Crazy HoliDAZE!

The holidays are here, and I'm still trying to finish my secret santa gift, which is whay I haven't been blogging lately...I would have been done with the scarf sooner, except I began on what I thought were needles that would give me a lacy effect...nope. Tooo tight...made the item (not saying what as this person may read my blog)tooooo bulky, so I had to rip it out and start again. On Sunday. I have to have it done and wrapped Wed. nite, so I don't have much time left. The hats I knitted are all so cute...decided against the long stocking caps and just made cute hats with pom poms on top. Last night I made gingerbread cookies, tonight I have to bake the sugar cookies and the choc. dipped butter cookies. Oh, and I still have to pack for our trip to Asheville tomorrow. So, if I have no posts until Xmas day, you know why! Have a wonderful Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa or whatever moves and grooves you!

The week done gone...

I had a complete and total meltdown on Monday night...against my better judgement, I downloaded a game last weekend onto my laptop. Sunday night, after I finished playing, I turned my computer off and went to bed. Inagine my surprise, when on Monday night, I turn on my computer to find that NO programs can be accessed. I reboot. And reboot. Repeat 4 more times...nada. Ok, so this isn't good (voice in head is repeating this, over and over). Well, to make a long story short, I had to reformat my hard drive, which resulted in the computer still not working...and now it just shows a grey screen. By the way, didn't I mention in an earlier post about my PMS status? Now you can have a little window into how this went down...at that point (grey screen) I just lost it. I was SO mad at myself, because I know NEVER to mess on game sites, because you can get trojans and other spyware from them, but I did it anyway. SO, after several minutes of freaking out, crying and chastizing myself, I called Lenovo and had them walk me thru fixing everything. So, it's all fixed now and the only games I will play are ones that I purchase from a known site with the CD. After it was all over, I ealized that all the animals were in here with me, and it was really sweet how concerned Maisy and Lucky seemed to be. Maisy sat and kept her paw on me, and Lucky made herself into a little ball in my lap; she's not a lap cat, she's a "I'll lay next to you and you rub my neck and back" cat. So their concern touched me!
Another reason this week went by quickly is HATS! I have 2 knitted and working on the third, which the way it looks, I shuld finish tomorrow. Then it's one more hat and 2 scarves. My car is beiing repaired right now, so I can't do anything at home (yeah, I COULD clean, but knitting has a stronger allure-I like knitting...hate cleaning!) I do need to pull out the lights and decorations at some point this weekend...see what lights need replacing, etc. Why is it when you put holiday lights away for the next year they work, and when you pull out the same friggin lights a year later they don't work? They've only been sitting in a box for dog's sake! WTF!!!
Ok, that was just a tiny rant, It's just always bugged me. I'm off to refresh my coffee and get to 2x2 rib knitting!

Video Bar

The videos posted on the video bar are from my brother in law Josh. The videos star my sister Meredith, and my nieces, Murell and Avery (aka Noodle). In case you were wondering who these people are.....

PMS makes me crazy!

ok, well maybe not certifiable crazy, but my emotions have been all over the map for the last couple of days. I know for sure it's PMS and not just generally being bitchy, when I can be totally pissed one second and then sobbing at a Pedigree dog food commercial the next (they are usually touching commercials). I have been pretty pissy this week anyway, as I was doing an overnight dog sitting job, and returned home after 4 days to find the house in a wreck: laundry piled up, clutter and piles of Ken's stuff all over the house. Now, I admit I am not the neatest person in the world, but it seems to me, that the person who WAS home should have taken some initiative to straighten up, even just a little. Instead, he was off for 3 days and did nothing except sit on his butt. So, I have been doing laundry, cleaning litter boxes, washing the dishes ( he SUCKS at washing dishes-can't get it thru his head that all dishes, glasses and pots & pans have TWO sides and you need HOT water to get them clean) and getting all the clutter picked up. So, that's my rant for now!

and another thing....

Trying to make sweet potato pie again tomorrow. the one from last weekend still had the soggy crust issue...gotta fix it...prebaking the crust, maybe? Not part of the instructions, but I have learned alot of my old family recipes seem to miss something...guess those old country cooks just knew what to do! Off to research this issue!

Truly Thankful!

This is why I am thankful at Thanksgiving....
I have a dog. Her name is Maisy. She's got a problem with staying in the yard (she needs lessons from Lucky-my cat who comes to the door when she accidentally gets outside to be let back in!). I know her moves, so rarely does she escape on my watch, but Ken is a different story. Maisy knows she can outrun him, so she will slip under the fence and she's gone! So, today Ken takes her out, and she makes a run for it, but instead of going to the abandoned housing un-development behind our street, where she normally goes (lots to smell and chase)she went up the road and crossed a VERY busy strret and went to the Kroger. Maybe she wanted to pick up a few things...I have no idea. when Ken called me and said she had been out and that she was found at Kroger, it just freaked me out! It terrifies me that she went on a road where the speed limit is 45 mph, and many people go faster than that. Thank goodness some kind soul took the time to call our house to let us know she was there. But Ken was out looking for her for quite some time, so when noone came to get Maisy, someone from Kroger called to say they had contacted animal control and we could get her there. Thank goodness, whoever it was looked at her rabies tag and realized her vet was across the street, so they took her there and that's where Ken picked her up. So, I am thankful Maisy is home safe and sound! She's now not allowed out except on a leash, and I may be learning how to make my own doggie hobbles..anyone got a concrete block I can use?

What a looong week!

I don't know exactly why, but this week went by so slowly for me, although, today went quickly enough. It's been extremely slow at work (thanks, shitty economy!) so I haven't been absorbed in work. I could have done some knitting ( who would know?) but I'm decreasing for the crown, and can't afford to be interrupted, as I will forget where I was and then it's rip! rip! rip!...I haven't got time for do-overs! SO, now I'm waiting for Chinese food to come...yes, it's being delivered in a sense; Ken's picking it up and delivering it home to me-lol-I even got him to run into the grocery store to get me two ingredients that I need for baking pies. I am going to make a pecan pie, as well as sweet potato. The pecan pie is for Thanksgiving, and the sweet potato is for practice...I want to make a couple to bring to my sister's for Christmas, and I've only made sweet potato one time, and the crust was soggy... I failed to read the part about brushing the crust with melted shortening or vegetable oil...supposedly that keeps the crust crisp..we'll see! Y ou may think "Hey! You have days before Thanksgiving!" Yes, except that I will begin 2 dog sitting jobs this weekend, one runs thru next Saturday and the other thru next Wed.,which will cut down on my free time quite a bit, so I'm trying to stay ahead of the game. I'll keep you posted!

WHERE does the time go?

I am making this a short post as I really have things to do ...gotta do laundry (a never ending cycle) must work on the first of the hats for the kids- i have the first 2 inches of the 5 I need to get done for the body before I decrease and did I mention it's a stocking hat?...I have been letting myself get disracted by the lure of the computer and the internet...for now all my random questions or thoughts can be researched in an instant as well as checking email and my Facebook page...Sooo, I now have to go and feed the critters before Maisy pokes me to death!

Didn't sleep at all last night

I had a bad night last night....sick as a dog (why do we say that?)...must have been something I ate, but it lasted for about 4-5 hours, and today, well, let's just say I'm not feeling up to snuff today. I have kept down what I ate today...keeping it bland, just in case.
I do have a couple of knitting projects in the works...well, 4 hats and 2 scarves and trying to finish the shawl that I began for myself. I may have made a boo-boo in my thinking. Well see. Gonna go now and get the laundry finished and have a little chicken and rice.

WIRELESS!!!

Well, it took a little brain work, but I finally gotthe wireless router to work, and I can now access the internet anywhere in the house-yipee! I wll also be adding in some opicuresof some of my knitting projects as well as some critter pics.
Now that I have the computer and the internet at my fingertips, I have a feeling I will become one of those internet junkies...we'll see!
It's gorgeous here today...a chill in the air right now, but it will warm up a little...our maple tree lost all it's leaves yesterday...poor naked tree...I guess you could say in the tree's case, Fall fell!

Wire-less...

I am finding that the joy of a laptop comes with being portable....somehow that feeling gets a little less when you realize that inorder to access the internet, you gotta be hooked up to a wire. Now, I have to get a wireless router and get us a home network going, so I really can be free to blog, browse knitting patterns or recipes anywhere I choose. I evidently can go to a free wifi hot spot, but I find drnking coffee and typing away on a computer in public view kind of cliche'... maybe it's not, but that's how I feel about it. So, I guess it's off to find a router...and some networkin advice...hey Randy! (my brother-in law, who KNOWS this stuff). See you remotely later-hopefully!

It's Been A Long Time Come'in

I come to you now from my own laptop! I have wanted my own computer for a while, and was actually going online and looking at used laptops...they're pretty inexpensive, and I figured I could save up and get one. Well, Ken had asked me what I wanted for my birthday, and I jokingly said "a laptop!" He surprised me the day of my birthday telling me hed had ordered me a computer, but not a used one...this thing has a 15" screen and a camera attached -no, no photos of me this morning...jeez, it's only 8:45 am and I have only had one cup of coffee! I am now going to rectify that, so I'll have more later.

Amateur Meterologist

Last Friday night, Atlanta was hit by a tornado. I was driving home about an hour before the storms hit and did think that I was seeing quite a lot of lightning, but since most of it seemed to be cloud to cloud, I thought it was more of a light show instead of a warning to get my ass indoors. Luckily, all I had to deal with was rain and some big hailstones, unlike the people who's homes and lives were impacted by the tornado. Storms came through again later on, and again nothing but rain and hailstones. Saturday kept me indoors for a good part of the day, again watching the weather news and seeing tornados popping up all over the metro area. I haven't had a day like that since I was a kid, where the weather had me pretty shaken up. But I had plans for Saturday evening to visit a friend, and so I decided that there was no way that Mother Nature was going to keep me from a "girls" night. And as it turned out, the skies cleared and Saturday evening was beautiful and I got to spend time with one of my best friends.

The attached picture of the tornado ( circled in red) also makes me realize that even during a major weather event, you can still see how beautiful things can be!

It's Been a Long Time!

I can't believe that it's been more than 2 weeks since I blogged last. Gosh, where did the time go? I know where part of it went...I hurt myself a couple of weeks ago- twisted my right knee-made walking a challenge. I know the old saying "you don't know what you got 'till it's gone", but boy, I didn't think that it would apply to my knees...at least not this soon! Thanks goodness, I can walk pretty much normally now, but i guess no dancing until a later time. The good thing about not getting around much, is that I did get some knitting done. I finished Murell's hat, and have begun one for Avery-purple and pink- I may try and have it finished before her birthday, which is in a week and a half.
I am overnight dog sitting this week, and have a little extra time to myself, so I'll blog back much sooner.

Valentine's surprise

I got a really nice surprise for Valentine's day...I din't have to really cook my own dinner, and I got candy, flowers AND jewelry!!! My SO got me a lovely set of a ring, earrings and a necklace that all have a heart shaped "ruby" in them. I put ruby in quotation marks, because the stones are lab created, but just as beautiful as the real thing.
I am really hard on jewelry-using my hands a lot at work and at home. I have lost stones out of bracelets at Jazzercise, lost rings, and nearly lost a diamond out of a ring that was left to me by my grandmother. Thank goodness I realized the stone was loose before it fell out. It's not the monetary value of the ring, more the sentiment, as it was a ring my Mema had made from a ring my grandfather had given to her many years before. It's a one I wear quite a bit, mainly to keep Mema close to me. She was the one person in my life that thought I was the BEST, no matter what. Even after her stroke, (I visited her in the hospital the day after), although she was having trouble with my name, she knew who I was and she called me "special purpose". That was the last time I saw her alert (she slipped into a coma and passed away about a week later) and the last words we said to one another was "I love you". I guess that's the best gift you can give someone. Knowing that you are loved.
Hope all your days have a "special purpose"!

Wheee, it's Valentine's Day!

No big plans for tonight. My idea is to have a nice dinner at home and knit on the hats for a while. Of course, I'll be cooking the dinner, but it's better than 3 years ago - we decided to get chinese delivered and due to the high volume of orders, ours didn't come for nearly 3 hours. At that point, we had eaten something from the kitchen and were not expecting anyone to show. When our food did finally come, my SO sent the delivery guy away. I couldn't believe that they would actually try to deliver an order after so much time, much less, expect us to pay for it! So, I will cook my own dinner tonight, and enjoy every minute of it.

Wishing you all Valentine's happiness, whatever you are doing!

Casting Doubt

Had a good weekend in Asheville. Played with my niece and nephew and did a little knitting, too. Sunday my mother, sister and I were all working on our projects together, and I learned that I cast on differently than they do. I learned to knit from a book, and they both learned from my younger sister. It works for me, so I don't see any reason to change, although that would be a good thing to ask about sometime. I guess whatever works for you, is what you do!
Maisy had a good time too...she loves having her belly rubbed and kids give the best ones (LOL).
The cats weren't really happy about our absence, but a can of food on our return was accepted as a perfectly good beginning of an apology.
Laundry on the list for tonight, and hopefully I'll get more done on the hat I'm working on for My niece Murell--beautiful, soft and very GREEN in color. Murell has been to see the play "Wicked" 3 times, I think - all about the Wicked Witch of the West.
That's it for now!

Ahhh, the weekend!

This weekend I'm going up to Asheville, NC to visit with family. I just love Asheville, mainly because it's so easy to navigate! Anyplace you go, it takes ten minute or less (living in the Atlanta area, it takes at least 45 minutes to go anywhere due to high traffic volume). I like walking around downtown Asheville - checking out different shops and just people watching. Also, the architecture of many homes (craftman style, and victorian) and the downtown buildings (art deco) are wonderful to look at. If you have the chance, visit Asheville - it's 'da bomb!