the first day of the rest of your life

insomnia

2011-08-21T05:08:00.000-06:00

I've been awake since about 2 or 2:30. I was hoping to sleep in because this is my first day off in I don't know how long (althoughI could probably figure it out). I think 13 days. Except I do need to go out to Greeley to see a patient so does that still count as a day off. Anyway I wanted to sleep in. No such luck. And i was going to use today to get reorganized and make sure all of my paperowrk was done and plan my week. Bahh! So much for planning! I stead Ive been laying on the couch for 3 hours watching who knows what o TV and searching for audible books online so I can listen while I work on paperwor. Let me tell you, there is nothing good for free. and my writing and speelling sucks right now becaue I am so tired and I don't care. I really have to pee, so the question is: so I sneak into the bedroom to my bathrrom and rish waking up my husband or use his bathroom out here???? It's the boys' rooms!!@@@@

POS Car

2011-08-21T04:24:00.000-06:00

Oh yeah, it's been a while. Since I last wrote I quit my crappy job and started a better one where I don't cry nearly every day. In fact I have an off day maybe once every few weeks. And I've been there almost as long as I was at the other job.

I lost 30 # and made lifetime at weight watchers.

I started hating my car. I loved that thing when I got it. Black, sporty, fin, leather interior, sun roof, Cd changer MP 3 player, auto everything. We, over the last 6 years it's gotten old; of course. I had the brakes replaced a couple years ago and they squeak. We took it to a brake shop and they said they don't touch my kind of car because the brakes just squeak. So we took it to the dealer and there was nothing wrong with it. Then a few months ago it started making a weird noise and needed a new CV joint. I took it to an auto mechanic I sound on Craigslist. I would advise against this, even though it saved me $150. On Monday it was making a noise like it had a flat tire but it didn't. I couldn't drive around two counties all day long like that so I took it home and took Tom's truck. He drove my car the next day and asked about my brakes being soft. He checked the brake fluid and it was low so he filled it. The next day the brakes weren't working well again so he checked the brake fluid again and it was low again. The next day he took the front tire off and the brake line had been rubbing against the tire and broke. Great. So we drove it, carefully, to the dealership that night. The next day they called us with our $550 estimate. I went in and asked why it cost so much to fix a brake line. So they took me in to see the car. When the Craigslist guy fixed it he didn't put the brake line back, he broke the strut, so they have to replace all of that, plus the $1,000,000 an hour for labor. Great. Should have just taken it to the dealer in the first place. We may have paid $300 instead of $700.

Time to catch up

2011-05-28T10:31:00.000-06:00

I haven't written in a while. Life has been crazy an hectic. I will write about my weight loss, though, since that has mostly been the topic of this blog. I'm not going to go into weekly weigh-ins, but as of today my total weight loss has been 27.4 pounds. I chose a goal weight (which may be different from the one I had the last time I wrote). I'm 6.8 pounds away. I'm getting anxious and just want to get there!

Like I said, life has been hectic. So my crap going on. Seriously, it's a bunch of crap. So much shit I don't even want to deal with anymore. UGH. I need to make some decisions. I think I have made them, I just need to move on from here.

2011-05-25T20:57:00.001-06:00

2011-05-21T21:55:00.001-06:00

2011-05-12T19:33:00.000-06:00

Weight loss

2011-04-28T07:15:00.001-06:00

Lost 1.4 pounds for a total of 23.2

Can't Sleep; Catching Up

2011-04-14T04:10:00.000-06:00

Well, I can't sleep so I thought I'd do some way overdue catching up. I've been slacking on this!

After my last blog, my weigh-ins were:
3/17/11: -0.4 pounds for a total of -16.2
3/24/11: -2.6 pounds for a total of -18.8
3/31/11: +1 pound for a total of - 17.8
4/7/11: -3.4 pounds for a total of -21.2

So I started thinking that I'm getting close to my goal weight, or what I had chosen for a goal anyway, and I hadn't talked to anyone about it. I started wondering if I had picked the right weight, how would I know it was the right weight, etc. So I went to one of the drop-in sessions and talked to the leader who was there. She was so helpful. She showed me the healthy weights for my height and suggested I start with a goal at the top of that range and maintain that goal for a while then I can move my goal down if I am comfortable doing that. It sounded like a good plan to me since the goal I had chosen was just 5 pounds less than the top of the range of healthy weights. It's almost like practice for maintenance. In order to start maintenance you must be within 2 pounds of your goal weight and I am 1 pound away. I'm a little leery about whether I lost that pound or not. You see, I had a friend over on Friday and drank a couple glasses of Kahlua -- quite a bit of carbs and alcohol sugar. When I drink more than a glass of wine a couple times a week I tend to gain weight or not lose. I guess we will see what happens. Then of course I am worried about maintaining. What if I go over one week? I wear the same clothes to weigh in every week, will I wear those forever? I need to relax!

I plan on walking the 5K during the Colorado Marathon on May 1. I was hoping my sister would walk it with me but I'm not sure if she'll be able to or not. Then on May 7 I'll be walking in the MS Walk for/with one of my patients. There is a reason to increase my exercise. I've been doing hour long walks on the weekend but I'm going to need to fit it in during the week, too. Not only is Sam getting really tired when we go for walks, now he's developed a cough. I'm getting worried about him.

nearly 16!

2011-03-13T13:53:00.001-06:00

The weather is gorgeous today! I just got back from a 50 minute walk; the boys rode their bikes. I took the dog with me and he was so worn out by the time we were done. He's 8 years old and I think the long walks are getting to be a little too much for him. I may need to start walking alone or take him for just shorter walks. The thought makes me sad.

At my last weigh in I was shocked and happy to find out that I had lost 4.2 pounds. That thrilled me after I had gained 1.4 pounds the week before. That helped me meet my 15 pound milestone. Now I've lost 15.8 pounds total! I have (I think) 1.6 pounds to go before I get to my 10% goal. 13 pounds to my goal weight. It doesn't sound like much, but it has taken me 3 months to lose 16 pounds! Ahh well.

My sister and I had a nice conversation last night. She has lost weight and looks great. She told me that I look good. I told her that I don't think I look as good as she does and she said, "really? I was thinking that you look better". It made me feel really good. I'm feeling much better about myself. I feel good when my clothes get bigger and I need to buy new sizes, I feel better when my clothes just look better on me. Still, looking at myself naked just grosses me out. Sorry, it's true.

Went to roller derby with my sister last night and it was so much fun! One of my sister's old friends is on one of the teams that was playing. I should have a picture that I can post soon.

I have a new job that is going great. I'm really enjoying it and really enjoy the people I work with.

Right now I'm watching my husband play video games. I'm thrilled. (Unfortunately there is no sarcasm font)

the gain

2011-03-05T20:14:00.001-07:00

The past couple weeks have been tough! There was Valentine's Day, then Tom's birthday, then my birthday - all of them with some sort of food related celebration. Then last weekend we went out with some guys that Toms works with. That involved dinner. I have to eat gluten free and at most restaurants that means a salad or a burger without a bun. Salads are not always the best option, either, with some of the stuff they pack on. Let's add to this that I haven't been tracking well for the last couple weeks. So I go to weigh in and I am not surprised to find out that I have gained 1.4 pounds. Wow. I felt fat! So I am back on track with paying closer attention to what I am putting in my mouth and tracking. Already I am feeling better. One thing that is tough is my new job. There is no really good structured schedule to schedule meals and snacks around. I'm also at the mercy of the nurse I am working with that day, but I am making it work.

Speaking of working, I am loving my new job! It's great and I really enjoy it there and the people are wonderful! I can't wait until I start doing more and I'm on my own. I can already tell I'm going to be busy!

Well, I thought I'd end with a couple pictures.

this is me (and my husband) last summer, a few months before starting weight watchers


this is me today, 3 months into weight watchers and about a 12 pound weight loss (yes, I did take the picture in the bathroom)

my birthday meltdown

2011-02-24T09:19:00.000-07:00

I had a birthday; maybe a significant one, maybe not. I turned 39. I spent the day before, the day of and the day after crying. I couldn't stop. I decided to see my psychiatrist. He told me that it is normal to reevaluate your life on your birthday, and right now I feel like my life sucks. He also told me that my seretonin levels are probably low, which is causing me to cry all the time and hibernate. None of the meds I'm on effect my seretonin so he started me on a low dose of Prozac. Funny, I've never been on that one before. I know there is a lot going on in my life that meds can't fix and I hope things start getting better soon. Since I quit my job I am feeling better, so that has helped. I start my new job on Monday and I am nervous about that. I have a few days to myself and I need to use those days to do things I want to do and take care of myself.

I did not go to Weight Watchers last week. We had valentine's day, Tom's birthday, then my birthday in the last two weeks. We did a lot of celebrating, which meant a lot of drinking and eating. I didn't do any tracking yet I tried to stick with my plan when I wasn't splurging. So today I weighed in and I have lost another 1.2 pounds for a total of 13 pounds. For whatever reason, I thought that I could reach my 10% goal by next week. I don't think that will happen. Maybe in 2-3 weeks. Clothes are still getting bigger, so that is a good feeling. My husband is finding me more attractive (not that he didn't find me attractive before, he says) and I like that, too. I have 15 more pounds I want to lose. I don't know why; that's just a number. Let's just see where it goes.

2 pounds

2011-02-03T10:15:00.000-07:00

Last week I gained 0.8 pounds. Ugh. I don't know why. I was sure I had gained this week, too. I just felt like I had. I did everything the same except I had gone out one night and had a salad and a couple small margaritas. Still staying within my total points. Well, I lost 2 pounds this week for a total loss of 11 pounds! Just 6 pounds away from my 10% goal and 18 away from my ultimate goal. I am feeling great, I am fitting into smaller pants. I got rid of my bigger clothes. This is going well and I'm happy with it. It's been way too cold to go outside to walk so I've been trying to do things inside. I've done the Zumba on the wii, but I need to use it on the bigger TV because I can't read the small print and did 3 warm-ups instead of a whole workout. I also did some yoga from the fitness on demand. Unfortunately I am more out of shape than I thought I was and I can't do an entire routine. I just need to keep working on it, though. Keep doing what I'm doing and I'll continue to be successful. I hear these people in the meetings who are so gung-ho that all they eat is salads and fruit. I can't do that, though. I have to live. So I eat "regular" food, too. There is nothing wrong with that. And some people don't eat their total points for the day, which is not recommended. I feel like I'm doing what is right for me. Either way, whatever I am doing is working.

I need to start getting ready for my next 5K, the Sharin' O' The Green on March 12. That's 5 weeks away. While it's cold out I can probably use the Wii. I think there is a walking/jogging routine on the fit plus program.

ten pounds -- almost

2011-01-20T11:24:00.000-07:00

I didn't write last week because I was too emotionally drained to write. Last week I lost one pound. This week I was sure I had gained weight, or at least stayed the same because I was so hungry. I ate like a pig. I used up my daily points plus my flex points every day and had 9 or 10 weekly points left at the end of the week. I guess that is what they are there for, though, right? So this morning when I weighed in I found that I had lost 2.6 pounds this week for a total of 9.8 pounds! I had also met my first goal -- 5%. So, it was a great weigh-in today. Hopefully this will keep up. This definitely keeps me motivated. Right now I'm eating one of my typical morning meals: an apple cut up and microwaved with cinnamon on it, then I add Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free oatmeal to it. Today I added a teaspoon of olive oil to it (to get in my healthy oils) and I don't even notice it. I also added a teaspoon of vanilla and added my usual Splenda brown sugar blend. Not bad.

Last week I made a hat with some handspun yarn and some commercial wool. I wasn't sure how it would turn out and it turned out awful. It's way too big. It's just sitting on the kitchen counter. Maybe I'll felt it today and see what happens. It can't get any worse.

I mentioned earlier about the lay-offs at work. I'm still upset about this. I had yesterday and today off. I'm almost dreading going back to work tomorrow. Today has been a good day so far and I hope it keeps up. Just need to keep a positive attitude. Ran into one of my friends at the store today and she's doing well. I'm still so sad for them.

"The mind is the source of happiness and unhappiness."

~The Buddha

why my day sucked

2011-01-19T08:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday they laid off our LPNs and counselors. Those were my friends and good nurses. I will miss them so much. Add on to that it was just a busy bad day at work.

The day before I finished a hat. It was a very good pattern but my gauge was off and it turned out horrible.

Stress with everything that is going on at home is killing me. I would just like everything to stop now please.

I'm awake (4 AM)

2011-01-09T04:36:00.000-07:00

It's 4:00 AM. I woke up at about 3:15. I had to get something to drink. When I tried to go back to bed Sam wouldn't go back in the bedroom. He kept going to the front door. So I had to take him outside to go to the bathroom. Now I'm up. I have to say my headache is mostly gone. After taking my max 3 doses of Frova and then having it come on even worse, I called to find out if I could also take Exedrin Migraine, so I took a couple of those. I feel much better now. Maybe I'll start with that next time.

So, now I'm up. I wish Tom would get up with me. But he didn't spend most of yesterday trying to sleep; he worked. I'm going to charge my iPod because I listened to it while I slept (I wonder if you can absorb any information that way) and I'm going to listen to my audio book now and maybe do some knitting. I got two free audio books and a free month trial with audible.com. I was wanting an audio book for the book I'm currently reading, Dalai Lama's "How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful Life". I thought I could listen to it while I knit instead of having to decide between knitting and reading (what a tough decision, huh?) So I was looking online for a copy of the book I could download and this was the best option. You get the book you download plus one free credit with a free month trial and I guess I'll see if I want to keep doing it after that. You get on credit every month. Plus I think you get the New York times everyday. I only want the crossword but I don't think that sounds very good.

I was going to work on finishing my unfinished projects but my mom wanted a hat. She loved the hat I made my dad for christmas but definitely needed it in a different color. Then I thought I could make her a prettier one. I'm making her the Cayuga Hat. It's very pretty and I'm using a raspberry color. The band is what is taking the most time.

I'm also working on the Central Park Hoodie I started a little over a year ago. I thought my gauge was right, but when I started knitting the sweater is was way off. I got about 10 inches of the back done and looked at it and thought "this looks way too small". So it will end up being 10 inches too small for me. I don't care how much weight I lose, I don't think that will ever fit. So instead of ripping it and starting all over, I'm going to finish it and give it to one of my gorgeous friends at work.

Now I'm sitting here listening to the snow and my Dharma Cowbell (that my parents got me) chiming outside.

It's a good early morning and I'll be ready to go back to work.

"All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him."

~The Buddha

Crabby

2011-01-08T20:35:00.000-07:00

Warning: This is going to be a negative post.

I came home from work with a migraine last night. I took my migraine medicine right away and tried to sleep. Tom was snoring so loudly I had to go in the other room. After almost 3 hours I woke up and took another dose because my migraine was no better. I woke up again at 5 and still no better, if not worse. So I called work to tell them that I might not be coming in today. I was able to get another poor 2 hours of sleep and sure enough when I got up, no change in the headache and I took the last dose of meds that I can take for 24 hours. So, I stayed home. I tried to take a nap but the jerks in the apartment below us had their stereo blaring, then their kids were running up and down the hall, banging on stuff and yelling and it sounds like they live above us instead of under us. This is one reason why we chose to live on the top floor. Ugh. I was able to get in a couple of really good hours of sleep, then Tom got home. Now my migraine is worse and Tom and Patrick are being so loud. Patrick was quiet all day, but once his dad walks in the door, his manners walk out. I'd love to duct tape their mouths shut right now. Please add this on to my list of current issues because that list is not long enough.

another week

2011-01-06T13:52:00.000-07:00

This week I'm down another pound for a total of 6.2 pounds lost. I still need to get active. Ugh. Why can't I do it? I guess the question really is, why won't I do it?

OK, I'm too emotionally drained to write anything else right now

The Long Blog

2010-12-30T11:05:00.000-07:00

I had a great holiday! I spent Christmas morning at my sister's house where I gave my sister and my niece's their gifts. They loved them! I just love making things for people and seeing them enjoy them; it gives me great pleasure.

Izzy's Blanket

Nicky's Scarf

Addy's "Olivia Sweater"

Next we went to my parent's house. I gave my mom her gift and my dad the hat I made for him. It was a fun hat to make. (Yes it is modeled on a woman's head).

Dad's hat

I spent that evening at work with my great coworkers. I was a great day.

I got some great gifts as well. I got this wonderful bracelet from my mom:

It's from the Etsy shop TheZenMuse

I got these great wall plaques from my sisters:
I love these. They came from the etsy shop Nesedecor

I also got my Buddha I wanted. He's wonderful.

I have also finished my February Lady Sweater. It only took 20 months. I'd work on it, work on something else, then work on it again. So, my plan to get my unfinished projects finished seems to be working out well so far. Now I'm working on my Central Park Hoodie that I started last October or November. I thought I had the right gauge but I didn't, so it's about 10 inches too small. I'm going to give it to one of my coworkers since she's thin enough to fit into it.

It's snowing today, finally. Almost the end of the year and we finally get some snow. I'm afraid it's really going to dump on us. Oh well, at least I'm off this weekend.

Today I had my 4th weigh-in and I lost 1.2 pounds for a total weight loss of 5.2 pounds so far. I'm feeling great, too. In general I just feel good. Now I need to get back to walking so I can get ready for the 5K's, but not today.

I'm so sad for my friend Cheri. She and her family have been through a lot lately. They are in my thoughts.

"The source of love is deep in us and we can help others realize a lot of happiness. One word, one action, one thought can reduce another person's suffering and bring that person joy."

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Week 3

2010-12-23T09:55:00.000-07:00

I'm confused. I guess it's week 3 because it's my 3rd weigh in (if you count my first one) and I'm starting my 3rd week on the plan. Whatever. But since my last post was week 2 I guess this is week 3. Enough of that. Down 2 more pounds for a total of 4. Nice and steady. I would be happy for that to continue and to see some physical results. I need to get to the store because I'm running out of fruit.

Last night I woke up after having a bad dream. I hate having these dreams where my husband is cheating on me, leaving me or is in love with someone else. Is this a sign of insecurity?

I have finished all of my christmas knitting so now I need to start finishing all of my unfinished projects, and I have plenty of them. I'm close to being done with my February Lady Sweater that I started close to 2 years ago. If I sat down with one thing at a time I'd have a good chance at finishing something in a good amount of time but I can't seem to do that. Now that I'm done with my gift knitting I want to start spinning again too. anything to not finish projects.

"Our own life has to be our message."

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Week 2

2010-12-20T09:09:00.000-07:00

I lost 2 pounds last week. I'm not so sure about the new program. With this new program I can eat many more points than I could with the old one plus fruits are zero points. That makes me think that I'm eating twice as much as I was when I did it before. You also get so many extra points for the week. I just don't understand how I'm going to lose weight with this. I definitely need to vamp up my exercise. I haven't been walking lately because it's been cold in the morning and I've just been lazy. I need to get off my ass. I also got the Zumba for Wii. It's pretty fun but I haven't gotten through a whole program yet.

I'm finishing up Christmas presents. Weaving in ends is a pain in the ass! I'll post pictures after so I don't spoil any surprises. Also, I have a friend who flies hot air balloons. She will probably have her pilot's license in January. It is my niece's dream to fly in a hot air balloon and my friend needs the flight hours, so for Christmas I am also giving my niece a hot air balloon ride. I love Christmas because I love giving gifts! So, I can't wait till it gets here!

"Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today."

~Thich Nhat Hanh

updates, updates, updates

2010-12-13T23:29:00.000-07:00

I'm up late and unable to fall asleep, as usual, so I thought I'd make an update. A lot has happened in the last year. I'll skip a lot of the details.

Tom changed jobs and I was really sick missing a lot of work over the summer. Our house was already on the market. With all of the medical bills and the missed work, after a while we couldn't make ends meet. We are now in the process of a short sale and hope that will be done soon. The up side is we no longer have a 50-mile round trip commute for work and that saves us about $400 a month in gas.

We moved and downsized to a 2 bedroom apartment and really like it here. We had to get rid of one of our dogs when we moved in because of problems we had the first day. He was my baby. After that Sam was having separation anxiety and would bark the whole time we were gone at work - which wasn't too long. We talked to the vet and got him a citronella color and some antidepressants. He only had to wear the collar for a couple weeks and after several weeks on the medication he is being weaned off of it. He's doing great.

I've been taking Sam for walks (although I've slacked the last couple weeks) and recently walked a 5K with my sister. It was so much fun that I plan on doing more. We are going to do one in March, hopefully another in April. May 1 is the Colorado Marathon. I'm hoping to be ready to do a 10K by then, and maybe be running by then as well. It was so rewarding to just do it and finish. We came in 185 and 186 out of approximately 400 (or less) walkers.

I also started Weight Watchers (again) last week. I am confident that with my activity I will stay motivated to stick with the plan and get to and stay at my goal. Hopefully blogging will help, too.

Of course I'm still knitting and I'm knitting furiously to get gifts finished in the next 2 weeks. After that my goal will be to finish all of the projects I've started. No starting new projects. I'll keep you up to date.

"Because you are alive, everything is possible."

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Donuts

2009-06-23T18:21:00.004-06:00

Today we had the girls over and we made donuts for breakfast. We got this fun easy recipe here. It was fun making them and letting the kids pour, yes pour, cinnamon and sugar over them and then I could not believe how good they tasted! We definitely need to do this again!

After breakfast we set up the pool in the back yard and the 2 kids from next door came over. Everyone had a good time playing in the pool, then we all had lunch together. If the girls didn't pass out after they left, something must be wrong. I did. For whatever reason, Patrick is still out there riding his bike and going like the Energizer bunny!

I really want to do some spinning. I don't know where to start, though, and I need to finish (one of) the sweater(s) I started. I have so much to spin and I was thinking about things to do with my Phat Fiber samples. Urr. I need more days off so I can spin and knit.

It's been a good day.

Oh crap. I heard Tom say we were going to the drive-in tonight. I forgot all about that! Good thing I took a nap after everyone left!

Birthdays

2009-06-16T17:41:00.006-06:00

My niece and my sister both had birthdays a couple weeks ago and of course I had to knit them gifts.

Isabel had a fun girly party with a treasure chest pinata with lots of goodies for the kids. It was a really good time. I made her a twirly skirt.

Birthday girl

Adeline

Pinata

Twirly Skirt

Becky and Adeline

For Nicky's birthday I made her some dishcloths. I do have to say they turned out very cute!

it's a frog

a bleeding heart

More later...

Spinning

2009-06-16T17:13:00.004-06:00

I've been spinning on a drop spindle for a couple months now. When I got the drop spindle it came with a generous amount of fiber and my friend Laura help me start spinning right away. In May I ordered a Phat Fiber box and recently spun up a couple samples from that. Today I finished the large roving that came with my drop spindle. Since I got the spindle I have also made my own drop spindles from wooden toy wheels and dowels and CD's and dowels.

This is my first completed yarn. It's from a sample from the May Phat Fiber box from Moonlight and Laughter.

After I spun it I plied it with some bamboo crochet thread.

My second finished yarn is also from a sample from the May Phat Fiber box. It's from Woolyhands.

This was my first Navajo ply. It was such fun and I like how it turned out!

This is what I first started spinning and I just finished it. It's my first "full size" yarn. It ended up being ~ 47 yards of bulky-super bulky.

On two spindles, finished being spun, before plying

After plying together on a CD spindle

And, my ball of yarn

Now to decide what to make. I think I might make a hat and use some other handspun and some other samples I got from the Phat Fiber box. I'll have to think on it for a while. This has become so much fun for me. I got more fibers at the Estes Park Wool Market, but more on that later.

Phat Fiber Box

2009-06-08T17:55:00.007-06:00

I'm a little late posting this, but better late than never.

I got a great (and my first) box from Phat Fiber last month! You can find out more about Phat Fiber here. Here are some pictures and descriptions of the wonderful goodies I got!

opening the Phat Fiber box

all of the goodies

needle and notions holder with coupons, stitch markers and great ceramic buttons

ceramic buttons by heartstone ceramics www.heartstone.etsy.com

stitch markers (left to right) miss becca designs rebeccamhill.etsy.com, odd-ish creations kataish.etsy.com and vbarton24.etsy.com

yarn samples, from the top down: copperpot.etsy.com, from ewe to you merino and silk, bunkybobos.etsy.com bunky toes sock yarn 100% superwash merino, snicklefritzyarns.com 100% blue-faced leicester, mystari.etsy.com 100% baby alpaca, wooliebullie.etsy.com beaded yarn, wittyknittin.etsy.com hand painted sock yarn merino wool and nylon, bohoknitterchic.etsy.com hand dyed yarn, the fox hop foxyie.etsy.com handspun 100% ramouillet wool.
Also a hat pattern from kirakdesigns.com and a knitting bag from goodnessgraciouswv.etsy.com

fiber samples from (clockwise from upper left) copperpot woolies, moonwood farm 75% alpaca 25% milk fiber, woolyhands merino, greenwood fiberworks merino, corgi hill farm, moonlight and laughter, desert garden farms, and calizonia

LOTS of wonderful stuff! I've already purchased some new roving! I'll post pictures of that next time. I also spun up the Moonlight and Laughter sample right away.
I'm going to ply this with some white that I'm spinning up right now. I'm planning on using it for the cuff of a pair of socks that I'm going to knit with some hand-dyed purple wool.

I need to update on my niece's birthday party and the great roving I bought from greenwood fiberworks!

from the mouth of babes

2009-05-20T13:28:00.002-06:00

Last night Patrick and I were making cake in coffee mugs. He is on a Star Wars kick lately. He asked Tom how they could make "Star Wars" with Darth Vader when the kid who plays Anakin Skywalker hadn't even been born yet. Tom explained to him that James Earl Jones played the voice of Darth Vader. Then Patrick said to me, "I think I know what people do after they die in a movie." I said ,"What?" He said, "They go to lunch."

panty lines

2009-05-18T09:08:00.004-06:00

By now we've all heard about the teenager in Florida who was caught in her yearbook picture with her pants down. Her rationale: she was wearing a dress and she didn't want panty lines. Here's one solution: wear a thong. What's worse?

Now for a little knitting update. I am 3/4 done with my niece's twirly skirt and of course I'm getting bored with the stockinette stitch. I'd love to get it done so it's done. It is so cute, though.

I have finished a couple things for another birthday present. I'm excited to start my Liesl for the Knit Girls KAL. I have so many unfinished projects I need to take care of. Is that normal?

handmade drop spindles

2009-05-17T11:13:00.004-06:00

I am getting into spinning my own yarn. I have one drop spindle that I bought from etsy. I have since bought more roving and my spindle is getting full. I've been looking online for ways to make drop spindles since money is tight and I don't want to but 5 more. Also, I'm and instant gratification person. There are all kinds of tutorials for making CD spindles, but where the hell do I find a rubber grommet? Even if I did go to a hardware store I wouldn't know where to begin to look. So I looked at my spindle from etsy and thought that there had to be a cheap way to mimic that. I looked around craft stores and had some ideas in my head when I did see the perfect solution! I think it ended up costing me close to $5 to make 4 drop spindles and I would just need to buy another $3 bag of wheel to make another 4. So, here is what I did. (I got the wooden supplies at Hobby Lobby - and they were on sale!!!! The cup hooks I got at WalMart)

I found a bag of wooden toy wheels in many sizes and I picked the largest size.

The hole size was 3/8 inch so I bought a bag of 12 inch long dowels 3/8 inch diameter.

I bought a package of the smallest cuphooks I could find.

I decided to make top whorl spindles. My husband drilled a small hole at one end of the dowel and screwed the cup hook in.

I slid the wheel up the dowel towards the top. Since it slid pretty easily I wrapped some scotch taped around the dowel a few times where I wanted the wheel to stay. It works great. I haven't used a top whorl before, so I sometimes have a little trouble with the yarn not wanting to twist around the hook after I wind it around the shaft and start spinning again. But it was cheap, easy and fast!

depressing

2009-04-29T02:12:00.002-06:00

I just woke up (well, an hour ago). I woke up and noticed that Tom wasn't in bed; he was downstairs flipping through channels because he had woken up earlier. I told him he could come upstairs and do that. So, now I'm awake and can't get back to sleep and he's getting back to sleep. Guess I should have taken one of my sleeping pills, but I was feeling tired. I should know better.....

My point. I'm making my usual rounds on the computer/internet and I'm reading a thread on a message board I sometimes read. I'm shocked, saddened, helpless, I don't know what else. I guess part of it is I want to help and I can't and another part is I know how she feels. A girl is depressed and has her first appointment with a counselor. She's taking her best friend with her because she's scared. Sadly, she already "knows" they can't do anything to help her. I've been there before and I know it's not true. She's made a suicide plan. She has a date in mind and everything. I've felt like that, but never made plans. She even knows how to work the system - don't tell the doctor and you won't get admitted. If you do get admitted, play good girl so you get dismissed soon.

I wish I knew what to say to her, but having been in a similar place I know that most of what people say will just piss her off. When someone is depressed and planning suicide you can't say "I know how you feel" because you don't. Maybe you think you do, but you don't. You can't tell them what to do. Nothing pisses anyone off more than being told what to do. "You'd feel better if you got out." You may have good intentions, but it may just be going in one ear and out the other. I remember one time I was depressed getting advice from people and just wanting to tell them to shut the hell up because they had no idea. None. People think they are helping, but most of the time they are not. That's the sad truth. What helps is going to the person, physically, and spending time, doing nothing if that's what it takes. Offer to go out. Don't push. Stay in, rent a movie, whatever, but show your support without being pushy or bossy. Someone who is depressed needs to know that they are loved. One thing that helps me the most, because I retreat to the bedroom, is for my husband to just lay down in bed with me; hug me. Don't ask what's wrong because a lot of times, someone who is depressed doesn't know what's wrong. I just wish there was something I could say to her. Some of the moderators of the group have taken care of her, if you will. I hope she'll be OK.

knitting update

2009-04-28T22:12:00.005-06:00

I've been working on a few things lately. A February Lady Sweater. I love it, but I'm getting a little bored with the lace pattern. I guess this is the perfect example of why I can't knit just one thing at a time. If I could, I'd have it done soon.

To take a break from the sweater, I started knitting Adeline a pair of ruffle socks with the leftover sock yarn from socks I made Izzy last year.

I'm also getting ready to make a twirly skirt for Isabel for her birthday. Since I'm using smaller yarn than what the pattern calls for and I'll be using smaller needles, I may need to knit an even larger size than I was planning. As it was, I thought it was going to be big for her. Oh well, it has a drawstring waist, so it will last her a long time!

My friend, Laura, taught me how to use my drop spindle and I've started spinning with that. Here is a picture from the first day I used it (the green stuff is what I spun). I've spun more since then and it's getting easier!

A little off topic, I went to fat fighters today -- not my usual meeting -- and one of my knitting friends was there. I'm so glad because she helped me get a little more motivated. Up till last week I missed 4 weeks. In the 4 weeks I didn't go, I gained 1.8 pounds. Last week I gained 0.2. Erg. So, we talked about a lot of things and I felt a lot better. It's been hard for me to find a good meeting time since I started my new job and have a new schedule. I think I'll go to these meetings now since my friend goes and it won't interfere with daytime sleep time. I have also signed up for a 5K in July and I want to do another on with my sister in May; I just need to find someone to work for me!

wicked step-mother

2009-04-26T11:12:00.002-06:00

That's all I have to say. Oh...and I don't think they make mother's day cards that say that.

facebook

2009-04-14T17:28:00.002-06:00

Is Facebook a popularity contest? It seems to me that it is. I thought it was great, at first, finding old friends. Then I started to realize that all of these friends weren't necessarily interested in getting, keeping or staying in touch with me. So why the friend request? Is it a contest to see who dies with the most friends? It frustrates me to have more than 100 friends and 10 of them actually send me meaningful notes, messages or whatever. I'm considering deleting people from my "friends" list. Keep family members, people I'm fans of, people in my group (you know who you are), people who truly are friends. And what's with the high school games? "I'm not going to answer your friend request." "I'm going to completely block you from my profile or even asking to be my friend." Come on. High school was 20 years ago. Get over it.

In other news, I bought one of those Smooth Away kits that you see on TV. It's like a little hand held buffer that is supposed to rub the hair off your legs (or wherever). I bought it when I was at Walgreens today because I was curious to find out if it worked or not. The little buffing pad that is supposed to rub the hair off is so not rough that I thought "yeah, right". Well, it does work for short hair (as it says in the instructions). An added bonus is that it exfoliates while it removes those hairs. And no nicks! Totally impressed and surprised. But do I need to buy a whole new kit when the pads run out?

random thoughts

2009-04-13T19:53:00.002-06:00

I don't know why but I seem to be ultra-sensitive, overly emotional lately. Maybe it's hormones. Maybe it's stress from the accident setting in. I have no idea. Little things (maybe they are little) are getting to me. I think a lot about things that probably aren't a big deal.

Last night was a sad night at work. What could be considered a "typical" night, but a little on the more sad than usual side. I cried on the way home. Then I thought, for the first time, "can I really hack it?" I love my job. I'm good at my job. But I can't get emotional every night.

I am worried about my knitting projects. Crazy, right? I usually have a few going at once because I get bored. Let's just pretend that each project would take a week to get done. If I have 4 projects going at once, it would take about 4 weeks to get each one done, right? If I did them one at a time it would take one week to get each one done. Much faster. Why can't I do that? And of course not all projects are going to take a week to finish. Eh. I'm working on a sweater that I need to get done - or mostly done - for class by Monday. I already screwed up the lace pattern, so I'm taking out the first row of it. Not helping any. And I have 2 pairs of socks going and another one I want to start. What else? Oh, another sweater I started a year ago. I have yarn for two other - no, 3 other - sweaters. See, if I just finished them, I'd get them done faster than messing with one for a while, then the other for a while, then one for a while. Can I change my ways?

Is it normal to be pretty much a loner? Probably not. I'm not very good at keeping friends, or they aren't very good at keeping me. However that goes. I've gotten to the point where I don't care very much anymore. If you aren't going to try to keep in touch with me, I'm not going to spend my time trying and trying to stay in touch with you. Why? If you don't value our relationship enough to put as much into it as I am, then it must not be that important.

The dogs barking all the freaking time is driving me up the freaking wall! I love them to death, but do they have to bark at every little noise! When someone breaks in, then bark!

Tom bought me a drop spindle for our anniversary. It came with 2 small chunks of roving and a lot of this beautiful emerald green roving. I'm too afraid to touch it because I'm just sure I'll screw it up.

OK, this concludes my negative blog for the day. Thanks for reading all the way through, if you could handle it!

sick of the snow

2009-04-05T11:21:00.003-06:00

I am officially done with snow. I've had enough. I drove my husband's truck to work the night of April 3rd because it was snowing. Driving home the morning of April 4th was fine until I started getting closer to home and the highway started getting worse. I started to slow down because the truck started to slip a little bit off and on. People still drive like assholes and fly right past you though; you can never go fast enough. Oh, that makes me so crazy! That's what I hate most about driving in the snow! I had just passed a state trooper who was walking into the median to flag a car that a driven off into it. Probably a quarter of a mile later a small truck, like a delivery truck or rental truck flew past me and my truck was sliding on the ice and just started spinning. It spun across the lanes of northbound I-25 and then went into the median, slammed into the median, which is like a ditch, so it slammed into the bottom, the kept going and slid back down where it stopped at the bottom. Those couple of seconds I thought all kinds of things. Like: am I going to die? Am I going to get hurt? Where am I? I remember saying "Oh my god!" When the truck finally stopped I just sat there shaking. I wasn't sure what to do. I couldn't find the hazard lights, which I thought would help someone find me. I remembered the state trooper was just down the road and thought he would probably be by any minute. I couldn't find my cell phone. I didn't know if I should call 911 or not. I finally found the cell phone and called my husband. He thought I was joking at first but then after I sounded serious enough and told him again, he believed me. He was going to come out and get me, then the State Patrol showed up and told him not to. He said there was minor body damage and we could get the truck out of there. (Are you kidding me?) He picked up part of the bumper that broke off and threw it in the back of the truck, told me to put it into 4 wheel drive and he'd tell me when the traffic was clear and to gun it. After several tries and about 10 minutes it actually worked. Once I got the truck back on the highway, though, I was no longer facing home and I realized the alignment was completely off and did not want to get off at the next exit, get back on the highway, go another 8 miles home, when I could get off the exit and drive the broken truck less than a mile to Tom's parent's house. So I called Tom and he met me there. The truck and I suffered minor damages (hopefully). The bumper is broken and hopefully it's only the alignment and it can be fixed. I am sore all over. Good thing I was wearing a seat belt! Smart girls wear seat belts! Now, if I could get a bumper sticker that says "get off my ass, go around me" or something like that and if other people would quit driving like assholes in the snow, that might help a little!

Now I need to file my accident report online.....

the blizzard

2009-03-26T19:11:00.003-06:00

Well, we are under a blizzard alert until tomorrow morning. It started snowing in the middle of the night. It stopped/slowed down for a while and now it's really picked up again. It's nothing like the blizzard we had a couple years ago, but it sure is nice to have some moisture!

The people I work with are really great. They were worried that I might not make it to work tonight because

I feel like total crap and felt like total crap when I left this morning
It's been snowing since some time in the middle of the night, the blizzard warning and I live about 25 miles away from work

They were considerate enough to plan ahead and get someone to work for me. I'm glad they did, because I don't think I'd be able to make it in tonight. It's miserable feeling miserable. The roads were so bad and I felt so bad on my way home that I stopped at my mom's house and took a nap for a couple hours before I went the rest of the way home. Oh, and no matter what the weather, people still drive like idiots. They must have a death wish. OK, enough whining.

The dogs LOVE playing in the snow!

and by the way....

2009-03-21T18:29:00.005-06:00

I don't think I ever posted anything about the Saint Patrick's Day parade last week. Time just seems to slip by. Patrick and Isabel were both in it, in separate floats. Isabel didn't last too long. She did a great job and looked so adorable. It was nice that she didn't walk the whole parade, then she got to come back and hang out with us and get some candy.

I didn't get to see Patrick when his float came by because he was on the other side of it, so I guess it's a good thing I saw him before the parade started. He's getting so freaking huge!

I don't know how it is that Nicky & I always get stuck next to the rudest or most greedy people whenever we are at parades, but that is how it happens. Oh well, we still had fun.

something, something, something

2009-03-21T09:22:00.004-06:00

I'm sitting here trying to thing of something to update you all on. Well....I finished the mittens I was working on. Learned how to duplicate stitch to close holes and I am very pleased with that!

I'm working on a felted bag, getting closer to the "22 inches completed height before felting" every day. I also picked up a pair of socks I started a year ago. Oops. I think now I knit a little less tight than I did then, so my gauge is a little different. I'm not in the mood to take the whole sock apart just because now part of it may be a little looser. I'm knitting them toe up and the first one is done to the heel, so now I'm on the second. I remember how hard I worked to make those toes last year, making them over and over about 4 times. I'm just going to keep going to get these socks done. Once I finish the foot, which is just plain stockinette stitch, I'll switch to a ribbed stitch, so, if they are a little loose, there will be some stretchiness to the leg.

I have so much sock yarn and have so many great ideas for socks. Yep. Not really. Well, I just thought that I could share it with my nieces and make a little pair of socks for my nieces or one of them whenever I make myself a pair since I'll probably have leftovers. Maybe start with a pair of socks for Isabel and knit myself a pair of anklets with what is left (or knit as high as I can go). I just thought it would be fun to get more than one pair of socks out of my yarn at a time instead of having the scraps sitting around.

I'm going to go to a February Lady Sweater class starting Monday. There has been this yarn, the colorway is "rose garden", at the LYS that I have lusted over for about the past year and I never knew what to make with it. Well, I bought the last 4 skeins a couple weeks ago and I'm going to use it for my sweater. Can't wait!

I plan to get plenty of sleep today. I work tonight and did not work last night. I didn't get much sleep at all yesterday after I got off work. Maybe it's time to admit defeat and accept the fact (?) that kids don't care if I need to sleep and aren't going to be quiet and head for the ear plugs.

living and dying

2009-03-05T13:17:00.002-07:00

Did I seriously have myself marked as a male? I just changed my profile picture and my gender said "male". Eh, whatever.

My new job is absolutely wonderful and I am so happy to be there. Everyone I work with has been so welcoming and so great. I guess that goes along with the line of work. One thing I learned in my small amount of time with Hospice is the way that you lived your life is the way you die. I wonder if the same is true with the people around you. What I mean is, if you are very work oriented or if you are very family oriented, are you going to be that way when your close family member is dying? I have seen both responses to the impending death of a family member and I have yet to come to the conclusion of whether or not it is the way that person chooses to live his or her life or if it is grief. I suppose it could be either, but who am I to know?

I was asked to work an extra shift this weekend - right in the middle of my orientation - which does seem kind of strange. I do feel very honored though because when the woman called me from work she told me that my supervisor said I was doing a great job and was very confident I could do it. They would rather have me work the shift than someone from a temp agency. I'm flattered.

I'm working on some mittens that I started in October or November. Hopefully I'll have them done this weekend so I can use them next winter. ;) So many other things had to be knit so they got put off. I still have to finish my mom's fingerless mitts that were a Christmas present. They are so detailed, that's why they are taking me so long. I get so far and I have to stop. I have some plans for Easter presents and have started on one. I have promised myself to at least finish the mittens before continuing the first Easter present. The other two I think will go rather quickly. Then a couple more. I think my list of things I'd like to knit will be never ending. I started my first pair of socks 10 months ago and have yet to finish them because I keep starting new projects. Errr. When is Easter anyway? 5 weeks. After that, a blanket for Isabel. I'm never going to stop!

Cash for Gold

2009-02-07T17:47:00.005-07:00

Today I took my wedding rings from my first marriage to the pawn shop (again with the pawn shop). I have been hanging on to them for years -- just over 8 years to be a little more exact -- because I didn't know what to do with them. I've heard all of those cash for gold commercials and thought maybe I'd send them in. Then I did a little bit of looking around on the internet. I know you can't believe everything you read on the internet but I read about some people getting just a couple dollars for their jewelry or being told their package never made it to the cash for gold people. So I thought I'd take my wedding jewelry and the other couple things he gave me to the pawn shop. At least I'd get rid of them. Lucky me! I got $100! I used it to buy a little brown refrigerator I saw there last week. It looks just like the refrigerator my parents got for a wedding gift 40 years ago that they still have.

My dad uses it for beer, and now that is what my husband has in his.

I also used the money to get my hair re-colored:

Good day.

I am starting a new job in 2 weeks! I'm very excited about it since I haven't been very happy at my current job and I've been wanting a job where I feel like I'm actually being a nurse. I will be working for Hospice. I am very excited about this! My last day of work will be on my birthday!

I finished my last square for the afghan swap yesterday and it is blocking. I'm wanting to make more squares for my afghan to make it a bit larger. Hopefully with my new job I will have more spare time to knit and I can make more squares and put together some blankets for Project Linus. I also started on a sweater for Annette's dog. I'm hoping to finish it this weekend.

Here's a cute picture to end the blog with:

it's so hard

2009-02-01T08:39:00.003-07:00

Being a step-mom is so hard. Sometimes (well, maybe most of the time) you feel so unappreciated. I try to do what's best for my step-son. I treat him like I'd treat my own kids; care for him like I'd care for my own kids.

Yesterday we did some pawn shop shopping. That is the best place to buy movies! Get used movies for really cheap! We think it's fun. While we were there a woman was there with some stuff that they weren't going to take. One of the things she had was a black leather jacket, size 12-14. They were going to put it in a free pile so she asked Patrick if he wanted it. He was so excited about it! I'll have to get a picture and post it. So, we got 3 movies, season 1 of Mind of Mencia (for Tom, not me) and a leather jacket for $20. Not bad. Then we had dinner at Waffle House. OK, just so you know, we don't spend all Saturdays like this.

Patrick's asthma was really acting up yesterday. He kept needing his rescue inhaler. Since I work at an allergy and asthma clinic and have taken the asthma educators course I was fairly confident with what I was doing. But he kept coughing and coughing. At 11 he was sitting in his bed coughing and crying because he couldn't sleep. I had given him his inhaler again. He finally coughed up some mucous. About an hour later he started coughing so hard he threw up. Tom thought we needed to take him to the ER. So I called the doctor on call. He thought it could be sinusitis or bronchitis, but without seeing him is not 100% sure, but the kid's nose is stuffed up like you wouldn't believe. So he called in an antibiotic and some prednisone and is going to see him tomorrow. Tom hasn't slept in over 24 hours. He worked late last night getting everything ready for inventory and had to go back to work at 3 AM for inventory, but after driving into town to the pharmacy, he had to leave without any sleep. Now he's just laying on the couch. Patrick's been asleep and cough-free for about 6-7 hours now - thank god! I just hope he keeps sleeping! He needs the rest!

I think I might be in need for a nap, too.

isn't she lovely?

2009-01-25T15:17:00.003-07:00

I have my niece's sweater finished and a picture of her wearing it! She is absolutely beautiful! Both of my nieces are beautiful, but today I only got a picture of Adeline.

And a picture of the completed sweater.

After this I had the urge to knit my sister some awesome Valentine socks but I had to remind myself that I have 1 1/4 afghan squares to finish, and fingerless mitts, and mittens, other socks, and I don't know what else. But how long could it take???

6 months

2009-01-23T12:55:00.003-07:00

Has it really been 6 months since I've written? Times flies. My niece loved the Big Bad Baby Blanket I made for her little so much she would like me to make one for her. I was going to make her a blanket for Christmas but I didn't get a chance. I had planned many knitted Christmas gifts that never got finished. :( So sad. I'm hoping to catch up on my queue shortly. When I finish my squares for the afghan swap I will have more time. I've decided that it is better to have one project going at a time and maybe a couple side projects to prevent boredom instead of what I'm doing now: a sweater that I started last spring, two, maybe three pairs of socks, a pair of mittens, a pair of fingerless mittens, my niece's blanket, other niece's sweater, afghan squares. I could be leaving something out, who knows? And I have been trying to get some apple sweaters done for my sister. I have one finished but I wanted to get a few more done before mailing them to her. (Not to mention I never got her or Chris's Christmas present done). I need to do some serious prioritizing and finish some of these jobs. Finish this baby sweater, finish the swap (almost done!), finish mittens, go from there. Then it's one -- or two-- things at a time.

OK, I better get back to work. my lunch break is over. I will update my life story a bit later. I spend enough time on the computer I should be able to get it done!

workin' for the weekend

2008-07-18T23:09:00.002-06:00

Why the hell am I still awake? I've been so stinking exhausted all week. I don't know if it's all of the driving to and from work or what. I feel like I'm gone all day, I get home and I want to pass out. I think I fell asleep at 7 last night.

Tomorrow is my sister's baby shower -- I'm hoping she loves the baby blanket. Dang it! I still need to post pics. They are on my camera but I haven't uploaded them yet. After the baby shower I'm off to the knitting retreat. I hope it's a good weekend. I get anxious around a lot of people and people I don't know, but knitting is relaxing, so it should all be good. I think the project will make a nice gift for my mom.

Speaking of gifts, I've got tons of knitting to do for Christmas! Holy crap! Better get my ass in gear!

stress

2008-07-15T20:42:00.002-06:00

Can life be anymore stressful?

I took Seth (my ferret) to the vet today because I noticed he is losing hair and he has lots of little scabs on his back from scratching/biting. He also has been drinking a lot and urinating a lot over the last several months as well as straining to urinate. I thought he probably has an adrenal tumor; most ferrets get them. He's 8 years old, so I'm not planning on putting him through anything if that's the case. Come on, he's elderly. But at the same time I'm thinking maybe they're little bites from mites or something. So I get to the vet and have to wait a LONG time. When I do see the vet she says he probably does have ear mites (again) but his other symptoms - including the hair loss and scratching - are consistent with adrenal gland tumors. She did an exam and felt a pretty good size growth in the left side of his abdomen. More than likely that is what's going on but the only way to confirm it is to do an ultrasound. i can't afford $130 for an ultrasound, to confirm a tumor that I'm not going to treat, on my 8-year old ferret. If we confirm the tumor, the only effective treatment is surgery, which I am not going to do. The average life span for ferrets is 9-10 years. So we gave him some medicine to treat mites and will see how he does with that. He's happy right now. I will let him live his life and if he becomes unhappy, I will go from there.

I am explaining this to my husband who freaks out and says "we are not going to do surgery on a 6 year old ferret!" I said "He's 8 and I said we aren't going to do surgery." He doesn't listen to me. I'm sick of him not listening to me. Fuck! He's so pissy and irritable. I just can't stand to be around him anymore. He says we're broke. Why? Well, maybe it has to do with how much money we spend on gas. I have to fill up about every 4 days. It's fucking ridiculous. He's also convinced we won't sell our house. I love his positive attitude. We just reduced the price of our house again. We need to sell it. I can't handle my husband being so miserable.

Some days I regret taking this job. I love my new job but the commute fucking sucks. Paying 4 fucking dollars a gallon for gas is unfuckingbelievable. I get about 30 miles to the gallon. It's 38 miles each way when I go to work. tom drives a Ford Ranger. He fills up about every 5 days; I'm not sure how much he pays. I put about $45 -$50 in my gas tank every 4 days. If I hadn't taken this job we wouldn't be going through this right now. we wouldn't be trying to sell our house.

I finished my Big Bad Baby Blanket and I'm working on my afghan square for the swap. Soon I'll need to start on Christmas presents!

good vs. evil

2008-07-05T15:12:00.003-06:00

pet peeves:

1) when people park on the line of the parking spot so that I have to squeeze in (especially when I have no option because the parking lot is full)
2) when my husband says "don't worry about it"
3) when people litter and/or leave their trash for other people to clean up
4) when my husband says "don't worry about it"
5) when people stand in the middle of the parking lot like morons with their heads up their asses while cars are trying to get by
6) when my husband says "don't worry about it"
7) when all of this happens at the same place in a half-hour period of time

How can some people really not care about what other people are doing? Or maybe the question is: why do I care so much? Just watching this moron out the window holding a child, standing in the middle of the parking lot while a car is trying to drive through just made me want to scream. Are people that ignorant? Apparently. But it doesn't bother my husband. And that bothers me too!

Yesterday my sister and my niece came over and we walked to the 4th of July parade. It was fun, except for the trashy mom who let her 5 kids steal candy from my niece. She 4 and petite. She's very easy-going. My sister is 8 months pregnant, so I was trying to help Isabel catch candy. I shit you not, I would bend over to pick up a piece of candy, and one of these little brats would run over and swipe it when my hand was not one inch away from it. Many times! And candy would get thrown in our direction and they'd come running from the 100 foot wide area they had taken over to the little spot we were sitting in and grab up all they could. It was pissing me off, and their mom was encouraging it! By the time the parade was over, they each had a Wal-Mart (for real) bag full of candy. Izzy did get her fair share, but they were extremely rude.

We then went to the car show at the park. Izzy got a balloon animal; an orange dog. Her favorite animal in her favorite color. After that we went to the library park where they had blow up bouncy things and a big blow up slide. Our day lasted until about 2 and then we were all beat. It was a great day. I love spending time with my sister; it's great! I wish we could spend more time together, but we live 20 miles apart (I know, it's not that much) and she's 8 months pregnant and has a husband and a 4 year old daughter. They have stuff to do. I used to have people around on the weekends, but not anymore. I'm making the baby blanket for her. I'm almost to the halfway point. I'm going to have plenty of yarn left over. I think I'll make some matching booties or socks or something.

This is her Big Bad Baby Blanket from Stitch n Bitch Nation

I wanted to buy some yarn bras for my balls of yarn. I bought a couple assorted packs at Hobby Lobby. I also found this tutorial online. I ran to Wal-Mart this morning and when I was grabbing some razors I happened to see a 2-pack of these shower puffs for 97 cents. So I made one yarn bra/yarn sleeve to try it out. It's not extremely snug. It would definitely work for another ball of yarn I have that is already wrapped.

I'm going to be in my first swap. It's an afghan square swap. I've found a pattern that I think will be perfect for my first swap partner. I just need to alter it to the correct size. I'm so excited about this! Then I was on Ravelry and I saw some other afghan squares that were so cool. I found the book they were in and I ordered it from Amazon. I'll make one from it and depending on what I think of it, the rest of my sqaures might be from that pattern. Even though it's one pattern, the yarn you use can make them look quite different.

OK, I should be knitting.

Saturday

2008-06-28T09:06:00.005-06:00

I've come to dislike Saturdays. I spend the weekends by myself since I am off and my husband works. This is a new development since his son got out of school for the summer. I'm sure I'll get used to it though. I used to have every weekend to myself and loved it. This is my second Saturday alone and I'm very lonely. My LYS opens in an hour and I plan on going there to knit since I haven't been able to do that in ages. We have an open house tomorrow, but I can get ready for that later.

I finally finished my moms felted slippers. Today I'm going to do the puffy paint on the soles for some traction. Here are some pictures. The colors of the slippers are periwinkle and khaki.

We are going to my parents' house for dinner tonight, so I'll be taking her slippers as well as the socks I made for my niece. I don't think I've posted pictures of the finished product! Well, here they are!

I found this new great blog with some super cute knitting patterns. I'll be adding her blog to my list of blogs to read. She has some really cute ice cream cone patterns. Check her out here.

Well, I should put some real clothes on so I can go spend some time knitting with my friends!

felting

2008-06-24T22:51:00.003-06:00

Right now I am felting for the first time without adult supervision. I have done this before with supervision. These are my mother's day slippers that I have finally finished. With everything else that's been going on in my life I haven't had as much time to knit as I'd like to. I also haven't been to my favorite hangout, Nanytutu's, in ages! So, as I sit here, my washer runs and the slippers are on their second cycle. I'm sure I can't do it wrong. Right? Pictures will be posted when they are done.

the end of the week

2008-06-14T20:01:00.002-06:00

It's finally over! My first week on the new job. That always sucks. It's a great job, don't get me wrong, but the first week at any new job is stressful. It's been over 10 years since I have worked for this doctor's office, but I have worked there before so that gives me a great advantage over the other couple of medical staff who started a few weeks ago. By then end of my first day I was doing things on my own because it was all coming back to me, but I do still have a lot of questions. And we are pretty spoiled by the doctors at this job! It's pretty great. The downside: the drive. 35 miles each way; a 45 minute drive. I know a lot of people do this everyday, but when you are not used to it, it sucks!

We listed our house and we are having an open house next Saturday. We started looking at houses this week. We may need to change our minds about where we move to because moving where my hubby wants to move to still leaves me with a 25 mile each way commute. But he will have no commute, and he has had to commute about 25 miles each way every day for the last 4 years, so it is a better option. Moving even closer to my job than he has been willing to look will only be about 15 miles for him to drive to work and about 5 miles for me. The houses are also less expensive. With gas at $4 a gallon now, we're going to have to choose the lesser of 2 evils I guess. And I honestly don't know what that is.

Yesterday I worked in a satellite clinic, so I rode with the doctor, another nurse and front desk staff to the clinic 2 hours each way. I am almost done with Isabel's socks. I decided to make them anklets; I think they will be very cute that way. That's the nice thing about working toe-up -- you can stop when you want!

socks

2008-06-04T05:20:00.012-06:00

I'm thinking about making a pair of Jaywalkers. I have so much sock yarn that I want to use and I'd love to try that pattern. I have a few sock projects going right now that I need to finish first. I wanted my niece's socks to be done for her birthday (June 1). No such luck. I'm at the heel now.

My sister's birthday was yesterday and I wanted to make her a pair of felted slippers....not even started. Heck, I haven't started the second slipper of the pair I made my mom for mother's day.

I'm working on socks for my husband and myself. Another pair for my other sister. I need a few days away from this house stuff and time to just knit!

By the way, today is my last day of work and I start my new job on June 9. The realtor came by last night and we signed paperwork and everything is ready to get the house on the market on Monday! Yikes! The carpets are getting cleaned tomorrow, the woman is coming to stage the house Friday and they are coming to take pictures for the listing on Saturday. Monday, the sign goes up!

too cute

2008-05-28T22:19:00.006-06:00

If this isn't the cutest thing, I don't know what is:

OK, I waited for half an hour for the video to upload and it wouldn't, so here is a link to it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2W3vRXw5sA

I also got this gorgeous sock yarn yesterday from "Vormer" on eBay. She was so nice and the hand dyed yarn was so affordable. She even offered to hand dye custom colorways. I think that this brown with a nice rosey pink would look great, too! (Yes, I need to take a better picture)

stress

2008-05-27T20:40:00.003-06:00

So my husband and I are arguing about selling the house. Not whether or not to sell it, but what to list it at. He thinks the realtor and I are crazy with the price we came up with (like we just pulled it out of the air) and that we'll never get that much. I tried to explain that you ask for more because a buyer is going to offer less. He's so pessimistic and negative, talking about this being a terrible time to sell a house, saying it will be on the market for 3-6 months. I may choose to divorce him instead of buying another house!

a new start

2008-05-26T20:22:00.003-06:00

Today I took a drive to where my new job will be. It’s 35 miles from my house and it took about 40-45 minutes to get there. One great thing about this new job is it’s one block away from the Human Bean!

Getting this house on the market, selling it and moving will be a very good thing! It will get me closer to my new job and get Tom closer to his job. I am just hoping the process doesn’t take long. We’ve been cleaning and disposing of stuff for over a week now and I feel like we still haven’t gotten anywhere. I’ve packed up all of my extra clothes, shoes, purses (because I’m a girl), movies, books and put aside things for Goodwill and there is still stuff coming out of closets and bookcases! WTF? We need to get rid of all of this crap before we can clean!

On our way home we drove through Windsor to look at some of the tornado damage. It is amazing all of the devastation it caused! I couldn’t believe the things we saw. We stopped at my sister’s house for a while -- her house had only hail damage and she didn’t have power for about 3 days. I consider us very lucky that the worst we had was no power for maybe 8-10 hours. Speaking of which, we have no power now! So, I’m typing away on my laptop.
My niece’s birthday is on Sunday and I need to finish the socks I started knitting for her! My sister’s birthday is 2 days later. I’m planning on making her felted slippers, but I haven’t even finished the second one I was making my mom for mother’s day. I’m slacking! Wait! I have a great idea! I won’t go to work my last few days and I’ll stay home and knit! That won’t go over well with the husband. If I played hooky from work, 1) he’d be pissed, 2) he’d expect me to clean.