergic to it. while most people get a rashy spot from contact with the oils, unles they get more contact, it stays where the oil has gone. (by the way, the oils can stay active for DAYS after clothing has been changed. if someone has poison ivy, be very careful about doing their laundry.) not me. i get one spot, and my antibodies freak out, and i start to break out EVERYWHERE. i worked on my yard thursday, and was very careful not to touch anything if i could help it. (i used my clippers, and liam used gloves to transport the crap to the compost heap. does he have poison ivy? HELL NO. it started with a faintly itch y patch on my waist (yes, i was dressed, fucked if i know how it got there) yesterday afternoon. by last night, it was a very itchy patch, and i had to change my shorts to keep from rubbing it. this morning, it had spread to my left arm, my left jaw(yes, i have two, don't you? how else do you think i'm so chatty!), and my scalp. in my hair. and i have chronic itchy scalp on top of that. yes, i'm just thrilled! so i went to the doctor. the funny part is this: while i use a different doctor for most of my regular "maintenance" appointments, the last minute ones get to be who ever has an open slot. in the 2 years i've owned this house, i've had to go to the doctor THREE times for poison ivy. and this fill in doctor has had me every time. and he remembered, lol. so he asked me what i wanted to do. now, that is a comfortable physician. the usual steroid pill packs that they give most people don't work on me. i've tried before. this PI thing has been going on for 5 years. i got it 3 times in one year, and the pill pack worekd the first two times. the third time, they gave me two (the rash came back as soon as i stopped after the first one), and after the second one ws done, i immediately broke out again. that's when they brought in the big guns. prednisone. god, i hate that crap! it upsets my stomach (even with food) forever. that time, they started me with 60 mg for 3days, and then dropped it like the pill packs, every 3 days. i was so sick. so, when i got it the first time 2 years ago, here, they suggested a shot of steroids first, and then a smaller dose to start (50 mg for 3 days, which means being on them for 3 days less!), and it worked well. so it old the doctor this, and he said, ok, we'll do that. i LOVE that doctor's office. they are all no-nonsense, (i've seen 3 others besides my own doctor, plus the PA), and will listen to you. and my doctor actually had the "safe sex" discussion with liam last year, while i was in the room. i thought he was going to fall through the floor. too funny. and they all have senses of humor, too! i've had a few popous asses (the doctor i transferred to when i was pregnant with stephanie, & moved), and this office is refreshing. and the office staff is friendly, and sociable, whle still being professional. and they even ask after my mother! (since she started going to the hematologist for her monthly blood thinner checks (she had a heart valve replacement in '86)) she doens't get in there as often as she did).

anybody interested in wedding news? if not, too bad, i'm going on! WE MAY HAVE A MINISTER! sean's foster parents are heavily involved in their church (hes' a lay minister), so we asked them if they could recommend anyone. he couldn't find anyone. however, her mom lives up by us, and she asked her if she could think of anybody. her neighbor is a retired minister at a church that is just upt he street from mark's house! we talked to him, and he wants to meet in the next few days, but it's looking good!

i got the last few addresses i needed (the west coast cousins were tough, i had to hunt them down via an older cousin that was a long distance call (and you know, they all want to chitchat because i havne't talked to them in a while (how's your mother, how's life, how old are the kids, i cna't believe they're so grown) and then i get to hear their news). i called my cousin shirley, who i always liked (she was different, if only because she was a thorazine baby, and has one arm that ends in two fingers at the elbow (i could relate to the differentness, even in my young days (most of my first cousins are 20 years or more older than i), just because mine wasn't a physical difference)), and she told me her older brother now lives in indonesia most of the year (comes back for holidays & tax time) (he won't be coming, lol), that her sister had divorced & sold her house, so she needed to call her aobut the addy, and that her daughter (2 years my junior) is getting married on the same day! too fucking funny! (in case y'all havne't noticed, i've not stated my wedding date here, because i know a certain personage reads my blog, and i really don't think he needs to know this information. if you wanna know, and i know who you are, email me. i'll tell ya). so the west coast cousins won't be coming. oh well. however, shirley is a traveler (rv& bikes) and may be through this way some time next spring. i've told her that now i have all these addresses, i might just organize a get together, so we can all see each other again. some of them i havent' seen since the last time she was here with her husband, daugher, and grandson, and that was well before daddy died.

tuxes have been measured for.
caterer has been met, & seen the hall (the outside, at least, she's suitably impressed.)
more floral tape was bought today, and i'll be starting flowers, soon.
and erin is contemplating throwing a shower for me @ SoP. a yarn shower! I LOVE IT! no bachlorette for me, i'm not interested. mark's not having a bachelor party either.


ok, i can't think of anything else, and i feel that my computer may take a dump on me, so i better hit publish post, and skeedaddle.

ONE MORE EDIT: I just saw a commerical for a new body wash by Softsoap. It has protien extracts from CASHMERE. is that possible? they'd definitely have a market with fiberistas!

TTFN!