This and That

I am sorry the last couple of posts have been so lame, but this has been a very busy holiday here. I cooked a huge turkey with all the fixings that turned out well. I have been knitting children’s caps like crazy for Marilyn who needs them for Extreme Outreach. I have three done (pix tomorrow) and another one on the needles, but I want to mail them Monday so I have been rushing. If you go to her blog maker sure and wishe her a happy birthday :-)

It snowed here last night and it was so pretty, I am sure I will be tired of it by the end of January, but for now it is still a novelty to us and we are loving it. The views below are from my living room windows.



MY Diatribe-
How many of you actually went shopping this weekend? Did you participate in “Black Friday”? What is wrong with the world that people have to trample another person to get the best deal on a new toy or television? What is so important that people cannot behave in an orderly manner to purchase the item? I don’t get it. My policy is to avoid the stores on this weekend of the year; the deals will normally get better as we get nearer to Christmas, especially since Christmas is on a Thursday this year. I would think that in this year of so much economic distress people would be kinder and gentler to one another instead of trampling someone to get into a store. The season is not supposed to be for the amount and value of the gifts received but what we can give. I think this is a very sad weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving

I was going to list all of the things I am thankful for, but there are so many, I do not know where to start. So I will say that I am thankful for all the blessings that have come my way and for those that my friends and family have receieved also.
Have a happy Thansgiving and stay safe and be happy!

You Are The Cranberry Sauce

A little sweet, a little sour - you've got the flava! Though, you do tend to squish in people's mouths...

What Part of Thanksgiving Are You?

Whiskers on Wednesday

You Are a Ragdoll Cat

You are extremely cute and cuddly. You are downright adorable. Your personality matches your exterior. You are very laid back and sweet. You don't really like the outdoors. You prefer to stay inside where it's cozy. Luckily, you are the perfect houseguest. You are polite and obedient.

What Breed of Cat Are You?

Trying to Knit

Okay, how am I supposed to get any knitting done when my family and pets get in the way? I got home from work last night and someone forgot to lock the kitchen gate, so my wonderful dogs got into the trash and drug it all over the house. What a mess! I was so mad, I called the forgetful one at work and gave them what for. Then every time I sat down to knit, Onyx decided it was time for pets and loves, she would climb up on me and sit on my wrists. I have a hard time knitting when I cannot move the old wrists. Now I am trying to get ready for Thanksgiving, this is normally a good holiday for me, but we have shrunk down to only six people due to our relocation. And did I mention that my small house hardly has room for six to eat at the same time?

Today at work, I received a phone call asking for references for a former co-worker, it was very uncomfortable. I know he is unhappy where he is currently working, but I wouldn’t hire him. He works hard, but tries to rewrite the regulations and this always gets him into trouble. Moreover, the job is for a supervisory position, which I think would be a bad move for the site but at the same time I could not say that to the person who called. I didn’t want to say anything bad, but at the same time, I did not want to lie. What was I supposed to do; silence was as damning as an answer. I finally told the interviewer, that I liked the person and thought he was a hard worker, but that I felt really uncomfortable answering the questions. What would you have done in a similar situation? Has this happened to you in the past?

I hope you are being more productive than I am, have a great day.

Knitting and Reading

I got to knit this weekend WAHOOOO, both of my main scarves are almost done and I am loving them. I finally decided what to start for my oldest daughter for Christmas (yes I know it is late)but really think this is something that I can complete before Christmas morning. I decided on the Big-Ass Wrap that I saw on
Rita’s blog. I love the way it looks, it is big enough to wrap around a throat or to wear as it is shown in the pix, that I also got from Rita’s blog. I will use a slightly bulkier yarn and bigger needles (my daughter still lives in Georgia, so she does not really need it for the warmth) so it should knit up quickly, as long as startitis does not strike again. I love the buttons but don’t know where to find such big ones, so I may just use a shawl pin or a really pretty knitting needle, I think some of KnitPicks Harmony needles would make great shawl pins, pretty and earthy, but not to flashy. I would love to use the 6”DPN as a shawl pin, but it only goes up to#3, and I would really like a fatter needle, but I think 8” may be too long. Anyone have any suggestions? My daughter does not like a lot of jewelry and what she wears should not be flashy, so. . .

I am still counting comments, so while the contest is closed, I have no announcement yet. I got to meet a lot of people though and it has been fun reading everyone’s favorite yarns.

I forgot to mention last week that I got to read the new J.D. Robb book, Salvation in Death and it was great. I have read all of these books and think they are great. I love to read about the dynamics between Dallas and the people she interacts with, great books, the only problem with them is that it is hard to put them down so I can go to sleep. I also read Casting Spells by Barbara Bretton, which was interesting but I had a hard time with it for some reason, maybe I wasn’t in the mood to read??? Who knows, I will probably pick it up in a couple of months and love it.
:-)



I missed two posts this weekend for the post a day for the month (NaBloPoMo), but I decided that posting everyday just to post is tiresome for both the reader and for the writer. Why post just to say I did it, when I am just babbling (even tho that is what most of my posts are). I have made a keen attempt to post everyday and I hope to be able to keep it up, this has been a good challenge for me.

I need to get back to work (yes I am a slug and am posting from work, but it is during my break) so I hope you are all having a great day.

Contest and Friday Fill Ins

Don’t forget my contest here, it closes at midnight (or thereabouts) on Sunday.

Thank you all for the suggestion to call in sick. I did :-) but still haven’t picked up my needles. grrrr

1. The last band I saw live was Stockbridge High School Marching Band (isn’t that sad).
2. What I look forward to most on Thanksgiving is the people I love gathered together, with no pressure to get the perfect gift.
3. My Christmas/holiday shopping is not even started.
4. Thoughts of sugar plums fill my head.
5. I wish I could wear a size 10 (sometimes).
6. Bagpipes are so very cool.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to knitting and sleeping, tomorrow my plans include hitting Lane Bryants for a new coat and knitting and Sunday, I want to get the last of my groceries for Thanksgiving, clean up a little and knit!

Tired

I am very tired, but the report is done! I finished it at 3:45 this afternoon, just in time to get it signed off on and forwarded to the demanding department. Now I am almost too tired to breathe and I am cranky and irritable. I yelled at my dog, and am too lazy to switch the laundry. BUT I will be knitting tomorrow, even if I have to call in sick!

Whiskers on Wednesday

I am working from home today in hopes that I can get this obnoxious report done in this lifetime and this means that all of the animals are in the office keeping me company. A perfect time to procrastinate and to take pictures:-). Can you tell my cats have lost a little weight? (Please pretend that you cannot see the boxes sitting around.)

Knitting and Work

Christmas Knitting, hmmmm. I am so impressed when I see all the knitting going on at other blogs. However. . . Even though I am not the fastest knitter in the world, it is going very slowly for me. Could it be the startitis I have going on?? I have yet to finish anything, though I am beavering away at it whenever I can. Maybe it is this ugly report I have been working on for work, it is huge and all the data has to be checked manually (which sucks big time). The applications involved are cumbersome and the whole thing has taken over my life. Moreover, I am tired, bone tired (though I am hoping that goes away when I finish the ugly report).

Anyway, I hope all of your knitting is going smoothly, and that you have a great day!

Cousins, a Diner and a Contest

Yes, I missed a day from the month-long daily blog, but I got to meet my cousins yesterday and it was great! I had not seen L and C for over 30 years and I did not realize how much I had missed them. I learned things about my family that I was not aware of (my grandmother played piano in a speakeasy to help support her children) and we are now planning a family reunion for next summer. There is only one member of our parents’ generation left and we are planning on having the reunion where she lives in the Antelope Valley, CA, so we know she can attend. We feel that it is important to get everyone together so we can become closer and make sure our shared experiences are passed to our children and grandchildren.

We went to the funniest diner for brunch, it is called the Bump and Grind and all the wait staff are cross dressers. It was so funny; those guys were walking around and serving wearing 5 inch hills (except for one who was dressed as a bobby soxer). They loved posing for pictures so we got several, but with our phones so the quality is not the greatest
(but then none of my photos are). The food was delicious if we good quit laughing long enough to eat it.


CONTEST
Darcy from the Knotty Knitter blog is having a great contest in order to celebrate their new items, All Sterling, and also Mixed Bronze and Sterling Yarn Needles. She and Leslie wind are giving away Butterfly Cable Needle Necklace and bracelet set and their new yarn needles. Look at these needles, aren’t’ they great.
I cannot wait to get a set, I think they would also look great as a closure on a wrap or shawl. Go here to enter the contest and please tell Darcy I sent you.

Chatter and Friday Fill-ins

It is snowing today and the high is expected to be around 38 degrees. Yuck! My poor Di decided it is too cold to go out so I had to go out with her, brrr. She told me that the snow hurts her knees and she did not appreciate being forced down the stairs and out the door in the dark of the morning. I told her that I did not appreciate being woken up in the night to lift her heavy ass (60 lbs) back into bed as she is now refusing to jump into bed. We laughed and hugged and she did her duty and I did mine (I sound like a whack job don’t I, but yes, I do talk to my dog and she talks back.)

I am starting (yes I have startitis) a new scarf for my daughter’s boyfriend, he is a nice guy and it the first boyfriend she has had in a zillion years that I appreciate. I am using Elann Highland Chunky and am doing it in a ribbing pattern on 15 needles. I love doing scarves because they are something I can do while playing cards, reading blogs, or watching TV and it appears that we will need them with the weather here in Colorado. In Georgia, we would get maybe one day of snow all year and it wasn’t terribly cold in the winter, but here. . .

Don’t forget to enter my contest here, I just went to my new LYS and bought some very nice stuff to give away, so it isn’t just stash, (however I like getting stash).

1. Please feel free to donate to a worthy cause, there are so many hungry people in the world right now.
2. When I buy a new candle I can't help sniffing it occasionally.
3. My favorite thing to cook is anything my family will eat.
4. Chocolate is something I can't get enough of.
5. That's the thing I love most about the beach.
6. Rude people always makes me think to myself, what the heck?
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to knitting, tomorrow my plans include meeting some cousins I have not seen for 30 years and Sunday, I want to knit and make bread in my new bread machine!

Word

I found this on Cass's blog and found it intriguing.

Me.
Where is your mobile phone? purse
Where is your significant other? away
Your hair colour? brown
Your mother? gone
Your father? gone
Your favourite thing? daughters
Your dream last night? ??
Your dream goal? beach
The room you’re in? messy
Your hobby? knitting
Your fear? illness
Where do you want to be in 6 years? beach
Where were you last night? here
What you’re not? shopping
One of your wish-list items? beach
Where you grew up? CA
The last thing you did? eat
What are you wearing? skin
Your TV? offYour pets? hairy
Your computer? new
Your mood? blah
Missing someone? Daughter
Your car? dirty
Something you’re not wearing? shoes
Favourite shop? none
Your summer? hot
Love someone? yes
Your favourite colour? bright
When is the last time you laughed? afternoon
When is the last time you cried? yesterday
You.

A Contest, Just Because

This is a just because contest, just because I am in the mood to have one. I am going to be awarding knitterly prizes to the winners (there will be three). Probably some soft alpaca, bulky wool, maybe some sock yarn and some gadgets. To enter, all you have to do is comment, telling me your favorite yarn (it can be brand or type) and your favorite project, not that the yarn and the project have to go together. For extra entries, you can comment on other posts (an entry per post) and link this contest to your blog for another entry. In addition, you get an entry for every person you send this way.

The 1st prize will be the person with the most entries; the wonderful random generator will select the other two winners. The contest will be open until midnight November 23, 2008.

Is this easy enough? I am really looking forward to everyone’s entries and information on favorite yarns and projects.

Veterans Day, Contests and Chatter

Happy Veteran’s Day. Please try to thank a veteran for the service they have provided to our country.

I think I screwed up my day off this week, you know, the federal holiday. I thought I checked the calendar and it showed Monday as the federal holiday for Veterans Day, though it really is today. But I seem to be the only one working today. What a stupid mistake, and why would the federal calendar say it was Monday instead of Tuesday? What a fruitcake!

Here is a picture of the scarf I have been working on (very slowly), it is soft and warm and I think my friend will like it.


Here are a couple of contests-

The blog We Do Not Have A Knitting Problem is having a contest on how to keep their blog interesting while they are beavering away on their Christmas knitting and post your favorite blog to read. Go here to enter.

Calana Crafts is having a contest and all you have to do is guess what she is knitting for a picture that is posted on the contest post. Can't be much easier than that.

And the final contest link is for an advance copy of Knit Two, the sequel to the Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs. It is on Stephanie’s blog, Stephanie’s Written Word and all you have to do is post, plus if you link to your blog you will get another entry. Go here to enter.


MY CONTEST. . .
I will be announcing my contest tomorrow, and I hope there are a lot of entries as it is a way to eliminate some of my boredom :-)

Frugality and An Okay Monday

Have you noticed the proliferation of blogs about being frugal? I know that times are really tough, and people are hanging on by their fingernails, but while I was feeling crappy yesterday I was reading a lot of other blogs and I found so many dealing with frugality, saving, and doing more with less. Today I read on Marissa’s blog about saving a $1000 in a month. She listed all the ways she could save money according to the rules of saving and decided they would not work for her because she is living on an island with nowhere to spend money. Her descriptions were funny and she provides a link to the Save $1000 in a Month Challenge.

I remember a couple of months ago that Toni had her experiment where they went 90 days without spending money and I had wanted to try that, but I think that is going to have to wait until January. I am still purchasing things for the house (I usually get rid of something when I bring something new into the house, due to the size of the house) and winter clothes are going to be a necessity very soon.

Today was very gray day, the high was 47 (but it felt much colder), and it is supposed to snow tonight; but I still went out and cleaned out my front flower beds and planted new bulbs (40 tulips and 40 daffodils) for the spring. This weekend (if there is no snow on the ground) I will be doing the back flower beds. I also made a big crock pot of pasta fagilo for dinner that was great. And I also got to knit for awhile, yeah!

I hope you had a great day!

Feeling Yucky

Today, I am having a bad day, not as bad as many people, but not great and probably not a good day to blog. It sucks to have a 4-day weekend and not feel well. I always tell myself, that in these days of budget cuts, downsizing, and job loss, I should count my lucky stars and say my prayers that I am so lucky. But for some reason that is not helping me today. Blahhhh!

I have been working on a scarf for a friend, it is a gorgeous orange (her favorite color) and very soft. I am working it with a basket weave on both ends for 12 inches, but plain old garter stitch in between. It is turning out nicely; hopefully I will have a picture of it tomorrow.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend.

This and That

This is kind of a bullet post, but a lot of the bullets are questions (some are rhetorical but most are not).
• First, thank you to all of you who left wonderful comments regarding the Dogs on Thursday post. I know that my baby is enjoying the life she has left and I appreciate all of your kindness. BTW, I did take the sleeping pill and could sleep that night :-).
• Why do bloggers put music on their blogs? I normally blog to a book I am listening to or to my family in the background, then this annoying song will come on and make me quickly close the blog I am reading. Of course some of the blogs have great music, but some of it is s*%t and I normally try to not go back to that blog, music is such a personal thing. Just my personal gripe.
• I have decided that blogging every day just to post something, is like reading a book that is stupid just to read (silly books that aren’t worth picking up). Though that statement brings up the thought- Is any book too stupid to read? I know that the “experts” say reading anything is better than nothing, but. . .
• Knitting is sometimes a pain in the butt when you are working on something you don’t like. I wonder, should I just keep knitting or should I stop and frog? At what point when you are knitting something, do you decide that you are going to frog the whole thing?
• I want to have a contest and I have definitely decided to have a contest just because I want to have one :-), now I am trying to decide what kind of yarn to give away, but look for it in the very near future.
Have a great Saturday!

Friday Fill-Ins

1. My blueprint for success includes hard work, perseverance, and knowledge.
2. Hot Tamales was the last candy I ate.
3. The best facial moisturizer I've ever used is ?? I haven’t found one that moisturizes but does not break my skin out.
4. Walking can be good therapy.
5. I'd like to tell you about ?? I don’t feel like talking about anything.
6. Honesty, but wimpiness is my strongest characteristic.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to doing nothing, tomorrow my plans include visiting an alpaca farm, knitting and Sunday, I want to knit and nap!

Dogs on Thursday

Di can no longer lay like this, and her snout is almost totally white, but she is still my baby!

My dog, Di, who is also my baby, is in very poor health. She has mitral valve prolapse (heart condition) arthritis, and the vet suspects she has a cancerous growth on her rump that cannot be removed due to her heart condition. When I got home yesterday, her hips where splayed across the floor and she could not get up without help, but I took her for a walk and she thought she was a puppy again. She is a happy dog, and loves to get into anything she is not supposed to be in, i.e. chocolate (she had a miniature Kit-Kat for breakfast). I know that Di is feeling poorly most of the time because she has quit chasing the cats and allows them to get on the bed with us, even Onyx (she hates Onyx). She plays with Lola for a few minutes and then has to stop and rest. Right now, we are just trying to keep her comfortable and give her the quality of life she deserves.

I am not writing this to make anyone sad, because for the most part she is happy and does not realize how sick she is, nevertheless, I know her time in this life is short. Last night she coughed around midnight-thirty and then lay perfectly still (and scared the crud out of me). I pushed her and tried to get her to move, but she was sound asleep; however, I kept waking up afraid that she had died. Now I know this sounds horrible, but I was afraid to find out, she was so still (normally she would have woken me up to get under the covers). Finally, at o dark-thirty, I got up and woke her up and she looked at me as if I was crazy. She said, “Ma, what’s the problem, I am sleeping here!” and went right back to sleep. I couldn’t sleep for the rest of the night.

I think tonight I will take a sleeping pill.

Contests

I want to have a contest but I cannot think of a single reason to have one. I am bored with the same old thing. Should I have a 100th post contest or a Just Because contest or what? I am looking for any input I can get so please tell me what you think would be fun.

There are a couple of contests that I want to mention. First there is Barb’s at So The Thing Is . . .Blog, she is asking for help with her book. All you have to do is finish or change a couple of sentences that are on her blog and submit them to her. It sounds like a lot of fun and I think it is a creative way to get past a writing hump. Wish we could do this with a knitting hump. :-)

The other contest is at Waterborne – A Live-Aboard Blog and is about the Army of Women, Avon’s fight against breast cancer. All you have to do is post to your blog about it and leave a commment on Marilyn's blog and you will be entered for a surprise package. It is a very good cause and all of us need to work as hard as we can to find the cure for breast cancer; according to Avon, "This is your chance to be part of the research that will end breast cancer. Sign up for your sister, mother, daughter, granddaughter, best friend, and the woman you met last week."

Update
I just found another contest at Yarn-Over, Ligature… Same Difference. a blogaversary contest, all you have to do is comment. How much easier can it be???

I hope everyone is having a great day!

Blah, Blah, Blah

I am already too late for Posting every day for the month of November, National Blog Posting Month, but I guess if I start late and keep on doing it every day, it is better than nothing.

I was reading the Skipper’s blog and I love stories about living aboard a boat, though I have so much stuff I do not know if I could do it. I am still trying to fit it all into my town house and it is not working well. My office area is just about done, we are debating book cases, but I do not want to make the space too tight as it is in a loft area. My husband knows I can retire in 4 years if I want to (the benefits if sticking with low paying government jobs) but the boat is nowhere near ready for us to live on, in fact, the last time I saw it, all I could do was laugh. I told him he better get his butt in gear or I was buying a condo on a lake when I retire, then he planned a trip to Ireland for next May, which is prime boat working time.

I have a sinus infection, the air here in CO is so dry, and my nose burns when I can breathe through it (which doesn’t happen that often anyway)lololol. I don’t mind the sinus infection, it is not terrible, but it has affected my ears and balance. So I am sitting here typing feeling like I am falling out of my chair, very hard to hold on and type at the same time. I am still knitting, but it is very slow, since I have a hard time counting since I am dizzy. I have dropped all smaller projects and moved to size 13 needles for a scarf just so I can work without losing track of what I am doing.

I hope eveyone made time to vote today!

All Hallow's Eve Dishcloth Swap Box

I have been majorly spoiled by my swap partner for the All Hallow’s Eve Dishcloth exchange. My spoiler was Alaina P. and she did a great job! Look at all the great stuff my swap partner sent me, isn't this great! The yarn in the picture below is Blue Sky and it is so soft I can't believe it, and it is laying on one of the two dishcloths, aren't the colors wonderful, so fall-like.
Here is the second dishcloth that was in the box, it is a beautiful pattern and I love it. Note the cute tissue paper that Alaina used, I couldn't find anything that cute.
This cruddy picture is the one for the darling stitch markers, sorry it is soooo bad. However the stitch markers are so cute, it has two bats and two ghosts. I love them, just wish the picture was better.

This pix had the cute little dish towel on it, that I used on Halloween. The box also included candy (Starbucks’s tasting candy) yummy; a magnetic notepad with snoopy and a pumpkin on it; shower gel (vanilla, my favorite) and Burt’s Bees Beeswax lip balm. There was also a candle that smells like cloves, it has an elusive aroma that is great, not too cloying.




Alaina had a postcard in the box (very good idea); and she is so ingenious- the box was actually a box for photo storage, with the cards that I can find so many uses for. Knitting or pix? This will be the question.


Thank you Alaina, I love the package!