We got out my old, old laptop. You know the kind? Weighs a ton, and hasn't been used since the last Ice Age? It's so dusty, I couldn't even write in the dust. The keyboard only works part time, and frankly, I think it's in great need of a blow job.
Oh, get your mind out of the gutter!
So in the last several days, I have been busy creating places to put little things that I have no place for--cleaning off the tables so that hubby and his friend can discuss business over coffee. There's one more table to clean and a cubby hole, and we're done with the rooms that most people see when they walk in the door.
It's refreshing to walk into a room and see no clutter in the entire place. Well, except the kitchen, which is an ongoing concern.
I've also been selling my scarves--I had a bunch of the ruffle scarves that I've knit over the last few years, and I took them to work and sold most of them--Christmas money! I'm still making them. You would think I would have had enough of them, and truly, I have been putting off making more of them. I have two more made, but I think that I will keep the red and gold one, and wear it during Christmas so everyone can ooo and ahh. I think I've probably got enough yarn in the basement to make at least 30 more. Sigh. I can't get enough of the frou frou.
I've been working on a green sweater that I found in a Vogue magazine that I really liked. I'm working pretty hard on it, except for the last two days. And it looks like I won't get much in the way of knitting done today, unless I travel somewhere to do it. Hubby has stated that I have to leave the house when his buddy arrives. I was told that I couldn't say anything--you all know how opinionated I am, right? Well, sometimes I get so worked up that I can't help but say something, and I'm not always very politically correct when I fly off the handle. So, in order to avoid a mess, hubby wants me "out of the way". You should have heard us last night...
"I need you to make yourself scarce tomorrow."
"Why?"
"Because I'm going to talk to my buddy."
"Oh, I see. You just don't want me to get in his face, am I right?"
That's sort of how the conversation went, and so I'm just going to pack up my knitting and go away for a while. Who knows. Maybe I'll end up in Florida. I bet it's warmer there.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Friday, November 23, 2012
Happy & Safe Black Friday!
Yes, friends, it's that time of year again, when people stand in lines all night so they can be first in line for the deals and steals on Black Friday, generally thought of as the single most profitable day for businesses--not to mention the the crowds who just come in normally on the day because there's nothing to do but eat leftovers at home.
Today, however, is my husband's family dinner. We planned it this way so that people who had to work on Thanksgiving could still come and have a nice, warm dinner and not have to brave the crowds in the mall. I am making meatballs, green bean casserole and some of those chicks in my last post. My husband is making baked beans.
The stuff for the meatballs is melting in the crock, and the eggs are on to boil. The meatballs are somewhat thawing on the stove. We're in business and it's only 8:45am! I call this my lean, mean, Thanksgiving machine.
If you don't believe me, take a look at this!
The monster has reared her ugly head. Food is a'cookin'!
Today, however, is my husband's family dinner. We planned it this way so that people who had to work on Thanksgiving could still come and have a nice, warm dinner and not have to brave the crowds in the mall. I am making meatballs, green bean casserole and some of those chicks in my last post. My husband is making baked beans.
The stuff for the meatballs is melting in the crock, and the eggs are on to boil. The meatballs are somewhat thawing on the stove. We're in business and it's only 8:45am! I call this my lean, mean, Thanksgiving machine.
If you don't believe me, take a look at this!
The monster has reared her ugly head. Food is a'cookin'!
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Oh, Google Changed the Interface Again!
I decided to post a blog today, being that it's Thanksgiving, to find that Blogger has changed it's interface again.
I'm not good with change, but I'll try and work with this, even though it's a little clunky.
But I was pondering on Thanksgiving a bit this morning. It's not about the bird, it's not even about the day, it's about family--getting together with the ones you love and care about, and helping them move into their new apartment...maybe in a little while. We'll know the answer to THAT one, when hubby's friend calls. Or perhaps I should say "if" hubby's friend calls, because I don't expect him to do that on Thanksgiving day. Our holiday will be celebrated on Black Friday. It will keep us away from the crowds at the store, and full parking lots and the lack of parking spaces, and the people who will fight you for that last bike. No, our holiday will be in the comfortable space of my mother-in-law's living room. We're having some of the old standbys--bird, stuffing, taters, gravy, sweet taters, biscuits, green bean casserole, baked beans; and some new favorites, jalapeno corn, meatballs in chili sauce, and pie.
Always pie.
I like pie.
So also, is my knitting day lined up for fun and frolic. I have a block to finish crocheting on, my sweater, and this little gem I bought yesterday.
Isn't that just something? Bought on impulse, but it looks SO FUN--and I can hardly wait to break it open and start with it. Then there's my weaving, which I can take today, too. There are lots of projects going on.
And Christmas is coming. As usual, I have just about everyone covered except my husband, who is so hard to buy for-- I considered this:
And this:
A video game for his xbox that he has played 6 times since he bought the original. This is the sequel, which of course, won't be quite AS good as the original, just like in most television shows. Still it's something that he's indicated an "interest" in, which is how I come up with Christmas presents for him.
And something to help keep his feet warm. If it weren't for the fact that he's usually sleeping in his easy chair with the footrest up..I would probably be okay getting him one of those things that rests on the floor and you just slip your feet in to warm them.
There's also recovering his easy chair--replacing all the foam rubber, and taking it right down to the studs. Sadly, this sounds more like a retirement idea, rather than something to do in a couple of weeks before Christmas. Having it done professionally would likely cost more than the chair itself. Clearly, I need to do some research. I have no idea how to re-upholster a "fluffy" chair, let alone think about the cost of same. So this one will sit on "hold" for a year or two while I figure out how I'm going to proceed.
He doesn't need any knitted things. That's a shame, really--even though I don't have time to whip something out for him. That's just a no-brainer. I also considered woolen underwear, but truth be known, really all he needs is a hat, and his feet would take care of themselves. But he's not much of a hat wearer, unless he's out in the cold blowing snow out of the driveway, and then he gets overheated and cold because he's sweating. Besides, I knit him a hat and he bought two more. Then I made him gloves, and he's still got them, to his credit. I made him socks, but he seldom wears them, saying they make his feet sweat. Well, alrighty then!
Nobody steals my ideas, okay!
But I was pondering on Thanksgiving a bit this morning. It's not about the bird, it's not even about the day, it's about family--getting together with the ones you love and care about, and helping them move into their new apartment...maybe in a little while. We'll know the answer to THAT one, when hubby's friend calls. Or perhaps I should say "if" hubby's friend calls, because I don't expect him to do that on Thanksgiving day. Our holiday will be celebrated on Black Friday. It will keep us away from the crowds at the store, and full parking lots and the lack of parking spaces, and the people who will fight you for that last bike. No, our holiday will be in the comfortable space of my mother-in-law's living room. We're having some of the old standbys--bird, stuffing, taters, gravy, sweet taters, biscuits, green bean casserole, baked beans; and some new favorites, jalapeno corn, meatballs in chili sauce, and pie.
Always pie.
I like pie.
So also, is my knitting day lined up for fun and frolic. I have a block to finish crocheting on, my sweater, and this little gem I bought yesterday.
Isn't that just something? Bought on impulse, but it looks SO FUN--and I can hardly wait to break it open and start with it. Then there's my weaving, which I can take today, too. There are lots of projects going on.
And Christmas is coming. As usual, I have just about everyone covered except my husband, who is so hard to buy for-- I considered this:
A video game for his xbox that he has played 6 times since he bought the original. This is the sequel, which of course, won't be quite AS good as the original, just like in most television shows. Still it's something that he's indicated an "interest" in, which is how I come up with Christmas presents for him.
And something to help keep his feet warm. If it weren't for the fact that he's usually sleeping in his easy chair with the footrest up..I would probably be okay getting him one of those things that rests on the floor and you just slip your feet in to warm them.
There's also recovering his easy chair--replacing all the foam rubber, and taking it right down to the studs. Sadly, this sounds more like a retirement idea, rather than something to do in a couple of weeks before Christmas. Having it done professionally would likely cost more than the chair itself. Clearly, I need to do some research. I have no idea how to re-upholster a "fluffy" chair, let alone think about the cost of same. So this one will sit on "hold" for a year or two while I figure out how I'm going to proceed.
He doesn't need any knitted things. That's a shame, really--even though I don't have time to whip something out for him. That's just a no-brainer. I also considered woolen underwear, but truth be known, really all he needs is a hat, and his feet would take care of themselves. But he's not much of a hat wearer, unless he's out in the cold blowing snow out of the driveway, and then he gets overheated and cold because he's sweating. Besides, I knit him a hat and he bought two more. Then I made him gloves, and he's still got them, to his credit. I made him socks, but he seldom wears them, saying they make his feet sweat. Well, alrighty then!
Nobody steals my ideas, okay!
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Cause & Effect
After finishing a bunch of "things"...
A pennant football illusion in University of Michigan colors.
Two scrunchies in Michigan State University Spartan colors.
And a scarf made out of chenille and fuzzy balls...
I finally got to start on my sweater.
I began with a tubular cast on, and then started my pattern. So far, it's working, and I'm on the row where there's a right twist--easy really, as I'm only in the lower band.
And it looks like fit isn't going to be any problem at all, which is great.
Obama won the election--which means his "Obamacare" is going to raise our deficit even more, and means more taxes on me, which means less takehome, and I've already lost $40 a payroll--which is a LOT for me. A whole week's worth of gasoline that I can't afford now.
I am NOT happy.
But I know who is.
And it just galls me to no end, that I have spent my life, working my buns off so that I can have a reasonable retirement, only to find out that it's going to be completely gone by the time I'm ready to retire. Because there is no way for the government to pay for Obamacare. The rich can just take their money out of the market and go wherever they want to go. THEY ARE, AFTER ALL, RICH--RIGHT?
And when they do that, the banks will fail and the market will drop like a freaking STONE. Perhaps not like in the depression, but slower--like a slow death. Horrible. Just horrible.
If I sound like a doomsday prophet, so be it. I just don't think I can put my hope and trust into someone who has already shown that he's an overspender, adding 16 trillion to the debt, and that's BEFORE Obamacare.
So BOHICA!
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Falling for Books
I know. I know. I haven't posted a lot lately.
I do have an excuse. Work is stressful, and hubby is still taking care of his mom, so things at home are stressful, too, and I'm not getting enough rest.
When I arrive home, I try to stick my feet up and watch a little television before heading for bed--or I might read a book--or I might do some knitting.
Lately, things just aren't suiting me. I feel quite out of place, and there is something going on with me that I can't quite understand.
I fell the other day and hit my ear crosswise on a bookcase, in case I didn't tell you, and while it didn't affect my hearing, there is a small scar that is bugging the stuffing out of me, even as I write this. The scab itches continually. Then this morning, after letting the dog out, I found myself staggering around like a drunken sailor--so I leaned up against the wall for a bit until most of the feeling passed, and then continued to the bathroom to look at myself. I looked fine, but getting to the bathroom was like walking on an ocean liner. The day I hurt my ear, the same "sensation" came over me.
So I've called the doctor, but I'm pretty sure she's just going to say "It's a symptom of your diabetes." or something like that. In other words, I'm going to feel stupid for the rest of my life--worried that at some point, I'm going to fall at the office, and they're just going to say "Go Home and Stay There", and I'll have to go on Long Term Disability, and then retire before I'm due.
And I keep thinking: And this is a "bad" thing? I'm a little headachey today, too. I don't think it's related to my fall on my ear, but who knows. Then I worry that doc is going to want an MRI...check my heart again. And I feel like I'm trying to swallow a quarter--the throat hurts from the coughing from the sinus infection. Then again, I might only have a bit of heartburn?
I don't recognise my own body anymore, or maybe it doesn't recognise me. My brain still thinks I can overcome anything. My body says "Hold it RIGHT THERE, Scumbag", and then says "Make my day."
So I leave you with a pic of the beginning of all this:
Pretty ugly, huh?
Friday, October 5, 2012
Fall Is Here!
I'm pretty sure that fall has finally arrived.
My first clue was that I nearly froze last night.
My second clue was waking with what appeared to be strep, but turns out o be sinus.
My third clue was going outside to find this:
If that isn't beautiful, I don't know what is.
I've got a sock on the needles. I'm past the heel turn.
It's a nice color way for JoAnn's Serenity yarn. My next pair will be made out of Red Heart's Stardust yarn. I can hardly wait to order it!
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
In Which We Kidnap My Mother In Law
The weekend was a bit of a blur, and I was quite busy the entire time, consequently, I am completely exhausted. And this hasn't abated whatsoever since it began!
Saturday, I was at JoAnn's all day--a Kid's knitting in the morning, demos in the afternoon, and a crochet class in the evening. By the time I got home, my dog was crossing her legs in the bathroom.
(No, she doesn't use my bathroom for that...but I think after being cooped up in there all day, she was probably wishing.)
Then on Sunday, my husband woke me up at 8 am (and I was so hoping for a sleep in!), and ordered me to get dressed.
"Why?"
"Because we're going to see my mother."
"Well, why do we have to go so early?"
Well, that didn't get answered. On the way, he told me his "plan". After having back surgery, his mother elected to be installed in a nursing home for her rehab, rather than inconvenience her local children. This was accomplished at 6pm on Saturday. He said,
"she called me this morning. The nurse has not been in to see her. They have not given her any medication for her pain, and she is in miserable pain--so we're taking her to the hospital."
"Oh. Okay."
Little did I know that the rest of his plan involved kidnapping his mother from the rehab facility without letting anybody know. We took her to Sparrow hospital, and they got her pain managed...in the meanwhile....
My hubby's sister had no idea that this was the "plan", so she went to the rehab facility, and found out that nobody knew where mom was. Jen found the nurse sleeping in the job, and found out that they did not have her medications--even though they had reported the night before that they DID have her meds. So his sister smoothed some feathers, and made phone calls and decided to make sure that somebody bought a ticket to the unemployment line. Then she called me on her mother's phone, and I told her where we were.
Who knew?
So then my step daughter called and wanted to know where we were, and when she got there, she was crying because no one knew where mom was! Finally, after working out all the paperwork, Jen arrived. We all stayed with mom, until she was able to ride again, and after 2 shots of Delauded, we got her in the car and headed to her house.
Once we got there, it was confusion after confusion, phone call after phone call, and never once did the rehab facility call us. We were busy until about 8, when I finally had a chance to sit down and ask my husband if he was going home with me. He didn't know until half hour later that he was going to stay, so at 8:30 pm, I headed for home.
Then Monday was BSF, and Tuesday was Knit Night, and tonight, I'm supposed to trek to mom's again to hand over the rest of the things that Jeff needs in order to survive and take care of his mother.
Needless to say, it's been a busy few days. I'm really ready for a rest. I'll be there in time for dinner.
Due to all the prayer and thoughts from friends and acquaintances alike, my mother in law is doing great, and she's incredibly happy to be home. She's sleeping better, and she's getting the rest she needs in order to heal up, and the healing up is taking less time than originally planned, because she's more comfortable and rested.
So that's about all. Sorry I don't have pictures, but trust me. Just like you don't want to ride an angry bull, you would not want to see my cross husband....ain't it the truth!
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
What the World Needs Now...
I just had to share this. So many of my friends have been suffering--for those who are, you need to know this:
I think that's all anybody needs--is to know that SOMEBODY cares.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Tuesday Tidbits
I'm at the office on my break. Today is Knit Knight, and I'm just a little excited about that--even though it's pouring down rain, and probably will do so off and on most of the day. I'm excited because I'm on the verge of finishing the poncho. The pieces are finished, I just have to do the finishing, and you ALL know how much I love finishing, right?
It's going to be a pretty thing. My worst fear is that it will be too small to go over my head. I suppose that I can add to the sides, but it just won't be the same. Plus, I need all the colorful yarn for the fringe, so it's likely if I do any "adding on" it will be in black only, which will break up the pattern and maybe make it look less "finished". It's hard to say, but I can't wear a poncho that's too small.
Now I could buy some more yarn. There's lots of it online, but I prefer to buy in the store. Thing is--I bought all the store had, and they haven't put up more.
How is it that this stuff seems to always happen to me?
As to the rain, they are saying it's part of Isaac, the storm that hit Louisiana and flooded it (again). Frankly, I thought it would get here WAY sooner than this, and when I saw the storms over the Northeast, I thought it had taken that left turn at Pokeepsi that Bugs was always talking about, and missed us...No such luck, I guess, but we need the rain. I can't complain about the rain.
Well, I suppose it's time to get back to it. More later, when I finish the poncho.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Another Hat
Here's another hat done for JoAnn's
The pattern is free and on the Red Heart website. The name of the hat is Vintage Cloche.
Happy crocheting!
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Taking It ALL In!
Well, today, my mother and son are coming over and we are going to the Hobby Lobby, and perhaps to JoAnn's where I have a couple of coupons...not that I plan to buy anything. I just have a few things to drop off.
I've been insanely busy this morning cleaning up. Wen my mother comes, I can still see the queer look in her eye when she walks in as if to say " don't you EVER run a sweeper in here?"
Sigh
So this morning, I burned the trash, picked up all of the plastic bags in the kitchen, put the groceries away, cleaned up around my chair, got the cross stitch stuff ready for my mom, put the stuff for JoAnn's in the car, swept and vacuumed the floors, cleaned the toilet and I restocked my pill box.
It took me 2 hours.
If I had another plastic tub, I could clear off the dining room table, and run all the stuff for downstairs, but I thought I'd wait for hubby to get up for all that. Besides, I need another tub.
The only bad thing about tubs is that you have to inventory, otherwise you don't know whaT you have. I have probably 60 tubs. Not one is inventoried.
The other side of the equation is that when you pop into your inventory, you might forget to update the tub, or you might add something there "on the fly" because you don't have time to inventory right at that very moment.
It's a vicious cycle, and one that I'm not looking forward to changing. But I really must if I'm to survive after retirement.
I also have 4 bags of clothing to go through. This might get done today, if I can get them all to the bedroom. So I ask my hubby to handle that part of it. He's balking, of course, until HE feels like doing it. Far be it for a man to take orders from a woman, right?
Oops! There's the tree guy. Hubby has him over to cut down the black walnut tree. Pretty soon we won't have any trees on our property, if my hubby has any say in it.
Bye tree.
Well, I think I might get back into busy mode and try to straighten up my dining room table. Maybe I'll pick up a plastic tub on my travels today...who knows what might happen?
Friday, August 31, 2012
Daily Doin's
Well, I suppose I should start this off by saying that I have a little 4-day vacation coming up....it starts in about an hour....Yes, I'm at the office, on my break, and I'm counting minutes.
Funny how that makes them go so much slower?
I had a surprise lunch party today with my best buddy, and we talked about the presidential race, which seems less of a race, and more of a paradox...You can't believe either side, to be honest. There is so much bad press on both.
And look who just walked in! One of our retirees! How nice to see her again!
After that, and a brownie, and my break is over. Time to "get back on the horse and ride".
Oh maybe I'll finish that hat...
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Daily Doin's
Well, I suppose I should start this off by saying that I have a little 4-day vacation coming up....it starts in about an hour....Yes, I'm at the office, on my break, and I'm counting minutes.
Funny how that makes them go so much slower?
I had a surprise lunch party today with my best buddy, and we talked about the presidential race, which seems less of a race, and more of a paradox...You can't believe either side, to be honest. There is so much bad press on both.
And look who just walked in! One of our retirees! How nice to see her again!
After that, and a brownie, and my break is over. Time to "get back on the horse and ride".
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Today's Doings
I am quite undone.
Anyone who follows me on Facebook knows what happened at my office. It's been a pretty hard day for everyone there. I'm dealing with it the same way I deal with everything. Work.
Work, work and more work.
Whatever I can do to help keep her job kept up, so that things don't get too far behind.
I'm feeling a little lost, and of course, when I feel that way, I turn to the yarn stores. They always have something to cause me happiness in one way or another. Today's giggle is this...
Well, it's not the skein that made me giggle...but it will do, and I can use it in some of my other projects...plus I can use it in tonight's class for Crochet 101, which is why there's a crochet hook in the foreground. The Coke is there for interest and keeping me awake.
Though I don't know how I could sleep.
The story was in the local paper, too. Apparently, her husband is simply hanging by a thread, and they don't expect him to recover. After all he's done, I wouldn't expect that he'd WANT to recover, but you never know about these things. I sure wouldn't want to have to live the rest of my life as a vegetable, with my only memory being the last thing I saw--
They say you can tell when a dying person is going to hell. Folks who die peacefully at ease with their lives on Earth are serene and willing to go. The others die trying to hold on to this world, and they are not blissful or serene.
I just hope my friend found her place in the sun. I truly do.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
This N That.
My mother is having what I can only term as "spells". She is "browning out", not fainting, but pretty close to it. This last "spell" was much more extended that the last 2, and it was scarier, at least for her. The doctors said she had a slight infection (for which they gave her some pennicillin), and that she was slightly dehydrated, for which they gave her saline.
She was home before 4 o'clock, and I kept a watch on her. She is slowing down significantly. The next time she has one of these spells, she's going to Sparrow or to Ann Arbor--they will find out what's wrong, because to me, it sounds more neurological. Frankly, I think that Pennock hospital is missing something.
So afterward, I went to knit night, and did some crocheting on the poncho. I have one "side" done, and have begun to start the other side. I may end up adding to it because I'm a big girl, as you are aware.
One of the knitters brought in a little joke, so I took a picture and uploaded it to facebook, and to here.
I just think this is funny. It's something that I would probably do....or simply think about doing.
In the meantime, I'm pretty exhausted. I stayed up to watch AGT, because my favorite singer, this Goth fellow who wears some crazy contacts and sings like a girl, but sings well enough to give me tingles---he is just that good. I'm going to see if I can find a pic of this guy and post here....
Now this guy can sing. Find him on YouTube--Andrew DeLeon. Terrific singer. And you wouldn't believe that he has never, with the exception of AGT, sang before any kind of audience. Live or otherwise, but only in front of the mirror in his bathroom.
Hard to believe, but seems to be true. He's my hope for the show.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Tidbits
Alright, I forgot to bring my crochet project in with me. So sue me!
My day is going along quite well. It's about 15 minutes until I can go to lunch, and this is pretty upsetting, really, because I can't afford to go to lunch.
All because I spent too much money at the Fiber Festival. I blame that, although there's more places where my money was spent. I suppose that I could spend the money I've been trying to save, but what would be fun about that?
There is nothing downtown that is dirt cheap anymore, and I'm fairly starving, so I'm not sure which way to go. Then too, my brain isn't working well, because it's starving.
Did I say I was starving?
Okay, so I can go, get my car and rush over to McDonald's and get something cheap there. To do that, I'll have to pass Wendy's. Do you know how hard it is to walk past Wendy's when you're hungry? It's darn near impossible!
Or I could head over to the pizza joint and have a piece of pizza. You know, the kind that they bake out of old pizza dough that's stretched a bit too thinly and has a taste of...oh, how to describe it...no taste? Cardboard? I think if I complained about it, they would do something about it...but I just really don't want pizza, to be honest.
So we're back to McDonald's.
But nah. Ended up having pizza cardboard.
Tonight, I'm dropping off some zucchini (yes, they are still breeding!) to a friend of mine, and she's going to give me some more magazines. They are fun to look through, and some even have projects in them that I'd like to make someday.
What am I saying? I already have enough "stuff" to last well into 2045, at which point, I will be just shy of my 100th birthday. You get the idea.
When I get home, I'll have something to eat, and then I'll get back on my poncho. I'll take a pic of my progress and upload it to my Ravelry account. I expect that it will go quickly. I just hope that I have enough yarn, and that my gauge doesn't end up so tight that I can't get the thing on my body! That would NOT be good.
So for now, finish getting some work done, and then take off.
I'm also thinking about taking off Friday, but I haven't firmed it up in my mind yet.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Saturday, August 18, 2012
I SCORED!
Well, Hubby and I drove down to the Allegan Fiber Festival. I like to have a "buddy" to go with, but none were available, so I asked hubby if he'd like to go, and initially, he said no, but when the day finally came, he relented.
I think it's because he thinks if he goes with me, I won't spend so much money, but he's been told not to say anything negative. :) It keeps life simple.
Anyway, I scored some of this, and I think it's just gorgeous and OH so soft alpaca and silk laceweight. I also love the color.
And I'm gonna make THIS with it.
Nuff said?
Friday, August 17, 2012
Let Me Catch You Up...
Well, I did it. I finally finished the afghan. The ruffles took longer than the whole afghan, but there it is.
And then, I moved on and worked on this, which turned out pretty cool, if I do say so myself. In a few words, you make a rectangle with Lion Brand Thick and Quick, then another, the same size. Add the handles, sew the sides, sew the bottom, and VOILA! Purse.
I did find putting the handles on to be a bit tedious, but the result is quite lovely!
Ok, the pic has to wait until the email comes in, because I didn't take the picture with the camera on my Ipad. I took it on my Android, and so have to email it to myself. Silly stuff really. Ah, there we go..
I'm pretty happy with this. There are people who want to take the class, too. I'm really sorry that I didn't finish it sooner, because it's a classy bag.
I've been watching pins on Pinterest, and repinning my heart out. Everyone has dishes that look so good, and crafts that make you say "Oh, my GOD, why didn't I think of that?" It's a pretty great place. The food's good. The ideas are spectacular. I can't get enough.
In the meanwhile I created several more scrunchies, and I've sold a few to friends. Then I have to make one in Spartan colors--maybe make it a trend class? It's in the works, anyway. Just have to make one up tonight and take it in Monday.
I have to decide what's for dinner, and stop in town to pick it up. I'm thinking that maybe Quizno's would be really good. I haven't been there in a long while. Maybe that's what I'll do. First I have to pick up chips and dip from Meijer's. Ah, the things I must go through.
Tomorrow is the Allegan Fiber Festival, and for sure and certain, I will be there or be square. I'll spend the entire day spinning with friends. It will be fun. I can hardly wait.
I'll try to take pictures, but you know how I am when I go places. I try to travel light, wherever I go, and that usually means no phone and no Ipad. It's busy, even when I do take my phone.
There was something else I wanted to tell you, but it's slipped my mind. If I think of it, I'll let you know.
Next project is a bottle green heavy sweater with lots of cables in it. It's in the Fall Vogue magazine. The yarn is at my knit night place, and I have the magazine on my Ipad. This means, all I have to do is get my needles and go, and I can get busy swatching. Can't wait, but I'll have to.
Have a nice weekend, everyone. Enjoy the beautiful weather.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
The Long and Short of It
I'm at the office, 5 minutes before a working lunch with the "Managers" for pizza.
My stomach is screaming "Pizza", but the only thing other people hear is a great growling from my section of the cubicle forest.
Soon, Friday will be here, and then Saturday, when I head over to the Detroit Highland Games for the day with my friend, Ray, where I'll mostly spin. I've considered taking my Ipad with me, so that I can read my book, too. But that's more likely not to happen.
My stomach is screaming "Pizza", but the only thing other people hear is a great growling from my section of the cubicle forest.
Soon, Friday will be here, and then Saturday, when I head over to the Detroit Highland Games for the day with my friend, Ray, where I'll mostly spin. I've considered taking my Ipad with me, so that I can read my book, too. But that's more likely not to happen.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Scary Obituary
"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from thebeginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:
From bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage."
The Obituary follows:
Born 1776, Died 2012
It doesn't hurt to read this several times.
Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law inSt. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerningthe last Presidential election:
Number of States won by: Obama: 19 McCain: 29
Square miles of land won by: Obama: 580,000 McCain: 2,427,000
Population of counties won by: Obama: 127 million McCain: 143 million
Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Obama: 13.2 McCain: 2.1
Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territoryMcCain won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizensof the country.
Obama territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in lowincome tenements and living off various forms of governmentwelfare..."
Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the
"complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition ofdemocracy, with some forty percent of the nation's populationalready having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.
If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty millioncriminal invaders called illegal's - and they vote - then we can saygoodbye to the USA in fewer than five years.
If you are in favor of this, then by all means, delete this message.
If you are not, then pass this along to help everyone realize just howmuch is at stake, knowing that apathy is the greatest danger to ourfreedom..
This is truly scary
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
From the Garden...
Our garden is really going bonkers since that last big rain we had, and I'd like to see a lot more of that rain (by the way, if you're reading this, God...) Look what my hubby missed from his collecting this morning...
You will note that it is missing it's dark green skin, and looks to be slightly salted. Why yes, I say...it's being eaten as I type this. Yum.
Hubby found two more zucchini in the garden today, and decided that he would make some zucchini bread. I sure hope he does something, because we are on a zucchini rampage in the garden. All of the squash are putting out flowers, and ...oh, wait for it. Yum.
The okra (that I won't touch with a silver fork) are about 3 feet high---that's just the plant. It hasn't put out any okra yet. Okra is funny. It grows straight up.
There's another cuke in the garden, but it's only half the size this one was. Yum.
I'm hunting down my zucchini recipes. Found a couple on Pinterest. I'm going to make zucchini patties and put them on toast with some marinara--or maybe some ranch dressing. That sort of sounds pretty good, actually--perhaps I'll try that. It's fun to eat stuff out of the garden!
We've got lots of green tomatoes. No red ones yet. Lots of green leaves to hold them up, though, and I'm looking forward to tomato sandwiches. Yum. Just a bite out in the garden right off the plant...just thinking about it makes me salivate.
The swiss chard is fine, and the potatoes are still underground, so I don't think we'll have trouble with them. It was a good plan not to plant corn this year. There hasn't been enough rain for the field corn, let alone sweet corn. I think it's a good idea that we're using wood pellets this year. We're hearing scary stories about corn going up 50% this last week...which makes it about $200 a ton. It's still a lot less than propane!
and, Yum.
mmffppqpotugha. Yes, and Yum.
Oh! I almost forgot! I found my wagon!
Okay, let me start at the beginning. In the summertime, I generally go to a variety of fairs and competitions for fiber and Scottish Highland Music. I bring along my spinning wheel for down times, when there's really not much else to look at or do. August is a hefty time, with a Scottish Festival on the 4th, a fiber festival on the 18th and another scottish festival on the 25th. Literally every weekend is busy with SOMETHING. There's also the Civil War Re-Enactment on the 26th. All of these, I attend and I take my wheel, a stool and some wool, and I demonstrate how things work for passersby.
Now, even though I own a portable spinning wheel, carrying all that gear can get really cumbersome, so I decided to start looking for a nice wagon. I've been looking around for a while and happened to pass by one at a garage sale. Hubby and I talked a bit about it, but I was a little too ready to get home and put up my feet, having trucked him around all morning. So we passed it up.
I started looking at Ebay and Amazon, and while they did have them, the shipping was just something else. So I tried Craigslist, and by golly, wouldn't you know, there was one on Craigslist this morning for only $50.
Still my beating (too fast) heart.
I called them. I emailed them. I left my phone # four different ways to Sunday, and finally at 4 in the afternoon, just as I was about to head out the door, my phone rang. It was him. I had almost lost it to another buyer, but he decided to pass it up the way I'd passed up the one on Saturday. Oh, yay! Oh YAY!
So I got in my car, and I headed to the seller's house (they were only 20 minutes from my work!). I purchased the wagon and took off with the biggest smile on my face!!! It's really a nice one--gently used, and still has the original shine on it. It has all-terrain wheels. It's big enough to carry my wheel, stool and lots of wool to keep me busy the entire month! I can even take stuff downstairs. I'm just beside myself with joy over this. And, in the spring, when the sticks have to be picked up, I can use it for that. Goodness knows that the wheelbarrow doesn't hold many sticks!
I'll have to get a picture tomorrow because the lighting isn't very good right now, but she's a pretty red wagon. I'm going to name her Tessie.
Yum. Last bite. Cucumber all gone. :(
It's so hot, that I finally put my hair in pony tails, and tied them up on top of my head. I feel better now. Must take care of the plate. Sad to see the cuke go, but it was SO good.
You will note that it is missing it's dark green skin, and looks to be slightly salted. Why yes, I say...it's being eaten as I type this. Yum.
Hubby found two more zucchini in the garden today, and decided that he would make some zucchini bread. I sure hope he does something, because we are on a zucchini rampage in the garden. All of the squash are putting out flowers, and ...oh, wait for it. Yum.
The okra (that I won't touch with a silver fork) are about 3 feet high---that's just the plant. It hasn't put out any okra yet. Okra is funny. It grows straight up.
There's another cuke in the garden, but it's only half the size this one was. Yum.
I'm hunting down my zucchini recipes. Found a couple on Pinterest. I'm going to make zucchini patties and put them on toast with some marinara--or maybe some ranch dressing. That sort of sounds pretty good, actually--perhaps I'll try that. It's fun to eat stuff out of the garden!
We've got lots of green tomatoes. No red ones yet. Lots of green leaves to hold them up, though, and I'm looking forward to tomato sandwiches. Yum. Just a bite out in the garden right off the plant...just thinking about it makes me salivate.
The swiss chard is fine, and the potatoes are still underground, so I don't think we'll have trouble with them. It was a good plan not to plant corn this year. There hasn't been enough rain for the field corn, let alone sweet corn. I think it's a good idea that we're using wood pellets this year. We're hearing scary stories about corn going up 50% this last week...which makes it about $200 a ton. It's still a lot less than propane!
and, Yum.
mmffppqpotugha. Yes, and Yum.
Oh! I almost forgot! I found my wagon!
Okay, let me start at the beginning. In the summertime, I generally go to a variety of fairs and competitions for fiber and Scottish Highland Music. I bring along my spinning wheel for down times, when there's really not much else to look at or do. August is a hefty time, with a Scottish Festival on the 4th, a fiber festival on the 18th and another scottish festival on the 25th. Literally every weekend is busy with SOMETHING. There's also the Civil War Re-Enactment on the 26th. All of these, I attend and I take my wheel, a stool and some wool, and I demonstrate how things work for passersby.
Now, even though I own a portable spinning wheel, carrying all that gear can get really cumbersome, so I decided to start looking for a nice wagon. I've been looking around for a while and happened to pass by one at a garage sale. Hubby and I talked a bit about it, but I was a little too ready to get home and put up my feet, having trucked him around all morning. So we passed it up.
I started looking at Ebay and Amazon, and while they did have them, the shipping was just something else. So I tried Craigslist, and by golly, wouldn't you know, there was one on Craigslist this morning for only $50.
Still my beating (too fast) heart.
I called them. I emailed them. I left my phone # four different ways to Sunday, and finally at 4 in the afternoon, just as I was about to head out the door, my phone rang. It was him. I had almost lost it to another buyer, but he decided to pass it up the way I'd passed up the one on Saturday. Oh, yay! Oh YAY!
So I got in my car, and I headed to the seller's house (they were only 20 minutes from my work!). I purchased the wagon and took off with the biggest smile on my face!!! It's really a nice one--gently used, and still has the original shine on it. It has all-terrain wheels. It's big enough to carry my wheel, stool and lots of wool to keep me busy the entire month! I can even take stuff downstairs. I'm just beside myself with joy over this. And, in the spring, when the sticks have to be picked up, I can use it for that. Goodness knows that the wheelbarrow doesn't hold many sticks!
I'll have to get a picture tomorrow because the lighting isn't very good right now, but she's a pretty red wagon. I'm going to name her Tessie.
Yum. Last bite. Cucumber all gone. :(
It's so hot, that I finally put my hair in pony tails, and tied them up on top of my head. I feel better now. Must take care of the plate. Sad to see the cuke go, but it was SO good.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Baby
She's really not much of a baby anymore. I'd say she's about 5 years old, and all of 5 or 6 feet.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
A Very Sad Day...
Jeff and I worked all day yesterday on the septic system. You might remember how I was complaining the other day, having to clean up another back up in the basement...Well Rothchild's determined that we had too many roots in the septic, and that it was clogging things....
And that means that my favorite tree had to go.
RIP..
sigh.
Goodbye.
And that means that my favorite tree had to go.
RIP..
sigh.
Goodbye.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
More Time in the John
It's what everyone wants, right?
Right now, hubby is showering, having had the entire upper half of his body inside the sewage tank.
Yummy, right?
We're putting in additives and trying to kill the roots inside the tank. Yes, I know it takes some time. I think hubby thought it would happen immediately. We've got a big plastic bag to put this stuff in. Only God knows where the baggie came from, but I think you could actually roll a body up inside it.
Not that you (or I) should worry, right?
And now he's talking about how next time, we're selling the house. The septic is FINE. It's just the previous owners (who shall remain nameless) grew a pine tree right next to it. Then there's a nice round maple tree about 8 feet away--maybe 10. It had grown a root the size of my wrist over the top of the front line...Hubby had to chop it out to be able to get to the front of the line.
And the tub doesn't drain well. Hair gets down in the "U". I have to treat that now and then. It takes a half bottle of Liquid Plumr.
And I, dutiful wife, Lysol mopped the floor, and sweat for the next hour, holding his legs down so he didn't fall head first into the septic tank while he pulled out roots.
Sounds like a lot of fun, huh?
So now, we're indoors, soaking up some air conditioning. I have no idea if hubby plans to go back out there, but I have my doubts. He might go out and set up our new sprinkler in the garden. Now that would be nice for the garden.
There apparently an aurora last night, but all I saw was in my dreams....
Right now, hubby is showering, having had the entire upper half of his body inside the sewage tank.
Yummy, right?
We're putting in additives and trying to kill the roots inside the tank. Yes, I know it takes some time. I think hubby thought it would happen immediately. We've got a big plastic bag to put this stuff in. Only God knows where the baggie came from, but I think you could actually roll a body up inside it.
Not that you (or I) should worry, right?
And now he's talking about how next time, we're selling the house. The septic is FINE. It's just the previous owners (who shall remain nameless) grew a pine tree right next to it. Then there's a nice round maple tree about 8 feet away--maybe 10. It had grown a root the size of my wrist over the top of the front line...Hubby had to chop it out to be able to get to the front of the line.
And the tub doesn't drain well. Hair gets down in the "U". I have to treat that now and then. It takes a half bottle of Liquid Plumr.
And I, dutiful wife, Lysol mopped the floor, and sweat for the next hour, holding his legs down so he didn't fall head first into the septic tank while he pulled out roots.
Sounds like a lot of fun, huh?
So now, we're indoors, soaking up some air conditioning. I have no idea if hubby plans to go back out there, but I have my doubts. He might go out and set up our new sprinkler in the garden. Now that would be nice for the garden.
There apparently an aurora last night, but all I saw was in my dreams....
Friday, July 13, 2012
We Are So Blessed!
Hubby called me today to let me know that the tree grew into our septic, and he had to clean it out today (He had Rothschild Sewage and Septic Sucking Services come--you may have seen them on the Red Green Show/Possum Lodge.) In any case, the Septic backed up in the downstairs when our electric went out. He tells me that there is two inches of sewage caked on the toilet and a broken cleanout valve.
He asked me to bring home a mop with a sponge head, some sponges, rubber gloves and clorox.
Honestly?
You want to use a SPONGE to clean all that up? Imagine the smell?
On second thought, don't imagine the smell. It's enough that there's a skunk that runs past our house every now and then at night. It makes my dog whine. It can and has wakened me from sound slumber.
But this? I have to get up close and personal with THIS?
We are so blessed.
He asked me to bring home a mop with a sponge head, some sponges, rubber gloves and clorox.
Honestly?
You want to use a SPONGE to clean all that up? Imagine the smell?
On second thought, don't imagine the smell. It's enough that there's a skunk that runs past our house every now and then at night. It makes my dog whine. It can and has wakened me from sound slumber.
But this? I have to get up close and personal with THIS?
We are so blessed.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
The Prisoner...
It's not a real feeling, mind you. I can leave if I want to leave. I just have no idea where I would go! I'm a prisoner of my bedroom. It's the only room in the house with air conditioning--
Well, I decided this morning to change that.
So now, I'm cooling the bathroom, too. The bathroom door is easier to open than the sliding pocket door, and makes much less noise and even closes faster!
Can you tell it's a slow news day?
Anyhow, yesterday was spent with my mother. I took her to her doctor appointment. Good news there--her hip hasn't shifted anymore than it did the last time he took a photo of her "innards", so she's babying that hip just fine now, and might actually start to heal. She doesn't have to see him again for a month. Then she had me take her to the DHS office in Ionia to find out about what she thought might be an overpayment. Turns out it's not, so she can go and buy some food! Then she decided that she wanted to hunt down a new chair--and since Jeff had offered up our little brown chair, she decided she wanted to see it. So we drove over to my house and she opted not to use her wheel chair, which was probably a bad idea, but she did it anyway and I followed with my hands under her arms more or less holding her up.
She tried the chair and likes it, even though it's a little low to the ground, but we can fix that. So sometime this weekend, we are going to take it to her house and raise it up a tad.
Then she decided she was hungry, so we went to the Chinese Buffet in Portland. Then I took her home and got settled. Then I took out the sewing machine and sewed the sleeves up on her shirts, and then I packed up and went home.
I got home at 4pm. Just in time to come home from work. Sorry, office. I figured I wouldn't make it in. When your mother asks you to do things when she's almost 78, you do them, and you don't ask why. But that was most of my day, yesterday, spent in the relative comfort of my car's air conditioning.
Today is Saturday. I could run in to JoAnn's and work on my ruffle for my blanket. I only have one more ruffle to go--or I could work on the cabled bag class. I think that's going to work up pretty quickly.
Or I could clean house. Which reminds me of the young girl on the commercial who pesters her parents to get on Facebook, and how they have 19 friends (SO SAD!). She has 600+ friends, and how she thinks it's living, while her parents are out at a campground, sitting around a fire, roasting marshmallows with real live people. Now, which one do you think I'd rather do?
Well, considering the heat--and the comparative coolness of the bedroom/bath, I think I'd rather be a prisoner and chatter with friends on Facebook at the moment...since I don't prefer the heat of the rest of the house, which is oppressive, and it's only 86!! So, it's a boring news day. And I'm behind a whole day at the office. Sigh. Someday I will learn priorities.
Well, I decided this morning to change that.
So now, I'm cooling the bathroom, too. The bathroom door is easier to open than the sliding pocket door, and makes much less noise and even closes faster!
Can you tell it's a slow news day?
Anyhow, yesterday was spent with my mother. I took her to her doctor appointment. Good news there--her hip hasn't shifted anymore than it did the last time he took a photo of her "innards", so she's babying that hip just fine now, and might actually start to heal. She doesn't have to see him again for a month. Then she had me take her to the DHS office in Ionia to find out about what she thought might be an overpayment. Turns out it's not, so she can go and buy some food! Then she decided that she wanted to hunt down a new chair--and since Jeff had offered up our little brown chair, she decided she wanted to see it. So we drove over to my house and she opted not to use her wheel chair, which was probably a bad idea, but she did it anyway and I followed with my hands under her arms more or less holding her up.
She tried the chair and likes it, even though it's a little low to the ground, but we can fix that. So sometime this weekend, we are going to take it to her house and raise it up a tad.
Then she decided she was hungry, so we went to the Chinese Buffet in Portland. Then I took her home and got settled. Then I took out the sewing machine and sewed the sleeves up on her shirts, and then I packed up and went home.
I got home at 4pm. Just in time to come home from work. Sorry, office. I figured I wouldn't make it in. When your mother asks you to do things when she's almost 78, you do them, and you don't ask why. But that was most of my day, yesterday, spent in the relative comfort of my car's air conditioning.
Today is Saturday. I could run in to JoAnn's and work on my ruffle for my blanket. I only have one more ruffle to go--or I could work on the cabled bag class. I think that's going to work up pretty quickly.
Or I could clean house. Which reminds me of the young girl on the commercial who pesters her parents to get on Facebook, and how they have 19 friends (SO SAD!). She has 600+ friends, and how she thinks it's living, while her parents are out at a campground, sitting around a fire, roasting marshmallows with real live people. Now, which one do you think I'd rather do?
Well, considering the heat--and the comparative coolness of the bedroom/bath, I think I'd rather be a prisoner and chatter with friends on Facebook at the moment...since I don't prefer the heat of the rest of the house, which is oppressive, and it's only 86!! So, it's a boring news day. And I'm behind a whole day at the office. Sigh. Someday I will learn priorities.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Scrunchie, A Go-Go
The folks at the office think I've lost my mind.
In an effort to keep my long, long hair from wilting me into a puddle of sweat at my shoes, I've elected to wear my hair in pigtails, using my scrunchies.
I've been hearing a few snickers as I pass by, but I just tell myself that I don't care. I'm COOL!
I haven't quite got an unlimited supply of these. At present, there are only two pair. These and the multicolored ones that look like fireworks, which is fortunate that today is July 4--I can wear them and not get snickers. Maybe. I'm working on another pair of green and white for samples for JoAnn's for a trend class. While the two colored are slightly more difficult, they are not impossible. Still, using multi colored yarn makes for an easier to execute a crochet scrunchie. I'm working on building a pattern for these, which is difficult for me to figure out the words to use, let alone show. Expert crocheters would figure it out in no time. You just carry the yarn in back and switch back and forth. It's not impossible. But the yarn "carried" tends to hide the back loop of the single crochet, so you just use the loop of "carried yarn" instead. No biggie. And for those of you who can figure out what I just said--more power to ya. Make all the two color scrunchies you like in school colors or whatnot. Green and White happens to be the colors of the local college, and I think they'll go over like CRAZY come fall.
The bad part about my scrunchies is that my dog, Mandy, thinks them an endless supply of incredible fun, and I've found one of the multicolored scrunchies on the floor, covered in dog spit. Ick. No way I'm putting it in my hair until it's had a good wash in the laundry. So it will be a while before I can wear them, and it's possible they won't be dry by the time it's time for fireworks tonight...if we have any.
Lots of places have cancelled or postponed fireworks due to the hot, hot, hot weather with no rain in sight for the next 40 days and 40 nights. The lack of rain is positively revelationary. Notice I didn't type revolutionary. I realize it's not a real word, but just a mash-up to use instead of Biblical, since people tend to frown on that word a lot these days. Frankly, I don't appreciate being frowned upon.
Good things may be happening at the office, and I'm looking forward to some possible changes. The person who relegated me to idiot work has transferred, leaving a wake of suspicion between all of our friends and co-workers. It's been discovered that she was pretty mean (and that's being KIND), and caused all sorts of difficulty, not only for ME, but for EVERYONE, and it would appear that most of us are happy about her absence. I determined that she didn't like me pretty much right away, and so I did my best to steer clear of her, but I was a constant source of her chatter with others. She told my co-worker, who is one of my friends, to unfriend me on Facebook, and then told her that the people she thought were her friends, weren't.
That's pretty harsh, yes?
The discussion of her behavior at recent meetings has revealed her to be a troublemaker, because she turned everyone against each other. Not one of us was happy, but we all put these little fake smiles on as she passed by, ignorant of our feelings toward her. Still, we couldn't discuss her while she was there--because her long arm of the law was, in a word, fearsome. She shook things up that she didn't understand and left us all angry at each other. She was NOT a good fit. I'm really trying to be nice here. Her predecessor was no less unkind to me, since when she transferred out, she told everyone that I was the "black hole" into which cases were disappearing.
It was her final act of defiance against me. Everyone else knew who the black hole really was. But there was no time to pat Tenna on the back and say, "There, there." Since right after that attack, Attila moved in. Notice that I'm not defaming the Hun's when I name her? Yeah, that's kind of how I feel about the whole mess.
But now, we seem to have a much nicer manager. We don't have to sign in and out anymore, and people are being allowed to have flex time, as long as their work gets done, and so far, things have been MUCH more relaxed and most of the stress is gone. Now if we could just get more staff to help take care of the stress of too much work--then we'd be good to go.
But such is the life of a public employee, I suppose. Perhaps now, people will realize the sort of asset they have in my experience and work ethic. I'm hoping for the best of course (promotion), but it's a little too soon to tell.
Hubby has a new job. So far, he's not feeling very confident in his ability. I have to keep telling him not to be so hard on himself. It is, after all, only his first week! Apparently, he got some things worked out yesterday, and he was able to get some things done. Now all we have to hope for is that the company doesn't go under like so many small business manufacturing jobs have over the last 20 years or so. The new job means that I'm taking my mother to her doctor's appointment on Friday. That's not a complaint, by the way--even though it sounds something like a complaint, I guess. I'm really not that sort of person, I just say things the way I say them because it's short and sweet and to the point. I'm like that most of the time. Don't bother me with that politically correct stuff. You can say &^%$*%(__&^%#@ to me or at me if you want. I have pretty thick skin...I'll just climb in my car and yell to the hood the same thing about you. I'm funny that way, I guess. But Hubby has this new job, so he's not really "around" for me to cry on his shoulder. Plus, he sort of needs me to be the strong one for a little while, taking care of matters that MUST be done. Such as the dishes, which he told me I should do this morning, which I didn't in favor of writing you a blog.
And now it's 84 outside and we don't have central air. So I'm staying here, at my computer, where there is a window air conditioner. It's about the only place in the house where I can still breathe. Take that, you nasty hot weather.
And whatever happened to my 70 degrees year 'round? Well, maybe God's working on that, but for whatever reason, the sun isn't cooperating? One never understands these things, but the corn is crinkling, and if we don't get rain soon, there will be no corn crop. Things must be done about this lack of rain stuff.
Well, enough, I suppose. Don't mean to bore you. Lastly, a pic of my stash of scrunchies...while a little dust fleck flies across my computer screen.
In an effort to keep my long, long hair from wilting me into a puddle of sweat at my shoes, I've elected to wear my hair in pigtails, using my scrunchies.
I've been hearing a few snickers as I pass by, but I just tell myself that I don't care. I'm COOL!
I haven't quite got an unlimited supply of these. At present, there are only two pair. These and the multicolored ones that look like fireworks, which is fortunate that today is July 4--I can wear them and not get snickers. Maybe. I'm working on another pair of green and white for samples for JoAnn's for a trend class. While the two colored are slightly more difficult, they are not impossible. Still, using multi colored yarn makes for an easier to execute a crochet scrunchie. I'm working on building a pattern for these, which is difficult for me to figure out the words to use, let alone show. Expert crocheters would figure it out in no time. You just carry the yarn in back and switch back and forth. It's not impossible. But the yarn "carried" tends to hide the back loop of the single crochet, so you just use the loop of "carried yarn" instead. No biggie. And for those of you who can figure out what I just said--more power to ya. Make all the two color scrunchies you like in school colors or whatnot. Green and White happens to be the colors of the local college, and I think they'll go over like CRAZY come fall.
The bad part about my scrunchies is that my dog, Mandy, thinks them an endless supply of incredible fun, and I've found one of the multicolored scrunchies on the floor, covered in dog spit. Ick. No way I'm putting it in my hair until it's had a good wash in the laundry. So it will be a while before I can wear them, and it's possible they won't be dry by the time it's time for fireworks tonight...if we have any.
Lots of places have cancelled or postponed fireworks due to the hot, hot, hot weather with no rain in sight for the next 40 days and 40 nights. The lack of rain is positively revelationary. Notice I didn't type revolutionary. I realize it's not a real word, but just a mash-up to use instead of Biblical, since people tend to frown on that word a lot these days. Frankly, I don't appreciate being frowned upon.
Good things may be happening at the office, and I'm looking forward to some possible changes. The person who relegated me to idiot work has transferred, leaving a wake of suspicion between all of our friends and co-workers. It's been discovered that she was pretty mean (and that's being KIND), and caused all sorts of difficulty, not only for ME, but for EVERYONE, and it would appear that most of us are happy about her absence. I determined that she didn't like me pretty much right away, and so I did my best to steer clear of her, but I was a constant source of her chatter with others. She told my co-worker, who is one of my friends, to unfriend me on Facebook, and then told her that the people she thought were her friends, weren't.
That's pretty harsh, yes?
The discussion of her behavior at recent meetings has revealed her to be a troublemaker, because she turned everyone against each other. Not one of us was happy, but we all put these little fake smiles on as she passed by, ignorant of our feelings toward her. Still, we couldn't discuss her while she was there--because her long arm of the law was, in a word, fearsome. She shook things up that she didn't understand and left us all angry at each other. She was NOT a good fit. I'm really trying to be nice here. Her predecessor was no less unkind to me, since when she transferred out, she told everyone that I was the "black hole" into which cases were disappearing.
It was her final act of defiance against me. Everyone else knew who the black hole really was. But there was no time to pat Tenna on the back and say, "There, there." Since right after that attack, Attila moved in. Notice that I'm not defaming the Hun's when I name her? Yeah, that's kind of how I feel about the whole mess.
But now, we seem to have a much nicer manager. We don't have to sign in and out anymore, and people are being allowed to have flex time, as long as their work gets done, and so far, things have been MUCH more relaxed and most of the stress is gone. Now if we could just get more staff to help take care of the stress of too much work--then we'd be good to go.
But such is the life of a public employee, I suppose. Perhaps now, people will realize the sort of asset they have in my experience and work ethic. I'm hoping for the best of course (promotion), but it's a little too soon to tell.
Hubby has a new job. So far, he's not feeling very confident in his ability. I have to keep telling him not to be so hard on himself. It is, after all, only his first week! Apparently, he got some things worked out yesterday, and he was able to get some things done. Now all we have to hope for is that the company doesn't go under like so many small business manufacturing jobs have over the last 20 years or so. The new job means that I'm taking my mother to her doctor's appointment on Friday. That's not a complaint, by the way--even though it sounds something like a complaint, I guess. I'm really not that sort of person, I just say things the way I say them because it's short and sweet and to the point. I'm like that most of the time. Don't bother me with that politically correct stuff. You can say &^%$*%(__&^%#@ to me or at me if you want. I have pretty thick skin...I'll just climb in my car and yell to the hood the same thing about you. I'm funny that way, I guess. But Hubby has this new job, so he's not really "around" for me to cry on his shoulder. Plus, he sort of needs me to be the strong one for a little while, taking care of matters that MUST be done. Such as the dishes, which he told me I should do this morning, which I didn't in favor of writing you a blog.
And now it's 84 outside and we don't have central air. So I'm staying here, at my computer, where there is a window air conditioner. It's about the only place in the house where I can still breathe. Take that, you nasty hot weather.
And whatever happened to my 70 degrees year 'round? Well, maybe God's working on that, but for whatever reason, the sun isn't cooperating? One never understands these things, but the corn is crinkling, and if we don't get rain soon, there will be no corn crop. Things must be done about this lack of rain stuff.
Well, enough, I suppose. Don't mean to bore you. Lastly, a pic of my stash of scrunchies...while a little dust fleck flies across my computer screen.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Erring On The Side of Caution...
So very sorry for the lapse in posting (or should I say "lapses"). I do have a valid excuse.
My mother fell a week ago, and broke her hip. Now, we are just waiting to see what happens. The orthopedic doctor/surgeon, whatever the heck he is, has taken x-rays after a two week hiatus, and the prognosis is not the best.
He explained that my mother's hip is not healing on its own, in fact, the fracture now has "space" between it, which means it's getting worse (likely due to the fact that the woman just will not lie still!), and if she doesn't lie still for a while, it will ultimately require a hip replacement.
Not a really good idea for a lady of, um, how do I say this delicately? her age.
So we have her on calcium and Vitamin D, plus a multivitamin, plus her high blood pressure medication. She's grousing about the idea that she's never taken this many BIG PILLS in her entire life. I know what she's talking about. I take the same stuff (except for blood pressure).
So, there's a wait now for another couple of weeks to see if things get "resolved". In her case, this means that things start working the way they should and the bones knit themselves together. I'm a good knitter, but I ain't that good. So I bought her cross stitch instead.
So two weeks from now, I find out if my mother is going into surgery. I'm on pins and needles.
But I did complete a couple of hair scrunchies for one of my co-workers. She's going to present them to a niece for her birthday.
In the meanwhile, I doubt if I'll get a lot of knitting done until these two weeks are over. I'm simply a nervous wreck. It's probably best that I just stay home.
My mother fell a week ago, and broke her hip. Now, we are just waiting to see what happens. The orthopedic doctor/surgeon, whatever the heck he is, has taken x-rays after a two week hiatus, and the prognosis is not the best.
He explained that my mother's hip is not healing on its own, in fact, the fracture now has "space" between it, which means it's getting worse (likely due to the fact that the woman just will not lie still!), and if she doesn't lie still for a while, it will ultimately require a hip replacement.
Not a really good idea for a lady of, um, how do I say this delicately? her age.
So we have her on calcium and Vitamin D, plus a multivitamin, plus her high blood pressure medication. She's grousing about the idea that she's never taken this many BIG PILLS in her entire life. I know what she's talking about. I take the same stuff (except for blood pressure).
So, there's a wait now for another couple of weeks to see if things get "resolved". In her case, this means that things start working the way they should and the bones knit themselves together. I'm a good knitter, but I ain't that good. So I bought her cross stitch instead.
So two weeks from now, I find out if my mother is going into surgery. I'm on pins and needles.
But I did complete a couple of hair scrunchies for one of my co-workers. She's going to present them to a niece for her birthday.
In the meanwhile, I doubt if I'll get a lot of knitting done until these two weeks are over. I'm simply a nervous wreck. It's probably best that I just stay home.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
In Which I Become Computer Savvy..
Yesterday, I found out that I am a guru (computer-wise) according to one of my friends. I have been working with her on and about her computer. She was having trouble with IE8 and her comcast account. She couldn't read her email.
Well, I fixed that, and then I installed a different browser and a couple of other programs so that I can work on her computer from home. Then we watched "Thor" via Netflix on her computer screen. The computer screen didn't have a fast enough refresh rate, and so she copied the name of the movie down to download it to her television.
That guy that plays Thor is a cute little biscuit....
Once the movie was over, I went home. I was a tired little puppy, but I ate something, took my pills and went to bed and watched a little television. I was falling asleep before I finally realized that I needed to get some sleep or I would be worth a big, fat zero at the office in the morning.
So now, it's work time, and I'm feeling like a big, fat zero. I always have trouble keeping focus on projects that bore me--that goes for knitting, too. And I LOVE knitting. So you know it's got to be the job.
And I'm looking again for something else to keep me activated mentally and psychologically.
A friend of mine is ignoring me, or else he lost his phone. I'm somewhat concerned about that. I'll send him an email today. Perhaps he'll answer, perhaps not. We shall see.
I'm going to take care of it right now, while I'm still thinking about it. So, I'll likely see you later. Have a nice day!
Well, I fixed that, and then I installed a different browser and a couple of other programs so that I can work on her computer from home. Then we watched "Thor" via Netflix on her computer screen. The computer screen didn't have a fast enough refresh rate, and so she copied the name of the movie down to download it to her television.
That guy that plays Thor is a cute little biscuit....
Once the movie was over, I went home. I was a tired little puppy, but I ate something, took my pills and went to bed and watched a little television. I was falling asleep before I finally realized that I needed to get some sleep or I would be worth a big, fat zero at the office in the morning.
So now, it's work time, and I'm feeling like a big, fat zero. I always have trouble keeping focus on projects that bore me--that goes for knitting, too. And I LOVE knitting. So you know it's got to be the job.
And I'm looking again for something else to keep me activated mentally and psychologically.
A friend of mine is ignoring me, or else he lost his phone. I'm somewhat concerned about that. I'll send him an email today. Perhaps he'll answer, perhaps not. We shall see.
I'm going to take care of it right now, while I'm still thinking about it. So, I'll likely see you later. Have a nice day!
Saturday, June 16, 2012
And Away She Goes
Just a quick post about a process shawl. Don't need another one, but the pattern was so pretty. Just one row to memorize.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
It's Sunday....
That's right, it's Sunday. I have just one day left of my weekend. I'm not sure how I want to spend it. Hubby is still in bed. We had a moderately busy day at his mom's yesterday, and today just seems like it should be a day of rest. But in a few hours, I'll be at JoAnn's helping out a person having trouble with an afghan--I think crochet. That will take about an hour, I expect. After that, I think my day is quite open, and I've been thinking about staying home and relaxing.
I had wanted to run up to Clare and Farwell to check out a store called "Elm Creek", but because it isn't Saturday anymore, I think that it's probably too late to try. Reason being that most of the "up north" towns roll up the sidewalks on Sunday to go to church, sit down and read the paper.
Speaking of the paper, and digressing totally from that, yesterday, there was a horrible accident on the freeway, and we had to take a byway to avoid it. The police still had it closed off hours later...so I'm heading over to the Lansing State Journal to see if it made front page or not.
Ya'll have a good Sunday.
I had wanted to run up to Clare and Farwell to check out a store called "Elm Creek", but because it isn't Saturday anymore, I think that it's probably too late to try. Reason being that most of the "up north" towns roll up the sidewalks on Sunday to go to church, sit down and read the paper.
Speaking of the paper, and digressing totally from that, yesterday, there was a horrible accident on the freeway, and we had to take a byway to avoid it. The police still had it closed off hours later...so I'm heading over to the Lansing State Journal to see if it made front page or not.
Ya'll have a good Sunday.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
I Can't Believe It!
I am typing this on my old laptop.
You're looking at me like I'm an idiot. Why would I want to work on a much slower machine to do my blog, when a much faster machine is just two steps away?
Well, let me tell you what. The big machine is great, and all that, but sometimes, I like to watch television while I fiddle on the internet. So at this moment, I'm sweating--literally dripping in the living room, watching the old-tyme music from the 50's on channel 23 (PBS) doing a pledge drive.
I just love public tv. My husband isn't fond of the pledge drives at all, but I think they're great.
So for now, I'm going to run and find my glasses, while I listen to the rhythm of the falling rain....lalala.
You're looking at me like I'm an idiot. Why would I want to work on a much slower machine to do my blog, when a much faster machine is just two steps away?
Well, let me tell you what. The big machine is great, and all that, but sometimes, I like to watch television while I fiddle on the internet. So at this moment, I'm sweating--literally dripping in the living room, watching the old-tyme music from the 50's on channel 23 (PBS) doing a pledge drive.
I just love public tv. My husband isn't fond of the pledge drives at all, but I think they're great.
So for now, I'm going to run and find my glasses, while I listen to the rhythm of the falling rain....lalala.
Friday, June 8, 2012
All Day Long
And I do mean, L-O-N-G. But it was, all in all, a really fun day for a Friday.
Did I say it was a Friday?
Anyway, one boss needed an adjustment to a spreadsheet he was doing. I just told him to send it to me, and I'd fix it. Ten minutes later, it was done and on his desktop, and he was in LOVE.
Not with me--the spreadsheet.
Then, another boss comes to me asking for advice on the template for some circular labels she wanted made for her daughter's wedding. I spent about 20 minutes on that, and got it ready for printing. She's going to bring in the rest of them for printing on Monday. She's simply amazed, because her husband spent quite a bit of time on it, and wasn't quite able to figure it out. To be honest, it took me some time, too, because the template doesn't match up with the printing somehow, and I had to do some adjustments to the template. Otherwise things worked out GREAT.
Later in the day, I queried google about an issue that I came across trying to send an embedded picture in an email, and it was just plain giving me fits. I knew it had to be in settings, but I wasn't sure WHERE. So I searched "emailing pictures embedded in gmail", and it came back with the "how to's" I needed to complete the job. Sure wish I'd thought of it two days ago before I sent the email out to 50 people. But there you go. The next newsletter will have pictures in it. YAY TEAM!
We had 4 new people coming into the office, and one leaving for a new job in a different area, and I created a banner and some name plaques for all. Afterwards, I took my lunch and dropped into JoAnn's to get a friend to assist me with a cute border. Then, with all the scraps from the paper, I made flowers to put on the name plaques. Then others brought in cupcakes and muffins and cookies (chocolate chip, my personal favorite), and we had a little party.
It was sort of weird about the banner. The person who was leaving our office, the banner said "CYA", which is shorthand/texting for See Ya! Almost NO ONE got that. Most thought it was some sort of code. The head boss thought it meant "Cover Your A$$". Well, everyone who knows me, knows I'm not like that--I spent more time explaining what it meant. I guess this means I've been chatting on the internet for far too long.
Later on, I finally did get in some real office work, but after all the successes today, it was REALLY hard to focus on boring things. I was happy for the occasional interruption from the telephone! Something I almost dread most times.
Today was surely different.
Did I say it was a Friday?
Anyway, one boss needed an adjustment to a spreadsheet he was doing. I just told him to send it to me, and I'd fix it. Ten minutes later, it was done and on his desktop, and he was in LOVE.
Not with me--the spreadsheet.
Then, another boss comes to me asking for advice on the template for some circular labels she wanted made for her daughter's wedding. I spent about 20 minutes on that, and got it ready for printing. She's going to bring in the rest of them for printing on Monday. She's simply amazed, because her husband spent quite a bit of time on it, and wasn't quite able to figure it out. To be honest, it took me some time, too, because the template doesn't match up with the printing somehow, and I had to do some adjustments to the template. Otherwise things worked out GREAT.
Later in the day, I queried google about an issue that I came across trying to send an embedded picture in an email, and it was just plain giving me fits. I knew it had to be in settings, but I wasn't sure WHERE. So I searched "emailing pictures embedded in gmail", and it came back with the "how to's" I needed to complete the job. Sure wish I'd thought of it two days ago before I sent the email out to 50 people. But there you go. The next newsletter will have pictures in it. YAY TEAM!
We had 4 new people coming into the office, and one leaving for a new job in a different area, and I created a banner and some name plaques for all. Afterwards, I took my lunch and dropped into JoAnn's to get a friend to assist me with a cute border. Then, with all the scraps from the paper, I made flowers to put on the name plaques. Then others brought in cupcakes and muffins and cookies (chocolate chip, my personal favorite), and we had a little party.
It was sort of weird about the banner. The person who was leaving our office, the banner said "CYA", which is shorthand/texting for See Ya! Almost NO ONE got that. Most thought it was some sort of code. The head boss thought it meant "Cover Your A$$". Well, everyone who knows me, knows I'm not like that--I spent more time explaining what it meant. I guess this means I've been chatting on the internet for far too long.
Later on, I finally did get in some real office work, but after all the successes today, it was REALLY hard to focus on boring things. I was happy for the occasional interruption from the telephone! Something I almost dread most times.
Today was surely different.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Hail in Denver, Colorado
I'm not much for watching the weather around HERE, let alone in a city I haven't seen for darn near 40 years, but this just simply takes the cake. Big storm in Denver, Colorado leaves the city blanketed with hail up to the roofs of the cars.
Now that's a lot of hail overnight. They were saying most of the hail was golfball sized and that it was so deep it was still around on THURSDAY morning!
The storm spawned several tornados, and a good amount of rain, too.
So you know that when I was driving home, I was watching those rain clouds. Oh, yes indeedy!
Beyond that, not much going on.
I did get my book, Jean Greenhowe's MacScarecrow Clan. Don't worry, I'm just stretching my knitting muscles. There's a pic on Ravelry of Uncle Angus--who plays the bagpipe, you know. He's quite the hairy fellow. He's got wild haggis on the ground all around him. I can barely wait to get started on the whole family!
I'm still working on the last round of the first ruffle. Oh, I must tell you. I am about done with this throw! It takes all day to get around it! I really don't have that much more to finish on it, but it just takes so dingable long to get around it that I lose interest (long time ago), set it down and pick up something else, equally boring. A Chevron Scarf. As if I don't have enough scarves...there are only 2 rows. The wrong side is purled, with 5 garter sts fore and aft. The right side has a little interest with some decreases and an increase to make the hills and valleys, but after about the first two rows, you've just really done it. Maybe I'll work on the picot on the ruffle tonight?
It would be nice to put a progress pic on here at some point, don't you think?
Now that's a lot of hail overnight. They were saying most of the hail was golfball sized and that it was so deep it was still around on THURSDAY morning!
The storm spawned several tornados, and a good amount of rain, too.
So you know that when I was driving home, I was watching those rain clouds. Oh, yes indeedy!
Beyond that, not much going on.
I did get my book, Jean Greenhowe's MacScarecrow Clan. Don't worry, I'm just stretching my knitting muscles. There's a pic on Ravelry of Uncle Angus--who plays the bagpipe, you know. He's quite the hairy fellow. He's got wild haggis on the ground all around him. I can barely wait to get started on the whole family!
I'm still working on the last round of the first ruffle. Oh, I must tell you. I am about done with this throw! It takes all day to get around it! I really don't have that much more to finish on it, but it just takes so dingable long to get around it that I lose interest (long time ago), set it down and pick up something else, equally boring. A Chevron Scarf. As if I don't have enough scarves...there are only 2 rows. The wrong side is purled, with 5 garter sts fore and aft. The right side has a little interest with some decreases and an increase to make the hills and valleys, but after about the first two rows, you've just really done it. Maybe I'll work on the picot on the ruffle tonight?
It would be nice to put a progress pic on here at some point, don't you think?
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
I Was Thinking About Doing Something...
Posting another blog entry, and then I remembered. Oh. I have to make a new hyperlink to get you to the Scrunchie pattern (always free), and that took a little time, because I had trouble remembering how to finagle it.
Well, trust the web to remind, and it's now safely ensconced in the sidebar...over there ---->
If you click on the word "scrunchie", it will link you to the post ONLY about the scrunchie, which was why you were here in the first place, huh? :)
It's been a very eventful day. I got lots done at the office. I made somebody happy and I introduced a friend to a guy who sings and sounds just like Freddie Mercury. Yes, he's on YouTube. You can search on your own. He's very well known, I guess.
Then I purchased Gorilla Glue, a wooden clock face, some flowers, and then I came home. So now it's time to blog, and I can't think of anything to write about, other than the governor in Wisconsin trying to bust the unions. If he succeeds, the fire will spread, and we're all worried about it.
I'm worried because most people don't like me much--it's not that I don't have friends. I do have friends, but they aren't DEEP relationships whatever. If it came to whether to keep me or the gal who doesn't do the job quite as well, but is friendly all the time and smiley here and there, I'd probably lose. I'm something of a rebel. I don't believe in spending more money than I have, and I don't believe the government should spend more than it has. But it should give me my just due, and what it promised me many years ago.
And right now, it smells like doggie doo in my bedroom. Maybe it's the cat?
HA! Classic dog joke.
Anyway, it's supposed to rain tonight. I need to get those flowers in the ground. I've got to shower, and I've got to make something to eat. Let's face it. I have no time tonight to do much more of anything, since it's nearly 7 o'clock already! So you guys all have a good time. I'll just run and take care of those plants...tomorrow.
Well, trust the web to remind, and it's now safely ensconced in the sidebar...over there ---->
If you click on the word "scrunchie", it will link you to the post ONLY about the scrunchie, which was why you were here in the first place, huh? :)
It's been a very eventful day. I got lots done at the office. I made somebody happy and I introduced a friend to a guy who sings and sounds just like Freddie Mercury. Yes, he's on YouTube. You can search on your own. He's very well known, I guess.
Then I purchased Gorilla Glue, a wooden clock face, some flowers, and then I came home. So now it's time to blog, and I can't think of anything to write about, other than the governor in Wisconsin trying to bust the unions. If he succeeds, the fire will spread, and we're all worried about it.
I'm worried because most people don't like me much--it's not that I don't have friends. I do have friends, but they aren't DEEP relationships whatever. If it came to whether to keep me or the gal who doesn't do the job quite as well, but is friendly all the time and smiley here and there, I'd probably lose. I'm something of a rebel. I don't believe in spending more money than I have, and I don't believe the government should spend more than it has. But it should give me my just due, and what it promised me many years ago.
And right now, it smells like doggie doo in my bedroom. Maybe it's the cat?
HA! Classic dog joke.
Anyway, it's supposed to rain tonight. I need to get those flowers in the ground. I've got to shower, and I've got to make something to eat. Let's face it. I have no time tonight to do much more of anything, since it's nearly 7 o'clock already! So you guys all have a good time. I'll just run and take care of those plants...tomorrow.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Scrunchie!!!!
I did some scrunchies. One I left at JoAnn's for a trend class, and here's how to make it!
Need:
Red Heart "Kids" yarn, Bikini colorway
Size H crochet hook
One (or more, because they are really addictive!) fabric covered rubber band. You can get these by the dozen at stores like Meijer's, K-Mart or Wal-Mart.
Big eye tapestry needle
Attach yarn to rubber band by slipping the hook into the ring, grab the yarn, pull through, then work a chain, pulling the short end of the yarn through the chain to tie it off. Then work enough single crochet (sc) in the loop to fill the rubberband. My rubberband took about 23 scs. Join with a slip stitch (slst) in the front loop only (flo) to the first sc.
(FLO) *Ch 10, slst in same sc, slst in next sc, repeat from * around. Join with slst to the back loop only (blo) of the first sc.
(BLO) *Ch 10, slst in same sc, slst in next sc, repeat from * around. Joing with a slst to the back of the work, and finish off.
Hide ends with a tapestry needle under the legs of the sc going around the rubberband.
Wrap around your ponytail and enjoy!
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