there goes my pg-13 rating!

SON OF A BITCH FISH.

The parish priest went on a fishing trip.On the last day of his trip he hooked a monster fish and proceededto reel it in.The guide, holding a net, yelled, "Look at the size of that Son ofa Bitch!""Son, I'm a priest. Your language is uncalled for!""No, Father, that's what kind of fish it is - a Son of a Bitch fish!""Really? Well then, help me land this Son of a Bitch!"Once in the boat, they marveled at the size of the monster."Father, that's the biggest Son of a Bitch I've ever seen""Yes, it is a big Son of a Bitch. What should I do with it?""Why, eat it! Of course. You've never tasted anything as good asSon of a Bitch!"Elated, the priest headed home to the rectory.

While unloading his gear and his prize catch, Sister Mary inquired about his trip."Take a look at this big Son of a Bitch I caught!"Sister Mary gasped and clutched her rosary, "Father!""It's OK, Sister. That's what kind of fish it is, a Son of a Bitch fish!""Oh, well then, what are you going to do with that big Son of a Bitch?"Sister Mary informed the priest that the new Bishop was scheduledto visit in a few days and that they should fix the Son of a Bitch for hisdinner."I'll even clean the Son of a Bitch", she said.As she was cleaning the huge fish, the Friar walked in."What are you doing Sister?""Father wants me to clean this big Son of a Bitch for the newBishop's Dinner""Sister! I'll clean it if you're so upset! Please watch your language!""No, no, no, it's called a Son of a Bitch Fish.""Really? Well, in that case, I'll fix up a great meal to go withit, and that Son of a Bitch can be the main course!Let me know when you've finished cleaning that Son of a Bitch."

On the night of the new Bishop's visit, everything was perfect.The Friar had prepared an excellent meal.The wine was fine, and the fish was excellent.The new Bishop said, "This is great fish, where did you get it?""I caught that Son of a Bitch!" proclaimed the proud priest."And I cleaned the Son of a Bitch!" exclaimed the Sister.The Friar added, "And I prepared the Son of a Bitch, using aspecial recipe!The new Bishop looked around at each of them.A big smile crept across his face as he said,"You fuckers are my kind of people!

this was quoted to me as an oldie

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full.. They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes." The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table And poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the Empty space between the sand. The students laughed. "Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things - God, family, children, health, friends, and favorite passions -- things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house, and car. The sand is everything else -- the small stuff. "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. So... Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. "Take care of the golf balls first -- the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand." One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled."I'm glad you asked". It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

always room.

woohoo, titles!

i know, i know, really original.

hmmmmm. what do you want to know? i know!

my afternoon with miss vi & the knitting idiot aka beth. my god, i had fun! beth arrived while i was packing orders, and i continued with thank yous while they chitchatted. i just sat there and laughed, lol. then i took sean to the library to do a "make your own clock" class (i love these "teen" classes they've offered this year! they did a "mystery dinner" last month that both boys went to, and thoroughly enjoyed (the menu? tacos & nachos, lol!)), and the games began! we were originally going to go to the farmer's market, but discovered the downtown one no longer operates on wednesdays any more (hey, vi! mark told me it's been relocated to boystown! more investigation is needed, i see!)

so, we decided to convene at personal threads. god, i love that place. i never used to like it, but there's been a few changes, and i heartily approve. as miss vi needed some coffee first, beth asked if we could stop @ a craft store so she could pick up a few needed things. would you believe they don't carry the toggles on sweatshirts? the lady in the fabric department agreed that they really do need to carry them. so she only ended up getting ribbon (and the poor guy who checked her out? i think he primarily works in the back, because he almost forgot her discount (the ribbon was on sale!)). then, because the line had been so long, we decided to skip hancock fabrics (she knew THEY carried the toggles she needed), since we didn't want to strand miss vi at personal threads alone (god knows what damage she would have done to her credit card without us to restrain her (we won't discuss the yummy skeins i kept finding, and tempting her with (tibet silk, and cashmere laceweight!))) (there goes my infamous parenthetical love!), we hustled our fannies down there, to find she hadn't arrived yet.

for those of you who have been to personal threads in person, you know they put a 40% off bucket/shelf in the doorway. le sigh. i resisted temptation. i was there as back-up. beth was after sweater yarn. then i saw the austerman sock yarn with the aloe in it. and such tasty colors! i still stood firm. then miss vi appeared, and i started having fun distracting her with tasty skeins. and joe. omg! he is so funny! and so helpful! and such an ENABLER! he's the one who put the cashmere laceweight in my hands originally.

and then i fell. boom. admittedly, i haven't been buying much yarn this year. like i need to! i ran across the koigu basket. i know y'all have heard of the koigu wall. well, this basket is located near there, full of lonely singles & doubles, and discontinued colors. i normally only wear red on football saturdays (when i remember, lol). i've been told it's a good color for me (particularly since i quit dyeing my hair), but i'm just not a red person. however, several bright red skeins of KPM leapt out at me. that's when joe stepped in (almost literally!). i had 3 in my hands, and he took one and set it aside, as its color didn't match the other two as well (variations in the same dyelot, i believe). i looked down at the remainders, heard him say "those two go together much better," and then heard hosannahs sung on high. MINE! i clutched them to my chest, and did not release them until i paid forthem. then there was the sockotta perched so cunningly above aforementioned koigu basket. we were admiring all the interesting colors, and joe said "this does its own fair isle." however, the skein that sung to me? reminded me of tropical birds and citrus drinks. SNATCH! this one huddled in with the koigu, and got comfy. at that point, i said "no more!" and turned to the saleslady and paid for it quickly! i have found that this is a good antidote to further purchases. i really didn't do too bad. i only spent about $30. but still. thud. right off the wagon. i'm thinking fawkes for the red (if it's the right weight, i have to look at the pattern), and monkey socks for the sockotta.

then we absconded out to miss vi's, and sat around and shot the shit til i had to go pick liam up at the library (mark was a lovely husband, and picked up sean from his class, and dropped liam off for his volunteer duty, hence freeing me up for this afternoon of fun & frivolity!)

what a lovely day! and, apparently, another lady from the L&V message board is coming july 24th! (she'll actually be here on the23rd, but that is zoo day, lol). another excuse to go into the shadow of the valey of yarn!

i shall fear no evil, for thou art knitted with me.
thy needles & thy bodkin, they comfort me

i better stop, now, before i offend someone!

but i may continue again later!

oh, and a bodkin? here

go see!

dig this


wheeeeee!

call the men in the white coats

call the men in white coats (and the shift+tab thingie didn'twork!) edit: the titles areworking again, now if only my space barwould behave!

on several accounts!

1) i went & weeded my garden sunday night. at 10 pm. yes it was dark. but not so dark i couldn't differentiate tomato plants from weeds. i got 6 grape tomatoes earlier in the day, which the boys sucked down like they didn't exist (granted, these things were the size of my pinky!) i've also got buttloads of plum tomatoes (roma), and other tomatoes, but not a ripening one in the bunch. i did get 2 more grape tomatoes today, though (sean hoovered those). i've also got pepperage going. the eggplants were in the shade for part of the summer (i'd show you my garden, but then the city might see, and then i'd REALLY have to clean things up), so they're just now getting some growth to them. hopefully, we'll see some blooms, soon. (the one thing i didn't get? mosquito bites. for some reason, they just don't like me this year. really bothers me, let me tell ya!)

2) i signed up for the MS3. in my defense, i've had a cone of 1500 yds of medium grey laceweight alpaca that i got from laurie, for 2 years. she'd found a deal on a pound of this stuff, and they agreed to recone it in 4 oz helpings, so i agreed to help her out. i've been hunting for a pattern for it. sooooooooo, off i went to hobby lobby, and found some beads on sale (lovely reddish/pinkish beads that go so well with it (i was initally looking for something a little less . . . garish, but they were out of most of the bigger beads, and these aren't too bad. i'll take photos when i get a chance (or think of it, lol). believe it or not, my hobby lobby also carried the dangerous crochet hooks, so between my beads & hook, itcost me under $5! my downfall were the addi lace turbos i bought at personal threads. still, i only spent an additional $23 total. i'm thinking i'll gift this to my SIL, since she's allergic to wool, and she cried over the last shawl i made for her.

3) i was sorely tempted to go to the opening of HP5 tonight. i hadn't realized it was opening midweek, until i saw carin was going to meet a coworker at the only theater that is having a midnight showing tonight. one small problem. the movie is over 2 hours long (i looked it up!) and i have to be at my mom's at 10 tomorrow morning for her pacemaker check (i love that they can do it over the phone!). midnight showing + over 2 hours of movie + needing to get up eearly = cranky minnie. that and the fact that the boys are STILL AWAKE (it's 1040 pm right now) (i just heard sean yelling at liam, i may just go to the damned movie by myself on thursday!), and i really don't feel comfortable leaving for that long while they're still up and terrorizing each other.

4) i joined tour de fleece. well dammit, i was going to show you a pic of the roving i'd just finished plying, but apparently, my camera card was too full, and i didn't see it, so i've got nuttin'! anyway, this isn't nearly so much a stretch as i'm always spinning anyway. in fact, right now i'm spinning up some of tara's roving for deawn. not quite sure what i'm getting out of it, other than hilarious stories about recent funerals for notorious deaths in the city (you knew she worked at a funeral home when she's here in the states, didn't you?)(and go check this out, i about DIED when i saw it! i think i may just have to make one for myself!)

anybody wanna hear waht i've been reading? and yes, i've been reading, i've just been lax about talking about it.

Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon (book cd in the house. this one is going slow, as i've discovered the joys of a DVR, and am trying to catch up on a backlog of shows (creative juice, i love you, but you may just have to go))

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (book cd in the car) i ended up listening to these out of order because there was a huge queue for this one. funny, it still came before OOTP. i better hurry if i want to hear all of them before the new one comes out (egad, 10 days!)

The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan. i actually had to check this book out twice, because someone requested it before i had finished, and there was no way i'd get it done before i'd get a fine. i'm actually enjoying it this time around. it's book 3 of the wheel of time series. (i've got 4& 5 on book cd, which will happen after HP4 & HP5)

Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits, by Robin McKinley. this is a YA book, but it's 6 short stories, and very good. i don't mind the YA label at all!

and on that note, imust fly. my spacebar is hosed (hush, eliza!), and i'mtired of pounding on it to make it work. sigh.

Rocking Girl Blogger!

i'm a rockstar! thanks to itgirl, she nominated me a rockin' girl blogger.





apparently, i'm supposed to nominate 5 more. here we go!

Miss Vi (who is a rockstar in her own right!)
Carin
Tara
Deawn
Erin

ok, ladies, do your thing!

(and look, 2 posts this week! woohoo!)

Edit: it's easy. save the button to your computer (because hotlinking is a baaaaaaaad thing), then post it, and nominate 5 more! share the love!

oops

it's been pointed out to me by certain, ahem, people, that i haven't posted in 2 weeks. sorry!

i've thought about it. honest i have. i've just been. . . lackluster, i spose. i have been spinning like a madwoman. i got both nightshade & tulip from spunky eclectic as a part of her fiber club. i donated the nightshade to claudia, for the MS ride prize basket.
i wasn't terribly impressed with this colorway, until i got it in the sun. then all the colors just glowed! the fiber was coopworth, which i've never spun before, but it was a pleasurable spin. i almost decided to keep it, and then decided it would do more good for claudia. let's hope sh e got #1 for next year! considering she set a new goal of $30K and blew right past it to over $40K? i think so. we knitters rock!
then there's this little lovely:
This little lovely is tulip. In roving form, it most definitely made me think of tulips. however, spun up? it's a little different. thanks to miss vi for taking this picture. didn't it turn out just lovely? it's BFL, which i've never spun before, but it's niiiiiiiiiiiice. i'm keeping this one!

i've also done some knitting & crocheting.these socks, according to carin, are at least a size 11, lol. i hope there are mongolians who have big feet. these were knit almost exclusively in the car (stop lights are good for 3 or 4 stitches!), and while waiting for the kids. they're shortrowed toes & heels, done toe up. i had always thought i preferred top down until i found this. i'm a convert! i'll still do top down where appropriate, but i likee!

let's just move on, shall we? i don't know quite what went wrong with this sweater, but it's wearable, so off to mongolia it went.
this hat went to mongolia as well. it's redheart jumbo in bright yellow, and some handspun i got in a secret pal exchange. the handspun was very nice to work with. i had originally started this as single crochet, but it was coming up weird, and funky, and would not lay right, so i switched to half double. and this little beauty popped up. took me one night at S&B, plus a little more time in the morning, and it just FLEW off my hook! good thing, as i needed to mail it in 2 days!

this hat was some mystery blue fuzzy stuff from my charity stash in bulky weight, along with oceanos malabrigo. this hat is tasty. i almost kept it for myself, but the call for adult clothing wore me down, and off to mongolia it went. this one is single crochet, but i think it worked better than the above hat because it was done on a size N hook, while the above was done on an I. i was going to switch to an N, but it went awol on me. sigh.

ok, i'm getting worn out with all this posting, so i'll just vanish for now. i promise i'll be back.

EDIT: i don't know why, but blogger insists on putting a huge space at the end of this post. who knows!

let 'em know

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/leisure/your.picks/index.html

they are doing a poll on what you like to do. it took me a minute, but if you put your arrow over the pictures (they're tiny!) a caption at the top tells you what it is. they've got knitting! go, make knitting #1!

i'll be back later

thinking

i've been doing a lot of that, lately.

thinking about how crazy people can be. prime example. liam is in band camp (and no, he's not playing ANYTHING that would go near that whole line.), so while he's there for 2 hours every morning, sean and i go entertain ourselves. we've been going to a nearby park, and borders, and walmart. yesterday, we were running behind, so i was taking a short cut. i was waiting at a stop light, when i heard a tap on my passenger window. an older woman (maybe in her 50's (god, that's not so far away!)) with bright orange, wildly cut hair, a blue tooth thingie in her ear, and enough jewelry to make Mr. T jealous (if you don't know, you're not old enough.), asked me if i could give her a ride to shopko just down the street? WTF? ride the bus, lady! put on sensible shoes (i didn't actually SEE her footwear, but the rest of the outfit made me think mules with maribou on them), and walk! weird, i'll tell ya.

thinking about where this whole fiber journey is taking me. i won't say i've lost my knitting/spinning/crocheting mojo, but i'm less motivated t han i was. dulaan deadline is coming up, and i want to finish all my projects by friday (god, that's two days away!) so i can wash them, and have them dry over the weekend, so i can pack them up and mail them early next week. the deadline is july 1. i've got 3 hats (one just needs ends woven in), 1 pair of socks, and a sweater to do. i wonder sometimes if i overcommit myself. i've got 3 pairs of socks going, and only one going easily and well (the simple socks i work on in the car. they're worsted weight, and going swimmingly). the other two? well, one i just kinda lost interest, but want to do, since it's for my sockpalooooza pal, and the other is for my SIL. i want to do some diaper bags for this month's AC4C project, like i did in march, but can't find the motivation to get them started. i also saw that the camp that the Pettys sponsor (if you know NASCAR, you know the Pettys) likes to send afghans/blankets home with their kids (i think they're cancer survivors/sufferers? someone correct me if i'm wrong?), and want to make blankets for that, but. . . . everything is meh.

thinking about wishing that we could settle into some sort of summer routine around here. working for miss vi is great, and now that liam can stay home, much easier. she's a saint for putting up with sean, i'll tell ya! i don't feel comfortable leaving him with liam in charge, cuz i'm su re they'd KILL each other. it just doesn't work well right now. sean and i had a talk last night, while we were walking (we walk to the gas station and back, which makes it about a mile, and try to do it 3 times a week), about how he's almost 13, and needs to work on trying to be his age, and not someone much younger. i know that is hard for him, but considering how far he's come since last summer (remember THAT insanity?), i know he can do it. he agrees. so i just remind him once in a while. he's doing pretty good. he really wants to be able to stay home if he wants, instead of getting dragged from pillar & post.

the unsettled part is this whole band camp thing. it's going for another week after this, and this week is kind of trying. my mother has a doctor's appointment at the same time he's supposed to be at the school tomorrow, so he'll have to get dropped off earlier. this means that we have to get up earlier, which means i need to go to bed earlier. i haven't been to bed before 1130 since school got out, so it's hard. friday, mark is having minor outpatient surgery, so i have to take mark to the surgery, then go get liam from my mother's (we decided since mark had to be there so early, it would be easier to have my mother watch the kids overnight), take him to band, then scram back to the hospital until either mark is ready to go, or liam is done. oy. now, liam is enjoying the hell out of this band thing, because he gets to try a new instrument (trumpet) and he LOVES it. we had told him in the beginning that we would buy only one instrument, so he's torn between saving up for a car and (believe it or not!) a trumpet. oy! mark loves it, cuz if he ever gets playing again (he hasn't touched his bass in months, sigh. nothing he's looked at interests him (yellow, red or black only, indeed!), so he's drifting right now), he wants liam to lay down some horn tracks for some of his music.

but until band is over, no sleeping in. ugh.

thinking about the loved ones i miss. my dad's passing happened 6 years ago on june 4th. i actually got through the day ok (it gets easier every year, is that bad?). a few friends have recently had losses of their own, and i can empathize. i actually helped one, because of medical issues. it still pisses me off that the doctor & nurses kept saying "oh, he'll be alright, he'll be fine, he's doing well" when he was anything but. first indication that things weren't going very well was the day he died. the social worker from the hospital called me, and we were trying to figure out where to put him. he wasn't doing well enough to be on the rehab floor in the hospital (yes, carin, yours), but because they'd had him in restraints to keep him from pulling out things like his feeding tube out of his stomach, or the ball catheter (yes, he pulled that out. even as a woman, it makes me want to cross my legs), and most nursing homes wouldn't take someone who had been in restraints. then i got the call 3 hours later that he was gone, and that when he'd pulled his tubes again that same morning, when they tried to put them back in, he told them he wanted to die. (ok, hang on, i need a tissue). THEN, after he was gone, the doctor (whom i had never met) called and spoke to me, and told me that 75% of people who have his kind of stroke never recover. i was in shock. and the death certificate said he died from diabetic complications. apparently, what they were feeding him in that tube had such a high sugar content that it put his body into a diabetic state. but they couldn't treat that because they were dealing with the stroke issues. FUCK.

i miss my grandma. i'll have to see if i can find a pic i can scan, and maybe you'll understand a little more. she was a class act. she was known in her church as the little lady in the black hat. she ALWAYS wore a hat. when i was a child, she had some precancerous spots on her face frozen, and the doctor told her she couldn' t go out without a hat anymore, and she took him seriously. if only a baseball cap, that lady wore a hat. in fact, when we cleaned out her house, we donated the black hats to the county museum, because she was so well known for them. the rest of the hats came home with me, and they decorate my kitchen.

she was a pioneer. she and her family moved to wyoming when she was 13 years old. this was 1917. i'm sure it wasn't easy. we found pieces of wood, where, during WWII, they didn't have paper, but she insisted on journaling anyway, and she wrote on those. we donated those as well. why is it NOW that i realize i got my yen for writing from her? i got SO much from her. my face shape is similar to hers. my hair is graying as hers did. a fierce love for my family. (what kind of love can you have, that you do the unimaginable, and put your 6 year old on a train, because you know you can't educate her there, and the best place for her is 700 miles away?*) she wrote to my mother EVERY WEEK. rain or shine. illness or health. every wednesday, she'd put a letter in the mail, and we'd get one every monday. my mother would put her letter in the mail every friday. my mother would even make notes, so she could remember what to tell my grandmother. i miss those letters.

thinking about music that i've gotten away from, even though i loved it so fiercely. Queen. I've been gaga for them since the 5th grade. that's when i first heard "we will rock you/ we are the champions." i've been sitting here listening (and watching) videos of queen on youtube. i so sincerely wish i could have seen them live. we miss you, freddy.

thinking i am so going to have to kick steph's ass. i don't know what she did, but my computer is fucked. it's 7 months old! she's been in my house for 2 weeks! damn! of course, i found out she was trying to upload software so she could use her webcam. the one some guy sent her. huh? i think i may have to have a d iscussion with her. on top of that, i don't think they've done the dishes since they moved in, and while i do need to get my stuff out of the bedroom, stacking it on the front porch is not kosher. hell. to include the box of good china i got when my great aunt passed away so long ago (my grandmother's sister). and, of course, trying to get the cable t urned back on has been a trial and a half. they claim that it's active, but nothing we do gets it back on. i think it's soemthing in the switch that they flipped to turn it off last fall.

thinking i need to blog more! i didn't realize it had been almost 2 weeks until i logged on. i've had no gumption for that, either.

thinking that i wish the boys wouldn't fight me so much on some stuff. i got their grades, and liam passed the 8th grade by the skin of his teeth. and i think part of it may have been that the language arts teacher felt a wee bit sorry for him. she had told me that if he could pull a D for 4th quarter, she'd give him a D for the second semester. well, apparently, he pulled it off. I got sean's grades today (he'd lost a book just before the end of school, and we had to turn it in before we could get his grades) and the only class he didn't pass was language arts. soooooooooo. this summer is a writing summer. every time they ask me to dvr soemthing, i'm requiring a paper out of them, when they watch it. the first one was Dogfights/ Guadalcanal, on the history channel. neither one of them was happy about writing, but they did it. liam got a full page, but it was kind of incoherent. sean could only get 4 sentences. definitely something that needs work. and now liam is mad at me because i told him that once band camp is over, i'm requiring that he write one page about the experience. mark had a talk with them about it this afternoon, and they said "yes, dad." why can't i get those kinds of responses. i get 'MOOOOOOOOOOOOM! that is so unfair! this is summer! i'm supposed to be having fun!" then stomp, stomp, stomp up the stiars, to pout, and read, and fall asleep, so that he cant' sleep at night when i need him to. ugh.

thinking about how my arthritis is affecting my life at this point. it's inherited. my mother has it (she takes celebrex). my grandmother had it. i had to take my mother to the dentist yesterday for a check up, and since this is the dentist who doesn't have a signing hygenist, i had to tag along to interpret (i go anyway, as she doesn't drive, but still). as she sat in the chair, gripping the ends of the arms, i looked at her hands. as different as her hands were from my grandmother's (my grandmother had, at one time, relatively graceful hands, while my mother has. . . work hands. only way to describe them, lol. for such a small woman (she's 4'8", and was never over 5', even in her heyday), she has large hands. her wedding ring was a size 8 1/2. my wedding ring is a 5 1/2)), i could see my grandmother's hands in hers. the enlarging of the knuckels in just such a certain way. the shortness of the nails (i can't grow mine to save my life, and apparently, iv'e passed it on to steph).

i've been listening to queen videos, and i just played "it's a kind of magic." there is a bit at the very beginning where freddy snaps. i coudln't snap. it hurt. i can type alright, and knitting doesn't bother at all. spinning gives me fits if the fiber i'm working with is particularly slippery, but usually is ok. but right now, at the end of the day, when i should be doing relatively well (i always have the lowest hand strength when i get up in the morning, makes it interesting), i cant make a fist tight enought o make nail marks in my palms.

ok, i've worn myself out with all this thinking.

see ya.

i'm in shock

ok, for those of you who intend on reading the book, or watching the movie for the first time:

the book is "The Friday Night Knitting Club" (anybody know the html to put in underlines?)

SPOILER ALERT

it was a good book. a nice book. a book about a tough woman who made a life for herself and her daughter, despite what life handed her.

she gets ovarian cancer.

as i read the book, after her diagnosis, i kept thinking, she'll be ok. she'll be fine. she can't die. she just re-discovered the love of her life. she has a 13 year old daughter who needs her, and looks up to her.

she didn't make it. she died.

ovarian cancer is a nasty, evil thing. it's so very hard to get a diagnosis, because its symptoms are so general. here's a good resource with a list of symptoms to watch for. the bad part is that so many women are diagnosed in the later stages, where the survival rates are much lower.

please, take care of yourself. get regular check-ups. know your own body.

is chivalry dead?

ok, here's the deal. we live on a semi-busy street (it's a snow emergency street, which means no one can park on it.). we also live at the convergence of about 5 streets. some poor kid with a duded up car (spinners, fly paint job, etc) ended up killing the car in the middle of making a turn. so he was blocking both lanes of traffic. fortunately, the way the streets run, it was relatively easy to get around him (except for the SUV bozos who would rather drive on the grass than go around him!). we sat and watched all kinds of guys (and i do mean people of the male persuasion) go around him, making faces, gestures, and honking. We being me, steph, her roommate, and the little boy they're babysitting. finally, i'd had enough. i fetched liam from upstairs, and he, steph, and i walked over and asked if he wanted a push. he had a girl with him. SHE got out of the car, and helped us push it into a driveway of a house that is unoccupied. apparently, as she was walking to the back of the car, she called him a punk ass. steph said, no kidding, you should be steering! now, he did say thank you, but if that girl was his date, i'm pretty sure he's not getting another one, because apparently the poor schmuck was out of gas. and if she was his sister, i'm doubly sure he's getting the tongue lashing of a life time.

i suppose my whole point is, why didn't he get out of the car? it took three women and a young boy to push his car out of harm's way. go figger

i am a bum

i know i haven't been posting much lately. i haven't been doing a ton. i've been busy spinning for crown mountain farms, and packing, and doing a little knitting. i've also been working for ms. vi part time, which, amazingly enough, seems to eat a large part of my daytime while mark and the boys are gone. i suppose i'd better get over the habit of not doing anything once they get home. i don't get enough done. in fact, i should be packing, rather than talking to y'all. however, i'm not thinking about that right now.

what have i been working on? i've been doing this. ravelry is really, really cool! go see what i've been doing!

other than that? bleh.

Dancing with the Stars was fun to watch. I'll miss it over the summer. I need to see if they're coming to omaha again for their live tour. They were here in january, and i wanted to go, but decided i couldn't spare the money at that time. i really can't now, either, but hey. ya gotta live!

The honeymoon has been postponed again. This time it's cuz mark's dad has been ill lately, and while they are doing tests to figure out what is going on, we don't want to burden them with trying to to take care of the boys, so we've put it off again. Good-bye, Fold! i may get there someday!

Here's the pain in the tuckus part. My brother and his wife MAY be renewing their vows at christmas time this year. they live near savannah, georgia. If they do this, it will be around christmas time. Add that to the fact that the last few times we've seen them, they came here. They've been here 3 times, including the wedding. It's our turn. But do you think i can get mark to put it down on the board? growl!

anyway, i gotta get back to packing, sigh. i'm off like a herd of turtles

i've seen this around

but most notably, natalie. i likee!

Bold for stuff you’ve done, italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and normal for stuff you’re not planning on doing.

Afghan
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns (i'm assuming clapotis falls in this category?)
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with bananafiber yarn
Domino knitting (=modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Baby items
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffitti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street) (i see a naked stop sign near by!)
Continental(i tried several times. with the way i knit, i just can't seem to wrap my mind around the purling)
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colours
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone elses handspun yarn
Knitting with dpns
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit (more specifically, male children, to include Sean, lol)
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art (Isn’t it all art? :))
Knitting two socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars simultaneously (don't like the socks on 2 circs to begin with, why do this?)
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener
BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with selfpatterning/selfstriping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Knitting with cashmere (go see this post to find out why)
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/armwarmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

wow. i seem to be a wee bit prolific. i suppose that's what happens when you knit for 31 years, and don't even know "it's too hard for a beginner." granted, i just recently started doing things like socks, but mostly because i didn't want to, not because it was too hard. it's all just sticks & string to me. (except steeking. i need a drink to even type that!)

so, my challenge to all of y'all. what have you done? leave a comment so i can see your lists!

here's some fun!

i'm sick of talking of the basement, so i'm not gonna!

go try this:

Take 60 seconds to do this, I guarantee you will show someone else, it's too funny not to.
1. go to www.google.com or http://maps.google.com/
2. click on "maps"
3. click on "get directions"
4. type " HOUSTON " in the first box (the "from" box)
5. type " London " in the second box (the "to" box)
6. scroll down to step # 25
Follow the steps above and then read step number 25.

i thought mapquest was bad.


also, i got my sock club kit from the loopy ewe! i won't discuss it at this time, so as to not be a spoiler for anyone who hasn't received theirs yet, but i ADORE the yarn! it's so luscious!

i've got pics, and batteries, but i'm lazy, and haven't downloaded pics yet, so you'll just have to wait a bit more.

i'm off to S&B!

here's the deal

life just got flipped, sigh.

i did end up pulling all the carpet, and the pad underneath. the boys didn't have school today, so they [s]slave labored[s/] helped, and we got it all pulled. however, the bozos who put in the carpet didn't bother to try to scrape up a lot of the black pad that had been glued in in a previous application. i also have a feeling that there's been leaks before, and i think i know why.

there is a concrete pad (patio, for lack of a better word) that directly ajoins the foundation. there has been some settling, and off to one side, where an additional pad had been attached, and caulked. well, there's a snake den just to the south of that, which kind of caved in/sunk last summer, and that auxiliary pad tilted. i think it threw the whole patio system off, and all the caulking that had been put in place was screwed up, as well. there are marks on the wall in that room, but just where the patio hits. not where there's just dirt. when i could finally get in the room and examine the walls, i realized there were damp marks that ran from the previous marks down the wall. mark wants to test the theory, and spray it with the hose. i don't think that would do it, because we got (according to channel 7) SIX INCHES OF RAIN IN 24 HOURS.

what i do know is that people were buying pumps all over the place sunday. mark ended up having to pay twice as much for a more high-end one than he had intended. it did the job, though. as i sit now, the dehumidifier (which sat in that 3 inches of water, AND STILL RAN!) is valiantly trying to eliminate humidity from the air down there, and the concrete that is bare is actually starting to dry.

here's what's odd. i know i've owned the house for 3 years. however, i do believe there's been more water in that basement (which actually sits a good foot lower than the main basement) than just what happened yesterday. when i was pulling up the wood cleats that they use to tack the carpet down, it was SOGGY. not just wet. as in, it's so wet that you could squeeze water from it in spots, and was so bad in spots that it almost splintered when i pulled it up. and many of the "nails" tacking it to the cement were rusted to the point that they snapped off, rather than come through the wood. and this with a flat-bladed screw driver.

and the bugs! living on the bottoms like i do (i only live about a mile from the missouri river, and i have a feeling at one time, before the army corps of engineers, this was a flood plain), there's a certain expectancy of bugs. however, i've never seen so many pill bugs, and curly worms (little worms that form a "c" when they die) and water bugs, and even a few LIVE millipedes (how they survived all that water, i've no clue). it was downright scuzzy.

mark and i are debating what to do at this point. his house is in no shape to sell as it is right now. my house, barring the basement debacle, just needs a coat of paint, and a little spiffing up, since it was in relatively good shape when i bought it (barring the leaking tub, and the busted sump (which will be replaced with the sump we bought yesterday, thank god for a sump i don't have to jiggle any more!)). mark wants to sell both places, and buy a new house. i'm having a really hard time with that. i love my house. granted, the bedrooms upstairs are tiny (each room is about 10X10), and the bathroom, which is so small you have to leave the room to change your mind, sits between them, but my living room and kitchen are HUGE! my living room is 15 x 20. my kitchen? is l-shaped, and standing in the part by the living room, you can't see the stove! it's got a bay window, and a breakfast nook area (my bookshelves are actually there, lol), and an enclosed porch. it breaks my heart to think of giving this house up.

original plan? move in here, let steph & her roomie rent mark's house as long as they needed (she's already warned me it's temporary, until they can find a deal they can live with (the roomie's stepdad has offered to buy a house and rent it to them, if they can find something they can live with), then fix it up and sell it. there are a few downfalls to this house: mark can't stand in the main basement without hitting his head, there's no garage, and no outbuilding for things like bicycles and lawn mowers (liam's old bicycle actually was stolen off my front porch! yes, they're a wee bit light-fingered around here. i've had 2 lawn mowers and a propane tank stolen as well). but my porch has been my get away. i'd sit out there any time of day or night. if it was too dark, i'd crack the front door, and listen to book tapes. if i was cold, i'd sit on the futon mattress, and wrap up in my grandmother's quilts. this is hard.

now, steph will be moving in here. she doesn't need 3 bedrooms, and they can use the bedrooms upstairs while i redo the one downstairs. and while the market is soft right now, there are lots of houses for sale in this neighborhood. i like this neighborhood. it feels like it's small town, even if it is attached to omaha (florence was annexed by omaha in 1917). it's the furthest north point still claimed by omaha, but not considered a part of NORTH OMAHA (there's all kinds of nasty connotations with that. think east st louis). it sounds like some of the stuff will be going into storage, at least for now. we'll actually share storage with steph, since she won't have anyplace to put her stuff here (the main basement, while dry, is full. i really need to get down there, too).

sigh.

can i cry now?

calgon take me away

cuz god knows i need a bath. as many of you may know, we had torrential rains in omaha last night. i was a little worried about my basement because 2 1/2 years ago, i did end up with some water in it, although it all ran to the sump, and we ended up having to sweep the rest of the water into it. i was worried this time because the sump was disconnected because the pipe broke. that part of the basement is fine.

what is going to be my bedroom is flooded. it sits about 8 inches lower than the rest of the basement, and as of right now, there is 3 inches of water in it. i tried to use the wet vac, but it's too heavy for me to haul up the stairs full (it holds 16 gallons (do the math. a gallon weighs 8#. that means, when it's full it weighs 128#. not happening). and it fills up in 25 seconds. literally. so, i filled it half full, and for 15 seconds of sucking, it's 10 minutes to haul it up the stairs, out the door, and dumping it. it took me an hour to do 4 loads. i gave up. mark is over there now, and i'm thinking we need to buy a pump we can hook a hose to, and get the water out that way.

mark thinks it may have gotten in through the window wells. i can't get at the walls to check for dampness, cuz i'm damned well not wading through that crap.

the really bad part? we're supposed to be moving into that house in 3 1/2 weeks. and my grandma's dresser is in that room. sigh.

Edit: It just started raining again. sigh. At least, we bought a pump, and it is doing it's level best, considering it's pumping through a 3/4" hose. maybe i'll be able to figure where the water came in from now. i'm pretty sure it's the window wells, at this point, because while the carpet by the bulkhead is slightly damp, it's not soggy like it should have been if that's where the rain came in. oh shit! i'd better shut the bulkhead!

i wanna rock!

apparently they're having a mother's day giveaway over here

see?



go, enter, they're giving away cool stuff!

wouldn't you just figure

i am slated to get an afternoon to myself, and i have to forgo it because mark has to work late. growl. i was going to spend the afternoon spinning, then go to S&B. crap. at least i know they won't keep him TOO late, and i'll still get to go. now it's just a matter of whether or not i'll get to go over to my house before i go or not.

and yes, i'm posting from mark's puter. it had major surgery, and now i can post from his puter again. no pics, cuz i loaded the camera software on my puter (no sense in putting it on both!), so you'll just have to be patient.

i have a feeling liam is going to fail 8th grade. he let his homework fall behind AGAIN, and i'm so sick of this. he's got 15 days of school left, and i highly doubt he can catch up at this time. i don't understand. why not just do the work? right now his video games and tv for the SUMMER are riding on him passing, and i honestly don't think it's going to happen! as it is, i talked to his counselor at the middle school, and she told me about a program that the high school was doing (credit recovery they call it! what happened to summer school?), and i filled out the paperwork as soon as i received it in the mail, and i think liam is in. i spoke to the dean of students from the high school today, and he said that more than likely liam would be in (there were only 60 open spots, for an incoming freshman class of over 300! (and that figure may be low!)) as i had physically handed it to the office at the high school, rather than mail it in (and i'll tell you what! i had to park 2 1/2 blocks away and walked to the school. it wasn't the 2 1/2 blocks that killed me, it was the fact that it was ALL UP HILL! (i'm getting too fat, sigh)). he's also in for a busy summer band-wise. i got a letter from the band instructor at the high school, and they are doing stuff ALL SUMMER LONG! they're having a meeting on may 31, then practicing for some marching engagement 3 days in july, and then having a week long band camp to focus on the marching in august. and his middle school is having a band camp as well. i'm going to be hearing trombone all summer long.

speaking of trombone, liam's spring concert was last week. this kid is amazing with this horn. he just started last august, having only picked up an instrument for one week in the 4th grade (the school he was attending was trying to pump up band numbers by having younger kids enroll, but they weren't coordinated enough to make it work, so i ended up taking the trombone back (shout out for dietz music, here! they not only let me take the trumpet back, they refunded ALL of my money, because of the school's decision!)). after one semester, his teacher decided to move him to advanced band. eighth grade advanced band. with the kids who have been playing since 5th grade. it's the only class he's getting a good grade in, sigh. and he's the only trombone player in the 8th grade advanced class, lol. when they were playing, i could definitely pick his parts out, lol. mark intends on working with him on his trombone all summer long as well, and teach him to pick out notes by ear. he's already learned half of iron man (yes, my kid is a metal head, just like his mama, lol)


and go read this.

i wanna be her when i grow up. i have always loved to learn. when i was in junior high, i cried the last day of school, because it was ending. in fact, right now i'm fighting the urge to go enroll at metropolitan community college, and take a few classes just for snips & sniggles. that's where i got my culinary arts degree, and i enjoyed it. in fact, i think my cook whites might just still fit (they make those things amazingly baggy, lol!) who knows. i just know i love to learn.


and (drumroll please!)

AN ANNOUNCEMENT!

there will be a fiber festival here in the omaha metro area May 11-13.

It's the Bellevue Fiber Festival
Friday: 3-6 p.m.
Saturday & Sunday 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
It's at the VFW hall @ 2108 Franklin ST (gotta love google maps!)

there will be food provided, so if you want to just come and hang out, need to pick up something, or take a couple of classes..stop by (tonya's words. thanks tonya, i'll be there!)

anyway, i must dash. i've got a few things i can do while i wait the hubbie's return.

TTFN!

PICTURES!

mark's puter has been wigging out, so i haven't been downloading pics. however, i finally caved, and put the software on this one.

so, here we go!
This bit of lovliness is lisa souza's elektra, superwash, spun up navajo-ply. and yes, you're seeing correctly, that is sockweight. i had to spin it froghair fine to get that kind of weight, lol. i got 338 yards, which, hopefully, will be enough for my former secret pal hanna, from the L&V yarn Pron exchange, to make a pair of socks. i almost kept it myself!

This is Sari. It's spun from a batt carded by Miss Violet, just before her huge update to etsy last week. i actually helped skein and tag some of that yarn, because there was SOOOOOOOOOO much of it. and y'all know how fast that sold out. good grief, i'm surprised they didn't break etsy! this is 90 yards of bulky weight thick & thin (not too thin, lol) domestic wool, with angelina for sparkle. the inspiration for this was an indian sari, with the angelina being the sparkly embroidery you always see on them. this will be going up on my etsy site (gimme time, lol)


This little lovely is from pigeon roof studios. Krista just does lovely work, and i love spinning her stuff. This is 101 yards of bulky spun called Laura. it's very soft & squishy. i LOVED spinning this up. while it doesn't look much like it now, there was lots of white in the roving. i love spinning with bits of white, because it introduces so many fascinating shades.

This was dyed, again, by Miss Violet. I don't have a name for it, cuz she didn't, either, lol. I've thought about calling it purple haze, as there's quite a bit of hazy purple in it, but this pic doesn't show it off very well. i won't be posting this til i figure out a name, and a better pic. This skein is 116 yards of bulky weight.
This is the second skein o the same stuff. it actually shows a tiny bit more of the purple, but still not enough. sigh. This one is 81 yards of bulky weight.

And on the Mark front, he's doing very well. He's using the patch, which seems to be helping immensely. He did confess that he had ONE cigarette yesterday afternoon, after his friend left (he helped mark fix the lawn mower), and before we got home, just cuz he was curious if it would give him a buzz. not only did it not do that, it didn't taste good either, and he didn't enjoy it. That's a good start! cross your fingers!

And now i must dash, i've got yarn to spin, and a boy to goose (liam's mowing, and he's not terribly happy about it, especially since he was told if he didn't finish by 1 (he's been at it since 10), sean would come over later and finish it, and get part of liam's pay for it!)

here ya go!

Jen requested that i put up a link to my etsy shop. ok, ok, now that blogger has made it easier to do so, it's over on my sidebar------------------>

See?

and superman had better watch out!

and the adventure continues

sorry, no pics. the weather has been really crappy, and the light just sucks for taking pics, so no new yarn. it's spun up and skeined, but no pics. sigh.

the adventure? mark is attempting to quit smoking again. he tried cold turkey last year, and was doing very well (he went from smoking 1 3/4 packs a day to about 8 cigarettes a day) until his foot went whacko on him, and he had to stay home for a month. considering the only company he had was liam (sean went whacko about this same time), and for half that time, he wasn't allowed to move his happy ass from the couch unless it was bathroom, bed, or doctor, he just about lost it, and was up to 2 packs a day again.

he went to the doctor last saturday to have a mole checked on, and came home with smoking-cessation literature, and a sample pack of commits. those are lozenges (kinda like nicorette gum, only cough drop style instead). the problem with those is no drinking or eating for 15 minutes before you take one, or during the dissolve time, which is about 25-30 minutes. mark is a thirsty soul. to not drink anything for that long (particularly first thing in the morning with his coffee (let's just deal with one addiction at a time, eh?)) would have made it 10 times tougher than it needed to be. so we contacted the doctor and asked about the patch. apparently you no longer need a scrip for them, so i took the $10 coupon they had included in his papers and went to walgreens.

now i know why that coupon was $10! with tax, patches for 7 days was $34 before the coupon. can we say ouch? granted, it's still cheaper than the $40 a week he was spending on cigarettes, but still. i will be hunting around for some cheaper prices, that's for damn sure.

However, he came home for lunch and said he actually felt pretty good. he was one of those people who would light up as soon as he got up in the morning, and even got up in the middle of the night on occasion to have one. we actually put the patch on last night before he went to bed, with the thought that maybe he wouldn't crave one too badly when he got up this morning. he said the rush after we put the patch on (i put it on his shoulder for him, i will help him as much as i can to quit (it's affecting my business! i already had one person say they couldn't buy some of my yarn because of the smoke (granted the cats were in there, too, but i think the kicker was the smoke))) was just like it was the first time he lit up oh so many years ago (he started at 16). h owever, this morning, he didn't cough as much, he wasn't as stuffed up (hey, there's an unexpected benefit! maybe i won't have to buy so many kleenex!), and he felt rested, even though he didn't go to sleep til almost 10 last night, and still got up at his usual 345-400 (yes, that's AM. he has to be at work at 6, and he hates being rushed, lol). so hopefully, this will work!

the reason he was up so late last night? we get take out rather frequently, as mark doesn't like to go out, and decided we wanted to try someplace new. mark and i had had old chicago years ago, before the boys came home, and mark wasn't impressed at that time. he was willing to give it another shot, though, so we picked out what we wanted, and i called in the order. i was surprised at the low total, but thought it was ok. i knew i should have had her read the order back to me. the closest old chicago is 20 minutes away (peony park area for those who know omaha at all), so it's a 40 minute round trip. in the rain. and the cold (did i mention the weather's been crappy lately?). so i get down there, and with the wind being from the east, and where they had to-go people park, i got a faceful of rain when i gave the girl my credit card. she brought the food out, i signed the dotted line, and took off for home. i get home, and start pulling food out, and realize that they missed one item, which, unfortunately, was liam's calzone. sigh.

so i called old chicago, very upset. i asked to speak to the manager, and told him that i wasn't very happy, because i had driven all the way down there for this food, and really didn't feel like driving down there again, for their error. he offered me a gift certificate, and i told him that we order out frequently, and had wanted to give old chicago a shot, but with this kind of service, we might never order from them again, and in the meantime, my 14 year old is out dinner. i knew liam wouldn't want my calzone (although he is the amazing eating machine!) because it was spinach, artichoke, and sun-dried tomato (on second thought. . . .). The manager offered to deliver the calzone. i think my jaw hit the floor, just before i asked mark what he thought. mark said let him. so i gave him relatively explicit instructions (it's a bit weird trying to find mark's house from the west. the east is a piece of cake, though. (ask miss lime how hard it is, lol)), and waited. when i had called, it was 730. at 810, he knocked on the door. in addition to the calzone, he gave us a big cookie (the boys died over that one) and an additional $20 in gift certificates. he apologized profusely, and said he would understand if we never ordered from that old chicago again, but if we wanted to use another one, here's some GC's to try to make up for it. all in all, i think we got everything damned near free with all the extra goodies. and no extra charge for liam's calzone. we've decided that we are going to go ahead and give them one more shot, but i'm definitely going through the food before i leave, next time.

and on that note, i must flee. we're having hte folks over for enchiladas, and i gotta pick up a few extras before i head to school.

oy!

ok, i'm back

ok, i've only got one pic to show you right now. but it's a nice one.

finished horcrux socks. not much knitting has been accomplished. i've been mostly making squares for dulaan, and spinning. just not into the knitting groove right now. TTFN!

i was going to

i was going to show you the new yarn i'd just finished and put up on my etsy site, so you could drool, and maybe dream of buying it.

here they are:

this is the first skein of adele, by deb over at dudleyspinner. it's 395 yards of two-ply in approximately sock-sport weight.

this i named adele II, mostly because it was from the same roving, but just a smaller skein. it's 205 yards. yes, that means i got 600 yards out of 7 1/2 oz of roving. not bad eh? however, you can't see them on my etsy site. why? BECAUSE I SOLD THEM! i offered a $5 discount if someone purchased both, and not only did she purchase both, she purchased both my goblin elbows as well! woohoo, it's official! i'm a seller!

gotta scoot, need to make more yarn for my adoring fans (cough, choke)

ok, here we go

first off, how's about the pics of my stuff from my secret pal from the L&V Pron exchange: vintagechica rocks! what you're seeing is 4 skeins of Mystical Creations silk/wool combo (who knows what i'm going to make with them, but right now they're being petted!), a box of choxie (it's target's upscale chocolate) dark chocolate truffles, a pack of knitter's notes (i love these things! i use them with every exchange i do!), a large bar of ghirardelli dark chocolate (i know that's not spelled right, BUT I DON'T CARE!), a really cool notebook that will go in my bag for yarn notes (i'm coming up with handspun colorways, just wait, they're tres cool (what's up with the french?)), and the book title i bloody well hope you can read! however, i don't have any spindles! tara has promised to make me a top whorl, which is what this book covers, and i'm going to give spindles a shot. belive it or not, i've never used a spindle before. started out immediately on a wheel. what isn't shown is a set of candles in the yummiest flavors! i can't remember them all, but i think my favorite is vanilla amber. yummy!

i finished the harlot socks, but i don't have pics of the finished product, so you'll just have to live with this:

These were done with schoeller esslinger's Merino Soft, which is sport weight, which was obtained from tiffany (forgive me if i spelled your name wrong) when she was destashing in preparation for moving from the marriage from hell. i like this yarn! this is the horcrux worsted pattern, but because the yarn was sport weight, they came out sized for a younger child. maybe 6 or 7? these are going in the dulaan box. and the best part? it only took one ball of yarn (i got to count 142 yards towards my marathon total! i still haven't hit a mile yet, but i'm getting closer!)

these are the squares i've been crocheting for this month's AC4C charity (which just happens to be dulaan!) i'll be mailing these off to the joiner at the end of the month. i actually have 2 more done, and one on the way, but no pics of those yet.

ok, y'all wanna see something very funny?



mark got contacts, and sean found mark's glasses in the bathroom, so he had to put them on. looks kinda bug-eyed, don't he! (how's that for bad grammar, norma?) and then there's this:
liam is a clown, and my uber-goober child. and yes, those eyes are crossed, lol.

as for the rest, well, i was a bad girl yesterday. mark stayed home sick, so i came straight here after dropping the kids off at school, and i spun for FIVE hours. i had a mission, and dammit, i wanted that roving off my bobbins! it's done, and you'll see it, after i send it off. it's a present! and it's very nice!

needless to say, my right ankle is still kicking me for that much spinning. is there such a thing as spinner's heel? my right achilles tendon says "hey!" every time i go up or down stairs, but it's not pain, so much as soreness. it already feels much better than it did last night. and i only spun for half an hour this morning, too. i'll just have to watch it next time, and get up a little more often. however, i did work up a sweat, so i suppose that counts as exercise, right?

ok, i have tons of stuff to do before i dash up to blair for court again, so i'll catch y'all on the flip side!

blankets & sweaters

ok, ok, i still owe a few pics. hang on.

this is THE blanket. in order from the green toward the turquoise, the knitters who helped with this:

green-deawn

yellow-alicia

white-me

dark blue-carin

lighter blue-tara

turquoise-glenda (owner of touche)

and here's the sweater:

both blanket & sweater were made with the original cotton-ease. some of these colors have been discontinued.

hey, deawn, i have a better picture of the sweater with you in it. how much you give me to not post it?

a few thoughts

i know, that's frightening, me thinking.

in response to an anonymous comment left, i did offer to overnight his meds to her when i got back home. he would have had them in plenty of time for any kind of trip they would have liked to do. she decided to go without. her decision. i asked if she was sure, and she said yes. as mom, i could have argued, but there is no arguing with this woman. no changing her mind. and that's all i'm saying.

what, exactly is meant by "free?" like laundry soap. i bought some tide free, because it was on sale. and it's kind of weird stuff. it's clear. it's thinner than regular tide. and it has an odd chemical smell. i feel sorry foranyone who HAS to use this stuff. it's not a terribly pleasant experience (and i'll be hitting that sale a little earlier next t ime, lol)

and here's a couple more pics!

i think stephanie is such a blur because she was nodding that she recognized the email i was telling her. she was definitely moving!

and dueling socks. see, i told you i'd just finished turning the heel!

here's the last two items that i donated to ABC in michigan. you've already seen the crocheted bags, and while i did donate the blankets, i didn't make them, so they don't count towards my charity crafting count.

that camoflauge bag was the bane of my existence, i'll tell you. i don't know if it was cheap thread, or the wrong needle, or what, but my sewing machine broke the needle that was in it, so i changed it, and i couldn't sew zigzag, because the thread would break. i couldn't turn corners because the thread would break. and sometimes, the thread just broke. Mom has told me who she takes her machines to (she used to own an alteration shop), so, when i get a chance, we're off to see the wizard. i hope it's not much, just needing a tune up, and maybe a new belt? cross your fingers, this sewing machine is well over 20 years old. it was my grandmother's.

and, apparently, i don't have the pic of beth & i downloaded on mark's computer either, so i wasn't able to put them on flickr. i'll try tonight, as well as pics of my wonderful package from my secret pal from the L&V Pron swap. goodness, the reveal is sunday! good thing my sendee is understanding, and i've let her know part of her package is going to be late! i'm going to mail part of it this afternoon, so she'll get some CLOSE to the reveal date, lol.

and now, to clean my house. mark & his friend are coming over sunday to finally fix the sump pump, so i can start using my washing machine again, and do some decent felting! i gotta get some purses done!

TTFN!

her harlotyness

ok, here's the post y'all have been waiting for.

i took off from here about 10:30 wednesday morning. i had wanted to leave earlier, but my mom's hematologist appointment took a little longer than expected, although we did get the good news that she didn't need a procrit shot, for the second month in a row. her hemaglobin seems to be doing well.

anyway, so i started on my way, and ended up at the hotel at 4:30 that afternoon, after getting just a tiny bit lost. the main road the hotel was on goes north and south, and i ended up on the northbound, when i needed the southbound. fortunately, i found my way back, and made good time. i called beth, from AC4C, whom i had made arrangements to meet, and let her know i was in town, and then dug out my directions to find the wild onion, where we were going to meet and have dinner. it was actually much easier to find that, than the hotel! anyway, we had dinner (we both had steak sandwiches, lol), then walked to the auditorium. it was about 20F (maybe 2 or 3 degrees warmer, but what does it matter at those temps?), and everybody around me was having a fit because i was wearing my flipflops and no socks. just my way, lol.

we got there, and stood in line to check in. the yarnery was taking reservations, because they only had room for 400 people in the hall at the law college (i can't remember what the name was, i only know it was only about a 2 block walk from the wild onion). when they got to me, the lady taking names had to tell me a story. apparently, a knitter had called, and found out they weren't taking reservations any more (apparently they had 100 people wait-listed!), and told them that a large # of knitters would be upset. she even sent a link to my blog, and asked them how upset would i be if i didn't get in? she laughed (to me) and said, "you've chosen the wrong example. she has a reservation." good grief!

we ended up sitting toward the back of the room, so i got up to take these pics:

Stephanie is doing her thing. that is why you can't see me sitting way back in her pics. i was up here!


and then her talking:


as for what she said? down with C.H.O.K.E.! granted there was a small amount of kidding about u.s needle sizes (i would live with metric, honest i would! i'm of the generation where they tried to teach us metric, so we could match with the world, and then never did. however, i know a meter is approximately 39 inches, and an inch is 2.54 centimeters, and a kilogram is 2.2 pounds. and a kilometer is .6 miles. good enough?), but it was a WONDERFUL talk. she went over by half an hour, and finally, the lady running the event had to rein her in, and told her they needed to start the signings. so stephanie announced that anybody pregnant, aged, or needing to feed little ones (there were two babies there) would get to go first. they were handing out totebags with "the yarnery" on them, and whomever had the "golden ticket" got to go first as well. i didn't mind waiting, lol. i knew i didn't have to work the next day, and it wasn't that long a drive to the hotel. so, i bid beth adieu (she'd gotten a pre-signed book, as she DID have to work the next day), and got the ladies sitting behind us to take a picture:

well, i thought i'd loaded it on flickr, but i didn't. you'll have to wait to see beth & i holding the sock! (mine, lol, not stephanie's)


i got in line (at the very end!) and met a lovely lady named Theresa. While we waited, a reporter came and interviewed both of us, and we both got quoted in the paper! here's the link to the article. thank you to theresa for emailing that to me! we got in line at approximately 8:25, and waited. and waited. and waited. we were in the hallway til almost 9:30. i didn't mind, because i got to chat with theresa (i never got your blog address dear!), and they were going down the line handing out chocolate! if you pulled a particular color, you won a prize. theresa got a nice sock pattern. i kept pulling the previous color, lol. i had worn my marge t-shirt from franklin, over my prison long-sleeved t-shirt, also a franklin original, as i knew it was going to be cold. however, it was hot in the hall! i should have known, 400 women (and men!) with wool. sheesh. i had to ditch marge because i got to hot, and i couldn't keep her because it was a white t-shirt, and i wasn't wearing the appropriate color of undergarment (yes, that means i was wearing a black bra!) as i got to the table that the yarnery had set up with all kinds of yarny goodies to tempt us, everybody started asking about the prison t-shirt. so i told the story as i remembered reading it by franklin. everybody got a huge kick out of it (i also get odd looks and questions when i wear this t-shirt in public (mark bought it for me, lol!)). so, franklin, if you have a lot of new readers, you can blame me, lol.


and then it happened. i was standing in front of her yarnness. it was 10:20 at night, i was barefoot (i had taken off the birkies and stuffed them in my yarnery bag so i could cool down a bit), and my arms felt like they were going to fall off, as i had balanced my coat over my original bag, and hung it from my right shoulder, and put my sock (which was at one inch of cuff when i got there, and i had just finished turning the heel by the time i got to THE table) and all my books in the yarnery bag and hung that from my left shoulder. i had marks on my chest from the straps for 3 days! i looked at her, and grinned. "you had told me to tell you my email address when i got here, so you would know who i was." i started to spell it, as nobody gets it other wise, but as soon as i got through "d-r-a-g-o-n," she grinned, and stuck her hand out to shake mine, then got up and gave me a hug! she said it was wonderful to connect names & faces, because her imagination never got it right. i laughed and said that i could just imagine what images my email evoked. so we chatted for a few minutes while she signed my books (i brought all my old ones, as she had said it would be fine), and then we got down to picture taking:

i actually have a picture of her and i holding each other's socks, but it's on mark's puter, and i forgot to upload it to flickr, so you'll have to wait for that one. Theresa took it for me, as well as another one i hadn't been aware of. i'm wondering about posting that one, it highlights my ultimate dorkiness, lol.

anyway, this post is getting way too long, and i haven't had breakfast (taco bell has started serving breakfast from 9-10:30, as a test, apparently, so i'm having a guacamole bacon grilled stuft burrito!), so i'll sign off for now. you'll get more later, i promise

restless

i'm feeling restless. i don't know if it's because it's spring, or if it's spring and the weather keeps whispering "winter" in my ear (although it shouted this morning, there was half an inch of snow on my car, and flurried off and on all day. thank goodness the ground is too warm for it to really stick.), or school is going to be out soon (shudder), or what.

nothing satisfies me. not cooking new recipes (or creations of my own, i'm known for doing that), not knitting new, interesting patterns (i'm making the assymmetrical v-neck in toddler size from teva durham's loop d' loop), nor any book i read or listen to.

it doesn't help that i found out last night that the trip to memphis has been cancelled. this was to be my honeymoon. sean went to visit his grandmother this last weekend, and we forgot his meds. i won't say it was an unmitigated disaster, but it didn't go well. as a result, all of a sudden, his grandmother has all sorts of excuses as to why she can't keep the boys for THREE days (we were trying to split the duty between my mother (who is 79) and mark's parents (who are 74 & 79) and her (she will be 65 in june) and her husband (he's 10 years younger than her.)). while i'm sure that neither my mother or mark's folks would mind keeping the boys longer, i don't want to put too much of a burden on either of them because they are a wee bit older.

here's what i don't get. she's been asked to keep all references to her son (the boys' biological father) away while they're there, to include pictures. sean said that there were pictures of him in his bedroom, and it made him nutty, on top of the lack of medication. he did things there he would never do here, medication or not. he got lost at the museum, and didn't follow the drill. he knows what to do if he's lost, and has done so in busier situations (walmart, for god's sake). he also knocked a glass door off its track, lost perfume caps, and scratched a triangle into a desk that meant something to the husband. there was a broken night light, but he swears up and down he didn't do it, the dog did (i can believe it, she's a hyper little thing (she comes along when we meet them to pick them up)). sean hasn't been destructive like that in a very long time. why is it it is only with her? he's fine with me, me & mark, my mom (for goodness sake, she had them for a full 28 hours last week, and nary a problem!), mark's folks, even his sister. sigh. on top of that, she's asked not to have the boys until their birthdays in august. i'm waiting for them to ask when they get to go again. i'm really waiting. when they ask, i'm calling her. she can explain. i don't think it's fair of her to put me in this kind of position. and mark is livid. he feels like it's a direct slap in the face to think (and say!) that no one has gotten through to sean. hello? he's home? and doing marvelously!

here's the scenario i see. i can't go into all of it, but here's what i'm willing to say. she couldn't handle her son at approximately this age. i get the feeling she can't handle sean, and he knows it, and it maddens him. the other thing? while sean may be chronologically 12 1/2, emotionally, and maturity wise? he's maybe 8 or 9. this is a vast improvement over a year ago. then, he was maybe 3 or 4. but he's STILL NOT 12! stop treating him like he is. there is no way in hell i will be leaving him to stay home alone for more than 10 minutes at a time. he'd burn the house down, and not see how he did it. well, maybe not literally, but still. he's not ready. and neither am i. but she sees 12 1/2, and despite all her "sympathy" she still thinks he should be 12 1/2, dammit! sigh.

he's my baby, and the last thing i want to see is him being hurt by someone who purports to love him. then LOVE HIM. warts & ADHD & ODD and all. we do.

i'm not dead and gone

just incredibly lazy. i haven't downloaded the harlot pics, and i'm just a bum. i promise i'll post a real post soon, just not right now, i'm too crazy. sigh

mega fast

this is the incredibly fast post.

liam has homework to do, and he can't do it on mark's puter, so he has to use mine. maybe this will get him ahead in language arts. cross your fingers.

no pics, steph has my camera, sigh. she borrowed it a week ago, and still hasn't given it back. she promised she'd do it tonight, as i need it for the TRIPTRIPTRIP (like i could resist, lol)

yesterday was my birthday, and saturday's was mark's. mark spent his day quietly, as i took the boys to my mom's and i went to jen's baby shower. as stated earlier, i didn't have my camera, so no pics of the blanket that carin, deawn, tara, alicia, glenda (from touche), and i made. she adored it. everyone there did. i did, however, shanghai judith, and she said she'd send me the pics of that, and the sweater i made. they were all cotton-ease, lol. since this is a late spring baby, she will need lots of cotton, lol. had a blast, and again, if you're reading this, claudia, thank you for being such a lovely host (i doubt it, but i did email her my thanks as well).

i spent my birthday not doing a damned thing. we went to ihop for breakfast, then came home, and i read for 2 hours. then i watched the scifi channel and the shining (the good one, with rebecca demornay, that sticks more closely to the book), and parts of the langoliers, before we went to have supper with mark's folks and my mom at the olive garden. yummy!

my boys are the oddest things. how many young teens do you know that would not only order mussels di napoli, but relish them? not to mention calamari? even sean, my picky butt, loved them. i think i'm raising them right food wise.

gotta go, liam's nagging to get at his homework!

oy vey

i wasn't going to blog today, but i gotta speak up, sigh.

i got liam's grades today.

4 F's. 1 D. 1 C. 1 B. 1 A.

the F's were in classes he's been struggling with keeping up with the homework: science, social studies, language arts and lit.

the D was in Algebra, because he got himself so far behind.

the C was in computer applications. he hated that class last year, and doesn't like it any more this year.

the B was in health. from what i could get from the teacher, it was a super easy class. no homework. lots of movies. oy.

the A? Band. Mostly because he turns in so much practice time. we make him practice 30 minutes every evening, except thursdays, and saturdays (and sometimes he does then, too, it's just not mandatory for those days). the requirement is 100 minutes a week. you do the math. (ok, ok. without thursday and saturday, he turns in 150 minutes of practice time a week. that's what happens when your dad is a musician, lol)

i haven't gotten sean's grades yet. i'll have to check with his old foster dad. he got the last ones, because the school lost the superintendent's letter stating that sean was home with us again. i'll wait a few days and see. if not, i'll call the school, as well. funny part? the school KNOWS my last name has changed, but i'm still getting stuff from them in my maiden name. i know they know, because everybody calls me by my married name. i even filled out paperwork to that effect. but any relevant school paperwork that comes in the mail still comes in my maiden name. oy.

liam irritated me last night, as well. he was missing a social studies assignment, and forgot his book at school. sooooooooo. since they announced at school orientation before school started that the building was open until 10 pm, and that liam's counselor had brought her kid back at 8 pm to fetch a book, i knew i could take him back. so we went at 530, and we got his damned book. and he finished his assignment. he's actually doing pretty well, right now. he's a little behind in social studies, but still passing. lit has an A+ (100%!). Algebra is running an A. i haven't heard from science, or computer applications. Language arts isn't doing so hot, but he's slowly catching up with all his work. i know all this because i email his teachers on a regular basis. so he is turning it around. i just wish he wouldn't wait until last quarter of the year to do it. sigh.

here we go again

wanna see some more yarn?

This is "Twisted," by pigeonroof studios. it was very very sunny looking before i spun it up, but now looks vaguely autumnal. it's still very pretty, as far as i'm concerned. the funky picture is because i thought a piece of white paper behind it would help, and well, i got in a hurry, and the paper slipped a bit, lol. i'll be posting this at my etsy shop later on today. There's 303 yards of sock-dk weight yarn. i was pushing this, lol.

i've also been spinning some stuff from deb over at dudleyspinner. the color i'm doing right now is adelphia. there's 7 oz, so it's taking a bit of time. in fact, since i've been splitting the rovings in half to make it easier to ply them, i actually stopped in the middle of adelphia, and did twisted. i did half of twisted, then indulged in a couple of batts of the lincoln fleece i bought from tonya. because it's lincoln, it's coming up a bit prickly (bits sticking out) but it's soooooooooooo lovely. steel and silver and black and cream, and oooooooooooooooooo. i love spinning this stuff. i may investigate other ways to spin it. i'm doing short draw (i think?) right now. i'm going to see if i can find a way to make a smoother yarn with this.

speaking of spinning, i've finally named my wheel. i was reading margene's blog earlier this week (late last week? who knows, my days are blending), and saw that she named her wheel emmylou. as i read about her spinning exploits, it came to me. my wheel is named madeline. like the little french girl, she's independent, and sometimes gets in trouble (i'm on my 6th drive band, lol (nothing wrong with the wheel, just that much spinning!)), but still eventually gets there. i'll post a pic as soon as i get my camera back, and you can see madeline in all her (wobbly (i need to find an allen wrench, and tighten her up a bit, we've been going through the paces lately)) glory.

well, i'm off for now, i've got a diaper bag to finish (this one is sewn, from the pant legs i cut off sean's pants! recycle, recycle, recycle!), and some spinning to do.