New Year's Eve

Well it is New Year's Eve and I am high on second hand paint fumes. See, it started out so simple. Our carpet in our formal rooms is old and nasty, so my parents decided to have hardwood floors installed like they did in the family room. They aren't going to be a perfect match because the company that makes the wood that we put in the family room is now defunct. Most people also can't afford to do more than 1 or 2 rooms at a time. Well, so we've spent a lot of time cleaning out all the big heavy furniture and taking off the baseboards. Since the baseboards still have the original 15/16 year old paint on them, it was decided that we should repaint them, cause it would look better with the new floors. Hence the paint fumes that make me feel shitty. I think the installers are scheduled to come the day we all go back to work, so i'm sure mom is trilled to have to deal with the dogs by herself.

I also made 18 bottlecap magnets today and finished my january letter for the Charlie swap. The partners for the RENT swap have been posted but we haven't received preference info yet, which is driving some of the others crazy, but i'm cool with it. I finished watching That 70s Show Season 3 today and started on Dukes of Hazzard Season 4. I really don't want to go back to work yet either. I'm enjoying this vacation thing aside from the family driving me crazy as usual part. I was going to attempt some minor sewing projects but the machines are not accessible due to the fact that they have been shoved in the corner to make room for all of the relocated furniture from the other rooms.

Obviously I don't have any hot plans for New Years Eve, but I'm not the only one. My sis is baby sitting her friend's two little girls so they can go party. She has already called me because the stove is messed up somehow and it took 1 hour and 10 mins to cook regular mac and cheese. The stove was turned up and everything, so who knows what was going on.

One of my Xmas presents came in the mail today. It is an 18 piece Crafter's tool set in hot pink. I like the fact because it's designed for crafters, the tools are more compact in size, so I can handle them a lot easier then those big ass hammers that weigh like 10 pounds. I like pretty things too. Hot pink just makes everything better. So does Hello Kitty. I found Hello Kitty pop tarts at Wal-Mart and I let out a tiny little squeal that caused my sister to disown me temporarily. These are even better then the Disney Princess ones, cause they have little sprinkles on them in the shape of Hello Kitty's head!!!!

Those Damn Resolutions...

I'm just making them because later on this year, it will be really funny to look at them and see if I accomplished any of them.

Resolutions 2006

1. Get off my ass and back on the exercise bike again
2. Stick to my budget better. Like as in quit buying crap that I "need" and focus more on what I have already
3. Possibly go on a date with a guy that is not a troll or a pervert
4. Make something cool with my fancy knitting machine
5. Go on a little road trip that doesn't involve visiting relations
6. Find better storage solutions for my room
7. Get kick ass speakers for my ipod since my real stereo has died and gone to heaven
8. Read more books
9. Get a social life
10. Finish what I start

Where Do I Even Begin?

I made it back safe and sound. I am happy to report that while the dogs are looking a little scruffy, the house did not turn into a piss palace while we were gone. For a shopping report and craft update, check out my Flickr blog because I posted a ton of evidence pics from the trip and pre trip photos as well. I am tired of food and shopping and my mom listening to the same Irish cds over and over so f ing loud that it compromised my ipod enjoyment. Family time is fun---NOT!!!!! It really wasn't that bad and I did have a lot of fun. I got to shop with my best friend from preschool. She informed me that everybody from the old gang is married now and has or is working on kiddies. We are the two lone rangers. She has law school, so what's my excuse? Oh yeah, general pickiness and hobbies that don't typically attract straight men. Oh well. As long as I have yarn, I will knit on. I will probably spend the rest of the holiday doing laundry although I absolutely have to have to get an oil change for my car tomorrow, otherwise it might explode and/or burst into flames. I also need to clean it because I had a strawberry Fanta explode all over me and the backseat on our way home today. Lovely is all I have to say about that.

Twas the Night Before Iowa

and not a single person was packing except little Shoegirl who was in a quandry over what yarn to take. It is a ten hour drive to my aunt's house in God's country a.k.a. Iowa (otherwise known as the birthplace of Shoegirl). I have Spanky my ipod all set to go. He is a white 15 GB 2nd or 3rd? generation and right now I have 1.4 days of music stored on him which = 2.03 GB or 544 songs and podcasts ( knitting ones of course). I have my tolietries gathered up and most of my clothes and tundra gear packed.

Christmas eve my dad got McDonalds for us and we went to midnight mass where we preceded to get high on the incense fumes. We opened up presents before mass. I got a ton of pants from my mom and socks. I am officially old now. My dvd collection has also expanded and I got a new winter coat (lightweight) and some other random stuff.

Tomorrow is the big trek up north. I get to see my best bud from preschool and we are going shopping!!!! My 2nd favorite pasttime. When my sister and I were buying film on sale at Walgreens I found a lion brand scarf kit that is f-ing red! It is going to be my Rose Bowl scarf. I have also updated my Flickr blog because A pointed out that I have apparently not updated it in forever.

Anyhoo, I will return on the evening of the 29th. Merry Christmas and Good Luck Sunshine!

just a thought

So apparently, if i don't want to pay full retail price for a new cell phone from my provider, i have to wait until April 20, 2006 which is the earliest I can renew because that is 4 mos before my contract expires. So with great disappointment, i will suck it up and tough it out because i will not pay $300 for a nice phone.

I am now officially on holiday shutdown. yay....several glorious days without accounting or having to think.

Today is supposed to be a craftathon. We will see how much I get done. lol...I shouldn't be too distracted by shopping me cause I am experiencing shopping boredom right now. Who have ever thought I would be saying that.

It is so hot outside. It looks like it will make it into the upper 50s today. My last QAF book arrived last night and I devoured it. There are three novels about the show and they act as prequels to the series. It has explained a lot of things about the characters and how they all met each other. So yeah, as usual I read my vacation books before the trip. Typical for me.

My mom finally finished wrapping the Xmas presents. I will let you know how many of them were actually surprises for me.

LESS THAN A WEEK UNTIL THE ROSE BOWL!!!!!!

I bought a handheld!!

cordless vaccum that is. A little silver dirt devil scorpion that is 6 volt so that I can vaccum under my bed without having to use like 16 attachments. I also bought a tan leather Levi's purse on sale for 11.55 at Goody's. I was having issues with big black leather purse cause the straps wouldn't stay on my shoulder and stuff would slide all over the place in it.

On friday, I am going to try and upgrade my POS phone. the volume on it is not existent and the silver finish is all chipped off and i've had it for nearly 2 years so I think that it's been well used. But if they don't have any sexy Motorola flip phones then I'm holding out. Cause I will not own any other brand of cell phone.

So i was naughty and read the two QAF novels that arrived in the mail yesterday. I just couldn't wait until my trip--plus i'm afraid one of my relatives would find it and give me the spiel about being a 25 year old spinister. Novel 3 should arrive in the mail tomorrow according to the little package tracker.

According to my tailor, Mr. Baa, I have knitted 10 inches on my mom's scarf to match her hat. Thank God this wasn't intended to be a Xmas present.

Work has been crazy in a good week. When we come back from Xmas vacay, it will be the "Month end closing" which means lots of $$ overtime for me.

That is all for tonight's broadcast of Evening Edition. Rock on ya'll.

What's Going on

What's rocking my ipod(and making my butt shake)---"Gold Digger" by the well-dressed Kanye West
What's on the needles---Lion Brand Homespun "Colonial"--which means it's dark blue with gold flecks in it and it's on its way to becoming my mom's hat
Accessory of the day---my measuring tape shaped like a little white sheep

Well, my sis and I survived shopping in T-town and Owasso. It wasn't too bad in the stores but there were some assholes in the parking lots. Barnes and Noble was after my heart, they had 20% selected knitting books + my 10% member discount = one happy Shoegirl. At Tar-jay I got a movie for my mom and this other movie that I had on VHS but it was kind of crapping out so I found it on dvd there. My sis and i bought matching shirts at Old Navy that say "Frost Bite Me" on them in gold stitching. We thought it was hilarious, I think my mom thinks we're freaks. My parents just now started doing their online shopping today. I don't know where I got my shopping genes from cause it sure as hell wasn't from them. I really didn't buy that much today.

My sunday night shows are repeats tonight, so i might actually get something done tonight. LOL. I did vaccum my room today. I have wrapped a ton of presents this weekend too, so that should count for something.

Holiday-itis

So i am a total lightweight now. I went to Chili's with S. and R. (S's bro that invited himself). R. kept looking at my boobs the whole time and I ordered a Tropical Sunrise. Very great drink chuck full of likker. However, the waitress put a straw in it and that is a bad thing cause I slurped it up due to the straw + annoyance factor of a dork looking at my boobs. Yes they are big, but they are not for sale! Anyways, I ended up with a really bad buzz for like an hour, but I decided that I will blame it on the straw factor.

Plus, I had waited around all day on those retards so we could go eat because R. lost his drivers license and he wanted to cash his paycheck today (he doesn't have a bank account). After tearing apart the house for two hours, they decided that S. would just have to cash it for him on Monday. Plus, R. went to Chili's in his pajama pants and a skanky looking cheap ass polo shirt and S. was wearing shorts and one of those knit shirts that always make guy's nipples show. I know it wasn't S.'s fault, but his family annoys the piss out of me. Plus, S. keeps trying to get me to move out with him and I absolutely refuse because he is a complete slob and his circus freak family would try to move in with us. Can you tell that I have holiday-itis?

On the shopping front, I get a big fat F for not finding work clothes or shoes. I did get a brand new set of Knifty Knitters at Hobby Lobby on sale for like around $5. I also bought some girly stationary too.

Sis keeps conning me into wrapping presents for her. My mom bought me a nice pair of khaki trousers but i hate the fact that they come up over my belly button. My mom has also conned me into making her a hat for our Iowa trip because she says if she tried to make one right now, she would never get it done because of all the projects she's working on.

As soon as my machine knitting books get here, I'm going to apply my slacker self and actually make something on my machine other than a giant square.

Miss you Sunshine! I hope you survived commencement.

Yule time

Holiday shopping is getting sucky. I had to go to Wal-mart to get my $5 gift for the chinese gift exchange at work tomorrow and to buy something for the potluck. People were ramming my big ass with carts and being just nasty. Plus, I had to help my mom find the DVDs that my sister and I wanted for Christmas, because when she went to buy them this afternoon, the electronics guy could only help her find one. After some digging, I found them. That aisle looked like it had been hit by a tornado.

I got paid today, and to celebrate I spent $50 on books at Amazon.com so I would have stuff read to read on my ride home to God's country, otherwise known as Iowa. Note to Sunshine, three of them would make good bedtime stories for you.

I would write more tonight, but i have to go help my sister with her holiday party crap.

I just want a hard lemonade

I could really go for a 6 pack of Mike's Hard Lemonade (or any of the other flavors). It would just be really great. It's not that I'm stressed or bummed about something, I just want something nice to take the edge off and transport me away from the everyday doldrums. I don't even remember the last time I have drank because I live in a dry house and I think i'm too old to hide it under my bed. Plus, I tend to crave booze more when the weather is drippy like it has been this evening.

Work is okay. It was a little annoying today because some people had played hooky on friday and monday so they dumped two days worth of crap for me to do for them today. Lovely. They are nice people but would some organization kill them? It would really help the newbie out. i'm supposed to bring something to the Christmas party, which would be fine, except I HATE COOKING and shopping for cheater food for parties. I'm just not a foodie and I don't like Chinese Food Thursdays. Honestly, I really do like my job. It's just that I'm adjusting from working a long string of sucky jobs so I'm going through an adjustment phase.

I don't really have anything exciting to report on the craft front. It's hard to start a new project when I don't get home from work until like 6:30 pm CT on average.

Possible weekend projects:
Sock Monkey named Mr. Jingles
more bottlecap magnets
a hat or two
petting my yarn


Cool Song of the Moment--"You're Beautiful" by James Blount (love the squeaky voice).

Ten Things About my day

1.Stupid gas is 2.09 (which is high for OK!) and it also the week that i gave my sis gas money for her trip to dallas and I have to drive carpool this week...i still have gas money, but it's just the irony of it all.
2. I got my Ziploc doodad swap 3 stuff (sock monkey socks and pea soup fuzzy yarn to mention the big stuff).
3. My book order arrived at sis' school but she left the books in her office.
4. All my favorite shows are going to be in reruns now that I have more time to watch tv.
5. A. got her big ass box from me in the mail today and she was excited and liked the stuff for little A
6. I got to talk to a sweet guy on the phone today who is one of our Ireland vendors.
7. Somebody laid a spring of mistletoe on my keyboard at work today. V.interesting...
8. My new preppy $14 gray GAP trousers actually fit my big butt
9. i ate two disney princess pop tarts today (yes, sunshine you have to try them--you can get them at wal-mart, and they are some kind of unidentifiable berry flavor)
10. i want to make kool-aid dyed yarn, but i need to buy some white colored wool this weekend. oh darn, an excuse to buy more yarn. how did that idea get into my pretty little head?

I'm Melting, I'm Melting!

Well, the snow all melted yesterday cause it got up into the 40s. I dropped off the hats for the Mitten Tree today, so now I'm just going to be making them for next year. I signed up to be in the Rent swap on Craftster. That will be awesome, plus the swap doesn't send out until the beginning of February so that will be perfect for my working chick schedule. I shipped out on the Ziploc Doodad swap 3 this week and my partner shipped on Friday so I'm curious to see what she sends. I hope it's stuff I can use. I've been wrapping up Christmas presents. I sent a box to A yesterday that weighed $20. It had christmas and baby stuff in it so her christmas wouldn't suck. I have to finish a hat today so I can mail the box for the wichita group tomorrow along with the package for Sunshine (and kitty too). I will also be mailing out my Xmas cards too. I've been making bottle cap magnets this weekend too. You put things in a bottle cap and then fill it with resin, attach magnet to the back and you have some cool magnets for the fridge or whatever. I made three yesterday and they are really cool looking. My sister is going to flip when she sees them. I got one in a swap and we thought it was the coolest thing ever and wanted to try it, but didn't know how. Then I was at Hastings and found a Klutz book/kit on it and it was 30% off!!! The angel of crafting was smiling down on me for sure.

I heart Sweaters

So it was like 15 degrees outside on my way home from Kansas. I love cold weather and being able to wear merino wool sweaters and cordoroys without sweating to death. The only things I don't like are dry skin and stupid people that can't drive in snowy weather. I think so far we out 1 inch out of the predicted 10 inches of snow tonight. The diversity group potluck was today and this chick brought macaroni and cheese but with corn mixed in. I thought I had died and gone to heaven, it was so good. Who knew two of my favorite things could taste so good together. I also got this really cute tiny stuffed snowman that came with a tiny bottle of lotion. How cute. Friday is the Sisterhood potluck--more food and presents. Not much else going on, I just wanted to talk about snow. yay..!

Insanity of my life

My bank mergered with another bank. What a pain in the ass! I have to make my mom call and find out whether or not this is going to screw up my direct deposited paycheck or my online bill payments. Yuck yuck yuck.
The new job is still fine, I'm getting new responsibilities and my brain says that it doesn't want to work anymore, especially when it's like butt freezing cold inside and outside.
I've been invited to join the Sisterhood and the Diversity groups at work. They are both excuses for potlucks and presents. lol...I'm joining only cause "i want to fit in" and they would take it personal if i didn't. I kinda miss clubs too, I was always in a bazillion at school. These people are nice, so it should be fun in a work kinda way.

I got Sunshine's commencement announcement in the mail today. yay for sunshine, you made it up another rung on the ladder of life. I'm going to keep in it my big leather AE journal where i stash all important documents.

I sent off my Ziploc Craftdoodad 3 swap today. Yesterday I got letter no. 2 in the Charlie swap. I'm jealous of my Charlie cause she lives in Ohio where they have the 4th season known as Winter and she got lots of snow already. LUCKY!!!

I bought Little House on the Prairie Season 9 (the final one) on dvd today. I am a HUGE FAN of Little House. Mom read the entire series of the books while I was in the womb. I have been to the homes in Independence, KS and Mansfield, MO. I'm going to have to order the rest online because wal-mart only has 8 and 9 in the store--shelf space you know. This will be my entertainment this weekend since little sis is ditching me to take certification tests in Dallas and I have no friends to hang out with here except for S and he is usually working on the weekends. Plus, I will need viewing entertainment for my christmas crafting and card writing.

Holla-days

Well, I went on my big Christmas shopping expedition. I think I got like 95% done, which is good because I don't usually shop for it all at once, so it seemed like I spent a lot but I didn't cause like 80% of it was on sale. Still don't have a present for dad yet, but the man is impossible to shop for. I even wrapped everything I bought today. Martha would be so proud. I also found rawhide doggy treats in the dolla bin at tar-jay, and my picky little poochies ACTUALLY ATE THEM! I was pleasantly shocked.

Shopping for work clothes was a big fat bust. Busty chicks like moi can not wear bohemian wear that is so popular without running the risk of acheiving the maternity look. Plus, some of the stuff that is in the so-called careerwear section, there is no way in hell I could wear to work. Seriously, who gets to wear trouser capris to work? I didn't even attempt to go bra shopping, that is a hell unto itself. I did find two afterwork shirts.

i finished my sister's recess hat today. I do highly recommend the Peppermint Mocha at Starbucks because it doesn't taste like coffee that much. My neighbor across the street has three light up crosses on his roof (laying flat on the roof). We have a light up nativity but it's a little more friendlier looking. People in my neighborhood actually hire decorators to put up their outdoor lighting displays along with the indoor granduer. Not my family--we still practice authentic Christmas ala A Christmas Story and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Did I mention that my little Daisy almost electrocuted herself by biting those lights that people fork into the ground? She's okay, but we think she got a little buzz cause she jumped up into the air.

BFF Totally!!

My best friend that i've known since preschool in Iowa called me tonight and left a message on my cellphone because I am deaf to my cellphone (maybe cause people don't usually call me). Anyways, big happy dance!!!!! I'm going to call her tomorrow night after I get off work cause I didn't know if she would be up tonight or not. Last I knew she was in law school back in Iowa. Plus, this gives me a good chance to ask my boss what my schedule is for the holidays so I can figure out when I can see her. She's one of those people that you are friends for life, no matter how much you get to talk to her, you can pick up right where you left off and it's like you're still on the same page. This is going to sound really cheesy, but I feel like I got an early Christmas present. I like listened to the message twice just to make sure I wasn't smoking crack or something. Insert high pitched girly screech right here.
Not that it matters right now, but I got my winter wear accessories from Old Navy today and the hat actually fits on my big ass head. I also got my book today from Amazon and blew $20 bucks at hobby lobby because my favorite yarn was 40% so i bought the two skeins that they had left and another knitting book that was 50% off and x-mas colored crochet needles.
Anyways, I'm going to go give thanks to the big guy upstairs and patiently wait until I can call my pacific coast best friend during "free call time." I know she will definitely be up cause she is a total night owl.

Much Better Day

Even though i worked an extra two hours today, today i think turned out better. The whole paycheck taxation thing is fixed after some hurried faxing back and forth. I really really like the song "Come a little closer" by Dierks Bentley. My sister wants me to make her a hat because and I quote "i'm freezing my ass off at recess." LOL...Surprisingly there was actually yarn in my stash that she liked. I should flash my stash on flickr, but it would take like ten pictures to get it all in. My charity knitting is not making much of a dent in it yet. It's starting to get cooler outside which is nice. I don't like summer clothes at all.

Things I don't Understand

1. why a certain person in Wichita answers the phone when her and her man are "watching a movie." If it wasn't obvious enough by the tone of her voice?? I would rather talk to her answering machine. For the record, I don't even answer the phone during really bad sex.
2. why new job took SS and Medicare out of my paycheck but not federal or state taxes? I filled out the form same as always and there's even a BIG STAMP on the envelope that says double checked by Erik. What did he check for?
3. why itunes figured out 2 mos later that the exp. date on my debit card expired and prompted me to change it? I know the account number is still the same, but i've downloaded NUMEROUS times since I my "date expired."
4. It's 32 degrees outside and I got bitten by the only mosquito left in Kansas.

Other than the above bitchfest, I did actually have a pretty good normal day. It just went to shit after I got home from work.

Did you know that the extremely sexy cologne Polo Black has iced mango and patchouli in it? I can smell that from a mile away and due to nasty allergies I have very little smell capacity at all. Ralph Lauren's Polo was born in 1978, two years before me! No wonder why I like all the versions so well. It's meant-to-be. It also falls into the Woody olfactory group. Okay, that is plenty of science talk for you, brought to you by the letter F and the folks at Esquire magazine.

The Knitty Gritty of it all.

So this holiday weekend I have completed 8 hats and started the 9th. Yay for me. I wasn't that focused either otherwise I could've cranked out more. I have made close to 30 for The Mitten Tree , I had counted them but then I made a bunch, so I need to recount.
The sis and I have still not seen HP4 because the cheap shows keep selling out and our theater is showing it on 2 screens. I am also coming to terms with the fact that the chances of them showing Rent or Brokeback Mountain are very slim.
My scarf/mitten/hat set from Old Navy is on its way. I didn't want to root around for the matching pieces in the midst of mad holiday shoppers so i ordered from the online store cause they have a $5 flat rate. The book that I ordered from Amazon.com is also on it's way. It's called Holiday Knits and I forgot the author's name (my bad). It's the one with the peppermints and the red yarn on the front cover, not to be confused with Handknit Holidays, which also sounds pretty cool too.
I can't wait to wear my new dress pants from Tar-jay to work tomorrow. I am actually one of the dressiest people at work, isn't that a hoot? Some of my co-workers have a broad defintion of what business casual means in a Fortune 500 company. That's okay though, cause it makes me feel not so guilty for not wearing skirts or make-up. Yay for me, this week is my first paycheck from the new job. Unforunately, it is going to gas and my cellphone bill.
On the book front, I did finish reading The perks of being a wallflower, which was totally awesome. I think anyone could honestly relate to Charlie and his friends. I plan on reading Pippi Longstocking next. Hey, it's a classic too and it teaches people creativity and imagination. Plus, I am a total fan of the movies and my sis even has a stuffed Pippi doll.

Upsidedown Christmas trees???

Apparently, upside down Christmas trees that you hang from the ceiling are in vogue this year. I think it makes sense, especially for people with little apartments or tiny doggies that like to bat Christmas ornaments off the bottom of the tree.

While I've been lounging around eating too much good food, I've been making more hats for the Mitten Tree at church on my Knifty Knitter. It is so fast to do once you get the hang of it and it's a great way of using scrap yarn that doesn't involve making a bazillion granny squares. I just started my 25th hat today. I wrote all of my sister's students' names on mini x-mas stockings in glitter paint today as well. Writing with glitter paint is a talent that takes a ton of patience and a steady hand.

S. picked me up so we could go eat dinner at Chili's and I about died because he was wearing white knit shorts. OMG--to all the men out there that might read this, don't wear white knit shorts--they show way too much in a non-flattering way. Once I recovered from this horrific fashion faux paux we did chow down on some good food that was actually cooked properly and I snagged some new holiday coasters for my collection. Sounds nerdy, but they are handy and I only snag the ones from Chilli's. Then we went to Wal-Mart so that S. could buy Golden Girls season 3. I went to Hastings to look for a book for my sister, but they were out of it but they did have the new holiday issue of Bust with Rose McGowan on it (dang i wish i looked that hot) and there was a feature on male knitting and several of the guys with knitting blogs that I lurk on were featured or name dropped, so I thought that was cool.

Somewhere in the Sun

So I saw the Kenny Chesney special tonight on tv. Add him to my list of things that I am gratetful for. He is one of the few men that can get away with wearing tight jeans and not have it look stupid. he sang my fave songs too like Old Blue Chair and Anything but Mine. Work was okay today, just trying to get things wrapped up before the holiday. My aunt and cousin will be leaving at 4:30 am Friday to go to the big sales. I think it's hilarious, but I kinda wish I could go with so I could witness the hilarity of it all. Plus I am a shopaholic. I am also grateful for Mrs. Smith's pie, and my grandma k's homemade chocolate chip cookies that are so damn good we go through a gallon bucket in like three days.

Rockin out with Spanky, my ipod

So I was thinking since I can actually go to Iowa this year for xmas, maybe I should increase the songs on my ipod. Did I mention that I seriously named my ipod, Spanky? I think it's fitting since it logs a lot of time next to my butt. LOL...I also have a battery pack for it this time, which I bought so my sister could take Spanky to Ireland, but she couldn't wasn't allowed to listen to it on the international flight, but it wasn't a waste, cause now I don't have to decide between Spanky and my nameless cell phone when it comes to car charging. The funny thing is that since my computer speakers beyond suck and my stereo is so crappy i should throw it away, but I use it as a display for picture frames, the ipod is the only thing that i can listen to music on besides my killer system in my car. So now, I get to rock out while I am typing this rambling post.

I finally caught up on my pile of paper at work. Then some people skipping out early for the holidays dropped some crap and ran, but it won't take me too long to do in the morning. My grandparents from St. Louis are coming tomorrow. I love them to death, but I'm not one of those people that gets excited about relatives visiting and family visits. Plus, it's Thanksgiving, and i'm not big on food. I only eat like ten things. Plus, I have to clean my room and hide all of my stuff like my porn, my anatomy pillows, feminist books, etc. because out-of-town relatives always want to see your room and mine are like TOTALLY CONSERVATIVE and I am not in the mood to answer those kind of questions so it's just easier to temporarily store myself.

Anyways, I must go now and finish cleaning my room since they will probably make it here before Dad and I get home from work tomorrow.

Fun times

So my purple thing no. 2 that i am making on my knitting machine is really big. I think i will name it Purple Mountain Majesties, because that sounds better than purple thing no. 2 and it is darker than purple thing no. 1. PMM is currently 94 stitches wide and 160 rows long. It touches the floor. It is pretty good even though there's a couple of minor things i need to fix (or have mom the knitting doctor fix).

Today was day one of carpooling to work with my dad. There was lots of NPR involved and my poor brain hurts having to use it after two years of not really.

ooooohh!!! I almost forgot! I was watching Related on the WB (really really awesome show) and i literally shrieked with delight because the actor who plays Emmett on QAF guest starred as Renee's son that she gave up for adoption a long time ago. Even though he was wearing this ugly cordoroy poop brown blazer I could still tell who he was. It was the same joy that I had when I saw Hal Sparks in Spidey 2 only I think I might have squealed with a more higher pitch for Hal. Yes, I know that I am a total freak.

What a Good Tv night!!

Desperate Housewives just keeps getting better and better. I actually liked tonight's episode of Grey's Anatomy as well. I started knitting a panel on my knitting machine and it's 94 stitches wide and 134 rows long and then the stupid thing jammed and i dropped some stitches. I am also making progress on this scarf i am making for myself on my Kniffty Knitter. However, it's made with yarn I bought at Michaels in Tulsa and I need two more balls to finish it so I am going to have to bribe my sister to pick some up for me on her way to class down there.
This week is going to be a short week at work because I have thursday and friday off for turkey day. I don't have to work retail or answer stupid phones like i have on previous holidays, so I guess that's what i'm grateful for this year.
So my sister and I forgot to go see HP4 tonight. We got sucked in by the good tv. We will probably go see it sometime this weekend when we are not busy watching my grandparents sleep. We went with Dad to see Walk the Line last night and it was even better than expected. My big toe was still tapping when I left the theater. Rent comes out this week and I'm stoked for that as well.
It looks like since I will have a week of vacation over christmas, mom and the sis and i are going to go to Iowa while my dad stays home and dog sits. Daisy is way too wild to even think of sneaking her into a hotel. I'm already thinking of songs to put on my ipod and deciding how much yarn i should take with me. lol...

Let the Holiday Madness Begin

I bought my mom's x-mas present today. I bought all my x-mas cards too, including the special ones. I'm starting to make a dent in it. There's nothing like a good shopping spree after a long week of work. New job is great, but my brain is full of information. My sister and I are going to see HP 4 and Walk the Line this weekend. My parents went to Tulsa to go shopping for a new Serger machine for my mom. Hers recently bit the dust after 20 hard years of use. It is very missed. I would ramble on further, but it's off to craft land.

Playing Hooky

So Today was my second day of work at my new office job which I am loving it. I feel like I am actually using part of my brain for a real purpose. Plus I have a big-ass cubicle that I don't have to share (i have my own nameplate) and I can spin around in it with no problems.

I played hooky from the warehouse job. Working there Monday night was a bitch--everybody was going home sick, and not helping stack boxes, so the most tired person there (me) got stuck doing way more than her share of line loading, which is why when I got off work at new job, i said fuck it. i want some sleep, so i called in with a migraine. Which my head did hurt some from ear problems and major sleep shortage, so it wasn't really stretching the truth. I'm going to try and work the rest of the week there so that I can pick up some extra money. I need dress shirts for work and Christmas is looming.

I did finish my "rainbow brite" scarf that I was making on my knifty knitter. I just need to weave in the ends. Gilmore Girls was awesome tonight. Things are really building up and this is only the beginning half of the season--holy cow.

Late Saturday Night or Early Sunday Morning?

Well, since it's very early morning, it's technically Sunshine's birthday, so happy happy birthday darling!!!

As for the other stuff, I will be leaving my current job and starting my new job this week at a major company that my dad also works at. Not too long ago, I was wanting to get one job that I didn't hate and while i like my warehouse job, my new job is an opportunity for a career, so I'm jumping off the diving board and taking a chance on it. I'll have insurance, major holidays and a slightly bigger paycheck, what more could a girl want? Oh, a cubicle and a computer too. Scary shit!!!

This last week has been so insane with all the paperwork for the new job and still working at my soon to be old job that i didn't really do much today. I attempted to go to the mall and look for career wear, but it was all metallic or velvet or dopey flowers and I can't wear that crap and smile at this company. I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and drive to Owasso next weekend so I can look at the clothes at the new SuperTarget there without having to endure Tulsa again. I had to make a quick trip down there earlier this past week cause that's where the drug testing place I was assigned to was. Mom and I managed a mad dash through Michaels, Joann's and BN. I got two skeins of the prettiest looking yarn I've seen in awhile--Paton's Glittallic in Blue Flash. I think it's the true color of snow.

I finally bought season 1 of Everwood on dvd. I get totally sucked into watching that show, so I am getting an F in Craft Projects Progress and Completion this weekend. I did read The Christmas Quilt today and it was just as good as the other books in the series. We are also totally out of pop and I was so tired that I didn't remember to pick up some Mountain Dew that I am in desperate need of. I will definitely be making a trip when the sun comes up. Ohh--and the new Kenny Chesney cd is perfect, in a cheesy way, it's like it was written to be the soundtrack to my life right now.

Christmas in November (sort of)

So I didn't end up going to the sale at Kmart because they don't have out all of the Martha Stewart Holiday stuff yet and 10% off wasn't going to be like jaw-dropping savings. I did go to Waldenbooks to pick up some preschool books for my sister since she wasn't going to make it back from Stilly before the mall closed to use our 25% off coupons. I also ended up buying The Christmas Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini, which is the latest in her Elm Creek Quilts series. I like her books, and I can't resist a good Christmas themed story. My dad decided he wanted to go to Home Depot in Tulsa and he took my mom with him and they went to crafty stores, while I was dog-sitting! I would be more miffed but my mom brought me back two little skeins of Christmas yarn and two knitting books so I was surprised and happy. We had mega coupons for crafty stores this week--that's why she brought home stuff for me.

Desperate Housewives was pretty exciting but it looks like the next episode is going to be the real shocker. While the family was away, I managed to make it through three episodes of QAF Season 1. I'm trying to watch the whole series in order. It's funny, I get sucked into watching it and so I don't get much crafting done while watching it.

Live from Oklahoma, it's Saturday Night!

Gas Report: 1.97
Works in Progress: Princess Sweater from Knitting for Dogs, felt activity book
Favorite Song of the Day: Forever by Vertical Horizon

What have I done today? Not much. Cashed check, ate pizza, went to Hastings with lil sis and didn't buy anything, went to Hobby Lobby and bought two skeins of yarn, a zipper for my mom and a machine knitting magazine and a knitting book due to the 50% of knitting and crochet books and accessories sale, went to Wal-Mart and bought a lot of felt for this preschool project I will be helping lil sis with. I started making the above mentioned sweater. I finished the back of Daisy's sweater. Daisy got spayed on Thursday and this morning (saturday) my mom had to take her to the vet because she ate one of her stitches. So the vet had to put stitch glue on her incision. That is my gross-out fact for the day--it is now safe to continue reading my blog. Tomorrow is friends and family day at Kmart, so i will be making a visit so I can stock up on Martha Stewart stuff on sale!!! I have already bought two of her ornaments from this year's collection.

My grand idea of listening to audiobooks on my commute has taken a dive into a cement pool with no water. The only one i finished was Cold Mountain. I have major ADD in regards to audiobooks. I guess I will just have to go back to singing along with my Kenny Chesney cds. I like actually holding the books and turning the pages. It's more fun that way. Right now I am reading Margaret Cho's latest book I have chosen to stay and fight. The amazing part was that my library right in the bible belt actually has her books (there's 2 of them total). I think it would be freaking awesome to see one of her stand-up acts.

Top Ten for Today

1. Gas dropped to 1.99!!
2. My sister got Nicholas Sparks' autograph!
3. She also picked up a copy of Knitting for Dogs by Kristi Porter for me. Now I can make matching cute coats for my doggies..
4. I shelved some Chinese gay soft core porn tonight--v.interesting
5. I am better at machine knitting than my mom and it bugs the piss out of her
6. I got Martha Stewart's Holiday cookies issue so i might actually make some non slice n dice cookies this year.
7. Leftover Halloween candy is damn good.
8. Kenny Chesney's new cd is almost here (nov.8th)
9. Sunshine's birthday is nov. 13th so i have to think of something perfect and witty to write in his birthday card.
10. It's bedtime. I need sleep so I won't be a total bitch tomorrow afternoon/evening...

Can't Stop the Knitting

I can't help it. I would spend all day playing with my knitting machine if I could. I might actually start a real project. I'm thinking either Skully sweater from SNB or an afghan. HMMMM...On the book front, I finished the audiobook for Cold Mountain. Not bad. I started listening to The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks. I don't think I will ever be "into audiobooks" but I had to do something to break up the boring ass drive to Kansas every day. I smell like cardboard cause i just got off work and tearing open boxes of books for 8 hours in a row will do that to you. I wish I had some RL Polo Black to sniff instead. In honor of the movie version coming out, I found a "book" version of Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx--it's actually a short story so it's a quick read. I became a fan of hers when I read The Shipping News. However, Brokeback Mountain totally awed me and I don't care if I have to drive all the way down to freaking Tulsa to see the movie version, I am bound and determined to. It is just that good of a story--it stays with you long after you finish reading it. Also, for the record if I have to open one more box of freaking Dummies Guide to whatever, I am going to Freaking Go Insane. Other than that, work was great.

Machine Knitting Rocks!

My dad is hogging my knitting machine. Mom and I were having trouble getting it to work so we asked him for help. He ended up clamping it to a board to level it out and then figure out how to slide the carriage across so that it didn't catch on the needles. Well, he decided it was fun, so he spent like two hours making rows. LOL....I was finally able to use it this morning but then people that don't ever call me kept calling me every time I sat down. I was able to knit 34 rows in a row before I totally f-ed up and had to frog the whole thing.

Nicholas Sparks is signing books this wednesday at the BN on 41st in Tulsa. I am making my sister go down there. I would go, but I work 2nd shift at the warehouse. He writes the best romance novels ever. Besides it's her fault for getting me hooked on his books. I started reading the sequel to Wicked, which is called Son of a Witch. You have to love that title. Anyways, it's really good and I typically hate sequels.

Sunshine, if you're reading this you better tell me what you want for your birthday otherwise I might knit you a hot pink afghan with condoms for fringe. LOL. I think I would have to attach the condoms still in the package otherwise that could get gross.

A Quickie

Just a quick update before this weekend. The Ultimate Sweater Machine arrived on Tuesday. Mom and I are in the process of working all the kinks out of it and getting it all set up. The Gilmore Girls swap was a smashing success. My buddy loved her stuff and I love what I got. She sent me a tote bag with Luke's diner logo on it. It is so freakin awesome. My sis is going to be SO jealous. She also made me a pop tart journal. It is the coolest thing ever and she even used a strawberry box which is like my favorite flavor ever! There's a pizza party at work tonight. Yay!

Books and Yarn

After a busy week at work and a very successful crafting weekend, I decided that I should maybe update this. I finished my projects for the Gilmore girls swap after much debate on what I should make. My next swap is a 12 month long mail swap based on the book The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. I have never read this book, but the basic idea behind it is really cool.
The Rainbow Brite scarf that I have been making on my loom knitter is 75% completed and is awaiting an emergency yarn run to Tulsa next weekend so that I can get two more balls of it so I can finish the scarf and have enough left over for fringe and maybe a matching hat? I also completed another hat for charity while I was watching Desperate Housewives. Bree is my favorite. I can relate to her the most. I haven't made much progress reading Wicked but I will probably read some more of that tonight since I am between projects while I wait for my knitting machine to arrive.
My Quilting with the Muppets book finally arrived yesterday. I didn't realize it was being shipped media mail so that's why it took so long to arrive. I totally want to make something with Kermit on it. I just have to find the right fabric. I also bought The Martha Rules yesterday and devoured it in a couple of hours. It is probably one of the best business books that i have read and it is very entertaining without sounding lame.
The weather really cooled off today so I'm loving it because I can wear fall clothes now like my hoodies and not sweat to death. Yay.
I don't really have any plans coming up for the rest of October. I'll be working nights at the warehouse and probably tinkering with the knitting machine once it gets here this week.

Tales from The Great Pumpkin

I survived the pumpkin patch and I wasn't stuck riding on the short bus with the kiddies. I got to ride with the moms like a big girl. It was so much fun watching them run around in the pumpkin patch trying to find a "big pumpkin" that they could carry because the rule was that you had to carry your own pumpkin back. There's a little play area up front with a playground and hay maze while you wait for the hay ride guy to pick you up to take you to the patch. I managed not to itch myself to death (hay is not a friend of mine) on the hay ride so I was quite proud of myself. Sadly, there was no major disasters to report. There was some parents there so I didn't really have to do much other then take pics of the kiddies, especially of the kids whose parents weren't there. I think it was well worth the sleep deprivation.

When I got back Mom and I ordered the knitting machine. I AM SOOOO EXCITED!!! It is slated to arrive in 7-12 business days. I will definitely be daydreaming about it all week.

I can't believe it's Monday already. The weekend sure flies when it's your time off. I wish the cooler weather would come back. I have never gone to the pumpkin patch when it's sunny and in the mid 70s. Where are you Autumn?

The Great Pumpkin

I finally finished the baby hat that I was making out of Red Heart Baby Clouds yarn. It turned out so cute! Then I started something for me on my Blue KK loom out of "Bright Clouds" Lion Brand Watercolors yarn. It's a wide scarf that is going to look really cool. I have already started my second ball on it. I am absolutely in love with this yarn. If i were a ball of yarn, this is the one I would be.

Tomorrow morning, I am giving up bonus sleep time to go to the pumpkin patch with my sister's preschool class. I haven't been to one since I was a tater tot. It will be insane, but I couldn't help be swayed by visions of Linus and the Great Pumpkin (which is my favorite Peanuts story). I am sure this will spawn lots of stories and hopefully some cute pics since I get to be the photographer.

As the Craft gods would have it, the Ultimate Sweater Machine deluxe is on sale at Joann's and if you get it online there's a 20% off coupon that you can use so it is one awesome deal considering the deluxe version comes with all the accessories you would have to buy separately if you just got the regular one. I think Mom and I are going to order it tomorrow since this is a limited time sale thing and we can't find it cheaper without having to do the online auction thing. I'm pretty excited about it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Other than that, I plan on the usual working at the warehouse this week. I am also going to try to finish reading Wicked this week. It's my bedtime story.

Wicked Good

Screw the critics. I saw Elizabethtown today and I LOVED IT. The plot was so good, i love the knitted red hat, the kick-ass scrapbook with the mixed cds and the crazy-ass relatives. oh yeah, and Orlando Bloom was pretty easy on the eyes. Cameron Crowe did a great job with the movie soundtrack too.

Well, I am just now finally getting around to reading Wicked by Gregory Maguire. I don't have good excuses for why it has taken me so long to read this infamous book, especially when I have read all of his other works with the exception of the just published sequel Son of a Witch.

This week has flown by pretty fast due to my new job. I kinda of like working second shift and having the weekends off. Plus I get to look at books, movies, DVDs and CDs all day long--I feel like an unofficial librarian of sorts. I need to dig out my stash of t-shirts from college because I refuse to wear my nice shirts to work in the warehouse. You would be surprised how many people show up in their designer jeans and shirts...Craziness.

I have been a total bum when it comes to crafty pursuits. I hope to fix that tomorrow since I don't really feel like I accomplished much of anything today other then sleep and going to the movies.

Oh Happy Day

What an exciting day! My Muppets quilting book still hasn't came in the mail yet :( On the positive side, my swap goodies from Steph in Philly did and I just have to say that she totally rocks. She made me this really cool matching necklace and bracelet that are so pretty that I am going to wear them the next time I do something more important then going to WalleyWorld. I wish I lived in Philly--they have cool stuff there. I finished watching season 4 of the Gilmore Girls just in time to start working on my stuff for my next swap that I am participating in which is GG themed.

Oh yeah, the big news. I go to orientation for my new job tomorrow. I am so excited to be working again! Money and getting out of the house are very nice things.

Book Worm

I am such a blogging slacker. I have no good excuses. I've been making tons of hats on my looms cause I am easily entertained by it. Unfortuneatly it hasn't made a noticeable dent in my yarn stash under my bed. LOL...It also occupies me while I am waiting for a couple of packages in the mail and a call from the job people. I love my night time Tv too. I've became hooked watching Just Legal on the WB and Gilmore Girls keeps getting better and better. I can't forget the two Apprentice shows either. Rainy and hot weather needs to go away. I need a nice 60 degrees with no rain and a little sun. In non-yarn related news the next book I plan on reading is The Colorado Kid by Stephen King cause he's one of my most fave authors and it's October so it's a perfect time to read his works. I also went to the library book sale today and there was six boxes of kids books there and I about died. i found four mint condition Eric Carle books that were only 25 cents each ( i can't possibly describe the excitement and satisfaction about that find)and I got three Sesame Street books as well. I have to stock up because I know a lot of people right now with small children or babies on the way. Literacy is your friend.

My List

Most people make new years resolutions but why bother with tradition? Since this a pivotal year for me, I decided to come up with a list of 25 things I want to do before I turn 26(sept.25, 2006).

1. Get laid again
2. Buy a knitting machine and make cool stuff on it like the Cherokee Maiden does
3. Pay off the plastic
4. Go to California and visit A
5. DCI Champs in Madison (woo-hoo I like Wisconsin). to fly or drive?
6. Get a pair of kelly green chucks, a pair of black low chucks and the chocolate low chucks that are sans laces
7. Visit my cool relatives in Iowa and go shopping at my fave outlet mall
8. Use up my yarn stash so i can buy more and not feel guilty.
9. Make progress towards getting my own apartment or low rent shack

Uh, I can't think of any more because yeah resolutions suck. Maybe I will come up with some more later. I have made three hats on my Knifty Knitter, started a fourth and made a super cute pumpkin. I have to rotate hobbies cause I am hard to entertain. Mom and I helped my lil sis clean up her classroom. We were there for 5 hours. No-YAY! We steam-cleaned the magic carpet so it now smells clean and not like pee. I also got to organize a closet. YAY!!! I love doing that. It's like a little treasure hunt.

Finally we have some Fall weather

So I just realized that it's been awhile since I last blogged. Well to be honest, there isn't a whole lot to report. I made two baby hats using one of my knitting looms and they both turned out really cute. I will post pics on Flickr sometime. I also made a scarf for my swap buddy using my rainbow colored $1 yarn from Target that turned out to be pretty cool. That same yarn also made it in to one of the baby hats. Did you know that they have little baby camo hats at Walley-World?Just amazing. I've been keeping my eyes out for good deals on baby stuff since my best friend is having a baby in January.

I have a job interview on Monday. yay. I do much better when people actually interview me than when they just look at me on paper. I actually have to bring my HS diploma with me. What a hoot. This job pays about $10.00 hour on a weekly basis and they have full-time openings and I don't have to talk to people on the phone. Yay. Cross your Ts and dot your Is for me on this one.

Oh--season premiere of Everwood was last night. YAY!!! It was my last regular show to premiere. I want to live in Everwood or at least the place that they film the scenic shots in Colorado.

Well, it's off to the craft show for now. Hopefully they have some more interesting stuff to look at then the last one I went to.

After the birthday

I think I have semi-recovered from all my birthday fun yesterday. Sunshine and I went shopping for 7 hours in T-town and it was great. I found the lastest issue of Bust magazine at BN so now I have quality reading material. I also got more $1 yarn cause the SuperTarget had a bigger selection than the Target I went to last time did. I love my new purse from Aeropostale( it's way cute and on sale). One of my other friends sent me an itunes gift certificate so I am enjoying that already, I have downloaded 8 songs so far. Mostly country and rock. Today I have mostly done laundry and job hunting (which sucks donkeys). Tonight I am going to hopefully finish up some more crafts and finish reading The Sugar Camp Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini.

Shop-A-holic???

So my lil sis gave me one of my b-day presents today. It was the My Little Pony Season 1 boxed set on dvd and the Moonlighting pilot episode also on dvd. Yay! I can't wait to watch them. MLP is very hard to find on dvd. The duckie towels have been completed. I decided to hell with the Pooh cross stitch because i didn't mark where I left off on the chart so now i just have a random grouping of stitches--go me. I started on this black cat halloween design. I have the pumpkin and part of the leg done. why do i always pick stuff on 18pt aida cloth? I baked a funfetti cake and made some margarita flavored Jello for the big ol birthday bash tomorrow. My sister "made" me go to the Gap (Outlet store) with her today and I bought a cute shirt to wear tomorrow. Lol. She spent more than I did so I feel better. The sales associate tried to get us to sign up for Gap cards because "we're in there all the time and we could save more money." Sadly, I do go there a lot because they do actually have clothes in my size and I've gotten some really good deals there. I can't wait until my friend has her baby so that I can spoil him/her with cutsey clothes from baby Gap. I'm an even bigger fan of Old Navy (also in the Gap family) but there isn't one in town. Hmm....I will prolly have more to say tomorrow evening, so good nite.

the Abridged version

Three-year olds are exhausting. They did like the pumpkin guts. I finally finished my Finding Nemo cross stitch. Tomorrow when I have recooperated from today, I will start on the little Pooh design that I started and never finished--do i see a trend? Nemo is my 76th completed cross stitch project so I must be doing something right. I also want to do some Halloween stuff cause I think Halloween is a cool holiday. I heart candy.

Fifty-Six Dollar Pumpkins

For the record, it turns out that the stupid shower curtain from wal-mart had a giant rip in it so I returned it and ended up going with a clear one from the Martha Stewart line at Kmart which is still rip-free and doesn't look like bubble wrap.

So my sister and I went to buy two regular sized pumpkins at Wal-Mart tonight for messy day at my sister's preschool tomorrow. They were clearly priced at 2.98 each. Imagine our shock when the cashier rang them up for a GRAND TOTAL OF $56!!! Holy shiest! I almost dropped an F-bomb when she told us the price. She claimed that they were the giant pumpkins (which those are outside and are obviously huge and there's no way we could've fit those in our damn cart). We offered to show the cashier and the CSM the sign but they declined saying that they would "trust us this time" while acting like we were trying to rob them. For the record, in order for me to pay that much for pumpkins they better be some from some seeds that came over on the Mayflower and were grown in Martha Stewart's personal garden! Anyways, all i have to say is that i hope the kiddies have fun playing with pumpkin guts tomorrow and I can't wait to decorate for Halloween.

In happier news, I bought the new Bon Jovi cd. Yes, my name is Melissa and I love Bon Jovi. I love all 80s rock bands. Many hours of my youth were spent rocking out to Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Firehouse, Slaughter and in later years Pearl Jam and Nirvana. Any band that comes out with a CD called Slippery When Wet is definitely my kind of band.

Crafting right along, the duckie hooded towels are almost finished, my Mom finished the Coming Home poncho and I am moments away from completing my mini Finding Nemo cross stitch. I am half-done with the stuff for the current swap that I'm participating in on Craftster.

My daily rant is over. I must go now to the land of Bon Jovi so that I can rock out while I cross stitch. Big grin.

Bubble Wrap

Hell has frozen over. I bought a clear shower curtain today. The only reason why I did it is because the people that "custom-designed" the house that we live in were total idiots and didn't put overhead lighting in the shower. So my bathroom is very dark and remodeling is not in the budget, so I thought getting a clear shower curtain to replace the dark flower curtain thing that came with the house might brighten the place up. I got one at wal-mart that i swear looks like a giant piece of bubble wrap and the bathroom appears to look brighter but we'll see. The bathroom is doomed because there is burgundy and hunter green wallpaper stuck on the walls (which is pretty) but it doesn't do much to help the horrid lighting situation.

In other news, starting October 13th, my cell-phone is going nationwide. There was a difference of five bucks and 200 minutes so i decided I might as well change it to nationwide, that way i won't have to pay stupid roaming charges when i travel places. So now i will only have 800 anytimes minutes instead of 1000 but i usually only use 100-200 anytime minutes a month anyways because i have an add-on that makes my nights and weekend minutes start at 7pm. As a bonus, I got 150 free mintues for seeing my local agent to make the changes. It's a lot easier to do it in person (and my local agent is nice). Ironically, my cell phone bill was waiting for me when I got home.

On the craft front, I finished a little cross-stich picture of Tinkerbell (as in Disney). My mom is finishing up work on the Martha Stewart Coming Home Poncho that she is making for me. Too bad that i probably won't be able to wear it until January because it's really warm and right now it's almost October and it's 94 degrees today.

In other news, it is less than one week until my 25th birthday and job hunting still sucks.

Crafty Goodness

Last night we did end up finishing the Coca-Cola purse and it is super-hot. Mom and I went to this little craft fair. I ended up ending a little butterfly shaped scrubbie and the coolest suncatcher for my car that is made out of blue star beads. We got a cross one with purple beads for my aunt which I know she will love.

It looks like while I'm job-hunting I'm going to do some volunteer work at the school where my sis teaches cause they need some one to make their bulletin boards. Yay--I love to cut and paste.

Mom and I went through four huge tubs of various craft magazines that she has accumulated over the last twenty years and edited it down to one smaller tub. The Clean Sweep guy would be so proud.

I have also updated my pics on Flickr. I didn't write descriptions for them because I think they are mostly self-explantory and if somebody wants to know more they can leave a note.

Free As A Bird

So much is happened. On Wednesday, I decided the hell with it all and I quit my nasty miserable job. Now I have to get a new one (job hunting stinks) but this time I am going to do a better job and get something that I can actually support myself with and that doesn't involve being chained to a phone or performance-based pay.

I've been working on some projects with my mom. We finished one out of two purses. The second one is going to look really cool because I found this really unusual black Coca-Cola fabric for it. We also made another crochet hook case that rolls up. The homemade ones are the best because they tend to hold the hooks in better cause you can customize them to fit the types of hooks that you have. I finished the Openwork Square block and I am proud to say that it turned out really nice. I finally got my digital camera back from my sis so now I can take pics of my completed stuff for my photo blog. I have temporarily shelved the felt project because I tried to make it this morning but the shape was all wrong and it made mad so i threw it out. I still have more felt so I will attempt again later this weekend. Mom and I are also making two hooded duckie towels for my friend that is having a baby in January. It's really easy to do and they look really cute when they are done (it's a Martha Stewart pattern--did i mention that she's my homegirl?).

On the tv front, I finished watching the last of my Roseanne Season 1 dvds. I have managed to make it through four QAF episodes while my mom is at wal-mart(don't even ask about that).

A Good Thing

I finished the half and half block yesterday and then it was onto the next block, #10 Openwork Square. Now a block that has a one hook rating is supposed to be easy, but I have a severe learning disability when it comes to interpreting crochet patterns. There's eight sections with three rows in each section and it took me numerous frogging before I got my counting right and finished section 1. The good news is that sections 2 and 3 went a lot easier and I think it will look pretty when it is done--I am using Caron Simply Soft in "embroidery" which is a varigated yarn done in shades of jewel tones.

I also got some felt at Wal-Mart to make this subversive little stuff toy that I saw on a Craftster post. Those who know me, have an idea of what it is--to the rest of ya'll, I'll leave that up to your own little dirty minds.

I loathe my job but I am torn because I just qualified for decent insurance. Grown-up stuff sucks monkeys.

Back to crafty goodness. Martha Stewart's new crafty show "martha" debuted today and the hole in my heart is now filled for now. I have decided that I would like to live in her new studio, in one of the cabinets in the craft room. The whole entire studio is fully-functional right now to the faucets and the greenhouse. She taught Marcia Cross how to make scrambled eggs. Tomorrow is the "coming home" poncho day. Mommy is going to tape it for me because i will be at stupid work.

It's off to the land of crochet where I can turn all my frustration into a pretty little square.

Betty Crocker Eat Your Heart Out

Where to start...First, I conned my sister into going to Tulsa this morning with me so that we could go to Target. I hate shopping alone. I wanted to check out the infamous $1 yarn at Target that the girls at Craftster have been discussing for the last couple of weeks. I ended up with 10 little balls of yarn, a pair of 13mm bamboo needles, and two little spiral bound knitting books. Plus some other random stuff. Then we went to Old Navy, where I picked out teacher-appropriate jeans that my sister could wear on casual fridays at the preschool she teaches at. I found black socks with glow in the dark skulls on them. How cool is that??? Did I mention that Target also had 10 pack Crayola fat markers for 1.04! Holy cow, we bought a lot of those for the kiddies to get crafty with. Praise Jesus, gas is only 2.72 a gallon, I can't believe I'm happy about that, but that is much better than over three dollars like it was last week.

After the shopping expedition, I came home, spent a lot of time petting my new yarn stash, and baked five sheets of slice and dice cookies--chocolate chip and some sugar cookies too. I also watched disc 1 of Roseanne Season 1. I forgot how funny the earlier years were. George Clooney had the thickest hair then--how lush!

My List

Well, I have the next two days off and boy am I glad! I just found out that i have to go through another useless training class that runs Mon-Fri this coming week. I also had to attend a meeting today because i'm now eligible for benefits (as in insurance). I don't know, it's a decent paying job but I just don't like it. I show up because I have to.

On to the fun stuff--I am half-way through crocheting my half and half block. I am going to make my frosted sugar cookies tomorrow using my new Pampered Chef cookie cutters. I am also trying to brainstorm ideas for crafts to make for this new swap I am participating in Craftster this month. Repainting my toenails is on the list to do as well. Pretty much anything on my fun list.

Fun times...

Wake Me Up When September Ends

As an early birthday present to myself, I bought season 1 of Queer As Folk at Hastings on my lunch break. Showtime has released a new low price edition of season 1 which means I was able to buy it for a mere 37 dollars. I'm excited because I have been wanting to buy it all summer but I didn't want to pay like almost $80 or buy a bootleg asian edition off ebay. yay! I am a huge fan of buying movies and tv shows on dvd because i am the type of person that will watch them over and over, and I work really odd hours and don't have the time or patience to rent them or tape them off the tv. Plus, there's no way my parents would buy this for my birthday (i put Dukes of Hazzard seasons 3 or 4 on their list). I also like to watch stuff when I'm crocheting or doing something else crafty because I have the attention span of a 16year old and can't just sit and watch something unless i'm in an actual theater. The escape from reality is really great, especially right now.

In the world of crochet, I started on my fourth block from 200 Blocks--it's #75 Half and Half, I'm trying to use up all this purple Red Heart yarn that I've built up in my stash. My littlest dog, Daisy was trying to chew on my metal crochet hook. We had a talk about that because that's just not cool. It was pretty funny though cause she's a little 4 pound Yorkie with a whole ton of spunk. My other Yorkie Haley is 9 years old, so she no longer chews on stuff but she is the first to claim any of the new afghans or quilts being produced in my house.

All about the Yarn

So last night, I got to see the Drum Corps International last night on ESPN2 (thanks to my friend that reminded me that it was on tv). It was awesome, I liked seeing all the behind the scenes stuff. Hopefully, next summer I'll have my bugles in a row and I'll be able to go to a couple of shows. I heart the Cavaliers.

Not much else is going on in the land of yarn. I'm temporarily between projects, although i might plan out another block tonight. My main problem is that my motivational level really sucks after spending 9+ hours working at a call center. I'm half tempted to bust out my spool knitter because I was watching PBS the other evening and Shay Pendray's Needle Arts Studio was on and one of the guests was showing some new techniques with spool knitters that go beyond the typical yarn worms. Confession--I still have the Barbie spool knitter that my mom used to make my Barbies sweaters on and some of the leftover glitter yarn it came with. I am such a yarn ho. I am such a yarn ho...Lol...98% of my knitting is done by the spool knitter or my knitting looms because I super-stink at knitting the traditional way. That's my goal for my 30s because I have spent a good chunk of my 20s learning how to crochet (boy is that a good story).

I finished block 44 Subtle Stripes from the 200 blocks book. It's basically alternating pink and purple stripes. I had to use Red Heart yarn for this one because Caron doesn't make enough different shades of purple. The block turned out way bigger (even though it was still 4ply) because of the way it's manufactured. I'm still proud of it though, cause I'm actually following the pattern and it's turning out the way it's supposed to (with a few color changes).

Let the record show, that I found a cute vertical striped fitted dress shirt and a sea foam blue/green v neck knit sweater at the Gap Outlet store today that actually fit and looked good on me. They were both 50% off so I basically got two things for the price of one. YAY! They look great with my super hot Levi cords too. I can't wait until it gets cooler outside so I can wear them.

My sister and I saw Bad News Bears at the dollar theater. It's still hilarious the second time around and there was these two guys that sat behind us with their kids cracking jokes the whole time like they were on the Blue Collar Comedy tour.

Other than that, it was a typical day off.

My Big Holiday plans

Finally..After working through almost the entire "holiday weekend" i am done with work today and I can rest easy knowing that I have tomorrow off. I am planning on sitting on my fat ass and crocheting like a mad woman. I was able to buy some much coveted crochet books at Hobby Lobby's half-price book sale this past weekend. I am also planning on seeing Bad News Bears at the dollar theater cause Billy Bob Thornton just puts a smile on my face and it was so good the first time around--almost as good as the original.
I'll post more later once I wake up.

Thirty One Pairs!

So i got the bright idea today to count my shoes since i am "shoe girl." I have thirty-one pairs. The breakdown is as follows:

• 3 pairs of boots
• 5 pairs of Converse Chuck Taylors (two low, three high)
• 12 pairs of flip-flops
• 11 other (skechers, running shoes, anything that didn't fit into the above categories)

How did this occur? I blame it on two things --love of shoes and the fact that i was a footwear associate for a year and got shoes for 20% off.

I refuse to count my yarn stash. I want to live in complete denial of my yarn addiction. Speaking of yarn, I did complete two blocks from the 200 Crochet Blocks book. The first one I did was #72 Ribbed Squares and the second one is #105 Double Stripes. My mom says i should make a sampler afghan but I don't know about that yet. I have major issues following patterns and directions and a very short attention span. I made them using an H hook and some of my Caron Simply Soft stash cause the blocks in the book are pretty flexible as far as materials go.

Happy Hookin' ya'll!

A Typical Day Off

So i have two days off in a row, but gas is currently 2.69 a gallon so i won't be going anywhere cool. However, I am still having fun because I don't have to answer the phones! I bought 200 Crochet Blocks by Jan Eaton because Hobby Lobby is having a 1/2 off sale on instructional books. yay. I also discovered the limited edition Jello flavors at wal-mart--margarita, pina colada and strawberry daiquri. God bless Jello. Tonight will probably be spent digging through my yarn stash and chasing after our new 12 week old Yorkie Daisy and our 9 year old Yorkie Haley. This is my first venture into the world of the written blog, so i promise that my blog will get more exciting soon once i figure out my blog style.